Hiromichi Tanaka is the executive officer of Square Enix and the producer of company's entry into the MMO market, Final Fantasy XI. This morning at the Austin Game Developer's Conference he's going to be talking to us about the challenges of cross-platform design with a design post-mortum of Final Fantasy XI.
11:06 AM CST: We were supposed to get started at 11AM CST, but the event seems to be running fashionably late.
11:08 AM CST: Introducing Hiromichi Tanaka speaking on Launching Final Fantasy XI on Multiple Platforms.
Friend codes. Nintendo's self-imposed restriction on online gaming has been a burden to many who want to play with their friends without having to share a different 12-digit friend code for every game. When the Wii was revealed to have a console-specific friend code, we thought Nintendo had somewhat listened to the community's grumblings. When Pokemon Battle Revolution, the first online Wii title, launched in Japan with friend codes, we realized the folly of our optimism.
Square Enix's Senior Vice President Hiromichi Tanaka empathizes, highlighting the friend code system as the primary reason they haven't brought an online game like Final Fantasy XI onto the console. In an interview with Cubed's Adam Riley, Tanaka reveals that the RPG powerhouse is now in negotiations with Nintendo about "resolving this point of contention." A publisher of Square Enix's magnitude does not necessarily guarantee Nintendo will listen, but perhaps Nintendo will ease off or at least allow exceptions for some titles.
Then again, Final Fantasy XI on the Wii would surely be profitable even if gamers were required to enter over 300,000 12-digit codes to fully experience the world. That's how much, we suspect, Wii owners our clamoring for Nintendo to join the rest its brethren in this generation.
[Update 1: As White Rose Duelist and others have pointed out, Pokemon Battle Revolution's extra friend code might be an exception and not a rule, and Elebits is a cited example where one can exchange in-game pictures with Wii friends. However, as we do not have any other details from impending online games, and Nintendo has not readily clarified, we're just not sure.]
Square Enix has again taken action against Final Fantasy XI cheaters, banning more than 11,500 accounts, in turn, removing roughly 5 billion Gil from in-game circulation. The mass crackdown has affected users on all platforms (PC, PS2 & Xbox 360), as administrators targeted a range of illegal activities:
Use of 3rd-party tools to enhance character movement (approx. 1,100 accounts banned)
Use of 3rd-party tools to bypass game mechanics (e.g., timing of ability use) (approx. 6,400 accounts banned)
Engaging in Real Money Trading (RMT) (approx. 4,000 accounts banned)
The population of Vana'diel shrunk by another 3,330 today after Square Enix continued their crackdown on third party tool users of Final Fantasy XIOnline. Similar actions were taken by the RPG maker over the summer when they suspended or terminated 3,400 PlayOnline customer accounts for violations of the game's user agreement.
While most gamers appreciate a clean playing environment, should users of tools like Windower (which allows FFXI to be played in windowed mode) be penalized for adding an aftermarket feature that Square Enix probably should have implemented in the first place? The counterpoint to this argument is the maintenance cost and man hours necessary to selectively filter out cheat mods. Casting a wider net and banning all third party tool users allows developers to spend more resources on creating new games.
Cheaters beware! If you think taking advantage of others is the way to go, take this latest bit of news as a mild warning. More than 2,000 players within the Final Fantasy XI MMORPG universe have had their accounts either suspended or terminated recently because of the use of some "third-party software tools."
The FFXI group released this notice to potential bad boys and girls:
We would like to take this time to remind our players that the use of any third-party tools will not only destroy the in-game balance, but will also encourage RMT (Real Money Trade) activities. We will continue to take strict actions against those individuals that we have confirmed to have used such tools.
We always have a real sense of satisfaction when cheaters get caught. Some of us have even gone so far as to not play PC games at all online because of rampant exploits being used -- we're looking at you CounterStrike. Listen folks, stop this already. You are ruining everyone's gaming experience and we hate you.
According to GalbadiaX.com, the next update of Final Fantasy XI for Xbox 360 could introduce gamerscore points into the aging MMORPG. To date, FFXI is the only 360 title without points, which, technically, Microsoft requires publishers to include in Xbox 360 games, dispersed throughout at least five game-related achievements.
If you view Final Fantasy XI details on an Xbox 360 gamercard, you'll notice that the game has been updated with 32 "secret" achievements. However, these achievements are not yet active, but are speculated to become fully integrated with the next FFXI update, which will also include changes to Besieged and chocobo breeding.
According to Japan's Nikkei Net (via IGN), Square Enix is working on a sequel to Final Fantasy XI. The upcoming MMORPG is being developed for PC (Vista), PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. Prior to this revelation, Square Enix had hinted at a new MMO project, previewing a trailer featuring a 'next-gen' MMORPG engine. However, at this time, it's unclear if the FFXI sequel is indeed the game that will utilize this engine.
One genre was conspicuously absent from Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft's E3 press conferences -- the humble massively multiplayer game. We at Joystiq are on the lookout for innovation in MMOs, and what better platform to push the genre to its limits than next-gen consoles? Yet few developers seem to be taking the bait.
While some console MMOs are under development, the PC is definitely the platform of choice, and nothing we saw at the keynotes has changed that. With the investment in connected online services for the next generation of consoles, it's a surprise that the MMO isn't getting any attention. Perhaps translating gameplay to console platforms is holding developers back, or perhaps it's just too early for the genre to come into its own. Either way, it will be interesting to watch the few console MMOs that are launching soon, as well as Final Fantasy XI, to get some hints of what the future holds.
According to 1up, the Final Fantasy XI
beta for the Xbox 360 will end on April 2, leaving gamers with just under two weeks of free play from today before
they have to think about parting with their cash. The retail release of the game isn't until April 17th, but the switch
from beta to retail will be more pleasant for FFXI players than other MMO beta testers.
Unlike in
many previous MMOs, the characters created during the FFXI beta will transfer straight across to the retail
version of the game, presumably thanks to the game's established release on other platforms. Gamers who have been
playing FFXI for free for the last couple of months will now have to decide whether it's worth the cash, or
whether the enforced cold turkey before the game's release will be enough to break the habit. Although further MMOs could be in the pipeline for
Xbox Live, FFXI remains the only massively multiplayer title on the Xbox 360 platform in the immediate future.
