When it comes to porting Final Fantasy XIII to Xbox 360, Square's of the opinion that it's not the size of the disc that matters; it's how you use it. FFXIII producer Yoshinori Kitase says that his team will "work on trying to find ways to compress the pre-rendered movies and voice that take up a lot of data in ways that don't affect the final product."

Kitase is also looking to the arcane arts of graphics programming "to ensure that the quality [of in-game visuals] remains the same between the two versions," as well. We suggest he trademark the name "Squeaze" for whatever method the team eventually settles on for cramming a Blu-ray based game onto (a number of) DVDs. Such a catchy name will certainly make the tech more marketable to other developers bringing their PS3 exclusives to 360.

[Via X3F]

SCEA president Jack Tretton has aired his feelings on Square Enix's decision to nix PS3 exclusivity for Final Fantasy XIII. During a roundtable chat this morning, Tretton said that he was disappointed by the decision, but not exactly caught off guard.

"Am I disappointed by it? Yes," Tretton told us, adding: "Am I surprised by it? No." He was quick to stress that the game remains a PS3 exclusive in Japan, but that "seeing as there isn't that big of a [PS3] installed base in [there], I don't know how big of a coup that is for us."

Speaking to the concept of paying third parties for exclusives, Tretton said that Sony has "invested so much money in the [PS3] hardware" that it simply "can't write checks for exclusive software."

Echoing statements made by Sony Worlwide Studios head Shuhei Yoshida prior to E3, Tretton said that Sony's is more focused on exclusive titles from its own teams. "You've got to create platform-defining franchises that you own," he said. "It's the only way you're going to guarantee exclusivity going forward."

[Update: Apparently this is a video of Kevin Bowen of Something Awful fame (infame?), making us 99.999% sure that it's a joke. Thanks, commenters.]

We can't really decide whether or not the ridiculously over-the-top mad genius in this Final Fantasy XIII petition video (some slightly NSFW language) is for real or not. On the one hand, the know-it-all, spittle-flecked delivery and lines like "I personally do not admire this game any more," seem like a satire of every fanboy stereotype in the book. On the other hand, the final few minutes of the video are delivered with such passion ("I don't think you realize how emotionally invested some of your fans are!") that it feels almost real.

Regardless of its veracity, the video is an instant comedy classic, intentionally or not. If there's any justice in the world, references to"public sue-de-ku" and "Final Fantasy [making] its final sale" will live on as inside jokes in the gaming community for years to come.

When is Final Fantasy XIII coming out? To deliver even a vague answer, you'll need to consider the long and winding path the immensely anticipated RPG still has to take -- and the Xbox 360 version isn't about to take a shortcut. Speaking at a special Square Enix Q&A event at E3, Square Enix exec Shinji Hashimoto detailed the developer's strategy, taking care to consider not only the game's multiplatform development, but its localization period as well.

Final Fantasy XIII is currently being developed using Square Enix's "Crystal Tools" technology with the PC as base platform. "As we have already announced, we will complete the PS3 version in Japan," explained Hashimoto. "After that, we will start the localization for US and Europe." Once localization is underway, Square will begin development of the Xbox 360 version, with the aim of releasing it in America (with no meaningful content changes) alongside the localized PlayStation 3 version. "Because of languages and other conditions, it may not release in US and Europe simultaneously," noted Hashimoto.

Convenient summary: Final Fantasy XIII isn't coming out soon.

It's not often you get to see new footage of Final Fantasy XIII. But, that's exactly what we have here. Moments after announcing an Xbox 360 version of Final Fantasy XIII, Square Enix has released a trailer that still touts its PS3 exclusivity. There's tons of new pre-rendered footage to be feast upon, and a little bit of real-time content ... and it all ends with "for PLAYSTATION 3 Only ... in Japan."

The Square Enix conference was all about one thing: Final Fantasy XIII. Today's startling announcement was on the mind of everyone in attendance. As a result, journalists were quite fixated on the topic.

According to Siliconera, Final Fantasy XIII's 360 port has not been announced for release in Asia. The team is currently focused on finishing the Japanese PS3 version of Final Fantasy XIII. "The priority is to bring it to the PS3 first." Once the game releases in Japan, the team can then work on localization and porting it to the Xbox 360. This may mean we're going to suffer through an intolerable wait for an English-language release.

The main reason behind today's announcement is obvious: the Xbox 360's significant userbase in countries not named "Japan." However, although Final Fantasy XIII has been announced for Microsoft's console, Versus XIII is still in development as a PS3 exclusive. Of course, considering today's revelation -- will that exclusivity truly last?

Sorry, Sony. The Xbox 360 is finally going to get a blockbuster RPG. Square has announced at the Microsoft press conference that Final Fantasy XIII is going to be released on Xbox 360 the same day as PS3 in North America and Europe. What a huge coup for Microsoft, and what a great piece of news for Xbox 360 owners who also happen to be great console RPG lovers.

In a statement issued to Eurogamer, Square Enix has denied a recent report which stated that Final Fantasy Versus XIII had been put on hold in order to prioritize completion of regular ol' Final Fantasy XIII. According to a translated Famitsu interview with Versus director, Tetsuya Nomura, work on the spin-off title had been temporarily suspended while staffers helped out on the next highly anticipated, and not even remotely final, Final Fantasy installment.

"Reports that development for Final Fantasy Versus XIII is on hold are false," countered Square Enix. "The truth of the situation is that when free, some staff from the Versus team have been helping with the XIII team on development of Final Fantasy XIII. Development for both titles is continuing as originally scheduled."

That almost sounds like good news, until you realize that the "originally scheduled" release date for either title is likely quite far off. And that makes us so very, very sad.

If you listen closely to the lifestream you can hear Square Enix's legions of fans singing in unison as company president Yoichi Wada recently confirmed an aim to make simultaneous worldwide game releases "the norm."

The timing of the comment, made to Japan's Nihon Keizan Shimbun daily, is particularly interesting following reaffirmation of the company's plans for Western expansion. However, it remains unclear when the RPG powerhouse plans to put Wada's plan into effect, or if his ambition even includes the company's two most hotly anticipated releases in Final Fantasy XIII and Dragon Quest IX. Still, assuming that he'll be able to make good on his claim, role-playing enthusiasts will have to find something else to complain about other than Japan getting to play everything first.

Note: We'd like to show you images from the session, but as is typical of Square Enix events, no photography of any sort was allowed.

Isamu Kamikokuryo discussed the process of making art for Final Fantasy in a crowded Q&A panel at this year's Game Developer's Conference. At first, Kamikokuryo reminisced about how he got his job at Square Enix. It wasn't particularly romantic: he followed a simple call for applicants, and submitted a resume with a photograph of one of his oil paintings. He got a call back, and got a job that many fanboys would kill for.

Eventually, the discussion moved on to the high quality graphics that Square Enix has been able to produce in its pre-rendered movies. Asked how the team copes with "the uncanny valley problem," Kamikokuryo noted that it's something everyone on the team is constantly thinking about. "In terms of the uncanny valley, that is something we have to fight against. We can't go there -- that's basically how we feel about it. For all the things we create, many of the section creators get together and we make adjustments so this uncanny valley phenomenon doesn't happen. We don't usually use that phrase, because all the staff has this in mind while we do our work."

Boy, this is awkward ... After "certain videogame websites" reported last week that Final Fantasy XIII had been promised for 2008, Square Enix has issued this sobering statement: "Any reports of a confirmed release date are erroneous and should be disregarded. Square Enix will make an official announcement in the future concerning the release date when it has been determined."

While we had corrected and reclassified our post as a mistranslation before the release of this statement, we felt it important to highlight Square Enix's official response to the misinformation, despite again acknowledging our error. Is an "our bad" enough of an apology? If not, feel free to take a few shots at us in the comments section. (Hint: This is the one time you won't be banned for it!)

Remorselessly ripped from the special features of CLOUD, a Japanese DVD named after Final Fantasy VII's spiky-haired protagonist, these extended trailers for Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIII Versus (waiting just behind the jump) are pretty spectacular. We're willing to look beyond the lack of pointy hats and crystals, as we're aching to play the system's first offering from RPG powerhouse Square Enix.

Does it look like 13 will be your unlucky number? Don't worry, the next Final Fantasy franchise is just a decade away.