Dragon Quezzzzzzzz.....zzzzzz....
Fina Fantazzzzzzz...zzzzzzzz.....

Hmph... for once, a somewhat tolerable cosplay picture...

Since it's Japan and honor is supposed to mean something... what would happen if SE unveiled that FF13 was now a Wii game... Would someone's head roll?

@DarkNight_DS: Keep dreaming

@DarkNight_DS:
I'd probably swear off the Wii permanently if that happened, if that counts as a head rolling...probably not, though.

And honestly, I don't think it's really in Square's interest to work with both of the weakest systems on the market when part of Square's business plan since the Playstation has been cutting-edge visuals and sound, and willingly taking a hit on that for their console games would be stabbing themselves in the stomach.

I mean, the DS, alright, I can see why the DS is their primary handheld platform, but the games they're making on PSP are pretty big too. But to abandon the PS3 outright and swap to Wii would be pretty silly of them, don't you think?

Can someone link to an explaination page of all these ridiculous final fantasy spin offs? WTF is this? It's turning into Street Fighter.

@DarkNight_DS: impossible

@Archaotic:
If their business plan has been cutting edge visuals and sound, why didn't they jump ship to the Gamecube or Xbox last gen? Both of them have more capable (and newer) hardware than the PS2

Oh and is it standard protocol to display games that have been out for a while (Slime MoriMori, Joker)

@ConstyXIV:
I don't think the difference between the three would've been that noticeable, especially if you look at the graphics being pulled by Kingdom Hearts II, Final Fantasy XII, and hell, even all the way back to FFX itself.

Square wouldn't have worked with Microsoft then because, well, they didn't (and probably still don't) like them very much, and the GameCube wouldn't have fit them either because of low disc space. Every Square game would be three to four discs on the Cube, whereas one or two PS2 DVDs could fit all they needed, y'know? It was more or less a marriage of convenience, making the best-looking games for the console that best suited their own needs.

=\

SE promised a playable demo by E3. Where is it? Delayed as per SE usual.

No matter where FF is, it will sell, simple as that. FF13 will appear on PS3, and it will sell a ton, cause its Final Fantasy. Same if a Dragon Quest game came out, as no matter how crappy a title is in these series, it tends to still sell very well. Dirge even sold very well worldwide.

The Cosplay was actually taken in my area. The store is Tokyo Kid in Harvard, MA. Odd that Kotaku found it.

Anyway, I agree the SE kinda dropped the ball here, again. Anyone else getting a little worried that about this happening?

This all but ensures FF 13 in 2009. Don't even think about it arriving next year.

@Kyle81: I was asking a question... it was not a dream... just a question.

@Fetus_God_of_Love: The same was said about DQ9

@Archaotic: You make no sense. The PS2 was the weakest system last gen. Your logic is flawed. Also explain why you'd swear off a system because it was getting a FF game.

To anyone else: I didn't say it would happen, so don't attack me. I just asked what would happen if it did?

@Archaotic: The difference between the PS2 and the other two systems was quite noticeable. Especially the Xbox-- there's no way in hell that you would've gotten a game that looked like The Chronicles of Riddick to run on the PS2. The Xbox is much more powerful, not to mention that it supports advanced graphical features like pixel shaders, which the PS2 lacked.

Im hoping SE is laying off some good ground work for FFXIII's story (they need to prove that they can be truely EPIC & UNPREDICTABLE), so that they wont show anything untill they feel like its a "go".

What the hell is FF Aigato XIII?

when is TGS supposed 2 start? im thinking it was the end of the month

@Archaotic: silly like a fox.

@DarkNight_DS:

umm honor? Loyalty? since when did square have this?

They left ninty first...remember?

Besides...it doesn't matter.

if its on the wii, psp, ps3, ps2, 360, ds...it'll still be a good game...hopefully..

@Rukusa:

Yea...I haven't felt good about a FF game since 9...but thats just me

@vecha:

Tell me about it, the latest FFs have been lacking a harmony & balance (if you know what I mean?). Its really tipping to either side right now, besides I think its due to that only very few people who have roots in the original FF team remain at SE.

I geuss without the original team the ff franchise has sort of run wild and become heavily influenced by things that DIDNT consist of original FF material. :(

@Rukusa:

Yea...I wonder how long it'll last...all they have in common with past FF titles...is the name.

Maybe an up and comming developer will create a new franchise and become the "new" square.

I was hoping the creators of blue dragon and lost odyssey would do this...but not many liked blue dragon.(i haven't played it...but a few scores weren't steller.)

hahahahaha, heyyyyyy that cosplaying dudes in front of tokyo kid in boston.....

@DarkNight_DS:
I never said Square is Itagaki. I didn't say that their job was to only work for the most powerful system, just that they try to make quality graphics. Square's not going to keep making games at the same graphical standard as last generation if they can help it.

And honestly, I really think that better writing and storytelling is what Final Fantasy needs to survive, not shoehorned waggle controls and simplistic themes like so many Wii games seem to share these days.

@Doomstalk:
I certainly can't disagree there. The XBOX had a better set of chips in it than the PS2. But as I said before, Square was making the best with what fit them, not that the PS2 was the most powerful console out there. Sorry for the hazy logic.

@Archaotic: Try some MP3 and then tell me you feel that way. It holds it's own quite nicely. We're seeing the same sorts of things happen on the Wii that happened with the DS. Dev's need time to think it through, the first year DS titles were even worse then the Wii ones. Look at the DS now... Yet the Wii is selling faster then the DS did first year. Imagine the sales numbers Square could get by using simple controls on the Wii. The audience is there... It'd be pretty hard not to take money from Wii owners.

@DarkNight_DS:
Sorry, not a Prime fan. Played the first two, hit a brick wall in both and never looked back. The same exact game with waggle added in makes the proposition even less attractive to me.

And sure, the audience is there, which is why Square is making Wii games. But they're not going to forego their natural drive to make games that excel graphically as well. Square's not going to cancel their frontline PS3 titles and downgrade to the Wii when they've put this much work into them already. Maybe next time.

@ConstyXIV: It is standard when the event is open to the public. Like every other big show (besides E3, and GDC) normal people (read: not press or industry) get to come in and play the demos. This means that games need to have a bit more polish than they would at a press only event, and that developers would want to show games that the public can go buy now.

As for S-E's offering, between Ring of Fates and A2 there's enough to get me excited.

"The same exact game with waggle added in makes the proposition even less attractive to me."

You really consider IR pointing a pointless 'waggle' add-on? I can understand people loving the realism of the visuals in new 360 and PS3 shooters. Hell I can even get behind the people who point out the amazing physics that those machines push. But I will NEVER understand the attachment to dual analog controls. They are clunky and entirely unintuitive. Wiimote controls in MP3 are lightyears, and i mean that, lightyears ahead of dual analog. And a good portion of naysaying gaming media has even admitted it.

As for the "waggle" debate, the Wii is perfect for RPGs. Use the nunchuck to walk around the world. In a battle, just point at the enemy and hit a button to perform an action (or taget the enemy and bring up a menu). If you want to get all fancy, put in waggle limits or whatever the kids at square are calling them these days.

The Wii is PERFECT for RPG controls.

@Archaotic: Maybe we'll have a chance for FFXIV, then? ;)

To be honest, I haven't played any FF after IX, and there's no way I'm going to spend 500 bucks on a PS3 just to play FFXIII, no matter how impressive the graphics are.
But if it would come out for the Wii, I'd buy it.

@ajay42:
That's not what I said, no.

But I certainly don't consider it something that makes up for the first two games' shortcomings (over-exploration, unhelpful maps, bosses that require constant Morph Ball usage), problems that all (with the exception of the map, apparently) persist into Corruption without any sign of retreating.

Not to mention I just don't really like very many FPS games anyway, so I just don't feel any reason to go out of my way and pay full price for a game that I know I won't enjoy, and probably won't even beat. It's my money, and I'm speaking with my wallet.

@Fnor:
That may be so, but is it necessary? So many Wii games as of late take established gaming formulae and shove waggle into them, and then people will go all crazy about it. The problem is, RPGs' controls aren't what their problem has been as of late. It's been the repetitive nature of the storylines, or the total lack thereof if we're talking Western RPGs. Adding Wiimote controls won't fix that.

Someone should come up with a gif for SquareEnix posts where they show many FF/DQ games. Nintendo DS has the 'it prints money' gif, so maybe SE should have a special milking gif. Though I'm not sure how you would do that.

@KiyuKo:
Oh, I can certainly understand that viewpoint, and FFXII disgusted me enough that I can't fault you for it one bit. Nobody should buy a console for just one game, after all. But look at it this way. If we're all lucky, the PS3 will get a bigger price drop by the time FFXIII comes out, if at all.

@Archaotic: I don't care what you think of the game itself. I was suggesting you look at Prime 3 for it's graphics and awesome control scheme. Your waggle statements are soooo last gen ;)

@Archaotic:

"...I don't think it's really in Square's interest to work with both of the weakest systems on the market when part of Square's business plan since the Playstation has been cutting-edge visuals and sound..."

"But they're not going to forego their natural drive to make games that excel graphically as well."

I think it's those quotes that are confusing people given the history of the Xbox as the most powerful system of the last generation. If anything, the reason why gamers don't have a problem believing that Square will release FF games on other platforms is that they have never been particularly loyal to any company. They make games for whatever platform will make them the most amount of money.

@KiyuKo: You dont have a ps2? I would highly recommend you get one if you dont... it's almost a requirement of being a gamer :)

You could play 10 or 12 for pocket change.

@DarkNight_DS:
From what I hear, the graphics aren't much better than Echoes, if the reviewers are any indication. Then again, graphics aren't really the biggest deal for me as it stands. As for the control scheme, kinda hard to look at it without playing the game, ne?

@Archaotic: That's not what you said. You said Square wants to make the best. Period. Then, after someone called you on it, you started changing what you said.

@Doomstalk:
"It was more or less a marriage of convenience, making the best-looking games for the console that best suited their own needs."

That was the first thing I said. People misconstrued the rest of my comment without taking that into context. "The console that best suited their own needs" need not be the most powerful system on the market.

@Archaotic: MP3 graphics are pretty awesome. (I was surprised, hadn't thought it looked great in screens.) The only times it really looks obviously 'last gen' is the main character's model, and when you go really close to a texture (but it's much harder to do that than it was in a typical GC game, I think texture res must be higher).

Not that it looks as good as a 360 game (even a 360 game running in SD) technically, but it's not too far off; add in the art design and you're there.

The controls? They basically work, I guess, no real problems. Apparently this is an impressive achievement, but I didn't play any of the apparently-shitty FPSs that graced the system up to now. :) RE4 controls also basically worked, though (differently), so.

Analogue joysticks for FPS are dead as far as I'm concerned, this is much better. Not quite sure why FPS control is relevant to a discussion about Square Enix RPGs but hey, it came up...

As for FF13, obviously it's way too late to make that for Wii. They could consider a sidestory, though (to add to the 378 already announced for various platforms) even if it releases a few years later. And I think 'mouse click' controls would add an awful lot to RPGs in terms of ease of play, even if they don't change anything fundamental.

In the event that the Wii/PS3 sales gap is still as enormous percentage-wise by the time they start work on FF14, I could easily imagine that being a Wii exclusive, regardless of Square's liking for teh pretty (Wii can run cutscenes, too). However, I don't think there is any chance that the PS3 situation will remain that bad.

I'm looking foward to XIII, mainly because while XII's story was alright it was really all about the battle system. Their next game after a new battle system is usually pretty damn good lol.

"Since it's Japan and honor is supposed to mean something... what would happen if SE unveiled that FF13 was now a Wii game... Would someone's head roll?"

Lol! I think every FF fan's head will roll! Or they'll at least perform sepuku.

@DarkNight_DS: It was possible with Dragon Quest 9 because there was no information on it before it was announced for the DS. There were no screen shots or footage. There were rumors rumbling about it for a while.

FF 13 has videos, screen shots and even commercials in Japan for ONLY the PS3. In summary, FF 13 on the Wii is impossible.

@quen:
That's a good, well-thought out post. Thanks for thinking enough of what I was saying to write it out. I can't say I necessarily agree or disagree with the stuff about Metroid on it since I haven't played the game, but I do think you're right about the FF stuff.

I think Square would have to be pretty dumb, especially now that they have this Fabula Nova Crystallis banner encircling all the FFXIII games, to skip out on making a FNC game for Wii. I would not be surprised if they announce one at TGS this month, even. Square's not dumb. They know a LOT of people hated Crystal Chronicles, so they're going to have to find another way to draw people to the Wii. What better than with a part of the FFXIII subseries? (Well, maybe an FFVII game, but we'll not talk about that today...)

As for FF14, I think it's way too early to even begin speculating on it, but more likely than not the PS3 will have finally hit its stride by then. I think the best way to characterize Square over the next few years is that they'll be splitting their resources between PS3 and Wii, with the occasional 360 game trickling out if The Last Remnant ends up doing well.

@Archaotic: No, this was your first comment:

"[...]I don't think it's really in Square's interest to work with both of the weakest systems on the market when part of Square's business plan since the Playstation has been cutting-edge visu