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In a surprise announcement, Square Enix president Yoichi Wada confirmed during Microsoft's E3 press conference today that Final Fantasy XIII is to be released on the Xbox 360, contrary to previous expectation that the title would be released exclusively for PlayStation 3. Wada spoke of his belief that this would broaden the game's availability to North American and European players, though neither he nor Microsoft's press release made any mention of a Japanese 360 release, leading to widespread speculation that the game may remain PS3-exclusive in that territory — news which no doubt has all six Japanese Xbox owners up in arms.

A Square-Enix press conference followed, during which producer Yoshinori Kitase and executive Shinji Hashimoto discussed further details:

• There may be differences between the versions due to the capacity difference between Blu-Ray and DVD. However, the current plan is to keep the content identical. One might speculate, therefore, that the 360 version may come on multiple DVDs.
• 360-specific development is set to begin following completion of the Japanese PS3 version, along with English translation.
• This is a relatively recent decision, largely based on the 360's wide installation base outside Japan. This seems to fit with the notion that the 360 version may not hit Japan.
• Uncategorised additional appendage FFXIII:VS will not be multiplatform. (Presumably just like FFXIII itself wasn't. Just saying.)

No release date has yet been announced, but Microsoft's press release indicates that the game will be available to 360 owners "at launch" in NA and the EU, which is presumably a quirky, press-release sort of way of saying it'll be out the same day for both consoles.

It's a good thing nobody bought an expensive, launch-era PS3 just for the promise of a Final Fantasy exclusive. Nobody did that, right?

Sauces:
Microsoft Press Release
Gamespot Story
Kotaku Liveblog (whatever that means) of the SE press conference
Tomato

I like the comment about developing for "the PC Base." It would be interesting if they could branch that out into a Games for Windows release, but I certainly wouldn't hold my breath.

It's nice that they're trying to commit to a close-to-simultaneous launch for NA and EU, though.

Edit

Wow, just saw the trailer - it looks quite ridiculous in terms of factor of pretty. I love at the end, how it says "For Playstation 3 Only," and then in smaller letters on a new line "in Japan."

This post has been edited by Rangers51 on 14th July 2008 22:35

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Quote (Tiddles @ 14th July 2008 15:44)

news which no doubt has all six Japanese Xbox owners up in arms.

Yes, but the six American PS3 owners have been too excited about an exclusive for too long...

I digress... This is great news for me personally, as this means I do not have to miss out on a game based on lack of a blu-ray player that I'm just not willing to buy yet.

Quote

I like the comment about developing for "the PC Base." It would be interesting if they could branch that out into a Games for Windows release, but I certainly wouldn't hold my breath.

But it's worth noting that FFXI was the lauchpad for the PS2 HDD, yet the 360 release was constantly updated as the expansions came out. And for that matter, to throw an unnecessary absolute in the conversation: the ONLY people I know who still play FFXI do it on their PCs.

To throw in a bit more irony, one of them actually has an Xbox 360 USB controller converter that he uses to play FFXI on his PC with a Wireless 360 controller.

Squenix seems to be getting more lax about letting Microsoft play too, so you never know. Hell, they coordinated with Apple to make a tactical RPG for the iPod! This is a whole new world!

Edit

Is it just me, or does anybody else think this game looks very FFX/Spira-esque in terms of a FF "World"?

It seems to me to lack anything that would keep it in the Ivalice Alliance series, but it just looks FFX to me.

This post has been edited by leilong on 14th July 2008 23:00

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I'm jumping for joy as I read this because, as I've stated in previous posts, the only reason I was gonna get a PS3 was for FF XIII. This saves me a few hundred bucks. Wee!

i laughed so hard today i think i hurt myself. my neighbor is a ff fan and a month or two ago he bought a ps3 just for ff 13. he already had a 360 and i told him today it was coming out for 360. he went crazy. i guess he will return it but it has funny.

i cant wait till this game comes out.

Shrug. I can't say it isn't sort of a blow to "well, owning a PS3 gets me ___", but I'd still pick a PS3 over a 360. I like the Blu-Ray player and the upscaling of PS2 games and normal DVDs. As long as we still get the damn game, I'm happy.

The 360 exclusives are what bother me.

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Veni, vidi, dormivi.

Quote (painreaver @ 14th July 2008 18:01)

I'm jumping for joy as I read this because, as I've stated in previous posts, the only reason I was gonna get a PS3 was for FF XIII. This saves me a few hundred bucks. Wee!

or you could get a ps 3 and get ff xiii and versus xiii. not to mention all future sony-exclusive square games......or you could play....ughh.....blue dragon...

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Aujourdhui a commence avec toi.

blue dragon! watch your language! im pretty sure the ps3 version will be better.

I was extremely close to buying a PS3 earlier this week, and the only two factors going into it were MGS4 and this. Now that this is on 360, I dunno. I still want to play MGS4 REALLY badly, but this announcment may have actually prevented me from buying a PS3.

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buy it when your ready cause i think mgs4 is a good game but not to buy a ps3 just for 1 game.

I'm not getting FFXIII. It's my final decision, 'cause I'll never have a PS3 or a 360. So I'll just sit in the corner and laugh all the stories of people who got screwed over because FFXIII was the tipping point of their mental battle for getting a PS3 or a 360...

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I say what I wanna say, I play how I wanna play.

Quote (FallingHeart @ 14th July 2008 20:50)

I was extremely close to buying a PS3 earlier this week, and the only two factors going into it were MGS4 and this. Now that this is on 360, I dunno. I still want to play MGS4 REALLY badly, but this announcment may have actually prevented me from buying a PS3.

metal gear solid 4 is a godsend....thats all im gonna say. anyway, im buying xiii and versus xiii, so i dont care about it being non-exclusive

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Aujourdhui a commence avec toi.

If you bought a PS3 just for Final Fantasy XIII you indeed have to be stupid, but if you bought a PS3 because of the obvious reason why you SHOULD buy a PS3 then you did the right thing. Sure Final Fantasy is a great game that until recently was a PS exclusive, but I'm pretty sure that we all agree in that the Playstation has offered great games of the highest of quality since the SONY introduced the console back in 1995. I'm sure that the "ex-nintendos" who moved on from SNES to PSone and bought a PS3 did it because of the list of 1990's PSone classics that are making a comeback to the BLU-age, for example Metal Gear and Resident Evil just to mention a few, I mean I don't even want to start talking about Street Fighter IV.

I guess that what I'm trying to say is that no matter which console you bought you still made a smart choice, each of the three current generation consoles are great machines and each of them has something unique to offer, and I sincerely don't think that one game will dictate which of the three is the best or better choice between them.

BUT, if I were to choose I'd pick the PS3, just for the fact that BLU-ray is the future and 10 years from now we are still going to see PS3 games been sold as new, I guess the 360 will not last that long, even the Wii will be around longer than the Microsoft green spawn.

This post has been edited by SaffireWeapon on 15th July 2008 03:20

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PS3 tag: TipoDLuffy

"...quite possibly the greatest game ever made"

This makes me mad, for some reason. It sorta ruins the PS3. Which I was planning on buying just for this game. Mind, I probably will still buy this over the 360 because of Versus, but who is to say that will stay exclusive.

Quote (yelanates @ 14th July 2008 22:33)

This makes me mad, for some reason. It sorta ruins the PS3. Which I was planning on buying just for this game. Mind, I probably will still buy this over the 360 because of Versus, but who is to say that will stay exclusive.

square stated in that press conference that versus absolutely wont be on the 360.

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Aujourdhui a commence avec toi.

I've always disliked the term exclusive really, it just breeds fanboys. XBox 360 owners of course are aware they're currently doomed to a stripped-down version with enough DVD's to give everyone at a dinner party a coaster and they seem to be cool with that, so, so am I.

Besides, I bought it for MGS4 and having big games on one disc. And the fact that I was pretty sure HD-DVD failed at life. We shall not mention what else the DVD-RW on Science Mobile can play.

This post has been edited by Del S on 15th July 2008 07:39

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or you could get a ps 3 and get ff xiii and versus xiii. not to mention all future sony-exclusive square games......or you could play....ughh.....blue dragon...

Blue Dragon sucked, sorry to everyone who likes it...but it does. And I may still get a PS3 someday, but this allows me to not have to worry about it for quite awhile. It's still too pricey

Quote (Del S)

XBox 360 owners of course are aware they're currently doomed to a stripped-down version with enough DVD's to give everyone at a dinner party a coaster

Quote (Liveblog (whatever that means))

Hashimoto pointed out that they have no plans to make the versions differences. [sic]

I must admit, I'm kind of intrigued as to how they plan to fulfil that - but the recently announced ability to copy disks to the 360 HD may have a part to play. As far as I recall, we're now beginning to see games that require the hard disk - FF13 may be one of those and demand a mandatory installation. If they can do that, a single DVD probably isn't a problem - remember that PC games still come in that format, as an installation requirement permits very high compression to be used on the source disk.

I don't know how feasible a switching multi-disc game is in this generation beyond about two or three discs, depending on the game size. Recall that in the PS1 era, the entire game world was stored on each and every CD - it was only FMV sequences that necessitated the use of multiple discs. With the current generation consoles' power, though, FMVs are a waste of space - if anything takes the space requirements over DVD size, it'll be the game world itself. Is there a point to this rambling story? Yes: in the new world, you'd probably be switching discs a lot more often just moving between areas, rather than at predetermined points in the game to accommodate cutscenes.

I wouldn't be surprised if the core game stays intact, but the 360 has some ropier looking textures to keep the size down, if they don't go down a multi-disc/installation route - and at the end of the day, it's going to end up being a port, and thus almost certainly inferior in some respect. If Microsoft consider this as much of a coup as it's been made out to be, they may well on hand to ensure the game experience can be brought as close as possible to the PS3 version, but on the other hand, don't forget that neither Square-Enix nor Final Fantasy are names that hold the same prestige as they once did.

When I first heard this, I was upset, because I am the owner of a PS3.

Upon further consideration however, I still stand by my PS3. I didn't just buy it for FFXIII, I bought it for all the Squenix games I knew would be arriving, along with several others. I wanted to be able to play my old PSX and PS2 games on it as well. In fact, I've probably spent more time on older games than newer ones. Multi-platform releases don't really bother me (though I would have liked to see FFXIII stay exclusive), as kara said, it's the exclusives. I'm much more upset that SO4 and Infinite Undiscovery haven't been anounced for the PS3 (yet).

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Currently Playing : Final Fantasy V
Most Recently Beat : Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
Favorite Game : Final Fantasy X

The newest CoNcast is up! Have a listen!

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/239681.html
funny video. this guy is so stupid, he basically says "nooo waaaa mommey!!! more people are able to enjoy this game!!! waaaahhh"

theres no reason to hate it coming to the 360.

That's a joke video. The same guy made a similar one earlier this year about delays for SSBB.

I don't care about this multi-platform stuff. I don't own either of them, and I still don't think any of them are worth my money yet. I'll think again once I'm graduated and with a job.

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END SPOILER

Funny that yes FFXIII was my only reason for the PS3, and now that it has been announced for 360 (which i own), there are actually other games i want for PS3...ironic, no?

FFXIII i hope wont be too much longer, but i think if the mainstream FFXIII is multiconsole, then there are possible hopes for FFXIIIVS? I feel like Square-Enix is trying to move away from Sony Slowly but surely...

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i dont think se is devoted to sony at all because theres lots of ff games on the ds, and final fantasy XI is on the 360, and last remnant, Infinute undiscoverey, and star ocean 4 are on the 360.

i cant wait till ff 13

i dont think they're trying to move from sony. i think they just want more money like a normal company

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Aujourdhui a commence avec toi.

The Sony community are in uproar shouting that "Sqenix has betrayed us", "My love for Final Fantasy has been soiled" and "They're filthy traitors who have abondoned us"

Gamefaqs forumers are even more loopy about it

Quote (Dark Paladin Danny @ 18th July 2008 15:32)

The Sony community are in uproar shouting that "Sqenix has betrayed us", "My love for Final Fantasy has been soiled" and "They're filthy traitors who have abondoned us"

Gamefaqs forumers are even more loopy about it

People should learn how to deal...that's ridiculous if you're complaining about how you've been cheated into buying a PS3 for FFXIII. If that's the only reason why you did, I think you should have had more reasons to spend that much money. After all, they didn't force the people to buy one;SE just presented a bias.

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I say what I wanna say, I play how I wanna play.

Quote (Rangers51 @ 14th July 2008 13:56)

Edit

Wow, just saw the trailer - it looks quite ridiculous in terms of factor of pretty. I love at the end, how it says "For Playstation 3 Only," and then in smaller letters on a new line "in Japan."

In the future...everyone will own mecha.

That video looks damn purty, R51; of course, we gotta remember that these are mostly cut scenes, at least if they advertise it anything like all the other PS-era Final Fantasies. It remains to see how the gameplay will be - I never did get around to FFXII but it sounds like people liked its new gameplay mechanics. Plot wise, looks like "Final Science Fiction" more than "Final Fantasy," even moreso than any of the other recent releases.