Ben-DutkaThere's little doubt that Final Fantasy XIII is a mammoth title, especially for the Japanese market.
And in a recent European PlayStation Blog interview with Square-Enix execs Yoshinori Kitase and Motomu Toriyama, they see FFXIII as a "resurrection" of sorts for the ailing Japanese gaming industry. When asked about how they see the current state of gaming in their home country, the guys replied:
"Some people have been saying that the Japanese game industry is dead, and all that… I dunno. I will say that Final Fantasy XIII is one really epic title for high definition consoles. With this game, we are going to resurrect the whole thing. As for Western games that have influenced us — FPSs mostly. The Call of Duty series, for example."
…I'm not entirely sure I want Call of Duty to influence Final Fantasy in any way, but maybe that's just me. They also brought up what Yoichi Wada said about FFXIII being "the last game of its kind" in the series, suggesting that Square-Enix would go a very different route for the next installment. But this interview throws a new light on that statement:
"We don’t know exactly what he meant by that. We don’t really know what he meant by this style of game. If you consider that during Final Fantasy XIII’s development, at peak time the team consisted of over 300 people. It was a huge team, plus it took a several long years to get the game finished. So, if Mr Wada meant that we would never make another Final Fantasy title with the similar number of people, taking as long as FFXIII did, we would agree.
Obviously in the future we want to be much more efficient. Having worked on XIII, we feel that we have got much better at making good games for high definition consoles. In the future our teams will be smaller and more effectively run. We suspect that is what Mr Wada meant by his statement."
And of course, you can't have a Square-Enix interview without bringing up the possibility of high-definition remakes of older FF titles. Once again, though, they reply with the now-standard response that it would simply take too much in the way of time and resources.
"As with Final Fantasy titles in the past, like on PS1, even just the main characters amount to around 10 people. Then you have all the NPCs, you’re probably looking at about 200 characters total. All with individual textures for the skin, plus costumes, facial features and everything. That would be a really tricky job."
But as for the idea that FFXIII will "resurrect the whole thing" in Japan…that may be difficult to swallow until you see the sales numbers, which have indeed been impressive. The question is whether or not the game can sell as well in the US and Europe; it is typically a huge blockbuster hit but this particular entry has experienced some skepticism by critics and gamers alike since its Japanese release. Guess we'll just have to wait and see how it turns out.
Related Game(s): Final Fantasy XIII
Holy sh!t, I didn't notice he's avatar.It's freaking nasty XD…..
Did anyone notice its a 360? Lol.
Isn't this garbage already scattered in bargain bin's all over Japan for $20 or less!? The Japanese gaming industry is far from dead but the Eastern developers have taken a back seat to all the great Western folks.
Well after reading a few complete reviews from importers who have played the entire Japanese version, my concerns have pretty much vanished. I am really loooking forward to this game.
And as for Japanese developement being dead…NO. JRPGs will always sell well because they are something completely different from the FPS filled western market and people will/should always need a break from that or they would get burned out and loose interest in gaming altogether because everthing is the same with a different coat of paint. Sorry for the run-on sentence there but I think it gets my point across. I know I would be burned out if all there was to play was FPSs. The general public may last longer at it than me but eventually it will happen.
Yeah, same thing happened to me… can't wait!
After reading so many Western Gamer comments on Final Fantasy XIII and JRPGs, it only makes me wonder what Japanese Gamers think about all this. I mean really, we are talking about Japanese companies here. Wouldn't they try to make games for their "image" of a gamer, which would be in Japan? Just like western companies, they might be trying something "New" instead of doing the same old thing.
I don't know anymore, I've begun to ignore comments on the matter recently. It only gets my blood boiling.
Last edited by Nlayer on 2/9/2010 3:48:53 PM
WKC huh. Ben, are going to review this one too? I've been thinking about a purchase but I really have no idea about this game. I usually don't ride off of other site's reviews (with the exception of this one of course) but I really haven't collected enough information to justify a purchase. I'm really in an RPG fix mode right now and I've been craving something good. Is this game worth it?
I would like to see a review from PSXE for WKC as well, if they have time to review it of course. I'm still deciding on buying it or not. :
WKC huh. Ben, are going to review this one too? I've been thinking about a purchase but I really have no idea about this game. I usually don't ride off of other site's reviews (with the exception of this one of course) but I really haven't collected enough information to justify a purchase. I'm really in an RPG fix mode right now and I've been craving something good. Is this game worth it?
Ressurect the industry? *Shakes head in shame*
honestly, i think it is NOT FF13 will resurrect Japanese gaming, it is Stop unnecessarily westernize Japanese games, Stop making tons of FPSs, more specifically to SE – fire Wada. All of these, will resurrect Japanese games, resurrect Square Soft, and resurrect gaming as a whole this gen respectively.
nothing more to say.
Last edited by BigBoss4ever on 2/9/2010 7:49:21 PM
How to 'resurrect' Japanese game development? Easy – tell the developers to be themselves and stop worrying about what the western consumer may or may not want. Guys relax and be yourselves. Have faith in your own style and ideas.
Not only that but please do bring games to western markets with subtitles and text translations. I know it's expensive to fully localize and re-dub. So, only do that for games you're certain will do well. Do subtitles and translation for the others. You may find that some games you don't think will resonate in the west do resonate with western consumers.
Western developers would do well to do the same, stop trying to be all things to all me, you can't be. If you start rounding off the edges of cultural reference or style so as to have a wider appeal, all you do is dilute your work. If you start consciously adding or modifying elements specifically to appeal to an export market, once again you are diluting your work, and are at risk of making a product that consumers in the export market may find cliche or even simply fake.
Stick to what you know, and do it well. That's all that the Japanese developers need do. Have faith in themselves and their vulture and their style of game and what their home market really wants.
Last edited by TheHighlander on 2/9/2010 11:59:30 PM
@highlander
well said, fully agree, and i generally agree with all wut u said here in psx. 🙂
Ok…im stuck on which i should get…
Bioshock 2:
Has the only multiplayer i'll actually like.
Story sounds awesome.
Gameplay looks awesome.
Everything about the game looks awesome.
FFXIII:
Normally i suck at final fantasy games but the main reasons why is being low on HP after fighting an enemy before. But I've heard you automatically get full hp after each battle. And I know this will last way longer then bioshock story-wise and will probably have a better story. Gameplay looks fun but im still not sure. I mean I've heard that all you need to do is press the X button alot but can that really be true if the game is suppose to be extremely difficult? Also, Im probably gonna be the only one to say this but i absolutely hate too much freedom. Like SotC or FFXII. Those games can but fun but once you gotta (example of SotC) find the Collosi, it gets kinda frustrating.
This is all based on my opinion so can anyone tell me what should i get?
Both, of course. 😉
thats like asking if i should ask for a free Ferrari or a suzuki swift!
bioshock 2 definitely.
bought it on Monday and am loving every minute of it, my fears of playing a big daddy gladly were unfounded.
only thing i dont like about it is the weapon effects lack detail and the rivet gun is PISS weak.
they should of made the rivet gun like the gun in F.E.A.R 2 or killzone 2.
how you can pin enemies against the wall that was cool!
I'm with Ben, buy both… and get WKC, GOW III and Heavy Rain while you're at it. What I'm doing is buying FFXIII first and then WKC…. so when I get to finish both a couple months have passed and those other great games will hopefully be discounted…
EDIT: Oh and if you want to know more about the battle system of the game, read the RPGFan review… It's pretty clear that it's not just pressing X…
Last edited by darxed on 2/10/2010 9:29:17 AM
Beleive me, if i could get both, i would…sadly this little thing called money gets in my way ;P
hahaha, they can say all they want but if the head is still WADA, the guy whose screwing up square enix, this dont mean jack.
yup, sure. today i saw man bear pig! and no it was not on TV 😉
$E stop talking sh*t, accept and admit that you screwed up and amend your mistakes.
nothing pisses me off more than when people give you a steaming pile and try to convince you its gold.
sorry $E but i was not born yesterday!
This game will resurrect nothing. SE are so delusional. They should just keep their mouths shut and count their money.
FFxiii is just another nail in SE's coffin.
Like said before, S-E should stop with the western influences in their games, they've been doing good for so long, now they bring out a game with a cod complex and they get a huge amount of critcism, they shouldn't have brought it on xbox, which means they could've implemented more environments in the game, possibly towns and returning to previous maps and such if they made it ps3 exclusive.
oh well, all my hope is now invested in Versus XIII, let's pray that Wada doesn't screw Nomura and the fanbase over by bringin that game of the decade(imo next to KH3, by the looks of it now) to the 3-fix-me. Damn you Wada for screwing up a game that could've been so much, but was degraded. And if they release towns and environments in their dlc, I'll be pissed as hell, since that'll prove the game could've gotten em, and would've been a definite buy for me.
Funny how the world's greatest RPG maker has nothing but respect and awe for Infinity Ward and thier MW games. HAHA!!!
End of Line.
To anyone who plays Japanese VNs… well, that game industry is VERY alive and well.
This is off topic, but an xbox 360 bundle for final fantasy XIII has been confirmed for north america. Disgusting.
Oh my god….what a waste of time and money.
Does no one notice that they're pretty much saying Final Fantasy is dead? That's what I get everytime I read this kind of stuff…