Ben-DutkaYou know, I've been thinking. Somehow, this whole thing must be our fault. There's no other logical explanation. So my question is, what exactly did we do ?
Reminisce with me for a bit, here. Back between the years of 1996 and 2000, RPG fans adored their PlayStations. They adored them for obvious reasons, but we knew one basic rule, and it's a rule that most any role-playing aficionado would agree with: if it says "Squaresoft" on the box, pick it up, and bring it over to the counter. It's a guaranteed winner, even if it doesn't say "Final Fantasy" anywhere on it. Chrono Cross , Xenogears and Vagrant Story were three of the best RPGs ever, and while they didn't get unbelievable review scores, most still loved the likes of Legend of Mana , Parasite Eve , Brave Fencer Musashi , Threads of Fate , and yeah, even Einhander . There were a few slips (some silly Chocobo Dungeon game and Ehrgeiz , for example), but for the most part, that rule was cut and dry. Then we moved on to the PS2, and Squaresoft became Square-Enix. Many will say everything went downhill from there, and while I agree S-E has never managed to repeat the heyday of Squaresoft, I don't agree that "everything" went downhill.
Let's just say that if you can make Final Fantasy XII , you've got my vote. Now, we're in a new generation and PlayStation owners take a look around, saying, "…hey, where'd Square go?" Well, to be perfectly honest, I have no effing idea. I understand their desire to appeal more to Western gamers, and I also understand Microsoft's desire to snag some Square-Enix property. This is why I also understand most next-generation S-E titles are headed to the Xbox 360, and for the record, I have no problem with that. But I do have a problem with the fact that PS3 owners are continually left out in the cold. Infinite Undiscovery , although not great, was a 360 exclusive. Star Ocean 4 is a 360 exclusive. The Last Remnant is coming to the PS3, but it will debut first on the 360. As for Final Fantasy XIII , I still like the fact the PS3 was the lead development platform, but if I firmly grasp the situation…shouldn't the PS3 version launch well ahead of the 360 version? Square-Enix has already said they won't even start on the 360 version until FFXIII is on Blu-Ray and ready to go.
Soooo…why are we waiting? Just because the U.S. is the only place getting the 360 version, and Square-Enix doesn't want to piss off the 360 owners? Whatever. And yeah, I know Final Fantasy Versus XIII is still a PS3 exclusive, but I'm not about to put a huge amount of faith into a game I know very little about. And today, another kicker- it seems Square-Enix and Microsoft's booth at the Tokyo Game Show are right next to each other, and they're all sorts of buddy-buddy, according to attendees. Okay, fine. Put stuff on the 360. Good. Have fun. More potential greatness for 360 owners, and I have a 360, anyway. But why, why are you ignoring the PS3? Correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't PlayStation owners treated you very well in the past 12 years or so? Square-Enix, I'm honestly not understanding this blatant snubbing of the PS crowd. I suppose I can take solace in the handheld stuff ( Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII , Dissidia: Final Fantasy and the Star Ocean remakes), but really, that's not good enough. I don't expect S-E to reclaim Squaresoft's former glory, but I do expect a little respect.
Perhaps it's just a business thing. The PS3 is still in third – although rising quickly – and maybe S-E wants to maximize profit potential. This is the argument the 360 owners make. Okay…to maximize profit potential, you release on multiple consoles. That's kinda logical. You know, unless someone gives you a large chunk of change to screw over loyal fans. I really don't see any reason why something like Star Ocean 4 can't come to the PS3; I really, really don't. So we PlayStation owners, as a unit, must've done something to piss off Square-Enix. Did one of you trip a S-E employee on his way to work? Did a bunch of you send nasty e-mails after FFX-2? Well now, see what you did? This isn't logical, either, so I'm just going to have to conclude that Square-Enix is voluntarily abandoning PS3 owners this generation when faced with a large check signed by Microsoft. And that, no matter how you slice it, is irritating.
Enix seems like a dinosaur, touting the the-PS3-is-an-afterthought mentality that the industry was plagued with a year ago, but has since proven a stupid way to go about business. Everyone now, with a few exceptions, at least release identical games for both systems, and many use the PS3 for the lead platform.
Catch up with everyone else, Enix. I'd hate to see you die because you keep pissing off the base that made you an RPG Juggernaut. You dont have to give us super special treatment, but EQUAL treatment has become priority. The occasional bone to attone for past misdeeds would be appreciated, like giving us FFXIII when it's done.
Great article. Couldn't agree more.
That's why I switched to Level 5. There are other Japanese RPG companies that are actually making exclusive games on the PS3 and I'm happy for that. I hope the PS4 doesn't lack like the PS3 and I hope it surpasses the next XBox in everything. MS just needs to lay the @#%@ off already. I hate them.
Your attacks on Microsoft are getting annoying. This blatant disregard for us isn't Microsoft's fault, it is Square Enix's. Lay some hate their way if you want, but it seems like every time I read the comments I see you going out of your way to attack Microsoft? So please explain to me, why the hate? I don't like the idea of "buying" exclusivity but MS has found a way to boost their market penetration and sales. I can't see anything wrong with that. If someone said gave you a card that allowed you to print money, are you saying you wouldn't? It's up to companies like SE and Capcom to stop giving MS that card.
I agree with SHADOW here, this is far more a problem of SE's not necessarily MS's. SE shouldn't get let off the hook cos people would rather shout as Microsoft. Lay the blame where it should be laid and hold off your MS bashing until MS actually does something wrong.
However.. I wouldn't put microsofts pockets out of the question guys.
@ Shadow,
Without a doubt M$ft is writing checks. And that is the problem. That is why people hate M$ft. Now I have an Xbox and 360, so no hating going on here. But I do not want to see M$ft become a dominant player in the videogame industry. A perpetual third or second place would be nice. M$ft tries to buy thier and steal thier way into every industry — the Zune, Xbox, Replay TV (thier TiVo knock off that thankfully failed) — and who really wants them to succeed. Do we really want M$ft to do to videogames or MP3 players what they did to the PC industry.
We all know how M$ft throws thier weight around in the PC market, pretty much just ripping off every great idea and repackaging it with the M$ft logo and forcing stores to include thier versions (sometimes inferior, sometimes not) on PCs and not thier competitors (RealPlayer and IE come to mind).
It's very simple. Microsoft gave them an unimaginable sum of money and SE said "WOW, look at the money! **** Sony and Playstation and the giant crowd of loyal fans that made us extremely rich. We have Microsoft now!"
You know what's awesome? PS1 and PS2. We will never again see something so wonderful as those two systems and the support they had. Period. Abandon hope now.
1995-2005. Then the 360 came out. The successor to a system that sold 100 million LESS than the PS2. And now, for some reason it is taking away everything. Like I said, abandon hope.
It'd be great to see an article about the RPG creators that are heavily supporting the PS3. I know there is 1 or 2 more other companies out there that are making a PS3 RPG game. Few more weeks, … just few more weeks and PS3 is gonna get that #1 title back and spit on SE's face.
If it werent for that fact that they have final fantasy XIII i would probably just plain out and boycott them. I mean you say fu** you to me, I say fu** you back
Yeah,u definitely would say F u too if smaddy says F u but in the case of S-E,u just can't,why?
Because they provide u with quality Jrpg u want n the've proved that over the years most with billion hours of gameplay so they kinda monopolised the Jrpg bidness even though we have other competitors,FF's graphics n story line is un-matched just like MGS(splinter cell is always a substitute but the first-team playa will always be the best).So it's really difficult to say F u to S-E.
But on the other hand some us might be true loyal psfans,but do u pause to see that most ps2 owners dat contributed to that 150 million sales record were those who went the xbox 360 way…..That leaves S-E no choice than to give them some attention.
To dat question "Did Playstation fans betray you?" YES! not me,not Psxextreme members but most others not on this site ranting elsewhere on gamespot n other sites dat 360 is superior…….back-stabbers!
I am not a fan of JRPG's (for the most part). I can take a Final Fantasy game every now and then, but for the most part they are boring and the stories tend to be extremely cliche.
Because of my general disinterest in the genre I could care less about most of these. I cannot however ignore the fact that square will FINISH the damn game (Final Fantatsy XIII) on PS3. Port it (and presumably localize it simultaneously). And THEN release mulit-plat. That all by itself is the most psychotic release strategy I have ever heard. I also know many a JRPG fan who bought a PS3 expecting companies (especially square) to continue their strategy of catering to the Sony fanbase. I, like Ben, have no problem but with SE also catering to (or even focusing on) the 360 owners (they do have a lot of users after all) but when this comes at the nearly complete disregard for your most loyal of fans then I have to question your plans.
I think that the only way that PS3 owners can forgive SE for this is if the executives stand outside and let everyone with a PS3-proof of purchase kick them in the nuts.
The only solace I feel is that Versus XIII should (in theory) be unfased by this shifting of ideals at Square. The tone of that one has appealed to me much more then XIII has.
I have to agree with both you and Ben. I can't lie and say I wasn't a little pissed off that XIII went to Xbox, but it didn't bother me as much as the fact that although Last Remnant is multi-plat Xbox gets it first and then XIII is multi-plat and they make us wait. It only gives the biggest "wtf" attitude in me ever. I believe that this is the S-E spit in the face where it proved to all Sony fans that they have certainly put favor into Microsoft and everytime they state otherwise, it is utter bull****. Add that to long time Sony franchises going Xbox exclusive and you have by far the biggest kick in the nuts ever. I've always felt that franchises that started on a console should at least always come to that console. The biggest problem with Microsoft waving money around(if it's true) is that is doesn't extend the gaming library. Instead of giving money to small gaming companies where new companies can blossom and in turn give an exclusive game they just buy exclusives from games that were already planning to be made. This is what upsets me most. Anyway I am done ranting. Hopefully things will start to look up coming down the road. These new exclusives that are coming to the PS3 are definately making me feel that way. (hurray R2 and LBP!)
Releasing bad to average 20hour RPGS and getting a company to play you millions of dollars to do. Why not?
Those games could have easily sold over 2 or 4 million on the PS3 alone, that's over 100 or 220 million US dollars, easily … Infinite Undiscovery hasn't even sold 1 million copies worldwide. where are the real RPG fans? …
hey sorry to be off topic, but ben, do you think you could do a article on Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm, from TGS whenever you get some info? it's be greaty appreciated =)
If only Sony had purchased Squaresoft when they had the chance. Oh well.
I still have great hopes in the ps3 and its JRPG's but very little in SquareEnix.
totaly agree i have to let this out enix you screwd up and you continue to do it again and again i am and my fellow fans are getting tired of your bull dodoo have you forgotten how you came to be who you are THNXS alot ff13 no longer on my list i some times wish that enix and soft were to different companys
I couldn't agree more, it's freaking ridiculous, even after everything we've been through! Now, I own a 360 too, and FFXIII going multi-plat didn't phase me a bit, it's the game that matters to me. Well, maybe I should say it used to matter to me, because right now all the excitement is gone and I'm not sure if I still even care. Square, seriously…
PhaQ
The problem is this will bring in more money from 360 owners but despite the complaints, PS3 owners won't vote with their cash. They still get the money out of us when those for whom it is a serious issue should just not buy the next run of Square releases.
again off topic, but it appears the codes for the R2 open beta are being sent out, my friend registered his code from gamestop and they now's he got his premier code soo beta not too far off =)
I lol'd reading this article and seeing the "Fable II only on Xbox 360" advertising.. xD
Now.. You know, maybe Square-Enix think that they made Sony's consoles be what they are, while Sony take the role of "so.. S-E, which game you are going to gave us now? 'cause you need us to succeed" and I say this because Sony just do ANYTHING about this situation, like if they were saying "pff.. we don't need them" and, on the other hand, we have the treatment of Microsoft to S-E; I mean, they (M$) treat S-E like a queen, like if S-E were the most amazing game company in history. M$ gave them full suitcases of money, and all.. And S-E obviously like that treatment.
I think that the problem here is that both companys (Sony and S-E) think that they are the best of the best, and neither side want to get off of his cloud and accept that they now have more competition and are not the kings that they were. But hey, that's just my opinion =).
P.S. Greetings to pavlovic (yeah, the one of LevelUp) 😉
Murder Inc. =O
Last edited by Murdi on 10/9/2008 1:43:48 AM
Greetings back to you my friend. Nice to have you here. At least now here are two Mexicans.
remember what u said about "business sense"? hehehe
Up a little late tonight , ya Ben? There really is no reason for them to be dissing the ps3. Square enix would not be what they are today if it werent for the Playstation consoles. I understand that microsoft is going to wright them a massive check to get in their favor, but after all we have done for them, it is downright insulting to be treated like this. If they dont shape up they are going to lose many of their greatest fans.
I'm not real thrilled with the decision making over there right now either, but I see no reason to throw up our arms and walk away from them. Sure Microsoft may be getting the goods now, but the PS3 is still a really young system and I'm sure S-E will start rolling out more titles for Sonys' system at some point. Hopefully sooner than later.
thats not the point man. S-E screwed us and continue to screw us. i dont feel like sitting here getting pissed on until they finally pull their heads out of their butts and start to give us respect. so throwing my arms up and walking away sounds better than being pissed on. they need to start observing EA. at least EA is trying to right their wrong and for that i give them props but square continues to piss on us. square aint the only company that can make a great rpg. sorry for the slightly harsh language.
I felt the same way when Tecmo starting releasing the Dead or Alive series on Xbox. I wasn't happy then and I'm still not happy lol. But if I simply gave up on them, like people are saying they're doing with S-E, then I would've missing out on the lovely little gem of a series called Fatal Frame. Point being, every company has their own business strategy that they follow, whether it is right or wrong isn't for us to say. If it were, we'd be working for them lol. People will come back to them again once they start bringing things over to Sony again. It always works that way. Look at EA. It wasn't long ago that everybody was jumping off their ship too and badmouthing them about everything. Now everybody seems to be climbing back on board their bandwagon again like they forgot why they were mad at them in the first place. They still have a long way to go to get back on my good side. Though the NHL games are helping a lot lol.
Off topic now. The thing that has me really fired up right now is how come the PS3 isn't getting the survival edition of Fallout 3? The PC, 360 and PS3 are all getting the normal and special editions, but only the PC and 360 get the survival editions. What's up with that? Normally it wouldn't bother me that much, but my PC doesn't meet the minimum requirements for the PC version so I'm forced to get the PS3 version. Sorry for this post but after seeing that I just had to vent somewhere lol.
Are you kidding me?
Breaking news!! Valve hate the PS3, and that's a fact =(
That may be but Valve isn't making this game. Bethesda is. The same company that made Elder Scrolls Oblivion.
off topic: tekken 6 is going to 360 as well…"better leave b4 i explode"
Wow Ben, you couldn't have nailed that any better. I could not agree more with what you said. I have stated over and over to my friends that this is some crap and it very blatant that MS is handing over some hefty checks to secure some exclusive titles for the holidays. Either they know that after Christmas they will begin to see their console sink, or they are becoming a rampaging clone of EA. Even though it shouldn't be to surprising considering MS's history is a bad one anyway.
Is it so hard to face. That not all game companys like making games for the ps3 some dont like the 360 or the wii yes money has alot to do with it but without money we dont play games plus they are trying to capture a new market more gamers means more money mo money means more games and thats all i want
well if they want money they had better stop screwing the people that have followed them all these years. its like their saying 'we dont need you anymore' and its total crap. i am lookin forward to final fantasy 13 just like everybody else but the respect leven has gone down some since all this started.
Really? Sorry Geobaldi, I thought it was Valve..
off topic : wtf Tekken 6 is really coming to the 360, I thought cheng was lying
AND! wtf is wrong?
FF13 goes multi is great.
but holding the PS3 release is ridiculus.
all multiplatform games always released on the platform it finish first.
Call of duty 4 released on PC first then ps3 and x360.
Mass Effect released on xbox 360 first then PC.
oblivion relesed on pc first then ps3 and x360.
but why FF13 ps3 need to wait FF13 x360 to be released?
this decission really really annoy all ps3 owners.
Exspect stuff like this to happen with third party titles and have faith in Sony they know what they are doing………..
"Perhaps it's just a business thing"……..True dat,most here rantin woulda done the same thang if they were in business.
"Okay…to maximize profit potential, you release on multiple consoles. That's kinda logical. You know, unless someone gives you a large chunk of change to screw over loyal fans. I really don't see any reason why something like Star Ocean 4 can't come to the PS3; I really, really don't."……………..Yeah,i also don't see why,am sure MS paid dat large chunk of change,i don't blame them they businessmen simply at work and proving they efficiency.
Last edited by www on 10/9/2008 7:09:25 AM
wow. f**k SE.. microsoft probably paid em a hefty amount of cash :D. but idc, ill still buy fxIII i can wait, these games coming out this october can entertain me for a year :D. LoL. but yea. SE pisses me off 😀
Ok i confess i did it, i pissed off S-E. :((dropping tears now)
At least u confessed,hope S-E forgives u.
I'm not sure if anyone brought this up but Infinite Undiscovery's IP is owned by Microsoft. I recall reading that it was joint development with Tri Ace until Tri Ace went to Square-Enix to publish it.
What I don't get is that SCEA bought about 9-10% of Square-Enix shares (3rd or 4th largest shareholder) when The Spirits Within nearly ruined them yet they release software for a competitor. It's just a little disappointing… I don't really want to shell out $300 for a console that has 2, maybe 3 games I want (Star Ocean 4, Tales of Vesperia).
@aqwabawks,i hear u but just one question n in all honesty, Did u or do u have a ps2?
@Ghana Bwai: I still have my PS2 sitting in my room, heck my PS1 is lying around somewhere as well.
…Okay n u don't have a ps3?
I do have a PS3 (along with my afore mentioned PS1, PS2 and Dreamcast, PSP, DS and a SNES somewhere in the house).
I don't really want to shell out $300 for a console that has 2, maybe 3 games I want (Star Ocean 4, Tales of Vesperia)………U are referrin to 360 rite? i thought ps3,like i woulda said u waz one of those who betrayed ps3 hence resultin in S-E betrayin us since 360 now has a larger market
Last edited by www on 10/9/2008 10:10:26 AM