Ben-DutkaAt first it was a little frustrating, then it got borderline comical, and now…well, it's just downright boring.
That's the path most "vaporware" tends to follow. The term, created and popularized on the good ol' Internet, refers to a game that has been in the hopper for a very long time. Duke Nukem Forever probably generated the word and to this day, despite the game's eventual – and depressingly horrid – release, it's still the epitome of vaporware. After all, it took, what…13 years?
We're nowhere near that mark with Final Fantasy Versus XIII just yet, but at this rate, who knows? In the latest Game Informer issue , Square Enix director Tetsuya Nomura was once again asked about the progress of the long-awaited FF installment. And once again, he had no update besides this:
"We would like to ask for your patience on an official announcement for this title. It always takes time when tackling the challenge of doing something completely new, but we are doing our best to bring information to the fans as quickly as we can.
Your patience is greatly appreciated."
It was January 2011 that Square Enix promised an official unveiling "within a month." But the game was actually announced way back in 2007, which means we're entering the fifth year of this go-nowhere saga. Many believe it's because somewhere along the way, Square Enix decided they had to make the game multiplatform, as they did with Final Fantasy XIII (and the sequel). Others say it's because they're actually making it for next-gen systems now (PS4, Xbox 720).
Yeah, well, I've heard all this before. We all went through several generations listening to similar junk concerning DNF (or "Did Not Finish" as we liked to call it). And with almost nothing in the way of news, one has to wonder: At what point do we give Final Fantasy Versus XIII the correct label? Time to face up to depressing facts.
Related Game(s): Final Fantasy Versus XIII
Yup. It's actually really aggravating. I first got really frustrated when they went ahead and announced FFXIII-2.
I think it's worse that FFXIII-2 came out long before any real details on versus XIII have surfaced.
FF:DNF? I started that a long time ago.
Im still not bothered by the wait I would be if Versus was the only game but SE Japan have released several right now I look forward to Kingdom Hearts 3D and the FF rhythm game.
wut and wha?
@ Underdog15
Lol!
At first I was skeptical about the FF rhythm game, but I have to admit it looks promising =).
Funny how we don't get any regular updates about this game. The only time that we hear anything is when someone else brings it up to Tetsuya. I'd say that's grounds for suspicion.
I'll remain optimist til the end of this year, otherwise QQ sadly
Considering Duke Nukem Forever, after 12 years or so I guess.
Actually, this game was unveiled at E3 in 2006, so this E3 will be the sixth year not the fifth. Anyway, I've already stated calling this thing vapour ware.
Might as well put The Last Guardian on that list as well. We know even less about that title other than it has had a troubled history when it comes development. At least there is gameplay footage of FFvs13 and it has been shown behind closed doors. As far as I know The Last Guardian has never been seen in the wild at any gaming event or trade show. One could argue it belongs at the top of any potential vaporware list.
The length of time these two games have taken is quite annoying. No doubt about that. I did think the gameplay footage from FFvs13 was very impressive. I can't wait until Square finally unviels the game so I can learn more details about the game.
I think there is some footage of the Last Guardian…but it was shown a couple of years ago and really offered no real gameplay hints.
"When Do We Start Calling Final Fantasy Versus XIII Vaporware?"
Already there, Ben. Already there.
The facts seem to support the FFXIII-3 theory despite recent claims to the contrary.
That 2011 unveiling never happened, Nomura was said to be very pleased to see the spotlight move from XIII-2 to Versus and that his team, now finished with Type-0, could work full bore on Versus.
This tells me it isn't that there is a lack of footage/information/epic hype about the game that could be unveiled to massive praise but that instead there is some reason to NOT let people get excited about Versus yet. The only reason for that would be that they again want focus on a different game, likely in the Final Fantasy Family. A family which is quickly becoming obese and counter-productive. Hence FFXIII-3.
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 5/4/2012 1:18:56 PM
Several months ago.
I feel sorry for Nomura and his team. He has to deal with people asking him this question all the time and he can't really tell the truth or else he would get in trouble with the higher ups.
The truth being that him and his team keep getting pulled to work on other projects because every one else at SE are talentless hacks. His being spread thinner then depression era peanut butter.
It doesn't really matter to me at this point. As soon as I see a game with the name Square Enix on it, I already know it's one I'll look for in the bargain bins, if I even bother with it at all….
It's all POOO GOD DAMN IT! What a masterpiece, I though when I saw that gameplay footage. I mean, you mount a mech. A friggin mech, dood!!!
Noctis, you're one hell of a gangsta, brother. But you're taking your sweet time walking up to the spotlight.
Last edited by Ludakriss on 5/4/2012 2:58:04 PM
dang its been this LONG? and still want me to wait longer? im not getting any younger =(
I'm not really sure where this idea is coming from. Versus XIII only went into full production around September of last year, so obviously we probably wouldn't see anything concrete for another year or so. I mean, last January a full 7 minute trailer of the game, detailing area exploration, combat, and some of the cinematic mechanics (first-person cutscenes) was shown to great fan affection. Famitsu editors were shown new images months ago that they felt were close to picturesque. These publicly unreleased screens detailed new areas not shown before (one editor described one screen as an Italian fountain). Perhaps there is a platform shift, but to imply that it's not being made is pretty baseless conjecture at best. Tetsuya has repeatedly said they are making something special and for us to be patient if we really want to play it. I don't believe a game of such detail and scale has ever been attempted before; so I would join him in encouraging everyone to have a little faith in his team and quit knee-jerking with this vaporware talk.
You are ignoring a lot of data in this proclamation.
Such as…?
Such as the game being announced 6 years ago.
The game is featured as download content in Theatrhythm FF. That would seem to confirm an existence.
@ gbhsiris
That's not the game. It's one of it's songs.
Better question: when will we start calling Final Fantasy shovelware?
The instant they put out a game for the Wii U.
…
Sorry, I couldn't resist. 😉
I've said it before and I'll say it again… SE does NOT want to give us fans what we WANT… Instead they only give us GARBAGE. Simple, Period, End of story. >.>
They are working on it, do we want it awesome, or AWESOME AS HELL!?
so cram it. it's still in development till you see 'dropped' it's still being worked. and with the amp high development, extreme budget and all, dropping it now would kill Square Enix where it stands. stop posting stuff like this.
i'm not into th FF games, i've read negatives and positives about FF.
the one thing that caught my eye in the statement was,
"the challenge of doing something completely new"
i don't think anything good can come from that.
The challenge of doing something new.
Translated:
The challenge of porting a FF game with a world map so that it can be sacrificed on a DVD altar.
I want to know whats so new that their putting in this game… They would of saved a lot of heart breaks if they would of waited on the info for this game, or atleast have 100s and i mean 100s!!!!!! Of hours for the main quest…
This is Square-Enix. If the basement janitor has an idea for a new game they need to hold a press conference announcing it ASAP.
"The term, created and popularized on the good ol' Internet, refers to a game that has been in the hopper for a very long time." ???
The term existed before the Internet…way back in the 80's.
What kind of moron votes down simple factual information???
A big one because yeah, the term has been around for a long time and its creation has nothing to do with games.
I downvoted after I saw you complained about the downvote. XD
the time for that came and passed years ago!
i think its time to accept this like the last guardian are never coming out.
its going to take a law suit and a new developer to bring them out of development hell!
Vaporware actually doesn't only refer to games. It refers to pretty much any product in the computer industry.
FF died after X for me… X2 was the first sequel, it had some good points but something was wrong… Now XII was a good game but it was not the same…
XI and XIV? those arent FF, theyre MMO.
FF was done at X, they need to modify the title of come out with a real FF XI.
The games after X were good games and i still enjoy them but they arent true FF games.