E3 2008: Japan won't get Xbox 360 FFXIII, Versus XIII still PS3 exclusive, new FFXIII trailer

Posted Jul 14, 2008 at 6:50PM by QJ Staff Listed in: PS3, Xbox 360 Tags: Japan, Microsoft, Square Enix, Yoichi Wada

FInal Fantasy XIII Square Enix Fabula Nova Crystallis - Image 1

You may still be reeling with the news of Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIII losing it's PS3 exclusivity in favor of an Xbox 360 version (oh, my), but here are some additional details about the big announcement. One is that the Xbox 360 version of Final Fantasy XIII will not be available in Japan, and that the FFXIII spin-off, Final Fantasy Versus XIII, is confirmed to remain a PS3 exclusive.

The details were made known during the Square Enix press conference with Squeenix's corporate Shinji Hashimoto and game producer Yoshinori Kitase. The press conference, a follow-up to big press con at the Microsoft E3 conference with Yoichi Wada, also yielded a few more additional details, all concerning Final Fantasy XIII.

Here's what we have gleaned so far from the live blogging:

Square Enix finally considered giving the Xbox 360 some FFXIII love after looking at the hardware for both the Xbox 360 and the PS3
The number of discs for the Xbox 360 FFXIII is still undisclosed
The Xbox 360 version of FFXIII will be simultaneously released in US and Europe, but not in Japan.
Infinite Undiscovery is being developed as an Xbox 360, but Square Enix is considering a PS3 release
No exclusive content for the PS3 or Xbox 360 versions of FFXIII; Square Enix will put out identical FFXIII for both systems
No motion control for FFXIII
FXIII is being developed with the Crystal Tools
FXIII's fighting system is called ATB
Both Hashimoto and Kitase's favorite Final Fantasy game is FFVII

Well, that's it for the big Final Fantasy XIII news... for now, at least. In the meantime, check out this neat Final Fantasy XIII trailer shown in the conference:

Via IGN

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Comments

# oh well.... — Clixt 2008-07-14 13:38

$$$$$$$ matters.... still its better for FF series coz a lot of people can see how great FF series are... although i hate this move by SE...

# WTF? LMAO! — NarooN 2008-07-14 13:45

So, Square Enix, a Japanese company, is porting the game to 360, but NOT releasing it in..Japan?! But FF Vs. 13 is still exclusive to PS3?!

*head explodes*

# Sounds Like *****! — CHUCKINGROCKSATSPACESHIPS 2008-07-14 13:47

Now I know FFXIII will be scaled back on the quality side. More than likely no true next gen gaming for us. It's the DVD-9 curse again. I thought Square was really going to go all out for us and fully take advantage of the PS3 hardware. To be honest, I was looking forward to FFXIII more than FFXIII Versus. Only if Microsoft would hurry up and come out with their next game console using a higher capacity disc format than game developers can probably give us multiplatform games that are truly next gen.

# ??????????????????????? — returna 007 2008-07-14 13:51

well done m$.my house is for sale as well if u want it.i have been through 5 x360 and one elite this year alone and am the owner of a ps3.i think m$ should have spent their money on fixing their hardware instead of stealing competitors games.do u really want to buy a new console everytime u buy a new game?! if u take tekken 6 as well u deserve a good kick in the face! shame on you! ps. next time u are in my neighbourhood dont forget to steal my car too!!!!

# WRONG AGAIN, QJ — trigger 2008-07-14 14:05

WTF LMAO indeed, NarooN. don't let the article title fool you. QJ got their facts wrong again.

sigh.

from source: "They are "ready to start" developing FF XIII. So first they will complete the PS3 version in Japan, then start a localization for the US and Europe while they start development on the 360 version. The PS3 and the 360 versions will be released simultaneously in the US and Europe, but not Japan. They said they will try to time the release date for US and Europe at the same time, and that they will "expedite" the process of localizing from Japan."

japan is getting an ff13 for the 360 also.

and please. shouldn't someone fix that third bullet point? what the hell does "US will enjoy simultaneous release in US and Europe, but not in Japan." mean?

# Thanks for the heads up — Guest 2008-07-14 14:18

...too much excitement, and all that. :)

But at this point the 360 version of FFXIII seems to be available in US and Europe only. The end of the trailer that explicitly says "for PlayStation 3 Only in Japan" is proof enough.

Of course, that won't stop Square Enix from changing their minds.

# ??? — B 2008-07-14 14:37

Is it just me, or do those guards remind you of Storm Troopers?

# hmm — Izuna 2008-07-14 14:39

I'm very happy about this, I wouldn't make sense not to release it on the Xbox 360 anyways. And not released an Xbox 360 version in Japan is a good move for the company, if they ship out the discs not many people will buy it anyways.

Being a Final Fantasy fan who is in love with Sakaguchi's Games I wanted this game to be canned, but oh well. Well, personally for me the only games the PS3 had for me was MGS4 and this, but I guess when I am totally bored and want to try out what Squeenix came up with I can play it on the best console evar =).. Okay the Dreamcast was better but oh well.

Sony fans =) I know this is bad news, but think about it, if you're a sony fan you wouldn't play this on the 360. This is just squeenix allowing all their fans to play this game. And to the dumb people who think that because the game is for 360 will mean that it wont be High Definition... WTF are you talking about? Do you understand the least bit about HD?

Here's a clue, the guy that made MGS4, Hideo Kojima said the 360 would be able to handle the game easily as it is. The reason why it would be dumb to release it for the 360 is the disc-space. And before you talk about Square releasing the game on the 360 making it smaller and not taking advantage of Blu-Ray should learn that the 360 will DEFO have 4+ Discs. Lost Odyssey had this and that made it 25GB.

So 'neer. If you actually wanted to play this game it wouldn't effect you, you just want to suck sony's *dic* and make them win just because you have an invisible reason why you hate Microsoft. I hope your using a Mac of Linux or you'll be a total Hypercrit(?)

# spelchk — Izuna 2008-07-14 14:42

affect*

# No motion control for FFXIII — duy817 2008-07-14 14:53

"No motion control for FFXIII"

Was this because they have to scale back for the xbox360 since they dont have that capability?

# ... — Izuna 2008-07-14 15:00

stop being rediculous. WHY in god's name would a Final Fantasy have motion control in the first place!

# ff would boost some japan xbox360... — lavino 2008-07-14 15:03

but I guess that's not gonna happen... er well.

# m — Izuna 2008-07-14 15:06

I was disapointed with that, until i realised that Squeenix stated that they are releasing the japanese PS3 version THEN making the 360 version along side the international release. Releasing a japanese 360 version would be dumb. VERY dumb

# Fact about the game. — YAMI ANUBIS X 2008-07-14 15:13

Is that if it were to be on the Xbox 360, you think Japanese people would buy it, if it came over to Japan? If its already on there Japanese hardware AKA PS3, which will only use 1 disc AKA Blu Ray.

Xbox 360 version of FF13, if it were to be released in japan along with the PS3 version, which one would you think the japanese would buy?

The Playstation 3 version because PS3 is made by a Japanese company, FF13 is on 1 Blu Ray disc.

Japan does NOT like Microsoft.

Even if MS drops there price of the Xbox 360 down to 100 dollars, japanese people still would not buy it.

You would never understand why the Japanese people do not buy the Xbox 360.

Thats why its gonna be PS3 exclusive in japan cause everyone in japan actually owns a PS3.

# yeah — Apeaggedon 2008-07-14 15:18

pretty much... japanese peep have waaaaay better taste in video games (IN MY OPINION).

most of the japanese games ive played are INCREDIBLY fun.

the only thing i have to do now is learn japanese before ff13 comes out in japan,so then i can buy it early and play it. :)

is gunna be hard but worth it in the end... maybe by that time ill be in tokyo (im taking a vacation over their sometime early next year).

p.s: ff13 vs POWNS and us ps3 users get all the pride in that exclusive. :)

# Um — Izuna 2008-07-14 15:19

Actually it has nothing to do with it being a japanese company. Did you watch their talk? If they made a japanese 360 release they would be releasing the game twice at 2 different times. And, Blu-Ray has nothing to do with it either. Did you know that they are making the game on a PC THEN porting it to PS3? meaning it'll be easier for the 360 to have a port +)

# Well said...Izuna — DeviousDraX 2008-07-14 16:07

I find it amazing people always forget ALL these games are made on PC's before porting to each console. (Sigh) ignorance is bliss.....

# ah... — Noobicious 2008-07-14 16:20

these guys will kick storm trooper ass any day.

# thanks for the comment C=(^_^Q) — Izuna 2008-07-14 16:30

I'm concerned about what is posted at the bottom of this article though.

Everyone, post your fave FF (mistwalker games inc).

think twice before you say FFVII....

When are Squeenix finally making that Final Fantasy game I've been waiting for which has a main character called Kaze and it's about the classic 4 crytals.

my childhood dream from the Nes days will never come will they?

# ... — Silver-Tiger 2008-07-14 19:28

okay, with this move Squeenix officially lost my respect. After the whole Star Ocean controversy they were already at the bottom, but this, is a direct punch in the face of all PS3 owners.

# ... — Silver-Tiger 2008-07-14 20:22

haha I just thought, it would be too funny if Sony announces tomorrow:" Yeah, we just paid twice the money MS paid for FF13 exclusivity."

# Izuna + — CHUCKINGROCKSATSPACESHIPS 2008-07-14 22:18

Traiter

# I agree..and lol @ — keengsnake 2008-07-14 22:32

# The number of discs for the Xbox 360 FFXIII is still undisclosed !!

I hate microsoft by the second .

# well — keengsnake 2008-07-14 22:35

why the hell not! If R* can incorporate it in Gta then so could they ... but seeing how they are a bunch of sellouts... maybe we should not buy it and wait till they release an exclusive lol

# although — keengsnake 2008-07-14 22:38

The xbox is far from a computer . Ut's even more complex . Some porting needs to be done as well not to much but still.

# ... — zeromatrix75 2008-07-15 01:28

Tell me about it. I hope this doesn't delay the game even longer

# hey — roca 2008-07-15 02:27

tl;dr

# that's true — roca 2008-07-15 02:32

i'll probably not buy this until it's platinum or something, ***** them.since squaresoft fused with enix they've become another ubisoft or EA. an example of this is all those DS remakes only to make money without having to make anything new.

# Wow. It never stops! ;) — Games4James 2008-07-15 03:26

"Now I know FFXIII will be scaled back on the quality side. More than likely no true next gen gaming for us. It's the DVD-9 curse again."

Come on, the game hasn't even been released yet and you're already looking for excuses in case the PS3 version doesn't live up to your expectations and so you're complaining about it.

The 360 version will be on multiple disks, that's what they said, but they haven't said how many. Therefore the PS3 version isn't loosing anything at all. So I don't understand why you're complaining.

FFXIII is currently being developed on PCs, where it is ported and optimised for the PS3 (on one Blu-ray disk), and then to the 360 (on multiple disks). It's not being developed on the 360 first and _then_ ported to other formats, so your argument makes no sense at all Chucking.

I really don't see how the 360 announcement means this game is being scaled back on the PS3!

Complaining just for the sake of it perhaps. ;)

# ... — thefinalhero 2008-07-15 03:33

*Insert tons of profanity here*

# WTF!?!?!?!?! — ISOHaven 2008-07-15 05:47

"Now I know FFXIII will be scaled back on the quality side."

How do you know that. You do realize that most of the game is complete right? You do know they haven't even STARTED on the 360 VERSION yet right?

The PS3 version WILL NOT EQUAL the 360 version. Two different dev projects. They'll be the same game, but at the very least the PS3 version will get ported to the 360 and all the downgrades will happen at that time. IF ANY, that's to be determined.

This does not affect the PS3 version at all.

# Thankyou ISO. — Games4James 2008-07-15 10:40

I thought I couldn't be the only one scratching my head over Chucking's post. :)

# I am guessing... — Shatterdome 2008-07-15 11:15

There is no motion control on the 360 because none of the controllers detect motion....

Just a guess....

# I agree... — Shatterdome 2008-07-15 11:17

Square should not release any new games and when they do, only release them on systems that do not have a big enough install base to even recover the dev costs of the game.....this way they can go bankrupt and never make a game again....that would rock...

/end sarcasm

# Games4James, I'm just saying... — CHUCKINGROCKSATSPACESHIPS 2008-07-15 13:55

I was hoping they would make it a 50gig game and have some motion sensing features. Also optimized is not true unless you don't cut corners on the way it works on the system. Think about if you have characters and items all on one disc, the system can quickly access them from a single copy on the disc saving space for more feature, stages and such. But when you have multiple discs, all of that info is copied again on the discs limiting space for the actual game. So what I am saying is that if they wanted to make this game a 50gig game they could on one disc for the PS3 where as the XBOX360 version would have to be SIX discs!!! to equal that. Also if they decided to compress the info for the 360 version instead of using many discs thus saving production costs, who is to say they just don't transfer that over to the PS3 version in some form as well too. All I am saying is just think about it.

# Big difference in what you're saying Chucking — Games4James 2008-07-15 20:51

We responded to your claim that you KNOW FFXIII will be scaled back, which is not the same as speculating on how a PS3 version _might_ be affected. In otherwords, you were stating it as a fact.

The thing is, we don't know how the game data is structured, we don't know how big it is, and we don't know how much of the data on disk is video cutscenes and non gameplay audio. So we can't say what is or isn't possible or how either version will be affected by others, if at all.

For example, many assumed MGS4 was 50GB, but those who analysed the data on the Blu-ray disk found it was only 30GB for MGS4 and 3GB for MGO. And given that Heavenly Sword had 10GB for audio alone, I would guess that a huge proportion of that 30GB of data for MGS4 is also non-gameplay, and therefore can be reduced without affecting the gameplay quality. Hence we shouldn't assume FFXIII fills a 50GB disk, and we can expect a large proportion of the data to be non-gameplay, which to reduce is size/quality will only affect the 360.

So again I don't see anything in the 360's announcement which would have an affect on the PS3 version, since the changes necessary for the 360 do not apply to the PS3. :|

So relax. :)

# You make no sense!!!! — joshbarty1 2008-07-15 22:41

What the hell are you talking about??

If you really like Final Fantasy games, you would want it to stay on the PS3 at the moment.

Why?

Cause the PS3 is technically more superior then the 360 (even Kojima said so). And having a 360 version also meant that Square Enix isnt gonna push the PS3 to its limits. If that isn't enough, your under the assumption that Squeenix gonna settle for 25GB, again meaning that the PS3 wont be pushed to the limits. If Squeenix stayed with Sony it would have meant that it will have a possible of 50GB content

Think about it, a better quality and more beautiful Final Fantasy can exist in the PS3 then on the 360. Thats why MGS4 isnt on the 360.

And no i don't hate MS nor do i loved them, they are just a bunch of Corporate poophole like Sony is.

# Well — CHUCKINGROCKSATSPACESHIPS 2008-07-16 22:42

Duh

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