Way back when, Square Enix shocked gamers around the world by announcing that Final Fantasy XIII would be released on the Xbox 360 as well. This was particularly interesting news because the main Final Fantasy series, one of the longest running and most popular game franchises the world over, has ALWAYS been a Sony exclusive. Square Enix assured its main fanbase (Japan) that this would only be happening in the west, in Japan it would still remain PS3 only. Yet lo and behold, Square went back on their word and decided they liked money more than keeping their promises, much to the chagrin of their fanbase.
But fear not! The sure-to-be triple A followup to FFXIII, Final Fantasy Versus XIII, is surely only going to be PS3 only, as was CLEARLY stated at the end of its debut trailer, which I’ve embedded below. One might simply scoff at such a title, a perceived “spin off” of Final Fantasy XIII, much like Final Fantasy X-2 or Dirge of Cerberus, but scoff not. Versus XIII is looking to be one of the largest and most marketed releases yet, with a fashion line being made in real life based on clothes the characters wear in the game (which will cost you QUITE the pretty penny, over $3000 for a mere jacket!) and being one of the only games in the entire series to depict blood when an enemy is wounded, as you can see in the trailer. As if this wasn’t enough, the game is being developed with the team who did the fight scenes from Advent Children and team who worked on the combat in the Kingdom Hearts series, quite the pedigree to live up to, but lucky you for you PS3 owners! You guys are being treated special, this is only for you! Those gamers with that smelly Xbox 360 aren’t worthy enough to have this, oh wait…
This right here is a translation of Square Enix’s job planner. As you can read, plain as day, they are looking for help for development of Versus XIII and are looking for those with experience working on the Playstation 3 AND/OR Xbox 360. This isn’t the first time fans have wondered the fate of Versus XIII. After the whole fiasco of FFXIII hitting the 360 in Japan, fans have been questioning Square Enix’s promises. Of course, the more the merrier. Releasing on the 360 would only improve sales, as the 360 has a larger install base in the west than the PS3 does and is quickly gaining speed in Japan (largely in part due to the release of Monster Hunter Frontier for 360), thus meaning bigger and better FF games in the future. Maybe Square Enix should stop making silly promises to the miniscule, hardcore fanbase they are trying to pander to and realize that there are just a teensy bit more people in the world they can attract by not showing favoritism. But hey, that’s just my take. I’m sure favoring one platform to appease a small amount of fans while poisoning the rest is an awesome business idea.
