Confirmed: Microsoft to blame for delay of FFXIII

[hsrob]

Stefan.De.Machtige said:

hsrob said:
I agree that this is a Square Enix issue more than a Microsoft one. Surely they are finishing the PS3 version before the 360 version for the Japanese release. Since they are doing simultaneous localisation i'd have to wonder if the Western release is in fact being affected much by the 360 version. As someone else pointed out this is not an unusually long cycle for a FF game and it is after all the largest FF production ever, it's going to take time.

With the move to HD, the overal costs have risen. Even a not unusual development time is now more of a financial strain on the company. To meet the level of detail you also need more people, which is the highest expense of them all. With any delay SE makes more costs and loses more potential profits. This is poor mangement. There is a reason, why Nintendo keeps its studio's compact and the development time short. 

This brings up the increasingly relevant question: Can you work more than 4 or 5 year on a game when the standard console lifetime is around 7 years?

 

Sure, but i'm certain that Microsoft is covering most or all of the extra costs that SE incurred due to the longer development cycle or at least the increased staffing requirements.  While Nintendo can be viewed as the ideal management style in terms of profit, they too have been guilty of lengthy development cycles, particularly in the N64 era. I remember that Ocarina of time was announced and shown in 1995 and didn't see the light of day until the end of 1998, and i think that few people would argue that the delays weren't worth it.

edit: i am making the assumption that Microsoft did pay for this game.