As one of the most anticipated releases on the current-generation of home videogames consoles this year, last week’s launch of Final Fantasy XIII was unsurprisingly met with great commercial success. Available across western territories on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Square Enix’s latest release in the bloodline of the series which had earned them a reputation for delivering uncompromising Role-Playing Game (RPG) experiences was welcomed with open arms by owners of both systems. However, in the UK, the ongoing battle for format supremacy has surely taken Final Fantasy XIII as a casualty.
While the game remains available solely on PlayStation 3 in Japan, the UK release of Final Fantasy XIII has been much more widely publicised for the Xbox 360. Along with a number of bundle options including both the software and a console to play it on, television adverts and sponsored magazine coverage has often managed to conveniently forget that the game is also available on Sony’s PlayStation 3 – the system for which the game had originally been announced as an exclusive title worldwide. However, it appears that the additional publicity for the Xbox 360’s release of Final Fantasy XIII hasn’t gone without a hitch.
As part of Microsoft’s continuing promotional activities for Final Fantasy XIII, a newsletter was distributed to members of the Xbox LIVE community last night. Offering up details on Square Enix’s RPG, the newsletter pointed interested parties to the Final Fantasy XIII page at the Xbox 360’s official website, xbox.com, where it seems an unfortunate mistake has been made. Though only distinguishable to knowing followers of the franchise, the trailer promoted on the page – through the use of Microsoft’s proprietary video delivery service, Silverlight, no less – is in fact comprised of footage taken from the PlayStation 3 release. Apparent through the use of Japanese voice acting (complimented by English subtitles) and text during the battle sequences, the trailer appears to be an expanded version of that used to originally unveil thedevelopment of an Xbox 360 version at the ElectronicEntertainment Expo (E3) in 2008.
With all this added exposure for the Xbox 360version, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Microsoft’s format would be leading the race. However, this was revealed as not being the case in the first week of retail availability. Electronic Theatre will keep you updated with all the latest details on Final Fantasy XIII, and other titles in the Final Fantasy franchise.
http://www.electronictheatre.co.uk/index.php/industry-news/4356-microsoft-using-playstation-3-footage-to-promote-final-fantasy-xiii-on-xbox-360
