The internet is at a buzz once again due to the recent Final Fantasy XIII TV spot making an appearance during the NBA’s recent All-Star event displaying only the Xbox 360 version of the title. Many argue that Square Enix is abandoning Final Fantasy’s roots as a PlayStation exclusive series while abandoning their loyal fans. I find the whole situation to be very ironic and a sign of desperation. In all honesty who didn’t anticipate an Xbox 360 exclusive TV spot for this title? Microsoft knows that main Final Fantasy series is synonymous with PlayStation; which is why Sony could care-less about Final Fantasy XIII going multiplatform and being marketed on Microsoft’s platform.
As much as I love my Xbox 360 I question Microsoft’s “money to blow logic”. We’ve seen a ridiculous amount of money wasted and shoveled at publishers for things like timed and marketing exclusivity; Final Fantasy XIII is another example of this. Just recently the long rumored GTA IV Episodes of Liberty City was officially announced to be coming to the PlayStation 3 after Microsoft’s $50 million dollar timed exclusivity deal with Rockstar expired. Fallout 3 underwent the same treatment as in October of last year the GOTY edition of the title released on both platforms featuring all the current DLC available. There is one question the Microsoft camp should be asking themselves, was it worth handing money to publishers for limited exclusivity rather than investing in their own titles?
Those who look at FFXIII from Sony’s perspective shouldn’t care one bit about Microsoft’s desperate marketing. For one, God of War 3 releases no less than a week after that title; if Sony were to market that game as much Microsoft probably will they would be competing with themselves. Pretty much every enthusiastic Final Fantasy fan will purchase XIII on the PlayStation 3 regardless of it appearing on other platforms. The capacity of Blu-Ray relieves the hassle of having to deal with the tedious disc swapping of 360’s FFXIII. Its 2010 nobody wants to get out of their seat to switch a DVD because the game can’t fit on 1 disc, we dealt with disc swapping 10 years ago via Final Fantasy 7.
Xbox 360’s demographic doesn’t find much interest in JRPGs, we have seen plenty of these titles come and go on 360. Outside Japan these JRPGs being hugely successful on a Microsoft platform is wishful thinking. It would be much easier and far less expensive for Microsoft to just stick to their niche titles and cater to their crowd. What possible satisfaction is Microsoft getting with FFXIII when no one cares about it? They seem to tout games that are no longer exclusive to PlayStation 3 like an accomplishment so they can present themselves to Sony with a chip on their shoulder.
I question Microsoft’s rationality though I’m sure the publishers like Square Enix love the green that is thrown their way. In the end Sony is playing their cards right, they still have FFXIII releasing on their platform along with other blockbuster exclusives like God of War 3 and MLB 10 The Show releasing in March. Thank Microsoft for marketing FFXIII for Sony.
http://www.ironstarmovement.com/profiles/blogs/microsoft-desperately
