Excellent news for Final Fantasy fans.

https://www.gematsu.com/2022/12/esrb-rates-final-fantasy-pixel-remaster-series-for-ps4-switch

ESRB rates Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster series for PS4, Switch
The Entertainment Software Rating Board has rated the Pixel Remaster versions of Final Fantasy I, Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy V, and Final Fantasy VI for PlayStation 4 and Switch.

Kinda weird that it's not also on Xbox since Xbox has 7-12. Seems kinda unfair for them to not complete the set. 

That’s a much bigger debate overall. I don’t believe 7-12 on Xbox launched day and date with the PS sku’s. I would suspect that they will eventually come over to Xbox in due time though. Then you look at the Japanese side of things where they are pretty much nonexistent in that region. But Square Enix knows where the fan base is at and knows where the consumers are that will purchase these games day 1. I suspect after a year or two SE will take some GP money and do a deal with that. It’s much less riskier that way for them.

 They’ve seen the data and have experience with MS now with their JRPG’s either just launching on their system or with their Gamepass platform. It made sense for Outriders on day 1 but Octopath Traveler 2 is skipping it after MS paid for the first. Then you look at games like Star Ocean that didn’t even chart in the Oct NPD on the Xbox side. There are also some Xbox gamers that are outright boycotting Crisis Core (which is coming to Xbox) for example because of the FF7R situation and that’s not going to help this case. 

So I think things going forward are going to be a case by case basis for SE games on Xbox day 1. Financially, it just makes sense for Japanese publishers to do PS/Switch on day 1 for consumers who prefer to buy their games day 1 and then when that revenue starts to saturate over time they know MS will offer from 1 to 100 million dollars for a Gamepass deal.  It spreads out the revenue stream over time for an IP and it’s just a good long term strategy.

FF VIII was the same day.

IX was a year and 5 months after.

VII was like 4 years after.

I'm becoming convinced that Square has a random generator between 0 and 4 years that determines when they launch the Xbox version after the Playstation one.

There's no rhyme or reason to when they launch the Switch/Xbox versions relative to the PS version.

That’s understandable, I just believe MS has changed things overall because they created a new revenue stream for these publishers. Things are different now in 2022 and beyond as subscriptions are becoming more popular.

From a business point of view only, there is little incentive to launch retro games of an established IP that have decades of history with Sony and Nintendo on Xbox day 1 now that Gamepass exists. Those publishers get their phase 1 launch with fan service purchases on the Japanese consoles and down the road get a phase 2 launch with MS. Then the game will get paraded on the MS E3 stage, get all the marketing cost taking care of and will effectively get a relaunch. Something that a lot of game companies don’t get. It’s a win/win for that publisher financially.

That’s why games like Octopath Traveler, Ni No Kuni, Persona, DQ11 etc arrive on that platform later on. However, just because MS paid for a one of, it doesn’t mean future or prior installments of that IP will launch day and date with other versions either. This is just my personal opinion is all from looking at the market trends lately.

What is it with Square-Enix consistently making no sense? Nothing about Kingdom HEarts has made sense since like the first or MAYBE second one. Their naming convention are absurdly stupid and have been for decades. they somehow managed to completely give up on all their non JRPG games. Absolute batshit insanity that the Pixel Remasters were PC/Mobile first (Seriously, everyone who has nostalgia for those games are Nintendo or Sony gamers today). Octopath Traveller is on Switch and XBOX of all things for some moronic reason, and its sequel is....PS5 and Switch? But the first one isn't out on PS5? And the second one isn't out on Xbox? Some of their games are exclusive while others are not and it's hard to tell what is and isn't. They fucked up with XIII and its sequels, they fucked up with XIV originally, they fucked up with XV (I liked it but I'm not gonna pretend it wasn't a disappointing mess in the entire third act), they fucked up with VII Remake (I actually LOVE the direction they're going with it but I do not speak for the majority it seems), Crisis Core is meh, Forspoken is getting a lot of early hate thanks to the demo (And I agree with that hate, the controls were SO bad). 

Like, I don't know how a company responsible for like 20 of my top 50 games of all time, a company that was pumping out all-time classics year after year for the entire 90s basically, a company that was at the forefront of EVERY technological and story-based leap forward in the medium for my formative years could fall off so hard. 

Their games take fucking FOREVER to make now. They're diving headfirst into NFTs six months after the fad died down and crashed. The games they do make are laughably poorly written for the most part (Except FFXIV now it seems). The games they do make are rarely pretty anymore compared to what other companies are doing. 

And again, every decision they make seems to be baffling and inconsistent and less like it was decided upon by people who want to make money and more like it was literally decided upon by monkeys throwing their shit at the walls. 

I try to give them the benefit of the doubt because they are responsible for many of my all-time favourite games, but I think square-Enix are worse at making games than Microsoft and you all know how critical I am of Microsoft. I think they are worse at reading the markets than literally everyone else except Konami. (like how could they possibly genuinely be SURPRISED when Octopath Traveller became a hit? EVERYONE WAS BEGGING FOR IT AND ITS PRODUCTION COSTS WERE LOW!) I just, I don't want to rant TOO much because it's so exhausting to do that but holy hell I don't understand how that entire company is so goddamn inept. They're stupid, they don't have their fingers on ANY pulses, they make ALL the baffling decisions, and all it takes is one person to look at their company and it'd be so easy to fix it. 

I Swear they're actively trying to tank their own legacy at this point. 

And this is coming from someone who's two most anticipated games next year are FFXVI and FFVII Rebirth (Well those and Starfield, but this is a PS thread). 

It hurts my heart and soul so much to see how far the mighty have fallen. I just want to see FFXVI go back to epic narratives with deep characters and well-made worlds all mixed with top of the line cinematics and gameplay. What I have seen HAS made me excited (moreso than any game since XII), but after the last 16 years of abstract failure on their part with only a sprinkling of success, I'm not expecting the world. 

You know what? I blame Enix. Square and Enix both were amazing until they merged. After that, both companies seem to have tanked as one. I'm far angrier about this than I should be. Someone needs to grab the owners/leaders/creative directors of Square Enix and backhand some sense into them. So sick of a company with some of the best legacy in the business being utterly unwilling and incapable of keeping up or giving people what they want or even subverting expectations in a way that doesn't piss half the community off. 

5 years ago I played GoW and HZD and 5 years later I'm playing their sequels. I love being here.

Small update on the PlayStation 5 that has a detachable disc drive - I've heard from two people now that the test kit is in people's hands and it "works flawlessly". We should hear more about it officially soon.https://t.co/2rzlDrjYAb

— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) December 12, 2022

Platined GoW Ragnarok and I'm about to start HFW too xD

Yeah, didnt like DMC4 the first time I played it and compared to previous titles, I still like DMC3 more.

Still, its better than DMC2 which was just horrible lol.

I'm planning to play DMC5 in the future too.

This is great news, been wanting to play them on Switch (and get them on PS4 as well).

Shame that there's no Xbox version rated.

They will likely release it super late like the other ports.

Its likely the sales were bad compared to the other platforms which isnt surprising.

But ya I think they will release the titles sometime down the line.

Its all about

This might be the version I will buy depends on the price. I dont mind going all digital but I do have a few PS4 titles that are physical.

I'm likely gonna go all digital for PS5 titles.