Square was actually working on FF7 for the N64 before the big jump to Sony. I'm too lazy to link now, but you can find screenshots and vids from the prototype. They're pretty radtacular.

Kasz216 said: akuma587 said: disolitude said: Kasz216 said: FF7 came to the PS1 because Sony bought FF7. They pumped in MASSIVE amounts of money for that game. Wasn't that the deal where Sony gave them the building Squaresoft worked in? Or was that the bailout after Spirits Within? Does anyone know if this is true? I was never a final fantasy fan nor did i own a ps1 at that time to know aht Sony was doing with their cash...I was saturn all the way :) Without a link, its not true. So you want me to dig up old reports about things that are mostly common knowledge from the PS1 days. Well here we go anyway... 100 Million spent on the game just for advertising... for North America only... which was quite the unprecidented record... let alone for a third party release. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1997_August_27/ai_19701566 It wouldn't of been on N64, however a multiplatform release wouldn't of been out of the question.

 Did you bother even reading the article you are citing??

The overall Final Fantasy VII campaign is just a portion of PlayStation brand's unprecedented $100 million marketing campaign supporting the PlayStation brand and a multitude of other key titles.

FF7 ads were a portion of the 100 mil. But that's that's only one mistake.

Next question, how would you fit 2 gigs on a 64 cart? Had perhaps 10+ cart release? 

Last the article you showed as evidence simply says Sony advertised the game and not that they paid a lot to get it on the PS1.

Square chose PS1 over 64 due to the media, Carts were outdated but ninty didn't get the memo.   They have since corrected the mistake but it took them 2 gens to bounce back.

MaximusOptimus said: Kasz216 said: akuma587 said: disolitude said: Kasz216 said: FF7 came to the PS1 because Sony bought FF7. They pumped in MASSIVE amounts of money for that game. Wasn't that the deal where Sony gave them the building Squaresoft worked in? Or was that the bailout after Spirits Within? Does anyone know if this is true? I was never a final fantasy fan nor did i own a ps1 at that time to know aht Sony was doing with their cash...I was saturn all the way :) Without a link, its not true. So you want me to dig up old reports about things that are mostly common knowledge from the PS1 days. Well here we go anyway... 100 Million spent on the game just for advertising... for North America only... which was quite the unprecidented record... let alone for a third party release. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1997_August_27/ai_19701566 It wouldn't of been on N64, however a multiplatform release wouldn't of been out of the question.   Did you bother even reading the article you are citing?? The overall Final Fantasy VII campaign is just a portion of PlayStation brand's unprecedented $100 million marketing campaign supporting the PlayStation brand and a multitude of other key titles. FF7 ads were a portion of the 100 mil. But that's that's only one mistake. Next question, how would you fit 2 gigs on a 64 cart? Had perhaps 10+ cart release? Last the article you showed as evidence simply says Sony advertised the game and not that they paid a lot to get it on the PS1. Square chose PS1 over 64 due to the media, Carts were outdated but ninty didn't get the memo. They have since corrected the mistake but it took them 2 gens to bounce back.

PS1/Saturn multi-platform release. Not PS1/N64.

Regardless the FF7 adds were unprecenedented. It was by far the most advertised game of it's time. That's how companies buy games. They just don't say "Hey here's a lot of money".

They say "Hey we'll pay for your advertising and spend 10 times what you were planning to" and "Hey we'll give you a great distribution deal 10% less then everyone else" "Hey we'll lend you said producers, or sell you said buisness item cheaper"

 

ET

MaximusOptimus said:  FF7 was on three disks so let's assume it is around 2 gigs of data.  No matter what your compression technology was at the time 2 gigs was not fitting on a 64 cartridge.  I think that is why FF7 went to PS1 and perhaps some money was offered but not massive.

So you think they made the game and then tried to figure out which system to put it on? The idea that it was bought away is actually a believable concept. The thought that they made the game and then tried to figure out where to put it is ludicrous at best. I would personally attribute the fact that FF7 went to the PS1 more to the fact that Nintendo spend 10 years pissing all over third parties more than anything else, but I could believe it was bought. The notion that it was because they couldn't fit the game they hadn't made yet on any medium is absurd.

A saturn release of the game wouldn't have been out of the question considering how well the saturn was doing in Japan at the time.

MaximusOptimus said: disolitude said: Kasz216 said: FF7 came to the PS1 because Sony bought FF7. They pumped in MASSIVE amounts of money for that game. Wasn't that the deal where Sony gave them the building Squaresoft worked in? Or was that the bailout after Spirits Within? Does anyone know if this is true? I was never a final fantasy fan nor did i own a ps1 at that time to know aht Sony was doing with their cash...I was saturn all the way :)  FF7 was on three disks so let's assume it is around 2 gigs of data.  No matter what your compression technology was at the time 2 gigs was not fitting on a 64 cartridge.  I think that is why FF7 went to PS1 and perhaps some money was offered but not massive.

If i recall, PSX CD:s were just below 600MB, and the last disc didn't need to be full, so 1,5 GB would be closer in my opinion. Multidisc releases requires certain elements to be on every disc, so that saves some space too, and multicartrige release would also be an option. Anyway, if the would have been made for N64, it would have been made to fit the number of cartriges that would have been financially wise, when the biggest space went to videos. And as Rubang said, the game already was in developement for N64, but Sony propably sacrificed some cash to get FF7 for PSX (like Kasz said). And after all, PSX was the cheapest platform of the three to develope and release games.

It seems to me Super Mario 64 was pretty important to the gaming industry.

Gnizmo said: MaximusOptimus said: FF7 was on three disks so let's assume it is around 2 gigs of data. No matter what your compression technology was at the time 2 gigs was not fitting on a 64 cartridge. I think that is why FF7 went to PS1 and perhaps some money was offered but not massive. So you think they made the game and then tried to figure out which system to put it on? The idea that it was bought away is actually a believable concept. The thought that they made the game and then tried to figure out where to put it is ludicrous at best. I would personally attribute the fact that FF7 went to the PS1 more to the fact that Nintendo spend 10 years pissing all over third parties more than anything else, but I could believe it was bought. The notion that it was because they couldn't fit the game they hadn't made yet on any medium is absurd.

It was both. Nintendo and Square had a well publicized divorce (no I don't have a link but I remember announcements by Square talking about the reasons why they took FF off of Nintendo--including both relationship and cartridge. Then Square chose Sony over Sega because Sony showered them in money. I agre with Kasz, this was common knowledge at the time, well publicized and out in the open. It's not really something that has to be debated.

OT: You may not want bad decision moments, but they're some of the most fascinating moments in the wars:

1.  As Thekitchensink said, Atari releases ET after five weeks of development time. 4 million copies are produced and shipped, game sucks, tons of copies unsold, helping lead to the Great Video Game Crash

2. Atari releases their port of Pac-Man, a truly terrible port that destroys consumer confidence. In addition, they produce 12 million units despite only 10 million 2600s in circulation. The game sells 7 million copies, leaving Atari to have to cover the cost of 5 million unsold copies. Helps spur the Great Video Game Crash

3. Atari, out of anger that Nintendo game the rights to Donkey Kong to Coleco, backs out of US distribution deal for the Famicom. Not sure what to do, Nintendo decides to release the console themselves in the US, revitalizing gaming in the US.

4. Nintendo releases Mortal Kombat on the SNES in a severely censored version. Fans are outraged. Appearing at the same time is Sega's release of MK complete with blood effects and fatalities. Despite being the graphically inferior version (12 colors as opposed to 16), Mortal Kombat on the Genesis sells incredibly well and helps Genesis compete with the SNES for much longer than it would otherwise (just as important a moment as the release of Sonic, IMO).

5. Nintendo announces the maker of their SNES CD add-on will be Philips, much to the surprise of their other development partner for the add-on, Sony. Left holding the bag and with a deeply in-development CD-ROM based console, Sony decides to continue development on it and release it themselves.

It might not have shifted the console wars, but very important:

1. Nintendo releases Super Mario 64, the first true, well done 3D world in a console game (as opposed to the corridor based world of Doom). The 2D to 3D revolution begins in earnest.