It will have an effect, but not a massive one as its not being released in Japan so the territory that would really benefit from FF13 isn't getting it. However what it will do is make a lot of people that have a 360 not buy a ps3 for this game (I know several people that have a 360 that were going to buy a ps3 for FF13 for example). But overall the biggest impact it'll have is more the fact that it'll reduce the hardware sales spike that the ps3 was going to get more then helping the 360 too much.

If FFXIII doesnt' affect the console wars at all, then Sony fanboys sure has been spouting off gibberish for years. I know one thing, if sure as hell affect moral, to say the very least.

hardware sales due to FF13 will be divided across the two consoles, like with GTA IV, and Wii won't be affected by much....

It's because that's what all the current evidence points to. If you can speculate about obvious happenings in Japan, Benga can speculate about obvious happenings in America, and yes, 360 software selling better in america is an obvious happening, and with FFXIII and the price cut, I think the 360 gained a lot of ground in the Americas today, to say the least.

Think of it this way. If there was one thing that I coulda picked, yesterday that I woulda said was the best possible announcement MS could possibly make to regain ground in the console war, after about 30 minutes of thought, it would be to gain exclusivity for FFXIII. Well it didn't do that, but it did get it as a multiplat. Megaton. This isn's some small, margalizationional thing.

I guess the Sony fanboys sticking by the company are gonna say what they say though.

The biggest spike would have been in Japan, where the PS3 is flagging the most.

Assuming SE doesn't change its mind about doing a 360 Japanese port, which is unlikely unless the 360 magically starts moving units in Japan, initial sales of PS3 hardware spurred by FFXIII in Japan all the way through its regional exclusivity period (maybe 6-12 months) would be a fair gauge as to how many hardware units FFXIII could have potentially moved in English speaking markets had it remained an exclusive.

Heres how I see it... This console generation is a "race" and Microsoft just took a hammer and bashed Sony in the knees. Do you think a band-aid (FF VII remake, any other hopeless redeeming game) will make it all better? I see sony collapsing on the race track unless they have something worthwhile coming, and soon.

Ugh ive had a massive headache since the announcement. If all goes well then XIII wont be compromised in terms of uncompression, length, etc because those fine details DO make a difference.

Off topic: This was the main reason I bought my 60 gigger back in '07...for $600. Now im slightly pissed because I could have picked up a 360 with $200 to spare for 3 extra games. *sob*

I sort of agree with you but this is still a fairly large switch and will have a noticeable impact in US and Europe.

My view in summary:

a) Without Japan this doesn't really help 360 there (obviously) and FF will therefore still likely help PS3 a lot in Japan so no big loss for Sony there

b) As a multi-p title it will result in (most likely) a similar split to GTA IV in US and Europe, probably driving more PS3 consoles than 360 but definitely helping 360, particularly with folks how plump for 360 over PS3 based on this

c) If you bought a PS3 for this its just a moral impact. You're still going to get the game with Versus looking like it will still be exclusive

d) Good boost for 360 in US particularly and UK as this will return some momentum - particularly as this announcement aside I thought the rest of MS stuff was poor and I'm really doubtful all this effort to copy Wii is going to pay of for them


As I've never played a FF (like many after all) it matters not a jot to me at all.

Kepp on dreaming . Well to be honest untill I dont see Sonys press conference I wont say anything . Sony had to know that this will happen , so they probably cooked something good :P

It will be like GTAIV, no effect on consoles sales because now its multi. But it could have helped push PS3 in NA.

I don't agree, I think the fact that it wasn't on Wii is part of what keeps 360 and PS3 combined over Wii in sales.

There aren't many system sellers.  Libraries sell games but I am a gamer who buys any console the main FF is on.

I am sure I am not the only person.  Mario, Zelda, FF, Halo, GTA, MGS all sell consoles in the long term.  Many people are attracted to one of these games and then rationalize the purchase by becoming fanboys or genuinely finding games they like.  We see this in people's reaction today.

Edit:

If Wii had GTAIV, MGS4, and/or FFXIII do you think we'd even be having this discussion?