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Forums - Gaming - VGChartz Official Final Fantasy XIII Thread + League + VGCritic

Fab_GS on 18 February 2010

News archive:-

Xbox 360 and PS3 Are the Best Place For Final Fantasy's Cinematic Experience, says Square Enix
Snow and Lightning Get Urgent PSICOM Alerts
Final Fantasy XIII Launch Event Plans Revealed
Square announces London launch event for FFXIII
NeoGAF: Final Fantasy XIII xbox 360 - res analysis
X360 screenshots
Final Fantasy XIII Launch Party contest
Final Fantasy XIII Creators On The Influence of Call of Duty, Card Games & The Toyota Prius
7 Reasons to Wait in Line for Final Fantasy XIII Next Month
Motion control 'too exhausting' for Final Fantasy
FINAL FANTASY XIII COMPETITION: Win a Limited Edition Faceplate only given out at X10.
NowGamer: FFXIII Slightly Worse on Xbox 360
Final Fantasy XIII boss responds to review scores
Square Enix Comment On FFXIII PS3, 360 Comparisons
Square Enix Has "No Plans" For Final Fantasy XIII DLC
Sony starts Final Fantasy XIII marketing blitz
FFXIII PS3, Heavy Rain, And PS3 Console Rule Amazon’s Top 5 Bestsellers List
PS3 "helped envision" Final Fantasy XIII
FFXIII Devs Took Inspiration From Modern Warfare 2, Halo, Dragon Age And Fallout
Square Enix responds to doctored Final Fantasy XIII screens
The new official site
Square Enix Releases Doctored and Misleading FFXIII Screenshots: Shame on Them
The Final Fantasy XIII X360 bundle can be pre-ordered now from Amazon.
First pictures of the FF XIII Limited Edition Faceplate
Destructoid: Ten things I loved and Hated about Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy XIII HMV Exclusive Edition
Final Fantasy XIII - Xbox 360 Bundle Confirmed: Western Exclusive
Final Fantasy XIII Could Possibly Appear in 3D Someday
the X360 exclusive DLC is an Avatar DLC
Final Fantasy XIII to Sponsor the 2010 NBA All-Star Game
FINAL FANTASY XIII COSPLAY!
Final Fantasy XIII May Get a Limited Edtion Xbox 360 Bundle in NA
Official Final Fantasy XIII Character Artwork and Information

 

Previews:
AtomicGamer: FFXIII preview
SPOng: Preview
ConsoleMonster: FFXIII preview
Digital Spy: 'Final Fantasy XIII' Preview
G4TV: Final Fantasy XIII preview
StrategyInformer: Final Fantasy XIII preview
1UP: Preview
Guardian: Final Fantasy XIII preview
TeamXbox: Final Fantasy XIII Hands-On Preview (Xbox 360)
GameSpot X10: Final Fantasy XIII Hands-On
IGN X10: Final Fantasy XIII: 'Now I'm Excited'
VideoGamer: Final Fantasy 13 Hands-on Preview
GiantBomb: Ask Me Anything - Final Fantasy XIII
The Lost Gamer: Final Fantasy XIII | Xbox 360 Hands-on Preview
RPG Site: Final Fantasy XIII Xbox 360 Version Hands-On Impressions

More previews here


Interviews:
DigitalSpy: Final Fantasy XIII Interview
Gaming Target: FFXIII interview
CVG: Final Fantasy XIII Interview
Final Fantasy XIII developer interviews discuss franchise history, new battle system and favourites
The Examiner: Q&A with Final Fantasy XIII devs
Bitmob: Final Fantasy 13 Interview: Modern Warfare Influences, DLC Possibilities, and More
todojuegos: Interview with Yoshinori Kitase and Motomu Toriyama
Final Fantasy XIII devs talk: Challenges, future, and DLC
GamesRadar: Final Fantasy XIII interview
PlayStation Blog: Final Fantasy XIII: Your Questions Answered

Videos:
First FFXIII U.S. Commercial is for Xbox 360 only
GameSpot: New Final Fantasy XIII videos (spoilers)
Final Fantasy XIII X10 Gameplay (English version)


More videos here, here, here, here, here and here.

nal Fantasy 13 Hands-on Preview



Around the Network
Fab_GS on 18 February 2010

Games/Activities:-

1- Rate every Final Fantasy game you have played, give it a rating out of 10 in order from highest to lowest, lets see which FF game has the HIGHEST Average Score!

The scores (Average)
Click here


2- Ask eachother Final Fantasy Questions, from Past FF's, spoilers are allowed for past FF's. Lets see who can answer the MOST questions!
The Results so far:- 

Carl -- 41
Lestatdark -- 29.5
Fab_GS -- 19.5
Darthdevidem01 -- 18.5
Jneul -- 10
iLLmaticV3 -- 10
Wagram -- 7.5
Boutros -- 1
Crystalchild -- 0.75



3- Post your favorite Final Fantasy Scene & your most HATED Final Fantasy scene!

4- Name a crush that you have from any Final Fantasy game & give a reason.(post a picture of them if you want)

5- Post a music piece from any Final Fantasy, everyone else must guess WHICH part of that game the music piece is from!

 

 

6 - Final Fantasy Summon Battle

Rules

Each summon has 10 HP

You are meant to give a + & - to a summon in your post.

Giving a - = 2 HP lost

Giving a + = 1 HP Gained

You can have a combo where 2 people + & - the same thing, in this case the points are doubled, only double combo's are allowed.

If a summon is missing & you wish to add it you may do so, but you loose your turn by adding a new summon.

You can vote every 2 hours.

Odin - 23

Alexander - 12

Pandemona - 12

Siren - 11

Ultima - 11

Adrammelech - 10

Anima - 10

Ark - 10

Cerberus - 10

Chaos - 10

Chocobo - 10

Cúchulainn - 10

Diablos - 10

Doomtrain - 10

Exodus - 10

Famfrit - 10

Gilgamesh - 10

Hades - 10

Hashmal - 10

Hectatoncheir - 10

Leviathan - 10

Madeen - 10

The Magus Sisters - 10

Mateus - 10

Phoenix - 10

Shemhazai - 10

Yojimbo - 10

Zalera - 10

Zeromus - 10

Zodiark - 10

Titan - 9

Ifrit - 8

Ixion - 8

Kjata - 8

Bahamut - 7

 

ELIMINATED:

Carbuncle

Valefore

Ramuh

Shiva

Belias

________

Last Vote - Fab_GS



iLLmaticV3 on 18 February 2010

+ Ifrit

- Exodus



Odd. Future. Wolf. Gang. Kill. Em. All. OFWGKTA Don't give a fuck!

Fuck Steve Harvey. FREE EARL!

Final Fantasy Versus XIII will be the GREATEST game EVER made!!!

I'd take a bullet for Square-Enix! 

 

jneul on 19 February 2010

Ifrit +
Kjata -



it's the future of handheld

PS VITA = LIFE

The official Vita thread http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=130023&page=1

Fab_GS on 19 February 2010

+ Odin

- Cúchulainn



Around the Network
Fab_GS on 19 February 2010

TeamXbox Interview: Final Fantasy XIII Development Leads

Most of the game industry has its sights set on March 9, when Square Enix will unleash the next chapter in the Final Fantasy series on an RPG-hungry audience. And for the first time, Xbox owners will get in on the adventure when everyone else does, thanks to development of the project for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 for simultaneous launch.

At a recent demonstration to the gaming press, we not only had a chance to get some hands-on time with the game, but also to sit down and talk with a few of the development team. We asked a few questions about the game to Yoshinori Kitase (producer), Motomu Toriyama (director) and Yuji Abe (battle director) to get some insight into what they thought about when they were crafting the title. What follows is an edited transcript of our queries and their translated replies during the session.




TeamXbox: What did you set out to accomplish with this game?

Yoshinori Kitase: Since this is the first time that Final Fantasy is coming to hi-def consoles, we really wanted to take the series to the next level…a step further and showcase the evolution of the graphics as well as the gameplay system.

Another goal was that we wanted to take the story to the next level, to depict the human drama—the staple feature of the Final Fantasy series has always been a focus on the characters and having realistic relationships there. To portray that in the ultimate way was one of the goals of Final Fantasy XIII.




TeamXbox: What was it like working with the Xbox 360 as a launch platform for the game?

Yoshinori Kitase: It was more a challenge for the engineers and programmers to create something that applied to both systems [Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3]. With the Xbox 360, the programmers got to work on it starting about a year ago, and focused in a six-month period just purely on the development, the engineering of the Xbox 360 version.

Once that was done—even though that six-month period was the challenging part—development moved on from there.


TeamXbox: Is it an engine that you basically write it once and it spits out each system’s version or do you have to write each version separately?

Yoshinori Kitase: There are certainly engines that are specific to each platform, especially when it comes to the graphics, so those are worked on separately. The core engine that controls the game’s functions is a single one that’s applied to both platforms.

In terms of the character data and the planners’ workload, they only create a single set of data that can be used.


TeamXbox: As the series has progressed, they’ve obviously gotten more complex—some of it is the hardware capabilities, but part is the evolution of the game. You don’t want a new game to be too difficult that only the veteran players are good at it. How do you create a game that caters to the fans, but continues to draw in new players?

Yoshinori Kitase: With every Final Fantasy game, the battle system is created anew. Even though item names and things like that remain constant throughout the series, the experience is different every time.

Especially with Final Fantasy XIII, it’s something very different from what fans might be used to with previous titles. We were very careful to implement steps along the way so that the battle system is taught to players in little pieces, and they will get a hold and be able to control the system fully. Even though it’s very complex when it’s fully available to the player, newcomers and fans of the series alike will be able to gradually get into the battle system. That’s been something we’ve been really careful about throughout the series, always to have a solid tutorial system in place, and then unveil the complex, challenging battle system towards the latter half of the game, so that core fans can get into it as well.


TeamXbox: Speaking of the battle system, what did you feel you had to work on with this game…what did you want to introduce with the game’s battle system? The Paradigm system is an interesting way of handling things, so I’m curious what your approach was.

Yuji Abe: The main concept behind the battle system is being speedy and tactical, so the Battle Team took that and created a battle system that fit their overall goal. The main reason it’s speedy—they’ve evolved so much to the point that there’s so much movement going on onscreen, so they wanted to create a system that could keep up with that movement, but also keep the strategic side of it alive.

With Final Fantasy XIII’s battle system, we really shifted from more of a micromanaging the commands of each character to overseeing the flow of the battle and changing the tide of the battle accordingly.


TeamXbox: You don’t want the battle system play for the player, but at the same time, because of its complexity, you don’t want to hammer the player. How do you balance the complexity of the battle system with this lessening of the micromanagement?

Yuji Abe: It’s really up to the player how much effort they want to invest into the battle. As long as you have the functions of the battle system down, it’s not overwhelmingly complex.

The main focus of the Final Fantasy XIII battle system is definitely the Paradigm system and shifting the Paradigms. Players will have enough to do just managing the Paradigm system, and if the players want to take it a step further and also want to micromanage the commands while they’re also controlling the Paradigms, that’s more of an expert level type of style in the battle. People who want to focus on the Paradigm system can use the Auto-Battle command. The Auto-Battle availability set the line for players of different skill levels.


TeamXbox: Does the battle system change the Auto-Battle command based on the situation and what you’ll most benefit by?

Yuji Abe: The actions in Auto-Battle mode depends on what role they’re in first of all. If they’re in an offensive role, there are a lot of attack moves available to them. If they’re in a healing role, they’ll have those available to them.

The way they function, they could continuously attack in the way that AI characters do, but if you choose to use a “Libra” to get enemy information—such as their weaknesses; for example, if they’re weak against fire attacks and things like that—when you choose the Auto-Battle command in that state, characters will select moves that are specific to that enemy if they’ve “learned” and implement the attack that are necessary for that particular situation.




TeamXbox: So, if you use “Libra,” the battle system adapts with different attacks?

Yuji Abe: If you’re not using “Libra,” the characters do use random attacks, but then they do learn within the battle. For example, if they use a fire attack and it doesn’t work on the enemy, the character will know to choose a different attack the next time around. They’ll gradually learn the enemy’s stats.

If you use “Libra,” then they’ll know all that information up front so they can use it in the battle system.


TeamXbox: Where do you take the series from here? Surely, you take each game separately, but you have to be thinking ahead. How do you approach the future of the series?

Motomu Toriyama: All we can really say is that the Final Fantasy series keeps evolving. Depending on what hardware the title goes to next, the team will always try to pursue the best quality and try to utilize the technology to the fullest. We can’t say what direction it’ll go into specifically, but everything that we’ve always worked on with Final Fantasy—the technology, always having an immersive storyline and a new battle system…those three things will definitely will be present in any future Final Fantasy title.


TeamXbox: What are your feelings about Project Natal and what seems to be an evolution of game controllers among all the game companies to use motion control?

Motomu Toriyama: With the RPG style of the game, you have to spend so many hours in there, so a motion-control type of controller might not be best suited for especially a Final Fantasy…but it might be fun to have like dancing summons at some point and everyone could use the motion control to dance in the battle.


TeamXbox: In the course of development, there’s almost always something that developers throw against the wall to see if it sticks. Can you tell me one thing that you wanted to put in the game that didn’t make it because it didn’t work or you didn’t have the time to do it?

Motomu Toriyama [after one says something and all laugh]: Earlier in development, we did try in the field…right now, in the final product, there are certain places where the characters can go there and jump into different parts of the field. Early in the game, we tried a version where the players could control the jumping action, like in a Super Mario game.

That was ultimately cut because exploration of the field isn’t really the main focus of the game. The speed is something we wanted to keep up, and in order to keep the story flowing at a good pace, we felt that the extra actions in the field wouldn’t be essential to the final game, so it was cut.

 

http://interviews.teamxbox.com/xbox/2535/TXB-Interview-Final-Fantasy-XIII-Development-Leads/p1



Fab_GS on 19 February 2010

Final Fantasy XIII Fact Check: What We Know So Far

Maybe you've heard Final Fantasy XIII looks better on the Xbox 360. Or that it looks better on the PS3. Or that it's 720p. Or 1080p. Or 1080p sometimes, but 720p others.

Want the facts?

Fact number one: Final Fantasy XIII is a Japanese-style role-playing game by publisher Square Enix, the thirteenth installment in a series that's sold over 92 million units worldwide, one that reaches all the way back to the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987. (In case you're just dropping by and didn't know.) 'Japanese' in the sense that each installment is fundamentally story-driven, and, in terms of its visual design, narrative flow, and battle-driven gameplay, all-around over-the-top. Also: The English-language version is finally out for Xbox 360 and PS3 on Tuesday March 9.

Fact number two: We don't have all the facts here. That's not a cop-out, just full disclosure. Square Enix has the answers, but like any hyper-scrutinized games publisher, they play their cards close.

That said, let's see if we can't separate the stuff we know about the game from the stuff we don't.

I've heard they cut tons of stuff from the game and that it might resurface as downloadable content. True or false?

True and false. Back in August 2009, RPGSite scored an interview with Final Fantasy XIII's producer, Yoshinori Kitase. During the interview, Kitase said the company was "exploring the option of downloadable content, perhaps adding new areas, items or enemies, but these would not be expansions to the story, only the gameplay."

Adding to the mystery, in mid-January, game site Siliconera translated a summary (in Japanese) of an interview (also in Japanese) with Final Fantasy XIII art director Isamu Kamikokuryou, who reportedly said that several areas were cut (a secret base, a home for one of the characters, a zoo) from the final product. Siliconera credits Kamikokuryou as saying there was actually enough cutting-room-floor content to make another game entirely.

Earlier this week, Final Fantasy XIII battle director Yuji Abe set the record straight, stating Square Enix has no plans to release DLC "at this time." Regarding the dropped content, Abe said "There was content that were 'ideas' that didn't make the final content, but the team isn't looking to release that as downloadable content."

So no, the lopped off content probably won't be resurfacing, no Square Enix has no imminent plans for DLC, and yes, when Abe says no DLC "at this time," he's left the door cracked for something down the road.

Just don't count on it.

Will any of the English language versions of the game support a spoken Japanese option with English subtitles?

No, they won't. Much as I'd like to see this myself, including it wouldn't be as simple as it sounds. For one, Final Fantasy XIII is the first game in series to support full English-language lip-syncing. Prior installments just ran the Japanese character mouth animations with English actor overdubs.

To support a spoken Japanese option with English subs, you'd need to include (a) double the character lip-sync code, (b) double the cut scene video, and double the voice acting. Who knows how much space that'd take up, but it certainly wouldn't bode well for the Xbox 360 version, which already ships on three DVDs. That, and you'd increase manufacturing time (the time it takes to burn all that extra data to however-many millions of discs).

Final Fantasy XIII producer Yoshinori Kitase told PlayStation UK that he'd "heard at other media presentations that this was a popular request," and that it "came to [him] as a surprise." Which, speculating here, could mean Square Enix might take this request seriously next time and plan to support it from the start.

Why would someone who doesn't understand Japanese prefer the Japanese version with English subtitles? Because some of us enjoy the vocal inflections of the game's Japanese actors, which, depending on your vantage, arguably jibe better with the rest of a game crafted by Japanese designers.

Does the game install anything to the hard drive?

No, it doesn't. The PS3 versions runs entirely off the Blu-ray disc. Hands-on with final English code, the game's installed nothing to my 'Game Data Utility' folder.

The Xbox 360 version can either run off the DVDs, or from the hard drive if you opt for an install, though it still requires the disc be in the drive to play.

Also: Save files run between 370k and 455k each on the PS3 version, and can be copied to external media.

Is Final Fantasy XIII 720p or 1080p?

No one's seen the back of the US retail boxes yet, but the back of the Japanese import case (I own a copy) reads 'Supported HD video output: NTSC, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p', which sounds like it supports the top-level HDTV display standard (1920 x 1080 lines of resolution). Just below that, however, it reads 720p HD, which suggests the game actually tops out at the second-best progressive scan setting (1280 x 720 lines of resolution) and that 'supported' simply mean 'capable of running on a 1080p television'.

Still confused? So am I. When in doubt, ask someone on the development team. In this case, the game's battle director Yuji Abe (from a February 12 interview on the official PlayStation blog).

Q: What is the native video resolution and audio format on the PS3?

A: Final Fantasy XIII runs in 720p and Dolby Digital 5.1

For those who thought the PS3 version displayed the cut scenes at 1080p and the in-game bits at 720p, or that the whole thing runs in 1080p native, I read Abe's clarification as: "Bzzzt, wrong."

As for the Xbox 360 version, Square Enix hasn't said as far as I know. There's a "story" grabbed from a popular message board circulating that it actually runs at 576p (720 or 704 x 576 lines of resolution), but it's based on comparisons of dubious screenshots, kind of like gauging the authenticity of a Picasso from pictures of the painting snapped with a disposable camera.

So which version looks better? Xbox 360 or PS3?

Both versions look fantastic. Read any of the recent hands-on previews and that's what everyone's saying, no ifs, ands, or buts.

So why all this squabbling?

Cable news tends to be 80 or 90 percent crap to fill the 24 hour news hole. Same applies to message boards. 80 to 90 percent babble, 24 hour dialogue-hole, and gamers with nothing better to do than fuss over screenshots and hatch conspiracy theories and generally poke each other with sticks, just to see what happens.

If you're after a technical comparison, none yet exists. Don't assume the guys at Game Site X claiming to know have a clue. For all you know, they've got their PS3s plugged in HDMI and their 360s connected VGA to an HDTV with mismatched input variables. Besides, what the heck does "slightly crisper" mean, anyway?

 

Aren't the Xbox 360 video sequences compressed since they're on DVD instead of Blu-ray?

Final Fantasy XIII's game engine renders all its in-game stuff and many of the cut scenes on the fly, but streams the lengthier cut scenes off disc as pre-rendered video. Early reports from a few magazines with final 360 code suggest the Xbox 360's pre-rendered cut scenes aren't as crisp or vibrant (or whatever--pick an adjective) as the PS3 version's, suggesting it's due to video compression due to DVD's storage constraints.

That said, they're quick to point out that even compressed, the video looks terrific, which makes me wonder why we're talking about it at all.

What about disc-swapping? Isn't the Xbox 360 inferior because I have to swap discs?

Some context: It takes 35 seconds for an Xbox 360 to boot up, from power-on to Xbox LIVE sign-in. Read that again: 35 seconds. We take that for granted each time we tap the power button and reach for the controller. Say you power your 360 on and off a couple times a day: That's one or two minutes on a daily basis spent waiting to play.

By contrast, it takes me 15 seconds to open the 360's disc tray, pop out a DVD, and insert a new one. Read that again: 15 seconds.

The Xbox 360 version of Final Fantasy XIII comes on three DVDs, which means that over the course of between 50 and 100 total game hours--assuming you're playing to finish--you'll have to make two swaps. That's 30 seconds out of somewhere between 180,000 and 360,000 total.

If that's too much to ask, or even a reason for preferring one version over another, you should probably quit gaming and check yourself into a mental ward, because you're either pathologically lazy or clinically nuts.

You're not really helping here. I just want to know which version to buy.

It's simple really. If you're an Xbox 360 owner, buy the Xbox 360 version. If you're a PS3 owner, buy the PS3 version. If you don't own either, have a look at the all the service-related reasons for owning one or the other. Don't base financial decisions that could lock you into a platform for years on message board conjecture.

Which version are you buying?

I'm fortunate enough to have both versions to hand, so I don't have to choose. But if I did, it'd be a coin toss.

 

http://www.pcworld.com/article/189792-3/final_fantasy_xiii_fact_check_what_we_know_so_far.html



Crystalchild on 19 February 2010

+ Odin
- Cerberus



I'm a Foreigner, and as such, i am grateful for everyone pointing out any mistakes in my english posted above - only this way i'll be able to improve. thank you!

darksquall2 on 19 February 2010

+bahamut
-titan



Death is nothing to fear

All death means is a new destination

 

Fab_GS on 19 February 2010

+ Odin

- Titan