New FFXIII(and Versus) footage.

[Eric]

You can definitely see the influence from Kingdom Hearts in the Versus trailer.

FFXIII

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/29007.html?type=mov

FFXIII: Versus

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/29006.html?type=mov

Silly me, I almost forgot to add *fap* *fap* *fap*

And it's totally ok cause there's a chick in the first trailer! So ha!

[Blotus]

You can definitely see the influence from Kingdom Hearts in the Versus trailer.

He's so dark and brooding! One might say he's...



Emo?

[Tessian]

They're going to have a spinoff before the first one's made?? wtf?

And this really will be a PS3 exclusive?? How much money did Sony have to throw at SquareEnix to make that happen?


Oh, and even though I don't really see it Lotus, this song's for you:
I Must be Emo

[Blotus]

OLD! Still funny, though.

[RentCavalier]

FFXIII proper looks pretty slick--the art direction looks properly fantasy enough for me to believe that SE won't totally cockfuck it.

FFXIII: Deformed Bastard Child Made From Nomura's Radioactive Toxic Sperm can go ahead and get fucked.

[Don]

FF13 being PS3 exclusive is probably an issue of hardware capability. It's not exactly a secret that the FF franchise tends to rely on an overpowering amount of graphic firepower as part of its success.

[SineSwiper]

One, this is mostly FMV. You don't need massive hardware to play video.

Two, I wouldn't knock 360's capabilities. Just because it doesn't have cell processors doesn't mean it can't hold its own.

Three, even if the 360 couldn't play the full blown graphics of the PS3 version, it's only a matter of reducing a few polygons.

[Kupek]

Err, probably not. For performance, they probably have a decent amount of code that is specialized for the Cell processor. Porting the game to the 360 would require re-optimizing for a different architecture. It's possible, of course, but considering how little presence the 360 has in Japan, I doubt it's worth the effort.

As for the movies, they don't do anything for me. Typical anime-inspired fight scenes and aesthetic. I'm more interested in seeing what the actual game is like. You know, the part you <i>play</i>. There was some in-engine footage, but no context for the gameplay itself. And the visuals for FF13 are really garish. Hopefully the rest of the game is more coherent, and less stimuli overload.

[Tessian]

Err, probably not. For performance, they probably have a decent amount of code that is specialized for the Cell processor. Porting the game to the 360 would require re-optimizing for a different architecture.

You forget how many games are on both systems already... it's not that difficult or companies wouldn't bother with the PS3.

And Don... I hate to challenge your post but I've never considered FF games "overpowering amount of graphic firepower". Gameplay graphics for any FF game were mid level for the console they were on at best. Cinematics were ALWAYS top notch, but as Sine pointed out it's not that hard to play pre-rendered video.

Gameplay graphics for FF games (which we see almost none of in these clips) have never been all that impressive. The 360 could easily handle whatever FFXIII has to throw at it. At worst it'll need to put it on multiple DVD's instead of Blu-ray.

[Kupek]

Most of those games were cross platform from the beginning. Consider the difficulties they're having in getting Orange Box up and running well on the PS3. Is it because the project was handed to a second-tier team, or are developing for the different architectures really that different? We can't know for sure, but I bet it's some of both. From what I know of the two processors, optimizations for one won't work for the other. It's not a question of "can the 360 handle FF13?" It's a question of whether or not it's worth the money to make the 360 handle FF13.

[Don]

If you look at all the FFs since about FF7, they've been at the top graphically for their respective generation. Whether it's more polygons or voice acting, all this stuff requires firepower/space. I don't know if weaker hardware is sufficient or not to handle it but Final Fantasy, at least the main ones, goes hand in hand with a powerful system.

Perhaps we're at a point where FF no longer looks visually impressive compared to what others can do.

[Tessian]

I don't know if weaker hardware is sufficient or not to handle it but Final Fantasy

See, there's your problem-- 360 is not "weaker" compared to the PS3. Not in capabilities. The processors is where the two differ and it's still up for debate whether the cell processor was a smart choice at all. Compare any game released on both platforms and the 360 version comes out on top. Easiest example is Assassin's Creed-- 360 version has more people on the streets, longer draw distances (both because the cell processor sucks at those things).

Kupek's reasoning is the only one that holds water because it's not an issue of whether it can be ported; it's whether they think it's worth the investment. That, and I can bet you Sony threw a lot of money at them to promise exclusivity since that's what the PS3 is really lacking right now; good exclusives.

[Don]

As far as I know Square has their own graphic engine that's tailored to the PS3. That's probably a design decision.

[SineSwiper]

Yes, but they've already said that they are going cross-platform. Maybe not with the same games, but that still means that they need a GFX engine for all of the systems. So, once they create that, porting is a lot easier.

In-game graphics is the only thing that matters for the issue of porting. Everything else from network code to audio/video playback is high level enough to not worry about.