Final Fantasy Versus XIII is “Playstation3 only Worldwide”

I wouldn’t be surprised if it goes to the 360 too, what with S-E saying they want to focus on multiplatform titles. Though I’d wish S-E would spread the multiplatform goodness to us PS3 owners too. Star Ocean 4 announcement now, please!

Nomura loves PS3 and he won´t allow a game developed by him go to an american console. FF XIII was an exception because was Kistase´s decision.

Ke bien , el ps3 ya necesitaba de juegos exclusivos , y que mejor juego que final fantasy XIII versus :D.

Star Ocean 4 was moneyhatted, probably with a 1 year exclusive, like ToV and Eternal Sonata were.

Square really should start thinking where their userbase really is and what platforms are selling to recieve them primarily (hint: it’s not X360) Making X360 versions is fine and even a nice gesture, screwing their userbase because Microsoft pays for it… No.

final fantasy am almost dead¬¬
squeenix maybe will see taht creating a game exclusively for each one of this gen console will make ff fans grab the 3 consoles ans they finally will be able to see wich is better for em

@Pedro Silva

You really like trolling the 360 don’t you?

^ No I really dislike a console that doesn’t sell buying all the exclusives. Multiplatform? hmm, nice for them, nice on the company who decided to do so; even if moneyhatted.

Buying exclusives leaving the initial userbase who was getting the game in the dark (SO4), or waiting for the exclusivity agreement to end (Last Renmant) those… are simply ridiculous.

So no, I rather not have reasons to troll them, but I have. So… given that, trolling them must be my little vengeance or something. But they deserve it, if I can say so myself.

What’s wrong w/ moneyhat this or that 24/7? Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, game publishers, let’s not forget they’re companies out to make money, not philanthropists, so they need to use whatever means, 1st/3rd party exclusives, etc. As I see it, now ALL 5 systems (Wii, PS3, 360, DS, & PSP) have good games on them that I want to play, so if you don’t have money buying a specific system, just stop whining alrdy. I never really give thoughts to which game comes to which system really, don’t have time for that, I don’t even have time to finish the existing games that I’ve bought.

I understand Wii fans craving for more hardcore games, but what w/ the novelty remote, Motion plus, balance board, Wii Music, Wiisports resort, I really don’t want to touch that system, at least for now..

If games come multi-platform, I usually prefer the PS3 sine I like the dual shock 3 controller the most, just feel good on the hands.

The 360 hate a bit over the top. Looking at the actual market, it’s not like “Square’s userbase” are buying PS3s either.

Maybe the should just cancel all PS3 and 360 projects and move them to DS, PSP and Wii? Y’know, where Square’s actual audience is?

I’ll only care about what they put on a game system if it involves Bushido Blade.

Lol ya squares user base is on the ds and psp…and im sure they know if they release there games on a cheaper platform that has the same power as the expensive one (ya flame me with proof i wanna see it) they will make more money…

well here in the states at least i know i rather have a nice car food+shelter then a $500 console no matter what games are on …

problem is they moneyhat too much, and that is not a advantage to us, costumers. they can moneyhat ports they wouldn’t get all they want… moneyhatt an exclusive or other… but the way they’re doing it… is just ridiculous. The market has to move from it, when the generation is starting, and there’s not much of a userbase… sure, but when platforms are already selling and all… buying exclusivity for titles previously announced and leaving the people on other platforms hanged? no, it’s not okay anymore, it’s not like they’re leading.

Jarrod, I wouldn’t say their userbase is all on the Wii and PSP at this point, DS yes, the others… hmmm… Still, they’re in good position for that. and more than that, Wii can represent an extended public for them, just like FF7 was. Now… they should make spin-off crap (might not be crap but…) and “simplified entry games” they should go all out. like they did on PSone, who was considered pretty casual for it’s time, and thus, expanded the market and FF7 was a gateway for a lot of people.

Now, I won’t suggest canceling projects either, they flunked in too much money for that. but… Star Ocean 4 shouldn’t ever be in question for PS3… it’s moronic.

The jRPG console this gen is the 360. Get over it and JUMP IN.

@Pedro Silva

You also love to use the term “Moneyhats”, its in almost every one of your comments on this site. Have you ever thought that maybe Squenix decided to release Final Fantasy XIII multiplat because they can make more money that way? Also Tri-Ace has stated numerous times that the reason they decided to release Star Ocean 4 on 360 was because the hardware was out before the PS3 and they were already working on Infinite Undicovery.

@ Jarrod

[The 360 hate a bit over the top. Looking at the actual market, it’s not like “Square’s userbase” are buying PS3s either.]

This is pretty much true, though I’d like to believe the market is still there. After all, look at how well Metal Gear Solid 4 performed, giving a very clear indication that the market is just waiting for the game they want to show up. Sure MGS4 software sales have now slowed down and will more than likely end up at 725k (or even a bit more) in Japan, but that’s better than nothing. I’m also sure looking at MGS4’s debut numbers Square-Enix breathed a huge sigh of relief knowing Final Fantasy XIII will do very well in Japan. It’s only being released on the PS3 there, so yeah.

Maybe MGS4 isn’t the best example right now, but it’s an example nonetheless.

@ Paul: No, never considered it, neither do I believe it. X360 doesn’t have enough userbase to warant that, or “best selling RPG’s” for them to think there’s that big of a market there.

And regarding Tri-Ace why do you think they’re doing Infinite Undiscovery exclusively? hell, before it was to be published by Microsoft Game Studios even. It was obviously moneyhatted; as was SO4, Last Renmant releasing first on it, and… FFXIII.

If Square was so “oh we’re multiplatform” we make more money that way… Unfinite Undiscovery wouldn’t be exclusive, since PS3 “lost” FFXIII exclusivity for not leading, not for Wii but for X360 who sells less (lol) then why does the aforementioned first title remain exclusive despite the lack of X360 Sales in japan, or RPG’s selling well? and then… Star Ocean 4, who, for the time being is only being worked on for X360, no PS3 build going on, that’s the same pattern Tales of Vesperia and Eternal Sonata moneyhatted timed exclusives had/have.

I don’t care if they moneyhat FFXIII to come out on their platform as well, I do care though, when they moneyhat exclusivity of titles they wouldn’t have in the first place. moneyhatting a port is already too good for them.

@Pedro

First of all Microsoft owns the IP for Infinite Undiscovery, at first they were going to be the publisher but they handed it over to SquEnix just because they are familiar with publishing JRPG’s. No money hatting there.

Second, Last Remnant uses the Unreal 3 engine. We all know that devs have been having trouble with UE3 and PS3. Square Enix is having a rough time using UE3 with PS3. No money hatting there.

Third, We’ve seen multi-platform games like Call of Duty 4, Devil May Cry 4, and GTAIV sell a million plus on each console. Yochi Wada saw Final Fantasy XIII multi-platform as a chance to make more money. Remember game company’s don’t care about brand loyalty, they are only there to make money. You seem to assume that the XBOX 360 userbase is filled with gamers who only care about Shooters. Look at how well Lost Odyssey sold and tell me that

Paul no, Microsoft didn’t conceive Unfinite Undiscovery, they own it because they paid for it to be done in the first place. Tri-Ace invented the game from the ground. Moneyhatting, oh YES. Paid to be developed for X360.

Last Renmant on X360 first, sure, perhaps the PS3 version is taking longer, but releasing the X360 version first? PS3 taking longer to hit certain milestones happens to most multiplatform PS3 games, but developers still launch them together, it’s not hapening because of… moneyhats.

CoD4, DMC4 and GTAIV are different genres. And like I said, I have nothing against X360 getting the titles. I have against “timed exclusive” and “exclusive” moneyhatting when for JRPG’s. JRPG’s core market is Japan, and X360 isn’t selling there, then PS3 pretty much outselling X360 worldwide too (selling at a faster pace) and has a userbase for RPG’s. All in all, I find stuff like the aforementioned, ridiculous. FFXIII, sure good news (and big check they must have wrote) Last Renmant and Star Ocean 4? disservice for their userbase.

Lost Odyseey selling well? it didn’t even hit one million worldwide, has “from the creator of final fantasy” in the cover and was a insane investment for whoever paid it (heh, microsoft). Seriously.

“Tri-Ace invented the game from the ground. Moneyhatting, oh YES. Paid to be developed for X360.”

So with that logic White Knight Story was Moneyhatted?

“it didn’t even hit one million worldwide”

700k for a BRAND NEW non-Final Fantasy title is pretty damn amazing.

White Knight Story… well it was contracted by sony to a third party, as in paid to be done. Could be considered so. Depends on wether they pitched it to sony and otherwise it would be multiplatform/for other platform or not, or if the game would even exist.

But still, they paid for it and it’s exclusivity. and didn’t come up with the concept to the point of being outsourced. Can be considered a moneyhat of sorts. moneyhat is the act of paying for stuff they wouldn’t get otherwise, or get it’s exclusivity or timed exclusivity they wouldn’t otherwise so… yeah.

As for Lost Odyssey, I don’t agree with you, bad sales for a Microsoft published game, with that budget (most “brand new” IP’s have lower budgets) and ammount of pub, push it got. I mean, even Viva Pinata must have sold more than that.

If Infinite Undiscovery is a “moneyhat” so is White Knight Story. There is absolutely no difference. Unless you want to keep insisting the 360 is somehow evil or all jRPGs should be PS3 exclusives.

@Paul

When Star Ocean 4 was announced, Tri-Ace didn´t announce the platform inmediately…Why was that ? Why was the game promoted on the PSP in Japan ? The excuse of Infinite Undiscovery doesn´t work with this one. The game was clearly on early stages when it was announced, so it could have been easily announced for PS3 or PS3/360.

And I find it hard to believe that The Last Remnant was delayed for PS3 because of issues with the Unreal Engine 3… Specially because at the same time, a PC version for games for Windows is announced, and because it fits with the rumors of Tales of Vesperia being a timed exclusive, as well as Rock Band 2. And we know that Microsoft is willing to pay for exclusivity, just like they paid for exclusive GTA IV content.

And it´s also true that making JRPG games for the 360 doesn´t seem to be the smartest choice of all… While practically every “decent” shooter on 360 becomes a million seller easily, JRPGs haven´t exactly been huge sellers on the console. This is also of course, due to the lacking japanese sales of 360…a place where PS3, and specially Wii sell much more. It doesn´t make any sense that JRPG developers choose to release their games on 360 instead of PS3, Wii, or even multiplatform, ignoring their Japanese fanbase without any other incentive.

Having said all this, Aoshi00 is right in that they have every right to do it, even though it´s not a respectable strategy… After all, I think it´s the only way for Microsoft to have exclusive JRPGs (or timed exclusives) in its console.

It doesn´t matter much to me anyway, because even though I´m not interested in getting a 360 (or a PS3 at the moment), I know this strategy won´t work for long. Microsoft can´t pay for every exclusive JRPG out there (and I´m guessing it´s not willing to either) so if the 360 sales don´t pick up considerably in Japan…JRPGs will start to dissapear from the console.

I think that the console with the brightest future of JRPGs is the Wii. Its sales lead in Japan is only increasing (as well as worldwide, even if we compare them to 360+PS3 sales) and it´s the least expensive to develop for, so it´s just a matter of time for developers to increase their efforts. The recent announcement of the new Tales, as well as other JRPGs is just the beginning.

@matty

I would love a new Bushido Blade…specially if they made one for the Wii with Motion Plus… That would be amazing.

@Aoshi00

Personally, I´ll take Wii Sports Resort or Animal Crossing over most PS3/360 games. As a gamer that has played games since the NES, for around 12-13 years…I couldn´t care less about the ambiguous terms of “hardcore” and “casual”. I just play what I like, and I don´t let others tell me what I should or shouldn´t play based on my gaming experience or age. I´m just telling you this so that you know that not every Wii fan out there complains about the “casual” games of Nintendo, or craves for every 360/PS3 “hardcore” game.

Infinite Undiscovery was a 1st party MGS project originally, more along the lines of N3, EveryParty, Blue Dragon or Lost Odyssey. Microsoft holds some stake in the IP, which is why it’s exclusive. Star Ocean 4 benefitted directly from the work tri-Ace did on that as well, which is why it’s leading on 360. On 360 tri-Ace already have experience, they have an engine in place and a good working relationship with Microsoft as well. If SO4 was a PS3 project, it wouldn’t be ready by spring 2009, to say the least… I don’t doubt it will be on PS3 at some point, but why talk about it now? Why artificially limit 360 sales, when the PS3 SKU probably wouldn’t be ready day and date anyway?

Microsoft does dole out nice incentives for exclusivity (usually in the form of massively reduced royalty fees or 1st party sponsored advertising), but so what, all the manufacturers do that (MGS4, Haze, Monster Hunter 3, DQ Swords, FFvsXIII, Fatal Frame 4, etc, etc). Microsoft’s playing the same hand Sony usually does, and better than them… maybe you should be less critical of Microsoft’s actions and more concerned with Sony’s inaction? They’re the ones dropping the ball here…

@ Freddy “Rerun” Stubbs - never said they should, I don’t even have a PS3. What I said was that they do 1000x more sense on PS3 than X360. I’m not against X360 getting them, or moneyhatting one or two (or moneyhatting all to be multiplatform). What I’m against is them moneyhatting the whole lineup making the market not working like it should.

Now we could argue square is as guilty as Microsoft, and I agree. But it’s Microsoft calling the shots and paying buckets for everything, a strategy that, quite honestly, I’m quite sick of at this point when it comes to SO4 and LR benefiting their platform. (and specially SO4 not even being confirmed for PS3 owners) That’s something that Square wouldn’t ever do otherwise, and as I said before a disservice for their userbase.

Don’t get me wrong though, I’m not one of those guys who were like “OMG FFXIII X360, you suck Square-Enix” sure moneyhat but wasn’t harmful, funny to see how desperate M$ is, but that’s just it. Point being, they’re still getting the game, what I got an issue with is… what they (PS3 owners) don’t know if they’re getting, despite being established, and like said, promoted on sony platforms to raise a userbase (Star Ocean 1 and 2 remakes on PSP, plus SO4 promotion on them)

If Microsoft hadn’t paid what they did so far, to all JRPG developers, they wouldn’t touch X360 with a stick, that’s the truth.

@jarrod

“Star Ocean 4 benefitted directly from the work tri-Ace did on that as well, which is why it’s leading on 360. On 360 tri-Ace already have experience, they have an engine in place and a good working relationship with Microsoft as well. If SO4 was a PS3 project, it wouldn’t be ready by spring 2009, to say the least… I don’t doubt it will be on PS3 at some point, but why talk about it now? Why artificially limit 360 sales, when the PS3 SKU probably wouldn’t be ready day and date anyway?”

I don´t believe that´s reason enough for S-E and Tri-Ace to dismiss PS3 sales of SO4… The game is either being made with the Crystal Tools or Unreal Engine 3, both which are middleware multiplatform tools. Does it make sense that the game gets announced for 360 only, just because it takes 2 or 3 extra months to release the game on PS3 ? I don´t think so…specially with 360´s situation in Japan.

And assuming that the game is indeed coming to PS3 at a later date…Why is S-E not able to announce it now ? You claimed that this would limit 360 sales, but isn´t it the same case as FF XIII ? Wouldn´t that be limiting PS3 sales ? (according to the same logic)

I just don´t see how it makes sense that FF XIII appears on 360 to increase sales, but not SO4 on PS3 (which would probably need more the extra sales). Or that FF XIII gets announced on 360 now, but S-E can´t/doesn´t want to announce SO4 on PS3 (if it´s eventually coming). Or even that Tales of Vesperia hasn´t been announced for PS3 already if it´s indeed coming at a later date.

All of these only makes sense to me if Microsoft gave incentives for these exclusives/timed exclusives, just like Rock Band 2 getting released first on 360. But like I said before, Microsoft has every right to use their money as they please…it´s just that I don´t understand how these incentives can be denied.

And by the way, I don´t know why you mentioned Monster Hunter 3 or Dragon Quest Swords as being games affected by incentives… I think that Fatal Frame IV would be the only one that could have incentives from Nintendo (like Ninja Gaiden II) but I really doubt that the game wasn´t supposed to be for Wii in the first place. As for Sony, I don´t know, but I´m guessing that Kojima could have something to do with MGS4 and maybe Square wants to leave at least a PS3 exclusive for now. I think Haze is the most likely. Still, those are nothing compared to Microsoft this gen…

@ Pedro Silva

I wonder what you would’ve said 10 years ago when jRPGs abandoned their home on Nintendo consoles for the PS1. Seemed to work out fine for the genre.

I think in this day and age, confining a genre to one platform, especially one that has problems moving software like the PS3, is not a good idea. Furthermore, the PS3 is NOT the PS2. Look at the exclusives Sony is pushing these days for the PS3: Killzone 2, MAG, Resistance 2 … gee, which box is the shooterbox again?

The 360 for now is the jRPG console. Why? Because Japan, and the PS3, can not support AAA jRPGs by itself anymore. On top of this, the 360 is easier to develop for, so it’s possible to make a profit on a 360 jRPG while spending a lot less money developing it than it would on the PS3, all things being equal. To be fair, what you’d really want to do is publish multiplatform.

The PS3 still has jRPGs that will never see the light of day on the 360. Valkyria Chronicles, Disgaea 3, NIS’ next game. But I think you’re ignoring the jRPG audience in the West that does exist and is growing on the 360. It’s there and it’s happening, like it or not. And if it makes Sony step up their jRPG game, then all the better. Competition is good.

Further note: The 360’s sales in Japan are pitiful, but take a look at the charts. The PS3’s are as well. The money in Japan is on the DS, but that’s another topic.

@ seiya19

There’s no evidence the IU/SO4 engine has been ported to PS3 at this time. Those games are using neither Crystal Tools nor Unreal.

Both Sony and Microsoft moneyhat; Sony’s just finding that they’re going to have to moneyhat jRPGs that they didn’t have to before. Like I said, competition is good.

(Even Nintendo moneyhats every now and then. Hello Monster Hunter 3)

@Freddy “Rerun” Stubbs

I don´t know which engine is Star Ocean using, but I find it hard to believe that while having the UE3 and the Crystal Tools as alternatives, none of those are been used. And if S-E wants to port the game to PS3 eventually (as some speculate), it would make much sense to develop the game on a multiplatform engine rather than just on a 360 engine.

It doesn´t matter anyway, since even if they are using now a 360-only engine, the option of using a multiplatform engine for a PS3/360 release was always available, and that was what I was saying before.

Monster Hunter 3 was not “moneyhatted”… Unlike Star Ocean 4 or Tales of Vesperia for 360, it makes perfect sense that Monster Hunter appeared on Wii. Capcom stated that the reason for the game to be moved to the Wii was the high development costs of the PS3 version (specially when compared to the Wii), which is an obvious difference and it´s a subject that has been discussed several times. Furthermore, the decision was made when PS3 was really struggling in sales (not that it´s much better now though) while Wii sales were surprising everyone. Not every exclusive is “moneyhatted”, and when you have the best selling console, you´re not forced to do it.

And while I heard speculation about Sony “moneyhatting” games before (SC III comes to mind, aside Haze or maybe MGSIV), Microsoft´s open strategy of getting games earlier (even those which are multiplatform from the beginning) and buying exclusive content is much more evident…it doesn´t compare.

As for 360 being the JRPG console…we´ll see. You claim that Pedro Silva is ignoring the western JRPG audience, but you´re forgetting that nobody expected the 360 to be the console for JRPG games. I would dare to say that most JRPG fans are still on PS3 or Wii in the West (excluding PS2, of course), as those consoles were expected to get more japanese games than 360. Besides, PS3 is on it´s way to outsell 360 in Europe, and you´re not just ignoring Japan for JRPG games (which may not be everything, but is clearly essential) but you´re also ignoring the Wii.

By the way, it doesn´t make any sense to compare the PS1/N64 era to this one like you did…too many different variables…

@ seiya19

tri-Ace makes a point of developing their own inhouse engines. Infinite Undiscovery and Star Ocean 4 both use their own ground up 360 engine, not Crystal Tools or UE3. A PS3 port would assuredly take much more than “2 or 3 extra months”, and if it happens I sort of doubt tri-Ace themselves will be the ones porting (more likely Square handles it directly or contracts out to TOSE or whoever).

FFXIII was announced because it’ll be day and date multiplatform in the west. Square and Microsoft will both want to build up hype for the 360 SKU, and I don’t doubt Microsoft moved heaven and earth to get the announcement this early. Maybe had Sony worked a bit harder, we’d have SO4 PS3 confirmed by now also… you’ll notice Square Enix has gone out of their way NOT to say it’s 360 exclusive in all the PR. Ditto for Namco and Tales of Vesperia, the developers have even said the main reason it’s 360 only at this point is because it was the only available platform ready when development started in late 2005… and even still they talk about the liklihood of a PS3 port in nearly every interview. Both are “on 360 right now” but neither has been a wholly committed exclusive (unlike FF Vs XIII actually).

About the other listed games, there’s no doubt SCEI invested in MGS4 or Haze imo. Otherwise, given it’s huge western hardware and software leads, I think we’d already have both on 360.. and truthfully, I expect both probably will hit 360 eventually, probably after their year long window expires (a la Bioshock or Lost Planet on PS3). Nintendo went out of their way to secure Monster Hunter 3, Iwata even said it was targeted specifically in an effort to start ramping up for core audiences iirc. And DQ Swords was even made by a Nintendo funded studio (Genius Sonority), after Nintendo had given Horii a personal early demonstration of the Revolution. Nintendo has their fingers deep in both titles, even if they’re not publishing them.

@jarrod

Well, assuming that Tri-Ace wants to use an in-house engine that only runs on 360 at the moment…it makes sense that they didn´t go multiplatform. But if Tri-Ace wants to develop for PS3 at some point, wouldn´t they have to create an engine for it ? (or port the 360 one). Are they never going to make a game from the ground up for PS3, or a 360/PS3 game at the same time ? I don´t know, it still seems strange to me, specially because none of this explains why they took so long to announce the platform…

In FF XIII´s case, I don´t see why Microsoft had to get the game now, while Sony has to wait for a SO4 announcement. Assuming that there´s no “moneyhatting” involved, what made S-E care about releasing the game at the same time on both consoles ? (in the West) Why not releasing FF XIII at a later date on 360, just like an SO4 port for PS3 ? When you add The Last Remnant´s case to these two, then you have 3 strange “coincidences” from the same publisher… And if Microsoft didn´t give any incentive to S-E to get those games earlier, I don´t see why Sony has to give incentives to get SO4 or ToV announced now (if are indeed coming).

Like I said before, I agree that Haze was likely “moneyhatted”, because it was supposed to be a multiplatform game from the beginning…but that´s not MGSIV´s case. I suspect that Kojima had something to do with it, and that the game was planned from the beginning on PS3 only. I don´t think we´ll ever see it on 360, unless PS3 sales diminish severely, which I don´t see happening soon. It would take a lot of work to port it, and it has sold well enough on PS3. And they can always release an improved version afterwards to sell more, like with previous games.

I don´t have any reason to believe that what Capcom stated for Monster Hunter 3 was not true…it´s just common sense, unlike those exclusive JRPG games on 360. I don´t know what Iwata said (if you remember when and where, let me know), but just using the opportunity to say that they care about “core” gamers is not out of the question.

As for Dragon Quest Swords…I don´t think it´s “moneyhatting”. It was supposed to be a Wii project from the beginning, which can´t be done on other console because of the Wii-mote. It makes sense that since it was S-E´s first Wii game, they decided to use a 2nd party developer for Wii (which is not owned by Nintendo) to help development, along with 8ing.

I think that “moneyhatting” refers to cases like Rock Band 2 (announced multiplatform, but on 360 first), GTA IV exclusive downloadable content or (if “moneyhatting” is the case) ToV, FF XIII, Haze and SO4 (getting games, or it´s exclusivity when you weren´t supposed to). I don´t consider “moneyhatting” to make games in a 1st party/3rd party colaboration (like Ninja Gaiden II, Gears of War, Fatal Frame IV, DQ Swords and Infinite Undiscovery could be).

@ seiya19

Well I do think Microsoft likely has given incentives for SO4, Last Remnant and FFXIII, but in each case there were also other factors pushing for the 360 release outside just MS investment. Crystal Tools is multiformat middleware and FFXIII’s base is actually on PC, a 360 FFXIII coming day and date with the PS3 rev makes sense. You’ll notice Sony’s held on to their JP exclusive and have been touting that. Basically everyone’s been having trouble with UE3 on PS3, so why not squeeze out the 360 Last Remnant before the holidays and then go back to work on the PS3 code? Maybe doing day and date would’ve made both versions slip into 2009, and since it’s developed for Americans first anyway, they’d prefer it on the leading American machine this year if possible. And as for SO4, it’s more a tri-Ace decision than a Square Enix one, and their reasons seem pretty obvious (prefabbed engine, tool familiarity, relationship with MS, etc). I actually don’t know if tri-Ace will ever bother with PS3, they tend to just focus on one machine a generation and their games actually sell better in the west than nationally anyway… I really do think a PS3 SO4 might be entirely outsourced (a la SO1-2 PSP).

And MGS4 has undoubtedly seen heavy Sony investment… I doubt Kojima cares much about brand loyalty, he actually wanted to port MGS3 to Xbox but didn’t feel there was enough market left. I think near everyone expects to see MGS4S on PS3, 360 and PC in late 2009, similar to MGS2S in 2002. That you immediately assume Microsoft’s “moneyhatting” near everything under the sun, yet Sony didn’t pay out handsomely for their biggest exclusive this generation really baffles me? Plenty of games this gen started out PS3 only and that hasn’t kept them off 360 (DMC4, VF5, Mercenaries 2, FFXIII, etc).

As for Monster Hunter, here’s a reference to Iwata’s comments…

http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/10/iwata-monster-h.html

…and as for Genius Sonority, here’s a link to their company profile page, where they show that Nintendo (both directly and via subsidiaries) owns 39% of the company…

http://www.geniussonority.jp/cat1/

@jarrod

Genius Sonority is a 2nd party, not 1st party, and that´s what I meant to say. It´s not like Monolith Soft (for example), where they own most of the company.

“As for Monster Hunter, here’s a reference to Iwata’s comments…”

The actual quote doesn´t say much…just that they´re making efforts to offer services to “those who play them hard” (games). I don´t trust the media when they read between the lines…so I´ll need to see more than that. Sometimes, the most simple answer is the correct one…and as I said before, moving one of your most important franchises in Japan from PS3 to Wii, after surprising Wii sales, dissapointing PS3 sales and with much lower development costs is common sense. Even more when Capcom didn´t have practically anything announced for Wii at the time and several PS3 projects already.

Let´s not forget that Nintendo wasn´t in the best position at the time to get games through incentives (at the begining of Wii´s success) while Microsoft and Sony were in different situations.

I don´t know if Kojima has any brand loyalty, but the main reason in my opinion was to take the most out of the hardware he was using, specially since it was supposed to be the last MGS game from him. MGS IV is optimized for the PS3, and it even includes a joke about multidisc games inside the game, as well as Sixaxis support. I don´t rule out the possibility of Sony spending money on the game, but I think that the game was supposed to be a PS3 game from the beginning, so at the most, it would be a 1st party/3rd party colaboration and not a game that could have appeared as multiplatform.

“Well I do think Microsoft likely has given incentives for SO4, Last Remnant and FFXIII, but in each case there were also other factors pushing for the 360 release outside just MS investment.”

Then we agree. I never said that it was the only reason, but the defining one. I think that without Microsoft´s incentives, The Last Remnant would have released at the same time (yes, Square would have waited to appear neutral, just like others have), FF XIII could still have been released on 360 later (depending on PS3 sales, both software and hardware) and Tales of Vesperia and Star Ocean could have been announced as multiplatform already (even if S-E has to port it).

There has been rumors recently about the PS3 version of FFXIII getting delayed in favor of the 360 version, which makes sense. After all, because the PS3 version will get released in Japan before, it seems that S-E will develop the PS3 version first, and then port it while localizing the game. Just because it´s the same engine doesn´t mean that there´s no changes to be made, specially with the media issues (no Blu-Ray or full HDD support) and different hardware architechtures.

I don´t know what happened exactly with VF5 (which appeared later on 360) or DMC4…(Mercenaries 2 is even on PS2) but those weren´t as big a FFXIII (nor in budget or expected sales), or as popular in Japan as the JRPGs. It makes sense that after dissapointing PS3 sales, Sony losses them as exclusives, which is not the same as getting them later or not getting them at all.

“That you immediately assume Microsoft’s “moneyhatting” near everything under the sun, yet Sony didn’t pay out handsomely for their biggest exclusive this generation really baffles me?”

I don´t assume for every game, and I´m aware that I can´t be entirely sure…But unlike Sony, we already know sure cases from Microsoft like Rock Band 2 and GTA IV exclusive content. Those, added to the weird “coincidences” of getting most JRPGs (even a big PS3 exclusive) for a console that doesn´t sell in Japan…it´s too weird. Developers are dismissing PS3´s 2nd place in Japan for less than a 6 million WW difference ? Not to mention the Wii. It doesn´t make sense without Microsoft´s incentives…but like I said before, it´s their right to do so.

And by the way, just to clarify, I don´t have any interest in defending Sony…I´m a Nintendo fan (which doesn´t own a Wii yet), and I don´t even plan on getting a PS3 at the time (or a 360). I just think that Microsoft´s strategy is obvious, and I´m just pointing at it.

PS: big discussion, right ? While it´s interesting and entertaining, I think we have already discussed everything. I´ll read your comment if you want to add something, but I won´t post again unless there´s some question to answer.

2nd party’s a marketing term that doesn’t really mean anything. Nintendo originally pulled it to explain their exclusive RARE relationship in the mid 1990s (at which point they owned none of the company too btw). Genuis Sonority’s pretty obviously Nintendo affiliated, they were started up with largely Nintendo capital, Nintendo owns a decent chunk of the company, they’d previously only made games for Nintendo or Nintendo subsidiaries… without Nintendo’s involvement, I doubt they’d have made DQ Swords, that’s the point I was getting at.

I disagree with your defining points on the 360 RPG exclusivity too. SO4 would’ve been 360 first regardless, and that’s due to tri-Ace’s experience. I also think we’d have gotten LR sooner too, which is mostly a result of the engine used. Both cases are more a result of technology and timing favoring MS being the driving factor, not investment from Microsoft directly. Same with Vesperia too, without these other factors working in Microsoft’s favor already, these games wouldn’t have these windows.

FFXIII is questionable, and I don’t think one should undercount the lengths Microsoft went to get it, but then I also sort of doubt MS went that far out of their way to nab stuff like VF5 or DMC4. The truth is, market realities are probably the chief reason we’re seeing FFXIII 360, same as with DMC4 or VF5.