Versus XIII - Final Fantasy’s first M Rating?

With Microsoft’s acquisition of Final Fantasy XIII many FF fans whom appear to be emotionally attached to the marriage of Final Fantasy and the PlayStation are now turning to the other next gen title in the Fabula Nova Crystallis collection. We reported earlier that when asked if Final Fantasy Versus XIII would be a multi platform release Shinji Hashimoto’s response was a flat, closed ended, no. For those upset about XIII’s expansion to another console they can rest assured that they will have at least one numbered Final Fantasy exclusive for their system. This is, of course, provided Square Enix does not change their minds about their allegiance to Sony…again. Those subscribing to Sony should rejoice that the visibly better of the two, in these early stages, has remained an exclusive release. However this isn’t an opinion piece so I digress.

Final Fantasy Versus XIII is just as highly anticipated as XIII

At this point everybody has seen both the teaser and the trailer to Versus XIII. It was pretty disheartening to see a guard holding a shotgun that fired like a Call of Duty 4 heavy machine gun. That aside, the trailer set up an extremely sturdy platform for us all to get on top of and scream for more.

The trailer was also strikingly vivid. Two parts in particular appear to be extremely out of the ordinary for a Final Fantasy. The Prince breaks a guards neck with his legs moments before he impales another guard through the heart while falling out of the sky. The impalement is complete with sound effects and blood to add to the realism. By video gaming standards there isn’t much blood but by Final Fantasy standards it was available by the gallon.

The ESRB states that a game rated Teen “may contain violence” and “minimal blood”. Their requirements for a game rated Mature are “intense violence” and “blood and gore”. Only an infinitesimal amount of footage has been released. If the trailer is representative of the kind of violence the game may contain, Final Fantasy may make its first venture out of the Teen ESRB rating.

Strangely, the Versus XIII team is being headed by Tetsuya Nomura and the people who brought you Kindom Hearts, an E rated game.

Of course many readers may have already noticed this and discussed it at length. What makes this worth mentioning again is that if, in fact, Square is willing to make the leap to the M rating for one of it’s newest titles they may also be willing to remake Final Fantasy VII. With the capabilities of this generation’s consoles a remake could be brilliantly revamped, yet true to the original game. Remember the Final Fantasy Tech Demo for the PS3? Imagine that but a couple billion Japanese yen in development costs. More than eleven years since Final Fantasy VII’s original release in Japan, those who’ve played through it are now either of age to play a Mature title or very close.

This is far from definitive proof of a VII remake, in fact the word proof may not even apply. However, the demand is there and with a surprise FF VII related announcement around the corner there may just be a chance.

Yourstrulyinhd (Gerry)

Final Fantasy XIII & Versus XIII Live Events at E3 Explained

Joyful Xbox 360 owners are painting the town red tonight all due to a surprise announcement made by Yoichi Wada explaining that North America and Europe will see Final Fantasy XIII on Microsoft’s Xbox 360 in addition to Sony’s Playstation 3. Japan’s Playstation 3 however will keep exclusive rights for the game for now. This all but leaves Sony fans in disarray concerning Square Enix’s actions. For them they might as well surrender thier Playstation 3’s now.

Does this therefore mean Versus XIII is coming to the Xbox 360 as well? The answer to that according to Hashimoto is NO! By responsing to a question if Versus will following suit.

Below are the full Square Enix live events blogged from E3 below: important bits highlighted)

1:52
And the press has started! Both Kitase and Hashimoto have taken the stage.
1:53
It’s an open mic Q&A
1:53
Dean Takahashi asked why they decided to end the exclusive with Sony.
1:55
Says Hashimoto: “We considered the hardware situation. Because of that, we considered the spread of the hardware, so that’s why we decided that.”
1:56
Question: How will the Xbox 360 and the PS3 versions be different?
1:57
Says Kitase: We planned on having the contents the same, but obviously the Blu-ray and the DVD will be different.
1:57
Asks Christian Nutt: We heard that people were pulled off different teams to work on this.
1:59
Kitase: “As for development, we are using Crystal Tools for development. We are using it for the PC base. We are making the game at a faster pace. We should be able to show new footage in the future.”
2:00
Some question about something about the future of the series.
2:00
They only want to talk about FFXIII, so they don’t know.
2:01
I ask: How many discs will it ship on?
2:01
Kitase says: “That’s still undecided.”
2:01
I ask: “About how many?”
2:02
He laughs and won’t answer.
2:02
First they will finish FFXIII in Japan. And then they will start localisation for english.
2:03
At that point, they will start the xbox 360 development.
2:03
So says Hashimoto.
2:04
He also adds that FF13 might not be released in the US and Europe at the same time because of the language.
2:04
Languages, rather.
2:05
kitase says they will try to make the us and the europe release as close as possible and try to make the european release much faster.
2:05
Shane from 1up ask about FF13 coming to japan on the xbox 360……..
2:07
Hashimoto says something like “I think you are right [in assuming that it's not coming out in Japan]”
2:08
Asked about the differences between the 360 and the ps3 differences (again)
2:09
Hashimoto pointed out that they have no plans to make the versions differences.
2:10
Question: “Is the reason why the Japanese 360 version is not announced because of the hardware situation or some sort of contract arrangement?”
2:12
Hashimoto: As I have already mentioned, considering that the install base was one of the reasons why decided to release it in the West on the Xbox 360…
2:15
He also added that they haven’t decided whether they’ll do an Asian version.
Question: Motion controls?
Kitase: “No, we have no plans.”
Question: “Will FF Versus 13 be multi platform?”
Hashimoto: No.
Question: FFXIII uses a properitary engine. Correct me if I’m wrong, that’s the last time, it will be used.
Hashimoto: “We haven’t made any changes about that.”
2:16
gah
2:17
Kitase says they’re using it (Crystal Tools) with a MMO.
2:18
(that hashimoto quote above gah is incorrect — live blog software error)
2:19
Question: what’s influcenes you guys? Are you influenced by mass effect?
2:21
Question: when was the timing of the Xbox 360 decision?
2:24
Hashimoto: “It wasn’t a long time ago that we made the decision. We had to adjust things, like our relationship with microsoft. It was recent.”
2:25
Question: By using the the crystal tools, what’s the work load for localisation?
2:28
Kitase says they’re currently running it on a pc, so they don’t know the work load of getting it on the 360. they are putting priority on the PC version.
2:29
Question: which do you think will do better? ps3 or xbox 360?
2:30
Hashimoto says, “We’ve just made the announcement. So in the future, we’ll be able to make speculation, but we need to do some market research.”
2:33
Question: which do you think will do better? ps3 or xbox 360?
Hashimoto says they’ve just made the announcement, so they don’t know. They need to do more market research and then they can speculate in the future.
2:35
Question: Will FF13 have mmo elements? FF12 had mmo elements.
kitase: Each time we made a game, we try to make it unique. So it won’t be like the last game.
Question: About Xbox live?
Kitase: Currently, we’re still deciding.
2:40
Question: How does the gameplay for FF12 and FF13 differ?
kitase: “overall, the atmosphere is difference. The tempo and the speed are different. the entire direction is different. It’s flashier.“

Famitsu update & trailer and demo list at DKΣ3713

Famitsu have posted an updated list of titles that will appear at Square Enix’s private event, DKΣ3713. Sadly for Final Fantasy fans the only demo confirmed for DKΣ3713 is Dissidia: Final Fantasy for the PSP. However if its any constellation Final Fantasy XIII/Versus/Agito trailers will still be making an appearance.

Trailers ONLY:
Final Fantasy XIII (PlayStation 3)
Final Fantasy Versus XIII (PlayStation 3)
Final Fantasy Agito XIII (Mobile)
Kingdom Hearts Coded (Mobile)
The 3rd Birthday (Mobile)
Final Fantasy VII AC: Complete (DVD/Blu-Ray)

Trailers & Playable Demo(s):
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (DS)
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (PSP)
Dissidia: Final Fantasy (PSP)
Sigma Harmonics (DS)

Fingures crossed for the XIII trailers to show us a bit more into the characters and story.

Famitsu also conducted an interview with Nomura about the upcoming DKΣ3713 private event. (see below)

The details acquired from the interview include:

DKΣ3713 is a private show so for the general public that wants to see and play the games, TGS in October will feature more new information.

The event will be at the same format as previous S-E events, with closed theatre as well as playable booths outside.

Birth by Sleep will be playable for the first time at the event.

Despite the news that Square Enix was going to scale back from Mobile development, it appears that Kingdom Hearts: Coded, 3rd Birthday and Agito XIII will still be going ahead.

Agito XIII seems to be facing serious development issues at the moment. There is a huge worldview and historical timeline.

The director of Agito XIII is doing the outline of the entire story synopsis himself now, development is still in early stages.

Versus XIII is on hold until Final Fantasy XIII is done, because the entire Versus team is helping to finish Final Fantasy XIII at the moment. It is number one priority.

While the planners and programmers are all working on Final Fantasy XIII, the Versus project is getting the designers to work on a lot of image illustrations and conceptual visuals. The story for Versus is also pretty much complete.

Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days is being tuned and balanced, but it is not quite as polished as Dissidia yet. They’ll be taking feedback from the playable demo.

Birth by Sleep is not anywhere close to a final build, but Nomura wants to let people get a chance to try it out first.

And finally Advent Children Complete might finally be close to getting a release date.

Source: Famitsu