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Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster officially confirmed for PS4
Update: Square Enix confirms stateside prices for its two JRPG PS4 ports: Final Fantasy VII gets a tag of $16, while X/X-2 HD Remaster is priced at $50. Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster blitzballs onto PlayStation 4 next spring, after Square Enix confirmed the news following this week's leak. The publisher said this morning it's porting the re-release, already out on PS3 and Vita, to Sony's latest console with "system-exclusive features." By the way, that note about system-exclusive features goes for Final Fantasy VII too. As for what those features are, we'll have to wait and see. We're also waiting for word from Square Enix America, but the company's European branch revealed regional prices for the two ports. The remaster of the two Xs comes in at £40/50 euros, and it's on its way to store shelves as well as PSN. Final Fantasy VII, meanwhile, is downloadable-only (not cloud-based but Cloud-based), and its Euro-price is £13/16 euros. [Image: Square Enix]
Square Enix prepares to disappoint Final Fantasy fans with Final Fantasy VII G-Bike
Everyone wants a full Final Fantasy VII remake for modern consoles and/or PC, and everyone wants a true Final Fantasy VII port for iOS to follow the first six games that are already released on the platform. But rather than doing what everyone wants, Square Enix is giving one of the more obscure minigames in the Final Fantasy franchise its own game for iOS. It's called Final Fantasy VII G-Bike, and it's probably not what you've been hoping for. The game appears to be in the style of an endless runner, as you control the beloved Cloud Strife and his motorcycle down streets teeming with enemies. The app is based on the bike scenes in Final Fantasy VII, and to be fair the new app does look a great deal more playable than the original minigame was. Still, it's endlessly disappointing for Final Fantasy fans that are still waiting for Square Enix to show one of the most popular games in the series some real love. Not much about the game's structure has been revealed, other than the fact that it will be free with in-app purchases. No release date has been announced.
Play It On A Mac: Final Fantasy VII
In this weekly series I'll show you how to get your favorite Windows-exclusive PC games running on OS X using a variety of options. For more information on the programs used, check out the Play It On A Mac explainer. For suggestions and/or questions about any game, feel free to contact me on Twitter at @MikeWehner. Unlike every Final Fantasy game that came before it, fan-favorite Final Fantasy VII has never made its way to an Apple platform. You can play Final Fantasy I through VI on iOS, but that's where Square's retro RPG love ends for Apple diehards. This cannot stand! Thanks to the Windows-exclusive Steam re-release of FFVII last year, complete with 1080p support, Mac users finally have a chance to play the game via several avenues. Let's get to it! CrossOver Unlike last week's Goat Simulator, CrossOver 13 users will find FFVII is supported, albeit unofficially. It currently holds an unofficial "Gold" rating, and plays faithfully. Testing revealed the game's framerate -- which, it's important to note, is locked to 30fps during exploring and 15fps during combat -- is solid in 1080p with no visible drawbacks. This one gets a big CrossOver thumbs up! Parallels A predictably quick download, quick installation, and quick boot-up provides a perfectly playable Final Fantasy VII experience via Parallels. The game is not particularly demanding in terms of graphics, thanks in large part to its locked frame rate and admittedly chunky character designs -- remember, this is a game born in 1997. Thanks to the start-stop-start nature of the gameplay, it's a great game to leave running in the background for whenever you have a few minutes to kill. The minimum settings our test machine required to run the game at its pre-determined frame rate with no issues are as follows. Parallels 9 settings: CPUs: 4 (out of 8) Memory: 4GB (out of 16GB) Video memory: 512kb Performance: Faster Mac Power: Better Performance This should allow you to run your (wink wink) "work" programs on your Mac along with Parallels and FFVII without issue. If you find any frame rate issues pop up, boost your available video memory a bit and they should smooth out. Additionally, turn of Linear Filtering in the FFVII settings menu. Boot Camp As you might imagine, a game that runs perfectly in both CrossOver and Parallels runs equally perfectly on Boot Camp. Zero issues on the graphics front and aside from the default keyboard controls, which are horrible and should be immediately changed as soon as you start the game, everyone's favorite Final Fantasy runs silky smooth. Well, at least as smoothly as a locked 15fps frame rate can look. Verdict Regardless of which method you choose, bit it CrossOver, Parallels, or Boot Camp, you'll find Final Fantasy VII to be just as you remember it on the original PlayStation, only this time in crisp HD resolution. Game on!
The Daily Grind: What MMO systems are too complicated for you?
In my experience, game designers are prone to creating systems in RPGs and MMOs that are, well, antagonistic to the extreme. Maybe they made sense to the dev who had it all mapped out in his or her head, but to the average player, it's only a little more understandable than reading War and Peace in Sanskrit. The customization systems of Final Fantasy VII and VIII always come to mind when I think about this. VII's materia was easy to grok, allowing me to clearly understand what effects I wanted to equip and giving me a path to level them up. Then came VIII's junction system, which allowed scads more customization but was just a jumbled mess of incoherent ideas and a generally bad approach. Don't get me wrong; I don't want a Fisher-Price MMO. I think that the more complex a system is, the clearer the instruction and design needs to be for us to navigate it. So what MMO systems are too complicated for you? How would you make them better? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Producer: Final Fantasy VII on mobile is 'years away'
Just a few days after reporting that Final Fantasy VI will soon be heading to iOS comes word that Final Fantasy VII on mobile may be years away. In an interview with Shacknews, Square Enix director and producer Takashi Tokita explained why fans of the RPG series may have to wait a while for Final Fantasy VII to hit the App Store. "Unfortunately, it's not that it's not impossible for us to develop Final Fantasy 7 for mobile," Tokita told Shacknews. "It's that currently, space will be an issue. Phones won't be able to contain the space it takes. It's over a gigabyte. People are probably going to have to wait a few years." As it stands now, the maximum size for an iOS app is 2 gigabytes. So while it can be done, perhaps Square Enix wants to ensure an adequate ROI, something that might understandably be hard to achieve when many people struggled to make room for Apple's recent iOS 7 update.
Final Fantasy VI headed to iOS, VII may not be far behind
Several classic Square Enix RPGs have already seen new life thanks to iOS ports, and now the company has confirmed to Kotaku that Final Fantasy VI will indeed get the same treatment. The game will be a modified version of the RPG that originally appeared for the SNES back in 1994. The game will be tweaked for touchscreen devices with a refined battle system and sharper graphics. Square Enix director and producer Takashi Tokita also shed some light on the future of Square titles on mobile platforms. Now that Final Fantasy I through VI are taken care of, the next logical step would be to port the beloved PlayStation classic Final Fantasy VII to smartphones and tablets, but Tokita stopped short of making any promises, stating, "If this Legacy project works out well, we would like to one day be able to work with VII."
Man at Arms builds 80-pound replica of Final Fantasy VII's Buster Sword
Blacksmith and propmaster Tony Swatton documents the creation of a replica Final Fantasy VII Buster Sword in the latest episode of the Man at Arms web series. Cloud Strife himself would be proud of the results. This isn't some cardboard-and-foil job that you'd see at an anime convention; the finished product weighs around 80 pounds, and Swatton burned up three portable drills during its assembly. Swatton proves the sword's impracticality by "wrecking" his back and arm while attempting to wield it, but stick around until the end to see the blade taste the flesh of unsuspecting soda bottles and fresh produce. Swatton previously produced replicas of Minecraft's diamond sword and the Kingdom Hearts keyblade, among other bladed bits of nerdery.
Jukebox Heroes: Final Fantasy XI's soundtrack
Hey you! Want a good way to die a horrible, painful death? Enter into any geek domain and put down the music of the Final Fantasy series. Do it. I double-dog dare you. Even scrubs who couldn't identify a single other composer or notable video game soundtrack will leap to the defense of One-Winged Angel. While I generally do like the Final Fantasy tunes, especially the earlier 8-bit era stuff and Final Fantasy IX, I haven't seen it as an infallible series in regard to its music. I think along the way Nobuo Uematsu's become this person who can Do No Wrong in the gaming community, which has stifled an honest look at both the highs and lows of his soundtracks. I don't want to be all about hero worship or mindless bashing today; I want to examine a fairly good but not perfect soundtrack that represented Final Fantasy's first foray into MMOs. Along with Uematsu, Naoshi Mizuta and Kumi Tanioka shared composing duties on this project. There's some terrific stuff here that you'll listen to after the jump, but there are a lot more completely forgettable (and sometimes annoying!) tracks that have been shoehorned into FFXI's expansive game. So let's come down to earth and see what Final Fantasy XI has in store for us.
A brief history of Final Fantasy 7 through achievements
This is a column by Kat Bailey dedicated to the analysis of the once beloved Japanese RPG sub-genre. Tune in every Wednesday for thoughts on white-haired villains, giant robots, Infinity+1 swords, and everything else the wonderful world of JRPGs has to offer. First things first about my history with Final Fantasy 7: I was spoiled on the death of Aeris before it even came out. Before I even really knew what Final Fantasy 7 was, honestly. My friend, who had been obsessively following its development on the fledgling internet, described the scene in all its gory detail for me. I'm still kind of mad at him for that, even if at the time I didn't really care. Of course, as I eventually discovered, I was hardly alone in being spoiled on the event that helped signal the beginning of gaming's modern era.The death of Aeris is but the greatest example of the lore that has been built up around Final Fantasy VII over the years. There are countless others that have circulated around the proverbial playground over the years: the fact that it's possible to go on a date with Barret, for example. Or all the persistent rumors that Aeris can be resurrected without a hack. This stuff is legend at this point – the result of outsized popularity and a somewhat ambiguous story.When word hit last week that Square Enix may be reviving the PC version of Final Fantasy VII with a smattering of extras, my first thought was how fertile the ground is for achievements.
Long-awaited Final Fantasy VII costumes dated for LittleBigPlanet 2
A LittleBigPlanet Sackboy skin patterned after Final Fantasy VII's Sephiroth was first revealed at Tokyo Game Show in 2008. Three years and one LittleBigPlanet sequel (plus two spinoffs) later, a newly redesigned version of Sackiroth is finally on the way to LittleBigPlanet 2, and he's bringing some "friends." The PlayStation Blog revealed that a LittleBigPlanet 2 Final Fantasy VII costume pack will be released on July 13, containing Sackboy garments based on Sephiroth, Cloud, Tifa, and Aeris, who of course is doomed to lose her stuffing at the adorable hands of the vicious Sephiroth Sackboy. If you buy the $5.99 / €5.99 / £4.79 bundle, you'll get a bonus Vincent Valentine costume, allowing you to complete that long-in-progress LBP remake of Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII. Separately, each costume will run $1.99 each (though Vincent is only available in the bundle). Other Sackboy raiment due for release soon includes Infamous 2, Toy Story, and Killzone 3 packs.
The Game Archaeologist and the What Ifs: True Fantasy Live Online
As an extremely amateur historian -- and an extremely attractive archaeologist -- I've always been fascinated with the "what ifs" of gaming's timeline. What if Blizzard had pulled the plug on World of Warcraft during development as it did for Warcraft Adventures? What if Hellgate: London had a lot more time and resources before it launched? What if North America had embraced the free-to-play model much earlier instead of the subscription model? What if Shawn came to his senses before he hired me? Life would've been a lot better. Or worse. That's the problem with counterfactual history: We can make educated guesses, but we'll never really know. While it's sad to see MMOs shut down due to underperformance, it's especially maddening to contemplate MMOs canceled before they even made it to the starting gate. In a new periodic series here at The Game Archaeologist, I'm going to look at a few of the "what ifs" of prematurely terminated MMORPGs. And to kick us off, I'm tackling probably one of the most frustrating, painful subjects that still linger amongst potential fans. I'm talking, of course, of True Fantasy Live Online, the game that could've shown the true potential of console MMOs. Or, y'know, not.
Square Enix CEO: We're 'going to explore the possibility' of Final Fantasy VII remake
So far, Square Enix has said that a Final Fantasy VII remake would be "unrealistic," "tough to do in HD" and "not happening." But hold out hope, die-hards, because during an interview at FFXIII's launch party, Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada finally admitted that the company is "going to explore the possibility" of revisiting the classic RPG. He didn't completely reverse the long-held position, as he says Square Enix has to decide "whether or not we're going to do it, if we're going to do it, and the platform," but he did finally admit that there have been a lot of fan requests to see the game in a new form, so he's giving it some solid thought. Of course, the huge success of the game's re-release on PSN probably didn't hurt either. If Square's convinced a remake will sell (and people will play through Gaia yet again, possibly even on yet another platform), we'll probably see it somewhere sooner or later.
Kitase: Final Fantasy VII remake 'unrealistic,' would take too long to develop
Final Fantasy XIII producer Yoshinori Kitase recently gave what appears to be the final word on the possibility of a FFVII remake during an interview with TechDigest. "If we were to recreate Final Fantasy VII with the same level of graphical detail as you see in Final Fantasy XIII, we'd imagine that that would take as much as three or four times longer than the three and a half years it has taken to put this Final Fantasy together," Kitase explained, "so it's looking pretty unrealistic!" Ultimately, the chances of a remade FFVII getting developed are slim, but not non-existent. "If it were possible that we had all the right facilities and the right environment to be able to make and prepare a Final Fantasy VII remake within a year, we'd very much like a go at it," Kitase said. So, there you have it. If you want to see Cloud Strife in HD, all you have to do is recruit and bankroll a gargantuan Square Enix development team. Piece of cake!
What if Final Fantasy VII came out 10 years earlier (and had questionable artwork)
One of gaming's favorite pastimes: "What if" scenarios involving Final Fantasy VII. What if they actually made a next-gen version that looked like Advent Children? What if Square hadn't defected to the PlayStation? What if Aeris didn't have to die and instead was real and we were in love and got married? Of course, only slightly less popular is the "What if Final Fantasy VII came out ten years earlier and was 8-bit" scenario. We're pretty sure someone already did the actual work of porting the game over to the Famicom (thanks, Shenzhen Nanjing Technology Co, Ltd!) but in case you missed that, take a gander at Martin Barreby's non-interactive reimagining after the break. Sure, some of the art looks like it's cut from a fanfic and the gameplay actually looks worse than 1987's Final Fantasy 1, but it's "just a small project with not that much effort put into it" says Barreby, so lay off. Next: What if Cloud's sword and hair were subject to the same laws of gravity that we are?
Cloud Strife hacked (and slashed) into Smash Bros. Brawl
Up until today, our biggest problem with Super Smash Bros. Brawl has been that it doesn't have enough introspective, spiky-haired RPG protagonists. That's all changed, thanks to a group of modders known as DasDonkey Team and Kitty Corp: Meow Mix. Final Fantasy VII protagonist Cloud Strife -- along with his trusty Buster sword -- has been faithfully recreated in surprising detail here in Nintendo's franchise fight-em-up with custom animations and attacks. We won't pretend to understand the motivation behind the implementation (with these mods, we so seldom do), but hey, we're not complaining. The more, the merrier! Head past the break to check out some video of Cloud in action. [Via GameVideos]
Final Fantasy XIII producers: Traditional RPG towns are tough to do in HD
Lots of fans think it would be great to see the classic Final Fantasy VII remade in full HD glory on a platform like the PS3, but Final Fantasy XIII producers Yoshinori Kitase and Motomu Toriyama say it would be really tough to do. In a recent interview with Ultimania, they say that the limit isn't the HD technology, it's the amount of artisanship. "Considering the amount of work to make graphics that deserve HD, it is hard to make towns in the conventional style," said Toriyama. FFVII's graphics were beautiful at the time, but when you consider that we all played them on a 4:3 TV SD screen rather than the 1080p HD behemoths we're all playing games on today, you realize that it's a lot more work for artists to put in to make the game look as epic as Final Fantasy should. That's one reason why FFXIII doesn't have conventional RPG towns. Kitase agrees, saying that "it is very hard to make games on PlayStation 3 in the same style the games in that era had. Making graphics will take enormous time." So score one for standard definition and the limits of the old pre-HD consoles. Note that neither producer says it's impossible, just a lot of work. So maybe some enterprising young developer will come along and make a solid, HD JRPG in the old-school fashion.
Vinyl Fantasy 7 is the freshest thing you'll hear today
We love Nobuo Uematsu's work on the musical accompaniment for the Final Fantasy franchise, but we often find ourselves wishing those games' scores were infused with a touch of Jay-Z. Maybe a light smattering of Outkast. The faintest hint of Ghostface Killah. The mixologists from Team Teamwork (creators of the similarly-spliced Ocarina of Rhyme album) have once again worked their magic on a classic video game soundtrack. This time around, it's the score from Final Fantasy VII, which has been mashed together with tracks from over a dozen hip-hop artists, as well as Tom Waits, which is just weird. You can pay whatever you want to download the cleverly-titled Vinyl Fantasy 7 -- though we're betting you'll probably settle on zero dollars. [Thanks, Mike!]
Nomura: FFVII remake not happening 'for the time being'
Look, Cloud Strife fans, we feel your pain. We do! Honestly. We're just not exactly shocked to see Square Enix's Tetsuya Nomura stating that the possibility of a Final Fantasy VII remake being created as a no go, at least "for the time being." In a recent issue of Famitsu (translated via Andriasang) -- the Cloud Strife-themed part of a multiweek look at game characters -- the character's creator admitted that he is quite aware "fans are looking forward to an oft-rumored remake of FFVII." Unfortunately, he also noted "I don't believe this will happen for the time being." In a seemingly futile effort to assuage the damage done by that statement, he added, "It's possible that he will appear in other titles as a guest character." You mean like Dissidia: Final Fantasy, Mr. Nomura? Yeah, we're just as worried as you are, folks.
PSP Go owners make Final Fantasy VII the top PSN seller for October
Three PSP titles appear on the PSN bestsellers list for October. It makes sense, considering the launch of the all-digital PSP Go. Surprisingly, the much-anticipated Gran Turismo PSP didn't top the charts. Instead, PSone classic Final Fantasy VII took the lead once again, undoubtedly boosted by nostalgic RPG players wanting to relive Cloud Strife's cross-dressing adventure on the Go. Here's the full list:1. Final Fantasy VII (PS3/PSP)2. Zombie Apocalypse (PS3)3. TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled (PS3)4. .deTuned (PS3)5. UNO (PS3)6. Gran Turismo (PSP)7. Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 (PS3)8. Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest For Booty (PS3)9. Critter Crunch (PS3)10. God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP)Konami's Zombie Apocalypse stood as the top new entry, while interactive art experience .deTuned managed to snag a few purchases from Trophy hunters looking for some of the easiest achievements ever created. Critter Crunch's low sales numbers managed to snag it a 9th position -- which either means sales picked up after the free demo, or October was not a very good month for PSN sales at all.
Swag Saturday: Final Fantasy spinoff pack (PSP)
If you're like us, you're ready for The Future of Digital Entertainment™ and want to get rid of all that silly, antiquated physical media still laying around the house. We're using some for coasters (something's gotta hold our Zima!), some for Halloween treats later this month, and some for Swag Saturday giveaways. We're hoping that you're not like us and are instead hungrily searching for your chance to win a copy of both Dissidia Final Fantasy and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (on UMD, of course). Leave a comment below letting us what you're going to do with your physical media when the future is upon us and there's no turning back. We'll choose one winner at random after the comments are closed 24 hours from now. See you in the future! Leave a comment letting us what you're going to do with your physical media when the future is upon us and there's no turning back. You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec, presumably based on the longstanding feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys) Limit 1 entry per person per day This entry period ends at 7:01PM ET on Sunday, October 11 At that time, we'll randomly select one winner to receive Dissidia Final Fantasy ($40 ARV) and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII ($20 ARV) For a list of complete rules, click here %Gallery-12134%%Gallery-18738%
