Final Fantasy is a “PlayStation franchise”

Last night at midnight, Square Enix released Final Fantasy XIII to retail shelves after years of development and patience from gamers. In accordance with the launch, Sony and Square Enix threw a massive launch party yesterday as well. At the event key figures from around the industry showed up to show their support as well as figures from Microsoft and media outlets.

Early in the night, a Microsoft employee had stood on stage and thanked Square Enix for porting (allowing Microsoft to give them money) the title over to the Xbox 360. This apparently didn’t sit too well with Sony, as the next Sony representative that took the stage made sure to let people know why they were there and what Final Fantasy truly means to the console powerhouse from Japan.

Sony’s rep declared that “Final Fantasy is a PlayStation franchise” and that it is “best on the PS3.” Not only that, but fans playing it on the PS3 will enjoy it on “one disc, the way it was meant to be played.”

Apparently this set off an awkward moment throughout the event and a lot of people weren’t sure how to react, but the consensus of most was to cheer and applaud the statement. In all reality, Sony is pretty much right in this regard — true, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles found a home on the Nintendo platform and the MMO brand can be found on a Microsoft console, but the true numbered franchise has been home to the PlayStation brand for 15 years now.

If I had to set up an analogy for the situation it would be this. Imagine having 3 tickets to go and see your favorite band in concert, but only one of your friends could make it. The only logical choice is to sell off the third ticket, right? But, the problem is, the guy who bought it, shows up to the concert like he’s been friends with you forever while he’s only really there because he forked over the cash. Microsoft is like that guy. Nobody really likes him, but he brings the money with him. Enjoy.

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Readers Comments (28)

  1. the analogy at the end is pretty good, but somehow I think people do like MS

  2. Wow, great analogy.

    It would be so funny to see the CEOs of both companies getting involved in the fanboy wars.

  3. WOW!!! That really happened? Talk about intense…

  4. FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT 😆

  5. lol owned, although it was originally a nintendo franchise.

  6. Agreed but it use to be a Nintendo franchise.

  7. Moocows111111 March 9, 2010 @ 15:22

    “But, the problem is, the guy who bought it, shows up to the concert like he’s been friends with you forever while he’s only really there because he forked over the cash. Microsoft is like that guy. Nobody really likes him, but he brings the money with him. Enjoy.”

    Ummm Win?

    “Sony’s rep declared that “Final Fantasy is a PlayStation franchise” and that it is “best on the PS3.” Not only that, but fans playing it on the PS3 will enjoy it on “one disc, the way it was meant to be played.””

    I Am glad that someone from Sony declared that this game is a Playstation Brand, It truly is, the 360 got a shoddy version of FF13 anyways, goes to show where FF13 belongs.

  8. I really would like to continue calling it a sony franchise but if microsoft keep getting the new titles now it is no longer just a sony franchise which to me is a big shame. Also go the sony rep for standing up for good gaming 😉

  9. VofEscaflowne March 9, 2010 @ 15:27

    Haha, I heard about this and thought it was pretty funny. I’m glad the PS3 version is superior as it’s of course the console that I own :p But back before it was announced for the 360, it was one of the reasons for purchasing the console. Just knowing that the version isn’t gimped and offers a great experience for HDTV owners is great. The game is absolutely stunning and I couldn’t imagine having a lower quality product.

    But of course, Final Fantasy will also be a huge Nintendo franchise in my heart :p

  10. Microsoft I’m going to let you finish, but Sony has the best FF franchise of all time, OF ALL TIME!!

  11. @soulscribe: lol

    but really tho SE selling out to MS did some damage to the PS3….even tho its not as good, many people still bought the 360 version (and some people with BOTH systems still bought the 360 version over the PS3 /facepalm)

    but yeah, its nice to see these reps go at each other…it amuses me

  12. Best analogy ever. I have personally seen both versions running in their (best displays) and HANDS DOWN the PS3 version is FAR SUPERIOR.

  13. The games journalists/media outlets that I follow on Twitter that were at the event didn’t mention anything about this at all. Either they were all drunk off of the free open bar that was there or it wasn’t as big a deal as this makes it out to be.

  14. AHAHAHAHA. Lol’ed so hard at that. Can’t wait to show this article to my friends :D. Man Playstation University is THE best place to look on sony (and other) news and reviews :)). Well I have enjoyed what the sony rep had to say about Final Fantasy franchise and the crowds reaction.

  15. Yeah, and thanks to the 360 now, we get to have a different game, with no open world exploration given the limitations created by the lack of space in DVDs.
    Say whatever you want to say MS, but your deal with SE poisoned the 13th entry in the series.

  16. @ #15, Se sold us out on FF13, but they need the money to fund more next-gen FFs, but this better be the first and last FF on 360, or we’ll be mad!!!!! 🙂

  17. @imlastboss: dood, youre from Youtube arent you? name sounds familiar 😀

    but yeah, i hope they wont continue with the 360 version….and also i hope they STOP trying to appeal to the “western” players…..

    but seeing as how SE seems pretty scum-like….they might. They BETTER NOT make Versus multiplat!! its taking forever as is

  18. To be honest, what the sony guy said about final fantasy being a playstation franchise is agreeable. Final fantasy is synonymous with playstation and has been with the brand much longer than it was with nintendo. Theres no reason for a numbered final fantasy to appear on another platform unless theres a good reason to. Like the reason they had with final fantasy VII. If the multiplatform decision was because of the larger xbox userbase, then why is it that the playstation 3 version outnumbers the xbox 360 version? This just proves my point about final fantasy + playstation and also proves that porting the game to the xbox 360 was nothing but a waste of time, money, and effort.

  19. VofEscaflowne March 10, 2010 @ 10:16

    @Thorzilla

    While a lot of people seem to blame the 360 version for the PS3 one being limited on gameplay features, unless there is concrete proof on this fact, I call bull. Of course people will be frustrated that it was ported to the PS3 because some people are just loyal fans of their console and I’m sure they can be pretty scary when pissed off :p

    @HeyAndy

    What do you mean the PS3 outnumbers the 360 version? In terms of pre-orders? I’d wait for actual NPD data but yeah, it wouldn’t really surprise me that the PS3 ends up outselling the 360 version at the end of March for the US. Worldwide it’ll obviously be higher because it’s exclusive to the PS3 in Japan.

  20. @VofE

    PlayStation 3 pre-orders were outnumbering 360 by like a margin of 3:1, lol. Add on top of that the 1.5+ Million copies already sold for the PS3 in Japan and it’s pretty much a slaughter — especially after the trash talk Aaron Greenberg did about how 13 was going to sell more on the 360 than PS3, lol.

  21. VofEscaflowne March 10, 2010 @ 11:19

    @The Dean

    Oh yeah, Japan is definitely a huge deciding factor worldwide, haha. No question there. I knew that the game was near the top of the list on Amazon’s best selling items and that the 360 version was pretty low in comparison. Should still be interesting once the NPD sales data comes out, if just for the 360 fans bitching and moaning :p

  22. Vof,

    Instead of looking at npd sales, why not look at worldwide sales? America is not the whole market. Its only part of it.

  23. VofEscaflowne March 10, 2010 @ 12:00

    @HeyAndy

    Because up until yesterday, Japan was the only one that had the game and in that region, there is no 360 version. Obviously the PS3 will outsell the 360 version worldwide but in the US, it’ll be the way to see how well each version is doing. NPD sales as far as I know doesn’t include sales made in Canada.

  24. the Final Fantasy franchise was origanally a nintendo franchise but the writer didn’t put much emphasis on that now did he…

  25. Steve,

    Yes, it was a nintendo franchise. But would you rather have a 2d based final fantasy VII than a 3d one if final fantasy didn’t switch from one brand to another?

  26. @HeyAndy – FFVII would’ve been in 3D regardless. There’s an N64 FF tech demo that Square released before announcing that they were moving to PlayStation- look it up.

    Either way, the move from Nintendo to Sony was purely from a technical standpoint- there’s no way the game could have been as ambitious on a cart-based system. The move from PS-exclusive to multiplat was purely business.

  27. I am still not buying this game, but i would love to see a video of this event sounds super fun. and the way i see it SE needs to some serious damage repair with Playstation fans, as the sales and pre-order numbers are out, i mean there is no use at all of releasing future games on XB360 (KH3)

  28. You’re like that nasally guy who wanted everyone to boycott XIII’s release, when he found out XIII was going to be Multi-platform. Final Fantasy started out with Nintendo, and despite the switch over to Playstation for VII’s initial release, Square never really let FF be a Playstation Exclusive.
    If you forgot, VII and VIII were also released for PC, and they continued to make games for other systems. Even if you claim that Crystal Chronicles doesn’t count, the Numbered Franchise was being re-released for every Nintendo handheld, some even on the Wonderswan, and rightly so. Why should Square limit themselves to one company, when the fans of their games span so many different consoled households?
    What you are saying Square was so wrong to do is exactly what happened in ’97 to everyone who expected VII on the N64.
    Sure, that had the bonus of more space branched over a series of discs, but you aren’t seriously so shortsighted as to not realize Square did it for the MONEY? They’re a company. They realize they have enough fans to lose a few pretentious losers who’re all uppity about being special, especially when they add in all the new fans from the system crossover.
    You just didn’t feel that way in ’97 because you were in Microsoft’s position back then. Besides. This has been coming since XI branched to 360, and I don’t remember there being a huge uproar about that.

    If it matters to anyone who will inevitably flame this, I own a PS3, but don’t feel those unfortunate enough to own a 360 should miss out on this amazing game.

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