360 Gamers Day in Japan. JRPG's on the menu.

[PARANOiA]

How does that song go ?

Money makes the world go around ~~

Xbox 360 needs all the help it can get there. Good for MS to watch over its fans.
I doubt absolute exclusivity though.

I'd note here that Sony didn't help themselves in making the PS3 far harder to develop for than the 360. While you don't know if any money was involved, you can guarantee some of the timed exclusiveness is purely due to Square having problems getting UE3 running as well on the PS3 as it is the 360.

I would be willing to bet than next gen, Sony rethink their "if we build it, they will come" strategy, since both Nintendo and MS are providing easier alternatives - and reaping the rewards.

Edit: isn't is an absolutely bizarre situation where the 360 is the JRPG machine of choice for the foreseeable future? I'm pleased but a little confused.

 

[patsu]

I'd note here that Sony didn't help themselves in making the PS3 far harder to develop for than the 360. While you don't know if any money was involved, you can guarantee some of the timed exclusiveness is purely due to Square having problems getting UE3 running as well on the PS3 as it is the 360.

This could be true.

I would be willing to bet than next gen, Sony rethink their "if we build it, they will come" strategy, since both Nintendo and MS are providing easier alternatives - and reaping the rewards.

Next gen ? Gives me a headache thinking about it. They have already built up some good tools now. Hopefully they can reuse them and also address some of the current limitations.

Edit: isn't is an absolutely bizarre situation where the 360 is the JRPG machine of choice for the foreseeable future? I'm pleased but a little confused.

I did not have any preconception about what's what, so I don't feel bizzare or surprised (I didn't know what to expect). Given the 1+ year headstart, better tools and Sony's general unwillingness to pay for exclusives, we should probably have foreseen this.

 

[DrJay24]

you can guarantee some of the timed exclusiveness is purely due to Square having problems getting UE3 running as well on the PS3 as it is the 360.

Juat Square? It seems there are plenty of UE3 games running smoothly on the PS3. Also, Mass Effect and Lost Odyssey both have performance issues. Personally I've my fill of UE3 based games, it would be nice if other engines were licensed once in a while.

 

[PARANOiA]

Juat Square? It seems there are plenty of UE3 games running smoothly on the PS3. Also, Mass Effect and Lost Odyssey both have performance issues. Personally I've my fill of UE3 based games, it would be nice if other engines were licensed once in a while.

I'm not singling out Square. They were simply the only multiplatform UE3 JRPG developer at this conference.

 

[PARANOiA]

I believe the only expected console life-time exclusivity is with Infinite Undiscovery. Isn't MS funding that one? The copyright information shows MS as having shared ownership. Star Ocean is completely owned by SE, and it doesn't say "exclusive" either despite not mentioning PS3 -> seems likely they'll bring it eventually.

Here's an interesting quote:
http://www.staroceanthelasthope.com/news/square-enix-producer-says-release-on-ps3-is-undecided.html

Square Enix producer Yoshinori Yamagishi cleared things up during a roundtable interview session that followed the press conference. Asked if the game is 360-only, he said, "We cannot announce anything on that. We can say that it will be released first [on the Xbox 360]. Whether we'll release it on the PS3 is undecided. We may release it, we may not."

 

[patsu]

"They" said the same thing for other paid timed exclusive titles though (may be part of the terms).

 

[PARANOiA]

"They" said the same thing for other paid timed exclusive titles though (may be part of the terms).

Patsu, do you have anything to back up your paid exclusive claim? Like you yourself said in a thread last week, if you make those sort of claims, back them up or don't make them.

 

[rabidrabbit]

Is Star Ocean: The Last Hope the same as Star Ocean 4?
I remember seeing a trailer for SO4 that looked a lot like SO:TLH trailer.
The game seems to be heavy on prerendered cutscenes, will it be again a multi disc game.

Square Enix producer Yoshinori Yamagishi cleared things up during a roundtable interview session that followed the press conference. Asked if the game is 360-only, he said, "We cannot announce anything on that. We can say that it will be released first [on the Xbox 360]. Whether we'll release it on the PS3 is undecided. We may release it, we may not."

That was a Microsoft conference, paid and arranged by microsoft as a PR event. It would be silly of SE to announce a PS3 version there even if it was coming out on the same day

 

[Xenus]

Yeah I think it is. Hopefully it comes out to the PS3 too because I love Star Ocean and FF but I don't think I'll have the money for both systems being a college student and all.

 

[patsu]

Patsu, do you have anything to back up your paid exclusive claim? Like you yourself said in a thread last week, if you make those sort of claims, back them up or don't make them.

Nope I have no data point. What I meant was his words sound like statements made for other timed exclusive deals (as part of the term). So far, if it's PS3 development difficulties, usually the developers will simply acknowledge a PS3 delay.

At this point, SO4 is not an absolute exclusive either since the developer did not confirm whether a PS3 version will be out or not. It makes for a wishy-washy situation.

 

[PARANOiA]

Nope I have no data point. What I meant was his words sound like statements made for other timed exclusive deals (as part of the term). So far, if it's PS3 development difficulties, usually the developers will simply acknowledge a PS3 delay.

At this point, SO4 is not an absolute exclusive either since the developer did not confirm whether a PS3 version will be out or not. It makes for a wishy-washy situation.

Wishy washy how? It's great news for 360 owners, since they will - no ifs or buts - be getting two Square JRPGs this year, along with a new Star Ocean next year.

The only wishy washy part - or part I'd feel like I was missing out on - would be as a PS3 only gamer hoping the game is ported at a later date, when there's no real indication this will happen

 

[Dominik D]

Is Star Ocean: The Last Hope the same as Star Ocean 4?
I remember seeing a trailer for SO4 that looked a lot like SO:TLH trailer.
The game seems to be heavy on prerendered cutscenes, will it be again a multi disc game.

It's the same. My question, however, is this: how is that different from installing the game before each act? Just curious, because I see this "oh noez, multidisk" thing all around like it was a big deal. 5h long game on multiple DVDs? Problem, sure. 20+h of fun on 2-4 disks? What's the problem, really?

 

[AlphaWolf]

It's the same. My question, however, is this: how is that different from installing the game before each act? Just curious, because I see this "oh noez, multidisk" thing all around like it was a big deal. 5h long game on multiple DVDs? Problem, sure. 20+h of fun on 2-4 disks? What's the problem, really?

Well in one case you might have to get out of your chair to swap the discs, in the other you can twiddle your thumbs peacefully for a few minutes. I'd say that's huge.

 

[patsu]

Wishy washy how? It's great news for 360 owners, since they will - no ifs or buts - be getting two Square JRPGs this year, along with a new Star Ocean next year.

Yes, it was already mentioned it's great news on Microsoft's part.

The only wishy washy part - or part I'd feel like I was missing out on - would be as a PS3 only gamer hoping the game is ported at a later date, when there's no real indication this will happen

Yeah, this is the part I feel is wishy washy. They should have been more firm in the language. If it is not sealed as an exclusive, then it opens the door for a PS3 release especially when the studio has PS3 dev capability. From past experiences, if the game is any good, it will appear on the other platform as well.

 

[one]

It's the same. My question, however, is this: how is that different from installing the game before each act? Just curious, because I see this "oh noez, multidisk" thing all around like it was a big deal. 5h long game on multiple DVDs? Problem, sure. 20+h of fun on 2-4 disks? What's the problem, really?

If there's an HDD available, it's natural to exploit it for its faster read and in some cases for rewritable storage for procedural generation or user-generated results, that's the difference. It affects the game design as long as the game is developed for an HDD-standard console. To support your multi-disc vs single-disc argument, you should compare a DVD-only setup with a BD-only setup rather than comparing a DVD-only setup with a BD + HDD setup.

 

[Dominik D]

@AlphaWolf: I'm not sure what's huge: this issue or that part you have to lift from the chair to overcome the gravity. But perhaps I'm the only person drinking while playing and lifting my weight is something I have to do anyway...

What do you think about the gfx quality of these games? Tales of Vesperia seems to have an art style close to the one from Ethernal Sonata but shading is weaker/flatter and the amount of details seems lower. Infinite Undiscovery seems to have horrible lipsync and is fairly low-poly for UE3 game (if I'm right they use UE3). Last Remnant and Star Ocean look pretty good, especially when it somes to the skin surface (although I find it hard to believe that Star Ocean screens are on the engine: it looks to sweet and it's probably just a render...).

@one: why would I compare such things? Theoretical comparisons are cool, but the reality is this: PS3 has HDD in every SKU, 360 doesn't. And despite the fact that 360 has game cache available, games seem to use it rarely.

 

[AlphaWolf]

From the videos I watched, Last remnant looked the best to me, but mostly that's just artistic choices I think, nothing technical.

 

[one]

@one: why would I compare such things? Theoretical comparisons are cool, but the reality is this: PS3 has HDD in every SKU, 360 doesn't. And despite the fact that 360 has game cache available, games seem to use it rarely.

This is simple logic, MGS4 installing each act is completely unrelated to whether it's multi-disc or not. Even if MGS4 was a multi-DVD-disc game developed for a fictional Blu-ray-less PS3, it would do installation for each act as long as PS3 has standard HDD.

 

[obonicus]

It's the same. My question, however, is this: how is that different from installing the game before each act? Just curious, because I see this "oh noez, multidisk" thing all around like it was a big deal. 5h long game on multiple DVDs? Problem, sure. 20+h of fun on 2-4 disks? What's the problem, really?

Not -every- PS3 game requires an install, though. If Burnout Paradise doesn't, I fail to see why these should, they're likely to be a lot less demanding. (Of course, for some bizarre reason Capcom made that golf game have an install.)

 

[zarbaj]

some SO4 shots:

http://i30.tinypic.com/29ks6l2.jpg
http://i30.tinypic.com/30ldutv.jpg
http://i31.tinypic.com/mwwqps.jpg
http://i31.tinypic.com/2u948jm.jpg
http://i28.tinypic.com/2w4wln8.jpg
http://i30.tinypic.com/2pqp2x3.jpg

other than the excessive bloom it looks nice.