Interesting special edition of PS2

[Tars Tarkus]

I wonder how many of these they will sell.

http://www.playstation.jp/news/2006/pr_060106_scph75000ff.html

 

[Tars Tarkus]

Nearly 300 views and no comments. Perhaps I should have highlighted the release date: March 16.
Why is that date interesting? It doesn't make much sense to alienate one of your most important developers by eclipsing their premiere title which has been in the works for years (presumably) by launching your next generation platform anywhere near their release date. To my (admitedly feeble at times) mind this lends credence to the rumoured "sometime in summer" introduction of the PS3.

 

[Sis]

Nearly 300 views and no comments.

You do know, of course, that you linked to a website that has a single picture and a lot of Japanese text. If you can translate some important parts, I'm sure this thread might have more discussion.

 

[scooby_dooby]

“PlayStation 2â€￾ FINAL FANTASY XII Pack"

 

[Bobbler]

Nearly 300 views and no comments. Perhaps I should have highlighted the release date: March 16.
Why is that date interesting? It doesn't make much sense to alienate one of your most important developers by eclipsing their premiere title which has been in the works for years (presumably) by launching your next generation platform anywhere near their release date. To my (admitedly feeble at times) mind this lends credence to the rumoured "sometime in summer" introduction of the PS3.

I dunno, I think SE is more inclined to adjust their dates rather than Sony adjusting theirs. Additionally, if you look back to PS1/PS2 era, you'll likely find that FFIX for PS1 was released after the PS2 came out. USA might not recieve FFXII until after the PS3 gets here.

Kind of a shame so many good PS2 games are coming out this late in the game (late 05 to late 06), but I suppose it keeps me busy and content (certainly not waiting around twidling my thumbs in between game releases... I have too much to play as it is).

 

[mckmas8808]

Looks nice. Should boost PS2 sales in Japan during its release.

 

[Andy]

If PS3 wasn't just round the corner, I'd definitely pick up one of these, the main PS2 I have, has a laser that's on its way out, but I think it will hold out until then.

 

[Tars Tarkus]

You do know, of course, that you linked to a website that has a single picture and a lot of Japanese text. If you can translate some important parts, I'm sure this thread might have more discussion.

My apologies. It seemed to me that even without translation there was enough information there to garner comment of one type or another, even if only a 'wtf?'. Cue old saw about assumptions :smile:
Anyways, because it really did strike me on several levels I'll list a few things that shambled across my cranium:
1) A franchise which had seemed, critically and commercially (at least in the West), in slow decline since VII would merit the investment of an expensive custom production run from Sony.
2) Sony would make such an investment for an independent developer (yes I know Sony are a major stockholder from when they bailed Square out from The Spirits Within fiasco but still...)
3) The mid March release. They must be anticipating a tremendous reception for the title if they deem it a reasonable allocation of resources to produce this. It just seemed incongruous to promote something that you would only turn around and overshadow with the release of your next platform iteration.
4) From number 3 I was drawn to the backward compatability issue. The demo of XII was rather impressive. They seemed to have incorporated bump mapping which was my only gripe about X (Lulu's necklace looked like a damned tattoo). Could part of the reason it took so long to finish XII be that they have features in the engine which will spring to lifewh en played on the upcoming platform? This would negate the discordance of release timing between the two.
There are a few other things as well but in the interest of focus four should suffice for the moment. As Mike Myers would say on the Coffee Talk skit of SNL... "Discuss"

 

[rounin]

Jeez. Heres a translation (not as good as one's translations maybe since I'm only a quarter Japanese ... that and my English sucks). I'll try to take a non-literal approach.

In the square, its basically PR:

By way of the special "Judge master" emblem-embossed limited edition PS2, the much anticipated unique experience of FFXII becomes even more special.

In the bottom:

A collaboration between Square Enix and Sony Computer Entertainment division's Sony Computer Entertainment Japan, Playstation 2 Final Fantasy XII Limited Edition is ready to face the vicious Spring sales war.

The premium package will include the much antipated FFXII game, a Judge Master (who is a central character in the game) emblem embossed PS2, a PS2 stand, limited edition cell-phone strap, as well as a special "Judge Master" design package.

The launch of this product along with the most anticipated software title of Spring's sales battle, Final Fantasy XII, will allow many users to share in the world of FFXII (note, this does not in the slightest mean online ...). Through this collaboration, Sony hopes to enlarge the Playstation platform, which has todate shipped over 100 million units.

 

[one]

1) A franchise which had seemed, critically and commercially (at least in the West), in slow decline since VII would merit the investment of an expensive custom production run from Sony.
2) Sony would make such an investment for an independent developer (yes I know Sony are a major stockholder from when they bailed Square out from The Spirits Within fiasco but still...)
3) The mid March release. They must be anticipating a tremendous reception for the title if they deem it a reasonable allocation of resources to produce this. It just seemed incongruous to promote something that you would only turn around and overshadow with the release of your next platform iteration.

"The investment of an expensive custom production run from Sony" "a reasonable allocation of resources to produce this", eh... they can dispose of thousands of the 5-year old console by printing an obscure emblem on it as a free PR campaign for FF12. The retail price of this collectors' edition bundle pack is actually $10 more expensive than the price you pay for the separate products combined. Die-hard FF fans, net auction sellers and PS2 collectors buy this model like crazy. Who knows, maybe this edition may outsell the launch week sales of the Xbox 360 with FF11 beta bundled in Japan. Definitely not a bad deal for SCE and SquareEnix.

 

[Serenity Painted Death]

It never ceases to amaze me that people think FF is "declining" in popularity and critical appeal "in the West." There is absolutely nothing to support this idea... other than FFXI pretty much, which is a wholly different beast. For all hate X-2 gets on messageboards like this, it sold amazingly well and had very good scores from the vast majority of review sites (nearly 90% on gamerankings). I fully expect FFXII to easily outsell FFX, if, for nothing else, the size of the installed base of PS2 owners vs. when FFX released (100 million vs. 10 million). The games are actually selling far better outside of Japan than they did in the past.

Edit: In actuality, I think the reason behind this general attitude is that there hasn't been a "real" FF in... going on five years now.

 

[mckmas8808]

It never ceases to amaze me that people think FF is "declining" in popularity and critical appeal "in the West." There is absolutely nothing to support this idea... other than FFXI pretty much, which is a wholly different beast. For all hate X-2 gets on messageboards like this, it sold amazingly well and had very good scores from the vast majority of review sites (nearly 90% on gamerankings). I fully expect FFXII to easily outsell FFX, if, for nothing else, the size of the installed base of PS2 owners vs. when FFX released (100 million vs. 10 million). The games are actually selling far better outside of Japan than they did in the past..

Thanks I didn't know all that info.

 

[drpepper]

I for one, can't wait for this game. I was waiting for it since... well... I don't know...

 

[ban25]

For what it's worth, I thought X-2 was the best FF this generation (unless 12 surpasses it).

It never ceases to amaze me that people think FF is "declining" in popularity and critical appeal "in the West." There is absolutely nothing to support this idea... other than FFXI pretty much, which is a wholly different beast. For all hate X-2 gets on messageboards like this, it sold amazingly well and had very good scores from the vast majority of review sites (nearly 90% on gamerankings). I fully expect FFXII to easily outsell FFX, if, for nothing else, the size of the installed base of PS2 owners vs. when FFX released (100 million vs. 10 million). The games are actually selling far better outside of Japan than they did in the past.

Edit: In actuality, I think the reason behind this general attitude is that there hasn't been a "real" FF in... going on five years now.

 

[Serenity Painted Death]

I vastly prefer X over X-2 (but I /really/ like X). But X-2 is a great game that gets a bad rap simply because it has "FF" in its name, when it shouldn't (due to the flippant nature of the story and other factors... just call it something else!). One of the best battle systems this generation... blindingly fast, and the Job system is a lot of fun...which it was featured in pretty much every Square game.