Final Fantasy 13 Timed Exclusive?
E3 has come and gone, and although many thought that this year’s E3 was a tad disappointing, there was one announcement that shook the world: Final Fantasy 13 was announced for Xbox 360. The internet exploded, fanboys went to war, and people thought, “How the hell did Sony let that one slip?!” Now that the dust has settled and interviews from Square-Enix have been flying out left, right, and center, all the correct information on Final Fantasy 13 has now been revealed.
For starters, Final Fantasy 13 will still be exclusive to the Playstation 3 in Japan, and development of the Xbox 360 version will start when the team starts localization for American and European release of the Playstation 3 version. Many people took this as a sign that Final Fantasy 13 could be a timed PS3 exclusive in America and Europe. This is definitely not the case: Final Fantasy 13 will be launched simultaneously across America and Europe on the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3. This was confirmed by Microsoft and Square-Enix.
TGR Verdict: Killed
Final Fantasy 7 Remake or Sequel?
Square-Enix commented that in two weeks, at their invite-only fan event DKΣ3713, fans should expect another earth-shattering announcement. What could this be, you ask? The ball is in Microsoft’s court at the moment, but word has it that this announcement could well be in Sony’s favor. Final Fantasy 13 co-producer Shinji Hashimoto was asked about the status of Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children Complete, to which he replied:
“You can look forward to the upcoming invite-only fan event DKΣ3713, where we’ll have a major announcement that will shock the fans in attendance.”
Is this the announcement every JRPG fan has been waiting for? Is this finally a confirmation that Final Fantasy 7 is finally having its next-gen remake? Considering this is the most popular title of the Final Fantasy series, this announcement would be awesome but not really shocking. To be honest with you, I don’t think this announcement is about Final Fantasy 7, but the movie Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children Complete. Don’t get your hopes up, but all will be revealed in a couple of weeks.
TGR Verdict: Unlikely
BioShock 2 Still 360 Exclusive?
BioShock was released last year for the Xbox 360 and PC, and now, after many rumors, the game is finally coming to Playstation 3 this fall. 2K recently talked about the exclusivity deal regarding the first game to Videogamer.com. Said Markus Wilding, International PR Director for 2K:
“We were approached by Microsoft and at that time, that deal made perfect sense for everybody, so we did it. As far as exclusivity deals go these days, they expire after a certain time, and then it was up to us to decide if it would make sense to release a PS3 version.
“Obviously we couldn’t announce it for a while. Had we announced it at the time we launched the 360 version, basically we’d nullify that deal, so we had to work it so both parties would be pleased.”
Now, with both platforms having BioShock, what will happen with BioShock 2? Will both platforms have a simultaneous release, or will BioShock 2 be exclusive, a timed exclusive anyway, to Microsoft’s Xbox 360? Speaking to Videogamer again, Wilding said that there will be no information on BioShock 2 until BioShock releases on Playstation 3.
“We’re not talking about it just yet because right now, it’s BioShock PS3 – that’s what everybody is concentrating on. Once we’re in full effect on BioShock 2, we’ll talk about it.”
Most people will think of this as being normal: why would they want to talk about a sequel to one of the best games this generation so far and take all the attention away from the PS3 version? But what happens when you read between the lines? Let me tell you.
2K said it themselves that they couldn’t talk about BioShock PS3 as it could end up nullifying their deal with Microsoft. Imagine the reaction if 2K announced that BioShock 2 exclusively for Xbox 360 and PC before BioShock even comes out on Playstation 3: it could really hamper sales and damage its reputation with Playstation owners. It’s understandable that no announcements on BioShock 2 will revealed for a long time, but if my memory serves me right, a rumor was circling not so long ago regarding Microsoft paying big bucks for an exclusivity deal for the sequel and one of the agreements from 2K could have been not to announce anything until after BioShock ships for Playstation 3.
TGR Verdict: Likely
Alan Wake at the Tokyo Game Show?
Oh Alan Wake, where art thou? For too long now, there has been little-to-no new information in regarding this action-adventure thriller game from Remedy Studios. E3 has come and gone and one of the big games missing in action was Alan Wake. It wasn’t shown or mentioned in Microsoft’s press conference, and there was no sign of it on the show floor or behind closed doors. Now, many sites are running stories stating that Alan Wake could actually be dead in development because of the lack of info on this Xbox 360 exclusive. We can tell you now that Alan Wake is still in development and will be shown only when it’s ready.
Other stories started to pop up in regards that Alan Wake will be shown at this year’s Tokyo Game Show in Japan. According to a Microsoft Vista promotion one lucky person will be able to get there face digitally remodeled in Alan Wake:
“To celebrate the launch of their new operating system, Microsoft is offering one lucky winner the opportunity to be digitally made-over and inserted (virtually, of course) into a blockbuster game! Simply watch the Vista gaming demo and you could appear in the latest Remedy blockbuster, Alan Wake!”
Excellent news… if this didn’t actually take place last year. Even Remedy came out to explain this one:
“The Microsoft Vista promotion referring to TGS took place in 2007, and is old news – we’ve had the winner over for taking the pictures already.
"Sorry for the confusion and possible disappointment, but this was not an announcement that Wake would be shown at TGS 2008. Remedy’s team is just getting back from a bit of holiday and we haven’t had time to chat with Microsoft on upcoming shows/showings yet.”
Well there you have it, confirmation that Alan Wake is still in development, and also confirmation that it wont be at this year’s Tokyo Game Show. What we will say is that Leizpig and X08 are just around the corner and Alan Wake could make an appearance.
TGR Verdict: Killed
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