Monday, July 14, 2008

Microsoft Shows The Ace of Spades at E3



Like any good poker player, Microsoft hasnt revealed too much about the strength of its hand for 2009. Well, one of the biggest cards in that hand was just shown at E3, where Square Enix announced that Final Fantasy XIII was launching on the Xbox 360 in the US and Europe alongside the PS3 version in Japan. Originally planned as a system exclusive for the PS3, the higher ups at Sony apparently did not feel it was necessary to pay Square to keep the game exclusive. This is directly opposite of Microsoft's plan, which has been to pay off developers big time ($50M to Rockstar for GTA IV Downloadable Content) to keep games and DLC exclusive to their system. Another huge blow to Sony, this one is sure to have the PS3 fanboys in tears. Really though, they should have seen this coming, as the Final Fantasy franchise hasnt been exclusive to Sony's system for years.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I laughed when this happened. In Japan though, the PS3 will have exclusivity. Square Enix is only shipping the 360 version in NA and Europe because off its large install base. But with so little 360's in Japan it's just not worth it.

So...its kinda exclusive...sorta. Sucks for PS3 fanboys.

Anonymous said...

There were some very interesting things in that press con. I am wary though how much of it will be all US only. All that primetime and netflix and sharing of videos/media I can see being restricted. They may let us share photos if they're feeling generous.