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Simultaneous Worldwide Launch of FFXIII Possible? |
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Square-Enix's presence at this years downsized E3 is much lower than their previous years attending. They're even recycling last years booth design thanks to the smaller show. According to John Yamamoto, Square-Enix's European and North American CEO in an interview with Gameindustry, they're saving their big announcements until the Tokyo Game Show in September. It doesn't seem to likely we're getting anything but what's on their existing lineup this year. If you're disheartened, there is some good news. May's announcement of The Last
Remnant and it's simultaneous release in Japan and the US seems to be the beginning of a company wide strategy of releasing their titles in simultaneous regions at once. "For one of our biggest
upcoming titles, Last Remnant, we're working to simultaneously launch in the United States and Japan - and we're aiming for Europe. We're still assessing whether that's feasible, but it's a goal."
When asked if that included next generation Final Fantasy games he said "We'll try our best". So a semi-worldwide release date could be possible for Final Fantasy XIII and other games in the compilation.
The final part of the interview concerned the recent Playstation 3 price cut. When Yamamoto was asked about whether the price cut was enough he said:We're watching the hardware trends closely and also the marketing strategy of the platform holders. I think USD 500 for PS3 is still a bit expensive for most gamers. Most of them think that price is still high. When asked specifically if sales of the PS3 didn't pick up, would they re-consider making Final Fantasy XIII exclusively for it, Yamamoto said it was hard to answer that question himself but mentioned:
"At previous E3s and other shows we've announced different Final Fantasies for different platforms, and I think that will continue." // GamesIndustry.biz article: The US and Euro boss on PS3, platform exclusivity and simultaneous releases.
Source: GameIndustry.biz |
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