Simultaneous Worldwide Launch of FFXIII Possible?

[Kitmitsu]

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

[Kätharina]

Would be great for a simulatious launch, but i doubt with all the stinking europian countries and languages to do, i dont see it.
I could see a Japan and American joint release, that would be cool IMPORT

[Pixel]

I can see a American and Japanese simultaneous launch but Europe is a stretch.

[ozonez]

Doesn't it depend on how they produce the game? normally they produce it in japanese then convert it to english but if they do both at the same time it will take longer but a simulataneous release is possible.

[Desi]

I can see why, they are truly behind. It shouldn't take them a year for translation (see: Crisis Core). Such a big company with such huge worldwide sales should be ashamed.

[Ultima Star]

Well that'd be cool...but Square doesn't say the info like "Hey we are releasing this game this day and it's gonna be worldwide" they just want to keep us waiting and don't wanna be precise

[Kitmitsu]

I think they prefer to leave it until they have a semi-accurate release date now. Advent Children and FFXII both suffered from year long delays which pissed off a lot of people. Still I'd prefer they gave a release date, even if it was extremely vague.

[Pulse]

Originally Posted by Kitmitsu

I think they prefer to leave it until they have a semi-accurate release date now. Advent Children and FFXII both suffered from year long delays which pissed off a lot of people. Still I'd prefer they gave a release date, even if it was extremely vague.

I agree, anything from them would actually be a new piece of information because all we are hearing at the moment is rumour and assumptions from places that dont really know what the hell they are on about eg 1up....? lol

Josh

[Dream Machine]

A European simultaneous release date would be sexy, I am quite tired of having to wait such a long time for a game thats been released in America/Japan.

Its always been pure lazyness on behalf of the companies making games that this has been the case. With the amount of money they make from these huge games I've never seen why they can't have different teams specifically devoted to localising games for different regions. It seems that they've finally started wising up (Yay for MGS4!)

[Desi]

Originally Posted by The-magicbox.com

- In a recent interview in Nikkei News, Square Enix president Yoichi Wada said the company will adopt worldwide simultaneous release and multi-platform development strategy for the next-gen market, the reason is to reach broader audience worldwide.

It is from The-Magicbox so take it as you wish.