Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
> At least if you get a PS3, it does Blu-Ray also.  XBox went with HDDVD and 
> failed at that too. :-)

  I thought that the HD-DVD drive of the Xbox 360 was a peripheral, sold
separately, and that the Xbox 360 itself simply has a regular DVD drive
(unlike the PS3, where the standard drive is a Blu-Ray one).

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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Warp wrote:
> Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
>> Perfectly reasonable. I've had games I waited for, only to find they 
>> wouldn't run, yes.  And there are several very neat looking PS3 games I'd 
>> like to try.
> 
>   The most bitter I am about is that I can't play Final Fantasy games
> because they are all for PlayStation or PlayStation 2. I have never got
> motivated enough to buy a PS2 just to play FF games...
> 
>   It has always puzzle me why some companies make their games for one
> console only even when they don't have any personal interest in promoting
> that specific console. (Ok, I have to admit I don't know if Square/Enix
> has some dealings with Sony. I wouldn't actually be surprised if they did.)
> 

One reason would be the vast differences between each of the consoles of
the past three generations, and the audience for the game. PS1 and N64
were very different in what each console could handle. The PS2, Gamecube
and Xbox were a bit more similar, technology-wise. This generation,
well, you have Cell processors in one, PowerPC and ARM combo in another,
and a PowerPC Xenon in the third. Still, each platform has vastly
different SDK and libraries available; graphic calls alone would
probably require the whole engine to be rewritten.

They pick which console to release on based on what audience already
owns that console. The 360 sells racing and sports games rather well, if
I remember correctly, but also sells rather poorly in Japan. Since they
have to pick between the PS3 and the Wii (or PS2 and Gamecube for last
generation), I guess they go with the better graphics.

Whether S/E has any dealings with Sony, not a clue here. One could look
at the demo of FF7 for the N64, and compare it to the game's FMV that
would never have worked on the cartridge format. Or look at the SNES
CD-drive, that Sony was tasked with making.

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Sabrina Kilian <ski### [at] vtedu> wrote:
> Still, each platform has vastly
> different SDK and libraries available; graphic calls alone would
> probably require the whole engine to be rewritten.

  But take into account that in a RPG the program code is probably something
like 10-20% of the entire amount of work put into the game. There's an
enormous amount of content that could be used as-is in all versions of
the game.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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Warp <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote:
>   The most bitter I am about is that I can't play Final Fantasy games
> because they are all for PlayStation or PlayStation 2. I have never got
> motivated enough to buy a PS2 just to play FF games...

There are far better reasons to have a PS2 than FF games, you could very much
just love God of War 1&2, Shadow of Colossus and Metal Gear Solid 2&3 among many
others.  It's still on the market and dirt cheap! :)

The last FFs worth of the name were FFVII, FFIX and FFTactics on PS1.  They
since went downhill through the bizarre/emo/japanesque route... if you want a
kick ass traditional JRPG, try Dragon Quest VIII.

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nemesis <nam### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> It's still on the market and dirt cheap! :)

  Can you connect it to a CRT? If not, it won't be cheap.

> The last FFs worth of the name were FFVII

  I have never understood the hype about that one. The graphics are just
horrible (compare to other similar games for the PS1, such as Chrono Cross
or FF IX) and the story is not all that compelling.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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Warp wrote:

>   It has always puzzle me why some companies make their games for one
> console only even when they don't have any personal interest in promoting
> that specific console. (Ok, I have to admit I don't know if Square/Enix
> has some dealings with Sony. I wouldn't actually be surprised if they did.)

Speculation suggests that the console manufacturers offer the SDKs at a 
reduced price for developers who work exclusively for one company's 
consoles.

Regards,
John

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John VanSickle <evi### [at] hotmailcom> wrote:
> Warp wrote:

> >   It has always puzzle me why some companies make their games for one
> > console only even when they don't have any personal interest in promoting
> > that specific console. (Ok, I have to admit I don't know if Square/Enix
> > has some dealings with Sony. I wouldn't actually be surprised if they did.)

> Speculation suggests that the console manufacturers offer the SDKs at a 
> reduced price for developers who work exclusively for one company's 
> consoles.

  If a game is made for a second console, and it's a popular game (like eg.
Final Fantasy games usually are), the company will probably get quite a good
chunk of money from the sales (with big games it may even be in the millions
of dollars). But instead they prefer getting the SDK slightly cheaper?

  Doesn't sound like an economically sound solution to me.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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Warp wrote:
> Sabrina Kilian <ski### [at] vtedu> wrote:
>> Still, each platform has vastly
>> different SDK and libraries available; graphic calls alone would
>> probably require the whole engine to be rewritten.
> 
>   But take into account that in a RPG the program code is probably something
> like 10-20% of the entire amount of work put into the game. There's an
> enormous amount of content that could be used as-is in all versions of
> the game.
> 

Figure the increased cost of the SDK on the main formerly exclusive
console. Add in the cost of the SDK for the new console. Add in cost of
new programmers, and training them on developing for the new console;
the programers used to the old console are going to be busy since you
are going to want to release both at the same time, right? Decrease your
profit per game sold, as I would guess exclusives do get a bigger chunk
of that money. And some times the developers are just one small house
under the parent company, so the cost for putting one game on multiple
platforms may not gain them anything on other games being released at
the same time. S/E has, according to wiki, 10 development divisions with
each headed by a different person.

Sure, it may be just 10-20% of the work put into the game, but it is a
huge amount of money. It apparently was enough that it kept S/E from
releasing anything prior to FFXIII on more than one console.

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Warp wrote:
> Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
>> At least if you get a PS3, it does Blu-Ray also.  XBox went with HDDVD and 
>> failed at that too. :-)
> 
>   I thought that the HD-DVD drive of the Xbox 360 was a peripheral, sold
> separately, and that the Xbox 360 itself simply has a regular DVD drive
> (unlike the PS3, where the standard drive is a Blu-Ray one).

That's correct.  But you can't buy an external BluRay drive for the xbox, 
even now.

I mean, if you buy a PS3, you can avoid buying a bluray disk player, which 
costs about half what a PS3 costs in the USA at least. And I understand the 
PS3 player is a very nice implementation.

If you buy an XBox, it plays games, and media, but no blu-ray. It'll play HD 
netflix stuff, I think, but I'm not sure how that works in Europe.

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
    Ada - the programming language trying to avoid
    you literally shooting yourself in the foot.

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Sabrina Kilian wrote:
>  and the audience for the game. 

I saw a great flowchart about which console to buy:

Do you have friends?
No:    Buy a PS3
Yes:   Real friends, or internet friends?
    Real friends: Buy a Wii
    Internet friends:  Buy an XBox.

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
    Ada - the programming language trying to avoid
    you literally shooting yourself in the foot.

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