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[Rhindle]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/09/25/news_6108839.html

When the slim-downed unit was revealed, keen-eyed observers asked, "where's the hard-disc drive bay?" We posed the question to Sony, which confirmed new unit would not have an HDD bay. However, Sony assured gamers that the lack of an HDD bay "was NOT a sign of Sony Computer Entertainment’s change in philosophy regarding the hard disc drive" and that the company is looking into "other memory options." So where does that leave PS2 players of Final Fantasy XI, which requires the HDD? According to Sony, there's no problem, because "consumers who want and use the hard disc drive are typically the more ‘hard core’ gamers, and with more than 27 Million PlayStation 2 units already sold in North America, we feel that a majority of those HDD interested consumers already have their PlayStation 2 units." However, a statement by FFXI producer Hiromichi Tanaka to a British game site didn't sound nearly as upbeat. "We're still preparing, and looking into perhaps even changing platforms, because once the PlayStation 2 is phased out, [the FFXI] population will have to move somewhere," he said.

Wonder what that could mean ...

 

[Kon Tiki]

PS3.

 

[DopeyFish]

woah wtf changing platforms? FFXI is out on PC isn't it?

 

[Soul4ger]

Sowny.

 

[Wario64]

Cant wait to play it on Xbox.

 

[neptunes]

Sony should just Keep the old model in production.

 

[jooey]

woah wtf changing platforms? FFXI is out on PC isn't it?

consoles are platforms, the PC is a pool.

anyway this isn't surprising; it's not like they wouldn't move on regardless of the redesign. expect a renewed FFXI for PS3 or whatever with improved graphics, like today's EQ expansions.

 

[belgurdo]

OMG SE IS BEING BOUGHT OUT BY MICROSOFT M3G4T0NNNNNNNNNNNNNN

 

[ToyMachine228]

Final Fantasy XI: Before Crisis for cell phones! You heard it here first!

 

[DCharlie]

"PS3."

would the lack of hard disk not cripple this idea? or do you think that along with a cell based, Bluray enabled machine, they've still got enough cash to stick a hard disk in there too? (one that is at least 40 gigs in size?

I think when they are talking about changing platform, they probably mean going to Nintendo or MS or PC - i assume it's a shot across Sony's bow.

 

[neptunes]

I think when they are talking about changing platform, they probably mean going to Nintendo or MS or PC - i assume it's a shot across Sony's bow.

And how much more would it sell?

 

[xsarien]

"PS3."

would the lack of hard disk not cripple this idea? or do you think that along with a cell based, Bluray enabled machine, they've still got enough cash to stick a hard disk in there too? (one that is at least 40 gigs in size?

Hard drives are dirt, dirt cheap these days, and that's just at retail. Plus, if Blu-Ray is writable (I honestly haven't been keeping up), there shouldn't be too much of a problem.

 

[PS2 KID]

"We're still preparing, and looking into perhaps even changing platforms, because once the PlayStation 2 is phased out, [the FFXI] population will have to move somewhere," he said.

The key words are 'phased out' which could mean they might be working on a next generation solution on whichever console they believe will contain a hard drive (or they could just mean PC).

 

[Joe]

OMG SE IS BEING BOUGHT OUT BY MICROSOFT M3G4T0NNNNNNNNNNNNNN

no. just no.

 

[DCharlie]

"Hard drives are dirt, dirt cheap these days, and that's just at retail. Plus, if Blu-Ray is writable (I honestly haven't been keeping up), there shouldn't be too much of a problem"

indeed they are, but dirt cheap at retail is still, what? . $20?
so even whacking a $20 drive in there is going to make a difference, and given that you'd only lose support for 1 game, is it really worth it for Sony?

"And how much more would it sell? "

well, this is the thing, people playing FFXi now are basically stuck in the game. Hopelessly addicted. If FFXI:Next gen (use same infra, add improved graphics, new jobs, areas etc) i'd expect the vast majority of those gamers to pick up the game. However, i don't think many new players would hop on board.

 

[Miburou]

What does that comment have to do with the removal of the HDD?

 

[Lord Error]

I think when they are talking about changing platform, they probably mean going to Nintendo or MS or PC - i assume it's a shot across Sony's bow.

Neither Nintendo or MS have a hard disk in their consoles that would work with FFXI (which needs some 9GB just for the game installation), nor have they commited to putting one in the future consoles.

The whole 'Phased Out' comment hints to next gen consoles anyways, IMO, and I think next gen consoles will all have HDD as an optional add-on.

 

[DCharlie]

"The whole 'Phased Out' comment hints to next gen consoles anyways, IMO, and I think next gen consoles will all have HDD as an optional add-on."

well, the door is still open for Nintendo - they haven't said anything. MS said 'they'd add one if sony adds one"... hmm...

potentially, the game might just be started all over again with HDD, but i just can't see HDD being an optional add on again. It was just too much of a pain for Sony this time and fragmented the user base a little - and given the pick up rates of HDDs this gen (for PS2) who in their right mind would support a HDD only game give what has happened sales wise?

 

[ManaByte]

"And how much more would it sell? "

well, this is the thing, people playing FFXi now are basically stuck in the game. Hopelessly addicted. If FFXI:Next gen (use same infra, add improved graphics, new jobs, areas etc) i'd expect the vast majority of those gamers to pick up the game. However, i don't think many new players would hop on board.

I think they were talking about moving FFXI (not FFXI: Next Gen) to a different platform because of the large userbase the game has.

This quote:

"We're still preparing, and looking into perhaps even changing platforms, because once the PlayStation 2 is phased out, [the FFXI] population will have to move somewhere," he said.

I am really glad to see them say that as future, long term, support is a worry I've had in the back of my mind while playing FFXI. I'm glad Square is committed to keeping the game alive even after the PS2 is "phased out".

FFXI has about 500,000 subscriptions in the US and Japan combined (they haven't released country-specific numbers so we don't know how it breaks down), of which there are roughly 1,000,000 active characters in-game. That is a huge population for a MMO, and it just recently launched in the UK.

 

[neptunes]

I think it would be convenient if they allowed conumers to add their own HDD to next gen consoles.

 

[Lazy8s]

These are the kind of moves that pushed Square, and consequently Enix, away from Nintendo.

 

[Miburou]

Is FFXI the only console MMORPG?

 

[neptunes]

The highest selling one.

There's EQOA :lol

 

[Miburou]

Isn't EQOA more like PSO?

 

[wipeout364]

I think the HDD is a much biggger mistake than the compnent cables. There are a lot of people playing FFXI. This will be a huge hit to square-enix, and they are really one of Sony's biggest assets. I own the HDD and am not too happy about this decision. They should have offered an external port for HDD users to plug in their hard drives.

EQOA is like FFXI - MMORPG not at all like PSO

 

[neptunes]

no, it's a full fledged MMORPG.

 

[Miburou]

Ah, I see.

Yeah, Sony should've included a port for an external HDD, like the first gen Japanese PS2s.

 

[Great Wasabi Man]

Chrono Trigger 3 for NGC.















OK thats a really bad unbased rumore that I just pulled out of my ass

 

[Pellham]

big deal, isn't most of the FFXI userbase on PC anyway?

 

[Bizarro Sun Yat-sen]

Most of the Japanese users are on PS2.

 

[SantaC]

It's fun how TXB board suddenly gets their hope up. First they bash the japanese VG companies and say they don't need them. Then they suddenly rejoice when they have a chance to get a square-enix FF game.

 

[Crazymoogle]

Yeah, Sony should've included a port for an external HDD, like the first gen Japanese PS2s.

Of course, doing that would have negated the whole point of cost cutting. Dropping PCMCIA external ( a pretty odd idea in itself) for IDE was one way to keep lessen costs and reduce component size at the time. Presumably losing Firewire was along the same lines.

What I've been curious about, however, is why Sony bothered with PCMCIA in the first place; Firewire itself would have been an equally good choice for HD data transfer. For some reason I'm guessing Sony lost a gamble on what components would drop in price, because obviously ethernet is cheaper to support now than firewire or IDE logic.

 

[shpankey]

Cant wait to play it on Xbox.

 

[tenchir]

Cant wait to play it on Xbox.

How would you install 4+ gigs worth of stuff on the XBOX?

 

[neptunes]

dont forget expansions

and the entire fact that SE stated nurmerous times that they didn't like the closed XBL infastructure.

 

[Kon Tiki]

Maybe it is the first game for xbox made for modders. :/

 

[AtomicShroom]

I'm hoping Square will jump to Xbox. But with the rumors of the Xbox 2 not having a harddrive... who knows. I sure hope it's not true.

 

[Insertia]

I think when they are talking about changing platform, they probably mean going to Nintendo or MS or PC - i assume it's a shot across Sony's bow.

Isn't FFXI too large for Xbox's tiny HDD?

And Gamecube doesn't have an online plan to begin with.

 

[The Faceless Master]

Maybe it is the first game for xbox made for modders. :/

nah theres a few dozen of those already

 

[Miburou]

Of course, doing that would have negated the whole point of cost cutting. Dropping PCMCIA external ( a pretty odd idea in itself) for IDE was one way to keep lessen costs and reduce component size at the time. Presumably losing Firewire was along the same lines.

What I've been curious about, however, is why Sony bothered with PCMCIA in the first place; Firewire itself would have been an equally good choice for HD data transfer. For some reason I'm guessing Sony lost a gamble on what components would drop in price, because obviously ethernet is cheaper to support now than firewire or IDE logic.

Isn't the port on the current PS2 where you plug in the Network Adaptor still PCMCIA?

 

[Renegade]

The network adapter is now built in, no expandability at all.

there is a little more than 4GB of space on the Xbox HD used for caching and 2.5GB for savegames, and 800MB for system files.

Between that, I think they can sufficiently replicate the FFXI experience on Xbox.

 

[xsarien]

"Hard drives are dirt, dirt cheap these days, and that's just at retail. Plus, if Blu-Ray is writable (I honestly haven't been keeping up), there shouldn't be too much of a problem"

indeed they are, but dirt cheap at retail is still, what? . $20?

~ $40 after rebates are factored in, and I'd imagine that a company as large as Sony, which would probably buy everything in bulk (and most certainly not get retail versions of the product), would get a bit of a break on that.

 

[Spiritreaver]

Ouch, Square's going to take a nip from this no matter how it goes. Well, they're going to just lose incoming players, but current players won't have a problem. Unless their PS2 breaks down (I wouldn't be surprised) and they need to get a new one.

PC is the way to go, they're going to lose people regardless but i think they can save the most with that. Especially since HDD support nextgen is just blank. No matter what though, PS2 FFXI players are screwed.

I'm so glad I went through the trouble off getting the PC version.

 

[wipeout364]

I don't think there is a chance of FFXI ending up on the Xbox. The PLAYONLINE network thing would fly in the face of Live policy as well as the monthy billing, not to mention the lack of voice chat, and no keyboard support. Microsoft may want japanese support but I don't think they would be willing to allow this. I doubt this title would sell on the system anyway.
People who buy the Xbox do not play Japanese RPG's, if you liked the genre you would have a PS2. It is not criticism it is a fact. The poor performance of most Japanese games of the system backs this up. People who like import games buy the system that has them, PS2.

 

[Bizarro Sun Yat-sen]

Maybe it would help to have the quote in context - it wasn't a reaction to the redesigned PS2.

Naturally, given this success, Square Enix now has its eye on future online development. As well as adding new expansion packs to Final Fantasy XI - the latest of which, Chains of Promathia, launched this week and is provided for free with the European edition of the game - the company is also considering its options regarding next-generation consoles.

"Of course, we intend to keep the original Final Fantasy XI going," Tanaka assures us. "Although we're releasing only the PC version in Europe, in Japan and America we've already released the PS2 version, and of course the PS2 won't be around forever. Within a few years the PS2 will probably be phased out for PS3, and you'll also have the Xbox 2 arriving and things like that coming on to the scene."

"We've got to keep that in our sight," he continues. "We're still preparing, and looking into perhaps even changing platforms, because once the PlayStation 2 is phased out, that population will have to move somewhere. We've got that in mind - we're just keeping it at the study stage at the moment, just looking into it."

It ties in with Tanaka's remarks in other recent interviews:

1UP: Final Fantasy XI has been on the market in Japan now for over two years. How do you think the game has held up technologically since then, and what have you learned about producing an MMORPG?

Tanaka: Because it's a multiplatform game on both PC and PS2, there is a certain feeling that the PS2 creates for the game. We've used the PS2 to a certain point, and we can't go any further than that. PCs get better every year, so the game can look a little better there. Right now we feel that we have used the PS2 to its fullest. Technologically we are "stuck" to the PS2 when comparing the game to other MMORPGs. [...]

1UP: If the game's popularity continues to rise, would you consider creating another MMORPG based in a different world or time period? Perhaps an FFXI-2 of sorts?

Tanaka: (laughs) That is actually what is troubling the team right now. We are trying to decide. We're going to release the second expansion pack, Chains of Promathia, and we'll see how that does. Then we will decide whether to continue with another expansion pack or move on to a sequel.

Seeing that the game has proved a success online in other territories, are you already planning for further online sequels?

Tanaka-san: Because it's an online game, we can keep adding to it with patches and updates, so there's no need to make a sequel . And that's the whole beauty of an online game. At the moment there is no need to think about a sequel.

That said, a lot of players in Japan and America have the PS2 version, and the PS2 won't be around forever. So eventually, we'll have to decide where we want to take the game - to the PS3 or Xbox 2 or whatever - or are we going to have to start off with a whole new sequel or idea?

For the time being though, there is no need to abandon the world of Final Fantasy XI because we can just add to it. As you can see, there's a whole new expansion pack which has really added new areas and taken the engine - which is now two years old - and really pushed it and created amazing graphics.

So they're planning to either port FFXI to next-generation platforms or start on a brand new MMORPG instead, but apparently they still haven't decided which.

 

[Crazymoogle]

Isn't the port on the current PS2 where you plug in the Network Adaptor still PCMCIA?

(Rips out the network adapter for a moment)

Yeah, it does look pretty similar, doesn't it? It could very well be as you say, which makes me think Sony lost even more hardware gambles than I thought - just none that could break them (see: N64 RAM)

 

[Makura]

*Bill Gates hurriedly dials the phone*

 

[Tabris]

there is a little more than 4GB of space on the Xbox HD used for caching and 2.5GB for savegames, and 800MB for system files.

Between that, I think they can sufficiently replicate the FFXI experience on Xbox.

FFXI requires 8GB

 

[neptunes]

That said, a lot of players in Japan and America have the PS2 version, and the PS2 won't be around forever. So eventually, we'll have to decide where we want to take the game - to the PS3 or Xbox 2 or whatever - or are we going to have to start off with a whole new sequel or idea?

I'm glad they acknowledge the fact.

 

[Spike]

And Gamecube doesn't have an online plan to begin with.

GameCube has the same online plan that Sony does. They offer the broadband/modem adapters for any developer that wishes to use it. Only difference being that Nintendo themselves haven't created an online game.