Release Date?

[Dreddz]

I wouldn't be surprised if this game came out in 2011.

[Moon Rabbits]

October 28th, 2008.

Clairvoyance ftw.

Well, Kotaku agrees.

I hate you so smurfing much.

[Wolf Kanno]

Well to get this topic back on track...

I don't mind the game's release date being put in limbo. I generally don't mind when games get pushed back cause it means they are at least trying to add some polish. I know most don't share my feelings but I felt XII was an outstanding game cause it was delayed and allowed the team to add greater depth and tweak the combat system. I hope XIII is having a similiar process.

I do wish SE would release more substantial information like characters and gameplay rather than vague screenshots and the same trailer with 3 seconds of additional footage cause up until now all I can say about the game is that it is pretty and the plot premise is intriguing but overall not a product I should get excited about cause major info is lacking. Hopefully the demo will clear a few things up. I just hope its better than the playable demo of X and XII.

[Ouch!]

I don't mind the game's release date being put in limbo. I generally don't mind when games get pushed back cause it means they are at least trying to add some polish. I know most don't share my feelings but I felt XII was an outstanding game cause it was delayed and allowed the team to add greater depth and tweak the combat system. I hope XIII is having a similiar process.

The problem with that is that FFXII's delays weren't because they wanted to polish off the product. FFXII's delays were a result of Matsuno leaving the project due to a sudden illness (and since the equally sudden announcement, we've learned that it was more likely due to extreme creative differences). It might have granted the developers more time to flesh out game play (which I agree was rockin'), but other areas of the game suffered as a result.

More often than not, significant delays are more likely a result of difficulties in the development process than polishing. Obviously developing the White Engine specifically for the Fabula Nova Crystallis project has put a dent in FFXIII's development time. Add in complaints that the PS3 is hard enough to develop for as is, and you've got enough factors to set them back. That said, I'm hoping that when we finally do get a release date, it's the real one. I think SE is keeping tight lipped because FFXII was something of a fiasco in that regard. They gave tentative release date after tentative release date, and it didn't work in their favor. It's better to leave a product as TBA than keep pushing it back. Makes them look like they're more in control, regardless of whether they actually are or not.

[Wolf Kanno]

Its true that XII's later problems were from Matsuno's departure from the project (I still wish someone would set the record straight on this) but before that, it was pushed back due to some of his refinements on the game. Like the time he released a demo showing gameplay for the first time at E3 and due to some mediocre feedback he decided to have it redone. I believe this was E3 04 he pulled this.

Beyond that, I feel your analysis is very spot on and I'm certain XIII's "delay" is due more on technical problems and business problems than the team putting all the love and care into the product.

I feel the only difference between XIII and XII so far is that XIII's progress has been somewhat kept in the dark (whereas XII kept having false starts with multiple delayed release dates). SE seems really hesitant to show us anything new about the product and the interviews with the design team has them repeating themselves rather than giving any real info except when they were trying to assure PS3 owners that going multi-platform would not hurt the quality of the product. Granted SE has always been tight lipped but they also showed more demo videos than they had with this title. They keep promising new info and instead we get a few small cryptic photos that are pretty but nothing else.

The demo is promising until I remember that SE has a lousy track record with them. Most of them rarely reflect the final product.

[Bolivar]

XII was delayed for alot of reasons - they needed to make a Gameboy Advance game, they needed to completely revamp their entire concepts, both story and gameplay-wise, the departure of Matsuno, figuring out who the hell was going to direct it, who the smurf was going to executive produce it, and such.

The main difference between XII and XIII's development is that the latter team has to break completely new ground on a design-system for which there are no precedents. As distressed as I've been about the vagueness and phony updates, I do have to understand what Ouch! is saying - they had to build a brand new engine that they're going to be using quite extensively for multiple projects and multiple platforms in the future.

The first delay I mentioned above is similar to what's been going on - Toriyama has been working on Revenant Wings, Nomura's been working on AC: Complete, The World Ends with You, and Dissidia, not to mention the entire FNC Compilation, Kitase and Tabata had been working on Crisis Core, now that all of those projects are finished/seem to be coming to a close, hopefully development can go full steam ahead.

[Nifleheim7]

FF13,some parts are 80% done

Official PlayStation Magazine Australia sat down with two Square Enix heavy-hitters, Yoshinori Kitase and Shinji Hashimoto, to discuss what's up with the 13th Final Fantasy. Kitase gave an update on the development progress stating that several aspects of Final Fantasy XIII are now nearly done. "The scenario is pretty much complete and the artistic side is about 80% complete," said Kitase. While that's a lot of work already through the fire, there's still a few things left to do and don't forget the good old spit-shine polish.

Being a PlayStation mag, the publication also naturally asked the duo how the shift to a multiplatform release would affect FFXIII's quality. Kitase was quick to reiterate what Yoichi Wada had been saying since E3: "...the team is looking to specialize it for the PS3 so that the game will be maximized [for that console], and then they will port it over to the 360 and utilize the capabilities of that console." That means no loss of quality.

[Bolivar]

^ I wonder what he means, scenario, if it's all the ideas are finalized, or all the field screen sequences have been finished.

[Wolf Kanno]

^ I wonder what he means, scenario, if it's all the ideas are finalized, or all the field screen sequences have been finished.

I'd gather its both. Sounds like they are finalizing extra content and possibly minor details of the world.

[Serapy]

If that article is accurate, then chances are that the Japanese version will be released in next year.

[Wolf Kanno]

Actually, depending on how complicated the last 20% is and how extensive the polish needs to be, there might be a chance it will be ready for the holiday season in Japan.

Course the 360 version might cause some hiccups so you're probably correct about a 09 release for Japan.

[Ouch!]

Actually, depending on how complicated the last 20% is and how extensive the polish needs to be, there might be a chance it will be ready for the holiday season in Japan.

Course the 360 version might cause some hiccups so you're probably correct about a 09 release for Japan.

I sincerely doubt the whole thing will be done before they even get the demo out. That might just be me, though.

[Wolf Kanno]

Actually, depending on how complicated the last 20% is and how extensive the polish needs to be, there might be a chance it will be ready for the holiday season in Japan.

Course the 360 version might cause some hiccups so you're probably correct about a 09 release for Japan.

I sincerely doubt the whole thing will be done before they even get the demo out. That might just be me, though.

That's true... :sweatdrop

[Ouch!]

Actually, depending on how complicated the last 20% is and how extensive the polish needs to be, there might be a chance it will be ready for the holiday season in Japan.

Course the 360 version might cause some hiccups so you're probably correct about a 09 release for Japan.

I sincerely doubt the whole thing will be done before they even get the demo out. That might just be me, though.

That's true... :sweatdrop

I would not, however, be surprised to see the game hit Japanese stores shortly after the demo reaches the United States. I think the gap between the Japanese release of FFXII and the U.S. release of the demo was negligible.

[Roto13]

Is the demo even confirmed for North America?