[ocre]

Square Enix have definitely been in a slump.
People expect a true FFVII HD remake and the magically beautiful Luminous engine games to materialize when SE can't even deliver FFXIII Versus. How many years has it been since that's been announced? 6 years? Come on now. Can anyone pretend to care about that at this point?

If I had a genie I would wish for Square to never have been Enixed.

[Clefairy]

Originally Posted by Bleck

And yet, it'd have a much higher chance of making that much money than any of the obtuse FFXIII-related bullshit they've recently released.

While that's true, it's not as much higher as you think. Literally everyone who owns a console of any stripe would need to buy it to hit those numbers. Video games are more mainstream now, but they're not universally adopted yet.

Originally Posted by Gollgagh

why would it be so much more expensive than a full new game

that's what I don't get

You know how games have, in general, been getting shorter? That's graphics-related. In the PS1 era, I'd wager Square had 75 to 100 people on the art team. Now I'll bet you good money it's 300 or more. They work longer hours, and get paid less than their peers at other companies because they love games. The company knows this, and ruthlessly exploits them for it.

Even so, all those wages pile up. So games are shorter and less ambitious to keep costs reasonable. That's also why non-critical staff like testers are shuffled onto new projects or outright laid off as soon as possible during a project run. Anyone who's done that kind of work will shrug and tell you "It's the nature of the beast".

That's a horrible attitude, honestly. I really hope the next generation brings some serious scaling tech, because the current production model is completely unsustainable.

[Toadofsky]

I'd rather have an update of Final Fantasy IX over this.

[BardicKnowledge]

Originally Posted by Toadofsky

I'd rather have an update of Final Fantasy IX over this.

The thing is that FFIX holds up today -- I just started it again and am loving it. I have a very difficult time re-playing FFVII because of how terrible some of the graphics are -- it's right in the awkward middle of the 2D -> 3D transition.

I prefer both FFVI and FFIX to FFVII, but VII is the one really in _need_ of an update.

[Melbu Frahma]

Originally Posted by BardicKnowledge

I prefer both FFVI and FFIX to FFVII, but VII is the one really in _need_ of an update.

Problem for me is that it doesn't seem like they're really trying to update it, just basically throwing a couple of extra features onto the original and throwing it up to be d/led. If they really upgraded it, I'd be all over it.

[Brandon Strader]

Originally Posted by BardicKnowledge

The thing is that FFIX holds up today

I would agree with you 100% EXCEPT that I can't, for the life of me, play anything in 4:3 these days. The black bars on the sides drive me insane. x_x

[Antonio Pizza]

Graphics, schmaphics.
A pig in a dress is still a pig.
*unpauses SMB3*

[Zerothemaster]

I'll get this just because I've never played it before and would like to.

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

Originally Posted by ocre

If I had a genie I would wish for Square to never have been Enixed.

I can't even count the times I've heard this whole "Square was cool before they merged with Enix!" shtick.

Why is this even a thing? The only thing I can think of is that there's less competition due to said merger(and thus less potential incentive for Square to rock the boat), but honestly even then it's apples to oranges; Enix's flagship series(Dragon Quest for the uninitiated) is(or at least was) nowhere near as huge outside of Japan as Final Fantasy. Enix also has a few decent RPGs under their belt, so I don't really see how anything was changed for better or worse. Not to say I don't oppose the idea were there actual evidence, but I just don't see it.

Not directly related to you, but people like to whine and moan that "Final Fantasy ain't the same without Sakaguchi", but guess what? He made Spirits Within, and you all hated that shit. They axed him, and the three entries in the series following said axing(FFX - FFXII) were all both critical and commercial successes through and through, but more than that, they were completely devoid of any of his influence. If anything FFXIII's failures were directly related to the disjointed production cycle that it and most Japanese games in general have been subject to this generation.

Originally Posted by Zerothemaster

I'll get this just because I've never played it before and would like to.

I haven't played the game recently so I can't give a good reading on whether or not you'd still enjoy it given the state of audia/visual fidelity and RPGs in general this gen. Just don't go in with crazy expectations and you'll probably be fine.

The game wasn't a forward-thinking masterpiece. It just happened to be just what the genre needed at that specific time in gaming.

[Mikeaudio]

I just pretty much stopped caring once it was official that Enix would interfere with Squaresoft affairs. The biggest reason why the game industry is slacking seriously in general is because the people making the videogames today don't like or play videogames.