[IndustryGamers would like to thank EA Sports for sponsoring our trip to GDC this year]
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At a special launch event for Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIII, attended by IndustryGamers, the publisher passed out 3D glasses and showed off an impressive 3D trailer for the game, even though the title does not support stereoscopic gaming (it's a nice hint at things possibly in the pipeline, however). Following the trailer, a number of industry luminaries came out on stage to talk about the huge impact that Final Fantasy as a franchise has had on the games business.
Having sold over 92 million units worldwide, Final Fantasy remains one of the greatest series in gaming today. One of the key elements of Final Fantasy has always been its story and engaging characters. Director Motomu Toriyama said at the event that Final Fantasy XIII is even more story-driven that FFVII.
Here are some choice quotes from the event, and check out the video below for more, courtesy of GamerLive.tv:
“People have said to me, 'I want to make a game that causes gamers to cry.' But some have said, 'Oh I already cried during Final Fantasy VII.' “ - Chris Taylor, Gas Powered Games
“When we play the Final Fantasy games, we always look at them and go, 'That's what we want to be able to do.' We're always looking at things and saying we can do this or we can't do that, and then we see Final Fantasy, and it's the thing we look at and say, 'That's where we want to go, that's what we want to do.' “ - Mark Cerny
“I think the storytelling is very strong, and one thing that I think that's great is Final Fantasy has allowed the player to customize their experience. I'm a programmer and I don't believe in a deterministic path because the whole point of building software is to have that response to stimuli, so I really like how you develop the characters and decide which stats to improve... There are many games like that now, but Final Fantasy was one of the few games to really allow customization. And another way that Final Fantasy has impacted my life was just all of those beautiful cinematics, and every time I see them, I ask myself, 'Ok, how can I do that in real time?' “ - Corrinne Yu, Principle Engine Programmer on Microsoft's Halo team
“The Final Fantasy franchise is one of the cultural hallmarks of our great industry. It's inspired novels, music, movies, all based on its great storytelling and great art. With over 92 million copies sold over two decades it's one of our most successful franchises in our industry. And it's had a profound impact within our industry as well. Any rumor of a Final Fantasy announcement at E3 draws great interest. And it's not just the gameplay that brings such intensity from its fanbase – it's the fact that you have an emotional bond with the characters. There's a deep story being told. These things are the platform for our industry that make us a cultural standout equal to or greater than movies or music, and Square Enix has accomplished this despite technology changes, changes in our consoles and changes in our business. And for that, I congratulate them and wish them great success.” - ESA president Michael Gallagher
20 Comments
March 9, 2010
That is really good to hear "I want to make a game that causes gamers to cry". In my opinion, they need to analyze the MUSIC that was played that did make people cry. It is NOTHING like the music they use to attempt to do so now (I can't speak for FFXIII yet). They need to analyze how many subtle events the characters you care about are in, before the emotional scenes. How Consistent are the characters portrayed like in FFVII before the events. They need to look at how much they make you DISLIKE, or hate the bad guy in the scene before the scene happens. They need to make sure they are NOT shy about what kind of personality they are trying to make. Because I swear they want to make you cry, but at the same time they want to make it a dark game. It's kinda hard to care about a dark character to the point of crying for most people. In other words I think there attempts at change is getting in the way. The more square changes the less you seem to care about each character.
Can a god get some tears? Nope!
Can a Kick buy chief get some tears? Nope!
Can a sweet selfless flower girl get some tears? Where would you like me to place the bucket?
Example Aeris you can cry for, But Kratos will your butt, and drain your life if he see's you crying (ESPECIALLY if it is for him, don't you remember, he hates pity). Master Chief will just as soon stick a plasma grenade to you as have you cry for him. You care for those types of characters in a different way, but once you enter a certain tough guy act crying is kinda out of the picture.
March 10, 2010
FFVII? I cried during FFVI, and possibly FFIV, it's hard to separate the memories from those two experiences at this point.
May 5, 2010
It may even come close to beating it if they push hard enough. And no one has better commercials than Sony. Especially Microsoft.
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