Square Enix Looking Into Final Fantasy XI Port For PlayStation Vita, But Not PS3

Dunno if it's actually true or not but
http://www.siliconera.com/2011/07/12/square-enix-looking-into-playstation-vita-port-for-playstation-vita-but-not-ps3/

claims that "Former Final Fantasy XI lead Hiromichi Tanaka mentioned the possibility of a PlayStation Vita port to Famitsu. Presently, plans are not concrete, but Square Enix is considering a basic port of their MMORPG for PlayStation Vita."

The deciding factor would likely be public interest, so, show some public interest?

http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/201...uenix_feature/

Another article mentioning it.

What. Why would they port it to a portable instead of the PS3? Not that I own a PS3, but it doesn't make sense to me. Portables tend to lose battery life quickly online, I think.

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Originally Posted by Paksenarrion

What. Why would they port it to a portable instead of the PS3? Not that I own a PS3, but it doesn't make sense to me. Portables tend to lose battery life quickly online, I think.

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Sony won't let them port it to PS3 with out a HD upgrade, and the portable wouldn't need it. All in all a gimic but look at how much crappy little games like farmville bring in.

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Originally Posted by Paksenarrion

What. Why would they port it to a portable instead of the PS3? Not that I own a PS3, but it doesn't make sense to me. Portables tend to lose battery life quickly online, I think.

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Online activity does drain the battery hard, my DSi and PSP's battery life tends to plummit from 5+ hours to barely 2. I'm not gonna hold my breath on the Vita though, the way they're making it out to be I would not doubt we have another folly of issues like with the PS3 release.

old news.

However, this might be SE's solution to ps2 limitations....yeah right.

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Originally Posted by Korpg

old news.

However, this might be SE's solution to ps2 limitations....yeah right.

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I thought the same thing at first (thinking maybe they'll drop ps2 now?), but the game, apparently, was designed & built with ps2 in mind. So don't see it happening either.

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Originally Posted by Ravenmore

Sony won't let them port it to PS3 with out a HD upgrade, and the portable wouldn't need it. All in all a gimic but look at how much crappy little games like farmville bring in.

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pft that's just an excuse, they just don't want to compete against themselves on the same console lol. Though something like an HD upgrade is what people would like to see but ya the main issue comes from ps2 support. If they can manage a way to cut support to ps2 then the game will be able to evolve better but right now ps2 does hold it back a tad. I kind of wonder that if this vita port goes through if they will work out some deal with sony to have some form of rebate to maybe take 50 dollars off vita with purchase of XI. If you think about it SE did help sony when it came to selling the Hard drives in america at least. But ya the only way to even get the HD was with XI though in america that was the only use for the HD but it still allowed Sony to dip in to some of the profit cause of SE"s game.

If it's on teh vita, dose that mean we'll have to use the 6-axis to move? lol

Show some public disinterest. When are they going to learn that console MMOs just arent a good idea?

Also it's spelled "gimmick."

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Sony won't let them port it to PS3 with out a HD upgrade, and the portable wouldn't need it. All in all a gimic but look at how much crappy little games like farmville bring in.

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lol I wonder if that's the reason for some of the HQ upgrades lately..

Look outside of the gimmick, I say SE go for it (I do agree it should go on PS3 btw). What I truly take away from this is SE is not killing FFXI anytime soon if they are even considering expanding. Sounds like they might have some future promising plans (hopefully).

At first I thought... "yeah I'd buy a Vita for that"... Then I thought about keeping up with the LS chat without a keyboard!

Although maybe I could converse with people using the /nod and /no Emotes if I put the appropriate "ask me yes/no only" in the search comments.

So in summary: nice idea but I'd rather have it on my PS3. If FFXIV gets in the way I'd settle for a Vita version.

Holy, freaking, christ.



THANKS FOR THE HD ICONS THOUGH MAN, PROPS.

IDK if other ps2 games get ported over too I might grab one. Just to play ff11 on the go not so much, acer netbooks are not that big and cost about the same. Really just depends on what else it can do.

You guys are a bunch of haters. FFXI on the go even when there are no wireless networks that I know the PW to nearby sounds good to me.

Here, let me dispel this groundless rumor:

Where do you plug in the keyboard?

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Originally Posted by Ziyyigo-Tipyigo

Here, let me dispel this groundless rumor:

Where do you plug in the keyboard?

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Bleutooth Key boards

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Originally Posted by Ziyyigo-Tipyigo

Here, let me dispel this groundless rumor:

Where do you plug in the keyboard?

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ummm pretty sure it was called ps2 (controller and onscreen keyboard)

and since it will have a touch screen that makes things even easier

XI is already HD res.

It's to my understanding that the ps3 can run psp games.. so wouldn't it also be able to play pspv games?

From what I know, no PSP game is "allowed" to run on the PS3 by legal means; it only has the ability to save save files from the PSP's Memory Stick. I'm sure the PS3 can run PSP games, but that would defeat the purpose of getting one, wouldn't it?

I wouldn't count out the PS3's ability to play PS Vita games, either, but then you run into the issue of games on it that require you to use the touchscreen or back touch panel in certain ways, to which the PS3 can't do, IIRC.

Damn, this would eat my life.

I'm prety sure the complaint about this has to go to Sony. I think the Vita has some of the PS2 bios they took out of the PS3. If square is thinking about doing the Vita instead of the PS3 it's because the Vita is an easier port. On the other hand I am really pissed we don't have PS3 software. If their still putting rescources in to making a PS3 client for fail ass XIV they should at least give their popular game some love.

As for popularity, I don't think it will win any new subs but being able to do things like fish or feed your chocobo at / on the way to work could make a spike in some of the more passive XI activities.

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Originally Posted by JackDaniels

It's to my understanding that the ps3 can run psp games.. so wouldn't it also be able to play pspv games?

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I thought it didn't play PSP games, but just "routed" them so you can have it on a screen bigger then 2.5 inches.

No, that's only possible with a Component Cable attached from the PSP (2000 series or above) to the TV.

All I got to say is if it was true, typing stuff on a touch screen keyboard would kind of be slow wouldn't in.

I think that a port to the psVita is a neat idea. The only hurdle would be typing. But when witnessing tiny little teenage hands going a mile a minute texting on their cell phones, I really don't think it would be that big of a hurdle. For the ones in the camp of "MMO's don't work on consoles", well, this one is still going and a lot of people I've chatted with have even bought controllers to play with instead of using mouse/keyboard setup, exclusively.

I don't know what the costs are associated with developing a port. I imagine that still costs quite a bit. If history is any guide, porting from windows to xbox360 couldn't have been that much of a headache as it still uses directx technology (and the fact that it was done). And, if the psVita does have some ps2 bios in it (as someone mentioned earlier) then it could be a possibility. I also think that the menu system could be a lot nicer to use with a touch screen and if it was implemented right. If they keep the menu setup as is, I imagine it'd be too small to use touch and could be hard to read as well.

Though, I think it was stated that the possibility is 'slim'.

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Originally Posted by Eadieni

Dunno if it's actually true or not but
http://www.siliconera.com/2011/07/12...a-but-not-ps3/

claims that "Former Final Fantasy XI lead Hiromichi Tanaka mentioned the possibility of a PlayStation Vita port to Famitsu. Presently, plans are not concrete, but Square Enix is considering a basic port of their MMORPG for PlayStation Vita."

The deciding factor would likely be public interest, so, show some public interest?

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PS Vita uses a quad core ARM Cortex-A9 CPU and a quad core SGX543 PowerVR GPU. Rather than build a weird custom architecture like the PS3 or PS2 that's hard to program for they have built a straightforward CPU and GPU architecture using off the shelf licensed technology. The CPU and GPU Sony is using are commonly used in mobile devices (the GPU is a quad core version of the dual core SGX543 PowerVR chip Apple uses in the iPad and it also uses the same CPU)

So porting FFXI to the Vita would be much easier than to the PS3 because the Vita is simply easier to develop for thanks to already existing (and very good) development tools for the ARM + PowerVR platform that's used by almost every mobile device under the sun and a straightforward architecture. (developers are already commenting about how much easier the Vita is to program for than the PS2 or PS3). That's probably one reason SE is considering it, minimal effort compared to a PS3 port. Another reason might be that once ported to the Vita it would be fairly easy to port to most other mobile devices (assuming that the GPU is powerful enough) because virtually all mobile devices these days are using ARM + PowerVR.

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Originally Posted by Paksenarrion

What. Why would they port it to a portable instead of the PS3? Not that I own a PS3, but it doesn't make sense to me. Portables tend to lose battery life quickly online, I think.

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Shouldn't be a problem because the Vita is essentially a very powerful smartphone without the phone. They used the ARM + PowerVR hardware platform for the same reason everyone else does, unmatched performance per watt.

I would love to see someone take the Series 6 PowerVR GPU and make a 48 core version of it, then crank it up to 1ghz with a fat heat sink. You might have something that could spank Nvidia and ATI. Tile based deferred rendering is really, really efficient compared to the scanline rendering used in PC graphic cards. Remember that Intel's Core architecture is derived from the Pentium M mobile CPU and Core achieves it's performance for the same reason, much higher performance per watt than the Pentium 4. There were early compatibility problems with DirectX and OpenGL back in the late 90's that prevented PowerVR from gaining wide acceptance on PCs but those problems have since been solved so maybe it's time for PowerVR to stage a comeback from it's exile to mobile devices.

SE was gonna port the game to the PS3, but Sony put the brakes on it. I believe the reason sony said no was that at the time they had a must be 720P HD requirement to push on the whole blu ray thing and FFXI just isn't there. Nowadays they've relaxed on it a little and it would be a prime time to bring FFXI over but SE just doesn't care now. As for the Vita, I think its hilarious anyone truly intends to play an online game for long periods of time away from any type of power source. Walking down the street playin an mmo, sounds to me like someone has a death wish. All in all I would love to have FFXI on the Vita and PS3 if they finally could get it thru, hell Monster Hunter Freedom Unite on the PSP has an online mode thats supported thru remote play on ps3 so that you could utilize the ps3's ability to have a keyboard to chat, and the Vita is being talked about as having even greater remote play capabilities. I'm thinking use the ps3 as a way to play the game on a TV screen (assuming we don't get component cables). Overall I suggest everyone show much interest in the Vita FFXI version, because it will be the closest we'll get to the PS3 version we want.

Your theory about the 720p HD requirement shutting down the chance for XI being on the PS3 is not true, because it was ported to the 360 and HD is also a requirement for that system. On my box for the 360 version of FFXI, it lists 720p/1080p as compatible HD options, not that they mean much. It's mostly just upscaling the resolution by my knowledge, not true anti-aliasing or HD.

The PS3 can do this, but the CPU is much more complex than the 360 to develop for, and, like the PS Vita, the 360 was the prime choice to port it over to because of the ease of development (and this was before Microsoft changed their Live ToA when SE attempted to develop XIV for it and didn't make a deal with them based on that change).

The PS3 is just too costly to develop for, and, without the PS2 compatibility option on recent consoles, we won't be seeing XI on it anytime soon.

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Originally Posted by Luso

Your theory about the 720p HD requirement shutting down the chance for XI being on the PS3 is not true, because it was ported to the 360 and HD is also a requirement for that system.

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He's talking about Sony's official policy that PS2 to PS3 ports must receive an HD graphics update. Any PS2 game ported to the PS3 must have improved graphics (as in higher detail models and textures) or Sony will not allow it. It doesn't have to be state of the art for a PS3 game but it does have to look significantly better than the PS2 original, and merely increasing the resolution isn't enough to meet Sony's standard.

I know that, but he said 720p HD was needed. That's all he said. If he was talking about a remake, then yeah, that's an issue there.

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Originally Posted by Luso

Your theory about the 720p HD requirement shutting down the chance for XI being on the PS3 is not true, because it was ported to the 360 and HD is also a requirement for that system. On my box for the 360 version of FFXI, it lists 720p/1080p as compatible HD options, not that they mean much. It's mostly just upscaling the resolution by my knowledge, not true anti-aliasing or HD.

The PS3 can do this, but the CPU is much more complex than the 360 to develop for, and, like the PS Vita, the 360 was the prime choice to port it over to because of the ease of development (and this was before Microsoft changed their Live ToA when SE attempted to develop XIV for it and didn't make a deal with them based on that change).

The PS3 is just too costly to develop for, and, without the PS2 compatibility option on recent consoles, we won't be seeing XI on it anytime soon.

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My statement wasn't speculation it was fact. Sony had very strick policy at the time the talks about a PS3 port was goin about regarding games on the PS3. In turn they wanted games to have much better graphics and be full HD, example: Atlus makes a very popular series called Shin Megami Tensei Persona on the PS and PS2 (and now PSP), but people were expecting this series to go to the Wii because Atlus doesn't make enough from this series to put in all the graphical work that Sony would demand for a PS3 game. SE wasn't about to spend all the money at the time to upgrade this game to Sony's standards and thus the deal was delayed and eventually dropped due to Sony's lack of interest. Nowadays tho games with lower graphical content example Sengoku Basara are allowed to come out on the PS3. I have no clue what requirements Microsoft and Xbox have for games seeing as how Microsoft only cares about money and the Xbox was an extremely failed system (RRoD since launch and spanning most its life, nuff said). Thus if Sony truly entertains the idea of putting FFXI on the Vita, which seeing as it was a MMO designed for 56k modems would make it a more viable option with the 3g Vita, perhaps they will make some form of PS3 version also available. Btw I play FFXI on my backwards compatable PS3 so I get to see the games lower res features on my high res system.

Xbox 360 has had recent leading sales in the US right now, so it isn't failing at all.

Like I said, 720p HD isn't much to do when converting games, but a reworking isn't what I thought you meant by just stating that alone. It would've been nice, yes, to see better textures and actual anti-aliasing, but I doubt that'll happen unless the development team for XI grows a bit more in a number.

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Originally Posted by Atomic_Skull

He's talking about Sony's official policy that PS2 to PS3 ports must receive an HD graphics update. Any PS2 game ported to the PS3 must have improved graphics (as in higher detail models and textures) or Sony will not allow it. It doesn't have to be state of the art for a PS3 game but it does have to look significantly better than the PS2 original, and merely increasing the resolution isn't enough to meet Sony's standard.

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A HD texture pack would go a long way towards updating the aging "look" of the game and honestly should have been included with the 360 release and avail as a download for PC. I wouldn't be surprised if SE has a complete high resolution texture set laying around they used as a source for the dumbed down version in the game. It's fairly typical for digital artists to start off with a high quality source then scale down to meet requirements. I don't see a problem with world geometry. The poly count is quite impressive considering how old the game is so I don't think much work would need done there. Just because PS2 is extremely limited on memory doesn't mean every other platform should suffer with low resolution textures.

FFXI engine has always supported HD resolutions, they just made an extremely fail PC config utility that makes it seem like 1024x1024 is max rendering resolution and doesn't allow you to set proper resolutions for rendering without manual registry edits.

I wonder if the iPad and iPhone 4 could run FFXI? They both use the PowerVR SGX 535 which although it's not as powerful as the GPU used in the Vita is much more powerful than the PS2. Intel also uses SGX 535 on the Atom chipset (GMA 500 and GMA 600 integrated graphics are really Intel manufactured versions of SGX 535) and that is capable of playing WoW at decent framerates. If it could be done, and the details worked out it would open an absolutely huge market for new players.

Also, iPad 2 is about half as powerful as the Vita (same GPU but dual core instead of quad core) and that could definitely run an FFXI port.

The thing to remember here is that once a Vita port is done porting to other ARM/PowerVR platforms would be much easier.

EDIT: Seems that SGX 535 is a single core series 5 PowerVR GPU, compared to dual core on iPad 2 and quad core on Vita.

I find the PS Vita FFXI idea very tempting. If the graphics would suffer and sound was decent quality I might buy a vita. I usedmto play on my laptop and it was okay. There are many mini-keyboard options out there

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Originally Posted by Luso

Xbox 360 has had recent leading sales in the US right now, so it isn't failing at all.

Like I said, 720p HD isn't much to do when converting games, but a reworking isn't what I thought you meant by just stating that alone. It would've been nice, yes, to see better textures and actual anti-aliasing, but I doubt that'll happen unless the development team for XI grows a bit more in a number.

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Last I heard its sells are crap in Japan, and other markets compared to the Ps3. Recent sales don't make up for the lose it took at release. When FFXI came out MS was trying anything and everything to move units.

It's been selling well enough in recent months, so I wouldn't say it's a lost cause. Most systems at launch typically have some ironing out to do, so it's not as if it wasn't expected to be a good sell (i.e. 3DS).

Microsoft doesn't do well in Japan excluding anything related to its OS, so the 360 was doomed to fail in that region. I only said what I said in regards to the US.

I don't think FFXI will suffer any form of graphical or performance drop, because the specs on that gizmo are pretty good for what it's worth.