FINAL FANTASY XI® Seekers of Adoulin

[Bayohne]

Greetings,

I’d like to take a moment to clarify which platform Seekers of Adoulin will be available on for those that have been asking. We will continue to support North American FINAL FANTASY XI players on the PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 and PC (Windows) platforms. However, FINAL FANTASY XI: Seekers of Adoulin will only be available on the Xbox 360 and Windows platforms in North America when it is released in 2013.

[Keyln]

Greetings,

I’d like to take a moment to clarify which platform Seekers of Adoulin will be available on for those that have been asking. We will continue to support North American FINAL FANTASY XI players on the PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 and PC (Windows) platforms. However, FINAL FANTASY XI: Seekers of Adoulin will only be available on the Xbox 360 and Windows platforms in North America when it is released in 2013.

Just out of curiosity, why will the new expansion not be available on the PS2 for North America? What will be done with customers who only play on the PS2?

[Tsuneo]

Just out of curiosity, why will the new expansion not be available on the PS2 for North America? What will be done with customers who only play on the PS2?

Nothing will be done. You'll have to suck it up.

[Zerich]

Just out of curiosity, why will the new expansion not be available on the PS2 for North America? What will be done with customers who only play on the PS2?

no/little profit

[Spiritreaver]

Greetings,

I’d like to take a moment to clarify which platform Seekers of Adoulin will be available on for those that have been asking. We will continue to support North American FINAL FANTASY XI players on the PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 and PC (Windows) platforms. However, FINAL FANTASY XI: Seekers of Adoulin will only be available on the Xbox 360 and Windows platforms in North America when it is released in 2013.

Thanks for the bit of info Bayohne.

I have this followup question though as a FFXI player who utilizes both PC and PS2 platforms: Why did SE decide to even bother with the HDD space increase on PS2s in the NA market in the first place if SoA isn't going to be available for that system?

Personally i wont be effected much by this move, i'll have 2 less instances of FFXI to update in my home. Just trying to get my head around you guys and gals' reasoning here. Despite the the sentiment that is everywhere on this and other FFXI sites, i know plenty of ppl that are solely playing the game on a PS2 or PS2 emulated environment on a PS3. Gonna be sad to see them go when a new expansion hits

Any more info you can share would be great.

[Arcon]

Why did SE decide to even bother with the HDD space increase on PS2s in the NA market in the first place if SoA isn't going to be available for that system?

I'm not entirely sure about this, but wasn't this a global move? Not just for NA? That's how I remembered it.

[Belmonts]

This is outrageous bs, if they want to remove PS2 out of the scene, then don't do it half f way... I hate when they bring up segregation bs, and giving us the --Japan will get the PS2 expansion, everyone else no--.

If they are pushing/encouraging people into "upgrading" to PC what is many people is celebrating at, then don't give us half bs letting us know that Japanese version of PS2 will carry on, and for the w/e reasons NA version will be not released. Make the whole community change/upgrade to XBOX/PC. Not this uber crap in which Japan gets preference over other players.

My humble opinion.

[Spiritreaver]

I'm not entirely sure about this, but wasn't this a global move? Not just for NA? That's how I remembered it.

Exactly, it was a global move. I'm just wondering why bother updating the NA PS2s at all. If they are going to withhold SoA from the NA PS2 market, why prep that market to begin with?

PS2 version is working fine(or as fine as it has for the last few years anyways) without the recent change. That could have been easily withheld as well.

Simple question that i hope the community reps have further info they can share with us.

[bungiefanNA]

Thanks for the bit of info Bayohne.

I have this followup question though as a FFXI player who utilizes both PC and PS2 platforms: Why did SE decide to even bother with the HDD space increase on PS2s in the NA market in the first place if SoA isn't going to be available for that system?

Personally i wont be effected much by this move, i'll have 2 less instances of FFXI to update in my home. Just trying to get my head around you guys and gals' reasoning here. Despite the the sentiment that is everywhere on this and other FFXI sites, i know plenty of ppl that are solely playing the game on a PS2 or PS2 emulated environment on a PS3. Gonna be sad to see them go when a new expansion hits

Any more info you can share would be great.

Probably because the core program is the same, just the language files vary, so they tend to have to do the same updates to the shared files between the NA and JP versions. Remember, there are seperate DATs for JP and EN/DE/FR text in the game, for items and NPCs and menus. Everything else tends to be the same files.

Don't they still sell ps2 games consoles and the hdd in Japan ? Makes sense they would get on ps2 also. Big box retailers most likely don't have shelf space/ dont want ps2 games in NA anymore. SE probably thinks it Wouldnt make sense to just sell the ps2 disc version in online stores.

HDDs yes, non-slim PS2 no. Model 50000 new PS2s were finally removed from Sony's online shop in Japan in 2010 or 2009. However, Japan has an impressive used product market, electronics there tend to last a long time and be well taken care of, same with some other products. SO it shouldn't be too hard for someone to dig up a PS2 there. Also, AFAIK, computers are comparitively expensive there, as well as software like Windows, so consoles are the preferred gaming system.

As for why someone would detest playing on a PC compared to a game console, besides lack of a controller (USB solves this), or a large screen like a TV (HDMI solves this, which most graphics cards have, and most HDTVs have standard monitor plugins too and are really just computer monitors with more inputs and lower pixels per inch), the answer is the support software you have running in the background. You have driver issues, antivirus and firewall software conflicts, background programs popping up or crashing, etc. Consoles tend to not have that and only run one program at a time, though the current generation has kind of changed that with the dashboard you can call up at any time.

I have spent more time on PC troubleshooting issues that cause FFXI to not run or not run well than I ever have on PS2. SE even broke support for my graphics card on my last computer with the release of WotG, so I went back to PS2 for a long while. They told me to use a driver from 2004 for a card from 2007, and it only gave me a running rate of 12 FPS when it used to do 30 before the expansion.

There's also the matter that my PC tends to get purposed for work projects, and I can't shut off all the other programs that are in use when I'm gaming. I can't afford both a home server and a gaming machine, so my machine does double duty.

[Jackstin]

I realise it sucks that they're not releasing the new expansion on PS2 but they're not dropping support! You can still play the game, just not the new stuff starting next year. That gives you 6 months to save up and buy an Xbox 360 which will give you the same gaming experience as the PS2. You can get one for less than a hundred dollars now. I think its more of a shame they didn't drop PS2 support in Japan as well, that way its possible the new expansion could have been slightly prettier.