dump the PS2...

[RAIST]

OMG... not another one. We probly have 2 dozen or more of these threads.

Essentially what has to happen when shooting for multi-platform compatibility, the foundation of your programming has to be restricted to the lowest level of hardware you intend to support so it will always run on all the platforms you expect to run it on.

FFXI was built in a specific environment (PS2) and has hard-coded limitations embedded in it's core to communicate with the firmware/BIOS of a PS2. That is why you need a BIOS file from a PS2 to make a PS2 emulator work--it has to be able to run the compiled code, and an x86 system cannot read that assembly language natively. This has not changed. PS2 assembly is still used in the Windows and 360 versions, they just have a "wrapper" to run that code. A large portion of that core code has remained the same as it was 10 years ago.

So essentially all you get with dropping the PS2 is a game with embedded limitations from a platform no longer officially supported that still has the same restrictions on it as if that platform was still officially supported.

Unless you are willing to go back to the drawing board and rewrite the core of the game, and recompile it for a higher level platform to take advantage of the more robust features in that environment, there is no point in just arbitrarily dropping the PS2 from the list of supported platforms. If you're gonna rebuild like that, the market would also likely compel updated assets to provide HD quality textures, text, etc. Essentially, writing a new game.... FFXI-2?

Enter FFXIV... they goofed and built it with a pc environment in mind first, only to realize later the PS3 didn't have the resources to run it properly and are having to strip it down for PS3 version.