FFXI on Switch 2?

[radar]

The Switch 2 is a fairly weak platform, and most mmorpgs (including ffxiv probably) would never work well on it. However it is a massive platform, and given its size any mmorpg on it would have a huge advantage.

XI was made for PS2 and controller and still has fairly low requirements to run (the point you can run 6 instances or more on a very humble computer), and I'm sure it would not require a massive a amount of work to port over to it.

Is a version of FFXI for the Switch 2 a possibility? Is it something YoshiP would consider investing in?

[Alhanelem]

I mean, it could have run on the switch 1 or any other console released since the xbox 360. Heck, the switch 2 would play FFXIV just fine, and even the original probably could have (main issue is actually storage). But it doesnt seem like SE is interested in even bringing FFXIV to new platforms anymore, much less XI.

[Gwydion]

Ever since the PS4, all modern consoles use the same instruction set architecture (x86) as PCs! This includes PS5, Switch, X-Box and even Switch 2.

Given that Microsoft is no longer making XBox hardware, they have made a deal with Steam to expand their library of games for Game Pass customers. Steam Deck is also doing OK and could be the next "home game console".

But basically, this is just another PC!

It looks like the next "game console" will basically be a "game PC" that you put in your living room. If this does happen, the there is NO REASON that FFXI cannot run on such a console!

How cool is that???!!!

(I personally love, love, love Sony and Nintendo gaming consoles, but the trend seems to be that everything is going becoming more and more PC-compatible)

[radar]

It would be a great idea for them to do it honestly (I saw it suggested on twitter originally by a JP player), it would be very popular in japan specifically. XI would be perfect for the platform and kind of players who enjoy it (retro JP game enjoyers), it's from the "golden era" of the company and it's not hard to port over due to the low system requirements and control systems.

It seems like the perfect idea to me. It's not something the XI developers would do themselves, but there are plenty of people in BD3 that could port it over and given the crossover with XIV currently it's a perfect time to do it.

They ported XI to Xbox360 easily back in the day, and they did it inhouse.

There is no way it would not be a successful venture, and make money.

[Gwydion]

What I'm trying to say is there is nothing for SE "to port". FFXI already runs on PC and steam deck right? So when Microsoft/Steam create the next home console, it will run PC games (unless Microsoft locks it down, which is very possible).

Does this make sense? All current-gen game consoles are just proprietary gaming PCs. From a technical perspective, they can run FFXI right now, but we would need a functioning Windows on those machines, which is why I mentioned the Microsoft/Steam partnership.

[Catmato]

Ever since the PS4, all modern consoles use the same instruction set architecture (x86) as PCs! This includes PS5, Switch, X-Box and even Switch 2.

Switch and Switch 2 use ARM processors, not x86.

[Gwydion]

Switch and Switch 2 use ARM processors, not x86.

You are right. I was mistaken, thinking of Switch Emulation running on a PC ...but technically, my point still stands. While there would still be some porting to do in the case of Switch, Switch emulation being so performant and reliable on x86 PCs, I wouldn't expect the overhead in doing this conversion to be so high.

[Alhanelem]

Yoshida at one point expressed interest in FFXIV being on the switch, but the biggest issue was the lack of storage on the console (The SD card is slower and wouldn't be great, it needs to be the faster flash storage)

Switch 2 solves this problem. Wh ile the internal storage isn't that much better, the Switch 2 uses a newer and vastly faster SD card standard (and the compatible SD cards are also more expensive, obviously) that would be suitable for this.

[radar]

Yoshida at one point expressed interest in FFXIV being on the switch, but the biggest issue was the lack of storage on the console (The SD card is slower and wouldn't be great, it needs to be the faster flash storage)

Switch 2 solves this problem. Wh ile the internal storage isn't that much better, the Switch 2 uses a newer and vastly faster SD card standard (and the compatible SD cards are also more expensive, obviously) that would be suitable for this.

It will still be incredibly difficult to port XIV to the Switch 2, considering XI is part of XIV operations and is counted towards how much money and players it has porting XI to the Swtich2 would also help XIV on financial reports.

They could even setup servers just for Switch if cross play is a problem.

XI is way easier to port over than XIV.

[Dragoy]

They could just use Wine (Software) I suppose.

It's how I have been playing since 2010 on Linux. No Windows needed.

It's also how they do it for FFX|V for the macOS I believe, though via using a proprietary fork, which raises a fun(?) issue when running via Wine: It sees you are doing that, so it decides you are running it on macOS and so you need to have bought the game for macOS to be able to log in, unless you hide the fact that you are running it via Wine...

Wine (Software) also runs things on arm machines by the by, and seeing how poorly new Windows thingies support old Windows thingies... perhaps that's the way to go?