E3 06: Square Enix booth is RPG gamers' fantasy

By Dan Tochen, GameSpotPosted May 11, 2006 11:10 am PT

Final Fantasy games hog the limelight at Square Enix's E3 booth--but trio of Final Fantasy XIII games stays under wraps.

Before Crisis - Final Fantasy VII

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Square Enix has a prime chunk of real estate here on the E3 show floor, across from the booths of Namco Bandai Games and Capcom and a hop, skip, and a jump from Ubisoft. The booth features shiny white partitions--studded with demo kiosks on both sides--that radiate out from a central reception/information counter. One partition near the back of the booth has a long display case chock-full of merchandise: mainly high-end figurines, with a few wild cards like lighters and card cases.

A monster screen suspended from the ceiling features game trailers for upcoming Square Enix games, and a staircase in a corner of the booth leads up to a second-story theater where hardcore Square Enix fans can watch an extended video presentation.

The booth features playable demos of almost all of the company's upcoming games. The key exceptions are the three Final Fantasy XIII games, none of which are displayed on the show floor, not even in the form of nonplayable videos. Final Fantasy XI and XII are playable, though, and one section of the booth is set aside for PC demos of FF XI--the only PC game in Square Enix's lineup.

Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII is playing on quite a few demo kiosks, and the game is attracting a pretty good crowd, while FF III for the DS draws a few retro-gamers to its section of the booth. Also playable on the DS are the too-cute-for words Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime and Children of Mana.

There's just one PSP game in the booth: Valkyrie Profile Lenneth, shown side by side with its PS2 sibling, Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria.

Like many Japanese game firms, Square Enix is also making a strong effort to bring its products to cell phone gamers. Visitors to the company's E3 booth can try out a number of these games, such as Before Crisis: FF VIII, Seikan Densetsu: FF Adventure, and Brave Shot 2.

Getting the most from its recent acquisition of Taito, Square Enix also has remixed a few classic Taito titles for cell phones, including Space Invaders and Elevator Action, and the shiny new 3D versions are now playable on the show floor.

98 Comments

  • jakeboudville

    Posted Aug 25, 2006 7:35 pm PT

    really impressive

  • Tidus581

    Posted Aug 12, 2006 9:18 am PT

    lol, i don't even think xbox users even like the FF series, or Square for that matter, they're mostly just over confident, un-inventive EA sports lovers, thats why xbox didn't do good in Japan, b/c the Japanese are the complete opposite of that.. they like baseball and thats about it, FFXI was made for the 360 solely because they thought it would be easy to fit it in that format or w/e, the graphics different between PS2 and 360 are seemless, the original xbox was like a PS1 and a half, . . . bottom line though 360 can't handle FF13. . . bill gates is not a gamer..

  • coolbreeze007

    Posted Jul 22, 2006 10:28 am PT

    im up here reading these post thinking that you guys are crazy talking bout which console is better when the fact is that all of them are great and have unique qualities about them for instance playstation 3 has the blu ray and the nintendo wii has the motion senseing controller. but then as im writing i realised what does the x box 360 have thats so great its a well rounded system thats all. and to me thats a little boring. so im with my playstation boys cause i always been with playstation and i dont plan on leaving p.s kingdom hearts 2 greatest game i ever played

  • hellfirebg

    Posted Jul 14, 2006 11:58 am PT

    Many of the things you said are true, I've got to say that.

    But nontheless FFXIII will stay on the PS3.The only reason FFXI has a X360 port is because online is what xbox360 does best.Besides, you have to pay for it which is even worse...

    Even if FFXIII can run on the X360, it won't be made for it.Things are gonna happen just like they did when PS2,Xbox and GC were the best consoles.Sony will reign supreme, some retarded EA and Microsoft loving americans will play on x360(which will do terrible in Japan) and Wii will be supported by old-school fans.

  • mattisdada

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 3:30 am PT

    Ignorent, ignornet fools!
    Im not talking about FFXIII i think it will be a great game! But the people who are commenting, are SO mis-informed. All of you acctually eat the c**p that people are pumping straight into your mouths!

    Let me just state some thing's which people here have said, and how misinformed they are.

    "FFXIII couldnt even run on a 360! Its to weak, and the PS3 is the most powerfull media thing ever!"

    OK for one thing, you used the term "thing" making you sound quite stupid. And for anothing FFXIII could easly run on a 360. Because Microsoft can jsut throw there money away and not care, whilst sony doesnt have no where near as much money, meaning that there's no way in hell that Sony could create a system like theve stated(only a little bit weaker then the 360 at that!)at E3 2005, theve cut nearly everything about it in half! As well as all these spicy little features they said would be standerd on it, arn't there at all anymore(HDTM i think was one of them). As well as borrowing $683 million from banks.

    "They would even have to redo the game to make it play on the 360"
    Dude, come out of your little hole of a room, get a life, go back, and do some research and make a game or two. You might learn something!

    "The "pee" is just a crappy gamecube with a werid controller"
    Now people like you said that the PS2 is stronger then a GCN. Its VERY much not so, as well as faster loading times because of Mini-Dvd's, nearly every part of the GCN is twice as powerfull as the PS2's parts.

    And for another thing, we know nothing of the Wii specs as of yet. But i have seen some amazing footage for it, that i doubt most people have seen. Its most defintly on par with the graphics of a 360. As well as Nintendo creating many new inbuilt software(that baisclly tells what everything to do) which you will be very happy to hear about. Infact you could even say that it is a big secret in itself.

    Well i just hope i dont get fired from this.

    Sorry for my bad english.

    Have fun Mattisdada

  • 9988260

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 2:45 pm PT

    that's why i didn't want to get x-box 360 because i knew more better game are coming out for ps3. also final fantasy 13 is coming out for ps3, i can wait to get ps3 and final fantasy.

  • Squall_sebas

    Posted May 28, 2006 3:14 pm PT

    I think that FFXIII will never ever be on the XBOX360 first of all because SE said that they were developing this game for the PS2 but they were called to make the FFVII video remake, ad for that reason they started to port FFXIII for the PS2 to the PS3 because they were colmpletely shocked and amazed by the capabilities of the PS3 the programming the graphics, etc... besides it said PS3 EXCLUSIVE, that's y I'll get a PS3

  • Cutie_Q

    Posted May 24, 2006 6:50 am PT

    I so want this game.....

  • orionamra

    Posted May 21, 2006 10:49 pm PT

    Square is doing FF13 in PS3 for two reason:

    1.- PS3 play PS1 and PS2: That mean all FF series in one box.

    2.- PS3 is the most powerful machine in the world for entertaiment: Square is making the White Engine to take full advantage of PS3 hardware and that mean FF13 can't run on 360 with that quality.

    Square don't port a poor version of FF13 for other console, but the rumor of FF 13 Hereas may be is for 360. And if all of you ask me I preffer that game on PS3.

  • GodlikeZidane

    Posted May 21, 2006 8:35 am PT

    hmm $400 for a 360 to play FFXIII
    or $600 for a ps3 to play FXIII?
    I'll take my saved $200 and buy a wii and get 2 great systems for the price of one overated one

  • GaaraZanta

    Posted May 20, 2006 12:06 pm PT

    bubbles582
    "Haha, you Playstation supporters are acting pretty tough for using a outdated system with way to much 3rd party support. You guys are so pumped about all the JRPGs that will supoposedly come out, but what do you think will really happen? the same thing that happened to the PS2. there are going to be hundreds of great games, but only so many are going to come out overseas. do you really think a devellopers is going to take the time to translate the HUGE games that can fit on a BR disc? you were forgetten in the last generation, and thats all you ahev to look forward to once again. why not try supporting a system that is at least made on the same side of the planet? and as far as microsoft being crap, take a look at the bottom left hand corner of your monitor, and slap yourselves ion the face when you notice the little colored flag
    Posted May 15, 2006 8:30 pm PT"
    For one I can already see you are a ignorant American( no profanity please) who think everyone who post here is from America, grow up. Another thing, not everyone is a 'nub like you and has their start bar on the bottom, with it always showing nonetheless. Also, who uses the default windows theme anyway, get something new. Yeah and not everyone here has windows, get over your self micro-lover.

  • CrazyAsian333

    Posted May 17, 2006 8:17 pm PT

    you are all f***ing idiots why dont you get a job and buy all three systems that way you dont have to worry about what system final fantasy will be on. If your only buying a console for one game then you are not a true gamer. I already have my psp, ds, xbox360 and waiting patiently for my ps3 and wii. There is a possibility that the ps3 might do bad in Asia and that is becuase the blu ray is going to be impossible to pirate games on and thats all they do in asia becuase it is cheaper. When I was there I only saw pirated games. The only system that didnt have pirated games was the psp.

  • DevJin

    Posted May 15, 2006 10:07 pm PT

    360 is DEAD, not everyone love bill gates, peter moore, or j allard, those wacko.

  • bubbles582

    Posted May 15, 2006 8:30 pm PT

    Haha, you Playstation supporters are acting pretty tough for using a outdated system with way to much 3rd party support. You guys are so pumped about all the JRPGs that will supoposedly come out, but what do you think will really happen? the same thing that happened to the PS2. there are going to be hundreds of great games, but only so many are going to come out overseas. do you really think a devellopers is going to take the time to translate the HUGE games that can fit on a BR disc? you were forgetten in the last generation, and thats all you ahev to look forward to once again. why not try supporting a system that is at least made on the same side of the planet? and as far as microsoft being crap, take a look at the bottom left hand corner of your monitor, and slap yourselves ion the face when you notice the little colored flag on the start button.

  • magehound

    Posted May 14, 2006 5:38 pm PT

    anyway, skipping all the drama...
    Too much Square is never Enough! gimme more.
    wouldn't it be cool if they offered a PS3/FFXIII bundle at some point? Hopefully it would come embossed with a symbol from the game, the way they did in Japan with the PS2/FFXI bundle.

  • jubeininja69

    Posted May 14, 2006 12:27 am PT

    Put FFXIII on the Wii instead of the 360.

  • abelmaestro

    Posted May 13, 2006 2:54 am PT

    sky vader you are wrong again,the desing restrictions in the nintendo console are not gone becouse the "Pee"is like a gamecube with a weird controller.Do you think a game like Final Fantasy XIII could run on such a crapy system,NO! I don`t think so dude,you should think before you write.Square Enix will keep making the best games for the most powerful system,in this case the Playstation 3.If you want to play the best games you`ll have to spend the 600 dollars if you don`t.... your problem.

  • dhmy2kgto

    Posted May 13, 2006 12:12 am PT

    Why wasn't I there?

  • Jamie_Nicholson

    Posted May 12, 2006 8:55 pm PT

    HAHAHA XIII on 360...lol, comedian you are

  • mickel_darmawan

    Posted May 12, 2006 7:48 pm PT

    sorry, but that 360 is not capable to run ff 13. only ps3 does.

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