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General Category => Entertainment and Media => Topic started by: Liquid Ocelot on September 28, 2008, 05:02:36 am

Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Liquid Ocelot on September 28, 2008, 05:02:36 am
Square Enix made such good RPGs back in the day, that the idea of porting them seems like a good idea to you know, introduce a new generation of gamers to their work. However, when you see them port the 73rd version of FFIV you might start to question: Why? Why port these old games in this day in age? Some ports like Crono Trigger are good ideas, but some ports like the first final fantasy(Mind you, this game got remade about 5 times and correct me if I am wrong) get repetitive. Porting seems to be good ol' Squeenix's heroine and they just can't stop doing it. Which leaves one question: Should Squeenix keep re-porting their games or should they stop? My opinion is both yes and no, yes to the games they hardly port(crono trigger) and no to the ones they port every god damn year! What are you're thoughts?
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: pburn on September 28, 2008, 05:06:40 am
No shit where da money at

where da g-money
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Warlin on September 28, 2008, 05:11:50 am
No, never.
I cane play the finalz fintasy on the gowe.(I just dun know why they haven't ported ff7 tho <3 klowd)

Seriously though, I don't think they should stop because there are a couple of games I missed because I'm not exactly an rpg finatic. Though, I enjoy a good classic styled rpg every now and then. Anything past FF6 is no man's land though.
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Marcus on September 28, 2008, 05:30:19 am
i like the remakes.  dragon quest 4-6 and final fantasy 3/4ds are fine because they're new.

what i don't like is paying full price for a poorly emulated rom.  squenix has the audacity to charge not 30$ but 40 DUCATS for their new ds games as if the quality is waaaaay above everyone else.  blizzard does the same fucking thing with their games; the average new game price for a pc game is 40$ but even back in 1997 blizzard was charging 60$ new for their pc games.  these guys are ripping us off but people buy it anyway because hey it's final fantasy and ff is popular
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Neophyte on September 28, 2008, 06:00:31 am
The pricing is pretty ridiculous.
As long as they port games that were not been released in certain countries(some DQ games, Star Ocean 1, etc), it's okay. I might have been fine with CT getting a port if they actually added things, but nope. Most of their old ports sucked, but the new ones they're cranking out(other than CT) are good.
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Feldschlacht IV on September 28, 2008, 08:11:17 am
Square Enix needs to lock themselves in a room with nothing but copies of Parasite Eve, Brave Fence Musashi, and Einhander and not be allowed to leave until they figure out the right answer.
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: headphonics on September 28, 2008, 08:31:19 am
i kind of wish more jrpgs like parasite eve would be made.  i mean it wasnt even an amazing game and the storyline wasnt anything special (though it wasnt as awful as the shit you see in games these days), but it broke the mold in a lot of ways, especially combat/setting.  COP IN NEW YORK is a cue developers need to take.  it is sad to think that kingdom hearts and ffx, especially the former, are probably the single biggest reason all rpgs blow at this point.  i think i had this IDEA for why/how xenogears i think it was killed rpgs with its release but in retrospect i can't remember the reasoning and ffx/kh seem much more appropriate candidates.
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Evangel on September 28, 2008, 08:39:11 am
I haven't played the ported DS version of FF3 yet, but I loved the original (translated ROM).  The fact that they introduced that to America is pretty awesome. Pretty much one of the best FFs to date.  Fuck FFX/XII/XI.

On another note, despite a lot of hatred Unlimited Saga got, I think they were going in a good direction with that.  I've always enjoyed the unique SaGa gameplay and environments, and I hope they do something else with it in the future.  Unlimited used a lot of roleplaying elements that you just don't see in JRPGs (like any form of strategy OUTSIDE of repetitive combat).  The battle system is a real turn-off, though.  In some respects, the game can be overly complex, but if they used some of those elements more effectively, they'd have something very great on their hands.
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Warped655 on September 28, 2008, 09:48:43 am
I only started play the first FF for the first time on PSP about 2 weeks ago and I got about 12 hours into it. other then it, the only FF I've ever played has been 7 and I didn't beat it. I'm one of those people that HAS to play games in order, even if they are not connected story wise.
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Alec on September 28, 2008, 01:53:34 pm
No. the number of good games they make is outweighed by the bad ones. and the only thing that evens out the scale is the enix games before the merger.

oh and also Capcom

EDIT: by which i mean if you wanna bitch about ports talk about capcom. every resident evil comes out for every system.
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Liquid Ocelot on September 28, 2008, 02:02:58 pm
Personally I can accept Dragon Quest remakes, I just like those more than FF and 90% of the jrpgs in america(exept CT and some others) but if square is going to port games, why not port FF 7-9? All three of those weren't ported(exept for FFVII's PC port) and they should be revisited!
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Vellfire on September 28, 2008, 02:08:37 pm
how can you tell the difference between their ports and their new games anyway????
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Ultimaweapon9 on September 28, 2008, 02:44:41 pm
Ports don't bother me at all.

If I don't have a previous version and it looks interesting, I'll get it.

On the other hand, I'm probably done buying FFIV (SNES, PSX, GBA, DS).  I figure over 100 bucks for a game is enough, even though I love it to death.
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: SpiralViper on September 28, 2008, 03:23:50 pm
They're definitely going overboard with the ports/remakes, especially where FFIV is concerned. It wasn't a bad game, but it definitely doesn't deserve the massive number of ports it has.
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Sarevok on September 28, 2008, 04:23:25 pm
the average new game price for a pc game is 40$

Where did you get that from? If you discount indie games that is completely wrong
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: EvilDemonCreature on September 28, 2008, 05:51:55 pm
For me to want them to produce new games, I'd have to have confidence in their ability to identify and understand exactly what it is that made their older games great in the first place.

On that merit, I'm pretty sure it's better for everyone that they just keep making ports.

In that case, at least there's the hope that some new generation of gamer will have access to one of those classic games and maybe be able to identify what makes it so great. It's at least better than him drawing "inspiration" from the latest peice of shit title from a comany that doesn't know what the fuck it's doing.

Hell, all that "new" title did anyways was look at one of those older games and copied everything that that game did wrong.
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Marcus on September 28, 2008, 07:02:05 pm
Where did you get that from? If you discount indie games that is completely wrong

It has been for as far as I can remember.  I just bought King's Bounty yesterday which is published by Atari and it was only 40usd.  The Witcher Enhanced contains two professionally made stand alone quests with about 15 hours of gameplay each (that's a whole game right there) plus a whole shitload of extras for 40usd.  Collected editions of games like Gold/Platinum/whatever go for 30-40usd depending on how old the original title is (When Civilization 4 warlords came out they instantly released a collected edition for 40$ even though civ4 was 40$ and warlords was 30$).  Most of the pc games I have I bought new 40usd and only the BIG NAME TITLES (as in stuff that's a multiconsole release like Oblivion, Fallout 3, and Spore) are 50usd.  Even Crysis and Clear Sky, which are stand alone games, are 30-40 bucks.  Why the fuck are console games an extra 10$?  It's not like they have better packaging or they're harder to distribute.

Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Pulits on September 28, 2008, 09:35:12 pm
Some ports are fine, IMO. Specially when they really improve the game, like FF3/FF4 for the DS. Or ports of games that weren't released outside japan. That's nice.

But some ports are so... meh, like CT.

FAGGOTS.
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Kezay on September 28, 2008, 10:01:05 pm
Straight ports kind of bother me for the obvious reasons already listed, but mainly for the fact that S-E ports tend to sell at a premium, the cost of one of their newer titles which is ridiculous.  They do a lot of porting although I've played and enjoyed a lot of their new stuff too (TWEWY ^_^), I just wish we would see more of it, or at least have them port games at a decent price and do something about localizing SD3 for goodness sake.
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: pburn on September 28, 2008, 10:07:30 pm
All of you shouldn't be complaining at all. The constant ports Square-Enix is releasing is obviously being used to fuel the heated development costs of Final Fantasy XIII and it's spin offs.
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: tuxedo marx on September 28, 2008, 10:18:58 pm
well as much as I don't want to play FFV 5000 times over I also don't want them to make any new games because they have forgotten how to make good games. I guess idk!
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Eike on September 28, 2008, 10:37:10 pm
Concerning Final Fantasy... I dunno. If you didn't play the original, I guess these ports could be good, seeing as you really don't have to buy it if you've already played it, but all these remakes, recently... I'm actually pretty reactionary concerning them, I get a sinking feeling when I see one's been announced. I guess this is a biased opinion from people who played the games when they were younger, but they'll never have the heart of the actual games. :tsk:

To be honest, a proper next-gen remake would be cool to see, like the FFVII tech demo for PS3, but an actual game. This would be even more interesting for one of the SNES/NES ones... (Except maybe 1. We've seen enough of 1. Jesus.) I know it'd take more time and money, etc., but if you're just thinking about the final product... if they're completely remaking a game, it's a bit annoying to see them just settle for the handhelds... and usually the DS...

But yeah, things like Valkyire Profile and Final Fantasy Tactics (I wouldn't really count this with the other FFs in this context) on PSP really were much appreciated, given that they either didn't come to all regions, or were expensive as fuck. It would be nice to see other PSX games get a similar treatment... even just on the PSN would be nice. :rolleyes:

edit: wait, what do I mean 'even just on the PSN'? It would be awesome if it came to the PSN. If we're talking straight ports, I mean.
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Goji on September 29, 2008, 01:20:47 am
they gave up on making good games


lol @ the new final fantasy fighting game coming out though
i anticipate it
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Eike on September 29, 2008, 02:03:10 am
lol @ the new final fantasy fighting game coming out though
i anticipate it

I wasn't going to buy it but it's got Kefka so I have to.  :sad:
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Feldschlacht IV on September 29, 2008, 02:14:55 am
I'm taking bets on how many of GamingWders have outgrown videogames.
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: headphonics on September 29, 2008, 02:23:30 am
i admit even good games bore the shit out of me a lot of the time, but i can still PLAY them.  i've just outgrown feeling the need to play any game that isn't really worth it.  idk it feels like gamers just kind of swallow whatever swill the industry throws at them just to have SOMETHING to play, and i don't think a lot of gwers are like that anymore.  or at least, not as many.  i play games sometimes but only the ones that don't blow!!
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Feldschlacht IV on September 29, 2008, 02:28:27 am
I've said before that when it comes to video games, I'm pretty much like a child; I'll play anything I see as fun. I don't give a shit about the specifics.

But that's just me.

As for everyone else, I think it might be prudent to just admit that they've outgrown videogames and move on to another hobby (or, join the industry and do something about it) than to be cynical about it and complain about the negative points of videogames, no matter how current or justified they are.
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: headphonics on September 29, 2008, 02:30:26 am
if it sucks go do something else instead of acknowledging it so that maybe it will improve!!!


thats bad advice
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Izekeal on September 29, 2008, 02:32:36 am
Square Enix needs to lock themselves in a room with nothing but copies of Parasite Eve, Brave Fence Musashi, and Einhander and not be allowed to leave until they figure out the right answer.

New Parasite Eve game (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/the-x-button/2008-08-06).  Second part of the article.  That's probably all we'll get though...
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Feldschlacht IV on September 29, 2008, 02:35:01 am
No, I understand that line of view and I pretty much knew that's what you were going to say.

I dunno. I mean, sometimes time for shit is just up. I used to be really into a lot of things, but as time passed and I grew more and more dissatisfied with or noticed its flaws, I usually just moved on to bigger and better things instead of complaining about it constantly and pointing out flaws. You 'grow out of things'. Not to say that videogames are inherently childish (because I use outgrown and growing out of it as expressions), but yeah, sometimes you just move on.

Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: headphonics on September 29, 2008, 02:47:43 am
but....my childhood!!!
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: headphonics on September 29, 2008, 02:48:18 am
ten to one that parasite eve is a horrifying shadow of what the original(s) was/were
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: SpiralViper on September 29, 2008, 03:23:29 am
Well to be fair, it is a port of a cellphone game.
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Feldschlacht IV on September 29, 2008, 03:27:40 am
man real talk japan needs to drop that cellphone shit
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Mongoloid on September 29, 2008, 06:08:38 am
Damn that sucks. I enjoyed Parasite Eve quite a bit, maybe one of the only rpgs I did enjoy.
I'm bummed about that new one, I'm pretty disgusted with the whole movement to make phones do things besides call people. It seems a lot more sensical to put phones inside handheld games instead of vice versa.
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Ghost_Aspergers on September 29, 2008, 10:23:25 am
ITT people confuse ports with remakes and spin offs
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: SpiralViper on September 29, 2008, 01:34:55 pm
Port = from one console/handheld to another.

A remake can also be a port and a port can also be a remake; they're not mutually exclusive terms.
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Vellfire on September 29, 2008, 01:49:41 pm
A port is when the code is rewritten to make it work on a different platform.  Remakes are rewritten from scratch.  They aren't the same thing.

For example, there are about a babillion Tetris clones out there.  They are remakes, they are the same basic game but they are all written by different people with their own code.  When someone writes their own Tetris game for, say, a calculator, that's not a port, simply because they're writing it from scratch.
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Evangel on September 29, 2008, 04:17:24 pm


To be honest, a proper next-gen remake would be cool to see, like the FFVII tech demo for PS3, but an actual game. This would be even more interesting for one of the SNES/NES ones... (Except maybe 1. We've seen enough of 1. Jesus.) I know it'd take more time and money, etc., but if you're just thinking about the final product... if they're completely remaking a game, it's a bit annoying to see them just settle for the handhelds... and usually the DS...


Yeah, this would be cool.  It's just damn laziness that they would port a game without updating the graphics for the latest generation console.  I mean, it's not like they would have to rewrite the gameplay, story, etc.  Something like this might actually be lucrative, god forbid.
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Christophomicus on September 29, 2008, 04:32:38 pm
A port is when the code is rewritten to make it work on a different platform.  Remakes are rewritten from scratch.  They aren't the same thing.

For example, there are about a babillion Tetris clones out there.  They are remakes, they are the same basic game but they are all written by different people with their own code.  When someone writes their own Tetris game for, say, a calculator, that's not a port, simply because they're writing it from scratch.

Genuine curiosity here (as in, not a smartass question), what would you call something like FF4 DS? Would that also come under remake, or would there be, I dunno, a SPECIAL TERM to apply or something?
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Feldschlacht IV on September 29, 2008, 04:33:36 pm
That's definitely a remake.
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: SpiralViper on September 29, 2008, 04:50:20 pm
A port is when the code is rewritten to make it work on a different platform.  Remakes are rewritten from scratch.  They aren't the same thing.

For example, there are about a babillion Tetris clones out there.  They are remakes, they are the same basic game but they are all written by different people with their own code.  When someone writes their own Tetris game for, say, a calculator, that's not a port, simply because they're writing it from scratch.

Aren't a lot of the games that would be considered ports actually remakes then? Sometimes developers have to start from ground zero with all the mechanical code (as opposed to assets like art and writing which can be easily recycled) simply because code archetypes between mediums can be pretty different.
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Vellfire on September 29, 2008, 06:51:17 pm
Aren't a lot of the games that would be considered ports actually remakes then? Sometimes developers have to start from ground zero with all the mechanical code (as opposed to assets like art and writing which can be easily recycled) simply because code archetypes between mediums can be pretty different.

I guess as for what the word "port" seems to mean in gaming, ports are games that are almost exactly carbon copies of the original (maybe with one or two new features mostly just to sell them).  However, that's still way different than a remake, as remakes usually have, say, new graphics.  I haven't played any of them, but, since FF4 for the DS was mentioned, one of the obvious differences that you can tell without having to play it are the graphics.  If it were a port, it would feature essentially the same graphics as the original.

Even though in gaming the term "port" is used even when the game is rewritten from scratch, the idea is that it looks and acts almost exactly like the original, as if it had really been ported.
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: The Dude on September 29, 2008, 10:17:14 pm
They did a really good job with FF4. I want to see 5 and 6 like this, (mostly because I've never played them very far)
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Leric on October 01, 2008, 02:40:12 pm
They did a really good job with FF4. I want to see 5 and 6 like this, (mostly because I've never played them very far)
I wouldn't mine seeing FFV released for the DS but to tell you the truth I'd rather FFVI be released on a system that allows for more cinematic expression such as PS3 or 360. Like maybe use White / Crystal Engine (FFXIII's system, whatever they're calling it now).
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Ragnar on October 01, 2008, 03:36:52 pm
Yeah I wouldn't be half as annoyed if Squenix would release their remakes on a decent system instead of one that's all 16-bit and retro and kewl

Even George Lucas at least tried to have enhanced graphics when he rereleased the Star Wars movies
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: HL on October 04, 2008, 05:31:34 pm
Ports don't cost 20,000,000 USD to make, and make back quite a bit of profit. It's no wonder they might do a lot of ports.
Title: Square Enix addicted to ports?
Post by: Kitsune Inferno on October 04, 2008, 05:51:14 pm
The only ports/remakes I want from Square Enix are:

The Star Ocean PSP ones
PSX era FF on PS3 and/or PSP
FF5/6 on PS3 and/or PSP

I could care less about anything else.