Yoshinori Kitase would like to know!
Now why would he ask that question?
Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertai...s-ready-level-article-1.1489687#ixzz2i84EVpvz
So... What do you think about a full blown Final Fantasy game on mobile platforms? Is that something you would like to see in the future?
The minds behind the Final Fantasy video game series have answered all my questions thoughtfully and insightfully, giving me an inside look at the storied franchise.
But now, Yoshinori Kitase has a question. It is late in an hour-long interview, and the producer of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII leans forward on the couch, then speaks.
“We’ve been asking this to gaming media, and we usually get a similar response,” he says through a translator. “If they were to consider doing a more serious, a full-blown game on a mobile platform, hypothetically, if we were to do a Final Fantasy on a mobile platform, from a general consumer perspective, what would you think?”
But now, Yoshinori Kitase has a question. It is late in an hour-long interview, and the producer of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII leans forward on the couch, then speaks.
“We’ve been asking this to gaming media, and we usually get a similar response,” he says through a translator. “If they were to consider doing a more serious, a full-blown game on a mobile platform, hypothetically, if we were to do a Final Fantasy on a mobile platform, from a general consumer perspective, what would you think?”
It is an intriguing question, and one that is emblematic of where one of the most iconic video game franchises of the last two decades is right now. It’s been 26 years since the series first debuted on the Nintendo Entertainment System, and 16 years since Final Fantasy VII exploded into the mainstream on the PlayStation, spawning a film, action figures, and a following so massive it’s not even fair to call it cult.
The gaming landscape has changed much since then, the Final Fantasy series, like so many venerable franchises, is working feverishly to keep pace. It’s leveled up so much already, and you’ll see that in February, when Lightning Returns hits stateside.
But as gaming has gone from geeky to trendy, both Final Fantasy and the Japanese role-playing game genre have faced increasing competition, and perhaps slightly declining interest stateside. Western games - think Halo and Call of Duty - are the titles that demand midnight release events at GameStop, and Kitase indicates that they’ve grown in popularity in Japan, too, saying that things have “definitely changed.”
It’s a hard gaming world in which to maintain relevance and clout (not to mention profits), a tricky balancing act between drawing from new audiences that love Angry Birds and curb stomps while also keeping in enough Chocobos for longtime fans. And that could prompt more and more series forays into the tablet world, maybe even the world of web browser games, says Kitase.
“Final Fantasy isn’t necessarily shifting into mobile platforms per se,” he says. “It’s getting to the point where expansion to the mobile platform is kind of becoming required in the sense that in order to reach more people, (we) feel that we need to tap into the mobile platforms as well. Of course, console, we will continue to have their main packaged versions of the game, but there may be more and more opportunities where you might see the games on your smartphone and your PC, (as) a browser game.”
Kitase adds that some Final Fantasy universes - past, present and future - may start on consoles, and then “expand onto different media as well.” And we’ve already seen the start of the new FF strategy in its handling of several classic games - including Final Fantasy Tactics - that have already landed on the iPad.
Yet as the series chases new audiences and tries to maximize each of these games that take so long to build, Kitase says, the aim will not be market dominance. He insists that the series will chart its own course, focused on originality. The Final Fantasy XIII series is evidence of that, too. Lightning Returns will be Square's third trip into that universe, despite the fact that this world has hardly captivated fans in the way that, say, Final Fantasy VII once did. The FF XIII storyline has also featured the series' first-ever female lead, Lightning.
“In (our) minds it’s not about being on top,” he says. “You don’t see very many female protagonists being pushed out to the forefront . . . and being the main focal point of the game.
The gaming landscape has changed much since then, the Final Fantasy series, like so many venerable franchises, is working feverishly to keep pace. It’s leveled up so much already, and you’ll see that in February, when Lightning Returns hits stateside.
But as gaming has gone from geeky to trendy, both Final Fantasy and the Japanese role-playing game genre have faced increasing competition, and perhaps slightly declining interest stateside. Western games - think Halo and Call of Duty - are the titles that demand midnight release events at GameStop, and Kitase indicates that they’ve grown in popularity in Japan, too, saying that things have “definitely changed.”
It’s a hard gaming world in which to maintain relevance and clout (not to mention profits), a tricky balancing act between drawing from new audiences that love Angry Birds and curb stomps while also keeping in enough Chocobos for longtime fans. And that could prompt more and more series forays into the tablet world, maybe even the world of web browser games, says Kitase.
“Final Fantasy isn’t necessarily shifting into mobile platforms per se,” he says. “It’s getting to the point where expansion to the mobile platform is kind of becoming required in the sense that in order to reach more people, (we) feel that we need to tap into the mobile platforms as well. Of course, console, we will continue to have their main packaged versions of the game, but there may be more and more opportunities where you might see the games on your smartphone and your PC, (as) a browser game.”
Kitase adds that some Final Fantasy universes - past, present and future - may start on consoles, and then “expand onto different media as well.” And we’ve already seen the start of the new FF strategy in its handling of several classic games - including Final Fantasy Tactics - that have already landed on the iPad.
Yet as the series chases new audiences and tries to maximize each of these games that take so long to build, Kitase says, the aim will not be market dominance. He insists that the series will chart its own course, focused on originality. The Final Fantasy XIII series is evidence of that, too. Lightning Returns will be Square's third trip into that universe, despite the fact that this world has hardly captivated fans in the way that, say, Final Fantasy VII once did. The FF XIII storyline has also featured the series' first-ever female lead, Lightning.
“In (our) minds it’s not about being on top,” he says. “You don’t see very many female protagonists being pushed out to the forefront . . . and being the main focal point of the game.
So... What do you think about a full blown Final Fantasy game on mobile platforms? Is that something you would like to see in the future?