What got removed because of the Xbox?

[Angel of Iniquity]

They said enough content got removed to make another Game.
What got removed exactly? I know Gilgamesh Fal'Cie, I know a Zoo, and a whole other area in Pulsle

[Unknown Entity]

I wasn't even aware anything was removed. The only in-depth technical differences I've heard about was that the sound files on the Xbox version was compressed, whereas the PS3 didn't need to have them compressed, the frame rates on the Xbox were better, but the colours were more vibrant on the PS3 version, and... that's it. From my memory anyway.

Which game in the FFXIII universe are you talking about? This content you speak of? You may have to speculate a little more on the OP for there to be a topic to discuss - no topic to discuss, I'll probably have to close the thread. ;P

[Angel of Iniquity]

I wasn't even aware anything was removed. The only in-depth technical differences I've heard about was that the sound files on the Xbox version was compressed, whereas the PS3 didn't need to have them compressed, the frame rates on the Xbox were better, but the colours were more vibrant on the PS3 version, and... that's it. From my memory anyway.

Which game in the FFXIII universe are you talking about? This content you speak of? You may have to speculate a little more on the OP for there to be a topic to discuss - no topic to discuss, I'll probably have to close the thread. ;P

Oh, well, there was about 40% of the game, the true FF13, ya know, lightning, that got removed because of the 3 disc limit microsoft put on the FF team if they wanted a Xbox version.

[Unknown Entity]

Oh, well, there was about 40% of the game, the true FF13, ya know, lightning, that got removed because of the 3 disc limit microsoft put on the FF team if they wanted a Xbox version.

Okay... well, what about the PS3 version? As far as I know they're both the same. Xbox discs are DVDs, so they hold much less information than Blu-Ray, hence why it needed three discs. Same content, just over three discs.

No actual in game stuff was removed. Unless you're talking about content that wasn't in FFXIII, like towns and NPCs, etc, that was present in previous Final Fantasy games.

[Angel of Iniquity]

Okay... well, what about the PS3 version? As far as I know they're both the same. Xbox discs are DVDs, so they hold much less information than Blu-Ray, hence why it needed three discs. Same content, just over three discs.

No actual in game stuff was removed. Unless you're talking about content that wasn't in FFXIII, like towns and NPCs, etc, that was present in previous Final Fantasy games.

Ohhh, I see. What I meant in the post was, during production, they took away some stuff in order to be playable on Xbox, they took away from the total production.

[Victoria]

So far all I know is that they took away the NPCs and actual shops and towns and stuff from the total production of the game; because if they kept it in, there'd be more than 3 discs on the xbox version.

I don't know about anything else, though.

[Freya]

They really removed scenes/NPCs/whatever just because of the xBox version? Oo" I thought that was just a rumor.
I don't see why they did that - they could've just made FFXIII as it is now for the xBox and add the scenes/NPCs/whatever to the PS3 version.
That's what they did with Eternal Sonata. At least my brother told me of cutscenes I've never seen in the game. (He owns the PS3 version, I own the xBox version.)

But nevertheless, I like FFXIII the way it is. It was strange that there were no shops and real cities, but that's okay with me. FF made a progress, it's not always the same - though I think many fans would like every FF to be like their favorite FF. ^^" But well... I'm okay with removing stuff. (Especially as I only own an xBox... and I want to play FFXIII! ^^")

[Unknown Entity]

So far all I know is that they took away the NPCs and actual shops and towns and stuff from the total production of the game; because if they kept it in, there'd be more than 3 discs on the xbox version.

I don't know about anything else, though.

But that's the thing! There was no NPCs and actual shops in either version! The PS3 didn't have NPCs and actual shops - you couldn't talk to anyone, and your shop was a save point. >>

[Furore]

NOTHING.
A lot of content was removed so the game would play better (some was planned to be introduced as DLC, but that idea got cut according to a few sites), but all of these changes occurred BEFORE the decision to port to Xbox 360.

The only changes made were some of the 360 assets were of a lower quality (main thing I noticed were lower res cutscenes). As for Eternal Sonata, it was made for Xbox 360 originally and later ported to PS3. Just meant PS3 owners had to wait longer to play it but stuff was added to fill out the game, and fans such as myself ended up with two copies. ><;;

Edit:

'There wasn't all this other stuff that we wanted to include but had to cut. It was more of a selective process you'd find in any development process, where there were a lot of ideas but then we chose the best of those to include in the final game. The things that were cut either didn't make sense in the storyline, would slow down the pace of the game or were otherwise unnecessary.' - FFXIII producer, Yoshihiro Kitase.

[Victoria]

But that's the thing! There was no NPCs and actual shops in either version! The PS3 didn't have NPCs and actual shops - you couldn't talk to anyone, and your shop was a save point. >>

Hence "Total production". I think total production means from the game itself. Both versions. Not just the xbox. The title says what got removed "because" of the xbox, not "from" the xbox.

But again, that's just my take on it. I didn't mean to get you worked up over it.

Although Freya is right in that they could've just kept the stuff for PS3 or something.

[Dan558]

So far all I know is that they took away the NPCs and actual shops and towns and stuff from the total production of the game; because if they kept it in, there'd be more than 3 discs on the xbox version.

I don't know about anything else, though.

Boo Xbox. Yet another reason why it is a plague on the gaming world.

Even though it has been said that "no content was removed due to XBox" I have a strong feeling that was only said for marketing purposes. What company would blatantly state they made their game worse so they could sell more on multiple systems? Claiming nothing important was taken out was just to save their own ass in my opinion.

Again, I'm not saying this IS what happened but it seems a likely scenario to me. FFXIII's crew has already lost a ton of credit to their word. http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thre...=115874&page=1

[Furore]

I'd have thought it common knowledge that the game was completed and released on PS3 in Japan BEFORE they started porting it. Xbox 360 has nothing to do with cut content.

In fact, some Jap dude looked at what took up how much space on the blu ray disc and found that the video took up upwards of 30gb of the disc and actual game data took up bugger all (source: Google Translate) meaning that content probably could've been added to both versions if desired. The only change to the 360 version was lower res video and it was what took up all the space on the blu ray disc.

But then again, I'm sure unofficial sources are MUCH more reputable then the words of the development team and a guy that actually made a map of the disc contents.

[Kaiden]

I'm not saying they did cut stuff out because of the xbox, but you wouldn't actually expect SE to throw microsoft under the bus and say they had to cut game content because of the xbox would you? That would kill relations with Microsoft. Thats a huge market for SE otherwise they wouldn't have ported the game in the first place.

edit:
"I'd have thought it common knowledge that the game was completed and released on PS3 in Japan BEFORE they started porting it."


This is also not true by the way. They announced the xbox 360 port over a year before it came out in Japan.



2nd edit:

To be fair Noruma also said at the time of the xbox port announcement.


As his final comment, Noruma stated that the PS3 version will not suffer due to the Xbox 360 development.

"We aren't going to change any specifications because of the multi-platform announcement," he said. "Right now, we're fully concentrating on the PS3 version."

[Angel of Iniquity]

If this is all true then, what about the statement about enough content was removed to be a seperate game?

[Dan558]

But then again, I'm sure unofficial sources are MUCH more reputable then the words of the development team and a guy that actually made a map of the disc contents.

you post an unofficial source yourself (the disk thing) then question my source?
You think the death threats article I posted was completely made up?

Heres some reports from different websites:
Final Fantasy XIII here for PS3 only

Final Fantasy XIII Xbox 360 Confirmed For Japan - Xbox 360 News at IGN

Again, like I said, credibility lost. Again I'm not saying content WAS cut for sure but with Xbox specs and seemingly glaring omissions from the game it seems a likely scenario to me. Sorry if your so offended personally that I don't take the companies or your word to be true.

Overall I don't trust gaming companies anymore. Blizzard has started Microtransactions in WoW, which they claimed would never happen, but they are getting desperate in their waning years and are perfectly fine with betraying their customer base.

[Rocky]

I love how people live in their bubbles and really think that companies give a damn about consumer base anymore. In any case, the United States economy is bad, and although I am unsure how the rest of the world is doing, but I thought it would be common knowledge that people are willing to do anything to make a quick buck, whether it be micro transactions in video games to porting a game over multiple systems. Not sure why everyone feels SE "owes" the PS3 anything.

And nothing got removed from the production, not sure where you are getting your facts from Angel but it's all hearsay and lies. Like Silver stated, the content was already complete by the time the news of FF13 going to the Xbox 360.

In any case, I can see why people would THINK that, but why argue semantics and just accept it for what it is? It does seem strange that SE was already anticipating a sequel for FF13, which could mean that there "was some content cut out that theyre gonna add into a new game derp" but to me that just means that SE is taking an interest into their flagship series, which is something I am excited about.

[Angel of Iniquity]

According to a recent interview with Final Fantasy XIII's art director Isamu Kamikokuryou, the title was actually a much larger game before content was cut; so much so in fact, that the additional content could create another game entirely.

Lightning’s House with an exterior which is described as “park-like”
Levraut Store (?????) had an interior which was NORA’s secret base
In addition to Nautilus being an amusement park, there was also a Zoo
and more adding up to roughly ANOTHER FULL GAME

According to Kamikokuryou, the removed content was already running on PS3 hardware, but was left out when the team considered the game's overall balance and volume.

Now, if Xbox gave a 3 disc limit to it, they obviously removed things for a reason. They didn't say it was because of XBOX, but it should come as no surprise.

Before you claim "hearsay and lies," it would be strongly advised to research before you post your replies.

Because of volume, 3 disc limit... Click. It just makes sense guys.

[Unknown Entity]

According to a recent interview with Final Fantasy XIII's art director Isamu Kamikokuryou, the title was actually a much larger game before content was cut; so much so in fact, that the additional content could create another game entirely.

Lightning’s House with an exterior which is described as “park-like”
Levraut Store (?????) had an interior which was NORA’s secret base
In addition to Nautilus being an amusement park, there was also a Zoo
and more adding up to roughly ANOTHER FULL GAME

According to Kamikokuryou, the removed content was already running on PS3 hardware, but was left out when the team considered the game's overall balance and volume.

Now, if Xbox gave a 3 disc limit to it, they obviously removed things for a reason. They didn't say it was because of XBOX, but it should come as no surprise.

Before you claim "hearsay and lies," it would be strongly advised to research before you post your replies.

Because of volume, 3 disc limit... Click. It just makes sense guys.

Number one: why was none of this in the OP? The OP was empty and could have done with that. ><

Number two: An art directer, huh? are you sure none of this was simply concept art? If that's the case, nothing was cut because it wasn't even implemented. If it was a recent interview, it might have had something to do with the newer games. I don't think it's uncommon for parts of the game to be tested on PS3 hardware either.

We saw Lightening's house in FFXIII during a scene with her, Serah and Snow. There was an argument. So her house wasn't missing from the game - it was either another concept, or a concept for FFXIII-2.

And I highly doubt it'd have been enough content for another game.

ALSO, as for "it's because of the Xbox version it was cut... make sense", no, it doesn't make sense. The game was made for PS3, and ported - I don't even think it was originally planned for Xbox at all. Both versions are the same. They're not going to cut material because the shitebox has its petty limitations.

EDIT: Can we have some links to these interviews? You're hardly backing this up very well.

[Angel of Iniquity]

Number one: why was none of this in the OP? The OP was empty and could have done with that. ><

Number two: An art directer, huh? are you sure none of this was simply concept art? If that's the case, nothing was cut because it wasn't even implemented. If it was a recent interview, it might have had something to do with the newer games. I don't think it's uncommon for parts of the game to be tested on PS3 hardware either.

We saw Lightening's house in FFXIII during a scene with her, Serah and Snow. There was an argument. So her house wasn't missing from the game - it was either another concept, or a concept for FFXIII-2.

And I highly doubt it'd have been enough content for another game.

ALSO, as for "it's because of the Xbox version it was cut... make sense", no, it doesn't make sense. The game was made for PS3, and ported - I don't even think it was originally planned for Xbox at all. Both versions are the same. They're not going to cut material because the shitebox has its petty limitations.

EDIT: Can we have some links to these interviews? You're hardly backing this up very well.

Oh jeeeeeeesus christ. Sick of trying to be respectful as of late.
FF-Reunion » Blog Archive » FF13
Good luck translating unless you have Google chrome.

Now for the english translated.

A game&#039;s worth of content removed from Final Fantasy XIII - New York NY Console Games | Examiner.com


Now, come on, think a little bit.
They have had considerations for an Xbox port for a while, during the whole production of FF13. If they had stuff cut out for volume and disc size or W/E, and they had a limit of 3 discs by Xbox... Does it click yet?

Also, not a Cgi version of their house, I'm not that idiotic to bring something else that blatently up. I meant a personally viewable version.

Now, reply, this should get interesting.

[che]

The moral of the story is Xbox ruins everything. Had the game never been ported to Xbox, we wouldn't be fighting amongst each other.

[Zargabaath]

Number two: An art directer, huh? are you sure none of this was simply concept art? If that's the case, nothing was cut because it wasn't even implemented. If it was a recent interview, it might have had something to do with the newer games. I don't think it's uncommon for parts of the game to be tested on PS3 hardware either.

And I highly doubt it'd have been enough content for another game.

In regards to point "number two" Toriyama has said, that cuts were made as the game was becoming complete, though he goes on to say is a normal process. As to why they cut content it was because they took into account the game's length and volume, which I feel it could have used more in both. And I do feel that it wasn't just simply concept art that was "cut" but actual content, as Kamikokuryou (Art Director) said, these areas were running in an unreleased build of Final Fantasy XIII. And what he says is only some of the stuff cut and he does say that there is enough lost content from Final Fantasy XIII to make another title.

As for the content that was cut, don't expect any of it to resurface as in my first link Toriyama says, "we're not saving it for anything".

I'm going to have to disagree about the content was already complete by the time the news of FF13 going to the Xbox 360. The game was announced for the 360 at E3 of 2008 which took place in July a full year & 5 months before the Japanese release and as stated by Toriyama they were cutting material along the way. That game was not done, complete, final copy till 2009 before the print. I am not saying it is the 360's fault for these cuts but no way was that game in its final form when the 360 version was announced. They had not even finish the PS3 version yet. If I remember correctly there plan was to finish the PS3 version then work on the 360's.

I feel the biggest culprit as to why there were such huge cuts: time. Initially it was being made for the PS2, which I find to be quite stupid since development for the game began in 2005. Next generation of consoles were out or come out next year. Then they created the Crystal Tools engine which took up more time than expected. Another problem for the cuts was probably that the team did not know how the game should look and feel which the demo helped them realize a shared vision (Game Developer 17 (9):24-29 ISSN1073-922X). At least it looks like so to me.

[Furore]

Ok lads, whip out your copy of Final Fantasy XIII Scenario Ultimania and flip to pages 496-499. Toriyama specifically states in that interview that the team was unable to make explorable towns as graphically appealing as the rest of the game and chose to eliminate them as a result. Cut because of 360? lol, no. He also states the DLC was cut for quality concerns, which made me rather down when I read it. (pages 507-511).

And yeah, I stuffed up, they started the port late during the development cycle of the PS3 version. So it wasn't completed yet, but was near it. That was in an official Square Enix press release I believe, a few news sites made mention of it.

As for that other 'unofficial' link, it was a link to a dumping of the data on the PS3 disc. I would've told people to check themselves, but realistically how many of you have blu ray drives on your PCs? It just shows that the vast majority of the PS3 version was movie data and the actual game took up very little space. They could have added more game data to both versions easily as the only thing reduced in quality on the 360 version was the compressed video. In fact, I've heard they added to FFXIII International which is ONLY out on XBox 360. Oh, snap?

I'm just really sick of console fanboys trying to change the information to suit their stupid view that the one console they decided to buy is the greatest thing since the invention of the toaster. Half the time you can barely tell a difference playing them and both consoles have games that play better on one then then other.

[Angel of Iniquity]

Calm down Silver. Seriously, no need to get worked up over anything, and if us "fanboys" piss you off, don't respond to us.

I don't care what they said, they can't be taken seriously as Dan posted earlier, allot of their claims where reduced to shit.

[Unknown Entity]

I don't care what they said, they can't be taken seriously as Dan posted earlier, allot of their claims where reduced to shit.

May I ask which claims were, as you say, "reduced to shit"?

Number two: An art directer, huh? are you sure none of this was simply concept art? If that's the case, nothing was cut because it wasn't even implemented. If it was a recent interview, it might have had something to do with the newer games. I don't think it's uncommon for parts of the game to be tested on PS3 hardware either.

In regards to point "number two" Toriyama has said, that cuts were made as the game was becoming complete, though he goes on to say is a normal process. As to why they cut content it was because they took into account the game's length and volume, which I feel it could have used more in both. And I do feel that it wasn't just simply concept art that was "cut" but actual content, as Kamikokuryou (Art Director) said, these areas were running in an unreleased build of Final Fantasy XIII. And what he says is only some of the stuff cut and he does say that there is enough lost content from Final Fantasy XIII to make another title.

As for the content that was cut, don't expect any of it to resurface as in my first link Toriyama says, "we're not saving it for anything".

I'm going to have to disagree about the content was already complete by the time the news of FF13 going to the Xbox 360. The game was announced for the 360 at E3 of 2008 which took place in July a full year & 5 months before the Japanese release and as stated by Toriyama they were cutting material along the way. That game was not done, complete, final copy till 2009 before the print. I am not saying it is the 360's fault for these cuts but no way was that game in its final form when the 360 version was announced. They had not even finish the PS3 version yet. If I remember correctly there plan was to finish the PS3 version then work on the 360's.

Now, I'm not exactly a "fanboy" (I don't have a penis), and I have both consoles in my room. The fact that, in my opinion, Xbox = shitebox, is just my opinion. I believe you were the one saying that it was removed because of the Xbox version. Which was, I'll bluntly put it, "reduced to shit".

IMO, you brought it a little on yourself. No one had anything to investigate because your first post had nothing in it for anyone to go by. You lost a lot of integrity by not adding content and links to the first post.

Also, may I ask that you stop writing posts telling people to calm down? No one is irate. You can't control a situation with posts like that.

[Dan558]

May I ask which claims were, as you say, "reduced to shit"?

I have some links in my other posts but I can name at least 2 claims that were outright stated plans for FFXIII that were taken back way later.

1) They apparently stated repeatedly that FFXIII would be a Ps3 exclusive in Japan, then after half a year or sales or so they turn-coated and said `guess what heres an Xbox version!`. Meaning many people probably went out and bought a PS3 just to play the game they thought they could never play on an Xbox just to finds they were suckered into buying a system under false pretenses. That and people like to hold systems in superiority positions with exclusives but FFXIII ruined that when they changed their mind after getting all the PS3 sales they wanted more.

2) At some point the game was said to have downloadable add-on content from the playststation network/Xbox live. I think this one is a less serious issue because they changed their mind on this option either right before the games release or very soon after. Either way it built up a lot of hope for extras and continued gameplay (i.e. maybe an ever expanding pulse or some sort of mini-games) but it seems they just got lazy or gave up on the game or something and decided to do nothing (and then apparently make a whole new game people will have to pay full price for)


I don`t have links for the second one but info on that shouldn`t be too hard to find. They can`t cover up deciet from the internet.

Also, Unknown Entity, in your last post who are you calling out in the second sectionÉ Angel or Zangrabath? You mention the `first post` a lot not giving enough information? if you mean Angel, then I think you might be being a bit to critical, you were the only one who didn`t know what he was talking about but I can understand how you might of been confused. If zangrabath then I have to quarrels with what you said.

[Unknown Entity]

I have some links in my other posts but I can name at least 2 claims that were outright stated plans for FFXIII that were taken back way later.

1) They apparently stated repeatedly that FFXIII would be a Ps3 exclusive in Japan, then after half a year or sales or so they turn-coated and said `guess what heres an Xbox version!`. Meaning many people probably went out and bought a PS3 just to play the game they thought they could never play on an Xbox just to finds they were suckered into buying a system under false pretenses. That and people like to hold systems in superiority positions with exclusives but FFXIII ruined that when they changed their mind after getting all the PS3 sales they wanted more.

Yeah, I'd be pretty pissed off with that.

Thing is then, nothing was removed because of the Xbox version. If it was announced six months later, then how would they have known to remove it? Both versions would be completely different, but they're both the same. Whatever content that was removed was because of something else during the creation of the PS3 version.

2) At some point the game was said to have downloadable add-on content from the playststation network/Xbox live. I think this one is a less serious issue because they changed their mind on this option either right before the games release or very soon after. Either way it built up a lot of hope for extras and continued gameplay (i.e. maybe an ever expanding pulse or some sort of mini-games) but it seems they just got lazy or gave up on the game or something and decided to do nothing (and then apparently make a whole new game people will have to pay full price for)

That didn't both me too much. I liked FFXIII and everything, but DLC wouldn't have improved it and it'd have been a waste of resources.

Also, Unknown Entity, in your last post who are you calling out in the second sectionÉ Angel or Zangrabath? You mention the `first post` a lot not giving enough information? if you mean Angel, then I think you might be being a bit to critical, you were the only one who didn`t know what he was talking about but I can understand how you might of been confused. If zangrabath then I have to quarrels with what you said.

Angel. I agree that I was wee too critical - woke up on the wrong side of the bed it seems, haha. But nevertheless, if the OP had had the information Angel recently just gave with the vital links, it'd have made this a whole lot easier.

[Dan558]

Yeah, I'd be pretty pissed off with that.

Thing is then, nothing was removed because of the Xbox version. If it was announced six months later, then how would they have known to remove it? Both versions would be completely different, but they're both the same. Whatever content that was removed was because of something else during the creation of the PS3 version.

Actually Xbox was considered/incorporated during production of FFXIII. It was just said that in Japan only it would be PS3 exclusive. During production they knew they had to plan on an Xbox 360 version for the rest of the world. Why it was decided no Xbox version was going to be made for Japan I'm not sure, but the point is they said it would be PS3 exclusive for Japan then went back on their word.

[LocoColt04]

The comments of "NOTHING" being cut are also incorrect.

Having played the two side-by-side (literally, two televisions, two systems, two games), I can tell you that there is a nominal difference with the CGI scenes. Aside from the already mentioned (and honestly quite obvious) notes that the resolution was lower and the sound compression was higher on the XB360 version of the game... there were some differences in the content of the cutscenes themselves. It's primarily restricted to graphical flair. A second or two cropped out of the scenes of flashy show-off stuff that the PS3 version keeps and the 360 version lacks. Quite a few scenes were longer on the PS3 version, but absolutely ZERO essential information was removed.

[Unknown Entity]

Actually Xbox was considered/incorporated during production of FFXIII. It was just said that in Japan only it would be PS3 exclusive. During production they knew they had to plan on an Xbox 360 version for the rest of the world. Why it was decided no Xbox version was going to be made for Japan I'm not sure, but the point is they said it would be PS3 exclusive for Japan then went back on their word.

Doesn't mean the removed content was removed because of the Xbox.

From my point of view, if the content was substantial enough to make another title, someone worked really hard creating that content. For it to be scrapped due to cross-console problems is stupid, without at least keeping it for DLC later.

Also, considering the size of other Xbox games that don't require more than one disc, FFXIII was tiny. It's very easy to lie about the size of ones doohickey - why not make it up about a game size? Seriously. Speaking of which, Kamikokuryo didn't define "title". Is he talking another full length FF game, or a five minute wonder game?

It's very likely the content was cut to be put in FFXIII-2. Isamu Kamikokuryo is the art director for that too. It was over a year ago (now that I've done my research) that he mentioned the cut content, which was seen as a tease for a sequel, which was only announced this year in January. For us Westeners, it makes no sense in terms of timing, because FFXIII wasn't even out until like... March, was it? Either way, FFXIII-2 is going to be using recycled material - they can't bang out a sequel to a game which took many a year, in a year.

[Furore]

The comments of "NOTHING" being cut are also incorrect.

Having played the two side-by-side (literally, two televisions, two systems, two games), I can tell you that there is a nominal difference with the CGI scenes. Aside from the already mentioned (and honestly quite obvious) notes that the resolution was lower and the sound compression was higher on the XB360 version of the game... there were some differences in the content of the cutscenes themselves. It's primarily restricted to graphical flair. A second or two cropped out of the scenes of flashy show-off stuff that the PS3 version keeps and the 360 version lacks. Quite a few scenes were longer on the PS3 version, but absolutely ZERO essential information was removed.

Mere frames. I do recall mentioning that myself in that thread I made on differences between versions. I believe Digital Foundry ended up finding the same thing. I wouldn't consider it lost content though as it's so little you barely notice.

Of the under 40gb that FFXIII on the PS3 is, more then 30gb is video. This means that the entirety of the game sans cinematics was under 10gb so it very likely wouldn't have been a difficulty to add a little more even on the 360 version. It was a fairly linear game and all the things cut still sound like they would have been along that linear path meaning relevant data would only need to be on a single disc. Had they wanted that game content there they could've kept it.