Many of us thought that Microsoft had pulled off a huge coup when Yoichi Wada revealed that Final Fantasy XIII was coming to the Xbox 360 in North America and Europe. We were wrong however, as the snuggable SCEE boss and all round talkative chap David Reeves is here to set the record straight:
I think that just as we got a massive blip up [in hardware sales] with GTA IV — which was not exclusive — we’ll get exactly the same blip up with Final Fantasy… I know it [FFXIII] will look great on PS3 and — it’s up to Microsoft to clarify this — it’s still exclusive in Japan.
So there, it’s still exclusive in Japan. This means Microsoft has won NOTHING!
Not much of a comeback really, but it’s all Sony can do to save face since losing exclusivity on its biggest upcoming draw. I don’t think many Final Fantasy fans currently PS3-less will shell out for a black box o’ Blu-ray just on the promise that the game “looks great.” Like it or not, that “massive blip up” may only be a fraction of the blip it could have bliptentionally blipped had Sony maintained exclusivity on XIII, at least in terms of software sales.
For all its bravado concerning its attitude toward exclusives, one can assume Sony is thanking the ghost of Ken Kutaragi for LittleBigPlanet.
