I’ve been pretty sketchy these last couple days when it’s come to checking my feed reader. Imagine my surprise this morning when I opened it to see a release date for FFXIV! September 30th (PC)! Yay! And March 2011 (PS3). Doh.
I was really hoping for a simultaneous release on this one. Since I’d first heard about it, I planned on getting it for the PS3 – gaming from the couch in all its glory (covered in candy bar wrappers and crumpled potato chip bags), lazier than ever before because it’s an MMO. I kid, but after missing the boat (or dodging the bullet, some might say) when it comes to FFXI, I wanted this and it wasn’t just me.
But, it looks like we’ll have another nine months wait, at least.
With this announcement, the community has pretty much gone into a tizzy of joy, rage, and fear. Finally, after all this time, Square-Enix, the beast which does not stir, has stirred and dropped a piece of gaming news that some have waited more than a year for. Launch date. But then, on the other side you have the PS3 devotees who feel slighted.
Worse, some fear that FFXIV might join the ever growing list of promised, but scrapped, console MMOs– but, I don’t think that’s right. Honestly, I would much rather they take the time to get the console port right than rush it out the door. If it means more waiting, so be it; we don’t need another excuse not to develop MMOs for consoles. We have to remember, too, that Square has already released an MMO for, not one, but two consoles: the xbox 360 and PS2. They’re obviously not afraid to develop console iterations of the online Final Fantasy games. FFXIV will come.
Console gamers can take some heart in the fact that they will be able to play in the meantime. I found this out first hand with FFXI: a single account will work on any platform. The system you choose to play the game on is only limited by your preference. It sucks that you’re still stuck paying $60 for the PS3 disc but hey, would you expect any less from a big business?
I’m excited, gang. I know that FFXIV has flown under a lot of people’s radar but I think it’ll surprise us. FFXIV is not FFXI. It takes all of the good parts of FFXI (classlessness, skill based character development, epic story) and applies the near decade’s worth of lessons learned since. The result is the beautiful, promising, and oh-so-horribly-benchmarked FFXIV.
Here’s hoping the information train starts flowing!
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