It was generally accepted that this year's subdued E3 wouldn't have much to offer in comparison to the big shiny blitzes that used to make game journalists hang themselves with laptop power cords. Goes to show what we know: things got exciting right off the bat with Square-Enix's announcement that Final Fantasy XIII will be coming to both the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360.
Oh, you youngsters understandably have ants in your pants over Square-Enix's sudden shift, but I've been down this road before. Yes sir, I remember when I was riding high on the thrill of Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger. Nintendo finally claimed supremacy in the sixteen-bit console wars thanks in part to their great RPGs, and we automatically assumed Square would develop for the N64---
Zzzzzz...
Zzzzz-- ! Ah! Huh? Oh, sorry. If I sit in the sun for too long, I doze off like an old dog.
I remember being torn over the announcement that Square was giving up on cartridges and would be developing for the CD-based Playstation. I had my money saved up for a Nintendo 64; I had swallowed all the propaganda and I was a Nintendo Fangirl Machine.
I'm amazed at how easily games have been taking me back ten, fifteen years lately. Between Mega Man 9, Chrono Trigger for the Nintendo DS and now Square-Enix acting naughty, I really feel like a kid again--
And Simple Minds just came on Last.fm! There you go!
Playstation 3 owners are doubtlessly feeling some of the mild anger and confusion I felt when Square ditched Nintendo. I like the idea of major Final Fantasy installments not belonging to any console in particular, but everyone knows I'm a Communist. "Aaaaaaah, Motherland!!!"
Related Links:
E3 Day One: Microsoft Sony, Final Fantasy and For Whom the Bell Tolls
Screen Test: Final Fantasy XIII Versus
Turning Japanese: Microsoft's Latest-Ditch Effort to Win the East