Posted by Bob Mackey
Fans of the old-school Final Fantasy games haven't exactly gotten the best treatment in recent years; while ports and remakes of the early games have been available in abundance, those looking for a faithful retro RPG experience have had to turn to expensive eBay copies (with possibly non-functioning batteries) or emulation to get their fix. After all, if Square can charge $30-$40 for revivals of their past hits, what incentive do they have to offer much cheaper version of these games on services like the Wii's Virtual Console?
Well, it looks like Square-Enix has had a change of heart--or they've just initiated the final stage in their "milking fans dry" plan--with Nintendo President Satoru Iwata's announcement that the famous franchise will indeed be hitting Nintendo's digital download service. According to Wired's Game|Life,
Starting in May in Japan, the first six classic Final Fantasy titles will be released on Wii's Virtual Console service. In the U.S., said Iwata, the games that were actually released in the U.S. will come out here, too.
Even if you've played the first three American-released Final Fantasies a million times, it's still nice to hear that we'll finally have a chance to play these games in their original forms--as adequate as the GBA ports of IV and VI were, they were a bit lacking when compared to the originals. If anything, it'll be great to hear Nobuo Uematsu's stunning Final Fantasy VI soundtrack again the way it was meant to be heard.
Related Links:
Cloud's Ghostly Face Says, "More Final Fantasy VII? Only I Know, Suckahs."
Trailer Review: Final Fantasy XIII Looks Disturbingly Interesting
Know Your Final Fantasy IV Trivia. It Could Save Your Life.
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About Bob Mackey
For a brief period of time I was Bull from TV's
Night Court, but some of you may know me from the humor column I wrote for Youngstown State University's The Jambar, Kent State University's The Stater, and Youngstown's alternative newspaper, The Walruss. I'm perhaps most well-known for my bi-weekly pieces on Something Awful. I've also blogged for Valley24.com and have written articles for EGM, 1UP, GameSpite and Cracked. For all of my writing over the years, I have made a total of twenty American dollars. It's also said that I draw cartoons, which people have described with words such as "legible." I kidnapped the Lindbergh Baby and am looking to do so again in the future.
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