Feature: The Possibilities of Final Fantasy Wii U
Recently, Square Enix have been sitting up and taking the Wii U seriously. With it being significantly more powerful than its predecessor, Final Fantasy producer Yoshinori Kitase said the following at E3:
Three or four years ago we joked around about developing a Final Fantasy game on the Wii Fit balance board. But after seeing Wii U revealed at Nintendo’s conference, we are now considering the possibilities of bringing the Final Fantasy series to the format. (source)
Final Fantasy Wii Fit jokes aside, it seems that Square are really considering bringing a numbered Final Fantasy title back to a Nintendo console. But how exactly could an FF experience be enhanced by the Wii U’s new controller?
Touchscreen for stats – MP, HP, etc
While in battle, it would be great to have the touchscreen used for character stats such as MP and HP, leaving the television to display the main action. Final Fantasy IV on the Nintendo DS is a great example of this, using its top screen for the action and the bottom screen to display the party’s stats and condition.
Map and Inventory
The use of the controller for maps and inventories is quite a popular notion at the moment, with both Eiji Aonuma and the developers of Darksiders II considering using the controller’s screen to show a map or providing quick access to an items inventory. I, for one, definitely won’t miss pausing the game and accessing the menu. The controller’s beastly six-inch screen could also be able to display a nicely sized map. One of the things I hated about Final Fantasy XII was having to pause the game to access the map when the small one in the corner didn’t suffice.
Portable main Final Fantasy experience (well, sort of)
We don’t know exactly how far away the controller can operate from the console – its range could be anywhere from the same or next room to anywhere in the house. Hypothetically, we could curl up on our favorite sofa or in bed with the great visuals that only a console Final Fantasy title can offer.
It will be interesting to see how the developers utilise the controller if Square Enix do indeed decide to bring Final Fantasy to the Wii U.
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Final Fantasy will not reach the NA market though. Remember, (j)rpgs do not offer enough of a return investment for NA. If Hironobu Sakaguchi’s The Last Story isn’t worth the cost of localization, how can his much diminished earlier creation compete for dollars?
SQuare Enix Publishs FF. So yeah, your point is moot.
Anyways, I hope to see a final fantasy game that is somewhat in the style of glory of heracles combat, with opitinial power increases through short minigames
Mr Sakaguchi WORKED for Square back in the day and left, if memory serves, in 2004 to form Mistwalker, which developed The Last Story.
He created Final Fantasy at Square while there, and The Last Story at his own developers studio Mistwalker.
I repeat, The Last Story, created and developed by Mr Sakaguchi is not considered a viable IP in the NA market, and nor will Final Fantasy ALso his creation though owned by Square-Enix. Very simple to follow.
@Older Gamer
I don’t understand where you are coming from. Square Enix publishes FF they didn’t publish The Last Story. The last 9 FF games have come out in NA why would anthing change now?
It is not Square’s fault The Last Story didnt come to NA
Because it’s supposedly on NIntendo’s new console the Wii-U and I’m going to speculate like many OTHER 3rd party developers, they’re going to take a wait and see stance as to the consoles market viability and “success” in terms of install base before they commit to anything.
Elsehwere I’ve commented that Nintendo doesn’t make business decisions in a vacuum and I’m going to, I believe, safely assume Nintendo’s numbers indicate that rpgs in the NA market is not viable as mentioned.
I find it odd that 3rd parties who abandoned the Wii because “they couldn’t compete” lack of HD notwithstanding, aren’t going to view the “future” Nintendo environment less than risky until such time as the numbers dictate to them otherwise.
They want a return for the investment as wellbeing driven as all companies are by profit and not altruism in regards to their fans, and if they don’t see the market as viable, we’ll be seeing nothing… much like NIntendo has decided the rpg market in NA is just not worth the investment.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it until proven otherwise. 😀
I think I understand what you’re saying a bit better now. However the reason why I believe FF will still come to Wii U and also be released in North America is because of the legacy behind the FF name.
The average gamer who doesn’t come on forums/gaming blogs doesn’t know who Sakaguchi is. They do however know Final Fantasy and that name alone is an instant buy. The Last Story/Pandora’s Tower/Xenoblade etc do not have this legacy element, their names mean nothing. It would take a lot more to sell these new games than games with a long history of being good.
You are right, Nintendo knows that people willing to buy Japanese RPGs in NA are a small number, they also know that people willing to buy unknown Japanese RPGs is even smaller still.
I know people who bought the DS just for the FF3 remake. Final Fantasy is a name that will make people buy no matter what crap they dish out. The Last Story, however is not a name people recognize for being good, which is why Nintendo didn’t risk it.
It’s about marketing and promotion. For Nintendo to MENtion that good ol’ Sakaguchisan is the creator of Final Fantasy just MIGHT have some pull in the market therefore.
Missed opportunity in my opinion.
“Here’s The Last Story, developed and created by the cretator of Final Fantasy and guess what kids, it’s JUST as good.” … well just as good as the earlier ff iterations were. 😉
Furthermore, Nobuo Uematsu, of FF music score fame ALSO contributed to The Last Story. If THIS sort of info, regarding Sakaguchisan and Uematsusan isn’t worthy of market attention in the proFF NA market, I don’t know what is. Especially if FF IS ipso facto, THE rpg series of note in NA. Couple that info with an aggressive marketing campaign and who knows what may have occured, or still could if Nintendo pays attention.
I find it disheartening as well that Nintendo, who owns a controlling interest in Monolith the developers of Xenoblade, didn’t have enough confidence in the product to aggressively market it in NA either.
And therein I think is part of the issue… a lack of aggressive marketing. Nintendo themselves admit that they have a problem with marketing in general.
And remember, Final Fantasy STARTED on Nintendo systems and at one point, WAS, during the SNES days especially, THE RGP console.
All that said, it remains to be seen how things will unfold during the next “console cycle” but as mentioned, I’m not hopeful in the least. I VERY much wish to be proven wrong.