FF7 was destined for the Sega Saturn?

[veronica_marsfan]

Final Fantasy VII was originally bound for the Sega Saturn.
Is there any truth to this?

[James8BitStar]

I've never heard that one.

I do remember back in the day that all the hype said that FF7 was going to be for the Nintendo 64... that's why I asked for an N64 that Christmas. Only to learn that plans had changed and FF7 was going to be for the Playstation instead.

[DigitalSpace]

wait, how the hell did veronica_marsfan get unbanned?

[crazyjackcsa]

I remember hearing at one point that Square did indeed have some Sega Games in the works, I've never heard that FF7 was one of them .

[heybtbm]

Total bullshit. I'm sure Square shopped the idea around, but the FF series was never "destined" for a Sega console (thank god).

[pookninja]

i never heard saturn,just n64

[veronica_marsfan]

Total bullshit. Heh heh. Nice. I asked this guy for a reference/source/something & all he came back with was: "Well in 1996 I remember reading a magazine article....."

(1) 1996? I can't even remember that far back! (And doubtful he can either.)

(2) Magazine? Games magazines are 99% rumor and maybe 1% fact. You can't rely on them.


wait, how the hell did veronica_marsfan get unbanned? When I logged-in, it said "You are banned until August 1." (or something similar).

It's now past that date.

BTW I just celebrated my birthday! Happy birthday to me; happy birthday to me. Being 35 really sucks; (my arthritis hurts, my back aches, my hair is falling out, and I'm 50 pounds overweight). Happy birthday to me. :-D

[GarrettCRW]

When I logged-in, it said "You are banned until August 1." (or something similar).

It's now past that date.

BTW I just celebrated my birthday! Happy birthday to me; happy birthday to me. Being 35 really sucks; (my arthritis hurts, my back aches, my hair is falling out, and I'm 50 pounds overweight). Happy birthday to me. :-D

It's like going to someone's birthday party and finding that the cake is nothing more than a big, steaming pile of shit.


After you've taken a bite. :puke:

[Push Upstairs]

You could at least soften the blow by having a really sexy Kristen Bell picture as your avatar.


As for the topic at hand. I've only ever seen info about it being on the N64 never the Saturn.

[kentuckyfried]

www.square-heaven.com/protos/saturnff7

[rbudrick]

Kentucky, that link is dead on my side. Anyone else get it working?

-Rob

[Kitsune Sniper]

Kentucky, that link is dead on my side. Anyone else get it working?

-Rob

Not here, and it's not archived at Wayback Machine either.

[kentuckyfried]

Not here, and it's not archived at Wayback Machine either.

Cuz it's FAKE. Bad joke I guess :)

[smokehouse]

My memory is less than perfect but I remember the ”next Final Fantasy title” being announced for the N64 (it was when the N64 was still the Project Reality/Ultra 64 and at the time, FFVII wasn’t FFVII yet…it was just the “next” FF title).

Square and Nintendo started to have bad blood because of the N64’s cart format. Supposedly the next FF was too large and when a “make it CD or else” statement was handed to the big N by Square, Nintendo told them to take a hike. Sony welcomed them with open arms and the 3 CD, more adult themed FFVII was born from the ashes of the N64 project. That bad blood has lasted years, Nintendo is still a distant 2nd when it comes to square titles. The big ones still belong to Sony.


Imagine a blurry ass, overly 3D, shitty music FFVII on the N64…yuck. It was a gift to gamers that FFVII came out on the PS1 and was done correctly.

[Push Upstairs]

I thought FF7 never got father than a few character models and whatnot before Square scrapped it and jumped ship to Sony.

[Hawksmoor]

Total bullshit. I'm sure Square shopped the idea around, but the FF series was never "destined" for a Sega console (thank god).

Wait a sec here. Thank god FFVII was never released on a Sega console? Do you not think an enhanced version of the original could've been released on the Dreamcast and been damn good? I certainly don't see why not. If all Sega hardware was woefully underpowered, inferior pieces of crap relative to their contemporaries you might have a point, but such talk is largely BS IMO. More often than not perceived hardware limitations can be overcome by adept and skillful programming (not that such would be needed for a DC port of FFVII).

Edit: I sometimes leap before I've looked. I somehow construed destined, which I assume you put in quotes to try and avoid a response like mine above, to mean "designed specifically for". Feel free to edit your post so that my mini rant applies if you'd like! ;)

[exit]

I remember the FF64 demo video released featuring Terra, I remember people thinking it was going to be some kind of 3D FF6 port or something. Of course those rumors were quickly shattered and it was confirmed to be just that a technical demo, nothing more.

It was probably better off anyway, FF7 turned out to be something special, Sony gained an ego and Nintendo learned a valuable lesson.

[Cinder6]

Whether it's true or not, do you guys think that the gaming landscape would be very significantly changed, had FF7 gone to the Saturn?

[OatBob]

The Lost Levels has an excellent article on the Final Fantasy 64 demo (http://www.lostlevels.org/200510/). Square has always gone with the highest performing consoles, which to that time had been the NES and SNES. With Nintendo's decision to stick with the cartridge format, they did some shopping around and produced most of their games for the Playstation for the several years. They did give the N64 a fair shot and made a technical demo to see whether a 3D FF game would be possible, and decided against it.

Otherwise I have heard nothing of any Saturn considerations. I assume that they either considered the development tools too difficult or the user install base too weak.

[smokehouse]

The Lost Levels has an excellent article on the Final Fantasy 64 demo (http://www.lostlevels.org/200510/). Square has always gone with the highest performing consoles, which to that time had been the NES and SNES. With Nintendo's decision to stick with the cartridge format, they did some shopping around and produced most of their games for the Playstation for the several years. They did give the N64 a fair shot and made a technical demo to see whether a 3D FF game would be possible, and decided against it.

Otherwise I have heard nothing of any Saturn considerations. I assume that they either considered the development tools too difficult or the user install base too weak.

Great link.

I knew the cart format killed the possibility of a N64 FF title. It’s even mentioned in the article that they simply made the game too large.

Anymore, I have little brand loyalty so I’m glad that FFVII came out on the PS1. Thinking back, it was the system that best handled the title and it made it a “next generation” experience.

To this day I feel that FF titles are often the best of the best when it comes to gaming and FFVII is easily one of the best FF titles.








As for a Saturn FF title...I wonder why Square never gave Sega systems any love. I may be incorrect but was there ever a single Square title on any Sega system (possibly a oddball SMS title or somthing)?

[Jorpho]

Imagine a blurry ass, overly 3D, shitty music FFVII on the N64…yuck. It was a gift to gamers that FFVII came out on the PS1 and was done correctly.

Probably the pretty cutscenes would have taken a major hit (see Resident Evil 2), but why would it be any more "overly 3D" and with bad music? The music, at least, is nothing more than MIDI and takes up a titchy amount of space.

[Cloud121]

I wonder why Square never gave Sega systems any love. I may be incorrect but was there ever a single Square title on any Sega system (possibly a oddball SMS title or somthing)?
Bahamut Lagoon was a MegaDrive title, then remade for Super Famicom years later.

Square's only Sega title ever released.

I remember reading back in 1999, that Square was considering porting Final Fantasy VIII to Dreamcast after the PSX original was released. Obviously a false rumor, but an interesting one nonetheless.

[veronica_marsfan]

Square has always gone with the highest performing consoles, which to that time had been the NES and SNES. The NES is in no way the "highest performing" console. The Sega MS runs circles around it with graphics almost 16-bit in quality. (IMHO)
Wait a sec here. Thank god FFVII was never released on a Sega console? Do you not think an enhanced version of the original could've been released on the Dreamcast and been damn good? Since the Dreamcast did not exist in 1996, Final Fantasy 7 would have been destined for Sega Saturn instead. (I think Heybtm feels the Saturn is not as technically-advanced as the PS1, and thus would do a lousy job with FF7.)


Imagine a blurry ass, overly 3D, shitty music FFVII on the N64…yuck. It was a gift to gamers that FFVII came out on the PS1 and was done correctly.

When I imagine Final Fantasy 7 on N64, I imagine a cross between FF6 (the best in the series), and Zelda Ocarina of Time (a masterpiece of graphics and music).

Basically I imagine a 3D FF6 with OOT's quality...

...something beautiful.

[Kid Fenris]

Bahamut Lagoon was a MegaDrive title, then remade for Super Famicom years later.

Nope. There's a Mega Drive strategy/RPG called Bahamut Senki, but it's a Sega game; Square had nothing to do with it.

[Jorpho]

By the way, do any of the Final Fantasy games run on that incomplete leaked version of Bleemcast?

[Kitsune Sniper]

My memory is less than perfect but I remember the ”next Final Fantasy title” being announced for the N64 (it was when the N64 was still the Project Reality/Ultra 64 and at the time, FFVII wasn’t FFVII yet…it was just the “next” FF title).

Square and Nintendo started to have bad blood because of the N64’s cart format. Supposedly the next FF was too large and when a “make it CD or else” statement was handed to the big N by Square, Nintendo told them to take a hike. Sony welcomed them with open arms and the 3 CD, more adult themed FFVII was born from the ashes of the N64 project. That bad blood has lasted years, Nintendo is still a distant 2nd when it comes to square titles. The big ones still belong to Sony.


Imagine a blurry ass, overly 3D, shitty music FFVII on the N64…yuck. It was a gift to gamers that FFVII came out on the PS1 and was done correctly.

Um... Things have changed since the Squeenix merger. The next Dragon Quest is on the DS, the GBA and DS got Final Fantasy remakes and ports...

It's not the same anymore.

[Cinder6]

That's a pretty interesting article on Lost Levels. This image, though:
http://www.lostlevels.org/200510/ff64-6.gif

Doesn't seem to match what they say. They say the demo features Locke, Shadow, and Terra. The girl on the right doesn't really look like Terra, to me. It looks more like Celes, because of the hair, but even then, that's not exactly like anything Celes wears. Who is it?

[Kitsune Sniper]

It's Terra. Yoshitaka Amano's design sketches featured Terra with blond / platinum blond hair.

http://www.finalfantasytr.com/artwork/amano-ff6.htm

[smokehouse]

When I imagine Final Fantasy 7 on N64, I imagine a cross between FF6 (the best in the series), and Zelda Ocarina of Time (a masterpiece of graphics and music).

Basically I imagine a 3D FF6 with OOT's quality...

...something beautiful.

I still think it would have been shitty. I don’t like the 3D Zelda titles (although Windwaker is great) and the demo looked like shit. If it had been on the N64 the richly detailed hand drawn backgrounds would have been more than likely gone. On top of that, the 1.5Gb (or close to it…3 CD’s) that the game took up simply couldn’t have been realized on a N64 cart. It would have been much smaller in scale.




Um... Things have changed since the Squeenix merger. The next Dragon Quest is on the DS, the GBA and DS got Final Fantasy remakes and ports...

It's not the same anymore.

Thanks for proving my point further. I said Nintendo is still a distant 2nd to Sony when it comes to Square releases and you're helping me prove my point. Nintendo systems do see Square titles but they are mostly for their handheld units and never the "big" releases like DQ8 or FFX/XII/...that stuff goes to Sony.

Note the next FF being on the PS3 and NOT the Wii...

For the time being, Nintendo will get the smaller titles and it all stems back to the N64 incident.

[Cinder6]

It's Terra. Yoshitaka Amano's design sketches featured Terra with blond / platinum blond hair.

http://www.finalfantasytr.com/artwork/amano-ff6.htm

Ah, thanks. I'd forgotten the concept art was different (was going off in-game graphics).

[Untamed]

Thanks for proving my point further. I said Nintendo is still a distant 2nd to Sony when it comes to Square releases and you're helping me prove my point. Nintendo systems do see Square titles but they are mostly for their handheld units and never the "big" releases like DQ8 or FFX/XII/...that stuff goes to Sony.

Note the next FF being on the PS3 and NOT the Wii...

For the time being, Nintendo will get the smaller titles and it all stems back to the N64 incident.


Um, Dragon Quest IX (9) is being release exclusively on the DS. That is a big title, is it not?

[PapaStu]

Um, Dragon Quest IX (9) is being release exclusively on the DS. That is a big title, is it not?

Its being released on the DS because that has by far the largest install base in Japan of new systems right now. Dragon Quest in Japan is like Madden here. Thats about as big a game as it gets for Japan.

[Hawksmoor]

Since the Dreamcast did not exist in 1996, Final Fantasy 7 would have been destined for Sega Saturn instead. (I think Heybtm feels the Saturn is not as technically-advanced as the PS1, and thus would do a lousy job with FF7.

Yes, I'm well aware of the fact that the Dreamcast came out in 99 and that FFVII was released in 96. My point was that a port of FFVII, or even enhanced version, could have been made for the Dreamcast once it was released had Square decided to make the DC its foray into Sega consoles.

[j_factor]

I was always under the impression that the Final Fantasy 3D demo was just a concept demo and had nothing to do with N64.

On another note, although I doubt there were ever plans for a Final Fantasy on Saturn, there was this little game called Dragon Quest VII that was to be released for it.

[smokehouse]

Um, Dragon Quest IX (9) is being release exclusively on the DS. That is a big title, is it not?

Sure, bit you’re still talking about a handheld. When was the last time a big name title was released on a Nintendo home console?

Answer…the SNES. Although Crystal Chronicles was a GC title, it was in no way a huge release….nothing close to what FFX/X-2/XII was or how big the newly announced FFXIII will be.












Why do I bother, obviously many of you are like talking to a brick wall…you want to think that the Square/Nintendo relationship is all patched up and what it was back in the early 90’s, suit yourself.



Smokehouse out…

[Untamed]

Sure, bit you’re still talking about a handheld. When was the last time a big name title was released on a Nintendo home console?

Answer…the SNES. Although Crystal Chronicles was a GC title, it was in no way a huge release….nothing close to what FFX/X-2/XII was or how big the newly announced FFXIII will be.

Why do I bother, obviously many of you are like talking to a brick wall…you want to think that the Square/Nintendo relationship is all patched up and what it was back in the early 90’s, suit yourself.

Smokehouse out…


I was simply going by what you yourself said. You said that there was no big Square titles coming to any Nintendo system, other than ports and remakes.

I just stated that DQIX was a DS exclusive. The DS is a system and it is a major release.

You said nothing about major releases on a home console specifically.

And I also didn't say that their relationship was fully patched up.

But that's nice, change your conversation and quit as soon as you've realised your mistake.

[veronica_marsfan]

I don’t like the 3D Zelda titles (although Windwaker is great)
(shocked look). You don't like Ocarina of Time? That was a masterpiece. Great story; great puzzles; great music.

(And Windwaker was too short. Like a half-game instead of a full game.)


Yes, I'm well aware of the fact that the Dreamcast came out in 99 and that FFVII was released in 96. My point was that a port of FFVII, or even enhanced version, could have been made for the Dreamcast
Even if FF7 was released for the dreamcast, it's doubtful it would be enhanced. It would probably be like the IBM-PC version which is a near-direct port of the PS1 game using the same models & blurry textures.



At least in the N64 Concept Test they look like real people & not walking Lego blocks! (That's the major flaw with the ps1 - lack of polygons created poor-looking 3d - the N64 had the advantage in that department with characters that had rounded body parts that looked real.)
http://www.lostlevels.org/200510/ff64-6.gif http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/images/2005/065/926587_20050307_embed002.jpg <---walking Lego blocks

[Ed Oscuro]

www.square-heaven.com/protos/saturnff7
FORGERY

[Jorpho]

Well, in a few years Q-Gears will probably be finished, no doubt heralding source ports of FF7 to every device imaginable.
http://q-gears.sourceforge.net/

(But then, Saturn homebrewing doesn't seem to be particularly popular.)

[James8BitStar]

(shocked look). You don't like Ocarina of Time? That was a masterpiece. Great story; great puzzles; great music.

Subjective. Personally I didn't think OoT excelled in any of those things except maybe the music, though IMO the game itself was an improvement over Link's Awakening.

[eday_2010]

Whether it's true or not, do you guys think that the gaming landscape would be very significantly changed, had FF7 gone to the Saturn?

I'm pretty sure that if FFVII had been released onthe Saturn instead of the PSone, with the same marketing, that the Saturn would have possible triumphed and allowed Sega to still be making consoles. Of course, you have to take into consideration the lack of Sonic games and all that. But FFVII could have boosted the user base way up which would have meant more games. It's hard to speculate either way. It could have flopped and made no difference, or it could have been as big a hit as it ended up being on the PSone and changed everything. I think it have been the altter of the two :)

[bangtango]

I'm pretty sure that if FFVII had been released onthe Saturn instead of the PSone, with the same marketing, that the Saturn would have possible triumphed and allowed Sega to still be making consoles. Of course, you have to take into consideration the lack of Sonic games and all that. But FFVII could have boosted the user base way up which would have meant more games. It's hard to speculate either way. It could have flopped and made no difference, or it could have been as big a hit as it ended up being on the PSone and changed everything. I think it have been the altter of the two :)

It'd have been nice for people who owned Saturn but I don't think FFVII on the Saturn would have saved the system. A lot of other things, too numerous to mention, would have needed to fall into place.

There are good games that actually did come out on both PS1 and Saturn, like Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, Madden, etc. which were popular but didn't save the Saturn from an early grave. Perhaps it isn't fair to make that type of comparison but I don't believe the Saturn died because it didn't get this game, that game or another game. You can have the best AAA titles in the world but when you have a company bungling the launch, allowing a stiff to publicly say the platform is dead, etc......it kills any momentum that good titles might possibly bring.

Can't blame you a bit for your opinion, though. A lot of people here wish the Saturn would have performed better and not been killed off so soon, including me. So thinking of a scenario (or scenarios) where it could have potentially happened is an occasional pastime for some Sega fans.

[eday_2010]

I never said it died because it didn't get this game. Iwas simply saying this game could have saved it and made the Saturn extremely popular. The Saturn died because of poor marketing (suprise early release) and a bad reputation due to the Sega CD and 32X. It had some stellar games like Panzer Dragoon Saga and Shining Wisdom, but the reputation from a couple years earlier plus the higher price tag no only three or so games at launch until the fall didn't help the system at all.

[j_factor]

FF7 may not have been able to "save" the Saturn, but I definitely think it would've extended its lifespan. IMO it would've put it on top in Japan -- Saturn being the #1 system in Japan would've made Sega not release their next console so quickly.

[eday_2010]

FF7 may not have been able to "save" the Saturn, but I definitely think it would've extended its lifespan. IMO it would've put it on top in Japan -- Saturn being the #1 system in Japan would've made Sega not release their next console so quickly.

That's true. And it would have gained themback some of the good reputation they had before the 32Xand Sega CD kerfuffle. Having FFVII and all the ensuing Square games (Chrono Cross, Threads of Fate, and all those others), definately would have made the Saturn a top contender with a much longer lifespan.

[veronica_marsfan]

I was simply going by what you yourself said. You said that there was no big Square titles coming to any Nintendo system, other than ports and remakes.

I just stated that DQIX was a DS exclusive. The DS is a system and it is a major release.

A DS is a "system" in the same way that an Ipod is a computer. ------ In other words, not at all.

Portables are separate (and in my opinion very, very inferior) entities from the full-sized systems.

[Jorpho]

Why are you still here?

[GarrettCRW]

veronica_marsfan is a "poster" in the same way that an Ipod is a computer. ------ In other words, not at all.

Trolls like me are separate (and in my opinion very, very inferior) entities from the other posters.

Corrected for clarity. ;)