In somewhat surprising news, Square Enix has announced it has struck an agreement with Electronic Arts that will see Final Fantasy X-2 released in Europe.
Although Square and EA have had distribution agreements in place since the disastrous first-generation racer Driving Emotion Type S, the fact that X-2 is hitting Europe at all comes as a surprise, given that most analysts had written it off for the territory.
As to whether it will be properly optimised is another matter. The PAL version of Final Fantasy X was a shameful token offering, with borders covering almost a fifth of the screen and slowed gameplay - amazing given the profile of the game. Hopefully this time, SE/EA will see it's worth the relatively miniscule job of implementing a 50/60 Hz switch, or at least releasing optimised 50 Hz PAL code. The game is due to hit in the first quarter of 2004.
It now seems that this game will be the filler for the what is looking like an unacceptable wait for PAL Final Fantasy XI. As of this point in time, the game is not confirmed for a European release, has not been slated on any release schedule, and has not been mentioned by any Square staff member when speaking on the record.
Expect to see Final Fantasy X-2 in time for Easter 2004, and Final Fantasy XI perhaps 14 months from now.
We’ll keep you posted.
Although Square and EA have had distribution agreements in place since the disastrous first-generation racer Driving Emotion Type S, the fact that X-2 is hitting Europe at all comes as a surprise, given that most analysts had written it off for the territory.
As to whether it will be properly optimised is another matter. The PAL version of Final Fantasy X was a shameful token offering, with borders covering almost a fifth of the screen and slowed gameplay - amazing given the profile of the game. Hopefully this time, SE/EA will see it's worth the relatively miniscule job of implementing a 50/60 Hz switch, or at least releasing optimised 50 Hz PAL code. The game is due to hit in the first quarter of 2004.
It now seems that this game will be the filler for the what is looking like an unacceptable wait for PAL Final Fantasy XI. As of this point in time, the game is not confirmed for a European release, has not been slated on any release schedule, and has not been mentioned by any Square staff member when speaking on the record.
Expect to see Final Fantasy X-2 in time for Easter 2004, and Final Fantasy XI perhaps 14 months from now.
We’ll keep you posted.
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