Sakaguchi Speaks in depth about Final Fantasy 10
SquareSoft honcho talks candidly of the future
Series creator and RPG big boy Hironobu Sakaguchi talks in depth at Sony’s stand at this year’s E3 in Los Angeles. The man responsible for the Final Fantasy Phenomenon talks about the future for the series, Final Fantasy X, XI and the upcoming Final Fantasy movie. Enjoy.
"We really don't know where the future of the Final Fantasy series is going to take us, but that's also really part of the excitement. With PlayStation 2, I think what is possible now is a lot more to do with what we can show in real time and in 3D. For Final Fantasy VII, our battle scenes were done in real time but the backgrounds were still pre-rendered images. With the power of the PlayStation 2, we are now able to render and calculate everything, including the backgrounds, in real time. What that enables us to do is create a truly 3D environment for the game world.
"To me, the PlayStation 2 seems more like a miniature workstation, the kind of workstation that we use in the production studio. So far we have done Final Fantasy titles for 3 different platforms and with the PlayStation 2, I believe that we can make huge advancements, as it frees up our artists of any technical limitations and allows them to concentrate on their creativity. We can take the Final Fantasy series much further with the PlayStation 2. Because of the advanced technology, we are able to bring our characters much closer to reality. On the other hand, because they're so close to real life humans, we need to be more careful and put in a lot more detail. What I'm trying to do is not so much bridge the gap between interactive entertainment and feature films, but create something totally new; a feature film of full CD quality that also has elements of interactivity.
"In that sense what I'd like to create is really a totally new form of entertainment, rather than trying to bridge feature films and interactive entertainment. We want to go beyond that and create something that people have never seen before.
"Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, as Final Fantasy X hasn't even been released yet, but we're currently working on Final Fantasy XI, which will be SquareSoft’s first online Final Fantasy game. I get a lot of questions as to why we want to go fully online, like when people ask why we want to do a feature film and full CG, but as creators of the Final Fantasy series, I believe it's our duty and responsibility to constantly challenge ourselves and create something new."
"We really don't know where the future of the Final Fantasy series is going to take us, but that's also really part of the excitement. With PlayStation 2, I think what is possible now is a lot more to do with what we can show in real time and in 3D. For Final Fantasy VII, our battle scenes were done in real time but the backgrounds were still pre-rendered images. With the power of the PlayStation 2, we are now able to render and calculate everything, including the backgrounds, in real time. What that enables us to do is create a truly 3D environment for the game world.
"To me, the PlayStation 2 seems more like a miniature workstation, the kind of workstation that we use in the production studio. So far we have done Final Fantasy titles for 3 different platforms and with the PlayStation 2, I believe that we can make huge advancements, as it frees up our artists of any technical limitations and allows them to concentrate on their creativity. We can take the Final Fantasy series much further with the PlayStation 2. Because of the advanced technology, we are able to bring our characters much closer to reality. On the other hand, because they're so close to real life humans, we need to be more careful and put in a lot more detail. What I'm trying to do is not so much bridge the gap between interactive entertainment and feature films, but create something totally new; a feature film of full CD quality that also has elements of interactivity.
"In that sense what I'd like to create is really a totally new form of entertainment, rather than trying to bridge feature films and interactive entertainment. We want to go beyond that and create something that people have never seen before.
"Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, as Final Fantasy X hasn't even been released yet, but we're currently working on Final Fantasy XI, which will be SquareSoft’s first online Final Fantasy game. I get a lot of questions as to why we want to go fully online, like when people ask why we want to do a feature film and full CG, but as creators of the Final Fantasy series, I believe it's our duty and responsibility to constantly challenge ourselves and create something new."
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