Final Fantasy XIV: PS3 Version will be a Port?

By Alan Ng

17 July, 2010 Gaming, Sony Playstation 3 9:59 am

We have some worrying news to report to PS3 owners now, as Square-Enix has admitted that development for the PS3 version of Final Fantasy XIV is taking longer than expected.

The PS3 version is in risk of getting delayed past the March 2011 release period, as Final Fantasy producer Hiromichi Tanaka explains reasons why.

When talking to NowGamer, he had this to say: “The PlayStation 3 has a limited amount of memory compared to the PCs we’re aiming at. “We have to optimise the data so that it will fit on the console and that’s taking a lot longer than we first thought…”

Despite the PS3′s system capabilities, it seems that a demanding game such as a MMORPG is proving a stumbling block for Square. Is Tanaka basically saying that the PC version will be superior and work is now being spent on optimizing data for a PS3 port?

I was under the impression that Square and Sony had this title as an console exclusive, and that the PS3 version would be equal to the PC version.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you think the PS3 will be able to handle Final Fantasy XIV as well, compared to the PC version?

You can add us to your circle on Google+, follow us on Twitter, join the photo community on Pinterest, or like our Facebook page to keep updated on all the latest news.
Our Apps: Android | iPhone | iPad.

Recent News On PR

Final Fantasy XIV

Toast Mastuh

Oh come on Square! USE THE DAMN SPUs! The Ps3 is NOT your classic computer, it uses a whole different type of architecture; USE THAT TO YOUR ADVANTAGE!
Miki

Well the pc version will obviously be superior. What the heck can you do with 256mb of RAM nowadays? Games like world of Warcraft use about 1gb of ram, and that is using a 6 year old game engine. I’m sorry, but the ps3 version will be severely gimped because of it’s low memory. The cell is more than enough to handle the game, but MMO’s especially need a lot of RAM because these kinds of games need to render huge areas at a time, which unfortunately won’t be able to fit on a 256mb chip in the ps3, unless they bother to actually program the ps3 version with super efficiency, which I doubt because it would probably take years.
- tom
  
  your an idiot. the PS3 has 256mb of DDR3 ram, and 256MB of XDR ram (extreme data rate) even faster than DDR3 no computer in your average store wil have that, not to mention that the PS3 Cell acts as a dual GPU.
  
  and we have blu-ray, so suck it. PC wont get that for a while look how long it took for DVD on pc, we still use CD for pc games.
  - http://www.facebook.com/jojomexi Joseph Mireles
    
    still seems like a low amount of ram even combined with the xdr ram. if square is having issues fitting the through-put of data to work well on the ps3, this must still be an issue.
    
    oh and btw, you have blu-ray. so what? all thats good for is watching movies, and i have yet to ever find a reason to spend so much money on em. as for gaming, blu-ray has no effect on the quality of the game, graphics wise, or anything. so all of your arguments are pretty invalid
  - Brian
    
    PC already has Blu-ray and has for months now…. wow you are behind the times
  - Apoc81
    
    Ummm… I have a laptop which has a bluray drive in it for over 2 years now. I also have a bluray drive in my desktop. If you cant see that PS3 is inferior to a new gaming rig, then you are retarded and need to take the fanboy glasses off. 256mb XDR RAM is nothing compared to a gaming rig with 4-8gb of DDR3, and 1-2GB of Video Ram.
  - PCgamer
    
    Lolz who's the Idiot so wow you have 512mb of ram in that little box and blue ray I have 12Gmb of ddr3 my Gf card has more ram than your little box 1gb ddr5 and for the blue ray had a drive in there for months plus i have 6 cores and 1 of them runs faster than that little box.
http://twitter.com/ryudragon @ryudragon

@serrano786 looks like computer version going to rock ps3
Avdi

It will be just like FFXI. Better on PC then PS2, and it took a year 1/2 if I remember correctly for it to come out. Now the same thing for FFXIV and i’m sick of hearing this PS3 exclusive because it would only make sense for it come out for the PC as well.
TesseractE

@Miki – It's not about raw numbers, it's how you use them. as toast says, it's a different sort of architecture geared toward streaming rather than store-and-retrieve like PCs.

A perfect example of how things SHOULD be programmed for the PS3 is id's upcoming game RAGE. They have multi-GB 'megatextures' that stream off the disc rather than try to load to memory.

The only reason for having difficulty in a situation like this is when you're trying to port instead of writing to the PS3's strengths. Hopefully this delay is because Squeenix realised this and are re-writing the PS3 client to fit.
Fiasco

@ MIKI
256 RAM on a console pays off a lot better than a system with an OS, devices attached, anti-spyware/virus programs, your current porn downloads and more. Consoles have always had far less and been able to do much more. Besides, wow's minimum requirements have been bumped to 512 RAM =P

However I'm glad about this. They shouldn't downsize the pc version just so it fits on the ps3. I was upset that it was going to launch on a 4-5 year old system. Make the game in all its glory that it should be, and if it doesnt fit on a console, oh-fucking-well. A game with the lasting power of an MMO like this shouldn't start with zonesize/mob/console limitations.
Marshal

As much as i hate to say it, computers have always been far more superior and interchangeable with needed components that tend to be required with the growing trend in bigger and better graphic styles. So it would seem as if the toll on the PS3 may be too great and, i wouldn't be surprised if they cancel the idea altogether. if not they'd either have to downplay the graphics quite a bit, or find a way to write a huge amount of data onto the hard drive itself to make it simpler for the system to read. Take it whatever way you want, it doesn't sound like an easy task
Marshal

and umm, per a previous comment… laptops and computers have been capable of reading blu ray for some time now, or maybe it's just the custom built ones… =3
yourworstnightmare

square-enix is just forcing me not to pay for there crap, i was looking forward to ffo but nope not any more, sony is better than this crap they need better developers, we all know how PORTS are PURE CRAP! o yeah and F ati and there 3d cards nvidia is the best! they have had there down falls but ati is not ever going to catch up to nvidia now! ati/amd needs to stick to cpus hahaha there 3d cards suck, and some of you out there are fn fools 256 DDR2 ram and 256XDR ram is in the ps3 NOT JUST 256 WHAT planet are you from? not to mention the cell has an L2 cach for every spe spu on the die thats alot more mem than just the 512 of ram the ps3 has………………. you fools keep your misinformation to you own dluted head, ps no point on hating on my every word its going to get you nowhere because i will never read your bs and no one will care for you hate or bs… hahahahahaha.
- http://www.facebook.com/jojomexi Joseph Mireles
  
  k, have fun QQ while the rest of us are playing ffxiv in september (:
- Marshal
  
  wow, someone's a little too worked up, but hey, yeah… guess we won't see ya there then, oh well.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=656342204 Simon Stallwood

Because of the cell, ports do not work well on the PS3 and will normally run slower. If you really understand how PPE works then this: (http://www.blachford.info/computer/Cell/Cell1_v2.html) will explain why. Becuase the PPE works in a different way, a simple port will be rubbish on the PS3. This can be seen in GTA4, Orange box, etc.
But when program code has been designed with the Cell PPE in mind from the start, then the PS3 can be up there with top end rigs.
Compairing nuumbers like RAM, Clockspeed and bus width is pointless becuase of the way data flows through the PS3. The closest thing you can compair it to is the PC vs Mac argument, and how a Mac with OS X can out-peform a PC with the same spec becuase the code is written for a certain type of hardware set-up.
Games like GT5 and Uncharted 2 more than prove this.
I will be buying the PC version of FFXIV as it will be better and will out perform the PS3 version. However it's pretty certain to assume that no PC racing game for years will come close to GT5.
Sarah

Well i for one a just gonna upgrade the fuck out of my PC and play the game on my PC. i may get it for ps3 when it comes out but it depends on how good it turns out and the reviews it gets. I was gonna just wait and get it on ps3 but now i realize i also really want Guild Wars 2, and SW The Old Republic when they come out so i knew i needed to upgrade my PC, and in the preocess of doing that for those games i can pick Final Fantasy XIV up 6 months earlier I plan to get and play all 3 of those amazing looking mmo's, and once blizzard gets there next mmo out and if it looks as good and addicting as WOW then i will get that mmo to
http://www.facebook.com/scottanthony72 Scott Anthony

The memory issue is one of the main complaints of the PS3 by many developers and SE is one of the later to complain. I know their are alot of PS3 owners, myself included, and I have worked with their tools, and push for their engine use to make games, which still shows the systems limits.

The truth is the poor design, low split memory use, and need to spend excessive time tweaking titles to use split bottlenecked system memory to try to remedy the situations (luckily it is possible to a limit).

The engine is being redone for FFXIV, and Chrystal tools has been dropped. THe next engine will allow full glory on PC’s, while beign able to be modified and streamed lined for low in PC’s and the PS3. Sorry to say, but for todays standard, the PS3 is low end.

THe Cell design was so over hyped. Those cores are not full threaded Cpu’s. Sure then can handle faster single lined codes, but that is worthless for 3D gaming. Take into the fact the cells must also do all audio encodign since the system has no audio decodign processign power built in. That takes more memory, and system processign power. SO when you are left with 4 available Cell threads and the Single push main CPU, and a lower end GPU, you have to do tricks to get thigns to work. Sure in regular games you can make thigns look decent and nice, but the trade off is distance of rendering often seen in many of SOny’s own titles.

THe current angien and the PS3 just do not go well together with the ammount of data an MMO must push.

THe result, becuase of the PS3 limitations, even with the new Engien for 2.0…. the return of load zones in all map areas. While the PC can handle seemless trasitions in areas, the PS3 and othe consoles can not. Which means PC gamers suffer as well to even the field.

THe good new is the new engien will allow better image ddeisgn on the PS3 then the old. WHich means improved for mid to high end PC’s as well. Don’t expect the PS3 version to be able to be as visually good. However hopefully it will be decent at the 720p resolution it is now being tested on with the new engine and framerates can be held over 30fps and perhaps in some areas, quests, and cutscenes, 60fps.