Busting rumors: Sony's PS3 price drop and Square's 360 Final Fantasy plans

By Ben Kuchera | Published: June 06, 2007 - 09:29AM CT

There are two stories—and they're really more like translated rumors—that I've been seeing on every forum I visit this morning. I'd like to take a look at where these stories came from and point out that people are taking much more out of the quotes than they (rationally) should. The headlines and talking points are easy, but let's take a step back and look at the actual facts here.

Headline: OMG PS3 Price Drop is Coming!

The PS3 is an expensive piece of hardware, and with Blu-ray diodes not as supply constrained as they used to be, it's easy to say that Sony needs to cut the price. But their financials are hurting, and a price drop would be hard to take. Sony has maintained that there won't be a price drop, but now Sony has said that the price drop is coming! Right?

Well, not really. Sony president Ryoji Chubachi has actually said that they "do not rule out the possibility of lowering the price" of the system. That's a pretty ambiguous statement that doesn't say anything one way or the other. As quotes go, it's a shrug and an admission that in business, anything is possible. If you dig into where people are getting this quote you get an Australian news source talking about something Chubachi-san told the Japanese Yomiuri Shimbun. So we're looking at a third or fourth-hand ambiguous quote.

As evidence for or against a price drop, this is pretty shaky.

Headline: Square says "NO FINAL FANTASY FOR Xbox 360! PlayStation 3 wins!"

Sure, the 360 has flopped in Japan, but to be fair, everything that isn't Nintendo is flopping in Japan right now. Still, people think Final Fantasy moves systems, and where Final Fantasy goes, gamer go. So the forums are going crazy when Square said that Microsoft would never see a Final Fantasy game. But is that the story here?

Let's look at the IGN story and parse the entire quote.

Noting that the PS3 is getting Final Fantasy XIII, the web site asked Square Enix's Shinji Hashimoto if the Wii or Xbox 360 will also be getting games in the series. "For the Wii, we have FF Crystal Chronicles in production," replied Hashimoto. "As for FF on the Xbox 360, it's currently a completely blank page."

To start, this is something a Japanese man said to Japan's Nikkei BP. Was this translated? I'd be interested in the subtleties of what was said and in what context. This isn't a note saying it won't happen, or that it will never happen, or anything really. It's just a blank page. If they're not actively working to bring a Final Fantasy game to the 360, it would take years to finish, so this won't happen tomorrow. But a blank page isn't a yes or a no. It's a blank.

Also, never underestimate the power of money. If Square-Enix thinks that cash will be made by porting the games, it will most likely happen. After a developer tells you to your face that a game won't be ported and you get a press release announcing said port a few months later, you get very cynical about believing this sort of information.

What can we take away from these two instances?

First, I'm not saying that a price drop isn't happening or that Final Fantasy is coming to the 360. Both of these things are complex decisions that are most likely being debated right now and will be for a long time. The point is both things are far from certain either way, and these two quotes shouldn't add much evidence to believing things will go one way or another. It's certainly not worth the certainty and vitriol we're seeing across the Internet when it comes to these loaded topics.

So take a deep breath, follow the links, think about the source, and ask yourself what the quoted sections could actually mean. Reality is more complicated than the easy headlines and forum arguments would have you believe.

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