When Square left Nintendo, why did they go to Sony?

[isiolia]

My guess is that Sony had already talked to them within the context of the SNES CD, and when that fell through, they were more interested in the possibilities from the Sony part of the project than Nintendo's.

Some incentives, or favorable licensing terms wouldn't surprise me either.

I'm not sure about that Damm64, not to get too technical but I think the Saturn's GPU and hardware outperforms the PS1 in 3D and 2D graphics. Just look at Burning Rangers and Shining Force III while comparing it to FFVII for example.

The Saturn, generally, is a weaker system for 3D than the Playstation. Additionally, it was more complex to write for, with the dual CPUs and non-standard quadrilateral polygons. The PSX was straightforward, and did things the industry standard way with triangular polygons.


The N64 FF6 thing was just a tech demo, AFAIK, and never based on an actual game.

[theclaw]

Square dreamt BIG, sweeping global appeal. They didn't want to waste major projects on systems that could limit potential audence.

Genesis wasn't quite popular enough in Japan.
While Turbografx and Saturn weren't huge in the US.

N64 lacked cartridge space for Square's intentions. Whether or not they had any disagreement with Nintendo, ended up being less important in retrospect as it felt then.

However following a boom period arguably between Final Fantasy VI thru IX*, Square dropped the OTHER bomb on everyone: that whole Spirits Within fiasco. And we all know the rest...

*Final Fantasy X and Kingdom Hearts were still in development, so creative issues brewing behind the scene didn't hurt them too much. Final Fantasy XI while not perfect was apparently OK for their first attempt at a challenging genre.

[AppleQueso]

I used to drool over these pics back then. I was so disappointed that they abandoned the N64 version.

Shit it wasn't even an N64 game really, it was literally just an experimental demo made on an SGI workstation to show off what Final Fantasy might be like in 3D.

[sevin0seven]

I thought once Nintendo told them they were sticking with the cartridge format, it sealed Square's decision to go with the PlayStation?

yep. development of FF7 actually began around 1994 and the game was originally intended for release on the SNES! but was later moved to the N64. since N64's cartridges lacked the required storage capacity (this is before the extra 4MB expansion pak was released which could had probably helped the development), Square instead released the game for the PS1.

[AppleQueso]

I thought once Nintendo told them they were sticking with the cartridge format, it sealed Square's decision to go with the PlayStation?

yep. development of FF7 actually began around 1994 and the game was originally intended for release on the SNES! but was later moved to the N64. since N64's cartridges lacked the required storage capacity (this is before the extra 4MB expansion pak was released which could had probably helped the development), Square instead released the game for the PS1.

Are we sure that the SNES FF7 that was apparently in development even had anything remotely to do with the game we got on the Playstation? Because I imagine it was probably more akin to the NES Final Fantasy IV. A totally different game that was scrapped.

[Duane Dibbley]

I have no idea how reputable this source is, but this is the best explanation I've found of the supposed N64 Final Fantasy: http://lostlevels.org/200510/

[sevin0seven]

I thought once Nintendo told them they were sticking with the cartridge format, it sealed Square's decision to go with the PlayStation?

yep. development of FF7 actually began around 1994 and the game was originally intended for release on the SNES! but was later moved to the N64. since N64's cartridges lacked the required storage capacity (this is before the extra 4MB expansion pak was released which could had probably helped the development), Square instead released the game for the PS1.

Are we sure that the SNES FF7 that was apparently in development even had anything remotely to do with the game we got on the Playstation? Because I imagine it was probably more akin to the NES Final Fantasy IV. A totally different game that was scrapped.

this was the "rumored" screen shot:



but who knows, during that time (1994) it was talked about in the media..but this is the media were talking about. a lot of rumors of other games being released didn't make it on that time frame.

[outlaw_moon]

Yup, compare an early gen, ugly PS1 game with the last of the Saturn games. Totally not a flawed argument.

I'll admit it was probably much easier to develop it for the PS1 hardware than the Saturn with the dual processors. As for comparing older and newer games, you can compare them to any of the later games on the PS1 if you want such as Metal Gear Solid for one. Still the choice was and always will be $$$$

[MrNash]

I was under the assumption that Squaresoft felt that the PlayStation had the better combination of 3D processing muscle and storage capacity versus going either with the N64 or Saturn.

[Yancakes]

If I had to guess why Square went to Sony, I gather it was because of $$$. Whether Sony offered money to be exclusive, or Square just saw that the PlayStation had the most users, I don't know.

The former seems quite likely to me, as many people have stated. The Saturn and the PS1 were pretty close in numbers until FF7 was actually announced for the PS1, though, so I don't think the latter would have had an effect.

My guess is that Sony had already talked to them within the context of the SNES CD, and when that fell through, they were more interested in the possibilities from the Sony part of the project than Nintendo's.

This is an interesting theory, are there any sources on it aside from the above screen cap?

So far the most realistic theory does seem to be a purely financial reason, though- and with most things, in my opinion, the obvious/most simple theory is frequently the truth. Obviously we'll never know for sure though, haha.

I'm also curious about how much more difficult the Saturn was to develop for than the PS1. The PS1 was a notoriously easy console to program for, and I wish there was any way of knowing how much of an effect that had on Square's decision.