Kitase: We had to make separate engines for FFXIII’s PS3 and Xbox 360 versions

The Dutch version of Official PlayStation Magazine has quite the feature on Final Fantasy XIII. Not a lot of it is new, but there are some interesting tidbits, especially the one about the game’s development. Apparently, Square Enix had to make separate engines for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game.

The Dutch version of Official PlayStation Magazine has quite the feature on Final Fantasy XIII. Not a lot of it is new, but there are some interesting tidbits, especially the one about the game’s development. Apparently, Square Enix had to make separate engines for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game.

When asked what difficulties arose during the game’s development, Final Fantasy XIII producer Yoshinori Kitase said:

We have made it our top priority to deliver the same quality on both consoles. It was self-evident that it brought some difficulties with it. Both consoles require a different approach. Especially on the graphics section. We had to build a different engine for both versions. We needed a year of tinkering on each engine in order to get the same level of graphics.

Kitase also confirmed that the game will indeed be getting some downloadable content. Japan’s gonna get it first, of course, but Kitase assured gamers that it will also be available in the West in the future.

Oh, and for those wondering why Square Enix went with the Leona Lewis song as the game’s main theme, here’s an explanation:

We have tried to translate the original theme song, but the singer had difficulties with that. This is a new type of tactic, an experiment if you will. Why not use a different artist for every region? If both the content and atmosphere of the song would match with the game, then we would expect it will score better within that particular region. Square Enix as a company is thinking more and more internationally and localization plays an important part within that strategy.

Via [FinalFantasy-XIII.net]