The question that many gamers were asking after Microsoft's E3 press conference was "How did Final Fantasy XIII end up on the Xbox 360?" Way back in July, Microsoft Global Marketing Manager Albert Pennello explains:
Director Motomu Toriyama and Tetsuya Nomura reveal they're focused the PS3 edition of the anticipated role-playing game--and haven't yet received dev kits from Microsoft.
During E3, Microsoft announced that Final Fantasy XIII was coming to the Xbox 360 - but only for North America and Europe. However, the Xbox 360 was not announced for Japan. Add another country to the list!
At a recent Microsoft game exhibition in Taipei, Microsoft Taiwan's Entertainment and Devices Division head Grace Chou announced that Final Fantasy XIII for the Xbox 360 would go on sale in Taiwan, but haven't yet decided which localized version will be launched for the Asian territories.
Final Fantasy XIII is currently being developed using Square Enix's "Crystal Tools" technology with the PC as base platform. "As we have already announced, we will complete the PS3 version in Japan," explained Hashimoto. "After that, we will start the localization for US and Europe." Once localization is underway, Square will begin development of the Xbox 360 version, with the aim of releasing it in America (with no meaningful content changes) alongside the localized PlayStation 3 version.
14