FFXIII Japanese voices unlikely for 360

By Robert Purchese Published 13 May, 2009

Not enough room, says producer.

Final Fantasy XIII Producer Yoshinori Kitase has said the Xbox 360 version of the game may not have enough disc-space for the original Japanese voiceover.

"Obviously, when we talk about FFXIII it's for PS3 and Xbox [360]," Kitase told IGN. "With PS3 being on Blu-ray there would be enough memory, but on Xbox probably not.

"At the moment we're thinking of releasing the voice in English only. Are there many people who would like to play with Japanese voices?"

Square Enix could always follow the example of JRPG Lost Odyssey, which shipped for Xbox 360 on four DVDs.

Final Fantasy XIII launches in Japan at the end of the year. Kitase recently said the European version hopes to be here "sooner than a year later than the Japanese release".

But FFXIII is a PS3-exclusive in Japan, and Square Enix wants to finish it before even starting work on the Western 360 version.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (66) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • menage #1 3 years ago

    I was going for the PS3 version anyway, but that seals the deal.

  • kipper #2 3 years ago

    Of course its not a deal breaker. They have not made any final decision it seems, so for Xbox they could put the game on more than one dvd, or offer the Japanese language track as a free download on Xbox live. Simple.

  • paul_haine #3 3 years ago

    "Are there many people who would like to play with Japanese voices?"

    No, everybody loves listening to the whiny Californian out-of-work actors that we'll get instead.

  • ZuluHero #4 3 years ago

    why is that a deal breaker? It makes sense. The 360 version is only available outside of Japan, so for the 10 fans that might want it in the original language it doesn't make financial sense. To be fair, if you've made it this far in the series, the lack of a Japanese dub isn't going to be a deal breaker.

    The only reason they are including the Japanese track on the PS3 is because of the added space BlueRay provides.

    To be honest i am just glad that its coming to 360 full stop. I don't think i have the right to start throwing my toys from the pram or am in a position to now start issuing demands...



    EDIT: Early morning spelling! :)
    Edited by 1 at 13/05/09 @ 08:57

  • JohnnyWashnGo #5 3 years ago

    Thank goodness for Blu-Ray. Without it, developers have to compromise and that usually means an inferior product.

    The PS3 version is the one to get in my opinion. The game was built for that architecture and will make full use of the system. The Xbox360 version will never be as good. Hey, if they have to cut back on the audio tracks due to lack of space, what else will they need to remove in order o squeeze it onto DVD?

  • ZuluHero #6 3 years ago

    ^^^

    I dunno - if it came on 4 disks like LO then that's 18.8GBs of space, the extra 22gbs on a BlueRay could be used for just additional audio streams.

    Maybe FF will come on 5 disks. Or 6. Who knows.
    Edited by 1 at 13/05/09 @ 09:09

  • Steroyd #7 3 years ago

    To be fair, if you've made it this far in the series, the lack of a Japanese dub isn't going to be a deal breaker.

    I'd say the opposite, if you've made it this far you'll cry in jubilation of there being the option of an english dub, it means I can be blissfully ignorant of the awful dialogue that gets translated.

  • Vistrix #8 3 years ago

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but Square Enix might not even be able to implement Japanese voices over multiple discs.

    It would be like splitting a world map into 2 discs, it wouldnt look good for the game to swap discs just to load up the 2nd part of character voices. Only then to keep swapping discs if you're going back and forth between specific sections of the game.

    It would be messy.

    Anyway, I think everyone knew there wouldl be cutbacks in the 360 version (and possibly the PS3 version...) despite SE saying there wouldnt be. The majority of the FF fans are currently on the PS3 (I presume anyway), if an FF fan wants the complete game they would most likely get it on the PS3.
    Edited by 1 at 13/05/09 @ 09:14

  • hiddenranbir #9 3 years ago

    Good news. It was all gibberish anyway. Waste of space.

    Besides, anyone that doesn't actually know Japanese will have a hard time figuring out of the acting is just as bad as the supposedly English ones. I think people find it more palatable because they're playing a fantasy game and Japanese is exotic and magic.
    Edited by 1 at 13/05/09 @ 09:15

  • Deleo-FR #10 3 years ago

    I agree they can make a free DLC like Fable II which has the english version available on Xbox Live for non english version.

  • ZuluHero #11 3 years ago

    @Steroyd

    You've kind of missed my point there. While fans might be ecstatic at the prospect to get rid of the awful dubbing, the very fact that this game is now likely to follow suit of its predecessors isn’t going to stop them from buying it. To be honest, I’ve never minded the dubbing in all the talky FFs, it’s certainly not as bad as some game dubbing that I’ve heard (as I’m sure we all have).

    The old adage rings kind of true in this instance (at least for me) - How can you miss what you’ve never had?

  • Vistrix #12 3 years ago

    Whats the size of the Fable 2 audio pack?

    Wouldnt an Xbox Live release be ridiculously over the size limit by a couple of gigabytes? Especially for an FF game...

  • patch #13 3 years ago

    It seems DVDs aren't big enough any more :(

  • Steroyd #14 3 years ago

    Besides, anyone that doesn't actually know Japanese will have a hard time figuring out of the acting is just as bad as the supposedly English ones.

    How is that a negative thing? Ignorance is bliss. ^_^

    If I'm not aware that the acting is bad, the cutscenes won't be cringe worthy to watch = W.I.N.

    @Zulu

    It's as stupid a selling point as wether a game has trophies or not, just to be clear.

    The old adage rings kind of true in this instance (at least for me) - How can you miss what you’ve never had?

    Because others started doing it.
    Edited by 1 at 13/05/09 @ 09:29

  • ZuluHero #15 3 years ago

    @hiddenranbir

    I agree with that. Most Japanese voice acting is rubbish too - lacking equally in both emotion and emphasis. A combination of the fact that we can’t understand it, and that our focus is elsewhere (subtitles) is enough for us to overlook that.

    Just because something is in its original language doesn’t automatically make it better. And this isn’t film so the overlaid track isn’t as obvious (kung fu films ftw! ;)

  • ozzit #16 3 years ago

    I read it as meaning that the european ps3 version will be missing the original dialogue as well simply to keep it in line with the gimped xbox version:

    "With PS3 being on Blu-ray there would be enough memory, but on Xbox probably not."

    "At the moment we're thinking of releasing the voice in English only."

    No mention of it being specific to the 360 version...

    or is that just me being paranoid? :)

  • owl #17 3 years ago

    I doubt they'll leave the japanese voice track in for the ps3 either. Allowing a choice implies that that the other just isn't good enough and for Square, in their flagship game no less, I don't think that's a viable situation.
    Edited by 1 at 13/05/09 @ 09:31

  • menage #18 3 years ago

    @zuluhero

    "why is that a deal breaker? It makes sense. The 360 version is only available outside of Japan, so for the 10 fans that might want it in the original language it doesn't make financial sense. To be fair, if you've made it this far in the series, the lack of a Japanese dub isn't going to be a deal breaker."

    It is nowadays, since almost every other JRPG does have that option. I always hated US dubs. They're awful. Only one which was doable was Disgeaa.

  • Widge #19 3 years ago

    BLURAYPOWAHS

    But to be honest, if I owned a 360, I wouldn't care... I tend to play with the Western voices as I prefer to watch the action on screen rather than reading text down the bottom....

    oh and someone has mentioned, no mention of soundtrack choices on either platform anyway.

  • DrDamn #20 3 years ago

    I think the 360 version would likely come on more than one disc regardless. Personally I like the option for Japanese voices - it tends to feel right and the English voice overs are generally not that great. If they do a good job on the English voice overs then the point is moot for most people.

    If the US versions make it out well before the Euro ones then I'll be importing and that will most likely mean I have to go the PS3 route too.

  • Malek86 #21 3 years ago

    I'd rather them give me the options to completely disable voices, japanese or english or whatever. Am I the only one who prefers a good ol' mute RPG? I'm kinda liking Devil Summoner because of that.

  • Vistrix #22 3 years ago

    @Ashen-Shugar Its not a problem with people swapping discs all the time...

    Its fine for a totally linear game like Lost Odyssey to be spread over 4 DVDs. Depending on how FFXIII was designed, its most likely impossible (or too messy) to split up voices. If I'm wrong, then Square Enix have no reason to even ponder this question of whether or not voices will fit.
    Edited by 1 at 13/05/09 @ 09:42

  • XanderFish #23 3 years ago

    These comments are laughable

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #24 3 years ago

    Like it or not there is an element of geek snobary here that none of you will admit to.

    Many feature length anime movies (and jp games) have fantastic western dubs and whining about it just means that you (maybe subconsciously) think it's cool and more hardcore. It's not like live action stuff where the mouths don't match.

    As others have pointed out, Japanese voice acting can be just as bad as English voice acting.

    Would I rather watch a Miyazaki movie with the original dub? Most probably, because I suspect he had some say in the casting as part of his vision. Would I be happy to watch the dubs with the voices of Lauren Holly or Gillian Anderson? Of course, they're absolutely fine.

    As for western dubs being awful... Mass Effect, Fable 2 and GTA4 have great voice acting for a game. Being a JRPG doesn't automatically mean the voice acting will be bad.
    Edited by 1 at 13/05/09 @ 09:45

  • M_of_the_sys #25 3 years ago

    @Malek86

    I miss the old text only RPGs but would like some voice acting in the cutscenes. For one, I'm not fussed about having Japanese voice acting as I don't speak Japanese. English will do me just fine considering it's the language I speak.

  • andywilkie35 #26 3 years ago

    I don't speak Japanese, so this doesn't matter to me.

  • andywilkie35 #27 3 years ago

    If there's an option to turn of voices in RPGs I always turn them off. Takes me back to the days when there was no voice acting, which ironically for me made the whole experience much more immersive

  • NegativeZero #28 3 years ago

    He'd better not be suggesting that they cut the option from both platforms because the fucking 360 can't support it.

  • TriggerHippie #29 3 years ago

    Eurogamer. Home of the omniscient.

  • patch #30 3 years ago

    Surely the issue here is that FFXIII may be the first multi platform game to differ purely because of the space limitations of the media format for each system. Previously we've had reports that suggested even blu ray was insufficient for some games. Perhaps the first real hardware limitation for xbox will come from the DVD drive?

  • ZuluHero #31 3 years ago

    @Ashen-Shugar

    "I see the idiot trolls are here already.

    It's not even been decided whether Japanese language will be included or not, so go find something else to troll about."


    Except it kind of has ;)

    And i thought that the thread was going quite well tbh - there hasn't been any ZOMG teh 360 SUXXORS!!1! (as of yet) :p

    ----------------------------------------

    @XanderFish

    Really insightful. Care to add anything else? :)
    Edited by 1 at 13/05/09 @ 10:13

  • OnlyMe #32 3 years ago

    Is is confirmed to have both english and the original japanese voices on the PS3 version, though? I didn't know they confirmed it, just that it's a possibility. Who knows, the PS3 version may be compromised as well, if they want both versions to be equally attractive.

    Either way, FFXII's western dub was brilliant. The compression was horrible though, so it sounded like they were talking through a broken microphone. Also, I started playing FFX again, and it's not nearly as bad as people make it to be. It's got ups and downs, but overall the voices are good. I have no reason to fear for the FFXIII dub.
    Edited by 1 at 13/05/09 @ 10:26

  • JohnnyWashnGo #33 3 years ago

    @farticusmaximus

    All good points and very well made.

    Yup - the BD drive that comes with the PS3 is stupidly slow. You would think that Sony would have wanted to pop the bestest possible drive available to them into the machine in order to minimise read speeds. Big mistake on their part if you ask me, but probably due to the drives not being that fast at the time of the PS3 launch?

    MGS installs before each chapter were a pain for sure. It is annoying to have to reinstall each time you want to jump into a new chapter but its not a big deal. Just annoying. Call me lazy but I would rather have just the one disc to play from and put up with a few painful installs then having to swap discs occasionally.

    One thing that struck me about the FFXIII demo that came with Advent Children, other than it being very, very mediocre, was that it required no installs at all. I am hoping that this is indicative of what we can expect when the game launches.

    As for Blu-Ray being a saviour - when I think about how Tales of Vesperia will have a new character and full voice over I tend to think that BD may just be a saviour ;)

  • El-Dev #34 3 years ago

    Oh no...

  • patch #35 3 years ago

    From the original IGN article:

    Yoshinori Kitase: Obviously, when we talk about XIII it's for PS3 and Xbox – with PS3 being on Blu ray there would be enough memory, but on Xbox probably not. At the moment we're thinking of releasing the voice in English only. Are there many people who would like to play with Japanese voices?

    So seems plans so far are for English voice only (outside Japan of course).

  • Eraysor #36 3 years ago

    I don't give a crap about silly high-pitched Jap voices, so hurrah.

  • patch #37 3 years ago

    Try to focus less on the Japanese voices and more on whether the 360's DVD drive is big enough. If developers find size limitations with DVDs, they could look towards online distribution for things like language packs etc., but what do you do if you don't have a hard drive? These are the types of questions we should be asking, not "who cares about whiny American / Japanese actors?!?".

  • firefly #38 3 years ago

    Y'know back when the PS2 Final Fantasies were coming out I didn't really care about getting the Japanese dub.
    My logic was a simple version I understand = win.
    To be honest now I'd rather have the option for there to be a version with Japanese audio and English subtitles. Regardless of the quality of either version I'd rather play the game in its original context.

    That being said I think the best way forward is to stick to English on the disc(s) and offer the Japanese to download to those of us who want it.

  • Beek4257 #39 3 years ago

    @ Coin-Op

    So 2009/10: the year of PS3 then?

    ;-)
    Edited by 1 at 13/05/09 @ 10:48

  • El-Dev #40 3 years ago

    "No, the game was built to be multiplatform from the start."


    "But FFXIII is a PS3-exclusive in Japan, and Square Enix wants to finish it before even starting work on the Western 360 version."

    Conflicting views there. I wonder who to believe.

  • JohnnyWashnGo #41 3 years ago

    @El-Dev
    Having done a bit of reading up - it seems that Square are running FFXII on a cross platform engine known as Crystal Tools which should mean that the game will be pretty much identical on both systems.

  • sneetch #42 3 years ago

    Well I'd prefer Japanese voices with subtitles, I don't speak Japanese but the voice actors for the English version of JRPGs tend to be (IMO) shite and annoying (the guy doing Capell in Infinite Undiscovery gave me a twitch). I don't know how good the Japanese guys are and I frankly don't care, they seem more suited to the roles and more in sync with the cut-scenes.

    It's enough that I don't have to hear the English ones. You also don't notice just how repetitive and inane the little voice snippets at the start or end of battles are.

    I'll still play it though, I'd just prefer Japanese voices.

  • linksdad #43 3 years ago

    If they omit the "voice actors", then it will save me having to skip them when I have finished reading what they have to say in the sub titles.

  • Spekingur #44 3 years ago

    They could provide Japanese voices as a DLC.

  • Stop-gap #45 3 years ago

    I'm sure the lack of Japanese voices isn't a big loss to most people, it's FF, it'll sell regardless. It isn't like games normaly keep them.
    Speaking personaly though I'd much rather be playing with the Japanese audio because a) I can vaguely practace my
    Japanese and b) I won't be suffering through awkward translations and staring at the poor lip synch while having my ears assaulted by some godawful nasial-sounding "talent". That said, I'd rather have the option to have no voice overs at all, I find they jar my enjoyment when it somes to RPGs. It's not like that would take any work to do and as someone else said, it is nice to skip through text at your own pace.

  • IneptPercy #46 3 years ago

    I can't see the problem I would take poor acting over gibberish and reading, it would be nice for people who may prefer that I suppose.

    I have a bigger deal breaker, cost. This is how it adds up to me personally:
    PS3 version = £300.00 to play
    360 version = £30.00 to play

    As for some of the more usual multi platform issues (AA, full 720p etc) we will see what happens.

  • Zebula77 #47 3 years ago

    I'm just hoping the initial Japanese release has English subtitles. That would be an instant import buy for me.

  • IneptPercy #48 3 years ago

    "It begins, 360 will have to settle for gimped multi platform games due to lack of disk space. Oh well guess I'll get the PS3 version. Luckily that system is not out dated and is future proof. "

    Dare I point out your outdated graphics card...

    Yours sincerly
    PC Gamer

  • FortysixterUK #49 3 years ago

    What a stupid ass comment, of course no one who speaks Englsih wants to have the original Japanese voices in the game. What a truly inane and pointless comment. Free publicity was made from this comment I suppose ( was the comment originally in Jananese ?)

  • El-Dev #50 3 years ago

    "360 version = £30.00 to play"

    Is the 360 Customer Services freephone now?

  • darkmorgado #51 3 years ago

    "It begins, 360 will have to settle for gimped multi platform games due to lack of disk space. Oh well guess I'll get the PS3 version. Luckily that system is not out dated and is future proof."

    Laughable. No system can ever be "future-proof". What do you expect them to do? Send itty-bitty pieces of hardware down your broadband and have them magically assemble into new components inside your foreman grill?
    And as for out-dated, yes it is - all consoles are out of date almost as soon as they are released. A modern high-end PC was outperforming PS3 at launch (just look at Crysis), so to suggest that the PS3 is magically more powerful 3 years after its release is just plain stupid, not to mention impossible.
    And you only need to look at the numerous Face-Off articles on here to see that PS3 games are almost always technically inferior to their 360 counterparts.

  • theindustrialone #52 3 years ago

    It's amazing; sometimes you can judge how a comments section will read just by glancing at the headline and subtitle.

    Eurogamer. Home of the omniscient.

    :D

  • EvilBob_leeds #53 3 years ago

    It's not going to be a deal breaker for many I suspect. But FFXII for instance is a bit more enjoyable if you don't have to listen to Vaan prattle on is his dopey US hyperactive teenager voice.

    Of course you can achieve this effect simply by using the mute button supplied on most TV remote controllers these days ;)

    Oh and

    No, the game was built to be multiplatform from the start.

    I don't get it Farticus. Do you make shit up in the vain hope that no one will notice, or are you just a bit thick?
    Edited by 1 at 13/05/09 @ 13:36

  • Dave_McCoy #54 3 years ago

    I'm not too bothered either way about the dubs, I'm just glad it's coming to 360 so I don't have to buy a PS3 to play it.
    (Unless Heavy Rain turns out really well). Didn't LO have 5 language dubs crammed on each disc? I certainly remember English and Japanese being on it. I thought I saw German too.

    I wonder how many discs they're trying to keep FFXIII on?

  • EvilBob_leeds #55 3 years ago

    Hahaha. Aww. Poor Farticus. Feel like the nasty people are ganging up on you?

    So development starts in 2006. Then in 2008 ... <a href=htt p://xbox360.ign.com/articles/889/889012p1.html> ahhh you're making shit up again!</a> Naughty troll! Get back under your bridge.

    The Crystal tools engine is a <a href=http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/2 2/gdc08-square-enix-unveils-crystal-tools-engine> common 3D data format </a>. Not an optimised engine. You honestly think they put some meta code in one end of this engine and fully formed and platform optimised versions of the game pop out the other end? Then why do you suppose that they're going to need <a href=http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6195345.ht ml?part=rss&tag=gs_news&subj=6195345> extra time to write the 360 version?</a>. Man you really are simple. And 100% wrong. Again.

    Go on. Get all riled up and post some half truths you just wish were true about the X360. You know you want to.
    Edited by 2 at 13/05/09 @ 14:26

  • geeza2020 #56 3 years ago

    I'd rather have absolutely no voice acting and just read the text. That way i can make the voice acting good in my head rather than listen to the shite that Square have supplied us with over the last few years.

    EvilBob_leeds - hahahaa yep you win!

  • EvilBob_leeds #57 3 years ago

    what I feel is that you are a decidedly unpleasant bell-end who keeps cropping up with a foul attitude making a stink in threads and pissing people off. You verbal abuse was both unprovoked and unwarranted.

    Oh, the hypocrisy!

    And amazing that it showed up at 2006s E3 eh? Between then and 2008 square probably didn't consider the project. Equally amazing is the Square devs <a href=http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6195345.ht ml?part=rss&tag=gs_news&subj=6195345> not thinking about the Xbox 360 right now </a> and saying saying things like "We're making the PS3 version first, and then porting to the 360 later" (same article). Yeah that's multiplatform development!
    Edited by 4 at 13/05/09 @ 15:15

  • EvilBob_leeds #58 3 years ago

    Would you want to get a room with someone who calls himself Farticus Maximus?
    Edited by 1 at 13/05/09 @ 15:41

  • Tio #59 3 years ago

    I played Blue Dragon and Eternal Sonata with Japanese voices and really enjoyed the games, played Lost Odyssey with English , not sure why , but didn't enjoy it as much

  • GamesConnoisseur #60 3 years ago

    FFXIII appearing on X360 is a miracle by itself so I m sure that X360 owners would just be pleased to be able to play the game, sure for the multi-platform owners, you can choose what you feels is best value or whether the version of the game is more complete on the other console.

    RE X360 being inferior to PS3?! Amazed at how people jumps on that, over 2 years long the so called magic bullet of the Blu Ray advantage was too long in coming. Likely to be the case this game as people have expected but enough to kill X360?!

    Using this to fight the 'console warz' when we should be celebrating the hoped for critically acclaimed FFXIII game being enjoyed by a great majority of gamers.

  • IneptPercy #61 3 years ago

    There is 2 thinking methods with this:

    1, It is being taken from the 360 version due to space limitations.
    2, It is being added to the PS3 due to having so much spare room.

    From the history of FF games it is not the norm to have the option so I would say its more of number 2 "we have the room so why not"

    The size of blu-ray is actually redundant in many respects with the forced installs, if you are installing you could use 50 cds and the end result would be the same. (remembers silent hill 2 on the PC on 4 CD's)

    As for disc space, the PS3 doesn't use as much compression (it doesn't need it a guess) and also has the same data in several places to make up for slow drive speeds.

    Makes me wonder why don't microsoft use a forced install, say install from one disc (up to 8GB) the run the rest off the other disc, approx 16Gb of compressed data should be enough for most games.

  • konnsky #62 3 years ago

    Have a look at Yakuza 2 for the PS2 for those of you guys who played it.. It was one of the best narrated and voiced games I've played ever.

    Also I think that any kind of original work in a cinematographic production should be left untouched, example: Imagine watching City Of God dubbed in English...
    /cringes

  • TexMurphy01 #63 3 years ago

    My opinion is... thank god! Don't get me wrong, Tara Strong and John Dimaggio did good work in FFX and the voice acting over all ahsn't been bad. I'd just ... like to see the original vision. This would be a deal breaker for me. Obviously I'd need subtitles though.

  • Azgarth #64 3 years ago

    I would definitly prefer the japonese voices.

    I find it game breaking to listen to what i consider lousy english voice acting.
    To be quite honest, I think that's what made me deslike Tidus on FFX.

  • chicknstu #65 3 years ago

    Sure they'll fit. Just take the English voices off.

  • Wyrm #66 3 years ago

    I will use the Jap voices.