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Full Motion video battle: Square Enix vs Blizzard
- Thread starter Mrbob
- Start date
Littleberu
Banned
Neutron Night said:
Huh... Isn't WoW in beta, with PvP (even FvF) and only 2 servers right now?
JackFrost2012
Banned
Littleberu said:
Shhh. We've learned that it's best to just ignore him and his ranting delusions. Kinda like cranky ol' grandpa.
Mr_Furious
Member
The only token of sanity in this thread. It's apples to oranges people. Both companies can and do generate wonderful CG movies. It's just different styles and boils down to taste/preference/fanboyism/whatever.nubbe said:
Malakhov
Banned
Do yourself a favor and get this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=617&item=6303999904&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
Then you'll know
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=617&item=6303999904&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
Then you'll know
JackFrost2012
Banned
Mr_Furious said:
Well, I certainly like Square's CG a lot; of course both companies are great. It's just that the Warcraft III and especially the World of Warcraft cinematics are beyond anything Square's done so far. BUT, Advent Children looks as if it will swing the bar nicely back in Square's direction.
Both companies make really, really stupendous CG. If you like the movies of either, you owe it to yourself to check out the videos of the other.
Razoric said:
Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. So, ok, Square milks ONE of their franchises, but they have a ton of others. Besides, Blizzard's franchises have direct-link universes, while, as we've gone over this before, there are few connections between Final Fantasy games. Seriously, Blizzard is milking these things. How many times have they claimed to have been working on something new only for said project to just fall off the face of the earth or be restructured around one of their existing franchises. I remember back when War III was announced that they had 2 unannounced projects (maybe 3, its been a long time). One of those turned out to be WarIII and everybody was pretty much expecting it anyway. The other one? Who knows. Some people thought it might be an MMORPG. Blizzard said that they wouldn't make another Warcraft game after WarIII for awhile (besides expasnions, of course), but lo and behold, come a few years later, their next project is...a Warcraft MMORPG. They seem to have a lot of trouble straying from their main franchises and while I love StarCraft so, even the outsourced Ghost doesn't get away from this philosophy.
Blizzard needs to try something new, but how long will it take them? I bet Blizzard North is working on Diablo III.
Belfast said:Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. So, ok, Square milks ONE of their franchises, but they have a ton of others. Besides, Blizzard's franchises have direct-link universes, while, as we've gone over this before, there are few connections between Final Fantasy games. Seriously, Blizzard is milking these things. How many times have they claimed to have been working on something new only for said project to just fall off the face of the earth or be restructured around one of their existing franchises. I remember back when War III was announced that they had 2 unannounced projects (maybe 3, its been a long time). One of those turned out to be WarIII and everybody was pretty much expecting it anyway. The other one? Who knows. Some people thought it might be an MMORPG. Blizzard said that they wouldn't make another Warcraft game after WarIII for awhile (besides expasnions, of course), but lo and behold, come a few years later, their next project is...a Warcraft MMORPG. They seem to have a lot of trouble straying from their main franchises and while I love StarCraft so, even the outsourced Ghost doesn't get away from this philosophy.
Blizzard needs to try something new, but how long will it take them? I bet Blizzard North is working on Diablo III.
Are you kidding me? Unless you count the "craft" games as related (i.e. warcraft and starcraft, which is pointless because they have nothing in common besides being RTS games), it's been at least 8 years between the release of any two games in their franchises. In that same time frame, Sqaure makes at LEAST two final fantasy games. And on top of that, the highest number of iterations of a single franchise for Blizzard is four (Warcraft 1, 2, 3 and WoW), with the next closest being 2 (Diablo). Other than that, they don't have a single game that they've even made a sequel too. While Square has pushed FF to their twelfth iteration! Square is a MUCH bigger company, and yes, they produce a lot more sideprojects. But don't forget that Blizzard has plenty of great franchises of their own that were single games. Blackthorne, the Lost Vikings, Rock n' Roll racing. Accusing Blizzard of "milking" their franchises while holding Square up as the comparison is just retarded.
shpankey
not an idiot
Belfast said:Blizzard needs to try something new, but how long will it take them? I bet Blizzard North is working on Diablo III.
Oh dear God we can only hope! My wish is to see Diablo III in 3D with the type of graphics from their cinematics on one of the next generation console systems.
To me... it's like comparing apples and oranges.
They're both fruit, and they're both damn tasty.
But the one I prefer really depends on how I'm feeling at the moment.
That said; S-E and Blizzard have a pretty comparable quality. Where Blizzard has a slight edge in technical quality, S-E has a pretty big edge in volume (considering that it's quality in volume... that's worth saying something). So the overall winner goes to Square IMO.
They're both fruit, and they're both damn tasty.
But the one I prefer really depends on how I'm feeling at the moment.
That said; S-E and Blizzard have a pretty comparable quality. Where Blizzard has a slight edge in technical quality, S-E has a pretty big edge in volume (considering that it's quality in volume... that's worth saying something). So the overall winner goes to Square IMO.
Nerevar said:
There, you said it, Square is the bigger company. It can produce a lot more products. Just because they can't afford/aren't willing to put more games out in a comparable amount of time doesn't mean much. Yeah, Blizzard's a small company, but so was Square before Final Fantasy became a big hit. Square grew....A LOT. Blizzard grew...a little bit. I realize they kind of want to keep a low profile in the industry, but I'm not so much attacking Blizzard here as I am defending Square, considering people like to bandy around the "fact" that Square consists of a bunch of cinemongers that haven't produced an ounce of gameplay in the entirity of their company history.
Blizzard isn't a bad company. I like their games, usually. Their art is way above standard fare for Western art, though at the same time it still often relies on stereotypical sci-fi/fantasy stereotypes. The fact is, though, that Square has made a lot of games with excellent art, a lot of gameplay, and unique stories. The FF series is a GREAT series, but if you actually pay attention, there's more to Square (and especially SquareEnix) than Final Fantasy.
However, with Blizzard, there is little more than Craft games and Diablo. Yes, they made R&R Racing, Blackthorne, etc. before Warcraft but Square also made other games before Final Fantasy. Even Starcraft, which is one of my favorite games of all time, was originally little more than Warcraft in space. Thankfully they changed it enough to make it stand on its own before release.
Square will always release FF games, but along the way they offer plenty of other titles, as well, even if most of them are less popular. However, everytime Blizzard has promised a new game or franchise unrelated to what they've already made, it never seems to pan out.
Once again, Blizzard is a great company that makes great games, but it seems to often come from the PC elitism camp or the 'anime is for dorks" crowd (or both) that Square pumps out nothing BUT FMV-laden crap. Looking at the bigger picture, Blizzard and Square actually share a lot in common. The only real difference is that SquareEnix is now a mega-huge company and that affords them to the opportunity to make more games. If Blizz wants to take forever to release their stuff, that's their thing, but it doesn't mean they aren't relying on the same worlds they've already created to push future products.
Both companies started out really small, both had huge hits which put them on the map, and both regularly put out high-quality, multi-million-copy selling games. I'm just sick of people saying '"Square sucks" (in one fashion or another) without looking at the bigger picture.
TekunoRobby
Tag of Excellence
Square for graphical implementation and a massive featurelist they include in all their CG works.
Blizzard for actual design and artstyle. Also I personally know a few of their artists so I have to give my nod to them because I've seen their preproduction work AND IT IS GODLY.
To me it's a bit of a tossup. Unless you get into the nitty gritty of all the special little tricks and algorithms(getting your hands on the tech sheet for any of their CG works is impossible) you can't really make a valid judgement. Of course if you're basing this comparison based on a pureply artistic standpoint then it's all subjective.
Blizzard for actual design and artstyle. Also I personally know a few of their artists so I have to give my nod to them because I've seen their preproduction work AND IT IS GODLY.
To me it's a bit of a tossup. Unless you get into the nitty gritty of all the special little tricks and algorithms(getting your hands on the tech sheet for any of their CG works is impossible) you can't really make a valid judgement. Of course if you're basing this comparison based on a pureply artistic standpoint then it's all subjective.
I really like both companies' CG works, style, art, everything, but I'd definitely have to go with Square Enix here.
In addition to having some of the most technically impressive CG pieces (The Spirits Within, Final Flight of the Osiris, Advent Children, Deep Dive, etc), they also have such a wide variety of styles, settings, etc to tap into as well. Just between Final Fantasy, Unlimited Saga, Front Mission, Chrono Cross, Kingdom Hearts, etc... the artstyles are just so diverse. That alone makes it an easy choice for me to go with them.
While I'll agree that mob variety is a problem in the game, it's not nearly as bad as you're making it out to be. 3 kinds of monsters? Come on now.
Let's say, for example, that you start in Bastok. Now, within the first 10~ levels, you'll have been to the Zeruhn Mines, South Gustaberg, North Gustaberg, and Dangruf Wadi. In these areas there's 13 mob types, give or take, all encountered within the first 1-2 days of play. Let's move forward to the trip to Jeuno at around Level 20; this will have you visit (in addition to the areas above) Konschtat Highlands, Valkurm Dunes, La Thiene Plateau, Jugner Forest, and Batallia Downs. This will shoot the number of mob types encountered to around 2 dozen. All of this is within the first two weeks of play.
Now, with that said, I do agree that it's somewhat of a problem. You will still be encounting Gobs 200 hours into the game, and you'll be facing a lot of Notorious Monsters which are nothing but pallete-swapped normal mobs. It's a bit of a drag, definitely, but it's still loads better than what you're giving it credit for... I mean, 3 monsters? Maybe if you multiply that by 25-30, you'll be a bit closer.
In addition to having some of the most technically impressive CG pieces (The Spirits Within, Final Flight of the Osiris, Advent Children, Deep Dive, etc), they also have such a wide variety of styles, settings, etc to tap into as well. Just between Final Fantasy, Unlimited Saga, Front Mission, Chrono Cross, Kingdom Hearts, etc... the artstyles are just so diverse. That alone makes it an easy choice for me to go with them.
I just have to ask: didn't enjoy Gustaberg much, eh?akascream said:
While I'll agree that mob variety is a problem in the game, it's not nearly as bad as you're making it out to be. 3 kinds of monsters? Come on now.
Let's say, for example, that you start in Bastok. Now, within the first 10~ levels, you'll have been to the Zeruhn Mines, South Gustaberg, North Gustaberg, and Dangruf Wadi. In these areas there's 13 mob types, give or take, all encountered within the first 1-2 days of play. Let's move forward to the trip to Jeuno at around Level 20; this will have you visit (in addition to the areas above) Konschtat Highlands, Valkurm Dunes, La Thiene Plateau, Jugner Forest, and Batallia Downs. This will shoot the number of mob types encountered to around 2 dozen. All of this is within the first two weeks of play.
Now, with that said, I do agree that it's somewhat of a problem. You will still be encounting Gobs 200 hours into the game, and you'll be facing a lot of Notorious Monsters which are nothing but pallete-swapped normal mobs. It's a bit of a drag, definitely, but it's still loads better than what you're giving it credit for... I mean, 3 monsters? Maybe if you multiply that by 25-30, you'll be a bit closer.
TheGreenGiant
Banned
seriously. What are the Blizzard supporter going on about? I've played WCIII and the cinematics aren't that great. Are we even playing the same game? I would rate the cinematics in WCIII about a 6.5-7/10 while the FF FMV's get a 8-9/10.
Furthermore... it was really annoying to go from superrealistic CG to chibi characters in game in WCIII. I found it really distracting to watch the movie because of this. This claim can be levelled against only FFVII.. At least Square is consistant.
Furthermore... it was really annoying to go from superrealistic CG to chibi characters in game in WCIII. I found it really distracting to watch the movie because of this. This claim can be levelled against only FFVII.. At least Square is consistant.
TekunoRobby
Tag of Excellence
It's pretty sad what happened to the Honolulu CG studio. One of my teacher's worked on Spirits Within and the preproduction art was simply incredible. It's so sad what happened with character designs and plot but the rest of the work was SUPERB. Really talented people that unfortunately lost their jobs due to the incompetance of a few.Scott said:
www.crodigital.com is his website
Neutron Night
Banned
No. FF8 is from the same people as FFX. Square VisualWorks in Hawaii did FF9 and Chrono Cross. Everyone knows Square makes all their own CG, just like Namco does. Otherwise Square wouldn't be such a huge company.
Really? I didn't know the WoW was going to have only 2 servers and freeform PvP. I didn't know it had a huge seamless world with no loading. I wasn't aware it had an engine that could render 512 people onscreen at once. I WAS aware that this game is taking fucking forever to be released despite the lack of anything new or interesting.
That's exactly how I feel about Dark and Light. Seeing a huge mountain dozens of miles away with a visible path across it, and knowing you can walk straight over there (or ride, or take a balloon, dragon, hang glider, etc.) is fucking awesome. Of course, WoW doesn't have anything like that.
Neutron Night said:
Factional PvP. I'm too lazy to write about it all, so go look it up. It's almost BF1942-like, and it's definitely a breath of fresh air.
What? What the hell are you talking about? WoW definitely has mounts, as well as pre-determined flight paths across the map. Due to the factional PvP, I think the problem with free-form flying is obvious. What point are you trying to make here?
Fixed2BeBroken
Member
Nerevar said:
didnt lost vikings have a sequel?
TekunoRobby
Tag of Excellence
Western art sucks!element said:
TekunoRobby
Tag of Excellence
Western and Eastern art sucks!element said:
The Southern Art is where it's at.
cvkpaladin
Member
I like the CG sequences in Blizzard's games more. The artstyle, voice acting, and actual contents (mostly because Arthus > *) are more appealing then what Square usually has to offer. Not to say that Square's work isn't impressive, they are one of the best CG studios in the world (IMO), but I like the certain direction that Blizzard uses in their CG. Also,
JackFrost2012
Banned
Neutron Night said:
God, you are so willfully ignorant.
TekunoRobby
Tag of Excellence
Did Square outsource their CG to a company called Tose?
Neutron Night
Banned
Everything I said was a fact. Dumbass. I've never heard ANYTHING about Square outsourcing any CG. They started a $100 million studio just for CG. It's hard to belive Blizzard doesn't outsource, considering their in-game graphics are such shit in comparison to the FMV, but you don't hear me accusing them of that.
Only if Namco also did.
http://www.tose.co.jp/english/profile/client/client.html
Doesn't look like a CG company, just software development.
Neutron Night
Banned
Yeah, there's the connection.
JackFrost2012
Banned
Neutron Night said:
Said $100 million studio has since been disbanded.
It's typical for 4-5 different CG companies to contribute to a Final Fantasy game. Square does a hell of a lot of their CG in-house, but very far from all of it.
Short version: you have absolutely NO CLUE what you're talking about.
Bizarro Sun Yat-sen
Banned
Yeah, they have contracted a few parts of production here and there, but fundamentally the great mass of CG work has been done in-house, with the exception of a few projects (FFT, Xenogears)
Hmm, missed this thread...
Overall, I'd say Square...
However, I feel that Warcraft III and WoW's CG work is better than anything Square has ever done. It is just that Square has just done MUCH MORE CG and most of it has been much higher quality than anything prior to WC3.
Overall, I'd say Square...
However, I feel that Warcraft III and WoW's CG work is better than anything Square has ever done. It is just that Square has just done MUCH MORE CG and most of it has been much higher quality than anything prior to WC3.
Littleberu
Banned
Neutron Night said:
Actually, there is 1 loading in WoW. Only when you travel between continents.
BTW, your game (because you apparently think you're making it)... Dark and Light? When will it be released? And you SURELY think all they promised will be In-game, when it's a little company without any big games, with an unknow publisher. Are sure they'll have the money to make this game, or to make YOU play this game? I don't really think so.
Thank you.