FFXIII's "conspicuous" platform disparity reduced for FFXIII-2

With Final Fantasy XIII-2, Square Enix hopes new tech has reduced the visual disparity between the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 evident in Final Fantasy XIII.

"When we made XIII, there were lots of movie scenes, so there were some issues transferring them from Blu-ray to an Xbox 360 disc. The difference was quite conspicuous," series producer Yoshinori Kitase told Destructoid.

"But since then, we have moved on and now have more advanced optimization technology, which means many of the scenes that would be expressed through movies can now be expressed as real-time event scenes.

"We have a less serious issue of memory between the two difference consoles, so I think the difference between the two consoles will be a lot smaller now."

It's in Square Enix's interest to ensure the Xbox 360 version is as good as the PlayStation 3, because the publisher is well aware its reputation for amazing graphics helps keeps it abreast in the Western market.

"We are in the era of high definition consoles, and graphics are expected to be a lot better and more real, so I think Western gamers in general prefer games with realistic visuals," Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2 director director Motomu Toriyama said.

"I think we have always been quite proud of the visuals we have achieved and the high quality of visuals in our works. In that sense, I think Square Enix has always been keeping up with the visual direction the world is wanting, so we have given what Western gamers want, in that extent.

"Other Oriental publishers may not have achieved that all the time, so that makes me think Western gamers are put off by these games these days."

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is due on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in early 2012.