Author Topic: FF7PC(1998): Who ported it?  (Read 4788 times)

Vehek

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FF7PC(1998): Who ported it?
« on: 2012-08-25 22:13:40 »
I've often heard that Eidos did the FFVII PC (1998) port, especially since the news of the re-release, but is there any proof for that? I know vaguely that Eidos hosted the 1.02 patch and generally handled technical support for FF7PC. I don't know, but don't a lot of publishers do that for the games they release?
What information I've gathered so far suggests SquareSoft was responsible.

Press release
http://www.ff7citadel.com/press/pr_pc.shtml
(Emphasis below mine)
Quote
One of the summer's premiere blockbuster titles, Final Fantasy VII for the PC is published by Eidos Interactive, known for its mega-hit cross-platform Tomb Raider games, and developed by Square Co., Ltd., known in the gaming industry for creating the legendary Final Fantasy franchise. SquareSoft, Inc., a subsidiary of Square Co., Ltd. has recreated the game for the PC.

FF7PC Game Credits
I can't find any software programmers listed under either 'Eidos' section in the credits.

"Square Soft Inc.", however, has 'Senior Software Engineers' and 'Software Engineers' listed.
Quote
Senior Software Engineers
   Anthony Ignacio
   Son Ton

Software Engineers
   "William" Feng chen
   Scott Conventon
   Jay Fong
   Kazumasa Fusya
   Akintunde Omitowoju
   Rajiv Patel
   Yoshinori "Goro" Uenishi


FF8 PC Interview
http://pc.ign.com/articles/070/070923p1.html
This is an interview about FF8PC, but the software engineer interviewed, Jay Fong, is also listed as a software engineer in FF7PC's credits.
Quote from: Jay Fong
However because of the experience we gained while working on the Final Fantasy VII port, work on the PC version of Final Fantasy VIII has gone very smoothly.
Quote
YM: Squaresoft game programmers did all the necessary work. They learned a lot from FF7 project though they have to do even more to port FF8 to the PC because FF8 added more new features on FF7.
These quotes mention the team learning from the work done for FF7, which to me implies firsthand experience rather than secondhand experience.



FF8PC Credits
Quote
Senior Software Engineers
   Jay Fong
   Anthony Ignacio
Software Engineers
   Kevin Christensen
   Scott Coventon
   Kazumasa Fuseya
   Davide Pasca
   Yoshinori "Goro" Uenishi

Now, compare it to the list of software engineers for FF7PC. Out of the 7 software engineers who worked on FF8PC, 6 of them were also listed as software engineers for FF7PC.

DLPB_

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Re: FF7PC(1998): Who ported it?
« Reply #1 on: 2012-08-25 22:33:15 »
I heard the porting team were actually square's team... 

Andrew LB

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Re: FF7PC(1998): Who ported it?
« Reply #2 on: 2012-08-26 03:17:19 »
In 1998, Eidos Interactive was an independent software developer until 2004, then owned by Sci Entertainment till 2009. Square Enix didn't take control till that time.

Considering that, they must have had a large part in the porting process considering even the earliest PC versions had "Eidos" printed in large text on all the game materials and disks. http://viper.shadowflareindustries.com/images/2sell/ff7pc.jpg

I can't think of any other possible reason why a company completely independent from the game's original publisher would have their brand plastered all over a product in such a way, other than they were the guys who did the port.


Vehek

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Re: FF7PC(1998): Who ported it?
« Reply #3 on: 2012-08-26 23:06:00 »
Considering that, they must have had a large part in the porting process considering even the earliest PC versions had "Eidos" printed in large text on all the game materials and disks. http://viper.shadowflareindustries.com/images/2sell/ff7pc.jpg

I can't think of any other possible reason why a company completely independent from the game's original publisher would have their brand plastered all over a product in such a way, other than they were the guys who did the port.
Over in Europe, Eidos published Final Fantasy VIII, and their logo appeared on the game materials. Now, I've lost most of my old games and don't buy games these days, but isn't possible that it's fairly typical for a publisher's logo to appear on any game they've released, regardless of whether they were involved with the actual game?

DLPB_

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Re: FF7PC(1998): Who ported it?
« Reply #4 on: 2012-08-26 23:15:33 »
Exactly.