The Many Lives of Final Fantasy

It's common practice to say that the video game industry is in peculiar moment in its life. To recap: Consoles have transitioned to the requisite newer, more powerful boxes while digital distribution and the evolution of the mobile space has forced disruption to pricing models. Old guard publishers, particularly of Japanese origin, have struggled to adapt to the high cost of HD game development, while a guy in his basement can make tens of millions on simple mobile mini games. It's a spectacular upheaval, really.

Part of what makes this particularly interesting time is how the industry looks back as it lumbers forward. With the advent of downloadable content and digital sales, some publishers have been doing an admirable job with keeping their back catalog easily accessible to the curious fan. SNK, for example, is really a company that produces one new video game every few years by way of the King of Fighters franchise. However, the former Neo Geo producer does its best to re-release old games on a variety of other online services like PSN and Steam. Granted, these tend to be no-frills reissues, for their part, which would infer that the former arcade juggernaut needs to make some quick cash to bankroll future development costs. Developers do this all the time. Still, it's nice to know that if I ever have a jones to play, say, Metal Slug without the legal gray area of emulation, companies like SNK still let you sign into your PSN/Steam/XBL/Virtual Console account and have it at home or on the road.

Then there's Square Enix.

For years (decades, almost), Square Enix has seen themselves as something of a unique case in all things. Certainly successful with a stable of recognizable IP in their portfolio, Square was both one of the first companies to regularly reissue their software while also charging higher prices than their peers for the privilege of playing them. This presents a sort of conundrum. On the one hand, and what we'll call the benevolent side of things, Square has kept the first Final Fantasy in circulation in one form or another since as early as the 16-bit generation as if it were the grandfather that still won't shut up about Casablanca. On the other, much more cynical hand, you could say that Square is a company that needs the money, now more than ever. Development of Final Fantasy XIII had certainly caught them with their pants down, so not only will they always find a way to sell the game that originally saved them from extinction as a metaphorical way to keep the ship sailing, they're going to sell it for a premium; a "Square Enix tax," as it's come to be known. While the first FF is definitely the example we're using here, it doesn't take a lot of searching through the IOS and Google stores to find the company trying to sell its games well over and above the cost of its contemporaries.

It's natural at this point to feel conflicted, so why don't I make it harder for you to metabolize. The following is a quick list of all of the releases, ports, and rereleases of the first Final Fantasy limited what what has made its way outside of Japan. Soak them in.

Final Fantasy - 1990
Platform: NES
Original Price: $50 USD
Comparables: NES games generally sold for similar prices give or take a few bucks
Current Price: about $20 loose

The game that either saved the company from bankruptcy or spared series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi from throwing in the towel on game development to go back to school (depending on who you ask) was original release for the Famicom in Japan in 1987 and then moseyed on over to the West with the backing of copious Nintendo Power coverage in 1990. Prices have fluctuated in the aftermarket until relatively recently where it's settled in its current state. It is not exactly a kind game to the player.





Final Fantasy - 2000
Platform: Wonderswan Color
Original Price: less than 4,800 yen (guesstimate) before importing fees
Comparables: Slightly lower. If you were importing a Wonderswan, you were probably doing it for this.
Current Price: roughly $50

This is a bit of a cheat as it never technically left Japan, but the Wonderswan Color (Gunpei Yokoi's successor to the GameBoy published with Bandai) version of the game was heavily imported by curious Western gamers. While the game was rereleased twice already at this point for the MSX computer and again for the Famicom (packaged with Final Fantasy II), this was the first version to drastically overhaul the graphics for the Wonderswan's beefier handheld screens. More of an artifact of a time that Square and Nintendo began their short-lived, but no less seismic feud than anything thanks in part to...


Final Fantasy Origins - 2003
Platform: PlayStation
Original Price: $30
Comparables: Unusually budget priced compared to even contemporary PSOne games of the time
Current Price: $10

A repackaging of both Wonderswan versions of FFI and FFII with additional goodies like a few FMV sequences and further retouched graphics. Still somewhat archaic (and brutal) compared RPG contemporaries of the time, now three years into the PlayStation 2's lifespan. Brilliantly low priced for a package this, even for the time.






Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls - 2004
Platform: GameBoy Advance
Original Price: $30
Comparables: About the same. Most GBA games ran for the same price in most regions
Current Price: $10

A further rework of the Wonderswan releases with additional dungeons and tweaks. Commonly found if you have the ability to play GBA games (such as the various GBAs in past production as well as the Nintendo DS), but something of a shoddy port.







Final Fantasy - 2007
Platform: PlayStation Portable
Original Price: $40
Comparables: Also close to the same, but perhaps a bit higher
Current Price: $5

Another thoroughly common remake of the first game, though conspicuously absent from PSN, this version further retouched and updated the graphics. The rereleases at this point had been slowly wimping down the difficulty for the past several releases, but even IGN's review of the game took issue with this particular version.






Final Fantasy - 2009
Platform: Wii Virtual Console
Original Price: 500 Wii points (about $5)
Comparables: In line with Nintendo's other VC NES games
Current Price: Same

An emulated reissue of the original North American NES version, warts and all. Also AWOL from the US Nintendo eShop, which, at the time of this writing, includes the 3DS and Wii U stores.








Final Fantasy - 2010
Platform: iOS
Original Price: $8.99
Comparables: Ludicrously overpriced in comparison. Most mobile games are a fraction of this
Current Price: Same

A heavily tweaked revision of the PSP version for the touchscreen interface.









Final Fantasy Origins - 2012
Platform: PlayStation Store
Original Price: $9.99
Comparables: The high end; PSOne games on PSN range from about $5 to $10
Current Price: Same

The PSN rerelease of the PSOne game. Nothing at all is different from the original release, but now you can play it on your various PlayStation platforms. Currently, this is the most reliable way to play the first game on anything but a phone.







Final Fantasy - 2012
Platform: Android
Original Price: $8.99
Comparables: See iOS version above
Current Price: Same

Yet another release of the PSP version basically identical to the iOS release from 2010.









TOTAL: 
9 Releases in NA
3 Currently available (Origins, various phone versions)
6 Versions unaccounted for (Japanese/ EU releases)

Decision time. Now that we can see that the game has been readily available since its release for one platform or another, it's time to wonder: is Square Enix using its powers for good? Your comments, if you please.