360 and PS3 FFXIII engine work done simultaneously

'Finishing touches' to 360 version will have to wait until after PS3 version finished, however.


Game engine work on both the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of hotly anticipated JRPG Final Fantasy XIII is being conducted simultaneously, Square Enix has revealed.
Speaking to VideoGamer.com at a recent press event in London, Final Fantasy XIII producer and series legend Yoshinori Kitase said that regarding the “basic engine”, work on both the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game will be kept on the go “simultaneously”.
Final Fantasy XIII runs on the Crystal Tools game engine, an engine built by Square Enix to be used across the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and PC. It was created during development of Final Fantasy XIII as a means of stepping up from the PS2, home of the last “main series” Final Fantasy game.
The Xbox 360 version of the game was spectacularly announced during Microsoft's media briefing at E3 last year. Square Enix has said that the game will be released in Japan on the PS3 only, then released in the US and Europe simultaneously on the PS3 and Xbox 360 at a later date.
In a video shown to press late last year, Final Fantasy XIII director Motomu Toriyama said: “We're making the PS3 version first, and then porting to the 360 later.”
Some gamers have expressed concern over the prospect of the Western release of the PS3 version of the game being held back while development on the 360 version is completed.
When asked if development of the Xbox 360 version had begun, Kitase told VideoGamer.com: “When it comes to the basic engine it's likely we are going to keep them on the go simultaneously. But the finishing touches, the details, the PS3 version will be completed first, then we will move on to 360.”
“We will have to wait until we are done with the PS3 version,” Kitase added in response to being asked whether the finishing touches on the Xbox 360 version had begun.
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