Final Fantasy VII Accidentally Re-released

[The Wooster]

Final Fantasy VII Accidentally Re-released

Square Enix launches the Final Fantasy VII PC re-release then pulls it immediately.

According to the Square Enix forums, a few quick-fingered fans managed to nab digital copies of the forthcoming Final Fantasy VII re-release last night, when it was accidentally listed for sale on the game's website. [http://finalfantasyviipc.com/en]

Unfortunately, the fans paid $12.70 for a game that doesn't work, as the title's SecuROM DRM won't accept any serial numbers or let them activate the product online. Square Enix pulled the game shortly after its release, which hasn't stopped a small, but vocal, minority from claiming the title's "draconian" DRM is driving them into the always open arms of piracy. The company hasn't commented on the situation as of yet, which has left one customer particularly disgruntled.

"If I do not see any official statement tomorrow," writes one forum user. " I will report the issue to the BBB and I encourage others who purchased the game to do the same. Because customer support's apologies do not make it any less illegal. You cannot take a customer's money, refuse to do a refund and not provide the goods' they paid for."

The fact the game doesn't work hasn't stopped some gamers from rummaging through its files like hungry raccoons. According to reports, the game uses the awful midi soundtrack from the wonky 1998 PC port [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7E9fSgPtmc] instead of the version included in the original PSX release. Fortunately, all the files are in the Ogg Vorbis format, meaning it shouldn't be difficult to replace them with tracks from the PSX release, or perhaps some of the swankier orchestral arrangements from one of the many FF7 soundtracks Square Enix has released over the years.

Source: Square Enix Forum [http://na.square-enix.com/go/thread/view/139347/29273325/Final_Fantasy_VII_PC_DRM_is_borked?pg=2]

Permalink

 

[DJ_DEnM]

Oh damn! I'm assuming the release will be any day now; Things like this aren't leaked too far from the date they're usually released.

 

[FallenTraveler]

they complained because it has the original sound files...

areyoufuckingkiddingme.jpg

Anyhoo, who exactly got on and checked and bought this, and for that matter, why would they believe it would work if they KNOW it hasn't officially been released yet. And who in their right minds wouldn't just ask for a refund!

 

[Epona]

they complained because it has the original sound files...

areyoufuckingkiddingme.jpg

Anyhoo, who exactly got on and checked and bought this, and for that matter, why would they believe it would work if they KNOW it hasn't officially been released yet. And who in their right minds wouldn't just ask for a refund!

The original sound files are the ones on the PSX version.

I almost bought it myself, the page was working and it took people's credit cards. That means, for all intents and purposes, the game had been released, officially. I mean how can Square unofficially release a DD title on their own site?

 

[Rednog]

they complained because it has the original sound files...

areyoufuckingkiddingme.jpg

Anyhoo, who exactly got on and checked and bought this, and for that matter, why would they believe it would work if they KNOW it hasn't officially been released yet. And who in their right minds wouldn't just ask for a refund!

They're complaining that the original PC sound files were absolute garbage when compared to the sound files from the PS1 version. So yea, it's 2012 put in the better version of the sound files before you charge money for it.

Also last I checked there was no set in stone release date, it's coming soon. So why would you not think that it was released when it was on their store page for sale. And since it's only for sale through the Square Enix store that's obviously the place people are checking.

 

[loa]

Why put DRM on an 11 year old game for its re-release?
Everyone who wants to pirate it already has so what the hell.

 

[Charli]

they complained because it has the original sound files...

areyoufuckingkiddingme.jpg

Anyhoo, who exactly got on and checked and bought this, and for that matter, why would they believe it would work if they KNOW it hasn't officially been released yet. And who in their right minds wouldn't just ask for a refund!

Hell yes they're complaining. The original PC ports sound was atrocious compared to the Playstation release. I get the feeling you're a bit confused by that.

So yeah, 2012, if you can't even release the highest quality of the game on PC's for a pretty hefty price (for a game that old) why even bother. Damn straight I'd be a bit miffed.
It just screams 'we're doing minimal effort for some quick dosh'. Which is not what a re-release should be, it should be the highest grade you've ever released it as and if possible with extra features.

I know it's not ready, but still... they have a right to be asking 'what the hey?'. It went on sale, so damage control needs to be done. This isn't entitlement, this is just fair. Refund their money, apologize, state that the game is still in the process of being complete. Done.

 

[Waaghpowa]

Aside from the fact that the game has DRM despite being so old, why the fuck SecuROM? Anyone who uses that on their game deserves to be sent to a special level of hell. Recently I bought Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2 which were re released on disc. Guess what, the stupid piece of shit uses SecuROM and requires an internet connection to start.

 

[Sovereignty]

Are people still eager to actually buy a re-release of a decade old game? And for $13? Sheesh.

 

[Lost In The Void]

While this Was obviously a really dumb move on SE's part I'm also surprised that people are lettin something using Securom on their computers

 

[crazyrabbits]

With incidents like this, I seriously wish the gaming industry would invest more resources in teaching developers the value of customer service and PR. Every week a company is making a stupid lapse in logic, and then screwing themselves over by handling the fallout poorly.

You accepted their money when you put the game online - just give the fans who bought it the ability to play the game. Those are probably the diehards who have likely downloaded it for free in the past off torrent sites because they couldn't find a new copy.

 

[Covarr]

The worst part of the music isn't that it's the old MIDI music. It's that they converted it to OGG, but used the MIDI crap as a source. It's like they set up the framework to improve on the sound, and then shoehorned the old crap into the new framework.

I've been doing some investigation into the files of the new one (I may not be able to activate and play, but I do have it downloaded!) and I can tell what they HAVE improved. The music is OGGs, so it should be REALLY easy to replace them with better ones. The FMVs are all upscaled, and look much better than before. The game comes with two shaders, and from what I can gather it will use them to upscale the backgrounds in real-time. I also have strong reason to believe it runs at higher resolution, based on the FMVs and shaders.

The in-game assets are mostly the same. No textures have been replaced, no backgrounds have been replaced or updated, the dialogue even has the same typos (handicapp). Any updates to this are strictly engine.

The way they were updated is unique. The DRM is at the beginning of the exe, the ENTIRE OLD EXE is intact in the middle, and all the new code (7MB out of 12MB total) is at the end. It's like they didn't have the source code, so they wrote around the old version. As such, it's tough to say what from the old one is actually used.

All in all, this seems like a decent update to the game, but nothing that mods didn't already offer.

P.S. Thanks

 

[oldtaku]

You paid $12.70.

- For a 15 year old game.
- That looks like crap now.
- That still doesn't have a real ending (yes, they tacked one on when they ran out of time/budget).
- And it uses SecuROM.

You know when he keeps hitting you it's not really because he loves you, right?

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Goof followed by goof, eh? If you're going to re-release what many people think of as your best game, you'd think you'd put a bit more effort into it.

I find it interesting that they didn't issue refunds straight away after people made the purchases. I'm sure they plan to but they really should have immediately sent out a apology to all people who were effected by this and refunded at the same time.

As for the disgruntled customer's rant he actually would be wrong mattering on the laws in his geographical area. Here in America software can legally be sold without warranty or any insurance that the software will operate, and worst of all the right to revoke the usage without warning/reason/or refund. In-fact if this was a act of termination done if the EULA states that upon termination the contents much be destroyed those who bought the game could be held legally responsible for choosing to have it remain as it is a breach of contract. Not that I think Square would do something that low.

EULA's are generally not legally binding since they're agreed to after the sale takes place.

 

[Tony2077]

complaining about a game that wasn't officially released hmm what ever floats there boat or yacht i suppose