I think FF8R is the one version not to get out of the two - it looks atrocious, and it still has the same technical limitations the previous version had.

So, I maintain that if we're talking compromise (given we're discussing the PC ports, and modern FF8 ports in general) the emulated PSX version is the single best, easiest to obtain, set up and engage with... compromise. Popular games as well, so you can snag those discs easy off ebay. No Pocketstation support in software emulation AFAIK, but that's truly nothing to write home about - I own a couple, I know - and statistically not something someone interested in getting into FF8 in 2026 would be into, certainly not over the rest of the game not being... a sub-par, unresponsive experience relative to the smoothness you get on the PSX, emulated or otherwise.

Now, if we're not talking compromise there's the original hardware route or FPGA, which has the benefit of not requiring a scaler for HDMI output. Pocketstation support included.

I can't for the life of me decipher what you meant by the reading Japanese snarkiness, though :)

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Hardware will be the least of our concerns when this bubble bursts.

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Quoting: kaktuspalme

Quoting: Durandal... and the current version being delisted, as usual. A bit of burying the lede there.

Though I personally get it, VIII for example, there's the Remastered and just VIII, which one should I choose?

Neither. Emulate the PSX version. You'll have all the QOL you'll ever want, the game will look much better, and you won't be tied to any online account.

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Looks like new distro origin story.

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I think they got rid of MIDI for the 2013 port already, so we're good there.

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Probably just a port of the Switch version. Expect very blurry backgrounds with extremely sharp 3D assets. Hopefully, no new models similar to FF8R, because that'd be more work.

Fun fact: the Switch version is - ultimately - a port of the notorious 1997 PC version, so expect no analog movement and 15fps menu framerate unless this isn't just a sloppy port of an existing sloppy port (of a sloppy 2013 PC port?) of a botched ancient Eidos port. Yum.

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FFVI HD-2D would totally sell like pixel hotcakes. Same goes for Chrono Trigger. In the case of FFVI they had the Pixel Remasters in the pipeline, so I get it, but Chrono Trigger had the still-despicable android port and, apparently, the somewhat less despicable after years of fixing PC version that still isn't great unless modded. Perhaps also the throughly abominable Chrono Cross re-release saturated the Chrono market in Square's view, so they're holding off for the time being.

As stupid as this sounds it does track for "game made less than theoretical ROI we would've maybe got if we just invested the money instead of making something, therefore we consider this venture a complete failure regardless of the market realities or indeed any kind of reality" Square.

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Quoting: apocalyptech

Quoting: suchI disagree in that not paying for a few pieces of art isn't a proper saving, just one you report to particularly... challenged management to get them off your back. That goes triple if you're generating this much negative sentiment. That can have more of a sales impact than your sales banner.

Oh sure, I was honestly more referring to the other indications that they're going all-in on AI (such as that quote from the job posting that I'd pasted above). Having generative images as banners on the site is, I'm guessing, just the tip of the iceberg.

I'm trying not to think about GOG using genAI to fiddle with the games. It does sound like an idea they'd be entertaining. Then again, it wouldn't make for great marketing material a la their recent yt videos. "Oh, ya, we just prompted Copilot and then our lone programmer who works part time twice a year looked at the code for 5s, plz tip, the end."

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OK, sure. Here we go again with this GOG preservation rodeo. I really like the concept behind GOG, but they should do better.

Does the more widely (and going forward it's likely that: exclusively) available FF8R qualify as preserving Final Fantasy 8? I'd really like to see the rationale here.

I'd argue the regular PC FF8 qualifies for preservation before FF8R. The latter is a standard boneheaded Square "remaster" where new, ill-fitting in terms of art style and fidelity models clash with the blurry mess that are the new pre-rendered backgrounds in a perfect botched mess of an upscale job. There's a list of issues, but the main thing is that FF8R does not (sufficiently) accurately replicate the intended original experience. That also goes for FF8PC if we're comparing to PSX, but I'm assuming we're preserving the PC version with its original warts, instead of... adding more warts where there have been few before, but with built-in cheats, so who gives a toss, slap a sale on it.

Realistically, I'm amazed the original is still sold on Steam. Kind of looks like Square... forgot it exists? Or that someone at Square is aware they dropped the ball.

In any event, this is closer to re-writing history than it is to preservation. Par for the course, sadly.

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Quoting: apocalyptech

Quoting: suchIt's GOG. What profits?

I mean honestly it's possible that's at the root of the issue here. I actually have no idea what GOG's financials are like, but if they have historically struggled to turn a profit, latching onto the "AI" bandwagon is an unsurprising move, at least. The suits tend to see modern generative systems as a shortcut to Increased Productivity™ and they might just be assuming that this is the magical tech that's gonna turn a struggling company into a thriving one.

Whether that's true or not in either the short or long term is another question entirely, but if that's the thought process over there, then it's at least an understandable pivot.

I disagree in that not paying for a few pieces of art isn't a proper saving, just one you report to particularly... challenged management to get them off your back. That goes triple if you're generating this much negative sentiment. That can have more of a sales impact than your sales banner.

Unless GOG are playing 5D chess and doing this as part of a coordinated effort to boost visibility. Who knows anymore. I'll take my tinfoil hat off now.

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