A Gamer Looks At 40
An exploration of the history of video games told through the stories of the every day people who lived it. Join me along with a rotating cast of friends, family, gaming journalists, and industry types as we share personal recollections from the last thirty years of gaming, one story at a time.
A Gamer Looks At 40
Ep 119: Final Fantasy 7 (Part 1) - The Buzz, Buildup and Cloud High Expectations
Final Fantasy 7 wasn't just a game release. It was the changing of an era. The moment when the franchise grew from fun games to media events. As a result, the marketing for FF7 reached unheard of levels for videogames at the time. And with the marketing came, unprecedented hype.
On this episode of A Gamer Looks at 40, we share stories of what it was like to be knee deep in the late 90's media barrage and how this full court press shaped our perceptions of the game before we even hit the first loading screen.
Eddie Varnell (@thatretrocode) of the Boss Rush Network (@BossRushNetwork)
Greg Sewart of the Player One Podcast and Generation 16 (@sewart)
Ian (@teacherbloke
James and JJ of RetroFits on YouTube (@FitsRetro)
John Trenbeath (@crazyjohnt)
Julian Titus (@julian_titus) of The Stage Select Podcast (@StageSelectPod)
The Lets Play Princess (@TheLPPrincess)
Mekel Kasanova (@MekelKasanova)
Michael K Hughes (@KaidanXain) of the Capes and Junk Podcast (@GamesAndJunk)
Mike Albertin of Games My Mom Found Podcast (@mom_found)
@Mustin
Ryan aka @GameswCoffee
SONG COVERS
Flowers Blooming in the Church (Final Fantasy VII) | Classical Guitar Cover by John Oeth Guitar - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBnoqDVg_To
Tifa's Theme (Final Fantasy VII) | Classical Guitar Cover by John Oeth Guitar - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulsS27OC5KQ
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you In 1997, the world was still learning how to play in three dimensions. Ostrated in by the Sega Saturn in May of 1995, the fifth generation of home video game consoles marked the largest generational leap in history. Games were now stored on CD-ROMs, players were traversing true 3D environments, and the future seemed limitless. And standing above them all wasn't Sega or even the mighty Nintendo. A third serious player had entered the console ring and was taking the industry by storm. Sony PlayStation. Now see the outstanding technical capabilities of Sony's advanced video game system and how game developers the world over can now create a stunning new generation of interactive entertainment. The PlayStation delivers over 500 mips worth of processing power. Byrix custom chipset. It features dedicated graphics engines, CD quality audio, double speed CD-ROM, and motion video as standard. Harnessing this power is a 32-bit RISC processor, multi-channel DMA, and ultra-high-speed bus architecture. A variety of screen resolutions are available, up to 640, 480, with 15- or 24-bit color. The PlayStation Custom 3-dimensional graphics hardware is a true polygon system with many special effects as standard. Born from the ashes of deals gone bad and broken alliances, the Sony PlayStation did what companies like Philips, Atari, and even Sega could only dream about. They captured an adult marketplace and became the cool console to own. Via innovative grassroots marketing and a focus on mature experiences like Wipeout and Tomb Raider, the PlayStation rocketed to the lead of the late 90s console wars. And then... a sea change occurred. A defining moment when the waters parted and even the staunchest Nintendo or Sega fanboy would have to acknowledge the PlayStation was for real, the release of Final Fantasy VII. A multi-million dollar production. two years in the making. And a cast of thousands. They said it couldn't be done in a major motion picture. This is Before arriving on store shelves in North America on September 7, 1997, Final Fantasy VII was already a household name thanks to a massive advertising campaign. TV commercials ran during shows like Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons. Print ads ran in popular comics from DC and Marvel. And you couldn't walk into an electronics boutique or a Funko Land without seeing a life-sized cardboard cutout of Cloud in the front entrance. Media events, demo discs, and merchandise flooded the market during the months leading to release. In total, Square and Sony spent over $40 million on the world's wide marketing for Final Fantasy VII. And the reaction was insane. So crazy in fact, we're beginning our two month exploration of Final Fantasy VII by talking about people talking about this game before it was even released. On this episode of A Gamer Looks at 40 we mine the memories of the people who were in the midst of the media blitz and experienced the buzz and anticipation first hand just so we can get a taste of what it must have been like over 25 years ago. Time to dust off those old copies of EGM, fire up our 56k modem, and hope our favorite bulletin board system has a new nugget of information as we explore Final Fantasy VII Part 1, The Buzz, Build Up, and Cloud High Expectations. Every year there's one game. You know what I mean. The game everybody's gotta get. Toonami got ahold of this year's version. The scene seven. discuss TV commercials and magazine adverts, let's set the stage for the coup to come. Joining me to talk about the video game environment back in those days is Greg Seward of the Player One podcast and Generation 16 series on YouTube and Julian Titus of the Stage Select podcast. So how was the buzz where you were when Final Fantasy 7 was announced and was like all that? mean, it was huge because You have to remember, too, like up until that point, Final Fantasy was a Nintendo franchise. So, you know, and I think I think a lot of people. Well. I think a lot of younger people and by younger, I mean, you know, people who were born in the 90s. I think a lot of younger people don't necessarily remember when the PlayStation came around that it wasn't necessarily, you know, nobody knew it was going to be the juggernaut that it was. Sony didn't have an amazing reputation in the video games industry. They were mostly known for the stuff that had been released via their Sony ImageSoft label, which there were some gems, but most of it was mediocre, to say the least. So they didn't have an amazing reputation there. Really, what they were most known for in a positive light was probably the Super Nintendo sound chip. and the whole debacle around the Super Nintendo CD-ROM slash PlayStation. They were an upstart. Sony was an upstart, which is so weird to say about a company like Sony, especially now with how they own a certain segment of the video game industry, but also just the fact that it's We didn't have companies that size in the video game industry back then. So yeah, it was a huge controversy when... Final Fantasy 7 was announced even just announced for the PlayStation let alone when people first saw it because we also had that That quick 3d demo that people had seen of the Final Fantasy 6 characters apparently running on N64 or ultra 64 was probably what we were calling it back then project reality hardware. Yep So everyone, you know between that and the fact that every single game had been on a Nintendo console it was a foregone conclusion that Final Fantasy VII was gonna be an N64 game. So when it was announced for the PlayStation, I think a lot of people were just flabbergasted by that. I know I was. My heart was broken. My heart was broke. I was a full-out Nintendo fanboy. I also was talking about this with somebody else. That was the era of, there was a console coming out every other month, it felt like. Like all their video game magazines had console sections. Phillips has this one and Panasonic has this one and Rando Company has this one. And it was kind of the wild west of consoles in that era. It It was. And that was one of the great things about the 90s, I think. And I think it had started to settle down around the mid 90s. But you're right. And yeah, actually, that's a great bit of context because, you know, again, not to... not to compare Sony too closely to Phillips or 3DO or whatever, but it would have been similar to Square jumping ship and saying the next Final Fantasy is a 3DO game. know. So so there was that. So yeah, it was a huge controversy and it was was massively talked about and everything. So and then I don't remember exactly when or how we first saw it running. I'm sure we just saw the opening cut scenes and just absolutely blown away, blown away by it. Like nothing, it felt like it was nothing I'd ever seen before. And also very importantly didn't look like Final Fantasy. In that Final Fantasy, mean, for, know, with Six, I think there was a little bit of a steampunk aesthetic happening as well. But for the most part, it was medieval, swords and sorcery, you know, it's all about magic, it's all about medieval or fantastical creatures. So now you've got this, they're really leaning into this whole semi futuristic, steampunk style. Also not super deformed characters, which was a huge shift for that series as well, right? So it was jarring. between like whenever, I don't remember what date it was announced, but between the announcement that it was gonna be a PlayStation exclusive and seeing it for the first time, I mean, It was a sea change for the Final Fantasy franchise in general. It was a new beginning for the Final Fantasy franchise. We need to set up the context for Final Fantasy 7 before, because it informs everything else I'm going to say about this game for good and ill. I had never been more excited for a video game than I was for Final Fantasy 7. And that began before it was even Final Fantasy 7, back when we first got the screenshots of that N64 development kit demo. with Final Fantasy six characters back in the magazines where, cause we all assumed, oh, well this is coming to the Ultra 64 because of, of course it is. Like why wouldn't it? And then, you know, the big announcement was made like, no, it's actually coming to PlayStation, which is when I decided to buy a PlayStation. And honestly, Final Fantasy games have informed my PlayStation purchasing decisions ever since. And I associate the series with PlayStation. more than Nintendo at this point. I think the PlayStation was pretty hot out of the gate, but again, it was competing with obviously the Ultra 64 on the way, but also just that skepticism. Also, there had been a lot of failed consoles in the years prior to the PlayStation. So it was like, well, is this going to be an actual competitor or is this going to be another 3DO or CDI or Jaguar? And most people I think thought that for sure, but the launch lineup looked really good I remember because I rented a PlayStation first I you know back when you could rent consoles and I remembered renting I think was total battle arena Toshinden Street and Street Street fire the movie and Tekken which were all fighting games but like I was really into fighting games at the time and Toshinden and Tekken just being Mind-blowing to me, especially Tekken being like I play this in the arcade. Yeah But, and this is darn near close to what I'm used to in the arcade, but it's on my TV. You know, that was just incredible. I think it, you know, I really feel, and my memory might be faulty on this. Like there might be people who remember differently, but I feel that like even like right at the launch, it was like, oh no, this system has some chops. And, you know, and I did get a Nintendo 64 when it came out. And you know, because Mario 64, it Mario 64 was the other game that was like, I had never been that excited. Like this and final or that in Final Fantasy 7 were like the two biggest like hype moments that I had like at this time. And I enjoyed the 64 and what we've talked about it like, you know, ultimately was disappointed by it. But the PlayStation ended up being like. you know, a near and dear console in my heart. And also seeing like working in retail, I think the big thing and I know I'm going to repeat this because it I was pulling what hair I had left out at the time. Actually, I I still had a pretty good amount of hair in 2000. But people people coming into my store, returning Final Fantasy nine because it wasn't a Final Fantasy game. and me wanting to jump over the counter. No, the last two were not Final Fantasy games. This is a Final Fantasy game. And and I thought about this a lot recently. And I think this is this really apt for the time. Going back to 1997, if you remember in film, the idea of the indie film had was on the rise because Tarantino really blew up with Pulp Fiction. Um, and I remember at the time, like indie films were all of a sudden, a big thing, like, you know, doing things like outside of the normal, like the Hollywood style norm and everything. And it was this big thing, right? Like it was almost like a badge of honor to be an indie film in that time. And final fantasy seven, you know, remind like square Enix square, sorry, Squaresoft at the time. It kind of reminded me of like an indie filmmaker who got a budget. So imagine if like Tarantino had followed up Pulp Fiction with directing the Avengers, right? Avengers is a great movie. I love it. But you can also kind of start to look back and think it also kicked off like a rather not great trend in moviemaking that we're still dealing with now, right? Final Fantasy VII, great game. but it kicked off a trend in Final Fantasy that we're still dealing with now. And I feel that it forever changed the series. this was the beginning of them. And I'm going to bring this up when we get to 16, because it's very important, but this is the beginning of Square starting to put more points into the graphics tree of their design sheet. And they put a few less points in like mechanics or, you know, like complexity of game design. And that kind of starts to begin a trend that we'll get to 16. But this is the beginning of it. And again, at the time it was like, but these CG cut scenes and, you know, I'm seeing things that I've never seen before. Holy crap. This is amazing. Yeah. Like the sheer spectacle of it at the time was incredible. but at the expense of so much. And it very much became the template for what Final Fantasy would be for years to come. Yep, yes it would. And then years later, you also get to a point where the people who are in charge of Final Fantasy are starting to decide, like they start to get shy about being RPG makers and they really kind of don't want to make RPGs anymore. to the point that they're looking at stuff like Gears of War and Call of Duty when they're making Final Fantasy 13. And it's a whole thing, right? Like when you hear about what like Katase and some of the higher ups at Square, know, like think of the series as, it's almost all superficial and not really anything as far as like mechanics or. or even story really or character. It's very much, it looks really pretty and there's magic. And it's gonna be cutting edge technology. Always. it's gonna look beautiful. Yeah. Yeah. Continuing our context building for, let's be honest, the next couple of months is content creator, Mikhail Casanova, then Julian from Stage Select, followed by music producer, Mustin and finally, John Trenvith of the B. Crohn's Foundation. the buzz, I remember, I clearly remember back in 97 when that was coming out. I remember all the gaming magazines from GamePro magazine, EGM, Tips and Tricks. Like they were all saying like, yo, this is the game you need to get. And I remember when I first saw it, I was like, Final Fantasy seven. I'm like, wait, we only had one then. Then four. Right. I was like, I was like, wait, I say one, no, I want to four. I was like, where's the other ones? And so I remember it like, so I remember GamePro magazine because that was the one I really, I rocked with that magazine very heavily back in the day. And I remember they had a whole spread to like break down and say, oh yeah, you know, we got from a fancy one. Then we got two, but two is technically four and three was technically six. Uh, and then we got this one and then it's like, Then they went over it and I thought that the design for cloud was really like, I'm like, I've never seen anything like that. Like that sword looks massive, the spiky hair and everything. It was like, you know, before and for the young people out there, you may be like, that's nothing crazy about that. You know, it's cloud. I'm like, yeah, but at the time, you know, anime wasn't mainstream. So we didn't really have character designs like that. And so seeing something like that was completely very different. And so, you know, the design, and actually I'm like, I'm saying all this and I have the me bowl right here. there you go. So there he is. You know, like so that design of him was just so different than anything I had ever seen before. And then like going through the magazines, like they were just talking about the mechanics and how good the story is. And just like, you know, you could really literally like just immerse yourself in the world. And I remember I think I was. the time when that came out, I think I was in like third grade, I think maybe second or third. I think it was third grade when that came out. Yeah. And I remember being like just taking it all in, being hyped for it. And when I was talking to my classmates, they're like an RPG because you OK, young people again, you got to understand. At the time, RPGs were not very popular or mainstream. And a few of us that liked it. Well, we can recommend it and people like, I got to wait. I got to turn. What? Why? Like, and that's how that was, you know, like so. So so for me, you know, I would try to type people for it. They didn't they didn't care for it. But, know, I I I fell in love with like. All the promos. I remember the commercials that would come on. What was it? It was it was a UPN. No, it wasn't UPN. It was it was something else. I forget the channel. But you said I used to see it. The channel eventually became the CW. I can't think of what it It was WB. WB. Yes. Yes. Yes. I remember seeing the commercial for it. I was like, yo, this looks epic. And then, you know, I used to I was bugging my mom my dad to get it for me and so like they got that for me And they got me that and Mega Man x4. Wow, I want to punch that was and they're like which one you gonna play first cuz you know, you need to beat one before you play the other and I was like Mega Man Yeah, you knew, you knew what you were getting into. You knew what was going on. You already knew this. Was staunchly against Final Fantasy 7 I was a Nintendo fanboy through and through you were on that camp I was that camp and I there was no way no way I'd buy some dopey Play play what PlayStation from Sony Sony makes my Walkman they make my CD player like they don't they don't make video games and with Final Fantasy Yeah, that is is a that is an excellent point. I'm glad you said that because people I mean people won't remember now. I'm assuming that your audience is mostly around people our age. There might be younger people, especially in Final Fantasy being involved. it's worth noting that at the time PlayStation was a very, like people were extremely skeptical of it. like, you know, it was kind of like, why is Sony in this market with this weird looking gray box with this D pad that isn't connected? It looks. It looks uncomfortable to hold. I felt the same way. it was the combination. It was three things. was Final Fantasy being announced for it. It was me reading Japanese previews of Resident Evil. And that just kind of looking incredible to me. And it was them announcing that Mortal Kombat 3 was going to be an exclusive at lunch. And that was enough for me to decide, no, I really want a PlayStation. I didn't buy it at lunch. But I got it about six months after I actually convinced my dad to charge it for me on his card. And then I would pay him back when I started working because I already had a job lined up for when I turned 16. And so I was like, first, know, my first, you know, paychecks will pay you back for the PlayStation, but I need it now. Right. Yeah. So I was staunchly heartbroken. It broke my heart. that Final Fantasy was gonna be on Sony exclusively. But I was firm in my fandom and I bought an N64 and said, ooh, I can't wait to see what RPGs this system provides. And the answer was none. Very, very, very few. Yeah, let's give Quest 64 and Hybrid Heaven their due. They are games that exist on this planet. I've never played either. People have their opinions about them. and then they were starting to tease on the Ultra 64 they were talking about. actually did, it's like a demo with the silicon graphics machine using Locke and Celeste and Terra to do some nifty things and I was so excited about that and I went to the computer lab and I printed that out and put it in my binder only for it never to come fruition and then Final Fantasy 7 came out and it was the bane of my existence. man, why was Final Fantasy VII the bane of your existence? Well, my heart was really broken. I really had a visceral reaction to Squaresoft departing from Nintendo. And this was Nintendo's own doing. I actually just explained this to my son today. He works at a place where they're the best at what they do. And there's another place down the street but they have bad reviews. And that place was started by a guy that used to work at the place that was good who got fired. And so here in trying to make a new system and doing it with Sony only to say, we don't like these discs. They take too long. Sony says, OK, well, we'll see you later, Nintendo, and then makes the PlayStation. then Square is... You know, being a neutral party sees the capability of that and goes there. I just felt so betrayed. It was so strange. It was, I mean, yeah, was an experience. It really was when that game came out. It was an event because it was the first time for so many people that they ever heard of Final Fantasy. And it was just that diving in point for a generation. Because, you know, even if you had a superintendent, no, I'm sorry, not a superintendent, if you even if you had an N64. You were like, man, I might have to get a PlayStation or at least rent one and see what this hype is all about. I was I was very anti the whole thing. It was very heartbroken that Final Fantasy jump ship to some to a Sony thing. What Sony makes Walkman and Discman and TVs. They don't. What do they know about video games? Why would this file? And I had no interest. was I was dead set in my heels in the ground, not interested. in anything Sony game related, so I never played it up its time. I was really I know I was Mr. N64. I was waiting for those great art N64 RPGs come out. Still waiting. They never happened. Enjoy your quest 64. yeah, that is about the size of it. Now, initially in my outline, this section lived at the end of the episode, but I thought it would be good for those who maybe weren't there in the late 90s to understand the influence the buzz of Final Fantasy 7 had on the industry at large. It wasn't just a big game for Sony. This was a big game for everybody. Joining me to talk about the impact of Final Fantasy 7's marketing is Greg Seward. Followed by James of Retrofits on YouTube. I think it's interesting we're talking equating Final Fantasy VII to a blockbuster, right? Like to this big game. Yes, it's a blockbuster, but blockbusters can also have really good acting. You know what I mean? Like, so, that's kind how I see Final Fantasy VII. It is this big, all-encompassing event, but there's still lots of really good stuff in there if you're willing to kind of like dive in. Yeah, yeah, I think so. And again, it has a lot to do with, I think, there was a bit of a passing of the torch happening there too. I believe this is the second game that Sakaguchi kind of, he was just a producer on. I think he came up with the original story, but what we ended up getting was a lot different from his original concept, which is fine. But I mean, it was, it was a passing of the torch and in hindsight, it was the right thing to do because this set the stage for what Final Fantasy would be through the end of the 90s. And I mean, I think it changed a little bit again once we hit the PlayStation 2 and Final Fantasy X, but the bones are still there. The decisions that were made on this game in 97 have informed Final Fantasy for 20 years. You could argue I've been playing 16 yet. I know enough about it though to at least state it from a surface level. You may be state that 16 has changed again with the more move to an action art, action, devil may cry style gameplay, but it's still the central theme is like these are visually beautiful games. These are high art, high concept blockbuster title events. And it's very interesting that we have that, that this is the start of that. This is definitely the big sea change. And I mean, every game since then has more and more zippers. Yeah. Oh, and belts constant. Constant bells so many bells and zippers so many bells someone bought stuck in stock in bells and stock in trim design trim in the Final Fantasy world It was like Square really, really tried to build it up and sell it. I remember that from the time because it is a cultural thing, isn't it? At this point, the hype is still alive for the original. And part of me likes that. You know, it's a property with staying power and it's a property that's meant just as much to like people. after its time as it did to me at the time and being able to carry that sort of feeling that it generated in people forward. But at the same time, the hype never really cooled off at a natural rate. would just sort of subside for a little bit and then immediately shoot back up every few years. and that created this weird hyperbolic culture around it. I mean, we could get into that later, because I know, you know, that's a discussion. That's a whole different thing. What I find fascinating about Final Fantasy 7 is that culture around it sometimes where it almost can do no wrong. You know, like, it feels like that sometimes. As I mentioned in the open, the marketing for Final Fantasy VII was unlike anything the industry had seen since the days of Mario and Sonic. Let's join Greg, Mike Alberton from Games My Mom Found, and finally Julian as we talk the depth of the push and how we responded as video game players to this full court press. which was Sony threw its entire marketing might behind Final Fantasy VII. mean, know, I can't say this for sure, but I'm sure that they were probably, they probably had commercials running in, for movies. For that game. I don't know, I would not be surprised. Right, and I mean, know, even going to, I don't know if they had Sony stores where you grew up. I don't believe we had Sony stores. They were a thing and every time I bring it up, I wonder if they might have only been in North America. I thought maybe they're only in Canada. I don't know. But a Sony store was kind of like what big box electronics stores were back there back then, which was always kind of great. Like you walk in there, be like the wall of TVs, all the new televisions. And like there would be the the the area in the back that was where they kept all the stereo equipment because it was soundproof. So you could hear how great these different speakers were before you bought them. And the Sony store was like that, but it was just for Sony equipment. OK. And of course the PlayStation was in that store. But I mean, video games were not a big part of the Sony store experience. It was all about, you you want to buy a disc man or you want to learn about mini disc or, you know, buy stereo equipment, TV, stuff like that. But I remember going into the Sony store and I mean, just getting hit in the face with all the Final Fantasy seven stuff. mean, they ratcheted that up so much. I had a friend who was who was actually a manager at one of those stores. And he, we'd talked about Final Fantasy VII, this was probably 20 years ago, but when I sort of brought up Final Fantasy VII in some conversation, he was a coworker and he said, yeah, I used to manage a Sony store. And he said that was the first time he remembered sort of word coming down from on high, like we gotta push this game. Final Fantasy VII is the game. And it was a huge seller for them. Also, interestingly enough, one of the highest return rates at his store. Interesting. Interesting. Did he say why? Because they were marketing the game on its visuals and on its story. And I don't think a lot of people knew that they were buying a role playing game. I think a lot of people who bought it didn't know what a role playing game was. Sure. They just thought they saw cool do the giant sword and you see all the action scenes and motorcycles coming out of exploding things. And you're like, cool, this is a fun game. And then next you're waiting for the active time system. And you're waiting for your turn to fight. You're like, what? I could totally see that. Oh, that's so all this reading going on? Why am I reading this? What's going on? That's so funny. I didn't even think of that. That's crazy. Yeah, I was taken aback when you told me that too. yeah, mean, it was an event. And I'm sure Nintendo would have thrown its full weight behind Final Fantasy VII as well. But it wouldn't have been. at the same scale that Sony could do. wasn't Mario, wasn't Zelda. Nintendo just didn't have the clout, they didn't have the money. Not that Nintendo was broke, just that it wasn't Sony. Yeah, Sony was a totally different animal. Sony to me, the only time, other time I felt like I see change like that when Microsoft joined. Absolutely. Like when Microsoft released the Xbox, that was like, oh, oh wow. Like there's like a real company behind this thing. It's not just some upstart thing. This is going to hit the marketplace. This is going to be a thing. Yeah, it's kind of that kind of vibe to it. You're right. I always thought Sony was the weird people who made my my Walkman and they made my know, this man and they weren't the video game people. But now they were with with Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy seven was that it wasn't the first game big game for them, but it was. I think you might want to say it was the first event game, because I think it came out about a year into PlayStation's first run. Yeah, you took the words right out of my mouth. That's exactly what I would call it, is an event game. I mean, they'd had their big hits leading up to that. Resident Evil, think, was probably the big one before that as well. And to really show off what the system could do and actually show what a CG rendered backgrounds looked like with polygon characters walking over them and how supremely effective that was. And you know, they used it to great effect in Final Fantasy VII as well. It's actually kind of a shame I feel that those games haven't aged well because putting them on a modern display, you really see how low the color depth is and all those backgrounds. But man, on a CRT back in 1997, was better. And I think the art design is still, I think it still looks great as far as like artistically, it's a beautiful game. And yeah, you can make fun of the low poly, you know, characters, they're all basically big blocks. And like you said, it's really striking when you play with some of the HD remasters. I'm playing a Final Fantasy IX on the HD remaster on Steam. And it's jarring, like these HD sprites against these old pre-rendered backgrounds. It's actually, I wish they just left it alone almost. It's really jarring. But yeah, on a CRT, that was beautiful. I mean, it was awesome. mean, there was nothing like it unless you were a PC gamer, maybe. Maybe. And even then, there wasn't quite anything like it. I was would have been nine ten years old when this game came out. Well, no this came out beginning 97 I would have been nine so I Don't remember a whole lot about it. Like I don't remember any buzz about before it came out. I Couple things are one when I was a kid. I loved Final Fantasy I played one two and three for Super Nintendo as what we knew the math and Mystic West or not Well one from time to know you know, and my dad can't make it. Oh, there's me Final Fantasy 20 25 15 16. I can't make all these jokes back. There's only three stop it and Then lo and behold, this one comes out in a seven. And I remember that being the first thing where he's like, Oh, look, I was right. So that was, yeah, he kept doing that too. They kept coming. He kept making jokes about it for years and years. But my, my really first experience with it is I went to Funko. I remember those places. I do. I do remember a good Funko land. Yes. They had a demo set up of Final Fantasy seven on the PS one. And that was my first experience with it was playing the demo and the demo went up to. I want to say guard scorpion or at least that's how much I had time for maybe it wasn't even done Maybe it was actual game, but I know I played with the guard scorpion fought that and then we had then we had to leave I couldn't just stay if I'm going home and Gotcha. I remember it stuck with me because one of these funny things is my mother around this time had bought a filing cabinet and was making files as you do for some reason and I was Excited for a PlayStation 1 but we couldn't you know, they weren't I just I had a certain tendo and that was it and they weren't really interested in getting me one yet So like, okay, let's, so I remember when I was helping her, we made a file for PlayStation. We're like, okay, you know, we're going to put this in there so we know about it we can save up money so I can get myself a PlayStation one. I remember doing that. And it was because of this game. was, cause I love Final Fantasy. So I wanted to play more. I wanted to play seven. You know, I the graphics were outstanding. I mean, yes, I was Nintendo boy, but I also was so newer to games that I didn't. I wasn't against Sony start making their own system. was when Xbox came out. was an idiot and made comments about Xbox being stupid. It will never last. But yeah, not with Yeah. And it's funny. So you you were trying to like the social engineer like your mom to getting you a PlayStation just to Final Fantasy 7. If I can just keep this in my parents head through filing cabinets and who knows what else you that's but did it. Now here's a question. Did it eventually work? No. It was in 97 in my parents house That's great. I guarantee you that that PlayStation file that I made is still there Sitting there what went in the PlayStation file. This is this is what I need to know. I don't think much did I think maybe like an ad for it? I so excited and a system wasn't cheap. mean, we I was yeah, thankfully I had parent that were well enough that they could get me things and take care of me but Like I would you know, felt bad asking for this I usually would ask for games, right? So I remember just being a big deal and I think I don't remember with PlayStation 1 what it was when it came out if it was like Super I mean, I know it wasn't cheap. I remember it was like, you know PS3 levels expensive for the time But it was a thing where I was voraciously consuming every little scrap of information. I would buy a magazine if it had a single new screenshot because I was that excited for it. I couldn't wait. And it just looked like it was going to be the biggest thing ever. And it really was. And a big part of that was Sony. actually doing the marketing and publishing for the game and putting a massive camp like ad campaign behind it. Kind of a deceptive ad campaign, honestly. It actually has a distinction of being one of the two biggest games that I can think of that at GameFell as we got just like so many returns on it because people were disappointed in what they ultimately got. Oh, interesting. Because, people thought they were getting this really cool interactive movie and then it's like, oh, what's all these menus and numbers and little blocky But yeah, and with my nerd crew, we were all into it. We were all pouring through these magazines and counting the days and everything. It's the first episode of the year and my first opportunity to thank my wonderful patrons for their ongoing patronage of a gamer looks at 40 starting with Lindsey Harney, Philip Becker, Joey Coro, Teddary Canare, Greg Seward, Games with Coffee, the Let's Play Princess, BT Gobbles, Tim Knowles, formerly of the Lidis. Julian of the Stake Select podcast, Seth Sergel of the All-In Media Network, and finally the one and only, still debonair, still fantastic, Mr. Pete Harney. If you would like to join these wonderful human beings in financially supporting the show in 2025, then by all means go to patreon.com forward slash a gamer looks at 40-4-0, check out the tiers, and if anything strikes your fancy, by all means sign up today. And if not, A rating, review, or recommendation on your pod player of choice is free and always greatly appreciated. All right, now before we continue, allow me my moment of old man yelling at clouds just for one minute or so. Kids these days don't understand the type of hype printed media gave us back in the 90s. I could probably do an entire episode just on video game magazines and I've explored them in the past with my interviews with the fellows from EGM and talking about those early days of video game magazines. But there's something about the way printed material painted mental pictures of these games paired with these scant, almost illegible screenshots that made the anticipation just, I don't know, more palpable than any trailer can do today. To discuss physical media's role in hyping up Final Fantasy 7 is Eddie Varnell from the Boss Rush Network, followed by Julian, then James and JJ from Retrofits. And finally, Michael K Hughes of the Capes and Junk podcast. A big part of the Final Fantasy VII story for me is how much hype there was for it. Like was the first time a Final Fantasy game was a media event. Like we knew the drop date, you know? You couldn't go into an electronics boutique or a Funko Land, where I'm from at least, and see a giant cloud cardboard cutout, right? You couldn't avoid it. What was the hype like for you where you grew up? There was no hype at all. okay. Because I live in a urban area and I'm just gonna take this, no offense to this, black people did not play RPGs. It was literally sports games. I have a brother who was into the Sega Genesis because of Joe Montana. NBA basketball and all of that he was into the sports which a lot of other people were also I got into JRPGs because of Zelda because of Corona Trigger and secret of mana and Secret of evermore stuff like that like with Squaresaw and because I was a big fan of EGM electronic gaming monthly and gamepro I would get all my news for that so when it came to Final Fantasy 7 I was hyped about it because of reading it in EGM. And so when I seen that it was going to be the cinematic experience and I was seeing the artwork even before the game came out, there was, EGM was playing the Japanese version before it came out to America. They were getting like screenshots and everything. So the hype of it really wasn't there because of the area that I grew in. But I was super excited because I love Final Fantasy. It was at a time that I definitely love Squaresoft. And I'm calling it Squaresoft because they didn't buy Square Enix too, like later on in 2000s. That's fine. Yeah. Yeah. And plus Sony has some goodness beyond the beyond the such a garbage RPG. And Wild Arms. But I definitely was into Final Fantasy 7. and was super excited when that game dropped. But because it came out the time at the Christmas, I couldn't really ask for it before my birthday. got it. No, that that makes sense. And I I love the fact that you were attracted to it through the the magazines and the buzz that wasn't on the playground. was the stuff you were reading and ingesting. And again, this is all pre Internet mostly. mean, 97 were starting to get to the Internet, but. Not really ubiquitous. And you were just excited because the industry was excited. I think that's an interesting angle where your friends were still playing NBA Jam and stuff probably, right? Like in sports games. But you as an RPG fan, you're like, oh, this is going to be something else. I think that's really interesting. Yeah. I was, E.T. was like the Bible to me. Like that was the gaming Bible GamePro. Also was kind of the game of Bible and other and other ones but I'm like getting that eight page spread of reading about Friday fancy seven just like I'm super excited for this game and could not wait to play. definitely had army. I already have my playstation one. but I'm just waiting for the game to come out after being localized and be like, I cannot wait to play this game. and get the cinematic experience. Because what made it really great compared to the days of now is that no one spoiled anything for If you wanted to know what was going on, you had to play the game. And I was hooked the moment I started Final Fantasy VII. And this was also around the time that I... So I would get tired of repeating my thoughts on video games to my various friends individually. So I started my own fanzine called PlayStation Revolution, where I would actually rent games and I would play them and I would review them. And I had editorial page, I had tips and tricks, I had previews, I had rumors. Get out of here. Oh yeah, and it was very much modeled in the style of Die Hard Game Fan, because I was an edgy teenager at this point. I was 17. So Die Hard Game Fan at that point was right in my wheelhouse. And so even the cover layout was very similar to the way Game Fan did it. And when Final Fantasy VII came out, I need to, again, I need to make this clear at the time. I gave Final Fantasy VII a 100 out of 100. I loved Final Fantasy VII when it came out. It was only years later that I started to realize just how much Final Fantasy VII had lost us for the series forevermore. But it would take me years to get to that point. In the moment, it was the most incredible thing that I'd ever played and it blew me away on a fundamental level. And I just couldn't believe what I was seeing from moment to moment. was, was, it was revelatory. was your experience with it as far as just first getting to know the game and then just like that first onrush of hype? For me, yeah, it was mostly through my older brother a little bit. I honestly don't remember if whenever I got my first PlayStation in, but it was also a lot of it was through Blockbuster because I a blockbuster right down the street. I would drive by. a few blocks, but yeah, I would ride my bike there, I could drive and yeah, just, more than once I might've rented a game and then swapped out the disc for one that was... No! Hey, they had repairing stuff. JJ, there was no such thing as disc repair. They just shaved off a layer and made it worse for everyone else. You know that's what it was. JJ, now, but... Confessing it on a game where it looks at 40, my goodness. That's okay. My of Final Fantasy VII is actually Frankensteined because the second disc has in Sharpie the name of my friend that let me borrow the second disc when mine got super worn out. And he just never asked for it back. And we now live very far apart. If they never asked for it back, is it really considered stealing? I've got couple games like that as well. I do too. I call it thoughtless borrowing. Yes. That's what I thoughtlessly borrowed and I mistakenly kept. I didn't steal it. There's no intent. If they had ever asked for it back, I absolutely would have given it. Absolutely. Yeah, that's the point. I just find it funny that it's Frankensteined in that way because it's clearly like marked in Sharpie. Nice. I love that. a lot of that comes from like the ps1 is when games really just started to hit the mainstream where people were like video games are kind of cool they're not just for nerds and this was the first big final fantasy big first really big rpg that people were clamoring for because i guess the people that played six on the snes which is also phenomenal right once a 3d one got announced holy man it's a whole new world and Yeah, it was pretty big. I definitely didn't play it when it came out. I had a friend who was super into it. I probably watched him play 20 minutes. I'm like, yeah, that seems all right. I wasn't really big in RPGs back then or whatever. Right. Yeah. I mean, you couldn't open a video game magazine and not see Final Fantasy seven coverage in some degree in it. Yeah, it was one of those every storefronts and it felt like at least and it just seems like there was a full court press to make not only Final Fantasy, you know, a media thing, but the PlayStation as well. Right. And at least it seemed like this was the this was the PlayStation had been out for about a year since before this was released. And this still felt like this was the big app. I guess, I swear, kind of saw that thing, the big jump between six and seven. And they're like, we're just going to push this. Give it all we've got. And it paid off for sure. Oh, totally. It totally paid off. But all the commercials and all the articles and all the Sony fueled hype could only do so much. Simple word of mouth was always the most effective. To talk about the playground buzz or lack thereof in some situations is Ian of the Nerds Abroadcast podcast, followed by Greg Seward and finally James of the Retrofits podcast. One of the greatest stories for Final Fantasy VII. There were a lot of us at the time playing it. I was, you know, around 13, 14. And a lot of my friends and I would talk about the game at school in our breaks and we'd say, have you tried this material company? I'm going to try that when I get home. All things like that, just passing on tips in the schoolyard. I used to love that. I love that too. I think there's a real communal experience with There's especially with games in that era. Just it brought people together, you know, and I think I think Final Fantasy more than probably some because again, the complexity like you really sometimes need to lean on your friends. Hey, did you get past this? How did you get past that? I had a lot of that, too. Growing up, there was there were a lot of us, about four or five of us that were playing it around the same time. They're more playing on the PlayStation's me playing on PC. And we'd get together and say, so whereabouts are you up to? I'm at... I've just got to Nibelheim. I've just got to this part that's just after Nibelheim. And there was one in the group who always said, I've just got to the part where you go into a castle and fight a frog. And we just all looked at him. you must be way ahead. We've not come to a castle with a frog. That must be way ahead. it turns out he was making the whole thing up and just listening to our tactics. No! No, how evil! I love it! That's so evil! Like, my gosh, that is trolling before trolling! I think back on that, I think, what an evil genius he was! And you guys are sitting there, where's the castle? Forrest the Frog Castle! I can't wait to see the Frog Castle! my gosh, It was only when we got to the end and said, where was that Frog Castle? He said, yeah, I lied about that. Yeah. Hey, yeah, I took all of your tips for how to beat all the bosses. That's all. that's so evil. So good, though. So nefarious. To me, from a video game standpoint, because again, it was sort of in the infancy of the internet, and for me personally, it was when I was really starting to spend a lot of time online, I'd started working on fan sites, I was in a community of gamers at that point, and everyone was playing this. It was a communal experience. But it went further than just my little nerd den online. Everyone was playing this. people that you didn't even know were video game players and might not have been. They might have bought their PlayStation to play Final Fantasy VII because it was the coolest thing to have. was the game, it was the bit of tech that everyone had to have at that point. Everybody was playing it and everybody was experiencing it and they were all doing it at the same time. And it very much harkens back to what we also had back then which was... Appointment television, you know big televised events We all sure experienced them at the same time and they were water cooler I was too young to work at anywhere that had a water cry, but hey, know what I mean? they were yeah, we would go to work I remember going to work and talking to people who have Final Fantasy 7 just like you went to work and talked to people about the the the Seinfeld finale right or you know or Game of Thrones much the wire. Yeah. Yeah, exactly I mean, that's what it was and it it I think it made me love the game more than I would have otherwise. Not to say that it's bad. I think it's a good game, but I liken it very much to the first Halo for me as well, because Halo is a great game. I'm not a big first person shooter fan, but I was living and working with people who were playing Halo, and it was a communal experience, and that's what I loved about that game. It was that I had so many people. I always had someone to talk to. I always had someone to play with. And to me Final Fantasy 7 definitely fits that bill again on it wasn't the first time that it happened to me playing a video game But it was the first time at that scale. Yeah that it had happened to me That's a really interesting point and I think that's what I'm discovering as I'm doing these first set of interviews is how much of Again, I remember the event of it because you couldn't escape it, but it's interesting You're saying how it's like it was a communal thing where everyone was doing it. and how that may have inflated and not inflate the quality. Because again, I do think there are some inherent great qualities of Final Fantasy seven, but definitely that idea of that not group think, but that idea of, everyone's checking this thing out and everyone's excited about a shared experience. Perfectly. Perfectly it, I think heightens it. And I think a lot of these episodes are going to be looking at that at that aspect of the shared experience. because you're right. This was the first one that everyone was playing. And if you weren't playing, you were left out. You were me cranky in the corner with my N64. I'm playing GoldenEye and I'm having a lot of fun. I don't care what you people are doing over there, Final Fantasy, whatever Final Fantasy 7. I was me. I was not in the communal experience. I mean, it's a pivotal game for when the industry was growing. And it was one of those moments. mean, you look back at the... at the different consoles, when you're talking about, I say video games, I'm always talking about consoles. know, like a bunch of us played Atari 2600s and ColecoVisions and stuff like that, but you weren't like a hardcore gamer when you were that age. And when I'm saying that, was like, you know, between five and 10 years old. But then like everybody had a Nintendo and like everybody had played Super Mario Brothers. It's similar to that. Everybody you knew, people you didn't knew played Super Mario Brothers. And, you know, then With the Genesis, it was sort of the next step forward where it's like, not everyone plays exactly the same thing, but I know a bunch of people that are playing this. And then the PlayStation, and I don't think we necessarily saw it coming at the time, the PlayStation was that next leap forward as far as making gaming a more ubiquitous hobby. And Final Fantasy VII was right at the center of that. always think about when it comes to seven is the hype because seven was the first Final Fantasy game to my recollection where it was hype like it was just everywhere. Do you guys recall what it was like in your social circles at school in the local electronics boutique or wherever you got your games like I mean, yeah, I used to I used to do game fellows. That was the one in the mall that yeah favorite before GameStop took over and changed everything to GameStop. But I remember it being such a huge thing among my small friend group. One of the really, really, truly fun things about growing up and you don't usually like to go blue on this show, so I will refrain from doing so. But I mean, in bum-fuck Texas, essentially. I was friends with the group of nerds and there were like 9 or 10 of us and that was sort of it. So we were allowed to just sit in our little information bubble and be weird little RPG goblins together. So I got to experience the hype a bit more intimately than people in a bigger city or something where it was like they actually had ads. all over the place and in different stores and so. And finally closing out this segment and this episode is the other half of Nerds Abroadcast, the Let's Play Princess, followed by the one and only Games with Coffee. What's your story with Final Fantasy VII? When did you first play it? What was your first impressions? This would be probably around 2001 to 2002 was when I got this game. I remember going to KB Toys at the Salishaw Plaza and getting two games that day. This? and Mega Man X4. Nice. Nice, two good gets. They were very good gets. And surprisingly enough, until, I probably got this around fourth grade, but it was only around sixth grade when I knew other people actually knew what this was. And I didn't really know what it was either. I just saw the guy at the store staring at this giant building, I'm like, what is this? What do you mean it's three discs? Was it for the PlayStation that set was it was that place that still PlayStation era or was that PS2 yet? We're probably around the PS2. Yeah, we're definitely in the PlayStation 2 era, but I didn't get it until that era. OK, was the PS2 backwards compatible with PS1? can't remember. Yes, but it was played it on the PS1 moderately. OK, gotcha. I couldn't remember if the PS2 was backwards compatible. OK, cool. So you played it a little after the the initial release, because it was released in 97. That would be correct. Yeah. So you watch. did you know a lot about it? it because again, it's Final Fantasy seven is one of those games was the first time, at least in my experience, where Final Fantasy became a big deal, like a capital B, capital D, big deal marketing blitz, etc. I'm always curious how much you knew about it beforehand, or was it just one of those? this is a new Fantasy game I haven't played yet. Surprisingly enough, this was my first Final Fantasy game. wow. One of my favorite franchises. over the course of the four years between when it came out and when I relatively played it, I never heard anybody talk about it. Those weren't the type of games that people around me were playing. So I didn't know anything about it. But as soon as I saw the name Squaresoft on it, that kind of triggered some memories because I grew up on Super Nintendo as my first console and one of my favorite games still to this day, though it might be because of nostalgia goggles, is Secret of Evermore. Right. So you see, at least you had that a little bit of a connection there. There's a little bit of connection. Yeah, there's of company connection going on. And I was like, wait a minute, I trust Secret of Evermore. This has to be good if there are seven of these. Yeah, if there are exactly. Now, when you... So you just basically got it off of the strength of, I know this developer and I like Secret of Evermore, so hey, let's give this a shot. That's a really interesting thing. So you didn't have much knowledge of Final Fantasy VII going into it. You just kind of got it because of the company. No, the most I knew about Square on the PlayStation 1 was through one of those demo discs. We had the interactive demo disc 8, which had a trailer for Parasite Eve. So that was... my understanding of Square on the PlayStation 1. Wow. That's a departure. That's interesting. That's cool. Demo discs. There will be an episode about demo discs at some point. That would be great. So fun. discs are so good. I about a lot of that too. I didn't play this up to this day. I never had a PlayStation as a kid. was older than you, so I was probably 17 when this came out and I was kind of out of games to a certain extent. I really wasn't playing a lot. was doing college stuff and getting ready for that whole world and I just didn't play a ton of games. So I never played this up to this day. I played it maybe 10 years ago, maybe more than that, probably 13 years ago on the PS3. Yeah, I just got like got it. was like, you know, I should play Final Fantasy 7 one of these days and played it and I really liked it. I didn't have the emotional connection a lot of people do, but I like it. I'm like, totally get why this is a classic. This makes sense. So for me, it's cool to hear somebody the perspective of somebody who played it of that era in that time. How was the buzz around school? Were people were kids talking about it? Because I remember Final Fantasy 7. being the first Final Fantasy that was a real big event release. And yeah, it should have been, but I mean, kind of asking the wrong person in this regard because I never talked to anybody about video games or stuff like that. I mean, I was bullied a lot. ADHD, Ritalin really messed up my... really messed me up. Didn't have a lot of people to really talk to about it. I mean, most I did, but just talked to is my brother. it wasn't until I was 14 when my cousin, he, immigrated from Guyana up to Canada at the time. And he had the PC port of Final Fantasy 7. And I saw him playing, he like, you play Final Fantasy 7? I was like, yeah, this is like one of my favorite games ever. I'm like, my God, mine too. And then ever since then, it's like during high school, it was around high school that like I started, you know, meeting people that had the same interests as I did. So I was able to talk. mean, at that point, like it was like eight, nine, 10, and 11 was like about to come out during that time too. So not a lot of people wanted to talk about Final Fantasy 7 anymore. It was more like about, yeah, it was about 10, it was about 11, 12 in a certain instance, because I graduated from school right when 12 came out. But yeah, not a lot of people were like buzzy about Final Fantasy 7 back in 1998, 99. I mean, especially as an 11, 12 year old. And we are just getting started on our exploration of Final Fantasy 7. Thank you so much for checking out the show. Thank you so much for hanging with me during the brief hiatus at the end of 2024. I was able to recharge, refresh, and get some of these episodes together. So thank you, thank you, thank you for giving me that leeway to do so. Many thanks as always to Pete, Harney, and Kev from the Discord for helping edit the interviews that end up in this episode. greatly appreciate your hard work. Thank you so much for listening to A Gamer Looks At 40 and until next time, please, please, please be kind to yourselves and each other.
