Nintendo may be the most fascinating business to research in the video game industry. But it missed out on the first Final Fantasy game on the N64. The company has managed its history to run through a variety of ups and downs that no one ever anticipated, and they have had such a phenomenally successful run of things that continues to this day.
Nintendo has occasionally been so erratic that they have even caught prospective partners off guard, and Sony is no exception. There are also a few instances in Nintendo’s history where the company’s operations went horribly wrong. The possible collaboration between Sony and Nintendo on the SNES could be viewed along the same lines, albeit possibly on a scale that hasn’t been observed since.
The first Final Fantasy game wasn’t launched on Nintendo because it didn’t have a CD-ROM
Diehard Fans of Nintendo are aware that Sony and Nintendo nearly collaborated on a CD-ROM add-on for the SNES that was dubbed the SNES PlayStation. Perhaps its biggest mistake was when Nintendo changed its mind at the last minute and decided to sign a deal with Phillips.
After failing to collaborate with Sony on the SNES add-on, Sony launched the PlayStation, which has grown to be one of the largest gaming industry titans. Due to the absence of this CD-ROM, the company failed to launch the first Final Fantasy game.
In a new interview from VentureBeat, former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida stated Nintendo rejected Squaresoft’s (older name Square Enix) attempts to persuade them that CDs were the best option for the N64. Maybe Squaresoft wouldn’t have brought Final Fantasy to the PlayStation if Nintendo had taken that action. This is what Yoshida said:
Of course, initially, they weren’t interested. They were close to Nintendo. But Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Final Fantasy, loved the potential of CDs. His dream was to create a movie-like Final Fantasy game. He was disappointed when he learned that the Nintendo 64 still used cartridges.
Although Squaresoft tried to convince Nintendo to build a CD-ROM in its console at that time, the popular console company never believed that idea. That’s why they licensed the Super Nintendo add-on project to Sony in the first place because they believed CD-ROM was just too slow to ever make for a good game system.
Sakaguchi wanted to fit his game’s movies in the CDs because they were capable of doing that, unlike the cartridges of Nintendo. As a consequence, Final Fantasy went on to be released on the PlayStation instead of the N64.
That might not be the case with the Nintendo Switch 2
After that, a lot of Final Fantasy games surfaced on the Nintendo consoles. And it seems the highly anticipated Switch 2 is not going to be an exception as well. Although a recent leak indicates that Square Enix will release both FF 7 Remake and FF 7 Rebirth for the home console/handheld hybrid, the company has not yet revealed any Switch 2 games.
According to NatetheHate, Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth are coming to Xbox & Switch 2.
Remake will come in 2025, Rebirth in 2026. pic.twitter.com/mf6T7Sy4yU
— Stealth (@Stealth40k) January 10, 2025
NateDrake, also known as Nate the Hate, is the source of this leak. He has previously leaked Switch 2 news with accuracy. According to information shared on Resetera, Square Enix has no immediate plans to release FF 16 on the platform and is instead focusing on FF 7 Remake and Rebirth for Switch 2.
We will have a better idea of the capabilities of the Switch 2 if Square Enix brings FF 7 Remake and Rebirth to the system as rumored. Although there might be significant compromises made to get the games to run on Nintendo’s new system, it appears that the Switch 2 might be more powerful than some anticipate.
Finally, it is impossible to predict when fans will be able to see FF 7 Remake and Rebirth running on the Switch 2 themselves, so they won’t know for sure until they do.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
