GameSpot has published an informative interview with PlayStation exec Shuhei Yoshida who helped launch the original PlayStation joining the team when it was meant to be an add-on for the Super Nintendo. Yoshida explains during the interview how they secured the long-awaited Final Fantasy VII as an exclusive to the Sony PlayStation. Final Fantasy Creator, Hironobu Sakaguchi, wasn’t enamoured with Nintendo opting to use cartridges for its next generation console and he was impressed with the CD-Rom format which allowed the team to create the game which he had always wanted to create. Sony was desperate to secure Final Fantasy VII as an exclusive for their new console and it turns out Yoshida’s boss was great at schmoozing with industry people and successfully hit it off with the vice president of Square, securing them the deal.
“However, Sakaguchi-san, the creator, was very unhappy with the decision that Nintendo made with Nintendo 64 to use cartridges.” Sakaguchi dreamed of shipping games with full 3D movies–epics that could truly immerse players in his fantastical world. “The cartridge has such a small memory that they didn’t allow him to realize this vision,” explains Yoshida. “So, he was very interested to work on a CD-ROM-based system.”
PlayStation, however, wasn’t the only CD-ROM system in town. With Sega also trying to nab Square’s newest game, Sony was desperate to sign Final Fantasy VII first. Luckily, Sony had a secret weapon up its sleeve. “My boss, who came from Sony Music Japan, was a really amazing schmoozer,” smiles Yoshida. “He hung out with another vice president of Square who was running the business side. I was taken with them to have dinner or do karaoke so many times, and he schmoozed and somehow convinced them that Sony is easy to work with.” The secret behind Final Fantasy VII coming to PlayStation? Sake and karaoke. “That’s how business is done in Japan!” laughs Yoshida.
