None of them had any gameplay footage. A lot of people thought it was some kind of interactive movie. I remember seeing and hearing people sold it back and would say it was boring or didn’t know it had reading in it, hated that you had to wait to attack, etc. Sony did that on purpose and I am surprised you didn’t point that out in your blog.
I wasn’t an active gamer during that time so I’ll take your word on it. One great thing about emails and people asking questions is how they lead you down a road you didn’t think was there or forgot. I was unaware of just how massive a marketing budget and developing budget Final Fantasy VII had to previous Final Fantasy games. I also forgot just how slighted Western gamers felt when many games from Japan were nerfed or ‘dumbed down’ because ‘Western audiences aren’t as smart as Japanese audiences’ (which is identical to the ‘hardcore/casual’ issue going on today). Nintendo of America deserves much blame for not bringing over many of those Japanese titles and could be a likely reason why Final Fantasy never got big in the West until the franchise went to Sony. In context, however, NOA had major things they had to do back in the 80s and early 90s such as rebuild a market that had been crashed, fight off insane litigation from Atari and even the United States Congress, and in the early 90s fight off the Sega Genesis. This generation, NOA has had the sunniest time it ever has had. Bringing over new titles could spark a new phenomenon. Lately, the only news I hear from NOA is what new office they are making and how it has Mario themed rooms and roof top gardens.
