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Opinion: Leona Lewis in Final Fantasy XIII Changes the Tune

When Final Fantasy VIII released a decade ago, it included Eyes On Me by Faye Wong, marking the first lyrical theme song in series history. The single sold over 400,000 copies in Japan and reflected how mainstream Final Fantasy had become in that country. A tradition was established, with Emiko Shiratori, Rikki, and Angela Aki singing theme songs for Final Fantasy IX, X and XII respectively.

When Sayuri Sugawara was announced to sing the theme songs for the Japanese versions of Final Fantasy XIII, it shocked no one; when Leona Lewis was announced to be lending her song My Hands to the American and European versions of the game, it should have shocked nearly everyone.

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Nineball2112 - contributor
Published: 27 days ago | Article | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360 | PC

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MariusElijah - 27 days 1 hour ago

1 -

face it games are going mainstream and you "hardcore" gamers cant do anything about it, just lay there and watch it happen, soon your little sister and grandma will be playing FF as you die a little inside :)

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hay - 27 days 1 hour ago

1.1 -

Actually I didn't even knew about her existence before this "fateful" FF13 announcment, I'm hardly into pop.

While I don't mind Square using her song for any reason they got, I'd prefer to hear some song composed specifically for this game. It'd fit better.

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Demonsdown - 27 days 1 hour ago

1.2 -

Good the more people that play rpgs the better more people playing mean more will get made.

I don't like her music I think she tries too hard but I'm only going have to listen to it for about 30seconds at the start and maybe through the credits.

But you know taking the opinion of somebody that just said that games are growing up because they put a song in a Japanese made game from some new North American poptart may not be the most intelligent thing to do.

And maybe it says something of people living in NA when a game studio feels they they need to change a none english song to a english song to be accepted over here.

Maybe its not about hardcore gamer or casual gamer and Maybe its not gaming that needs to grow up.

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Sophos - 26 days 23 hours ago

1.3 -

Demonsdown: be careful for what you wish for, oftentimes making something mainstream means generalizing it in different ways. Perhaps by making gameplay simpler, perhaps by changing the language. But in doing so, inevitably it tends to muddle what made the game special and unique in the first place. Perhaps I'm just worrying about nothing, but if the Wii shovelware, or rockband/guitar hero 8 is any indication of mainstream, then I don't think you nor I would want that...

I do agree when you say that it might not be smart to say games are growing up when they include pop culture stars... I'm curious though as to whether Square Enix actually did focus testing on these issues, or if they somehow just concluded that NA and EU audiences would want english everything in FF13.

I still think that people should write to Square-Enix and let them know that gamers want a choice on the matter! (EN + JP options)

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Saaking - 26 days 20 hours ago

1.4 -

Hardcore gamers made the big three what they are today. I'm sure this type of gaming won't just go away. Sure, there is going to be proliferation of more casuals titles and elements, but I'm certain devs will still support those who kept them up. If casual gaming takes over I might just need to change my hobby.

Oh, and the song SUCKS. It does NOT fit with FF at ALL.

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UltimateIdiot911 - 26 days 20 hours ago

1.5 - @Sophos

It's really just SE becoming to greedy and trying to expand in the wrong way. They are so desperate to westernize and expand in the west that they fail to realize that the people who made them who they are don't like these changes.

Square Soft made changes for improvement. The jump from Nintendo to Sony was a decision to improve the gaming experience. If Nintendo had went with disc based games, who knows, maybe FF would still be primary on Nintendo console and the jump to have it on PS3 would have been the outrage.

Now, it's just SE making changes to get money from a market that don't care about them. It's like Nintendo, they leave the hardcore gamers pretty much in the cold in favor of the mass casual implusive buyers but the problem with SE is just that JRPG is still very much a niche market who normally value it being a JAPANESE RPG. If I really wanted a WRPG, I simply go buy a WRPG.

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HDgamer - 26 days 20 hours ago

1.6 -

Number 1 you must be new to video games, because they have been mainstream for quite some time.

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Godmars290 - 26 days 19 hours ago

1.7 - @MariusElijah

What you say may be true, but that doesn't mean that turncoats such as yourself can say it openly.

You wont know where or when "it" will happen, but you'll know why...

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SaiyanFury - 26 days 14 hours ago

1.8 -

OK, I was willing to give this article validation until I read this paragraph: "The Lewis song is also a keen acknowledgement by RCA and Square Enix that casual game players are among the fans of Final Fantasy. In many cases, there are those who simply watch the story unfold while someone else plays. This song reaches out to non-gamers (particularly women) who might be intimidated by a complex RPG title, along with fans of mainstream music who may have only heard of Final Fantasy in passing before this, let alone played a game in the franchise before."

Casual game players follow JRPGs? Really? Last I check the definition of casual gamers means that they plays games as a pass-time, not for the depth and direction of a Japanese Role Playing Game. Casual gamers; IE: non-gamers are interested in real core gaming which you must invest at least 40+ hours? Are you kidding me? The song reaches out to non-gamers? Why would people who don't normally play deep games be attracted to a deep RPG series because of a song? Again, let me apologise on behalf of RPGamers, but I don't see the general masses playing a deep game BECAUSE of it's depth and length.

Final Fantasy VII brought RPGs more mainstream to core gamers because we love games with depth and length of play. The general audience has the attention span the length of a pinky finger nail. I don't see them playing through an in depth game like Final Fantasy XIII.
I think I'll be importing a version that has the original music. Disagree if you feel the need to do so, but that's my take on the situation.

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Tomdc - 26 days 12 hours ago

1.9 -

I don't think it really shows anything.. anyone who gets worked up about it is a retard! The article says you would expect to see something more like dragonforce in the game but a womens voice just seems far more apropriate and would be more similar to the japanese songs?! I'm happy her song is in there because I like her but aside from that it means nothing in terms of how mainstream games are getting it's merely used as an excuse to write an article about gamings position in the mainstream. I'm not saying that gaming isn't becoming more mainstream, just that this article is stupid and pointless! :P

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whoelse - 26 days 9 hours ago

1.10 -

"up-and-coming pop star"

I think she's past that stage already!!

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Reibooi - 26 days 9 hours ago

1.11 -

Let me state this the song sucks and it doesn't belong in the game. And not for the reason most people think.

While I think the song is just bad and doesn't fit that's not my main issue.

My issue is that it's a random song from a random artist that has nothing to do with the game at all. The Japanese theme song WAS WRITTEN FOR THE GAME!!! It fits the game it makes sense to the story and should be there. There is a song that has nothing to do with the characters or story line and when you hear it you are gonna wonder why the hell it's there. There is no reason for it to be there.

This who BS about main stream and no main stream means jack. RPG's are a niche market and cannot even remotely be called main stream. So this isn't SE trying to give the game more main stream appeal it's SE screwing up a perfectly good game with a totally unnecessary song.

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Xof - 26 days 23 hours ago

2 - I don't really like it.

When I play a localised game, or watch a foreign movie, I want to experience as much of the "original" as I can. Is there any good reason to slop someone else' song over the original?

Music is one of the few things that can be appreciated regardless of culture or language.

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rdgneoz3 - 26 days 23 hours ago

2.1 -

I wish they just had the Japanese song sung in English, loved it for kingdom hearts 1 & 2. The one for the NA release just sucks... Hopefully they include the Japanese audio and its song with subtitles.

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IdleLeeSiuLung - 26 days 19 hours ago

2.2 - Don't worry! It will surely come as a DLC that you have to pay for.

....

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3 huangzhixian132 | 26 days 23 hours ago - deleted by mod -

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Bloodshoteyz - 26 days 20 hours ago

4 -

I still am really excited about this title..been a fan since 1 thru 6 which rlly was jus 1 thru 3 remade, but i do agree that the thought of full fledged NA catering is a wrong choice on SE's behalf. I will always love classic FF and hope that SE does not lose sight on why there classics were such big hits here in the west.

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Bodyboarder_VGamer - 26 days 20 hours ago

4.1 -

Classic FF games weren't big in the west, FFVII and onwards were big in the west.

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Bloodshoteyz - 26 days 20 hours ago

4.2 -

well i beg to differ...i have been playin the series since its came into the west and many more of my friends would agree that the games were deff. a real turning point in the rpg era, i guess it could be considered more like a cult following such as evil dead the movie but i am prolly really speakin more from my own emotions on how big the series was for me and you are right that not many ppl paid attention to the series untill the release of VII

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Obama - 26 days 20 hours ago

5 -

This turns me off so much. Like I have said, the song is not bad in itself but it totally doesn't fit in with FF. It sounds awkward as a FF theme song.

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The Great Melon - 26 days 20 hours ago

5.1 -

Agree with you there. I am looking forward to the international version of the game like they did with FFX, Kingdom Heats, etc. where they included both language tracks. Hopefully then I will be able to play the game the way it is originally made.

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Fatal Blow - 26 days 20 hours ago

6 -

I don't want her song My Hands to be in the eu/us version firstly it don't make sense with the game at all this is a big flop looks like i will get the jap version if it has her song tho

boy the game took a very long time to come and now this enix wrong move to a great game

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Ps_alm3k - 26 days 20 hours ago

7 - it was Microsoft fault!!!

no....... really!

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fffan9391 - 26 days 19 hours ago

8 - I liked Leona Lewis

Until this was announced.

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riksweeney - 26 days 18 hours ago

8.1 -

I disagree with your statement. I *never* liked Leona.

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StrboyM - 26 days 18 hours ago

9 - I have a problem

with a lot of this. most of you have gone over most of it.

the song doesn't fit. Heck it wasn't even written for the game.
I'm a Leona Lewis fan, but I'm sue she has never played a FF ever (not required, but it would help)

in that article particularly he states

"In many cases, there are those who simply watch the story unfold while someone else plays. This song reaches out to non-gamers (particularly women) who might be intimidated by a complex RPG title, along with fans of mainstream music who may have only heard of Final Fantasy in passing before this, let alone played a game in the franchise before."

So adding mainstream music to this game will magically make it accessible and understandable by people who never played or thought it was too complex without the "SONG"?

LMAO....Beyonce with be doing the theme song for FFVS..."If ya like it then ya better put a fabula nova crystal on it" lmao

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Arsenal4Ever - 26 days 15 hours ago

9.1 -

LOLOL hahahaa +buubles

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J@D - 26 days 11 hours ago

9.2 -

bubbles+ make laugh. U vould write some lyrics lol.

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saimcheeda - 26 days 18 hours ago

10 - She

is hot!

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riksweeney - 26 days 18 hours ago

11 -

This is nothing but a big marketing push. Lewis has an album coming out tomorrow and is doing a world tour next year. Simon Cowell has basically forced one of her random songs into a game that will sell millions in the hope that when Lewis' world tour kicks off, everyone will buy tickets to see the Final Fantasy singer.

Fortunately I don't subscribe to this kind of crap so unfortunately I won't be buying FF13 anymore.

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Eric Cartman - 26 days 18 hours ago

12 - Look how far has the FF series come...?

From Nobuo Uematsu to Leona Lewis?

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DanteLinkX - 26 days 17 hours ago

13 -

Avenged Sevenfold would be the best music for this game lol, imagine Seize the day, MIA, or any of those amazing songs, jesus christ, full of epic win would the game are be LOL.

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Redempteur - 26 days 14 hours ago

14 - First lyrical song ??

" one winged angel " ??? - FF7

it does seems this song had lyrics even if they were in latin .

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Eric Cartman - 26 days 11 hours ago

14.1 - I'm not sure...

but I think the lyrics in One-Winged Angel were not original but were taken straight from Carmina Burana. Still, lyrics are lyrics and I side with you. :)

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Becko - 26 days 10 hours ago

15 -

Well in my opinion I think this song is much more better than the vocal music theme of FF12, at least the one of FF13 has more strength and personality... FF12 one was very dull to my ears.

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Godmars290 - 26 days 8 hours ago

16 -

I would give my opinion of the song, but after tracking it down on Youtube, but as MariusElijah puts it I die a little inside three seconds in.

I'm guessing its standard Western pop-music pap. The same crap you'd hear in a low-end Vegas bar.

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rob6021 - 26 days 3 hours ago

17 -

Square-enix needs to seriously considering including the option to play the original Japanese track instead of this one in the game.

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somedude5892 - 25 days 8 hours ago

18 - Wait...this is still real? come on SE let us in on the joke...it's a joke right se?....right? :(

....
This has me thinking about not getting the game.. Maybe I will have to buy the international version...
::sigh:: that will be a lot of cash out of my wallet...

SE really, did no one think about this when you decided to go for it?

Come on guy. Pick a new song. Something that will at least fit the damn game! I don't even care who sings it! This chick, William Hung, I don't care!

As long as it goes with the game setting! You wouldn't put "I like big butts" in a kids movie would you?! Of course not because it dose not make any seance! Just like this dose not make seance.

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elcompa425 - 26 days 20 hours ago

1 - Now..

Some one give me a little knowledge...I read Saaking's comment in the "GAMER ZONE" about hardcore gamers and it made me ponder....what exactly defines a "hardcore gamer". I find that term to be quite subjective that is thrown around rather loosely.

Cheers

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Bodyboarder_VGamer - 26 days 20 hours ago

1.1 -

The time you invest into the hobby.

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lukeb4dunk - 26 days 19 hours ago

1.2 - hmmm

I think you nailed it when you said the term is subjective. I think everyone has their own definition of "hardcore".

I for one, have been playing since pong. I've personally owned a console of every generation since the Atari 2600. In some cases, I feel I could be considered a hardcore gamer and others, not so much. I think it's a mixture of time allotted to playing, money spent, the varying genres you play and maybe even the length of years you have been playing. I really don't know.

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Bloodshoteyz - 26 days 20 hours ago

2 -

I take the term..well in my case as someone who was 14 once like myself and locked themselves away from society for days trying to conquer games like classic FF and Suikoden back in the 90's :D. Someone who's roots go back to playin Super Mario at 7 and has never turned their back on gaming to this day. Someone like myself who has spent countless dollars on video games and hardware since the dawning of the genre itself =).

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elcompa425 - 26 days 20 hours ago

2.1 - I see...

then I am not a "hardcore gamer". Perhaps just a "gamer". Never really thought I was hardcore anyway, just tickled my brain and was just curious. Thanks.

Cheers

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PopEmUp - 26 days 20 hours ago

2.2 - so

in other word hardcore = no life? haha facking hilarious

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Bloodshoteyz - 26 days 20 hours ago

2.3 -

I mean i work, but outside of work i guess i would agree. I have no life...LOL

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Mr Face Creamer - 26 days 14 hours ago

3 - Leona Lewis...?

What's next? Mariah Carey? Akon? Beyonce?

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J@D - 26 days 11 hours ago

3.1 -

Yeah, Beyonce song... Freakun Dress Up (I think that's the right name of the song) could be the "RIGHT" song for FFX-2 intro instead of realEmotion. Yeah, sir.... S-E it is a joke.

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