《最终幻想7》终于登陆任天堂，20年前它一手把PlayStation变成劲敌

对于全球数百万的任天堂游戏玩家来说，多年幻想终于成真。

风靡全球的冒险类游戏《最终幻想7》（Final Fantasy VII）首次面世于1997年，但并非通过任天堂的游戏平台。20几年后的今年，任天堂的Switch上终于推出了这款游戏。

对于游戏爱好者而言，这是一条重磅新闻，因为《最终幻想7》一直是史上公认最受欢迎的游戏之一：2000年，极客网站IGN的读者调查显示，该游戏被认为是20世纪最出色的角色扮演类游戏。《时代》周刊（TIME）还称其为有史以来最好的视频游戏之一。

但《最终幻想7》与任天堂的历史纠葛也很复杂。20世纪90年代中期，游戏开发商Square（也称为SquareSoft）开始制作新一集《最终幻想》游戏，并将采用3D游戏设置。该公司与任天堂长期合作，但任天堂当时即将发布备受期待的任天堂64平台。

2017年Polygon网站上发布了一篇文章，讲述了大量幕后故事，称任天堂64的存储媒介难以实现《最终幻想7》期望达成的技术和创意野心。于是，该公司选择与索尼合作，索尼一直在开发PlayStation，尝试使用光驱驱动来和强大的任天堂进行竞争。

当时，“没有人看好PlayStation。”游戏行业的一位资深人士向Polygon表示，“没有人确定它到底会不会成功，大多数人都认为它不行。早期流出的图片中，PlayStation看起来像马桶一样，更是加深了所有人的怀疑。”

《最终幻想7》会打消每一个人对PlayStation的担心。该游戏于1997年年底在美国面世，据报道营销花了近1亿美元，引发巨大轰动，一些零售商甚至打破索尼的发售日期限制以满足市场需求。该游戏全球销量高达几百万套，PlayStation也因此成为有史以来最受欢迎的视频游戏平台之一。

22年前，PlayStation因为《最终幻想7》成为任天堂的强劲对手，如今终于登陆Switch平台，售价15.99美元。这比你在1997年花的钱还要少——而且还不用在CompUSA排队就能买到。（财富中文网）

译者：Agatha

A long-time fantasy has just come true for millions of Nintendo video gamers around the world.

Final Fantasy VII, the beloved adventure game that was first released in 1997—but not for Nintendo—was made available on the company’s Switch platform today, more than two decades after its debut.

The move is a major deal for video-game lovers, as Final Fantasy VII has long been considered one of the top titles of all time: In 2000, a readers’ poll on the geek-site IGN named it the best role-playing game of the 20th century. TIME also named it one of the best video games of all time.

But Final Fantasy VII also had a complicated history with Nintendo. In the mid 1990s, game developer Square, also known as SquareSoft, began working on a new Final Fantasy installment, one that would feature 3D gameplay. The company had a long relationship with Nintendo, which at that point was working on the soon-to-be-released, highly anticipated Nintendo 64 platform.

But according to an extensive behind-the-scenes account published in Polygon in 2017, the technological and creative ambitions of Final Fantasy VII would have been hard to pull off on Nintendo 64 cartridges. Instead, the company partnered with Sony, which had been developing PlayStation, its disc-driven attempt to compete to the mighty Nintendo brand.

At the time, “nobody had confidence in PlayStation,” one game-industry veteran told Polygon. “Nobody knew whether it would work, and most people thought that it wouldn’t. And the early pictures that came out, when it looked like a toilet bowl, confirmed everybody’s suspicions.”

Final Fantasy VII would put all fear about PlayStation to rest. The game was launched in the United States in late 1997 with a reported marketing campaign of close to $100 million, creating so much excitement that some retailers broke Sony’s street-date restrictions, just to meet demand. The game went on to sell millions of copies worldwide, and helped make PlayStation one of the most popular video-game platforms of all time.

Now, 22 years after it turned PlayStation into a contender, Final Fantasy VII finally arrives on Switch, where it retails for $15.99. That’s less than you would have paid in 1997—and you don’t even have to wait in line at CompUSA to grab a copy.