Hironobu Sakaguchi explains he thinks gen-AI has potential as he defends his positive remarks about an AI-generated Final Fantasy 6 remake trailer.
It‘s easy to dismiss this as a reaction from an older dev who‘s simply out of touch. However, from what I‘ve been picking up people in Japan are very split on AI. For every artist, developer or writer that hates it there‘s another artist, developer or writer who says it‘s a tool like any other. But it does feel like it‘s mostly older guys who are already retired or close to it that don‘t have a problem with it sometimes.
“In the end, maybe it’s just that I’ve barrelled through 40 years of work and private life powered purely by ‘exciting things’,” he added
I think older people still have this optimistic view of technology, bordering on rose tinted. For the majority of their lives, they’ve seen technology evolve and expand, so they don’t understand the “new” negativity towards it. Enshittification is a new term to them, if they’ve heard it at all, but for many younger people it’s all they’ve ever known. For some, technology has always been inexplicably getting shittier. For others, technology that was once great has become a tool of oppression, entrapment, and misery in their lifetimes.
All these different groups, anecdotally, react very differently when you ask them about their thoughts on AI.
To be honest, I’m my experience those of us that are staunchly anti gen AI are a vocal minority.
I’ve gotten the opposite impression, especially with all those recent AI advocates getting booed and laughed at by students during university commencement speeches. It feels like the usual ‘powerful elites with huge platforms’ - including legacy and independent media - versus almost everyone else.
I hope you’re right. But in my anecdotal real life experience, the vast majority don’t care or are into it.
I am so torn on a FF6 3D remake. On the one hand I think it has huge potential - and is way more interesting than an FF9 remake (does anyone seriously think that game actually needs to be remade? It’s fine as it is!). But on the other I think FF6 is so spectacular in its current iteration that I also don’t want to fuck with it. The desire to remake FF7 was obvious - early 3D games have aged horribly and look like ass with modern eyes. But much like Chrono Trigger FF6 is in that peak era of pixel art and as so many indie games keep demonstrating year after year: pixel art is timeless.
I tried to play ff9 and it was rough. It’s good as a story vehicle but I’m spoiled on modern game mechanics. Additionally I wouldn’t mind an uprez.
That said, ff6 would benefit from it far far more.
Admittedly it’s been a minute and I might have rose-coloured glasses on FF9. It is a PS1 title and those have historically… not aged all too gracefully, let’s say.
I actually think FF8 and FF9 have aged wonderfully. Personally, it’s FF7 that hasn’t aged the best.
Yeah that was kind of my vibe. I mean, I don’t think anyone disagrees that 7 has aged the worst. It’s a great game, but visually speaking I think it looks terrible. 8 is better than 7 but still has problems like the pixelated faces. I still think 8 could be well positioned for a proper remake instead of that horrible “remaster” they did. Mechanically it’s kind of an awkward game but gunblades feel like they would be cool inside of the modern action combat framework of the remakes.
Regardless of how much you dislike AI, it’s indisputable the hate has gone too far. People are regularly receiving death threats just for using generative AI.
Clearly it isn’t affecting your livelyhood just yet, shut the fuck up.
shut the fuck up.
I bet you purport to support free expression when you go elsewhere on social media.
I dispute that the hate has gone too far. I think it could go farther.
Nah, farther. These people gotta learn not to use it by the rest of us shaming them.
In what way? The guy hasn’t been involved in a Final Fantasy game for 25+ years. He isn’t even part of Square Enix for Globs sake. The only thing tying him to the franchise is that he started it and directed it in the early days. Whatever his opinions on AI is it’s not going into Final Fantasy. And based on Mythwalker studios game output I don’t think it’s going there either. The man is basically retired and looking back at fanart.
It’s the same reason I regularly hand out death threats to people eating meat, driving cars, and creasing the corners of books as a bookmark. It’s imperative that they know I’m judging them, and I’m really important, so they need to be threatened with death on the regular for not agreeing with me.
Death threats are never acceptable, but public shaming is an extremely important pillar defining the morals of society, and we are not wrong to use it whenever necessary.
