FF X US version will not have Dolby Digital 5.1

I\'ve been meaning to post this for a while.  I have no idea if this is already generally known.  A guy (SeanM) who claims to work for Squaresoft posted on a home theater forum stating that Final Fantasy X had DD 5.1 in the japanese release, but it had to be removed for the US version.  Here\'s his quote:

I work for Squaresoft (Square Electronic Arts). The 5.1 in the Japanese version is only in the cutscenes as stated by other members. Unfortunately we had to take it out for the US version (looooong story). The Bouncer also has 5.1 in the cutscenes.

and the link:  http://www.hometheaterspot.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=35&t=000392

Very unlickly. With the amount of time they put into it. The vioce overs would be simple to place. However I will accept the possibility.

I don\'t trust that post, but it would really suck if they did. I don\'t see why they\'d take it out, when the scenes were already made in DD.

/ dm /

I don\'t use the 5.1 anyways.  I need a new reciever..  For some reason on my receiver, when it switches from Dolby to 5.1 I get this really loud static and the it plays.

I think its sending the digital data over to fast before my receiver has time to switch..

The 5.1 in the Japanese release wasn\'t used during the cutscenes when you were playing the game.  There was a hidden option you could get during the game that allowed you to play all the cutscenes back using 5.1 DD sound, but the 5.1 was not used during normal play -- even in the cutscenes.  It seems highly suspect to me that they\'d remove it.  I don\'t care if it\'s a "long story" or not, if someone wants to be credible they\'d explain themselves regardless of length.

Originally posted by teiresias
I don\'t care if it\'s a "long story" or not, if someone wants to be credible they\'d explain themselves regardless of length.

I got the impression from the other posts in that Home Theater Spot thread that it wasn\'t just a "looooong story,"but actually something SeanM couldn\'t disclose.  Maybe it\'s a sensitive legal issue with Squaresoft.  That\'s the only reasonable explanation I can think of.

The same sorta thing happened over at home theater forum.  A lady who works for Microsoft informed us that the Xbox would not output 480p progressive playback for DVD movies, but only for games.  She told us this in late September, way before any videogaming site article or press release was made.  People were skeptical at first, but as the weeks passed people saw the DVD kit box had the words (NTSC video for DVD playback), then the official site said the same thing for its accessories.  Finally Microsoft made the official announcement a week and a half before launch.

She says it was due to Macrovision issues, and m$ was more than happy to include 480p output for DVDs but would run into some problems with MV corp. if they did.  They decided to take the easy route and do 480i instead.  She wouldn\'t elaborate on the details as they were corporate matters.  Microsoft wanted to change this spec as quietly as possible.

For some reason I tend to put more stock in the rumors on the HT boards since they have many members involved in the industry.  Thanks for the news Cored.  Whether it\'s true or not, it\'s nice of the guy to release this info (if he actually does work for Square that is).