Square Enix Plots Console Dominion
According to the yogis at Gamasutra, Square Enix may be aiming to hit a limit break on more than just the usual suspects: Sony with a side of Nintendo. In the Wall Street Journal, Square Enix senior vice president Michihiro Sasaki waxed Machiavellian with regards to both his company’s supremacy and plans for future expansion of the empire:
We don’t want the PlayStation 3 to be the overwhelming loser, so we want to support them…But we don’t want them to be the overwhelming winner either, so we can’t support them too much.
Smell the blood in the water, gamers? Meet me for more gory details after the jump…
According to the yogis at Gamasutra, Square Enix may be aiming to hit a limit break on more than just the usual suspects: Sony with a side of Nintendo. In the Wall Street Journal, Square Enix senior vice president Michihiro Sasaki waxed Machiavellian with regards to both his company’s supremacy and plans for future expansion of the empire:
We don’t want the PlayStation 3 to be the overwhelming loser, so we want to support them…But we don’t want them to be the overwhelming winner either, so we can’t support them too much.
Ouch. For real? I mean yes, that’s a sound strategy, but it’s rather ballsy for the VP of Sony’s trump card to issue a statement that could be interpreted as, “Yeah, Sony’s not looking so hot, so we’re gonna play it safe.” In the WSJ, no less.
Square Enix must see itself (with good reason) as a major player in Sony’s success, but perhaps these remarks signal a sea change in Square Enix focus; could Dragon Quest IX and Kingdom Hearts III end up not being PS3 exclusives?
Or, as Gamasutra suggests, could Sasaki be speaking to less radical support of the Nintendo DS, what with all the fancy ports, upgrades and remakes of Final Fantasy games to hit that system? There have been hints of more remakes coming to the DS after Final Fantasy III, and Square Enix has announced a slew of DS games in development: Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker, Chocobo to Mahou no Ehon, Subarashikiko no Sekai: It’s A Wonderful World, Front Mission 1st; Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings and Seiken Densetsu: Heroes of Mana. Phew, that’s a mouthful. And I know from mouthfuls…
What will the future bring for the house that Cloud built? Stay tuned, gamers, we’re as curious as you are.
tiny dancer
Posted to Video Games on 26 September 2006
· Comments (3)
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Hmm, still, I woudlnt’ read too much into it. Everyone knows Sony and Square are pretty much joined at the hip. As much as I’d love to see them show a bit more love to the 360 than porting a old game like FFXI.
Love the mouthful comment… great for my morning jog ;)
I’m thinking Square-Enix’s main Final Fantasy series will stay mostly Sony exclusive, with off-shoots like Crystal Chronicles and FFXI going to other consoles. Other franchises seem to be fair game though with Project Sylpheed and Dragon Quest Swords on 360 and Wii. As far as handhelds are concerned though, Square-Enix seems to be taking a very firm stance on supporting DS more than PSP, which personally I’m a fan of.