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SquareSoft to Develop for Nintendo Again
magicsquid writes: "GameSpot is carrying the news that Square has finally returned to Nintendo systems after a 5 year absence. This brings with it the knowledge that Final Fantasy XI will truly be playable on every console as well as PC to be uniquely massively multi-player." Planet Gamecube has a similar story.
Though some might say that Square is just turning out regurgitated crapola with the FF series (we won't mention Chrono Cross, PLEASE no...) it'll be a welcome change from PSO as the only MMORPG on a console.
Also, this does open up the ability for Square to bring in the old FF games... and.. mm, ChronoTrigger for GBA anyone? *drool*
Really, the argument between GCN and Xbox owners just got a little more one-sided with this announcement...
For those that don't know the backhistory, Square left Nintendo when the N64 went from a CD-based system to a cartridge-based. This was after Square had pledged their support, which was bad enough. Worse still, Square then went to other developers such as Enix(Dragon Warrior games), and convinced them to switch to the PSX as well.
The feud has finally ended, and it's a complete surprise. Hiroshi Yamauchi, president of Nintendo, is not the type to give in. No one's saying he did, but this announcement at least shows the guy can put business sense ahead of personal feelings. That's a revelation most in the industry would have strongly denied before today.
Actually, I think that, although no one said "Shit", and no one died a predictable hokey death, Zelda 64 (Both of them) had very well done storylines, as well as being quite difficult and having the best gameplay in the industry.
There's something about Nintendo. Sure, Sony is better at "Gimmicks" that grab the attention, I'll give you that... but the Nintendo is really, really good at delivering a game with great gameplay that really never gets boring.
When encryption is outlawed, ?o'AZ-,++o+i++##4AoA+-/-C++bI+/.+~
Wasn't it Yamauchi himself who said not so long ago, that essentially, after Square left Nintendo for Sony, that Square would be allowed to develop for Nintendo platforms again, over his dead body?
I'm assuming that since Yamauchi is retiring in a few months, that perhaps this is his way of making peace (and leaving a legacy) before his departure.
Last I heard Nintendo is sitting on a big fat pile of cash courtesy of strong franchise characters and the Gameboy. Square is currently in the economic toilet because of the debacle that was the Final Fantasy movie. Not to mention that they've lost a lot of street credit on their last bunch of sorry-ass excuses for games, it's just taking the mainstream (and noisy fanboys) awhile to wake up to the fact.
Square has been floundering for some time now and can use all the help they can get. They're probably thanking their lucky stars that Nintendo is also in serious need of securing software partnerships and was willing to talk with them. This is a compromise on both thier parts. If anything, they'll sink or swim together for the near future.
-- kwashiorkor --
Leaps in Logic
should not be confused with
Jumping to Conclusions.
"Nintendo can say what they want, but after the fiasco that was the N64, and the pressure from Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo needs Square a lot more than they'll let on."
Um... hello? Did you pay any attention to the last half-decade at all?
If anything, the "N64 fiasco" you refer to has shown that Nintendo DOESN'T need Squaresoft. While it may not be very enjoyable or as profitable as it could be, Nintendo has shown that they are quite capable of surviving on nearly no third party support at all. This is something that not even Sega has been able to pull off. I seem to recall the N64 outselling the PlayStation in the US. And how much more money did Ocarina of Time make than FF VII again?
Nintendo doesn't need Square. Square doesn't need Nintendo. Both could make a killing with a new relationship (think "Final Fantasy on Game Boy Advance"), but there is no need anywhere between the two. About the only people that have a real need here is Sony. With third-party game developers being so platform agnostic, this current console battle will be won by first- and second-party games. Nintendo is the world's best game developer hands down. Microsoft has made a few notable successes in the field of games. Sony, on the other hand...
If anything, Sqaresoft was a prosthetic first-party development house for the PSX, trying to release games in non-RPG genres on top of their usual fare. Square pretended they could be another Nintendo, Sega, or even Capcom (with games like Chocobo Racing and Brave Fencer Musashi) instead of the one-trick pony they generally tend to be. What Sony will do without exclusive Square games is hard to see.
"They need third-party games; first-party games just aren't enough (as the N64 showed)."
No, that's what the Dreamcast showed. The N64 showed that that rule doesn't apply when you have Mario, Zelda and Pokemon.
"Square leads the majority of buyers"
Only in Japan. It's only in recent years that Square has become mainstream outside of Japan, and I think that FF games being available on the PC has much to do with that.
IMO, if there are going to be any nails driven into coffins in the near future it will be when Metroid Prime hits the shelf. Especially because nobody seems to realize this.
Err no. Most Playstation games rated from crap to mediochre. It was Nintendo that was constantly trying to innovate, while the PS was a breeding ground of cookiecutter games, ports, and uninspired drivel.
The PS did have it's share of awesome games, but my search for those games was lost after sifting through all the crap that came out for it. I used to work at a game retailer, I had access to these games to play whenever I wanted, and still I found it hard to find anything worthwhile. Yet, my N64 kept me quite happy.
The PS had many more games than N64, but the number of great games paled in comparison to the mountain of crap. At least companies making games for the N64 were willing to take risks. The first run of PS games were Doom wannabes.
"Derp de derp."