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.

Comments

Cool. Finally, decent RPGs...

[binarytoaster]

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...

ORGASM!!!

[Apreche]

WTF took them so long. Yeah screw karma I gots 50. Now my GameCube 0wnz all j00 who spent 100$ extra on a PS2 for nothing. No matter what you say.

Re:ORGASM!!!

[mcelli]

Now my GameCube 0wnz all j00 who spent 100$ extra on a PS2 for nothing. No matter what you say.

Again slashdot is a podium for developed critical argument about the pros and cons of different platforms. Also notice the advanced discourse used by this critic. Truly a rational and developed mind.

Next time you "ORGASM!!!" please leave the jiz in some toilet paper and not on slashdot for me to read.

M

Complete Surprise

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Great news for Nintendo...

[Karma Sink]

Personally, I've found that the FF series is probably the only reason I would plunk down cash for a PS2. Now that I'll be able to play Mario, Zelda, and FF on the same system again, the Gamecube is the only way I would possibly go.

The one move that would make this perfect, IMO, would be if they would go back and bring the rest of the Final Fantasy series over to the ... then it would be gaming nirvana.

A sudden change of heart, it seems.

[Ryu2]

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?

Re:A sudden change of heart, it seems.

[vitaflo]

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.

Re:A sudden change of heart, it seems.

[kwashiorkor]

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.

This has been an interesting drama...

[NanoGator]

Square basically stabbed Nintendo in the back, telling game makers not to develop for the N64. It is my understanding this is why Enix didn't release an N64 RPG. Square publically apologized for this last year, for exactly that reason.

It's because of this, Yamamuchi's attitude was basically "We don't need Square. They need us. They lost money on the FF movie, and developing only for the Playstation won't make enough money to make up for that.".. or something along those lines. He didn't feel that Nintendo needed Square to be big, but Square needed Nintendo in order to get back in the black.

I have to admit, I'm surprised Yamamuchi is putting money into Square for this project. The only thing I can think of is that Square has something up their sleeve to make the Game Cube and the Game Boy Advance pair together. Square is an ambitious enough company that I wouldn't be surprised at all if they came up with an FF game for both GB and GC that can be played seperately, but when put together it brings a lot more.

Imagine if the GameCube version was the full plot, battles, etc, but the GBA version was for training your characters and improving their skills. Or maybe something even more sophisticated like the GBA version is a stripped down version of the game. Like you play it on the Game Cube, then you stop and save your progress to the GBA version, then you can continue the adventure on the road.

Man... if they did that, that'd be killer.

Have fun with your vaporware

[PaxTech]

Now my GameCube 0wnz all j00 who spent 100$ extra on a PS2 for nothing. No matter what you say.

Excuse me, what was that you said? I couldn't hear you since I have my Grand Theft Auto 3, Metal Gear Solid 2, and my non vaporware Final Fantasy X games stuck in my ears.

If they don't release a single new game for PS2, I still feel I got my money's worth out of those three games..

Success of MMORPGs

[skroz]

Now that will be truly impressive. The MMORPG has really caught on, and really has suffered no limitations. Combine that with the incredible success fo the FF series, which has led to some people purchasing game systems solely for that game, and you have something unbelievable. Combine THAT with the top four gaming platforms and you have a virtually guaranteed cash cow. If they can pull this off with the quality of an EQ or DAoC, Square will be able to afford another bomb, er... movie.

(Invidentally, I really enjoyed the FF movie. It's just too bad that nobody else did.)

Hmm

[weird mehgny]

There was definitely secret money involved when Squaresoft abandoned Nintendo for Sony and the PS.

The official argument was that their games would not fit on cartridges, so they chose a CD-based console. But why did they choose the PlayStation? Why not Sega's Saturn? At that time, every other newcomer console had failed, why would Sony's be any different? Sega was quite well established in the console business at the time, Sony was not, everything indicated that Saturn would make a success.

I do smell conspiracy...

Re:Hmm

[Tofuhead]

Sega Saturn was a difficult development platform, cost more than the PSX, and featured sub-par 3-D graphics and FMV capabilities relative to the Playstation. For example, whereas the PSX version of Lunar Silver Star Story Complete was able to take advantage of the PSX's built-in MJPEG decoder, the Saturn received two versions: one version that had cropped, low-resolution FMV, and one version that required the Saturn VCD playback card for its hardware MPEG decoder in order to play the FMV in full-screen at high-res. By the time development of FF7 had begun, similar facts would have been common knowledge to developers, easily making Square's decision for them.

Beyond the Saturn's limitations, there is also the fact that Square tends to ally themselves with the biggest partner that will have them. Even taking Nintendo into consideration, they don't come any bigger than Sony.

However, the Saturn had other strengths, and I by far prefer it over the PSX for 2-D games, particularly fighters and shooters.

< tofuhead >

Final Fantasy Unlimited

[90XDoubleSide]

In IGN’s coverage, they speculate that the new game will be Final Fantasy Unlimited, based on the anime. NOA’s VP also hinted that the title will include GBA connectivity.

While it is possible that Nintendo would have the Gamecube modem and broadband adapter ready in time for a MMORPG Final Fantasy Game, this seems far more likely as just the other day Miyamoto was talking was talking about the problems with online console gaming. Personally, I would rather have a great, offline RPG that can compete with the goodness of FF4-6 than something I have that requires me to shell out a lot more money for hardware (hence the $199 GCN in the first place :)

Re:Thank God.

[Karma Sink]

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.

This isn't exactly accurate either

[oGMo]

Square basically stabbed Nintendo in the back, telling game makers not to develop for the N64.

Nintendo has done more than their share of backstabbing too, and they've caused most of their own problems. First they backstabbed Sony with the N64 CDROM deal. They backstabbed Square by refusing to move from the outmoded cartridge game format, keeping Square from being able to create Final Fantasy VII. (They started in this direction, see the Final Fantasy SGI demo. In the end, Square said they could have done FF7 for the N64, it just would have cost $7k for the cartridge.)

Thus the rise and domination of Sony. It's interesting to note that every platform Square has seriously developed for has been the dominant platform: NES, GameBoy, SNES, PlayStation, PS2.

I have to admit, I'm surprised Yamamuchi is putting money into Square for this project.

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. Excluding Square is not really an option. They need third-party games; first-party games just aren't enough (as the N64 showed).

That said, I don't mean to imply I'm upset in any manner at this news. This is great! I've wanted to see Square and Nintendo get back together for awhile... I want to see Square stuff on my GBA, and getting a GCN I'd love to get Square games on that.

Plus, as history has shown (see: Dreamcast), Square leads the majority of buyers, and this is probably a nail in the coffin of the XBOX. ;-)

Re:This isn't exactly accurate either

[NanoGator]

"First they backstabbed Sony with the N64 CDROM deal."

Do you mean the Super Nintendo CD? If so... then this isn't exactly true. What happened there was that Sony wanted an all in one unit that played Super NES and the new CD-Based games where they could slap their name on the unit, call it 'PlayStation', and get royalties for every game made. Here's a website that tells part of the story: http://www.emulationzone.org/consoles/snes/cdrom.h tm ... but the whole story is in an early issue of Next Generation magazine.

"They backstabbed Square by refusing to move from the outmoded cartridge game format, keeping Square from being able to create Final Fantasy VII."

Nintendo didn't backstab Square by going with cartridge format. Nintendo made a very wise choice that cartridge was the way to go with the N64. There were several advantages to it:

- Fast Load times.

- The system would be a lot cheaper (like $100 cheaper).

- The system would be far more reliable, ie. fewer moving parts. The original shipment of Playstations were horribly made and had a 1:4 defect rate where I worked.

- Game companies would be more inclined to make an original game for the N64 instead of diluting it with ports of PC games that used CD ROM. (Remember the 'Dream Team'?)

- Very hard to duplicate compared to CD's

- Nintendo could get more money per cartridge because CD's were cheap to make.

- Good games can be made to fit on cartridges. N64 proved that.

N64 royalties were high. I'm not disputing that. That wouldn't have hurt Square though, I remember people paying as much as $80 for FFIII (including myself). What really happened was that Square decided they wanted to do Full Motion video along with the game, they wanted to try something unique. The N64 wasn't what they wanted, so they moved to Playstation. That was a smart business decision to make, particularly since Sony gave them a deal they couldn't refuse. Where Square backstabbed Nintendo was when they told other developers not to develop for it. That was just wrong. Square may not have been able to do FFVII for the N64, but they could still have made games for it. They have a lot of franchises. Instead they just flipped Nintendo off and went into Sony's court.

"Thus the rise and domination of Sony. It's interesting to note that every platform Square has seriously developed for has been the dominant platform: NES, GameBoy, SNES, PlayStation, PS2."

Sony may have beaten Nintendo, but not by much. N64 did very well for itself. Nintendo also has provided a lot more to the game industry that Sony has. Nintendo has a game audience that Sony should be extremely envious of.

The N64 was not a fiasco of any sort. Nintendo was quite profitable with it. It has a lot of high quality titles for it. And, must amusingly, the first party work done for it carried most of the weight for it. Even if Sony sells a billion Playstations, Nintendo still has a loyal audience to play their games. Sega had that too, to a lesser degree. Sony does not. Sony and Microsoft could win the war in a particular generation of games, but they always risk getting ousted by a new guy. Nintendo can be very successful even when they aren't #1. I much prefer Nintendo's position than the other guys.

Re:This isn't exactly accurate either

[Guppy06]

"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.

Re:This isn't exactly accurate either

[NanoGator]

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.

Re:Final Fantasy XI not likely.

[Dark Paladin]

Er, um, considering that there are plans for broadband and modem connections for the Gamecube (check those upgrade slots in the bottom), I think it's just as likely for a Gamecube Final Fantasy XI as a PS2 (since, unless you use a USB ethernet adapter, you haven't seen the PS2 broadband adapter yet either).

Re:Online with what exactly?

[DarkZero]

Sony has announced their PS2 modem, complete with specs, price, games, and other non-vaporous things. It will be available in AUGUST. Nintendo has announced their GameCube modem, but has yet to say anything about its specs, how it will work, what games will support it, or how much it will cost. Nintendo also has a history for announcing hardware, even giving it specific details, and then cancelling it.

They've committed to making the modem and NIC add-ons, but that means that we'll see it, at minimum, in six months or more. It's also likely that we may never see it, which would match Nintendo's track record perfectly.

Your first post was actually more accurate than the second. Unless "Umm... we're working on it" (the classic Nintendo blow-off phrase) somehow means that they're deeply committed to making these add-ons. ;)

Re:Square is in trouble

[martissimo]

FFX is selling very well, no doubt about it. That doesnt mean that the company is in great financial shape however.

Square was in *extreme* financial trouble after the flop of the FF Movie, they approached Sony themselves to be bailed out, and asked Sony to purchase a large of amount of their company (which Sony did).

They make very good games, but they seem to be managed by terrible businessmen, heck as we speak they are working on trying to set up *another* FF TV Series (hmm sound like the last TV flop, or maybe the movie?)

try reading this for a idea of how they are doing , or maybe try your own google searchs if you dont trust me.

The fact is that they are a company which got in so much financial trouble that they ASKED Sony to buy a large chunk of em, and even after Sony did so, they still need to find new ways of making money, and are willing to market their products to the competitiors of their parent company's product.

you do the math

Re:Never Enjoyed FF Series

[NanoGator]

I just wanted to mention you might like FF3. It has a killer story. If you play the game to unfold the story, I think it'll easily make up for the 'walk a little bit... fight a monster... walk some more ... fight a monster' style of game play that FF games seem to have. hehe.

I really wish, though, that there was a cheat code i could put in the game to just watch the story unfold.