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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.
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.
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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.
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.
... then it would be gaming nirvana.
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
When encryption is outlawed, ?o'AZ-,++o+i++##4AoA+-/-C++bI+/.+~
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.)
-- Minds are like parachutes... they work best when open.
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.
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. ;-)
Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
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.
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.
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