Square Enix Supports Sony, But Not Too Much

Next-Gen reports that Square Enix is throwing just the right amount of support behind Sony. In some fairly non-humble statements, Square Enix senior VP Michihiro Sasaki talked about their positioning in the next generation market. "'We don't want the PlayStation 3 to be the overwhelming loser, so we want to support them,' he said. 'But we don't want them to be the overwhelming winner either, so we can't support them too much.' Sasaki's comments (which were pulled out of context and dropped into the WSJ article) don't exactly take the humble approach regarding Square Enix's heavy influence on the popularity of the PlayStation brand. The PS2-exclusive FFXII sold over 1.7 million units for a premium $80 equivalent price tag in the first four days after its Japan launch."

Comments

Re:Wii....

[Anonymous Coward]

Final Fantasy on the Wii would be a big step backwards from FF13, graphics-wise. Not gonna happen for a franchise that always prided itself on pushing the limits of technology. Likelier possibilities are Dragon Quest on the Wii (not unlikely), FF spinoff franchises on the Wii or the 360 (possibly), and FF on the 360 (only if the PS3 is a complete and utter failure, and the 360 somehow manages to return from the dead in Japan).

Square isn't a prima donna

[rsilvergun]

They're scared shitless of any one console manufacturer having has much power as Nintendo back in the Famicom days. Back then, Namco threatened a law suite and had to back down because they couldn't survive long enough as a company without a license to release Famicom titles.

Re:That is why I cannot support Nintendo here

[justchris]

That's a very uninformed statement your began with. Nintendo censored games because, at the time, there was no ratings system. They believed, as a company, that as many children played video games regularly, it was up to them to provide some measure of protection for said children. They took a lot of flak for censoring Mortal Kombat, and shortly afterwards were instrumental in the creation of the ESRB, ESA and other software ratings boards across the globe. Since the creation of the ESRB there has never been a single game censored on a Nintendo console. Hell, BMX XXX was more censored on the PS2 & Xbox than it was on the GC. As long as ratings exist, Nintendo has plausible deniability, so they place no limits on software they don't personally develop.