Warning: Opinionated discussions ahead; feel free to disagree but please do not comment / quote as though I am stating facts.
I've heard many forum goers rail against Square-Enix for their betrayal of Sony and the general direction the company has taken (greed > respect) ever since they first became Square-Enix rather than just plain ole Squaresoft.
But in all honesty, has Square really changed at all in their policy as a company? Looking back at their history and commercial decisions, I can see very little inconsistencies.
Square-Enix has always attempted to ‘back the winning horse’ so to speak. The company had been thick with Nintendo for two generation until it became apparent that the N64 wasn’t going to be the stellar success its two predecessors were, Squaresoft promptly jumped onto the Sony bandwagon and stuck with them until it became apparent that the PS3 was (again) not the fantastic performer that the PS1 and 2 were.
Why is Final Fantasy 13 still on the Sony platform? It was announced and began development when the PS2 was still dominating the market and it seems inconceivable the PS3 could be anything but a phenomenal success. But as development cost continue to spiral and the PS3 continue to not meet Square’s expectation, Square decided to jump ship once more in the only direction they could, the Xbox360, a console with a healthy install base and the necessary hardware to run their flagship title, a translation to the Wii is by that point impossible due to console’s hardware limitation.
Don’t gloat yet my fellow HD compatriot, Square is not likely to jump onboard the Xbox bandwagon anytime soon, all the exclusive and timed exclusive Square is and have thus far produced are bought with Microsoft money, Square has reserved its ‘other’ flagship for the true leader of this generation’s console war in true Square(soft)-Enix fashion.
I am of course talking about the upcoming Dragon Quest exclusive to the Nintendo DS. This really shouldn’t surprise anyone, seeing as the biggest market for this venerable franchise has always been Japan, and with an install base of 1 in every 2 household, it was all but a foregone conclusion that the Nintendo would have their sweet revenge at last.
So there you have it people, Square-Enix hasn’t changed, they’ve been very consistence in their policy for a very long time now and one really shouldn’t criticize them for their ‘betrayal of Sony’, afterall they still make great games (sometimes).
What does everyone else think? :)
