Is Square-Enix making a mistake making 360 there go to system for rpgs?

[Bitmap Frogs]

It's not an excuse, for some reason SE likes high-profile games and today this means HD. The problem is HD adoption is abysmal in Japan (HD games just for you nitpickers). Focusing on the west is not an excuse, it's a necessity - both HD consoles combine at less than 4 million units. They are very niche. The wii in comparison is closing in on 8M and is travelling at a faster speed. They just can't risk to make japanese-focused HD games. Japanese consumers have historically ignored non-dominant consoles and this generation hasn't changed the trends. Even extremely high profile releases on non-dominant consoles have only managed to produce temporary spikes. Did the ps3 reach a new plateau of sales after MGS4? after musou? after hot shots golf? That's just the way the japanese market rolls.

Additionally, SE is having *huge* tech troubles this gen. See the protracted FF13 development which it eventually forced them to pull off people working on other projects. TLR is a mess. IU was developed by Tri-Ace but had horrible technical issues too. The 360 is simpler to develop for.

Considering both points, the state of the HD market and SE's development troubles, favoring the 360 comes off as a very reasonable and conservative strategy. You can't compare them to Sakaguchi, who essentially got a blank check from MS. Of course the Gooch had a vested interest, but SE's decisions come off as something different.

edit to add that ofc they'd do much better developing for the wii...