Unconfirmed: Square Enix Holding Special Conference Early Next Year, New Final Fantasy Versus XIII Details Expected

[Dodece]

@forevercloud

Excuse me another giggle fit. You haven't the slightest inkling of how gradual the transition from VHS to DVD was in the United States do you. It took six years, and BR still hasn't pulled it off in the same time frame. Even thought it literally enjoyed far more advantages. The reality is that BR players have dropped in price far faster then DVD players did in the same span of time. Further more BR didn't have to suffer the stigma of Laser Discs which made consumers leery of the DVD. Hell DVD didn't even get to be coupled with other emerging technologies. There weren't a host of new televisions to go with DVDs.

Basically BR had all of the advantages that a new format would want. Within two years of being on the market the retail prices of the players were as low as a tenth of the original launch prices. That is insane when you think about it especially when you factor in inflation as compared to DVDs. If you compared the price lines side by side then BR would look like the Road Runner, and the DVD would look like a guy on crutches.

So don't give me this it is doing alright. It should have done spectacularly well when placed in comparison. It just hasn't done so. Most of it probably has to do with the fact that it isn't that much better. The majority of the real content out there doesn't even benefit from the format. Most video is standard definition. So I don't see a grand driving force out there to even encourage broad library adoption.

As for your comments on whether garnering Square support benefited Microsoft. You are actually quite wrong. It dramatically improved their library profile, increased their consoles sales in a hostile market, and really improved the sales of their console in other market. More then a few PS3 owners bought a 360 to play role playing games, because Microsoft helped to ensure that the PS3 suffered a prolonged drought. It is a unqualified success when you help yourself, and hurt your opponent at the same time. It might not be doing Microsoft a lot of good right here and now, but back then it did a lot of good, and in the long term it may do even more good.

Square is suffering, because the genre is suffering pure and simple. This is something that Square has made a point of stating publicly. The demand for Japanese Role Playing games is down in Western markets. Which is why they are trying to diversify into other genres. While it may not be a niche market. It is a small market. Ten years ago it was a lot larger then it is now. It isn't even the only genre this holds true for.

You kind of lose me at the end, but your acting as if the PS3 would have taken up the slack of 360 sales had any title remained exclusive. That is just delusional if I may say so. Most console owners aren't fanatics. They just picked the machine they liked, and don't feel any kind of responsibility to buy certain games, because they remained exclusives. Had Final Fantasy remained exclusive it is highly likely it would have seen a couple million fewer sales. Those sales far exceed any additional development costs.

Which is what really ails Square, and the Japanese gaming industry. Their development costs are too high, and it is primarily due to a rigid design philosophy. Japanese studios prefer to use engines they design to build games that are rigidly formulaic. So they spend a lot of money compared to Western developers, and they are reluctant to try new approaches. It lengthens development cycles, and that means the genre evolves slower over time.

Look this isn't unknown in Japan, and studios like Square are trying to transition out of this traditional mindset, but it is still going to take time. It isn't fair to judge Microsoft, because Squares fan base is shrinking, and is primarily in Japan. We don't know how well Microsoft would have moved the games if they had a bigger foot print in the Japanese market. What we do know is that outside of Japan. Microsoft did just as good of a job as Sony did.

In the end I think the real joke is going to be on you, because I doubt Square is going to let its key genre languish, because it hasn't kept up with the times. They are going to start orienting their games to a more global audience, and yes their games are probably going to become more platform indifferent. Once you go down the path of using third party engines that work cross platform. You start to see very little incentive in being exclusive.

Which brings us back to money hatting. The only exception to that rule is if someone else is flipping the bill, and Microsoft has shown that it has no problem with doing that unlike Sony. I will laugh my ass off if they manage to steal this one from Sony outright. The meltdown after Thirteen was hilarious. If this were to happen with Versus It would be just plain epic.