Changing direction is misleading. Finally getting around to it is more like it.

The brunt of their releases have been, and still are, for the DS. Their biggest console titles are exclusive to everything but the 360: it's getting a FF13 port outside of Japan, but that's it. Everything else has either been by other developers (tri-Ace) or shared (Last Remnant).

Wada said something awhile back about Wii and PS3 getting the majority of their console development and with all the recent Wii announcements (FFCC x2, DQX and who knows what else) and their focus on FF13, I don't see any contradiction in this at all.

i think star ocean really will be the "last hope". after that no more exclusives for 360.

I think it is just cheaper/faster to make a 360 version.

SE should make a PS3 and XBox 360 versions of HD JRPGs and make more SD JRPGs on Wii the console with the largest install base and games cost the least to develop on Wii.

JRPGs have surprisingly sold equal or more on PS3 than on XBox 360 examples include Enchanted Arms and Eternal Sonata sold more on PS3 than on XBox 360

PS3 sells around 40% to 60% of any given multi-platform title. SE are missing out on sales and profits by not porting any given JRPG title from XBox 360 to PS3.

What, no. Sure 360 jrpgs don't sell much in japan, the install base is really bad. But outside Japan, they've done good. LO is almost at 900k, BD is at 600k, TLR will get past 500k and will probably settle at 600k. Remember historically few jrpgs have done that much better unless belonging to one of the big four franchises (FF, DQ, KH, Pokemon). Pretty much every 360 jrpg has sold more outside Japan with the single exception of Vesperia - and Vesperia has yet to be released in Europe. But that's the whole point of it, SE had a bunch of HD titles in the pipeline and had to switch platform given how poorly the ps3 was and is performing. Sure it can nab 150k sales more off Japan, but the 360 has 10M more units out there than the ps3 outside Japan and that's where they make the money.

You ignore the realities of the marketplace and the development process Jo, the SaGa team is a small team. First they get out the easiest and most profitable SKU (360), then the easiest port available (PC) and finally they get to mess with the headaches of the ps3 version (which takes a long time and if they had waited for it it would have delayed the game). The SaGa team ain't no Rockstar, they can't have parallel development teams - they have to prioritize with revenue in mind.

Of course this is all moot - once they clear the HD projects already in the oven, they'll focus on the Wii.

Any way you look at it, these games were done for such a high budget but they didn't produce as high of dividends (move the units they should in Japan or Internationally).  And Square-Enix has always been a company who has focused on the Japanese market.  They can't make this excuse that suddenly since they're working on the 360 and their games aren't selling well that they're 'focusing on the American market'.  Just like Sakaguchi, they wanted Japan to jump on the 360 because they (and a number of Japanese developers) were pushing the system and its HD power.  Now this principle will kill their company if they took that attitude and they know it.  And with your examples of the 'big four' franchises, they are saturating Final Fantasy horribly with endless remakes/sequels/secondary games and KILLING Dragon Quest outside of Japan with horrible translations and localizations.

The fact that they should switch over to the Wii is obvious, just so they can sell more units.  But don't think their practices will change.  The recent announcement that Dragon Quest X will be going to Wii would have happened regardless of any other movement of Square-Enix, because Yuji Horii backed the DS and the Wii from the very beginning (Dragon Quest Monsters Joker, Rocket Slime, Dragon Quest Swords).  From here on, expect nothing to change from the from the rest of Square-Enix but Final Fantasy cross-overs and sequels to be produced for Wii, if the Square side starts making anything for Wii besides Crystal Chronicles.

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...

But really now, didn't Square-Enix get themselves into that mess just like every other Japanese Third Party?  By shunning Nintendo and trying to go 'HD'.  And not doubling back even after the Wii was exploding in its first year.  I can understand if they wanted to push along their FFXIII project, as that was in development from the beginning of the PS3 (and has taken way too long as it is - Hence the XBOX360 cross over).  But some of their other projects make no sense and seemed to show a company who is reluctant to admit that they are obsessed with graphics and 'image' over making money and selling units.  Some of these projects on the 360 and PSP didn't start 3 years ago.  They were announced at the very heart of the Wii's dominance, when people were buying them for $600 dollars on Ebay and its the thing many ADULTS wanted for Christmas.

If anything, I'm trying to say that Square-Enix was one of the many companies who was trying to change the market because they wanted to make games their way.  But they forgot where their market has been for the last 15 years.  Japan.  And because they never propperly utilized their Brand Name in America, pounding Final Fantasy into Americas face for the last 15 years and making series like Chrono, Mana, Dragon Quest and all the others 'secondary products', their logo doesn't have the power to sell like it does in Japan.  Unless it has the name 'Final Fantasy' attached to it.

They shunned nintendo because its last two systems bombed. Sony was on a winning streak so they just blindly bet on them.

About why they didn't move a finger in 2007? I do believe for some reason moving their projects to the Wii was finantially troublesome (maybe they already had a considerable amount of art assets created, maybe they were deep already into design decisions that made the game not suitable for the Wii, shrug). They are very worried about FF13's results and most of his movements in the past years can be tracked to a very conservative approach on how to maximize FF13's profits.

I agree with you their ways are hurting them but at least they can churn out remakes to keep the company alive.

no they arent making a mistake, they went to a system that wanted and courted them alot more than sony did. and i wouldnt be suprised in the least if m$ helps square-enix with publishing and advertising ff13 here in the states, which will gurantee a 1 million in sales for sure. "last remnant" has so far sold over 500k on the 360 damn good for a new ip, "infinite undiscovery" is selling decently too, and i believe "star ocean:the last hope" will be the best selling game on the 360 in japan and will sell over 1 million in sales before its 1 year anniversary worldwide.