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Forums - Gaming - Article : Wada is leading Square-Enix's empire into decline!!

darthdevidem01 on 14 February 2009

Square Enix What Are You Doing?

Written by Azariah

Leading an empire in decline.

Square has long been an industry powerhouse in the RPG genre. After making the switch from Nintendo to Sony, Square began to spread its wings a bit. Square was still able to turn out gems such as FFVII and FFVIII during this time. That is an understatement. Final Fantasy VII is easily the most popular RPG of all time. (I mean no offense to the Chrono fans out there). Square already had an empire. This empire only expanded during the ‘Age of PlayStation’.

 

Square remained with the PlayStation brand into the next generation. Titles such as Final Fantasy X, Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2, and Final Fantasy XII were released exclusively for the PS2. These titles sold extremely well and further built on the dominance of the developer. Along the way it appears that something went wrong. Square merged with Enix and things began to decline. This is not a joke, Star Ocean 3 speaks for itself.

This console generation came with the promise of Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII. We all had hopes for Kingdom Hearts 3 and figured that we would be playing another Dragon Quest. Final Fantasy XIII exclusivity was lost due to the funds of a company that will not be named. This fulfilled Square Enix’s promise to not throw its complete support behind the PS3 exclusively. This is an old wound though. It is a wound that only becomes aggravated when the PS3 is passed over for RPGs such as Star Ocean 4. Hello Square Enix, I’ve played all 3 of the previous Star Ocean titles and would like to play the 4th. It may be nice of you to note that I only own a PS3 console.

This is not only about the exclusivity issues that have come about under Wada’s reign. The company has recently purchased Eidos. Yea, I do not understand this purchase either. Square Enix has stated that it wanted a greater presence in the Western world and has spent about $125 million to do it. The price seems a little steep when you consider the company that was purchased. I love Tomb Raider. I am sure a great number of you do as well, but is Tomb Raider truly relevant anymore? Lara has suffered the same fate as Crash. Square Enix gets access to Western developers and supply lines, but at a cost that is far higher than necessary.

Let us sum this up. Wada has led SE into a poor year financially due to the love that he is showing a console that is not strong in the company’s home territory. He has also purchased a floundering company for a price that is far above what he could have purchased a company such as Free Radical. I am not going to state that I am a better business man or better suited to lead Square Enix, but I do believe that Wada is leading the company into a decline that it will not be able to recover from on its own. I am still looking forward to the titles that Square Enix will be releasing this generation, but I am also fearful that the company will not have as strong of a role in the gaming generation to come.

http://playstationlifestyle.net/2009/02/14/wada-what-are-you-doing/

_________

the writer sounds fanboyistic at moments BUT his underlying point about Wada is quite accurate I feel (not I didn't say precise....those of you who did science will know the difference)



All hail the KING, Andrespetmonkey

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kutasek on 14 February 2009

It went into decline before this generation, FF12, says hello. Anyway, I hate this merger, mainly because, before it, quality of the games was way higher, i guess competition had something to do with it.



Xen on 14 February 2009

If they keep carrying on ignoring the PS3 and buying up crap, I hope for their downfall. There are batter places for their employees to work in.



Phoenix_Wiight on 14 February 2009

just want to point out, pokemon is the most popular rpg of all time :P by far. numbers show.

but ya, square makes some really dumb decisions. i dont get why FFXIII went multiplat, but SO4 didnt (i dont play the SO series, so i personally don't care.)
makes no sense.

and buying eidos? lol. also, FFXII was crap. no offense, but it was one of the worst games in the FF series. most people who like it werent fans of FF long before 12 came out.

they only released a few good games after FFX-

FF7: Crisis Core, The World Ends With You, FFTA2

only 3.



badgenome on 14 February 2009

Great article. Not one word about why Square-Enix might wish to diversify away from the Playstation in terms of software support.

Also, here's yet another person who argues that Microsoft is moneyhatting support from Square while simultaneously causing it to post a poor financial report. WTF? Yes, I'm sure publishing Infinite Undiscovery was a super expensive endeavor. As opposed to yet another year of development for FFXIII and Versus...



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Demotruk on 14 February 2009

They bet heavily on the PS3 with massive long term projects. The shorter term products were a hedge in case the PS3 failed to have the install base they would need for these massive projects. It's a good thing they've had some success on the DS and PSP, else I'd wonder where they'd be right now...



A game I'm developing with some friends:

www.xnagg.com/zombieasteroids/publish.htm

It is largely a technical exercise but feedback is appreciated.

TacoBoy49 on 14 February 2009

Had they bet on Nintendo instead of Sony for Ff xiii, it may have been a different story. Anyone that invested in PS3 lost out BIG time.



kutasek on 14 February 2009
badgenome said:
Great article. Not one word about why Square-Enix might wish to diversify away from the Playstation in terms of software support.

Also, here's yet another person who argues that Microsoft is moneyhatting support from Square while simultaneously causing it to post a poor financial report. WTF? Yes, I'm sure publishing Infinite Undiscovery was a super expensive endeavor. As opposed to yet another year of development for FFXIII and Versus...

 

Maybe they're doing crappy, because they didn't make any quality games on xbox 360, ok doesn't cut it, at least they can still do great games on handhelds. Yay, for me having psp and ds.



FreeTalkLive on 14 February 2009
Phoenix_Wiight said:

they only released a few good games after FFX-

FF7: Crisis Core, The World Ends With You, FFTA2

only 3.

You don't think FF4 DS is a good game?  What about Chrono Trigger DS?  Did you see the VGChartz review of DQ5 DS?

 



 

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Johann on 14 February 2009

I don't understand Square-Enix, but I haven't in a long time.
The truth is I have no idea if Wada's business decisions have anything to do with it, but I don't understand why they haven't gone multiplat with everyone of their games, I really don't. Want to stay faithful to one company? That's ok (although not very smart), want to multiplat everything to raise profits? That's ok too, but make a goddamn decision! Don't tease me by giving me some games and not others!



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