Revolver89

CommentatorHatman

MasaMuneCyrus

At least, they're not some try-hard steroid-addicted soldier with a 3-pack-a-day voice who reaffirms his male sexuality by stomping heads into the concrete. I'm looking at you, Marcus Fenix!

mcderek3000

Good point. Square Enix aren't even trying to exploit the current market.

FFXII would have worked on the Xbox 360 (though I admit I haven't played it yet. Still got exams to get through.) Likewise, it would be great to see Square and Enix titles re-released on the Virtual Console. (Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, Illusion of Time).

mcderek3000

atbowman

Just Re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-release Final Fantasy 7 about 20 more times in special collectors tins and keep hinting at a PS3 remake and you will empty fanboy wallets everywhere

RagingTowers

Or perhaps they should look into using someone else's IP. With some graphical enhancements the FF12 engine would work really well for a new KOTOR game and who knows LucasArts may still be looking for a developer.

Heck perhaps they should think about providing some middleware for other companies as well. I wouldn't mind seeing a "Built with the Gambit Engine" tag on the loading screens of games.

RykinPoe

ohayou_kun

Y'know, it's not like Kingdom Hearts didn't sell a couple million units in the US just like Japan, I mean, why release a remixed version of a game that customers that know about it have been asking me like crazy at my store?

And, and please don't make things like Dirge of Cerberus...

TheJinManCan

vosslerbasch

flclkris

look at FFIX, compared to WOW. heinous stuff.

they may not like xbox's, but i sure as heck don't like bogged down, clunky, inferior MMO's and rpg's either.

Strider_Seven

carrierj1

It was called Dirge of Cerebus and it sucked.

Dont know if the US had the online play feature but Japan did. It was asstastic.

Witzbold

valkyriex

I have a ps3. I think jrpgs are losing alot of steam this days. Even for FF games. Games like mass effect own the rpgs like FF stateswise. I dont thinks so personally.

As the Ashcraft posted, they probably going to start another genre or something like that.

And I think last remnant is an attempt by SE to get American rpg owners.Also I agree to AtBow above me. Turn base rpgs are getting stale. Like even FFXIII wouldn't sell quite as well on the 360.In fact, mass effect would beat it.

Actually to be honest i hope FF stays exclusive so they ps3 can have something. It looks like it will be or will be for a long time.

k4polo

As some people have said already including otakuman5000 the platform of their games is important. Putting games onto DS seems to be working so far but with ffxiii being ps3 only it means i probably wont be buying it or if i do it will be a while off. The ps3 is the Japanese console and the Xbox europe/america so the choice of platform alone has its target market and squeenix need to capitalise on this. What happened to putting out the final fantasy games onto pc? AFAIK they stopped doing that after ffviii, surely that would boost sales a bit. Remakes and Ports to the 360 is something they need to do as well to get the numbers up.

In terms of content I grew up on adventure games and RPG's, these are still the games that appeal to me the most so i dont think its an issue that rpg's arent good enough for the west. Just look at Mass Effect and its response. Like icepick mentioned too their paring off with Disney worked well so maybe there are other franchises they need to capitalise on; we already have bioware working on a sonic rpg so there must be other franchises and IP's that would make good rpg's.

And one of the biggest selling points to a game for me and a lot of the people I know is the online angle. This especially applies to MMO's, I tried playing final fantasy online and it just felt like a single player game with hardly any socialising and it was one of the few games i felt was too japanese. If Squeenix could produce a new generation mmo more accessible and captivating to western audiences I think they could gain a big chunk of market right there.

Overall though I think Squeenix should stick to the type of game they work best at rather than stepping too far out of their comfort zone, I see Bioware as a good example of this working and there is still room for a lot more story driven rpg's. Maybe they need to hook up with some popular western authors and look at creating something new from that.

otakupaul

simple. Hey Square Enix, You are welcome.

otakuman5000

Sure, there are fans of SaGa, Musashi, Drakengard, Ehrgeiz, etc. but while the overall appeal for each non-FF, non-DW title (including spinoffs) is great because of the once-mighty pedigree of the name, the fact is that any time Squeenix has attempted to branch out, it either failed completely or was a mediocre success insofar as the North American market goes. Even fantastic games like Front Mission slip under the radar.

Squeenix ought to be looking at getting their Hawaii studio back up and running and allowing some design to go on before looking at distributers. Make a good game for the American market and you'll see plenty of Distro Groups at your door, looking for a piece of the pie.

dunetiger reads kotaku, seems pleased

ActRaiser (the first one) was one of the greatest games of all time, but the sequel missed the point of the original. In any case, a little action doesn't hurt. If they truly want to break into the western market, they need to realize that JRPGs are a niche market and only a certain segment of the population, we will call them the converted, wants to play as a whiny emo teen for 90 hours. Look at what worked for other Japanese companies and put your own spin on it, which doesn't mean making Mario a spiky haired kid with quasi-deep emotional baggage.

kingofallcosmos

thegiantstone

MetaKz

SnowsLeo

d1sergo

supercrap

And ports of old games, though I could've sworn that was what we DIDN'T want.

Grimy

darvos

that said, they need to do 2 things:

Release Front Missions 1, 2, 5 in the US

Translate and release Seiken Densetsu 3 on DS or virtual console.

that would get plenty of my cash, personally.

as for new ideas, maybe a sequel to E.V.O.?

Chanaluss

Or a Square Enix Brain Age game with Tifa and Cloud..

Or a Sims-clone with all of your favorite Square-Enix characters..

So much to choose from!!

JohnnyLA

d1sergo

Squeenix is still in ancient Japan's pocket... they won't "turn on their own people."

Tenth

toneroni

And, you know, ditch the PS3.

Soos

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

Benjo

Tepoz

The main point I got from the article is that SquareEnix feels the need to expand their games onto other consoles that may be more popular with Westerners.

Here's my suggestion, look at Capcom and Dead Rising and Lost Planet. The Japanese influences are there but they're mixed with Western gameplay. The next FF'ish game towards Western audiences should be more ARPG and I also think it should have military hardware also. Japanese designed futuristic military hardware would be beautiful. You can still have spells but you can't have the characters throw up a "V" or do some cute dance.

Tepoz

Although if they are willing to spend more increasing the budget to gain the proper manpower to pull it off, I do see promise in having such a "tactic" done. But it will really have to be pick and choose when they do it though. Since it would cost a lot of time / effort to constantly do such a production.

Hmm unless they give all the materials and such to the LA office to have them code it into the game, the english that is. But at the same time its always better / safer to work within the the same "office" since thats where all the resources are not to mention communication issues will be little to none due to no timezone diff.

Witzbold

jaiitup

Although personally Id much rather help out MS in Japan, since they fucking need it. Sony and SE will be fine on their own as they always have been.

Witzbold

And I can only imagine the things Square would do with the Wii if they bothered to try.

INCyr

ビッグ ボス

The problem with Squenix is that in America, they're just another Japanese company. American gamers are huge into Final Fantasy (even a lot of non-nerds like it) but the rest of the Squenix portfolio is judged solely on its own merits. It's not like in Japan where Squenix is a huge deal, and every Squenix game is a must-buy. We have our own version of developer-mass-worship here, a little company named Blizzard. Ever heard of it? As an aside, remember how many FPS's Blizzard has made? None. Yet they're consistently the best-selling developer studio out there. Hmmmm....

Also, FF7 on the PS3. It will sell a billion copies. But no, we'd rather remake every single other FF title EXCEPT the one that made us a household name in America. Go figure. Brain dead executives.

thenino85

Witzbold

MikeSheehan

Really, Square-Enix just needs to quit dragging their feet about originality. Get to creating some fucking games. You both had such a great time doing that in the SNES era and now all you do is fart around with FF and DQ stuff. Lame.

AcerBandit

beeporama (brian.j.parker)

Witzbold

Square-Enix's fundamental business lies in the knowledge of how the Japanese VG consumers react to their products.

While it would be easy to surmise that he knows a lot more about what the American VG consumer wants (through blogs, bitching, whining for more pretty games), it would require a fundamental shift in how Squeenix deals with their games. Would they want to cater the bulk of their consumers (Japanese) or cater to the small slice of vocal 'good-graphic'-lovin Americans (non-Japanese)?

Granted, with as much money as they can afford with pretty CG, it wouldn't make much business sense to spend a god-awful amount of money on that small slice (as opposed to Micro$oft's 'the bigger the sinkhole, the bigger the mindshare' tactics with the Xbox division).

M$ can afford to do that because they have a vicious stranglehold in another industry. Squeenix has nothing to stand on if spending a lot of money on the non-Japanese VG consumer slice does a marginal effect on the company's bottom line.

あなたが大好き

y2julio

goonface

StillLee

audio817

Also release good games please! Square still owe me like 10h of my life after I tried FF8. I wanted to kill myself.

I stopped playing FF9 after i could not stand the big crying blob anymore.

In japan you could label a can of crap FF and it would sell. Maybe we are a bit more critic here?

JayTapp

atbowman

a) not turn based

b) better advertised

then yes, they'd get my money

JakeDunn

True, but the Japanese are much more into role playing and fantasy games than English speaking countries are. Just look at the effort they put into cosplay. Apart from mardi gras, cosplay is unheard of in my country, but you can't walk through parts of Japan at lunch time without seeing it.

I also think the whole US market is geared much more towards action and sports titles. If Square want to appeal as much to US gamers as they do to Japanese gamers, they probably need to switch genres.

I just hope they don't become another Sega in the attempt. That'd be heart breaking.

Doshu

somari

bnpederson

Ludwig

cdammers

SquirrelGOD

I'm guessing Square eventually will but as a last resort.

Snappywave

Or are they going to push the PS3 until it has a bigger marketshare?

Billqvist

311ncubus

On the other hand they might be able to win with casual games. They are already dipping into casual games so I could easily see them going that route. But I can't see them being able to create that much of a jump in profits with casual games alone, since casual games tend to be relatively cheap in comparison to other kinds of games, and casual gamers are the kind of people who buy games perhaps once or twice a year. (If they buy them at all. Most casual gamers prefer free.)

Either way I see them losing. One bird in the hand is worth two in the bush as they say...

Lissar

Virduk

NoBullet

@Witzbold: Too bad I sold mine, then. ;)

But it was a PAL version, anyway. In fact, I just bought a new old PS2 - this time modded, because not all the Ninja/Samurai games and ShmUps came to Europe.

FranUnFine

Witzbold

...sorry, that was too easy to pass up

PaddyStardust

Sloopydrew

FranUnFine

hezz05

Not really a MMO-action-baller-"Front Mission", but a very fun game.

FranUnFine

cannonfodder

Does anyone know if they have a US or Europe based studio at all? I'm thinking that a studio placed in a western culture base might be able to relate to those markets better.

PaddyStardust

or are they looking for a halo/GTA type game that no one in japan cares about

Fluffy22

I happen to love Jrpgs, but the biggest complaints I have heard over the years are the characters and the lack of action. Unfortunantly that makes americans out to be muscleheads who dont look past the shallow items,which isnt really true but its about all I can go on at the moment.(keep in mind im an american as well.)

RuneX

thomas c

You know.. like Mario RPG. And FF6. And the original, NES Dragon Quest games.. And maybe even go above and beyond and release an online-multiplayer Secret of Mana. That'd be pretty sweet, since it's 3 players anyway.

But, I guess they're actually afraid of making money on anything that isn't Final Fantasy 7.

SilverStar95

alextz

Johnny_Under

denki

At this point, I wouldn't be too surprised if more square fanboys are getting sick of the cockteasing with a FF7 Remix.

SilverStar95

JonC

Also, start releasing more of your games here would help. We cant buy them if you wont sell them. We are finally starting to get the odd Dragon Quest titles and the like, but how come we havent seen most of the Mother stuff? Oh and dont forget those International Editions. Our fanboys are just as stupid as the Japanese fanboys and are more than willing to buy the same game three different times as long as you give a new twist.

Try that with your currently existing content first and see what it does to your numbers before worrying about some new American-centric IP that will probably be overly violent

Aprotosis

What I think is instead of panicking and looking for a "partner" perhaps they should think about fixing the company from the inside since apparently there are a lot of "issues" and such with how things are done.

Although I still stand by the idea about Front Mission mass MP game. Use the lost planet from behind the back view, or peraps allow players to even switch into a fps view. Oh man imagine if they teamed up with InfinityWard to make it. It would be the most awesome and fucking INSANE experience ever.

Witzbold

futurebiblehero

That's the status quo for every JRPG game!
Sorry Sqeenix, but seeking co-operation with a US publisher won't help much.
It doesn't even work vice versa, see Mistwalker and MS... so why bother!? Don't try to be a Jack of all trades, it won't work!

Kreean

a coop between Disney and SquareEnix brought out something new with great storyline and characters...

if there are more projects that involve both US and Japan, i would DEFINITELY would be interested...

icepick314

Perhaps get into the whole multiplayer deal with footsoldiers, vehicles, and wansers running around blowing shit up in realtime.

That might sell lol.

Actually it would be pretty damned cool.

Witzbold

That suits me fine.

Dragonzigg

Fluffy22

If you want to sell more in America, embrace the systems that sell over here.

RedFive

Iwata

Shijirou

Somehow I doubt it since I got turned down for working with them last time I applied few years ago. lol

Witzbold