Square-Enix: "What's In America Should Be Handled By Americans"
Square-Enix has been striving to expand well beyond Japanese boundaries this generation and in speaking to VentureBeat, head man Yoichi Wada explains the company's movement.
In addition to predicting the eventual end of "retail video games," Wada spoke about the aim and inherent difficulty of targeting a worldwide gaming population, which of course boasts different tastes and ethnicities. He also said that despite the attempts of some Japanese publishers to "globalize," the strategy didn't work because it remained mostly Japanese in nature. In fact, Wada cites several major companies that tried to expand to a global market and thus far, he believes no one - including Western publishers trying to cater to the Japanese - has succeeded.
"We have to appeal to customers with different preferences. Sega did not succeed. Konami did not succeed. Namco Bandai did not succeed. Western publishers have not succeeded in selling in Japan. Nobody has succeeded at globalization. But it hasn’t succeeded because it was always based on Japanese direction. It was Japanese people who commissioned the Western developers to make games."
Wada goes on to mention the recent purchase of Eidos and that by "becoming part of the family," there's a general melding going on. Eidos isn't a "slave" to Square-Enix; the studio is treated "as completely equal as the studio in Japan" and in the end, it's Square-Enix's goal to create a business environment "where completely different ethnic groups can coexist in the same company." And then, he said something that we know long-time fans of Square won't particularly like (although it won't come as any big surprise):
"It is important that what’s in America should be handled by Americans. The same goes in Europe and in Japan. These people who are deeply rooted in their own cultures can engage in their own dialogues. The mistakes I have seen so far are when Japanese people try to do everything the Japanese way, using Japanese workers in different areas of the world."
That, right there. Is this not the single biggest mistake Square-Enix continues to make? Isn't this what we've been screaming about the entire generation? Isn't this exactly what I said? Who wants to start up a petition that tells Square-Enix that not all Westerners always require distinctly Western games, especially when we all grew up with Japanese games?!
Tags: square-enix, wada, west
7/5/2010 10:19:55 AM Ben Dutka
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Comments (65 posts)
Ultimadream
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 10:50:43 AM
Reply
Jawknee
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 10:52:20 AM
Jawknee
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 10:50:58 AM
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Get bent Wada.
Gabriel013
Tuesday, July 06, 2010 @ 12:50:40 AM
Jawknee
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 10:53:33 AM
Jawknee
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 10:54:25 AM
tes37
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 11:03:13 AM
Jawknee
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 11:05:37 AM
Sad.
BTNwarrior
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 3:11:47 PM
Natalisrubbish
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 11:00:03 AM
Reply
Last edited by Natalisrubbish on 7/5/2010 11:01:21 AM
TheHighlander
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 11:28:53 AM
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Were the sales of games like the various Final Fantasy games in the west simply Japanese gamers here? I mean come on that's absolutely fricking stupid. FF games (I'm not including FFXIII) sales in the western markets utterly destroy their logic. Hell, the sales of other JRPG games in the west destroy their arguments. Gran Turismo destroys their argument, Yakuza, Soul Calibur, Tekken, Street Fighter, Ninja Gaiden games, etc....
Square Enix ha lost touch not just with Western Gamers, not just with Japanese gamers, but with reality in it's entirety. Ben, if there is a petition, I will sign it. In the mean time one can hope that some strange malady strikes the entire board at SE that leaves them otherwise unharmed but prevents them from working at SE.
the thing is that this latest pronouncement from Wada sound more xenophobic than anything else. I just do not get this at all. Up to now it seemed that Wada and SE and some other Japanese developers were intent on diluting their own cultural distinctiveness in order to court some kind of golden market of Western gamers. Time after time we heard this talk about appealing to western gamers and games such as FFXIII have been major departures from the game formula that works so well in Japan. And time after time we here at PSXExtreme and others elsewhere have wondered why it is that Japanese game developers/publishers are filled with self doubt verging on self loathing. It's almost been like they felt like the could not compete with Western developers. Now with this we're back to isolating ourselves with western games and developers for the west and Japanese games and developers for Japan.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised after the way in which the brain dead morons at Square Enix made two distinct versions of Neir and sold the Xbox 360 version (as a multi-plat) here in the west, but kept the perhaps more JRPG audience friendly PS3 exclusive version limited to Japan. I don't know whether to be disappointed in the ignorance, offended by the potential xenophobia or just confused by the complete lack of logic or consistency.
</rant>
Last edited by TheHighlander on 7/5/2010 11:34:19 AM
Jawknee
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 11:32:15 AM
Last edited by Jawknee on 7/5/2010 11:32:28 AM
Jawknee
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 1:13:38 PM
Last edited by Jawknee on 7/5/2010 1:14:02 PM
nilos95
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 11:45:15 AM
Reply
shaydey77
Tuesday, July 06, 2010 @ 6:32:06 AM
Dancemachine55
Tuesday, July 06, 2010 @ 11:28:38 PM
And for that, Wada is an idiot. No COD gamer will go for a JRPG, no matter how COD-like they make it. They won't play anything BUT COD!!!!
Wada, Square-Enix has a fanbase, a pretty darn huge fanbase at that, and you are throwing it all away to try and get COD gamers into your games. IT WON'T WORK!!!! They're too busy building their kill-streak scores to care about what games you bring out.
The only chance SE now has is to return to their original formula and cater to the long-term SE fans who have been their since the old days of Squaresoft. Support the people who have supported them for so long.
God, I really do hope someone fires that Wada idiot soon.
Mavfan321
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 11:53:32 AM
Reply
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 12:24:03 PM
Reply
main_event05
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 12:46:18 PM
WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 2:09:55 PM
Scarecrow
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 4:07:31 PM
shadowscorpio
Tuesday, July 06, 2010 @ 1:19:13 PM
brighat1971
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 12:49:33 PM
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GuardianMode
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 1:29:44 PM
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SE seems to be on the same path. With its 360 only games failing,this smacks on sour grapes.
kraygen
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 2:11:24 PM
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Wada doesn't get it and it seems the more ppl try to explain it, the less he understands.
I'm afraid ff versus is going to be another let down because apparently us stupid americans don't like anything that we didn't make ourselves.
Which makes perfect sense by the way considering that ff7 on the psn sold over 100,000 copies in less than 2 weeks, highest sales for a ps1 game on psn.
I'm afraid that to get the final fantasy I love I will just have to play what has been released before the ps3 arrived. To get my JRPG fix on ps3, well say hello to level 5.
TheHighlander
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 3:10:10 PM
Jawknee
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 3:15:06 PM
ZettaiSeigi
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 6:52:56 PM
As for that Wada guy, he has completely lost the plot and I see no need to reiterate what you guys have said on your earlier comments. One thing's for sure, he and his company have been sitting at the bottom of the pile along with Activision. At least Kotick doesn't talk as much as Wada does. Both of them are very bad jokes that nobody gets.
WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 2:12:32 PM
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Hironobu Sakaguchi made and sold JRPGs like hotcakes, this idiot is just making excuses about why his westernized games aren't up to snuff this gen.
Underdog15
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 2:16:01 PM
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STRATEGY GUIDE
sold over 1 million....
He obviously skipped his "statistical methods" class in university... either that or he skipped out on an education altogether.
Honestly.... this guy is so frustrating to listen to. It's like trying to argue with a 3 year old who repeatedly asks, "why?".
Last edited by Underdog15 on 7/5/2010 2:16:46 PM
TheHighlander
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 3:09:10 PM
Deadcelledo
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 4:09:54 PM
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fstop
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 5:12:21 PM
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No, I don't have any underlining issues with my health.
These feelings I'm expressing to you is genuine heart break. I loved Squaresoft when I was growing up. I loved the worlds they used to take me to each time I popped in a cartridge and in later years a CD.
You may think I'm over the top right now but, I'm sorry, Squaresoft died in my heart today (this time for real). I should have seen it when Square-Enix was born from what was two great companies operating fine on their own to this abysmal atrocity we see before us today.
I will always have hope that some day Squaresoft would return to me and my fellow brethren. We will never lose that hope.
But...I now know what it's like to love but no longer be "in love".
Last edited by fstop on 7/5/2010 5:13:41 PM
WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 6:11:04 PM
Lotusflow3r
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 7:46:39 PM
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I've been hailing them the new Soft since FFX-2 lol
This doesn't surprise me and since i moved on awhile ago, im not bothered anymore. Im just happy at the fact Level 5 is receiving their long overdue love.
Last edited by Lotusflow3r on 7/5/2010 7:47:09 PM
DeathOfChaos
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 8:25:31 PM
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BikerSaint
Tuesday, July 06, 2010 @ 12:33:58 AM
WTF???
Stop frigging dumping on America when America doesn't have a frigging thing to do with SE's decisions!!!! No American has twisted Wada's arm, or what's left of his mind!
America isn't the head of SE and most American's want SE to go back to the old Squaresoft way, EXACTLY LIKE the rest of the world!!!!!
Put the f*cking blame SEquarely where it belongs, right at Wada's non-functional deluded brain stem.
HMMMMM. I wonder if Wada's just thinking Western because maybe he's come down with Al Capone's little social disease and it's eating all of his brain cells alive
Last edited by BikerSaint on 7/6/2010 12:38:06 AM
DeathOfChaos
Tuesday, July 06, 2010 @ 9:56:32 AM
TheHighlander
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 8:57:53 PM
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Guess what platform NamcoBandai decided to develop a home console version of the IdolMaster games for?
Yes, that's right, you guessed it, it's the Xbox 360! Someone please tell me what planet these morons are from where this is a good idea. That series sells gangbusters in Japan on the PSP. So what in hell are NamcoBandai playing at? Ah, they are purposely developing a specifically Japanese game for a Western console. In this context, that is the definition of both stupidity and insanity.
GuardianMode
Tuesday, July 06, 2010 @ 12:30:19 AM
TheHighlander
Tuesday, July 06, 2010 @ 9:34:23 AM
Gamer Girl Gemo
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 9:23:57 PM
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Is he completely serious? Or is he just giving us something to talk about until he tells us jk? It's a wonder when SE will understand that what they do or say nowadays are going straight down the toilet. We should have seen this coming once they told Soft farewell, honestly. Sorry SE, you've lost me. Level 5 has definately replaced you.
Luiscosmo2
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 9:43:24 PM
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And the thing is companies are trying too hard to sell at other regions...Just do you own style and sell 'em at other regions and hope they like 'em..or Dont send too much copies to make 'em look like there in Popupar Demand.
Last edited by Luiscosmo2 on 7/5/2010 9:45:39 PM
BigBoss4ever
Tuesday, July 06, 2010 @ 12:20:48 AM
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Robochic
Tuesday, July 06, 2010 @ 12:55:38 AM
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I'm personally a level 5 fan have been for awhile. When my husband saw this article he just said it doesn't suprise him he hasn't repected square for many years he doesn't even play their games expect for FF 7 which is his fave.
___________
Tuesday, July 06, 2010 @ 2:53:56 AM
Lawless SXE
Tuesday, July 06, 2010 @ 2:13:29 AM
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___________
Tuesday, July 06, 2010 @ 2:59:00 AM
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especially with capcom how there trying to shill off games to american studios like they did with bionic commando.
yeah, how did that turn out!?
if i want a Japanese game im going to buy it from a Japanese developer.
if i want a JRPG im going to buy it from a Japanese developer.
if i want a high octane shooter im not going to go to a Japanese developer am i?
there just not known for those types of games.
if i want Asian food, ill go to a Asian shop.
the first thing i do when i go to any type of restaurant is check whos behind the stove.
if im in a Italian restaurant and theres a Asian behind the stove i walk out.
Asians can not cook Italian food, just like Itallians cant cook Asian food.
just like if you want a reliable car you buy a Japanese car.
but if you want a pile of bolts, that is sexy as hell and is built with passion you buy a alfa!
though $E and capcom are too busy lining there wallets to figure that out.
TheHighlander
Tuesday, July 06, 2010 @ 9:35:13 AM
___________
Wednesday, July 07, 2010 @ 8:51:59 AM
alfas are so freaking slow for their price, a friend of mine has a berrara which is their fastest car 80 grands worth!
my nieces WRX STI is faster than it, and it only cost 56 grand.
there beautiful cars, there is no denying that but there far to slow and far to unreliable for there price.
THEGODSLAYER
Tuesday, July 06, 2010 @ 10:30:00 AM
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BikerSaint
Tuesday, July 06, 2010 @ 5:26:59 PM
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If anyone want's to start a petition, maybe you can use this site.
http://www.change.org/petition
I'd do it myself, but someone with much better writing skills than myself should do it, if for now other reason than just to give the petition a much more refined look of legitimacy.
(OK, ...back to my more normal street talk mode......"Yo Adrian, com'ere")

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oldmike
Reply
Monday, July 05, 2010 @ 10:49:05 AM
sadly he is such a 360 fanboy he cant see it