Square-Enix On RDR: "Oh No, We Can't Compete With That"
Perhaps it's a matter of intimidation combined with a lack of confidence. Maybe that would explain Square-Enix's lagging in the console department.
Many often compare the current Square-Enix to the S-E of yesteryear on the PS2, or the Squaresoft of the original PlayStation. And those same people point towards the evident shift in the company's goals, which now appear to be centered on one thing only: find a way to appeal to the Western audience. But that audience really enjoys open-world sandbox games like Red Dead Redemption and it seems you won't see such an experience from Square-Enix any time soon. Why? Because they feel they can't compete.
This from Hiroyuki Saegusa, director of the upcoming PSP title, Lord of Arcana. You can find his intriguing comment here:
"With our games, there’s more of a story focus most of the time. But with Red Dead Redemption, obviously it’s very free. There’s a free world and you create your world yourself. If we see that kind of game, we normally feel like ‘oh no, we can’t compete with those games’, and that kind of lets me down as a creator, because it’s so good. So I think it’s great."
You don't normally hear developers going, "oh, we can't compete with that." You will hear them praise other designers, certainly, but that almost sounds like a defeatist attitude, doesn't it? Not that we want an open-world adventure from Square-Enix, but there does seem to be a decided lack of confidence. It'd be one thing if the FF creators didn't take to the sandbox style but they obviously think it's pretty darn good.
To us, it just seems like Square-Enix is directionless these days. They've even admitted that they have no idea what they'll do with the next Final Fantasy. ...we could give them some hints.
Tags: square enix, games industry, red dead redemption
1/12/2011 10:42:34 AM Ben Dutka
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Comments (60 posts)
Akuma07
Thursday, January 13, 2011 @ 12:17:44 AM
nilos95
Thursday, January 13, 2011 @ 6:33:18 AM
maxpontiac
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 11:00:53 AM
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StangMan80
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 7:24:55 PM
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 11:02:50 AM
Gone
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 11:07:37 AM
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 12:25:10 PM
Most games have a separate developer and publisher, although some companies develop and produce their own games (like EA Sports and EA). But EA and Activision almost exclusively publish games from outside studios. Like Infinity Ward and Treyarch for Call of Duty (Activision) and Visceral for Dead Space and BioWare for Mass Effect/Dragon Age (EA).
Temjin001
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 11:06:38 AM
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Too bad. Hopefully that mindset doesn't make it's way up to the top brass who green lights the calls for future projects.
Looking Glass
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 11:27:58 AM
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But there is hope. Wada and his business cronies now seem to be genuinely out of ideas, giving the actual creative minds the opportunity to retake control. And of course they've gotten a much deserved thrashing as a result of the botched launch of Final Fantasy XIV.
And another reason to hope is Final Fantasy Versus XIII. What I heard through the grapevine a while ago is that Wada agreed not to interfere with the development of Versus.
What we know for sure is that Nomura is essentially acting as the auteur for the game. Not only is he designing the characters once again he's also writing and directing the game. I think it's safe to say that for a lot of people, Versus is going to be Square-Enix's last chance to redeem itself.
Last edited by Looking Glass on 1/12/2011 11:28:58 AM
spiderboi
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 11:59:42 AM
Looking Glass
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 1:13:08 PM
That's pretty much how Monolith Soft got founded. If I remember correctly a group of people left Squaresoft over creative differences specifically with regard to the development of Xenogears, accepted an investment from Namco, and founded their own company.
I wonder when Xenoblade is going to be coming to the west?
Anyway, Wada and his cronies better watch out or history just might repeat itself.
shadowscorpio
Thursday, January 13, 2011 @ 1:09:21 AM
Looking Glass
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 11:56:26 AM
Spore_777
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 11:43:49 AM
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And what sells in the west is exactly what Japan is not usually known for. It therefore must naturally feel like a challenge for S-E to develop a seemingly new type of game for them to cater to a new audience.
If S-E wanted, they could make another FF title typical to Japanese story telling and it would sell...in Japan.
S-E is where it is because it wants to expand its market. Give them time, when they get the formula right where they can cater for any audience...they will be game gods.
I think FFXV should be a typical JRPG though. Turn based and story oriented.
Looking Glass
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 11:54:10 AM
shadowscorpio
Thursday, January 13, 2011 @ 11:47:42 AM
SE doesn't need a "new" formula. If they made a Final Fantasy according to how they have in the past it would sell in Japan, Europe and the US just like they have sold in the past.
SE made a mistake when they, for so some ludicrous reason decided to support the xbox 360 demographic while at the same time leaving its most loyal fanbase in the Playstation 3 demographic to starve.
How many SE games does the PS3 have? Star Ocean the Last Hope is the only proper JRPG we have from them right now IMHO and that franchise is really originated from when Enix was its own company.
Simcoe
Thursday, January 13, 2011 @ 12:14:04 PM
Looking Glass
Thursday, January 13, 2011 @ 1:42:10 PM
Just because you want a broader audience doesn't mean that trying to go for it directly is the best way to achieve this. SE was actually doing just fine in the west without trying to cater to the west, as paradoxical as that may sound. I guarantee you that a PS3 remake of Final Fantasy VII would sell like hotcakes.
Simcoe
Thursday, January 13, 2011 @ 1:57:35 PM
Looking Glass
Thursday, January 13, 2011 @ 1:58:40 PM
Well if it's any consolation to you I don't think it's particularly likely that SE will be taking the PS3 users for granted anymore, at least not for a while.
All of their attempts to get a 360 version of FF XIV going have failed, no doubt in no small part because of Microsoft's notorious Xbox Live policies. And now that FF XIV is faltering they are likely going to be looking to the PS3 version of the game for salvation. And for that reason they would do well not to anger the PS3 users again like they did when they made FFXIII multplatform. This is one of the reasons why I think it's likely that Versus is not going to be going multiplatform anytime soon, if at all.
And if it does then I think there's probably going to be hell to pay. I would buy the game anyway out of respect for Tetsuya Nomura, but after that I think it's likely that I would never buy a Square-Enix game again. I'm getting tired of being jerked around and lied to. I'm sure that there are a lot of other PS3 fans who feel similarly.
Looking Glass
Thursday, January 13, 2011 @ 2:04:11 PM
Lawless SXE
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 12:40:30 PM
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I'd liken it to Ninja Theory making a new CoD, or Treyach coming up with God of War. There's no doubt they could do it, but because of their style, it would be unlikely that it would reach the top tier of the genre.
Peace.
WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 12:50:52 PM
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Take a hint from Naughty Dog, when it gets difficult that is good news. Never sell yourself short, and by god get rid of the killtubes.
Alienange
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 12:59:49 PM
Temjin001
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 2:47:07 PM
Perhaps these are some contributing factors to FF13's changes:
Multi-platform accommodations for 360. The 360 version has nearly exactly 6.8GBS of game data. With two discs allotted to FMV. This was a calculated effort. 3rd party publishes are, in fact, charged royalty fees for every additional disc.
Escalating dev costs as gaming technology becomes more sophisticated will drive down profits if the user-base isn't growing proportionately.
I'm sure any of the FF's on PSX and PS2 costed much less than FF13, yet they sold more. Without appropriately scaling back the scale of FF going into the future, S-E could expect to become less profitable going forward as the overhead expenses continue to increase while sales remain relatively the same. One of two things would need to happen: lower the quality of the presentation (lesser quality FMV, lesser detailed worlds and characters, and lesser quality voice actors). Or, keep the presentational elements high, but scale back the breadth of the game's design.
There's also the argument that the series is simply dumbing down and becoming more sensational for the twitchers out there as well.
CH1N00K
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 12:51:31 PM
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"Lin-e-ar games? What is that? We can't make them can we?"
SE present day,
"Open world Gaming? Can we make that Linear? No? Okay, let's not bother, are western audience wouldn't understand it anyways. Who wants to play Halo?" (Okay that last sentence wasn't necessary....but still..)
Last edited by CH1N00K on 1/12/2011 12:53:14 PM
kraygen
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 12:56:15 PM
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Not that I want SE to try and copy RDR, I want them to go back to their roots, I'm just saying, I don't understand why he thinks RDR creates its own story and all that.
Simcoe
Thursday, January 13, 2011 @ 12:20:14 PM
Alienange
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 12:58:13 PM
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Oh wait... no one would know that because so many had a hard time getting past the cramped story.
In RDR R* gives the gamer a game to go along with the fantastic story. Why SE thinks shoehorning a gamer into their mold before allowing them some freedom is just crazy.
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 1:13:45 PM
GuernicaReborn
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 1:00:08 PM
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Scarecrow
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 1:01:42 PM
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They didn't cater to the West with FFX for the most part, it still did great.
West devs > East devs when it comes to Western-themed games.
Why not just make Eastern games that have some Western appeal? And by some I mean like a character or two inspired by the West (Barrett, Cid?, Fran, etc.)
Looking Glass
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 1:16:22 PM
godsman
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 2:14:56 PM
It's understandable, but I'm just furious why can't they expand using new IPs, rather than ruining a great franchise.
Looking Glass
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 8:30:29 PM
And of course there is nothing shameful about having and working with a low budget. The most important thing is that you do a good job with whatever you use, however big or small it may be. I think it's safe to say that there are many people who've encountered a big budget game that they didn't like.
And besides, I don't see why companies like SE can't keep doing what they have been doing since before they started trying to cater to the west and simply do it with current generation tech. I guarantee you that a PS3 remake of Final Fantasy VII would sell like hotcakes.
Last edited by Looking Glass on 1/12/2011 8:38:03 PM
WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 1:49:13 PM
WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 2:53:44 PM
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 3:03:24 PM
And I still think Marsten's character wouldn't have behaved the way he did towards the end.
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 3:32:39 PM
WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 4:08:48 PM
Ben didn't finish Castlevania, but the end to that warps the whole history of Castlevania and I'll never forget it or that journey now.
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 1/12/2011 4:10:06 PM
swapnilgyani
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 3:11:45 PM
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natclark619
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 3:53:15 PM
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DemonNeno
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 4:41:07 PM
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Seriously, who the hell says that? I mean, good for them for being honest, but the approach is entirely wrong... Isn't it? ISN'T IT?!? Good god, do they realize square soft not only changed the game, they reigned king of the hill? At what point did they lose that? And why?
It's amazing to see this sense of inferior awkwardness from the company that holds the key to the undisputed RPG champ. RDR is great, but it's not absolutely incredible. Besides, that what we all got from quite a few FF games, wasn't it?
Maybe this new entity needs to try really hard to get an archived crew back in their kitchen to cook us something that doesn't leave an odd taste in our mouth and an emptiness in our appetite... I'm sad.
556pineapple
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 4:55:52 PM
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StangMan80
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 7:26:03 PM
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StangMan80
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 7:28:37 PM
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johnld
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 8:23:34 PM
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If i'm not mistaken, a lot of those yes answers for a FF7 remake came from the west. And they only didnt even try to survey the west about this question.
Looking Glass
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 8:46:42 PM
oONewcloudOo
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 9:05:29 PM
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WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 10:26:03 PM
___________
Thursday, January 13, 2011 @ 1:44:14 AM
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alansschizzar
Thursday, January 13, 2011 @ 1:23:31 PM
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Gamer46
Friday, January 14, 2011 @ 12:51:47 AM
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Last edited by Gamer46 on 1/14/2011 12:52:50 AM
Rogueagent01
Friday, January 14, 2011 @ 5:43:18 AM
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I can't believe SE would even acknowledge R* exists, their games are garbage. Sure they sell but so did Brittany Spears "sales do not equate to talent". RDR is by far one of the most disappointing games I've purchased this generation, every aspect of the game is sub-par. Even the worst game SE has released could and probably would garner a better review from me. SE should worry less about other developers and just focus on hiring talented next-gen developers since they seem to admit they have none. So they don't know how to do it, then hire or contract someone that knows what the hell they are doing. Look at DC Universe they contracted several developers from all over the world to make that game happen.
I have loved how they(SE) say this or that can't be done and yet other developers consistently release games that can do what they thought was impossible.
And I agree with those of you that have said that the artists no longer "make" the games. Corporate college flunkies think they no better because of some pointless degree that means nothing in an artistic world which gaming is. Don't get me wrong you need marketing and a educated staff to do what needs to be done, but allow the artists to make you money not the other way around.

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spiderboi
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Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 10:57:14 AM
C'mon Squenix, get your act together. The bad boys of PS2 era, you've just been downgraded to bad....