Opinion: Square Enix backed the wrong horse
Thursday, December 6th, 2007 at 10:26am by Jack
When you’ve built your entire business around grandiose, movie-like fantasy titles with huge, in-depth cutscenes, what do you do when a graphically inferior console is currently eating up the entire video game industry?
Did you say lash out? Complain? How about whine and moan? If so, you’re correct, and Yoichi Wada, CEO of Square Enix, deserves a prize.
On Wednesday, Yoichi told CNET that the current trend today is most people aren’t buying the Wii as a game machine, but as a toy. “The Wii is the antithesis of the Xbox 360,” he said. “Xbox 360 is strictly for hardcore gamers. The attachment rate for the Xbox 360 is much higher than for the Wii. People who buy the 360 really like games.” On the Sony side of things, Wada said the company needs to position the PS3 as a game machine instead of a supercomputer. Hmm. That sounds oddly familiar (and a little side note and hat tip to Malstrom, this also resembles when the NES appeared on the PC-dominated gaming scene of the 1980s).
Now forgive me for providing yet another tidbit of tainted analysis, but this sounds like a bit of bellyaching from a company that’s starting to get worried (just a tad) about its future. Is Square in serious trouble? Obviously not yet, but like any intelligent, powerful company they can see the writing on the wall. Since Final Fantasy 7, Square made it clear that the cutscene and serious, involved gameplay were going to be their bread and butter. I have no problem with that, and behind FF2 and FF3 (U.S.), I consider FF7 one of the best RPGs ever to grace a console. That said, when it takes tens of millions of dollars just to create a title like a Final Fantasy today, you’re going to start speaking up when the systems capable of playing it aren’t growing their user bases as fast as is necessary to support such a venture. The Xbox 360 is successful, but development costs are such today that a bigger installed base is needed for titles to truly be considered a “success.” Oh, and when you’ve spent the better part of the last two to three years developing your flagship title as an exclusive for a system that’s floundering, I imagine that dynamic gets amplified and you start to say things publicly to stoke the fire.
“It seems that Sony isn’t sure what it wants to do. Is it making high-end electronics or a game console for gamers? I want them to clearly define their console,” Wada said. When I read that, I wanted to add “…so we can continue to make video games” on the end, but that’s just me.
To say the Wii is a toy though, and is incapable of producing a serious games for serious gamers is just irresposible and lazy, given what we have seen and will see on the console. I’ve played a lot of games in my day, but Super Mario Galaxy takes the cake as the best of the best in recent memory. At no time did I regret purchasing it (well, I traded PS2 games for it, so technically…), and at no time did I feel ashamed that I was playing “a toy.” Are there toy-like games for the Wii? Yup, but then again there were several Barbie Dream House games for the original NES. That a company like Square Enix is saying such things about the Wii, instead of recognizing its potential as a new development medium, tells me that one of the greatest software companies in the world did not prepare, and remains unprepared, for the true next generation of video gaming. What’s equally damining is that it’s so darn cheap to develop a Wii title right now. The potential for profit — if the effort is put into it — is enormous.
What’s truly surprising hough is that it appeared Square Enix was prepared–Dragon Quest is headed to the DS, after all, and was one of the bigger Nintendo coups from 2007. But the console biz and the portable biz are different, so maybe Square wasn’t as prepared as they first appeared.
I guess in the end this leaves Square Enix with a strategy where they’ll sustain their business by re-releasing every single one of their older titles with graphical updates on the Nintendo DS…
Anyway, here’s a challenge, Square Enix, and it’s one that could make you an incredible amount of money: Create an accessible RPG that the casual gamer (or the “new core gamer” I’ll call them) can play without realizing they’re playing an RPG. It doesn’t have to have 10-deep menu screens, or 20-minute cutscenes; it just has to be fun. Try it.
December 6th, 2007 at 10:37 am
But when was the last time Squix made a game worth playing anyway? Final Fantasy bit the big one a long time ago and the new ones just keep fumbling. I blame the emphasis on cut-scenes for all their problems. Most of their games bear a greater resemblance to interactive fiction like Zork than they do to real RPGs, and we all know what happened to that genre….I mean, if you really enjoy game play that is entirely comprised of “Scroll the menu, turn the page. Scroll the menu, turn the page. Scroll the menu, turn the page,” then power to you, but by definition, that’s not interactive entertainment….that’s Absolute Linearity. I can’t say I miss “Square” having a prominent presence on Nintendo systems…Not since the SNES, anyway. Besides, all the FF veteran developers at Squix left a while ago with what-his-name and started Mystwalker Studios under Microsoft’s banner of allegiance.
December 6th, 2007 at 11:05 am
Talk like that is what makes the Wii’s (seemingly inevitable) collapse a self-fulfilling prophecy. It also makes the “hardcore” game development industry’s collapse inevitable, too.
If developers aren’t going to take the platform seriously and choose to instead just keep shoveling trash on to it, it’s going to sink once the hype dies down. Unless the demand for the Wii keeps up, I honestly can see it starting to decline sometime during the summer/post-Mario Kart…certainly from a traditional gamer’s stand point and maybe even the New Gamer’s stand point.
These hardcore developers like Square HAVE to start taking the Wii seriously. If they do, they’ll court the hardcore audience away from Sony and, in particular, MS. Aside from Nintendo’s games, the Wii hasn’t had any true AAA level games (whatever the Hell AAA even means) from 3rd party developers. The system needs to start getting those games, too.
That being said, a Chrono Trigger remake would go a loooong way towards courting the traditional hardcore games over to the Wii, Square.
Illusion of Gaia would be sweet, too.
December 6th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
Although it hurts to say this, Square Enix stopped being an important publisher long ago in my mind.
Sure, the Final Fantasy games are still epic… but my interest in overly long, linear, cut-scene laden games that require little skill (but lots of time) has diminished to the point where I just can’t care. That’s what movies are for.
Considering the amount of money and resources available during development, why hasn’t something new and innovative been added to the gameplay equation by now?
Then again, I’m hardly representative of the “average gamer”.
December 6th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
I totally agree with Kale, I see Square Enix as a company still living off their genuine ideas from a decade ago.
Maybe even just waiting for Sony or Microsoft to push some money in their pockets for “exclusive” titles for their platforms, but why would they? For sequels with roman numerals so high the average kid can’t translate or chewed-out concepts and relaunched old titles? Hardly.
As a fan of the original FF series, I no longer hold my breath for new Square Enix titles. I would even wait for the reviews before I buy one nowadays.
As their denial of the Wii’s potentials/existence: Go ride your Chocobos (for hardcore gamers only)!
December 6th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Yanno, it’s really hard to take Square Enix’s statement seriously nowadays, when you realize that we’re talking about a company (back then when they were Squaresoft) that has been clinging desperately for decades to a franchise that practically saved them from bankrupcy back them.
And while it’s true the Wii may not have the muscle his “rivals” have, it does have one big (and overlooked) advantage: It’s the perfect console to introduce people to the videogame world.
Like one guy told me: You need to introduce new blood in order to keep the gaming experience alive.
December 6th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
I actually think the reverse.
Despite what their vocalised opinions seem to be, their Crystal Chronicals title (not the Wii Ware one - the serious one) looks to be one of the most interesting Wii games with the most effort from a 3rd party, well, ever. Their Dragon Quest Swords game was just about the only high profile 3rd party title released on Wii (that wasn’t a rushed Dragonball/Bleach/Naruto GC/PS2 port) in Japan since it launched.
I’d agree Square has backed the wrong horse, but they’ve actually ignored the right horse less than eveyone else in the industry bar Ubisoft. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that if you ignore Ubisoft, they’ve probably put more dedicated money and time into Wii development than the rest of the industry combined, even counting Sega (those filthy bastards).
December 6th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
I have a long standing belief that the only reason FF 7 was good in the first place was that it was originally intended to go to a Nintendo system. When they decided to mainly support sony it was like their originality died. Square doesn’t make classic rpgs like Chrono Trigger and SMRPG anymore and FF7 was certainly the last title of the series that I can honestly say I enjoyed. As others have said Square topped making the games I liked to play when they decided cinematics were more important than gameplay and story.
December 6th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
I’d agree with that bOB, and I think it goes hand in hand with the exodus that Kale described above.
December 6th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
When Square Enix can actually make a game that doesn’t play like an off-shoot of a Final Fantay game and stop whoring the hell out of FF VII, then I’ll take them seriously.
I mean c’mon… This dude moans that the Wii is more like a toy when Square Enix’s latest Wii release is friggin’ Chocobo dungeon. Way to tip the scales Square Enix.
I also have a problem when developers generalize everyone that owns a Wii. I personally bought my Wii because I’m a hardcore gamer and I’m sure many others did too.
December 6th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
What? Nobody likes Kingdom Hearts? I don’t know if there developing a third one for the PS3 or 360 but that franchise is perfect for the Wii (and incredible). They already have new games coming to the DS and PSP. If only Mushroom Kingdom Hearts wasn’t a cruel prank.
December 6th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
I know an accessible RPG: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles.
I’m happy to see that they are continuing that franchise, and on the Wii and DS, no less.
December 6th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
I’m past the point of caring if someone calls something I enjoy a toy. I also sensed insecurity in Wada’s statements, Jack.
December 6th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
Well, to be fair, people ARE buying it as a toy. And?
But honestly, for him to be bothered by the fact that people are buying a toy more than they are buying the 360/PS3, well, he’s really angry at the consumer, not the Wii. In a way, the Wii is just the messenger that people want a game console that is toy-like in some way. And for him to be bothered by what the consumer is doing is really just an indirect way to say that hes upset at himself for not delivering what those consumers wanted, for not seeing the situation before Nintendo did. So really, this comment tells me that he’s upset with his own company.
December 6th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Yes. Lest not forget the Crystal Chronicles series.
They are also coming out with Chocobo Mystery Dungeon, and Dragon Quest Swords is very accessible(albeit less of an RPG).
December 6th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Its a toy.
And a helluva fun one
And of course the other two consoles are toys too.
But it seems like Wii people smile and laugh alot more with their toy
“Serious gaming” is still better on a PC. More expensive yes….but way better.
Keep having fun folks and remember:
“We dont stop playing cause we get old,
we get old cause we stop playing.”
December 6th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
@quizzly,
Yes, my thoughts exactly. That reminds me of what someone told me once, that all video games consoles are toys, but only Nintendo gamers are man enough to admit it. The other 2 are so busy trying to prove they are NOT toys that they get lost in all the seriousness and forget that the whole idea is to PLAY, PRETEND, and have FUN. As if somehow a game about shooting guns is not still a toy. As I recall, as I child, I was playing guns alot. I kind of grew out of it. Strangely I haven’t grown out of Mario just yet. But either way, playing guns, or playing Mario, the idea is still the same, to pretend you’re someone else. I just don’t get as much enjoyment pretending I’m a killer any more.
December 6th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
I want more Parasite Eve!!! Maybe a re-make on DS!?
December 6th, 2007 at 8:26 pm
Square’s downturn has very little to do with Wii and more with the fact that they’re just milking their franchses for all they’re worth. I’m a final fantasy fanatic but when they release 500 versions of each final fantasy it does start to wear on you a little. That, and the way they’ve manhandled the secret of mana series is the reason their future looks dim.
December 7th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
I will agree that Square’s tendancy to focus so much on FFVII left a bad taste in my mouth. It looks like they’re planning to do the same thing with XIII as well unfortunately. BUT that’s only one house in Square-Enix.
If you look at the other two, Crystal Chronicles and Ivalice Alliance, those two are heavily involved with Nintendo. Anyone who thinks Square only looks to the DS for remakes has clearly chosen to turn a blind eye to the upcoming Crystal Chronicle DS & Wii games, as well as Tactics Advance 2. In fact, just last month there was FFXII: Revenant Wings on the DS. And of course there are the Enix titles also, but i haven’t followed those as closely (except for DQ:Swords; I salivate mightily for that game).
So who cares if he called the Wii a toy? if you want to look at it from a “horsepower” standpoint, okay, so it is. And it’s a toy that Square is still developing for. He used a new word in the old argument about power vs. fun. It’s not something to get all up in arms, much less denounce a current developer, over.
December 8th, 2007 at 6:17 am
Well I’d consider myself a ‘hardcore’ gamer and I own and Wii and don’t intend on buying Xbox 360. I always figure that SE would have been happy with the turn over on the Nintendo consoles (mainly DS here). Like everyone else has said if he actually got some teams to make some decent Wii games then I’m sure that he wouldn’t be so anal about the Wii.