So it seems that Square-Enix has finally landed in the United States , and when writing that article, a few details struck me as intriguing.
First of all, we know about the publisher's drive to appeal to a wider audience – or in this case, the Western gaming crowd – so we shouldn't expect the same ol' same ol'. Secondly, they specifically say the team is comprised mostly of Western developers; this was done intentionally to insure that their new project does indeed cater to the correct demographic. Thirdly, while they basically ruled out the possibility of a FPS, they did say they wanted to provide gamers with a "whole new experience," so we could get something quite unique out of Square-Enix Los Angeles. The big question is, what is this new project? You can rule out a FFVII remake, of course, and just about anything else that Square-Enix has done in the past (spin-offs, JRPGs, etc.). Perhaps they might try their hand at a thrilling action/adventure title of some kind, or maybe even a platformer. Remember Brave Fencer Musashi for the original PlayStation…? Just about anything is possible.
But we're banking on a Western-oriented RPG like Mass Effect or Fable . They said they're not interested in producing lots of blood and gore, they want to go after North American gamers, and their history is RPG-centric (regardless of the members of this new studio). Therefore, we'd like to think they're working on an epic, open-ended RPG that features some of the patented S-E flair, but without some of the technical hitches we've experienced in the WRPGs thus far. Whatever they do, we doubt it's going to be small and simple; that's just not Square-Enix's style when it comes to major console releases. The only aspect of this entire situation that may prove a little frightening to PS3 owners is that game development manager Fumi Shiraishi said, "Square Enix as a whole fell behind in multi-platform development." Now, one could interpret this as meaning that they fell behind where the PS3 is concerned, so they'll just continue to focus on the 360 ('cough' Star Ocean: The Last Hope 'cough').
But if you want to be optimistic, they said it would be a difficult decision concerning the targeted platforms, so maybe they want to bone up on their PS3 knowledge by producing a PS3 exclusive. After all, Final Fantasy Versus XIII is still exclusive, right? And they've given Microsoft all sorts of attention, so if they've "fallen behind," it's their own fault , as far as we're concerned. Anyway, it'll be very interesting to see what comes from "SELA." Yeah, we're gonna use that from now on.
This would be great. I could use another game that takes up weeks of my life like Fallout 3 did. To bad it looks like it won't have all the blood though.
Last edited by ray taylor on 3/21/2009 11:22:18 AM
^^^^
this is why japan game companies are westernizing
Hope they give the PS3 something to brag about!
Another xbox exclusive is my guess
Its more than a guess, bro. That's a hypothesis.
I think they work on multiplattform game
"Square Enix as a whole fell behind in multi-platform development." <—- That means that they dont know how to use UE3 engine, so their "multiplat" titles (multi == x360 + pc) play and look crappy.
SE is pure fail with its current jrpgs. If the new SE game is a jrpg with western theme I think PS3 owners could expect some love from SE because most x360 owners are not into the jrpg thing thus PS3 fanbase is the way to go (Star Ocean 4 already showed that), but a wrpg with japanesse theme means NOT love from SE for PS3 owners.
Last edited by raztad on 3/21/2009 1:00:59 PM
maybe they'll decided to make FFVIII and versus 360 exclusives wouldn't surprise me at all.they fucked me up when the release star ocean a game I was looking forward to on the 360 only.F!@# them.
meh, not bothered right now. Hard fact, then I am interested.
I actually hope they fail
Shame!
Q!
"i am home"
I would be hoping for something like Fable personally!
Q!
"i am home"
i would like something sorta like fable, but with a totally open world and LOTS of sidequests…
something that's flirting with the RPG/simulated MMORPG line. Close to a sim MMO, but not quite there.
I'm all for the idea of an open ended western RPG with the solidity and flair of a JRPG, but I'm worried they might go too far from their roots. I would cringe if they tried to make something like Alpha Protocol (That game looks pretty bad) but would welcome a new kinda Fallout or even a Fable that's ACTUALLY epic (Molyneux has no idea what he's doing).
I think the comment about them falling behind is their way of saying "We are considering, after the epic failure of bringing JRPGs to 360, taking our games multiplatform and doing them on PS3 too"
One can hope.
It could just as easily mean a WRPG (waggle role-playing game) for the Wii. That WOULD be unlike anything we've seen.
Last edited by Fane1024 on 3/21/2009 2:59:51 PM
Haha! Waggle Roleplaying, I prefer to do that with women.
I think that Fable 2 would've lived up to the hype that they received from its creator if it would been exclusive to the PS3. That way it would've taken advantage of blu ray and been a much larger game.
It certainly would have had the capability to implement more detail, better graphics, and a wider world, but they would need the expertise of a Sony dev to help them make it go from "well that was pretty cool" to "Holy crap this game is worth twice what I paid"
Yhea, I agree caddillac, it has all the makings of a great game.
Q!
"i am home"
Last edited by Qubex on 3/21/2009 10:35:23 PM
This smells fail like the Hawaiian Square Studio
Unfortunately, it will probably suck like most of their other new IPs have.
I really hope it will be something close to an action RPG. I could really use another one of them.
Yeah, those are my favorite times of games.
It's probably another exclusive jrpg for the 360.
We all know Microsoft pay desperate and crazy money for exclusives.
more games on the sh!tbox 3fix me. what else could Square do? sony needs a powerful first party RPG contender to annihilate square enix.
At this point it wouldn't take much to knock SE's block off now that FFXIII is all but delayed until the second coming of christ or buddha or what have you. They are like a coke machine, rock it a couple times and boom it goes over.
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 3/22/2009 4:17:09 AM
i dont trust this DUDE!!!
lol Ben, dare I repost the "REPOST"? (The 1st S-E America Staff meeting)
We all know what S-E America is working on: 3 XBOX360 exclusives and maybe 1 DSi title.
S-E wants to expand their market, which means no Sony games…none. Because we all no that it not possible for an American/European PS fan to also not have an XBox360, right? That's what M$ did to the gaming market, right? Took all the PS2 fanbase and kept their own XBox fanbase with this new ground-breaking Xbox360. So all the SquareSoft fans have Xbox360s, right?
Look at those stellar titles: Last Remnant, Star Ocean, Infinite Undiscovery, NEED I SAY MORE?
S-E has a great strategy market penetration plan. No way Sony can find RPGs developers to compete with S-E. Not with inferior games like…Folklore, White Knight Chronicles, and Demon's Souls….
Oh wait…those games were successful. Dang! Guess the RPGs are moving along just fine without S-E.
Last edited by King James on 3/22/2009 1:36:43 PM
I might actually buy it if it is a WRPG. I get so sick of being told what kind of character I have to play as in the Final Fantasy games.
Yeah, and I'm sick of having an essentially faceless silent protagonist. Give me an interesting main character! Mass Effect got it right, so it IS possible, people…
-Arvis