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Square-Enix Gets “Edgy” With New Game Label

In Square-Enix's ongoing bid to appeal to a wider audience, they continue to make strides that will – supposedly – resonate with the Western masses.

According to Famitsu and as noted by Andriasang , Square-Enix has unveiled a new box label that will denote their more mature, Western-styled products. It's called "Extreme Edges" and will be reserved for Western-developed titles that have the CERO "D" (17+) or "Z" (18+) ratings; one game under this new label is Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days , which is certainly "edgy." Basically, any time Square-Enix – or a Square-Enix subsidiary, like Eidos – produces a game that is Mature-rated, it'll fall under the Extreme Edges category. It's a far cry from the old days of Squaresoft, when few (if any) of their games were rated above "T" and most all raked in high review scores from critics. This isn't to say that these new "edgy" titles can't be great; it just shows how drastic the changes have been at Square in the past decade. Some will say the changes have been for the worse and RPG aficionados are bound to agree, but if the games sell and the company turns a profit, the company in question isn't likely to care.

But what if the titles don't meet sales expectations? Any chance they return to some semblance of the good ol' days? Yeah, I know. Probably not.

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Scarecrow
Scarecrow
14 years ago

ingredients: guns, blood, gore, and/or sex

twitch gamers will buy it year after year *cough* COD *cough*


Last edited by Scarecrow on 4/27/2010 12:40:45 PM

Zorigo
Zorigo
14 years ago

"In the words of Metallica; Sad but True"

sorry, someones already said that in another news story, i just wanted to quote them….

coverton341
coverton341
14 years ago

Sooooo….If it says "eXtreme EDGES!!!" then that pretty much means "Hey look a bunch of meat heads are going to be battling it out and using every swear word possible every ten seconds!"

At least now I have a clear indicator on which titles to avoid. Thanks Square!

Oyashiro
Oyashiro
14 years ago

Extreme Edges?

I'm sorry, that just sounds really stupid.

Vitron
Vitron
14 years ago

Yeah, it doesn't sound like square enix anymore… What happened to them?

…. Its a sad thing

…. I want squaresoft back *sob*

spiderboi
spiderboi
14 years ago

One can only hope…

Plue
Plue
14 years ago

Wowee I can't believe that they have gone as far as to develop a seperate label just for us "ignorant" westerners than "only play twitchy shooters and games with extreme violence and gore"

I feel so stereotyped 🙁

Jawknee
Jawknee
14 years ago

"more mature, Western-styled products."

So those of use who like their Japanese games are not so mature? God Square can you insult your old fan base any further. They just keep digging themselves deeper and deeper. I liked Square because they were a Japanese developer. Now not so much.

Wada needs to go. Hes ruining this company. He's starting to remind me of Bobby Kotex.


Last edited by Jawknee on 4/27/2010 12:53:49 PM

johnld
johnld
14 years ago

appealing to the twitch gamers which is probably the younger audiences that were hooked in by games like call of duty 4 instead of the ones that actually love their older final fantasy games who uses strategy to tackle a challenge. huh, mature, i wonder which english dictionary they're using. if naughty dog can release skins of kotex and wada in uncharted 2, i'll gladly wait for the others to blow me up.

Jawknee
Jawknee
14 years ago

Now that would be grand. ha

eLLeJuss
eLLeJuss
14 years ago

They said "more mature". So japanese gaming is still mature, western gaming is just "more mature"

Zemus101
Zemus101
14 years ago

Signed in just to thumb ya up man. It literally makes me quite sad that Square isn't around anymore. SE has Square in the title but that's as close as it gets. I'm betting FFXIV might be the last great game from them, probably just play it for a few years and that'll be the end of SE for me…. but on a more positive note! Let's hope I'm wrong and they pull a 180!

Vitron
Vitron
14 years ago

Aren't you insulted? They see you westerners as violent, gore-loving type.

Honestly SE is somehow disappointing these days…

eLLeJuss
eLLeJuss
14 years ago

Well not really. people like gore in games. When u see a really gory finisher/grapple move don't u go and say "Oh sh**, that was fu**ing sick" lol. Like in many scenes in GOW3. I remember people here having a chat about the news why prince of persia was losing fans because of GOW. And most of the people here said it was because GOW3 got more blood, and if Prince of persia wants to make a comeback they should add alittle more blood in there games 🙂

nogoat23
nogoat23
14 years ago

Rawr! Extreme! I don't do anything if it's not extreme! Last night, I made rice!

http://www.break.com/index/how-to-make-extreme-rice.html

haha

FullmetalX10
FullmetalX10
14 years ago

Omg epic vid ><

Rings0fUranus
Rings0fUranus
14 years ago

your vid is the greatest thing i have ever witnessed in my life. thank you for that, man. lol

TEG3SH
TEG3SH
14 years ago

-_-

Milonakis
Milonakis
14 years ago

really? That was amazing.

nogoat23
nogoat23
14 years ago

I can't take credit for the video. That is someone else's genius at work, but the joke worked better in the first person, so I went with it.

Milonakis
Milonakis
14 years ago

Maybe Square should just go become a part of Activision so that we can Call of Duty: Sun over Midgar.

Jawknee
Jawknee
14 years ago

lol

CHAOS THEORY X
CHAOS THEORY X
14 years ago

I just threw up a little

tridon
tridon
14 years ago

Didn't Capcom used to have a label called "Fighter's Edge" or something like that. I wonder what happened to that label? I guess it's because Capcom essentially lost faith in its fighting line of titles.

Oh, and to keep on topic, congratulations Square-Enix on your new (and absolutely stupid) label, "Extreme Edge". The only way that could've been more extreme was if you took the first 'e' out of 'extreme' and titled your new label "Xtreme Edge". Now THAT would've been truly extreme. Oh, well… maybe next time.

Jawknee
Jawknee
14 years ago

This is pretty much a been there done that scenario with Capcom. They've ditched this motto and are now concentrating on making Japanese games again.

So they say.

tridon
tridon
14 years ago

You mean Lost Planet and Dead Rising? HA! If that's the case, they should really return to their fighting games and — oh, I don't know — actually have their Resident Evil games revolve around zombies again.

tridon
tridon
14 years ago

Actually, this just popped into my brain; at the moment, the only titles coming out from Square-Enix that could fall under this label are ones that are published through Eidos. That and a new Parasite Eve if that ever happens (I'm not counting the new PSP title coming out). So why even bother with this label? Why not call it "Extreme Eidos" or something instead? Or, I don't know — and this may just be crazy — keep your name off of Eidos titles? I know, I know… it's absurd. Then again, it's not like Mars' chocolate bars go around saying "Mars presents Twix"… no, no. Twix is just Twix. It's owned by Mars but it is not Mars. See where I'm going with this, Squenix? No? Sorry… I guess it's just the stupid westerner in me.

Nlayer
Nlayer
14 years ago

I wish they would just let Eidos make games without the Square-Enix title. But I heard that Eidos will be forced to combine into a new branch named "Square Enix Europe". The Eidos name will no longer be used, resulting in the end of Eidos. Which is sad..

mexgeo86
mexgeo86
14 years ago

Oh boy. For some reason I'm beginning to worry for Versus XIII…

convergecrew
convergecrew
14 years ago

Unfortunately, I don't think there is much to be positive about with any of Squares new titles.

FullmetalX10
FullmetalX10
14 years ago

Me too, and I hate that I have to be worried about it.

Nlayer
Nlayer
14 years ago

Once Enix and Square came together I've never really enjoyed the company of Square Enix. To me, Square Soft is dead. They grew way to big in the wrong direction. Probably because of Enix. Any company I like that gets bought by a larger one, always usually fails(Though in some rare cases, they don't).

Square Enix is an entirely new company that I never compare to Square Soft anymore. As much as it hurts me to say it. Now that I don't compare the two, I can enjoy the games S-E releases, instead of cry about the comparison. This is how I deal with the pain of the death of Square Soft. =[

FullmetalX10
FullmetalX10
14 years ago

RIP SquareSoft
We hope to see you rise from the grave someday.

Rings0fUranus
Rings0fUranus
14 years ago

rise from your gwave

Zorigo
Zorigo
14 years ago

I think this is to get in with the west, but im sure we like more than very graphic violence and tits. i mean, GOW3 story and graphics helped. uncharted 2, had no graphic vioence or tits, and that was a HIT.
get it right squeenix

Naga
Naga
14 years ago

Microsoft…..

tes37
tes37
14 years ago

I think SE has the wrong impression of this westerner. I want some rpg's made like the old days of Squaresoft, not something they consider edgy.

It would be nice to have an internet petition for people to digitally sign and send to SE asking for turn-based rpg's again.


Last edited by tes37 on 4/27/2010 4:05:56 PM

Jawknee
Jawknee
14 years ago

I've sent them an email before. I told them i was disappointed with FFXIII and voiced my opinion about their "western" direction. They seemed open and willing to listen, although with Wada in charge is may make no difference.

Might be worth a try.

Naga
Naga
14 years ago

Thats actually a great idea.

Should've asked Capcom on this approach too thier games have been poor on PS3/360 besides Street Fighter but I don't understand why the PS3 is left in the snowy mountains without a exclusive like Monster Hunter the ultimate gaming experience limited to an damn handheld and console with hardly any hardcore gamers.

tes37
tes37
14 years ago

Maybe I should do the same Jawknee. Can you give me the e-mail address you used? Either here or on psn.

A thumbs down? Jawknee we have a Wada worshipper around.


Last edited by tes37 on 4/27/2010 4:35:33 PM

GuardianMode
GuardianMode
14 years ago

Is it me or does it seem that SE has forgotten the US PS3 fanbase? I mean just look at this year. Games are heading over to the 360 faster then the PS3. FFXIII was marketed only to the XBox crowd and even the last 2 rpgs (last rem,star ocean) appeared on Master Chiefs console first. Did SE give up on the US Ps3 crowd?

Naga
Naga
14 years ago

Of course they did that's why we have this idiotic western (360 of immaturaty) approach.

Why Capcom/SE do this I have no idea its embarrassing where's my PS3 version of Monster Hunter.

FullmetalX10
FullmetalX10
14 years ago

Not just the US, also the European crowd, same thing happening here.

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

It's not just you and it's been going on for nearly four years now.

FullmetalX10
FullmetalX10
14 years ago

Damn it Enix! What's wrong with you, first trying to familiarize with the western audience, which seemingly only enjoys games like gears of war, meaning, mindless shooters, or twitch games.
And after that attempt, you even create a separate label, tss, oh no you di'int *snaps fingers from left to right and then back to left again*

Seriously though, get your damn game together, just leave the westernizing as it is and get back to making good games again, matter a fact, get back to being SquareSoft again.
Now I know that ain't ever gonna happen, but I can still hope, or at least hope for a PS3 exclusive FF Versus XIII and Kingdom Hearts 3, which won't be too much to ask for right? I mean that should be automatic, right????

sunspider13
sunspider13
14 years ago

Sounds like S-E is trying to sell a bunch of knives instead of the good games they used to give us. *sigh*

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

Poor SE, they're not the sharpest knives in the drawer any more are they?

Well, I am coming to the conclusion that the only way to get a decent RPG (especially turn based)now is either buy a PSP, DS or re-live the glory days and play my PS2 games.

piratedrunk
piratedrunk
14 years ago

One I have been looking into is Arc Rise Fantasia on Wii. Turn based, overworld map with airships, and Yasunori Mitsuda doing the music (Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, etc). It might not have the best graphics but sounds like a good start to me.

TEG3SH
TEG3SH
14 years ago

or Iphone/iPod 🙂

BikerSaint
BikerSaint
14 years ago

Highlander,

Or developer "Atlus" These days anymore