Why Sony needs to invest in Japanese studios
- Posted January 8th, 2013 at 09:33 EDT by Paul Kelly
- 3 Comments
(continued from previous page) ...pull some strings in order to get games on its platforms and maybe even exclusively. Maybe then the fabled Final Fantasy VII remake would happen? Then, if the opportunity arises, buy it out and absorb Square-Enix into Sony and have the likes of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and the Eidos franchises as part of the library. Final Fantasy has global appeal and Dragon Quest is even bigger in Japan. Those along with the Eidos studios would bring a large amount of content onto Sony platforms exclusively and make all of their platforms more compelling buys. It wouldn't be easy or cheap but would sort out a lot of its problems.
Is buying Square-Enix the best option? Maybe. I think getting on the board at least would allow Sony to leverage that and get some exclusives which can push its systems in Japan, in particular. Imagine a new Vita exclusive Final Fantasy game, maybe the VII remake or VII-2. Hell FFXIII has two sequels and no one asked for those so why not give the best-selling Final Fantasy a sequel?
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The Final Fantasy VII remake would be closer to reality if Sony had a larger stake in Square-Enix.
Whatever the case, Sony can't sustain three platforms simultaneously, especially when two of them will need new content in a consistent fashion, and appeal to the right markets. Sony is well positioned with its western studios to help the PS3 successor in the west but that will mean nothing for the Vita since the Japanese support will be severely limited and most of the western studios want little to do with a handheld. It's a shame really but what can Sony do? Force them?
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Alpha2
- 2:05am EST - January 9th, 2013
- 3
The japanese, when they're hitting the right targets are the perfect solution to the duldrums occasionaly experienced with western games. They shake things up and toss in fun or completely random elements that mix up the experience. Lately people have been pushing the Western style because a lot of the games that have really excited people have been western and easier to get into than the sometimes foreign feeling Japanese games. If you don't mind Japanese games then it's not a problem and they give you exactly what you want but if you're xenophobic and set in a certain mentality then it doesnt matter what they do it just comes out as dumb and something worthy of mockery. I will admit that sometimes they miss the mark and don't stretch a game to the potential it has which is something westerners have been doing but you can see them running out of steam now and I think it's an opportunity for the Japanese developers to reach for more potential buy doing the things they think will be exciting rather than stopping short and playing it safe.
In general Sony has not been showing them enough support which robs the company of it's identity and it's well rounded catalog, in fact Sony has generally forgotten what it is that makes them different from the other companies and this whole generation has just been them reacting to being 3rd. It's like they've had a complete lack of vision beyond releaseing the PS3 and hoping it lasts 10 years. If the PS4 is announced in Febuary it needs to come with a fully realized plan for what they want to deliver, not just say the want to deliver and fail 50% of the time to excite people and make them want to play games on their system. They've made it too easy for people to choose to play elsewhere and part of it is not only weak buisness choices but bad consumer saticefaction and an inability to meet everyday needs. I'm not saying "they didnt give us cross chat *whine*!" I'm saying they couldnt create things that made people forget about cross chat and be excited about something else even better. plus the lame store redesign, the poor marketing support for much of the last 5-6 years and the lack of games that make people forget about the 3rd party titles that went multiplatform or just finding ways to convince publishers to differentiate their 3rd party games from the other people in order to generate more sales. Japanese publishers used to spit on MS and run to their fellow japanese company, now they kiss the MS ring and that somehow feels wrong. /rant
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