Oh No, Square

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Kauldron

Kauldron

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#1
Jan 13, 2006
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#1
So you enjoyed The World Ends With You? Too bad. You won't be seeing anything remotely like it from Square-Enix anytime soon, according to company president Yoichi Wada, who recently issued an ultimatum to his staff: if any games are made that don't fit into the mainstream's circle of interest, job cuts will follow. So long, unique concepts that break the mold!
Click to expand...
http://www.destructoid.com/more-det...more-non-mainstream-games-allowed-87774.phtml

My number one hobby seems to be headed for a downward spiral.

With start up Devs not being able to break into the industry because of cost and established ones taking low risk ventures, a stagnant market looks to be the future.

It is definitely not good when creativity is held back to fit a mainstream mold.

I'm really missing the days when gaming was not so mainstream.

Dark days ahead. :sad:
 
M

Mana Knight

Elite Member
#2
Dec 22, 2006
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#2
That's one reason I dislike Wada. I put most of the blame on him for FFXIII development moving along slowly (because at one point he claims he doesn't want the game to come out until PS3 has reached a particular level in its userbase, along with holding FFXIII back so it doesn't release too close to DQIX on DS). Also, I believe Wada was the same one who said he didn't want to give PS3 too much support because that would make them the winner, and didn't want to give them no support or they'll be the losers, so he wanted to find a way to balance out support so neither happens.
 
Kauldron

Kauldron

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#4
Jan 13, 2006
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#4
[QUOTE="Mana Knight, post: 0]That's one reason I dislike Wada. I put most of the blame on him for FFXIII development moving along slowly (because at one point he claims he doesn't want the game to come out until PS3 has reached a particular level in its userbase, along with holding FFXIII back so it doesn't release too close to DQIX on DS). Also, I believe Wada was the same one who said he didn't want to give PS3 too much support because that would make them the winner, and didn't want to give them no support or they'll be the losers, so he wanted to find a way to balance out support so neither happens.[/QUOTE]

Yea, this is the same stance Capcom took. Money, the only thing that matters.

So much quality and creativity is lost that way. EA is a perfect example.

The bad thing is that the masses have no idea what a good or bad game is, they don't research and definitely haven't been gaming for long.
They buy the "cool" new thing at the moment. (AKA Sheep)

The problem with this is the masses generate more profit than real gamers because of their sheer numbers alone.
Companies then have no incentive to produce the great games they once did.

The actual gamers are left with watered down "pop" games. It's happening right before our eyes.
 
G

girlgamer1984

Guest
#5
#5
This is just great, another company follows Capcom's example. What will become of gamers like us.
 
K

kalishnikov

Superior Member
#6
Jul 3, 2007
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#6
Yea who needs new, innovative games anyway? Those are for suckers with to much money to try out new things.

Apparently they think FF is gonna carry their asses through this gen too...
 
U

Untildeath89

Apprentice
#8
Mar 24, 2007
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#8
At least sony will give us some games from time to time fueling with the money generated from consoles. Anyways i say *** to wada. Even EA is taking new ways and experimenting, so capcom, ubi and squareenix are down. Who's next? If it comes down to everyone being 3d part and ms vs sont i would go for sony so im still satisfied sort of.
 
A

Ant-Lox-Forever

Guest
#11
#11
Hey, games cost millions now, It does suck, but I see where he's coming from.

Plus, he knows people will eat up anything with the Final Fantasy name on it.
 
F

FantasyStar

Dedicated Member
#12
Oct 20, 2006
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#12
[QUOTE="Ant-Lox-Forever, post: 0]Hey, games cost millions now, It does suck, but I see where he's coming from.

Plus, he knows people will eat up anything with the Final Fantasy name on it.[/quote]

Unfortunately I have to agree with you. The only thing I have hope on is the way the market works. If Square-Enix fails to deliver, I'll move onto something else. I never had "THAT" much of an interest in FFXIII just cause I don't like the real-time action that made Kingdom Hearts so good. I'm an old school turn-based gamer. For me, the greatest game was FFX and FFVII in terms of perfecting the turn-based action.

Lost Odyssey did a good job as well but didn't live up to my expectations, still a good game though. Best voice acting I've heard in an RPG yet. But if there's anything for FFXIII, it just looks 'pretty'.
 
X

Xaor

Dedicated Member
#13
Dec 13, 2007
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#13
If there ever was something which had the potential to be the beginning of the end. This was it.
 
A

arcticreaver

Elite Member
#14
Jun 16, 2007
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#14
well, if square enix was so smart, they would give to the people want they want most - final fantasy VII remake.

that would probably give them a good 1 million+ sales at least.
 
T

the_End

Master Guru
#16
Jul 30, 2007
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#16
Ugh, well that's just great. Now there won't be as many original or creative games out there since it costs so much just to make a game. Companies don't want the games to fail and them to lose money hence why everything sooner or later will be mainstream.
 
F

FantasyStar

Dedicated Member
#17
Oct 20, 2006
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#17
The only thing we can do now is speak with our wallets. I'm not buying a game that's doesn't innovate or refine a concept to 'near-perfection'.
 
T

TH3 GAM3

The King Of Kings
#18
Oct 1, 2007
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#18
Let SE keep it up. They think making a ton of hand held games is mainstream. Well if you look at their fiscal report for 07. They profits drop by 20% or more if I remember right.
 
P

pionata

Dedicated Member
#19
Oct 30, 2005
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#19
Other companies will gladly take their place for innovation. For example, Bethesda is coming with the first 3d open world Fallout game and it will set a new standard in futuristic RPGs (it will seriously kick ass). It's just a cycle.
 
I

Insanehead

Forum Guru
#21
Jun 1, 2007
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#21
[QUOTE="RedOrb_Collector, post: 0]Another industry crash soon to come. True or False?[/quote]

Seems like it but its not like the previous crash where the market was flooded with variety of consoles and terrible games.
 
R

rpgmaster1

Superior Member
#23
Dec 19, 2006
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#23
Is that why Wada anted to invest and buy out some developers? Square Enix lost its credibility when they're just pumping out remakes and one original title. Heck, even Mistwalker Studios and Sakaguchi sound better than Square Enix when you look at the games being produced.
 
G

girlgamer1984

Guest
#24
#24
If they think, that they can keep throwing less-innovative games like FFXII in my face, whilst looking pretty, then they are dead wrong. As, they will loose one customer, me.
 
Z

Zabuza

Dedicated Member
#25
Mar 19, 2008
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#25
[QUOTE="kalishnikov, post: 0]Apparently they think FF is gonna carry their asses through this gen too...[/quote]

Don't forget the occasional Dragon Quest. At least there are other developers like Atlus. Maybe we can get a KH-like merger with FF characters meet Marvel characters.
 
A

atomsk

Guest
#26
#26
i guess innovation for big companies is a serious risk these days, so don't expect anything different from the big bosses of gaming industry.
 
B

babybell

Elite Member
#27
Oct 10, 2007
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#27
I cant say im too suprised about this. For the PS3 and 360 especially, even though the tech is there, the budget isant for start up companies. Even for companies that can afford to make the games, the time and development cost have probably shot up enough that if a game flops, they wont be able to reclaim their losses on it.

Which is a real shame since we will see less risks being taken. That means less inotive and original (or at least as near to original as you can get in this day and age,) games.

They will probably all end up on the wii instead :p (Half joking about this)
 
F

Forcedme

Super Elite
#29
Oct 19, 2007
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#29
Does anyone know if The World Ends With You was a lucrative success? I seriously want to play this game, and I'm considering a DS just for it (of course justifying the purchase with other titles like Zelda and Mario...but this has become the main draw). If it did well, then couldn't we suspect a sequel at least?
 
M

Metal Warrior

Master Poster
#30
Nov 18, 2005
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#30
Why does no one even question the validity of this article? Here's a bit:

This was supposedly part of a heated business meeting in which Square discussed the results of their 2007 fiscal year, which were none too sunny, showing general profits down 20 percent and taking the worst of it in overseas sales.
Click to expand...
Supposedly eh? Says who? An unmentioned "insider"? Lets not jump to conclusions based on a questionable article. And even if they really did hear something, Wade wouldn't be the first mistranslated Japanese exec. I give him the benifit of doubt. Rather give it to him than the editor of this article.
 
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