Interesting comments by Square on the PS3

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http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=11010

Square Enix senior vice president Michihiro Sasaki has hinted that the company may spread its support more widely across formats, compared to the current and previous generations of console.

Quoted by an article in the Wall Street Journal, Sasaki suggested that, “We don't want the PlayStation 3 to be the overwhelming loser, so we want to support them.” He added, "But we don't want them to be the overwhelming winner either, so we can't support them too much."

Emphasis mine.  That's a pretty strong statement for them to make.  Personally I'd love to see them start releasing all their major titles on both the PS3 and 360 but I doubt they're going to go that far.

[Kevin Grey]

Hmm, I'm not so sure they are hinting at multiplatform games so much as different titles on different platforms- ie maybe Final Fantasy on the PS3, Dragon Quest on the Wii, and whatever else on the 360. 

[Farscry]

Well, wow... that's pretty significant coming from S-E, since they were near-exclusive developers for the last two generations.  Since I don't plan on getting a PS3, it's also quite encouraging to hear.   

[Doopri]

i thought this was pretty interesting as well:

We don't want the PlayStation 3 to be the overwhelming loser

[Roguetad]

More S-E is a good thing.  I'd like to see them support multiple platforms.   

[EddieA]

I wonder if that's translated correctly.  It seems like a really odd quote.

[metallicorphan]

sounds encouraging,i certainly would welcome more SE onto the 360...if it was to be the FFs,that would be even better

[Kevin Grey]

The full WSJ article makes it definitely sound like spreading the wealth around with different exclusives for each console vice going multiplatform with single titles.  They reference that so far each next gen console has two SE exclusives announced for it and that they haven't settled on a platform for the next Kingdom Hearts game.  Personally, I think that KH3 should stay on the PS3 in some capacity whether it's exclusive or multiplatform.  Moving previously exclusive series to new platforms is a dicey maneuver since there is no guarantee that the audience will follow. 

[kathode]

Moving previously exclusive series to new platforms is a dicey maneuver since there is no guarantee that the audience will follow. 

The PS3 is a new platform.

[Kevin Grey]

Moving previously exclusive series to new platforms is a dicey maneuver since there is no guarantee that the audience will follow. 

The PS3 is a new platform.

You know what I meant I do think Resident Evil would have stayed stronger had it remained with the Playstation brand, for example.  Yes Code Veronica and RE4 ended up on the PS2 after the fact but they were both perceived as being either Dreamcast or Cube games and the true Cube exclusives REmake and RE0 performed way under expectations.    Expanding from exclusivity to mutli-platform is one thing, but switching console exclusivity from one manufacturer seems more risky unless the series didn't do well already and the new console is a better fit for the target demographic.  But in the case of a multi-million selling proven franchise like Kingdom Hearts I'm not sure moving the platform exlusively makes sense. 

Like it or not, a lot of people make general assumptions that the new console is going to get the same or similar franchises as the old one.  People assume that the PS3 will get a lot of great JRPG support because of the support previous Playstation consoles get.  Maybe that doesn't turn out to be true in the long run, but a lot of people deciding to pick up a PS3 in the first year are are going to make that assumption just as quite a few people picked up a 360 not necessarilly on the strenght of it's launch liineup but because it would get similar games that the Xbox got.  Certainly most Ninja Gaiden fans expect NG2 to show up on the 360 and I'm not sure a PS3 exclusive NG2 would sell nearly as well as a 360 exclusive or multiplatform NG2 would. 

[Farscry]

Well, Square and Enix both made successful exclusivity jumps from the SNES to the Playstation rather than to the N64.

It's quite possible they can make another successful jump if they wish.  And really, Square Enix is now the giant gorilla in the jrpg market, so wherever they go, the fans will, and then the other jrpg dev houses will inevitably follow.

[Kevin Grey]

Eh, I tend to discount the SNES to N64 thing because really that transition was a whole house of cards waiting to fall.  Nintendo's iron grip on what content was allowed made the market ripe for change.  The move from the 16 bit to PS1/N64/Saturn era saw huge market expansion in the types of games that were available as well as the medium for delivering them.  N64 just was not a good fit for what companies like Square had in mind.  I don't see that this time around, at least between the 360 and PS3.  Sony's mistakes may end up sinking them, but only the Wii is differentiating itself in terms of the types of games available.  As far as the 360 and PS3 go, everything we've seen so far is a natural evolution of the last two generations and there really aren't any restrictions on either platform in terms of the content itself or the ability to deliver that content.   

And SE may be a gorilla but 360 is deader than a doornail in Japan which is the core JRPG market.  360 exlusivity for a premier SE franchise just isn't viable because MS would have to compensate SE for loosing roughly half of their sales.  Wii is a different story but it depends on what kind of traction it gets. JRPG devs might flock to it but will probably wait to see how it does first before committing their resources.  So SE could probably go multiplatform with minimal risk, but staking exlusivity of any of their multi million sellers (FF, DQ, KH) is really risky.  SE can talk about spreading the wealth but FFXI, Einhander, and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles don't balance getting a core Final Fantasy.  DQ: Swords for the Wii is a step in the right direction but, again, not the same as getting a number DQ title. 

[EddieA]

There was talk of Dragon Quest IX being a Wii-exclusive.  I don't see it happening, but it would be a major boon for Nintendo.

[Kevin Grey]

There was talk of Dragon Quest IX being a Wii-exclusive.  I don't see it happening, but it would be a major boon for Nintendo.

DQ I could almost see, if only because they are usually released much later in the generation.  If Wii sales are through the roof after a year (at least in Japan) then I could definitely see it happening. 

[Big Jake]

RE: Different lineups for different consoles
Q: So which console gets Unlimited Saga 2 and which gets FF14? 

And if the Shin Megami Tensei series moves, I will follow. 

[metallicorphan]

RE: Different lineups for different consoles
Q: So which console gets Unlimited Saga 2 and which gets FF14? 

And if the Shin Megami Tensei series moves, I will follow. 

i hope thats a joke about unlimited saga being made!!

[Canuck]

What are the odds of these series moving to the Xbox 360?  They would certainly do well in the US but when you consider that nobody in Japan actually owns a 360...

[Doopri]

this point was sorta / kinda made earlier but ill reiterate it - im pretty sure there are more 360s in japan right now than there are ps3s

so if s/e was going to made a change, now would be the time

[EddieA]

The 360 is still tanking in Japan, though.  Unless Blue Dragon and the others can turn things around, I think the 360 will get only ports of the online FFs (FFXI and its presumed sequel).