Square-Enix "Worried" By Lagging PS3 Sales...

[Gikoku]

Square-Enix "Worried" By Lagging PS3 Sales...

Sony Computer Entertainment
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Playstation 3

"Our strength is in role-playing games and fantasy titles, so it is a bit difficult to appeal to the US market." - Michihiro Sasaki

Square Enix is an institution in Japan, where new entries into its Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest series draw crowds akin to a new console launch. The Tokyo-based publisher also has a big following in North America--but not big enough, according to a recent Financial Times report.

Over the weekend at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show, the Times spoke with Square Enix senior vice president Michihiro Sasaki. The executive explained that in the coming months, the publisher wants to strike a deal with an American partner to help market its games stateside.

"We need to seek cooperation with a US publisher," Sasaki said. "Our strength is in role-playing games and fantasy titles, so it is a bit difficult to appeal to the US market." He went on to bemoan the fact that the US and Canadian markets are dominated by action games, such as the preordained blockbuster Halo 3.

A deal with a US partner would be part of Square Enix's new initiative to boost revenue from overseas markets. Sasaki told the Times that executives at the company feel it is "imperative" to "raise overseas sales to 50 percent of overall revenues within three years." The company is also looking to expand its presence in casual games and in massively multiplayer online role playing games, which generate ongoing revenue via subscriptions.

Sasaki also told the Times that Square Enix executives are "worried" about sales of the PlayStation 3, which continues to trail the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii in global sales. The publisher has invested heavily in several upcoming PS3 exclusives, including Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Square Enix's sole next-generation role-playing game to date, Final Fantasy XI for the Xbox 360, sold nearly 174,000 copies in the US, according to the NPD Group. An expansion, Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess, is slated to arrive in November.

 

[Bishounen_Mason]

Re: Square-Enix "Worried" By Lagging PS3 Sales...

Well Square has every right to be worried if Sony didn't make the price of the PS3 so ridiculously high they may have gotten more sales.

I just Really hope XIII is better then XII

 

[Gikoku]

Re: Square-Enix "Worried" By Lagging PS3 Sales...

Well Square has every right to be worried if Sony didn't make the price of the PS3 so ridiculously high they may have gotten more sales.

I just Really hope XIII is better then XII

Me too, I really didn't like XII at all. I couldn't even bring myself to continue playing after the first 2hrs of it, it just didn't feel like a Final Fantasy game. Hopefully XIII will be a different story this time around, even if Shiva does transform into a weird *** Motorcycle.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Re: Square-Enix "Worried" By Lagging PS3 Sales...

The Final Fantasy series itself is beginning to forget its roots and trail off into a totally different game than it once was and lose sight of the things that made it good . It seems that many features are changed completely in each new installment and seems with each new one they are just incorporating more bad features we all dislike. I would like to see a Final Fantasy on the 360 though as it would make me smile to see it breaking away from its exclusive rights.

 

[Gikoku]

Re: Square-Enix "Worried" By Lagging PS3 Sales...

The Final Fantasy series itself is beginning to forget its roots and trail off into a totally different game than it once was and lose sight of the things that made it good . It seems that many features are changed completely in each new installment and seems with each new one they are just incorporating more bad features we all dislike. I would like to see a Final Fantasy on the 360 though as it would make me smile to see it breaking away from its exclusive rights.

Yeah, i read a detailed article on the battle system of FF13 the other day. And it looks like i was right, it's all turn-based ATB, but it's not traditional. It's basically turn-based but only alot faster, and with fancy cutscenes for every action you take in battle. It sounds pretty nice, but we'll have to wait and see it in action better, to get a better understanding of it.

But i can sorta see why they're trying to change their gameplay so much, seeing as "some" fans are being highly picky, and wanting more of the Turn-based RPG's to be more MMO. So the pressure is probably getting to them to please more of consumers, while not trying to fully abandon their roots.

However.. The new FF7: Crisis Core, is pure action, much like being able to move around in combat like 12, it's not turn-based... kinda like, Nina Gaiden sorta. It looks pretty simple minded, with no strategy needed whatsoever.

 

[droded]

Re: Square-Enix "Worried" By Lagging PS3 Sales...

I thoroughly enjoyed Final Fantasy 12. I am not looking forward to 13 though, as it is supposedly meant to cover 10 years.

Final Fantasy X-2 was not great at all.

 

[Sephiroxas]

Re: Square-Enix "Worried" By Lagging PS3 Sales...

I thoroughly enjoyed Final Fantasy 12. I am not looking forward to 13 though, as it is supposedly meant to cover 10 years.

Final Fantasy X-2 was not great at all.

What makes it not great? Did you do Via Infinito? One of the hardest 100 level dungeons I've ever played

 

[Bishounen_Mason]

Re: Square-Enix "Worried" By Lagging PS3 Sales...

Final Fantasy X-2 was not great at all.

did you even play to the end?

 

[Deiphoboz]

Re: Square-Enix "Worried" By Lagging PS3 Sales...

Is X-2 any good at all since me and a friend bought it some years ago I dunno we played it for like 4-5 hours then we quitted .. its really a girls game and well not very appealing, X is much more fun
So is it really great playing and do u get a good story at the end or ? and btw how great? worth playing it now or just see them cutscenes on youtube?

 

[Sephiroxas]

Re: Square-Enix "Worried" By Lagging PS3 Sales...

Well. I think it's a good game, and I will agree, it is a little girly. But with the right tweaks to the settings you can do some serious damage and awesome combos in fights.
Plus, Tackling a 100 level dungeon is always fun.
It also gives you some back story to Final Fantasy 10.

 

[Gikoku]

Re: Square-Enix "Worried" By Lagging PS3 Sales...

Is X-2 any good at all since me and a friend bought it some years ago I dunno we played it for like 4-5 hours then we quitted .. its really a girls game and well not very appealing, X is much more fun
So is it really great playing and do u get a good story at the end or ? and btw how great? worth playing it now or just see them cutscenes on youtube?

Story-wise, it's not very impressive when compared to any of the other Final Fantasies before FFX. But like Sephiroxas mentioned, it does offer a great battle system, that provides alot of strategy at times. And yeah, it is rather girly with the whole Charlie's Angels & Cat's Eye plot line and style. But if you can withstand the girly spy plot, and the colorful pop music, then it can be a really enjoying Final Fantasy game.