Network now...FEATURE
The Great TGS Preview
The epic half-assery on display in the Tokyo Game Show slogan ("Saa, ikou! GAME no jikan desu," or "Let's go! It's GAME time") is tangential evidence of a certain half-heartedness in the Japanese games industry as of late.
With Nintendo's stock price dropping and the biggest title announced so far this year being Wii Music, with Metal Gear Solid 4 failing to sell a trillion copies -- and winding up in bargain bins all around Tokyo -- the game developers of Japan are torn between several questions. Do they keep making casual games? Do they keep pouring money into big-budget blockbuster shipwrecks? Do they do something new?
What does "something new" even mean, anyway?
Recently, Hideo Kojima made a profound statement: that there will always be room for "hardcore" games. He cited the great sales of Grand Theft Auto IV as evidence of this.
It's this columnist's opinion that Grand Theft Auto IV is 16 times the "game" that Metal Gear Solid 4 is, thus its record-blasting sales. It's also my opinion that the game sold well because it is, first and foremost, fashioned as "entertainment" more than anything else.
Kojima also stated, in a different interview, that "the West has surpassed" Japanese developers. If you ask me, the excellent and amazing game developers in Japan have still got it. Capcom's Monster Hunter is evidence of this. The game is a bona-fide cultural phenomenon, and the people aren't yet tired of it because it's still great fun.
Now more than two years after the release of Monster Hunter Portable, the clones are out in full force. Sega had something of a splash hit with Phantasy Star Portable, which they supposedly deserved because Monster Hunter was only ever a revision of Phantasy Star Online, anyway.
Dragon Quest IX, coming in March 2009 for the DS, was originally announced as an ahead-of-the-curve Monster Hunter-like -- action-based, multiplayer-focused, customization-heavy. Then the cable was yanked out when the fans expressed confusion en masse via the internet. The game is now a multiplayer-focused, customization-heavy turn-based RPG, which might or might not be brilliant.
It will sell tremendously.
I agree that loving Final Fantasy and/or Dragon Quest as a kid has its own appeal with the "FINAL FANTASY VII IS GOD!" thing too.
However Square Enix does deserve the praise whilst meriting the hatred also. I find it really weird as a huge Final Fantasy fan as to understand the direction sometimes but with periodical releases what can a fan really expect?
I think this is the fatal flaw with the Square Enix. They are bringing out titles like they have a point to prove, but what that point is i am unsure. All i know is they need to spend time consolidating their games assets and spend the time to make these epic games they are so renowned for.
Its disheartening to see the huge companies that is Square and Enix actually competing within the merged company to do better than the other. It was also found that these companies actually try and do the opposite of each other to say "yeah we can do and you can't".
WHY?!
Merger is meant to be beneficial and prevent outright confrontation between companies that are working toward the one goal. So why do they persist in doing things the way they do? No wonder Hironobu Sakaguchi left Square with this pig headed willingness to compete at the fore front of the development teams minds. I understand that a bit of friendly competition can be healthy for the gamer and the companies but there seems to be a distinct lack of direction and co-ordination within the teams.
This is having a direct knock on effect on us - the fans - to the point where we just wonder, where to next? Will our beloved series rejoice and re-invent the FFVII days? Will it develop a truly compelling tale of mystique and adventure in the form of a revolutionary Dragon Quest? Spin-offs should not be endorsed and yet i do not want to miss something possibly glorious.
Square Enix, get it together and prove that you are still worth it.
" The "fans" put up with Square-Enix -- and this is the dead truth -- because
1. They loved Final Fantasy as a kid
2. They loved Dragon Quest as a kid
3. If they keep buying remakes, Square-Enix will announce the remake of Final Fantasy VII for the PlayStation 3.
Square-Enix painted themselves into a corner years ago; of late, all they've been able to do is ask for a smaller paintbrush, remove their shoes, and start painting the tiny spaces between their toes. "
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Mr. Rogers you certainly have a knack for comedic writing.
This 7 page journalistic mixer of snarkiness, comedy, and information is just what I needed to read before bed time.
I have to agree, this article is very well written. Delusional, but well written. Square-Enix with a meta-announcement, not so much. Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope for the Playstation 3 was a given. Because it is a beloved franchise and the Xbox360 has a floundering installed base in Japan, this was a gimmie. I expected even less from Square though.