Square Enix Eyes US Partners

[hyp]

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7249&Itemid=2

Square’s SVP Michihiro Sasaki told the Financial Times that increasing the firm’s share of the US market was necessary to counter-balance stagnant demand in Japan, and that a prospective deal could help drive its overseas sales to 50 per cent of overall revenues within three years.

"We need to seek co-operation with a US publisher - we need local content," said Sasaki at the Tokyo Game Show.

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

He noted that just 10 to 20 percent of Square Enix's revenues currently originate from overseas markets, but added that "within two to three years we want to make it half."

Sasaki also praised Nintendo for helping widen the global games industry by successfully attracting non-core demographics to videogames, and said that Square Enix was a "little worried" by the poor performance of Sony’s PlayStation 3 to date.

[Mupepe]

THEN PARTNER WITH MICROSOFT YOU SILLY FUCKS

[MrAngryFace]

but the western audience WANTS japanese games!

[tiesto]

Partner with some shitty US company like Rockstar and make an urban themed thug RPG where you have to gain "respek" to level up and shit... or a WWII RPG, those would sell in the US.

[MrAngryFace]

I just dont think a lot of people bought a 360 for the RPGs. Not like the first XBox had a lot of RPGs.

[MrAngryFace]

Good games arent possible on the Wii.

[Mupepe]

No they don't.  Look at Blue Dragon.

Look at how much marketing there was for Blue Dragon too    It was sent to die.

[tiesto]

I meant the DS.   

That's not really a bad thing by any means... provided they're 2D.

[Mr. Gundam]

No they don't.  Look at Blue Dragon.

There is a Western audience that wants JRPGs. The only problem is that most of them probably aren't interested in the 360. Not sure if they're not interested yet, or just not interested, though.

[MrAngryFace]

Its not that they arent interested, they just dont expect RPGs from MS

[Mupepe]

Its not that they arent interested, they just dont expect RPGs from MS

because MS does a shitty job of selling RPG's that aren't called Fable.

[MrAngryFace]

Not really that so much as Xbox or 360 didnt really get many RPGs. Just recently thats changed and already the above average eternal sonata is going to PS3 too. It really needs more high quality exclusive RPGs to lure in the RPG luvin sony tards.

[Mr. Gundam]

Not really that so much as Xbox or 360 didnt really get many RPGs. Just recently thats changed and already the above average eternal sonata is going to PS3 too. It really needs more high quality exclusive RPGs to lure in the RPG luvin sony tards.

If Lost Odyssey can't do it, I don't think anything can.

[Mupepe]

Not really that so much as Xbox or 360 didnt really get many RPGs. Just recently thats changed and already the above average eternal sonata is going to PS3 too. It really needs more high quality exclusive RPGs to lure in the RPG luvin sony tards.

well obviously.  a lot of the people that own a 360 right now are a lot of the people that loved what the first xbox had to offer.

however, no one i knew even knew the game existed.  These are my casual gamer friends that i know like RPG's.  All of them are sold on the game already.  MS should have marketed it better.

[Fragamemnon]

Not really that so much as Xbox or 360 didnt really get many RPGs. Just recently thats changed and already the above average eternal sonata is going to PS3 too. It really needs more high quality exclusive RPGs to lure in the RPG luvin sony tards.

well obviously.  a lot of the people that own a 360 right now are a lot of the people that loved what the first xbox had to offer.

however, no one i knew even knew the game existed.  These are my casual gamer friends that i know like RPG's.  All of them are sold on the game already.  MS should have marketed it better.

I think a huge problem were the early/influential internet reviews:

Gamespot - 6.0
IGN - 7.9 (not bad, but IGN is the king of inflation)
Eurogamer - 5/10
1up - 6.5

People saw these numbers and thought "meh, middling title". I have a hunch that the reviewers turned off a lot of regular RPG-playing folk that would have enjoyed Blue Dragon.

[Mupepe]

i think reviewers were mad because shiva didn't ride a motorcycle and we couldn't see Shu's belly button.

[Fragamemnon]

If Square-Enix is looking for talnet to make Western styled games, they should definitely look at Sega and Microsoft as models for how to do it-fund top-shelf Western studios to make games for them. No corporate culture change for the studios, and no long-term commitment for Square-Enix.

[Eduardo24]

Partner with Microsoft and make the next Shodowrun RPG?  Don`t know, they probably would ruin it since they don´t make rpgs in the western sense.

[Mupepe]

If Square-Enix is looking for talnet to make Western styled games, they should definitely look at Sega and Microsoft as models for how to do it-fund top-shelf Western studios to make games for them. No corporate culture change for the studios, and no long-term commitment for Square-Enix.

Hell, they should look at Capcom's model as well.  Capcom has done really well for itself on the 360 (and other consoles) stateside.

[cubicle47b]

Yeah, the reviews for Blue Dragon made it hard for me to work up enough interest to buy the game.  Especially since I'm incredibly fickle when it comes to RPGs and have WoW around.

[recursivelyenumerable]

Square experimented a lot with US-based development in the past.  FF9 was made in Hawaii for example, and they were funding an MMORPG by the producer of Planescape Torment and some of the creators of Everquest at one point (it got cancelled after FFTSW performance didn't meet expectations).  None of it really worked out though.

[Van Cruncheon]

Yeah, the reviews for Blue Dragon made it hard for me to work up enough interest to buy the game.  Especially since I'm incredibly fickle when it comes to RPGs and have WoW around.

dude! blue dragon is a better dragon quest than dragon quest 8, plus it is FUCKING GORGEOUS

[BlueTsunami]

Yeah, the reviews for Blue Dragon made it hard for me to work up enough interest to buy the game.  Especially since I'm incredibly fickle when it comes to RPGs and have WoW around.

Blue Dragon is as traditional as traditional JRPGs get with the added splash of nextgen visual glimmer glamor. If you don't mind playing through Dragon Quest games and their archaic battle systems, then Blue Dragon is up yo alley! Monster Fights (trying to get opposing monsters to fight each other) makes battling more interesting too!

[Mr. Gundam]

Square experimented a lot with US-based development in the past.  FF9 was made in Hawaii for example, and they were funding an MMORPG by the producer of Planescape Torment and some of the creators of Everquest at one point (it got cancelled after FFTSW performance didn't meet expectations).  None of it really worked out though.

I didn't know FF9 was developed at their Honolulu studio...

Wasn't Secret of Evermore US developed, too?

[cubicle47b]

dude! blue dragon is a better dragon quest than dragon quest 8, plus it is FUCKING GORGEOUS

I didn't like DQ8 very much.  I've tried to play through it twice and the farthest I've made it is 20 hours in before losing interest.  I think it's because exploration is my favorite part of a DQ game and I hate exploring in 3D.  I'll pick it up tonight from Gamestop (along with Halo 3) and try it, though.  If only because of TVC's thread and the sheer amount of love for the game on this board.  Plus I just want to play a next gen console RPG.

[recursivelyenumerable]

Wasn't Secret of Evermore US developed, too?

Yes, by a team in their Redmond office which was closed in late '96.

Other US developed Square games: Parasite Eve 1, Chocobo's Dungeon 2, Chocobo Racing.  All with a Japanese core design team though.

[Mr. Gundam]

Wasn't Secret of Evermore US developed, too?

Yes, by a team in their Redmond office which was closed in late '96.

[sigh] I remember when Enix was still in Seattle...