Square Preparing US Development Studio

[Jared Rea]

Square Preparing US Development Studio

It's take two for Square US development operations as the Japanese RPG giant seeks out fresh talent for a brand-new, LA-based studio.

If Western-looking titles such as The Last Remnant weren't enough to convince you that the Japanese behemoth of Square-Enix were serious about expanding its audience to North America and Europe, perhaps a look at its Gamasutra [http://www.square-enix.com/na/careers/] is reporting that Square-Enix is preparing to open up a brand-new development studio in the El Segundo region of Los Angeles, California.

The career listings call for a wide variety of applicants from 360 software engineers, 3D artists and those with Wii development experience. The team, according to Gamasutra, will be working on an as-of-yet unnamed action title based on an original property.

This isn't Square's first attempt at a development foothold in the US. In 1995 its Los Angeles-based team turned out Secret of Evermore [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_of_Evermore] for the SNES to average reviews and commercial failure, though it has since become a cult favorite. Three years later, in 1998, Square struck a publishing deal with Electronic Arts that only lasted for five years, but did wonders in establishing Square's presence here in North America. Since then, Square's biggest power play for the Western market has been the revelation that Final Fantasy XIII will find its way to not only the PlayStation 3, but the Xbox 360 as well. With Japanese developers noticing the writing on the wall for singular region development, Square-Enix is hoping to lead the trend bringing Japanese gaming to a truly worldwide audience.

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[Dectilon]

I keep hearing that The Last Remnant is "westernish", but so far I have no idea what part of it people are talking about. The teaser movie was so japanese that it actually turned me off of this, and I usually like jrpgs : /

 

[Jared Rea]

The long story short: The Last Remnant features two main characters intended to appeal to the two main audiences. The smaller guy with the blue hair was intended to appeal to Japanese consumers, while the evil looking red guy was made for Western players.

The Last Remnant was also originally intended to launch on both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 at the same time in both Japan and the US. It was supposed to be the first truly worldwide title.

Yeah, it didn't quite work out that way But the characters and ideas are still there.

 

[Dectilon]

Wait... the villain is supposed to appeal to us? Isn't that like saying "We think you're all a bunch of villains!"

Or is he supposed to appeal to us because he has facial hair?

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

If these forums are any indication...

"I like playing grizzled badasses, no more young idealistic heroes (who are always pretty in japanese games/anime because it represents purity or something)"

and

"Why do I always have to play as the goodguy"

Seems to be a pretty common response to JRPG's, so you can't blame Square for trying.

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

I'd be way more comfortable with XII if everyone in it wasn't covered in man jewelry and the main character was over 16.

 

[calelogan]

I'm personally tired of male protagonists that look like females, act like "emos", have existential doubts, go to high school, and somehow save the world at the end of the day.

Sure, i'm generalizing, but that's just as bored as I usually feel with J-RPGs and their characters. There are notable exceptions, but Western RPGs tend to attract me a lot more.

Curious...must be because I'm a "westner".

Nevertheless, I hope Square promotes something double-sided rather than just try to bring more of the east to the west or vice-versa.

 

[Dectilon]

If these forums are any indication...

"I like playing grizzled badasses, no more young idealistic heroes (who are always pretty in japanese games/anime because it represents purity or something)"

and

"Why do I always have to play as the goodguy"

Seems to be a pretty common response to JRPG's, so you can't blame Square for trying.

Granted, but you don't play as that guy, do you? : )

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

Best news I've heard all week. I don't care if hating JRPG's is the "in" thing to do right now. Every game that Square-Enix has made has been awesome. Now just announce a remake of FF7....

considering part of what you just said, you may not agree with me. But i think the advent of JRPG hating was sparked by square Enix themselves. All the average second string RPGs that they released for the 360 recently are horribly similar in a sense. Now i could care less, but it gives JRPG haters fuel to no end.

And I would stop holding my breath if I were you. An FF7 remake wont happen this generation, i can guarantee it. And if it does then it will be one of the best kept secrets ever. But i doubt it because it took them four years to make XII, and a damn sight longer to make XIII, so a VII remake would take far too long, it would probably be th start of the next console generation before that thing is made.

 

[SilentHunter7]

Best news I've heard all week. I don't care if hating JRPG's is the "in" thing to do right now. Every game that Square-Enix has made has been awesome. Now just announce a remake of FF7....

considering part of what you just said, you may not agree with me. But i think the advent of JRPG hating was sparked by square Enix themselves. All the average second string RPGs that they released for the 360 recently are horribly similar in a sense. Now i could care less, but it gives JRPG haters fuel to no end.

And I would stop holding my breath if I were you. An FF7 remake wont happen this generation, i can guarantee it. And if it does then it will be one of the best kept secrets ever. But i doubt it because it took them four years to make XII, and a damn sight longer to make XIII, so a VII remake would take far too long, it would probably be th start of the next console generation before that thing is made.

Well, there are estimates that this generation has so much money sunk into it by the big three, that it'll be a while before the next one arrives.

 

[Dectilon]

Unfortunately japanese game makers seem to be less interested in giving people what they want and more interested in squeezing every last penny out of a franchise : )

I've liked most of the ff games I've played. The hate for ff7's story is unreasonable. Sure, it's not exactly a-grade material for a book or movie, but it remains rather unique, and that's about all we can expect from games these days.

However, I have my limits when it comes to how much japanese "culture" I'm willing to accept. After playing Persona 3 I know to stay away from that series from now on...

 

[ccesarano]

Killing the US studio due to Secret of Evermore's failure was Square's first move in making me hate them. Final Fantasy 8 was a pretty big one, too.

I absolutely loved Secret of Evermore. I saw the commercial once, thought it looked amazing, borrowed it from a friend for a day, and just had to get it. Unfortunately, you can't find the commercial anywhere. Not even on YouTube. It had some really sick animation, too. The game itself was incredibly unique and made good use of the Secret of Mana engine while maintaining a feel and style all on its own. I mean, before Fable 2 had a dog, Secret of Evermore had one. And he even turned into some kind of crazy powerful toaster robot at the end, too.

Then it failed commercially because all the jack asses that later jumped onto Squall and wrote fan-fiction about him fucking Rinoah/that-guy-what-cut-his-face-up wanted it to be Secret of Mana 2. And it wasn't. It was something different. And awesome. Different and awesome.

I mean, seriously, they actually had transfer rates for currency, and a haggling market in the desert, and taught me about alchemy (sort of).


As for an FF7 remake, well, they just remade FF3 and FF4 on the DS. My guess is an FF5 and FF6 remake are next for the DS. As for FF7, that remake will likely be on the PSP or Wii. Square are going to try and maximize their profits, but also try and make the game look better than on the Playstation. This rules out the DS, though it would be the best place to make money. Remaking it on Xbox 360 and PS3 would cost a shit ton and probably wouldn't sell to their liking. Meanwhile, remaking it for Wii would give it a huge audience while allowing a lower budget and yet better graphics. Maximized profits. Of course, Sony might still have the publishing rights to FF7 (not sure if those have expired yet, will expire or even can expire), so that would knock any platform but the PS3 and PSP out. PS3 would be too expensive for too few sales numbers, and just about anyone that is that masturbatory over Squenix has already purchased a PS3. An FF7 remake would not convince enough people that a system with five or six games over two years is worth it. The PSP, on the other hand, is a smaller investment and already doing better than the PS3, so why the Hell not?

Of course, considering that there were two years between FF3 and FF4 remakes, we might not be seeing an FF7 remake for six years, at which point the consoles and handhelds will probably be different.

 

[Dectilon]

Maybe it was a mistake to name it "Secret of" Evermore : /

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

And I would stop holding my breath if I were you. An FF7 remake wont happen this generation, i can guarantee it. And if it does then it will be one of the best kept secrets ever. But i doubt it because it took them four years to make XII, and a damn sight longer to make XIII, so a VII remake would take far too long, it would probably be th start of the next console generation before that thing is made.

Honestly, it wouldn't bother me if it took 3 more console generations before they get around to remaking FF7. I'm sure that it will happen eventually. Why wouldn't it? FF7 is a goldmine for Square-Enix, and they know it what with all the spin offs and Advent Children. The way I see it...the longer it takes them to remake FF7, the sweeter it'll taste once it actually happens.

oh i don't doubt that for a second. that game alone would sell consoles, but it wont be these ones methinks. but like you said, you would wait many generations, so when it does come it will sell huge