GRIN Alleges Square Enix Forced It Out of Business

[skotconcarne]

There is no Devil's advocate to play here. Square Enix(SE)has become everything i hate about the video game industry, slow, dim, and unmovable. I just wonder how many times the consumer market will buy the SAME game. SE has been milking the final fantasy franchise for years now and it's only gotten worse but yet people still buy it. SE has simply taken the same story, given it a fresh coat of polygons, and called it a new game. I understand common elements are part of the aesthetic but final fantasy stretches how far a common element can go not to mention the recurring, I would go so far as to say recursive, plot. There's a lot of game companies that have gotten boned by SE and now GRIN is simply talking about it because no one else will.

 

[Aurgelmir]

God I hate Square Enix more and more every day.

They haven't put out a good game since what Kingdom Hearts 2? and nto a whole lot of good games before that since KH1 and FFX. (Which were both Squaresoft wasn't it)

Square is past its days, they are to full of them selves remaking FF1 and FFIV every week that they lost all touch with reality.

I really wish this giant would topple so the good talent could make their old IPs good again.

 

[McNinja]

Just leave them alone until Deus Ex is out please.

At this point it doesn't really matter. Deus Ex is out in three months. By now the game is either wrapped up or just wrapping up the final touches and being copied for shipment.

SquareEnix has also had lots of problems lately with their games too,
they have all sucked, last good game was they made was FFX.

Sure... FFX was a fantastic game...


Square hasn't produced a decent game since FFVII. They have no idea how to make better games, because the people who buy the games think FFXIII is a good game. SE is in the business to make money, and if people buy a crapload of a mediocre game, they are going to keep making the same mediocre game, at a lower cost to them and higher cost to consumers.

If this is true, then SE just purposefully forced a studio to go bankrupt. And honestly, I'm not surprised.

 

[seraphy]

To be honest any company that can think FF XIII and FF IV are games that should ever see the light of day is a bat-shit insane one.

To be completely fair FFXIII isn't that bad. It's not a good game, by any stretch of imagination, but it wasn't flat out horrible.

I'd say FFXIII was pretty horrible. I liked Final Fantasy games before that, even XII But XIII just pissed me off.
I have since played FFVI and seriously every final fantasy that came after it is just bad compared to it.

 

[McMarbles]

That may be the most disturbing logo ever.

 

[Arkhangelsk]

Although I wouldn't believe anything that Aftonbladet says. They're a paper that relies on sales and has very biased articles. I don't trust nothing they say. One outstanding example is when they just for the sake of the title "We're all gonna die tomorrow!" said that the LHC would be the end of the world.

 

[AetherWolf]

Fortress looked like a promising game. (I mean, look at the gorgeous art! http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Fortress_Images) I was hoping another studio would have picked it up by now... It's unfortunate Squeenix has to act like a bunch of dicks to something that could potentially help them in there financial crisis right now. :/

Also, someone go up to whoever is deciding to remake FFIV a billion times and kick him in the shins.

 

[lord.jeff]

Not going to say Square Enix is in the right here but I think Grin is making this out to be more then it is. Complaining about a foreign company asking you to fax over code is just silly, I think most logical people would go "oh right different language they probably meant email" and then they send a image from a game that Square Enix already made after receiving request to show the work they've been doing Square would have ever right to screw them over. I'm not claiming this is what happened but this article is just very one sided and I don't think any opinions should be drawn from it.

 

[SlugLady28]

For example, Square Enix started complaining about Fortress's Nordic style, though it was what Square Enix had asked for. Square Enix also told GRIN it should have been filing its milestone work with its legal department instead of the arm it was filed to, said to be an unusual request.

Further, Square Enix demanded that GRIN fax over Fortress's code, including music files. Bo Andersson said: "It is an impossible requirement, you can not send ASCII or binary codes on the fax. It is backward. Really retarded. It was almost a criminal activity."

GRIN's suspicions were confirmed when Square Enix failed one of the studio's tests. It sent Square Enix an image taken from Final Fantasy XII [http://www.amazon.com/Final-Fantasy-XII-Playstation-2/dp/B000F5IH2I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1306711720&sr=8-1], saying it was from Fortress, to see what the company would do. Square Enix replied: "It does not look like Final Fantasy."

Permalink

Whaaaaa? *face palm* It's official.

Square Enix: You. Fail.

 

[vivster]

that sounds awfully one sided and exaggerated
there may be some truth to the story but what they describe sound more like singled out little instances of misunderstandings
i'm sure there are more interesting points why the project failed that GRIN might not be so eager to admit

 

[duchaked]

initially I was inclined to be skeptical of GRIN butttt gotta hand it to them, if what they say are true thenn ouch. I hate to side with those who are saying Square Enix hasn't been good since they were just Square Soft but...

well GRIN didn't exactly have good games on its own so nvm. no real winners here...

 

[Gindil]

And any games they have made, have no originality to them whatsoever. But I digress while they rehash all of their old games and come up with a new fantasy that isn't final. -_-;

The problem that Final Fantasy faces is that every game should be viewed separately, instead of sequels (Except for X-2 etc).

Take Call of Duty. Those games have hardly changed over however many years, but people go back because they want the same thing. But people see a lot of similarities in Final Fantasy's, but ignore all differences. Compare XIII to IV. They are hugely different in terms of game play. But at their core, they are JRPGs made by the same company, so of course there will be influences, on top of the obvious running themes.

I'm not saying that the series couldn't use a change. But I think the change relies more on the consumer to change what they buy if they don't like it, than on the producers to make something new because some people don't like what is proven to be a winning forumla

I think you mean the problem with Square in general. There really is no "magic button" that can be pressed to save a game company. But Square did milk the ever loving daylights out of the FF series at the expense of nearly every other game they could make or remake. I do want you think about how Infinity Ward changed the game considerably with Modern Warfare. Activision actively fought IW for taking the CoD franchise into the modern world. But they profited richly for it.

There's also problems with Square's business practices. It takes them two or three years to let go of a game and they lay off the programmers after they're done. Someone like Valve or EA actually keeps that experience. I'd say they have a lot of work ahead to actually be a relevant game company any more.

 

[ZiggyE]

Ok, so let me get this straight, Escapist.

You're believing a one sided argument with no proof that is highly unbelievable all because you want an excuse to insult Square Enix because you don't like a few of their games?

Wow, talk about xenophobia. I will be taking this article with a grain of salt and suggest you do as well.

 

[BayouStalker]

I have a strong feeling the article was blown out of proportion, and we need to hear more from both sides to have a true judgement.

That being said, I have been disappointed in general with Square and SE as a whole for a while now. It feels as if they are desperately trying to grab at their peak, and keep themselves very narrowly focused on what they think is good for their games. To me, their worst offense was that last online endeavor that was basically a joke with all of it's issues. It was like they were blindly leaping into a field that they tried out once before and crashed hard because of it.

I cringed and was afraid when I heard they took over Deus Ex, and I am being cautiously excited over the game. To me, if they do it right and well, they can start to bring themselves back up in the world, but right now they really seem like they need to take a step back and re-evaluate themselves since their primary cash cow is looking a bit old at this point.

I will admit I have not been too terribly into Square/Enix for a while now because of how stale a lot of their games have become. They will not try new things, and they will not adapt to a changing gaming world.

All of that being said, I think the article should be taken with about three pounds of salt considering it's questionable nature.

 

[Stealthfighterx]

SquareEnix has also had lots of problems lately with their games too,
they have all sucked, last good game was they made was FFX.

True, but they shouldn't have made the ending that they did, and later make X-2.

Do you mean they shouldn't have made X-2 after that ending?

Or that that ending was bad and X-2 was bad?

Because in all honesty, the problem with X-2 was that it was just a lot more light-hearted and not very serious. But that isn't bad if you're able to detach yourself from thinking X-2 affects X. Whereas if they'd messed with the ending to FFX so that X-2 worked better, that would have spoilt a brilliant game and a brilliant ending. I couldn't agree to anything that would involve changing it

What I meant was that FFX shouldn't have had the part where he swam upwards, sometimes it's best just to let a character die. And I never really player FFX-2, but based on what I've heard of it, it shouldn't have existed.

I really liked FFX, but I think they took the spinoff in the wrong direction, but that's just me.

 

[Distortionfile]

Seems like more and more stories of companies screwing over or sabotaging themselves (presumably) on accident. The industry really needs to take a step back and identify the factors causing them to fuck up so bad if there's going to be any future for gaming.

Sadly Piracy is one of the biggest things putting the game industry in a pinch. Developers like Valve have found ways to survive and even flourish in the new game economy. Others just aren't fairing so well.
But basically, Piracy drives down revenue, which drives down potential profit, which drives down investment potential, which drives down product quality, which in turn drives piracy further up and revenue further down.
The more they attempt to prevent piracy with DRM the more they alienate those who actually pay for games, (has anyone tried to play a windows live game? Jesus.) and further down the tubes goes the whole shebang.

You're right. Piracy is a major problem facing the industry but it's also a problem primarily localised to the PC. Square makes games almost exclusively for consoles (I don't honestly know if they ever made any PC games A quick google got me some fairly high end titles from them on the PC, so admittedly, my point here doesn't hold quite as much water.) and all they're biggest cash cows are for whatever the most up-to-date console is. So while you're not wrong, I'd like to think that the boys at the old SE aren't getting their knickers in a twist over piracy when it simply isn't one of their primary concerns.

-EDIT-
After my aformentioned google, I acknowledge that piracy does effect them more than I initially gave them credit for, but with their PC titles making up such a minority of their stock, it's still a minimal impact.

Piracy does exist on consoles. It's not nearly as mainstream as pc pirating because there aren't huge devoted fan bases ready to hold your hand and all but install the crack for you. Consoles have to be broken, and it's tricky business. So not every bob and john is going to so much as attempt it, but it's still real, and has an effect.

Things like the second hand trade market take a chunk of profits too. And we also have emerging trends that are making it increasingly risky to develop titles these days. Games like Angry Birds are more popular than some of the biggest budget games out there.
An honestly, when it gets to the point that a Dollar flash game that should take two weeks to develop can surpass the profits of a million dollar under taking, who the hell is going to bother making a good and extensive game. So companies are taking less risks, pouring less effort into their offerings, and trying to find new and horrifying ways to make us keep paying for the same thing again and again so they don't have to make a new game, but rather re-label an existing title, adding perhaps a few new models and building a few new maps for games where all the texture and modeling work was already done three releases ago.