Square Enix: Social Gaming Is the Future

Logan Westbrook

Transform, Roll Out, Etc
Feb 21, 2008
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Square Enix: Social Gaming Is the Future


Square Enix boss Yoichi Wada thinks the future of gaming will be more Farmville than Final Fantasy.

In an interview with business site Forbes [http://www.forbes.com/2010/06/22/videogames-internet-wada-technology-square-enix.html?partner=alerts] Square Enix's chief executive Yoichi Wada said that all future Square Enix games will include some multiplayer or social gaming elements, even those that have traditionally been single player, like Final Fantasy.

According to Forbes, Wada says the models like those employed by Chinese causal gaming giant Tencent - microtransactions in free-to-play games - will win out over the likes of Electronic Arts. "Two things are clear," Wada said. "The distribution channels will change and the revenue model will change ... It will happen in the entire industry, and we want to stay on top of this trend."

This will mean a significant change in approach for the company, and Wada thinks that established designers might not be the best choice going forward: "Frankly, the people who excelled at creating game software about 10 years ago are really not good at making multiplayer games," he said. "We are striving to change the old culture, and as a part of such effort we are trying to bring in fresh blood."

So what does this mean for Square Enix games in the future? Well, it's impossible to say for certain, as both multiplayer, and social gaming are both very broad terms. It might mean a free-to-play Final Fantasy MMOG in which players pay for new items or quests, or it could simply mean that Deus Ex: Human Revolution will post your achievements to Twitter. It's also likely the degree of integration will vary from game to game, so where one title might have a complimentary Facebook game, another might just have traditional multiplayer.

Source: Forbes [http://www.forbes.com/2010/06/22/videogames-internet-wada-technology-square-enix.html?partner=alerts] via Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/5571411/all-square-enix-games-to-include-social-multiplayer-gaming]






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FloodOne

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Apr 29, 2009
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If multiplayer is going to be part of the Final Fantasy franchise going forward, I'm afraid that XIII will be my last purchase from this company.

Sucks for them, I've spent a lot of money on SE products through the years, but not anymore.
 

Onyx Oblivion

Borderlands Addict. Again.
Sep 9, 2008
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As long as the titles still have the depth of usual games, I'm fine.

I have confidence in Square to handle it. I don't think they're going to abandon "regular" games altogether. They'll test the waters first.

There's a difference between "social" and "casual". Uncharted 2 had Twitter Updates, did it not?
 

Jared

The British Paladin
Jul 14, 2009
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I really hope it dosnt go that way, but, I can see his point and its already showing. People want multiplater more than anything these days, to play against, and with people...
 

Danallighieri

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Jun 3, 2010
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Oh please, please, no multiplayer in a final fantasy game, please, it's just not right... I mean really? Come on, it's a singleplayer sort of game!
 

ItsAPaul

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Mar 4, 2009
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FF 8/9 card game or multiplayer blitzball on every version from now on would be BADASS.
 

mad825

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Mar 28, 2010
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arrrrgggh! damn, I guess I'll get the shotgun ready for Old Yeller.

well I'm not surprised, SE needs to get more "real" with today so that the lower classes of gamers can enjoy FF.
 

ultimasupersaiyan

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Dec 9, 2008
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I knew it! Square-Enix hates it's fans and money! Square-Enix has become the Titanic and Dragon Quest games are the life boats. First Square-Enix ruins it's perfectly good franchises and now they want to make crappier games? Is Dragon Quest the only game series they won't cock up?

I'll stick to remakes and Kingdom Hearts from now on! At least with Kingdom Hearts Disney can slap Square-Enix's wrist everytime they try to screw it up and the remakes are made by other companies who reskin for the most part, so again they can't crap on those that easily.
 

MaltesePigeon

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Feb 3, 2010
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Well that's just terrible. I could sit here for hours describing how bad that sounds. It's Final FANTASY. Don't make it Final Reality, World of Warcraft already exists. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy playing WoW until Igankzu the Paladin showed up in my noob town. And ganked me.

If you introduce strangers into your escape from reality, they will bring you back to it. Final Fantasy will become another epeen fest.

Contrast that with Pen and Paper RPGs, none of which I've ever played. I can only assume that if you try to roll a dwarf name Michael Jordon it wouldn't fly. Or Larpers, I doubt they'd let someone in a trench coat calling himself Neo to join in. They would kick him to the curb.

Whoa

To summarize, I don't want xxxSephirothxxx to show up in any Final Fantasy game I'm playing in any way. Besides, I doubt I'll even finish FFXIII.

I can see that game's case from my desk. Lightning is looking at me with those blue eyes of hers. "Play with me again," she says. "You just got to Gran Pulse, the game will open up some there."

Nah, I kicked you to the curb and you'll stay there for awhile.
 

SpaceMedarotterX

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Jun 24, 2010
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I already have the obsessive parts of the fanbase invading my non-final fantasy games like White Knight Chronicles. Why in the blue blazes do I want them concentrated?
 

Aurgelmir

WAAAAGH!
Nov 11, 2009
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FloodOne said:
If multiplayer is going to be part of the Final Fantasy franchise going forward, I'm afraid that XIII will be my last purchase from this company.

Sucks for them, I've spent a lot of money on SE products through the years, but not anymore.
Well would a co-op Final Fantasy game be so bad? As long as you can play it single player also.

I must say with all the crap Square Enix has been oozing out lately I don't mind them trying something new... but I guess its just going to be the same crap in different wrapping.

All in all I personally think Square Enix never worked out, and that the hay days of Square(soft) is over.
 

Racthoh

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Feb 9, 2009
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I could see them changing the combat system of Final Fantasy to suit the social aspects he's referring to. They're proven with FFXII, and I believe FFXIII as well as Kingdom Hearts I and II, that they can create an RPG where the player controls a single character while AI controls the others. There's no reason that they couldn't do the same with future titles in the series only allowing other players to hop into the other roles.

They could take the Guild Wars approach. That is every area of the game is designed for a certain party size and the player can have as many human or AI controlled players up to the cap for that zone. Possibly even the Diablo II style of the game being designed for a single player to complete on their own as a lone hero but other players can join in which increases the enemy strength. Another alternative would be Legend of Mana, which was also a Square game on the PSX. You play your character through the main quest but other players can import their characters and tag along, but only the main character gets the stuff you find along the way as well as story progression.

Judging by the last two games they want to move away from the turn based system and want it to feel more hands on. Personally I'd love to see Final Fantasy adapt a Kingdom Hearts style of action because man is it addicting and fun.
 

mad825

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Mar 28, 2010
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Aurgelmir said:
FloodOne said:
If multiplayer is going to be part of the Final Fantasy franchise going forward, I'm afraid that XIII will be my last purchase from this company.

Sucks for them, I've spent a lot of money on SE products through the years, but not anymore.
Well would a co-op Final Fantasy game be so bad? As long as you can play it single player also.
well seeing as you are picking out that a Co-op may be "good" then might I ask how it would work?

the only possable way that I can think while being deprived of sleep without redesigning the whole combat system is allowing temporary control of an NPC.

in combat it might work but they would have to create a time limit for the players so that it prevents them from hogging turns.

in the open world might fail a little, are you going to allow free walk where ever for the second player? is so then there will be a whole host of problems but if you try the alternative the second player (or more) are going to be bored to watching player 1 walking round
 

Cynical skeptic

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Apr 19, 2010
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... Great. Replace grinding with spamming. "you need happy atreast 3,732 mole flends fol gleat powah!"

I do like how they've managed to clean up the image of "whoring out your customer-base as free advertising" social gaming has had since it was invented something like two decades ago. All thanks to zygna. "its not spam, its gifts! So anyone who refuses your gifts by not making their own [zygna game thing] is an asshole!"
 

Gsmoove

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May 24, 2010
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Who cares if Square Enix brings out FF:Farmville, its the hardcore gamers who truly guide the industry, we'll just end up buying more independent games and the single player experience can never be replaced with multiplayer. I can't speak for anyone but myself but to me gaming is usually a solo hobby.
 

Daipire

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Oct 25, 2009
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I knew I wasn't going to like this, based on the title...

I'll stop judging books by their cover when I'm wrong about it...