Square Enix Vs. Homogeneity

[CyberMachinist]

Interesting but until i see the results I'm gonna remain cynical, words are just what you give-off when you want to make an impression of yourself, actions tell people who you really are.

On the questionably vague occasion it is true though, I really hope they make another parasite eve game, I've been interested in trying one and with people saying things about 3rd birthday I'm not sure if that's where i want to start, similar thing with Valkyrie chronicles. And lastly, will this mean that they finally hire new writers!?


Captcha: Yellow submarine? now we just got to wait and see if SE can put some diamonds in the sky.

 

[Sehnsucht Engel]

I don't care that much for their JRPGs, but Square Enix has published some good games lately, like Absolution and Tomb Raider, so it would be a shame to see them gone. So I think it's good that they're doing this.

 

[Covarr]

How about not throwing so much money away on "cinematics"? The best parts of Tomb Raider weren't the cutscenes, nor the parts where the gameplay is merely an excuse to show off the graphics (slides, tunnels, other limited-input sequences; they were the parts where the player had the most control. The platforming bits and puzzle solving were awesome, the wide-open stealthy areas were downright amazing, and both of these no doubt cost less to make than the eye candy playable cutscenes that pervade parts of the game.

But that's just an example. I'm sure a lot of your more recent games could've been every bit as good, if not better, while still costing less to make. Almost everything you've released lately has had a good deal of filler that I'd be willing to bet padded the game's length far more than it padded sales. That should be the very first thing you cut.

P.S. Thanks

 

[DarklordKyo]

What I'm getting from this story is this: SE is focusing less on core gamers, and most likely will abide by the old Japanese tradition that Capcom loves so much of not releasing many of their games outside of Japan. Now of course this is just speculation, but that's what it seems like to me.

Actually, a more proper translation (from what I can see) would be "Square sees that some big budget titles try to appeal to everyone, yet are hated because of it (like Resident Evil 6), whereas other titles work within reasonable budgets, and focus on appealing to the region of origin, yet sell reasonably well, and are loved (like Persona 3 & 4). Square wants a cut of the latter action, and are restructuring themselves appropriately."

 

[JediMB]

Wait...

Does it look like a big publisher has finally learned that making every game "AAA" is a bad idea? Well, it remains to be seen if they can actually live up to these claims.

And as far as localization goes, I'd be fine if most Japanese-style RPGs kept their original voice acting and just translated the subtitles. Cheaper, and less jarring for people like me.

 

[IronMit]

''trying to increase customer awareness by giving gamers a bigger say in a game's development''

This could work...
'Do you want hitman to be more linear and more like splinter cell conviction? NO
'Shall we replace the voice actor in Thief in exchange for acrobatic motion cap cutscenes' NO

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

How bout not taking years making very nice looking cut scenes for games and instead refocus on just making good games, regardless of the platform. I do hope it works for Square Enix as they have published some good games and I like to see them turn from the brink and lead the way in cutting cost. However I don't think westernising themselves will help much, we already have western plenty of devs to make western games.

 

[SecondPrize]

It'd be nice if this leads to another actual Front Mission game.

 

[loa]

Why did it take them so long to realize that their whole "scale back everything else, make our games look as shiny as possible" approach is fucking retarded?

 

[Lightknight]

Oh wow, a big gaming company suddenly realized that their forecasting department was comprised of assholes who think every game is going to make COD money if you just throw enough up-front money at it. Finally... though this potentially means less AAA games in slightly more niche markets. This is essentially Square-enix admitting that they made mistakes with Tomb Raider, Sleeping Dogs, and Hitman: Absolution. Three amazing games that were very well recieved and sold remarkably well.

I really hope this doesn't mean they'll stop those kinds of games, but I hope it does mean they'll stop swinging for the moon here. Budgeting appropriately and putting the money where it counts is what I want to see. Current graphics are generally good enough. I'm fine with a little less polish as long as the stories maintain their quality and the programming doesn't get in the way of that story telling.

 

[Dr.Awkward]

It's a good start, especially with no longer attempting to Westernize Japanese games. When you have to sacrifice your identity like that, something's gone really, really wrong.

However, there is one thing I wouldn't entirely agree on - Reducing their efforts on making their titles ready for world distribution. Square does need to reduce world distribution costs, but it's more at the physical level - With digital distribution going so strong, they should look more into making PC-ready titles and focus on selling them through Steam, where it's easy to reach their niche audiences. Steam can also serve as a place to experiment with Japanese games (perhaps to the point where they're not even translated and VO'd) to see what does and does not sell internationally - There are people out there who would like to see some quirky Japanese games come to Steam anyway!

(In fact, quite a few Japanese developers would get a lot more sales if they would just consider making PC releases and going through Steam...)

 

[VoidWanderer]

Well... if they HD remake teir old FF games, maybe they will remember how to make good ones again...

 

[WhiteTigerShiro]

Essentially, Square Enix has been approaching its big-budget games as if they're guaranteed to sell in every market. You can judge for yourself [http://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/news/pdf/20130527_01en.pdf] how well that has been working from a financial standpoint.

I think what you mean to say is that Square has been taking for granted that the steam from Final Fantasy 7 would carry them forever. Seriously, they've been riding the coattails from that one for far too long; it's about time people started wising-up to the fact that Square has long-since lost any real talent.