- Seit
- 28 Sep 2002
- Beiträge
- 34.062
Both Square and Enix specialized on role-playing games. These companies were not just competitors, they were rivals. Square's Final Fantasy games were always among the best-selling games around the world, especially in Japan. Though the all-time best-selling game for the original PlayStation was an RPG, it was not by Square. It was Dragon Quest VII, by Enix.
Square's ultra-popular Final Fantasy games featured visually stunning graphics. With their symphonic music and cutting-edge technology, Final Fantasy games developed an international following.
Enix's Dragon Quest (released in the United States as Dragon Warrior) and Star Ocean games lagged far behind the pack in graphics. Unlike Square, which invested tens of millions of dollars inventing new technologies for its in-house development teams, Enix sub-contracted to outside developers. Square maintained a lavish operation, Enix ran lean.
Now that they are merged, the two companies have had to learn how to rectify their cultures. Square has moved its headquarters out of the marble- and chrome-intensive Arco Tower in the Meguro district of Tokyo. Enix has learned the importance of keeping up with the technological times.
Yoichi Wada, president of Square Enix, and Jun J.I. Iwasaki, the affable president of Square Enix USA, met with GameSpy at E3 to discuss the merger and the future.
GameSpy: How is life since merging?
Wada: We are now under one roof, and as one company we are getting along very well.
GameSpy: I attended Square's investor relations meeting in 1999. Several investors stood up and complained bitterly that Square should operate more like Enix; and I remember thinking, these are two companies that will never get along.
Iwasaki: (Grinning) Things happen.
GameSpy: Has work begun on the next Dragon Quest game?
Wada: It is currently under development. Just like in the old days, we are managing our budget and scheduling carefully.
GameSpy: What projects can you discuss?
Wada: What we have in mind is to release approximately 10 original titles per year. In other words, we have a system set up so that we can concentrate on individual games.
GameSpy: Square typically creates games in-house and Enix historically has farmed games out. Will each side of the company maintain its past style?
Wada: As far as decision making about what kinds of titles we will be introducing as well as budget and so on, it will all be comparable to the way it was in the past. However, as far as how games will be done and whether they will be done in house or out-sourced is something that we will determine on a case-by-case basis.
Unless we do things in house, we will not be able to accumulate technology and engineering know-how. On the other hand, if you only focus on in-house work, you will limit your production capacity. Furthermore, you become very rigid. A good combination of in-house and out-sourced work will contribute to maintaining the quality of our work. It will also satisfy what we are looking for in terms of monetary growth.
That is particularly important at this time, when a change in platforms is about to take place. Without doing in-house work, we would not be able to achieve a great leap in technology. That is why it is important to continue our in-house work. If we are to move on to the next platform, it will become necessary to assign a considerable number of people to work on developing the technology. Of course, if we try to do that all in-house, our company would become huge in terms of scale. So, we still need to rely on out-sourcing as well.
GameSpy: Has Square Enix begun work on any PlayStation 3 projects?
Iwasaki: (Big laugh)
Wada: We are currently researching what PlayStation 3 will be like.
GameSpy: Sony owned a percentage of Square. Did Enix buy Sony out during the merger? How did you come to start making games for Nintendo systems?
Wada: Sony still owns a percentage; however, since the two corporations have merged, in terms of ratio of ownership, that share represents only about one-half of what it once did. It dropped from about 18 percent of the company to about 8 percent.
GameSpy: Is this why you can do games for GameCube?
Wada: It is irrelevant. We started making titles for GameCube in the spring of last year. That was before the merger.
GameSpy: Did Sony object?
Wada: I don't think they mind any longer.
GameSpy: Will we see anything from Square on Xbox in the future?
Wada: I don't know yet. At this time, we have no plans to support Xbox.
GameSpy: Now that the studios in Hawaii are shut down, is Square going to look into movies ever again?
Wada: Whether or not it would be a CG (computer graphics) is a separate issue, but we are extremely interested in exploring the kind of visual content we can provide to a project that we would like to make. Whether or not we would embark in creating a two-hour movie that would be shown in theaters is completely different.
The greatest thing that we learned was that there is a difference between a movie, a book and a game. The things that make books, movies and games click is different.
GameSpy: Is Sakaguchi-san (Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the Final Fantasy series) doing any projects with Square at this time?
Wada: Not at this time.
GameSpy: Does he maintain a relationship with Square Enix?
Wada: Yes. I think it is probably time that he might want to start making a project.
Quelle: Gamespy
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Das interresante ist, das von mehren Spielen für den Gamecube die Rede ist.
Square's ultra-popular Final Fantasy games featured visually stunning graphics. With their symphonic music and cutting-edge technology, Final Fantasy games developed an international following.
Enix's Dragon Quest (released in the United States as Dragon Warrior) and Star Ocean games lagged far behind the pack in graphics. Unlike Square, which invested tens of millions of dollars inventing new technologies for its in-house development teams, Enix sub-contracted to outside developers. Square maintained a lavish operation, Enix ran lean.
Now that they are merged, the two companies have had to learn how to rectify their cultures. Square has moved its headquarters out of the marble- and chrome-intensive Arco Tower in the Meguro district of Tokyo. Enix has learned the importance of keeping up with the technological times.
Yoichi Wada, president of Square Enix, and Jun J.I. Iwasaki, the affable president of Square Enix USA, met with GameSpy at E3 to discuss the merger and the future.
GameSpy: How is life since merging?
Wada: We are now under one roof, and as one company we are getting along very well.
GameSpy: I attended Square's investor relations meeting in 1999. Several investors stood up and complained bitterly that Square should operate more like Enix; and I remember thinking, these are two companies that will never get along.
Iwasaki: (Grinning) Things happen.
GameSpy: Has work begun on the next Dragon Quest game?
Wada: It is currently under development. Just like in the old days, we are managing our budget and scheduling carefully.
GameSpy: What projects can you discuss?
Wada: What we have in mind is to release approximately 10 original titles per year. In other words, we have a system set up so that we can concentrate on individual games.
GameSpy: Square typically creates games in-house and Enix historically has farmed games out. Will each side of the company maintain its past style?
Wada: As far as decision making about what kinds of titles we will be introducing as well as budget and so on, it will all be comparable to the way it was in the past. However, as far as how games will be done and whether they will be done in house or out-sourced is something that we will determine on a case-by-case basis.
Unless we do things in house, we will not be able to accumulate technology and engineering know-how. On the other hand, if you only focus on in-house work, you will limit your production capacity. Furthermore, you become very rigid. A good combination of in-house and out-sourced work will contribute to maintaining the quality of our work. It will also satisfy what we are looking for in terms of monetary growth.
That is particularly important at this time, when a change in platforms is about to take place. Without doing in-house work, we would not be able to achieve a great leap in technology. That is why it is important to continue our in-house work. If we are to move on to the next platform, it will become necessary to assign a considerable number of people to work on developing the technology. Of course, if we try to do that all in-house, our company would become huge in terms of scale. So, we still need to rely on out-sourcing as well.
GameSpy: Has Square Enix begun work on any PlayStation 3 projects?
Iwasaki: (Big laugh)
Wada: We are currently researching what PlayStation 3 will be like.
GameSpy: Sony owned a percentage of Square. Did Enix buy Sony out during the merger? How did you come to start making games for Nintendo systems?
Wada: Sony still owns a percentage; however, since the two corporations have merged, in terms of ratio of ownership, that share represents only about one-half of what it once did. It dropped from about 18 percent of the company to about 8 percent.
GameSpy: Is this why you can do games for GameCube?
Wada: It is irrelevant. We started making titles for GameCube in the spring of last year. That was before the merger.
GameSpy: Did Sony object?
Wada: I don't think they mind any longer.
GameSpy: Will we see anything from Square on Xbox in the future?
Wada: I don't know yet. At this time, we have no plans to support Xbox.
GameSpy: Now that the studios in Hawaii are shut down, is Square going to look into movies ever again?
Wada: Whether or not it would be a CG (computer graphics) is a separate issue, but we are extremely interested in exploring the kind of visual content we can provide to a project that we would like to make. Whether or not we would embark in creating a two-hour movie that would be shown in theaters is completely different.
The greatest thing that we learned was that there is a difference between a movie, a book and a game. The things that make books, movies and games click is different.
GameSpy: Is Sakaguchi-san (Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the Final Fantasy series) doing any projects with Square at this time?
Wada: Not at this time.
GameSpy: Does he maintain a relationship with Square Enix?
Wada: Yes. I think it is probably time that he might want to start making a project.
Quelle: Gamespy
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Das interresante ist, das von mehren Spielen für den Gamecube die Rede ist.