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Wada: Final Fantasy Teams Need To "Move On", Is This The End Of Final Fantasy As We Know It?

January 06, 2010 in Interview comments 13

In a recent interview with Edge, Square Enix's president, Yoichi Wada, discussed the future of Square Enix and Eidos, whether he believes distinctly Japanese series (such as Final Fantasy) have a future in the Western market, his own personal tastes in gaming, why he believes the Final Fantasy series needs to "move on", and why he feels that there's an "expectation of Square Enix to offer something new" and because of that the Final Fantasy teams should start "creating something completely different." Will Final Fantasy XIII be the end of FF games as we know them?

Go to the source for the full interview.

In many ways, Square Enix could be considered the most unashamedly ‘Japanese’ of Japanese game developers, with a long history of titles, created for the Japanese market first and foremost, which seem to have become internationally successful almost by surprise. Overseas releases have generally only come after months of slow localisation, with few changes to suit local tastes outside of bug and interface fixes.

But that position doesn’t seem sustainable in the modern marketplace. President and CEO Yoichi Wada has spearheaded a big change in the company’s direction, from its takeover of an unashamedly western publisher, Eidos, to planning the global release of Final Fantasy XIII for within three months of the Japanese launch – a record for the series. We sat down with Wada to discover the origins of this impetus for change, the future of Square Enix and Eidos, and the personal tastes in gaming of this otherwise enigmatic industry force.
Miss Razz via next-gen.biz »
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  • 1
    chautemoc Jan 7, 10
    It's nice to know an industry CEO plays games.
    And that Squenix finally pulled their heads out of their arses.
  • 0
    Aussie Legend Jan 7, 10
    Final Final Fantasy? Argh, that would be the worst name of a video game ever.
    • 1
      chautemoc Jan 7, 10
      Worse than Divine Divinity?
      • 0
        Aussie Legend Jan 7, 10
        Well... okay you got me there.
      • 0
        Miss Razz Jan 7, 10
        "Infinite Undiscovery" comes close. What does it even mean?

        Same goes for "End of Eternity". I mean, come on!
        • 1
          Hideo1 Jan 7, 10
          It means pretension equals art, isn't that right fan of Gackt?
  • 0
    Archangel Jan 7, 10
    To be honest, I'm all for the notion of expanding and experimenting, but I think a lot of people are fans of Squenix because they are so 'Japan'. I think a lot of the games would lose the novelty of being cultured. I can understand wanting to make Western games more localized, but I don't know if doing a complete overhaul of a company/series is the best way to go.
    • 1
      chautemoc Jan 7, 10
      It's not about Japan vs. West, it's about not making the same shit over and over again, based on the same damn stereotypes, same formula, same plot...shiny new package.
      There's a lot more to Japan that what's portrayed in Final Fantasy games. They could use a lot of that to make a really great work.

      It's 13 games now (well, 12, really). How many more would you want? I was done at 10. It ran its course. imoblablaetc
  • 0
    Province Jan 7, 10
    Um what? Last I counted there was at least 20 things on the market with Final Fantasy on the front, yes it has definitely run its course.
    • 0
      chautemoc Jan 7, 10
      Just talking about the core series. Don't care about the rest.
    • 0
      Fallen Royalty Jan 8, 10
      I've actually got a .txt file that lists pretty much the whole franchise.

      quote
      List of Final Fantasy installments and compatible systems released in English:

      Main Series:

      Final Fantasy: NES, PlayStation, GameBoy Advance
      Final Fantasy II: NES, PlayStation, GameBoy Advance
      Final Fantasy III (remake): Nintendo DS*
      Final Fantasy IV: SNES, PlayStation, GameBoy Advance
      Final Fantasy IV (remake): Nintendo DS
      Final Fantasy V: SNES, PlayStation, GameBoy Advance
      Final Fantasy VI: SNES, PlayStation, GameBoy Advance
      Final Fantasy VII: PlayStation
      Final Fantasy VIII: PlayStation
      Final Fantasy IX: PlayStation
      Final Fantasy X: PlayStation2
      Final Fantasy XII: PlayStation2
      *Original 2D version not released outside of Japan.


      Prequels and Sequels:

      Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII: PlayStation Portable (prequel)
      Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII: PlayStation2 (sequel)
      Final Fantasy X-2: PlayStation2 (sequel)
      Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings: Nintendo DS (sequel)


      Tactics Series:

      Final Fantasy Tactics: PlayStation
      Final Fantasy Tactics Advance: GameBoy Advance
      Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift: Nintendo DS


      Crystal Chronicles Series:

      Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: GameCube
      Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates: Nintendo DS (prequel to original)
      Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time: Nintendo DS (sequel to Ring of Fates)
      Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King: WiiWare
      Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord: WiiWare
      Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers: Wii


      Chocobo Series:

      Chocobo's Dungeon 2: PlayStation*
      Chocobo Racing: PlayStation
      Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales: Nintendo DS
      Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon: Nintendo Wii*
      *Original "Chocobo's Dungeon" game not released outside of Japan. Wii game unrelated.


      Related Games:

      Dissidia Final Fantasy: PlayStation Portable
      Kingdom Hearts: PlayStation2
      Kingdom Hearts II: PlayStation2
      Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories: GameBoy Advance
      Kingdom Hearts: Re: Chain of Memories: PlayStation2
      Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days: Nintendo DS
      Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep: PlayStation Portable
      Vagrant Story: PlayStation (set in same universe as FFXII and FF Tactics)
      Chrono Trigger: SNES, PlayStation, Nintendo DS (packaged with FFIV in Final Fantasy Chronicles for PlayStation)
      Chrono Cross: PlayStation (sequel to Chrono Trigger)

      [List excludes all mobile phone spin-offs, along with the "Legend", "Adventure", and "Mystic Quest" spin-offs.]
  • 0
    Fallen Royalty Jan 8, 10
    You know, as much bashing as Square Enix gets from the regulars here on GameGrep, I can't help but feel like the company is going to be making some good decisions in the coming years.
  • 0
    Province Feb 17, 10
    Good decisions yes, but has yet to actually DO anything worth mentioning.

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