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[Sir_Crocodile]

So when did this guy start? Is he the one responsible for the rougher era of Squenix? Final Fantasy X and after?

Yes. He came in after the FF Movie furore

 

[Skinpop]

i like this guy, he seems genuine.

 

[Vanille]

So the day he definitely left is the day FF7r was real?
What to make of this

http://andriasang.com/con1ny/wada_on_ffvii_remake/

I guess no one else at Square shared that sentiment.

 

[CaviarMeths]

Buying Eidos was a great move and SE now has a respectable portfolio of Western games.
Mobile games have given Square Enix the capital to confidently invest in console games.

If I had to say nice stuff about him. Good thing about the above is that they will continue to benefit the company under a better leader. His two good ideas are not leaving the company with him.

http://andriasang.com/con1ny/wada_on_ffvii_remake/

I guess no one else at Square shared that sentiment.

But IX and XII already happened.

 

[m_dorian]

People who wonder about Wada's Story with Square should read this great thread from anaron

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=744184

Thank you for this and thank anaron too.

 

[RPGCrazied]

Well, don't know if he was holding stuff back, but the new guy in charge is doing some very awesome things for Square, its like they are going back to the roots of the company. About time I say.

 

[Game Guru]

So Square Enix at E3 this year is a Square Enix without Wada?

...

I like Square Enix without Wada.

 

[SporeCrawler]

People shouldnt forget that he was one major figure in the Square Enix merger (and stayed CEO despite enix being the bigger company at the time) and he was the one that bought Eidos and Taito.

 

[JeffZero]

So Square Enix at E3 this year is a Square Enix without Wada?

...

I like Square Enix without Wada.

*glances at his bookshelf and its decent-sized collection of 1987-2002 Square titles*

So do I.

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

Maybe the next person will be more willing to bring those damn dragon quest 3ds games over to the west

 

[Seven Force]

Nier 2

From a post on the SomethingAwful forums by the most knowledgeable poster in the games section. link

Yeah, I remember someone saying he's a big reason that Drakengard 3 was even allowed to be a thing, too.

 

[Theonik]

Good riddance. Shame that the damage is already done.

 

[Dark_castle]

This will never not be funny.

Might be more funny if the captions are in English.

 

[Wagram]

Finally !

Praise Matsuda our Saviour

Thank the gods. The new CEO is at least approving games people want.

 

[duckroll]

When I look back on Wada's era as Square Enix CEO, the main thing that comes to mind is that he was pretty much the only big Japanese game publisher CEO who had his own twitter account, and he ones made a passionate series of tweets about how much he loves The Last Remnant as a game, while conceding that the market makes it really hard for such games to exist.

 

[Labadal]

Generally, I don't dislike him, despite some of the shit that happened while he was in charge.

 

[Ghost Slayer]

Look like Duckroll is right.
Their conference this year maybe not perfect but it's important because it shows CEO's new vision

 

[Shift Breaker]

Wow, wada surprise.

I'm still laughing at this

 

[Lyte Edge]

If he's still at Shinra...then isn't he still at Square?

 

[Dark_castle]

How awesome would it be if Square Enix merge with Mistwalker to reform Squaresoft?

I mean FFVII HD remake actually happened. Like, nothing is impossible now.

 

[manipulate]

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

When I look back on Wada's era as Square Enix CEO, the main thing that comes to mind is that he was pretty much the only big Japanese game publisher CEO who had his own twitter account, and he ones made a passionate series of tweets about how much he loves The Last Remnant as a game, while conceding that the market makes it really hard for such games to exist.

The main thing that comes to my mind is him nixing TWEWY2 while green lighting 13-2 & 13-3

 

[dramatis]

He was a pretty ambitious guy whose ideas didn't pan out in practice.

It takes a certain kind of CEO in Japan to double down on FF14 after its initial failure.

Wada is widely hated and vilified by the fans, but he's not nearly as bad as portrayed. He also seems to be a bit diehard in the HD games department, considering how slow on the uptake SE was for mobile games and now his transition to the cloud computing project at Shinra Technologies. Maybe he'll have success with that.

 

[-NeoTB1-]

I never had an issue with the guy on a personal level. But for the most part, I really didn't like him as CEO of Square Enix. I'm much, much happier with the direction the company is going now.

 

[Diablos]

Two years too late, but good riddance anyway.

 

[duckroll]

If he's still at Shinra...then isn't he still at Square?

He's still a president in a company owned by the parent company, yes. Shinra Technologies is a separate company, but owned by Square Enix Holdings (the holding company). Just like Tokyo RPG Factory is its own company, separate from Square Enix, but owned by the holding company.

Wada is no longer an employee of Square Enix proper, contract staff or otherwise.

 

[manipulate]

He was a pretty ambitious guy whose ideas didn't pan out in practice.

It takes a certain kind of CEO in Japan to double down on FF14 after its initial failure.

Wada is widely hated and vilified by the fans, but he's not nearly as bad as portrayed. He also seems to be a bit diehard in the HD games department, considering how slow on the uptake SE was for mobile games and now his transition to the cloud computing project at Shinra Technologies. Maybe he'll have success with that.

Curious as to how 'brave' this decision was as opposed to 'necessary'.

Surely they were banking on that MMO cash cow for the next 5+ years and couldn't afford to throw it away?

 

[Aureon]

When I look back on Wada's era as Square Enix CEO, the main thing that comes to mind is that he was pretty much the only big Japanese game publisher CEO who had his own twitter account, and he ones made a passionate series of tweets about how much he loves The Last Remnant as a game, while conceding that the market makes it really hard for such games to exist.

... Let me hate ;_;
Who's left at Square to hate, now? Toriyama, and that's it?

Did we have any source on that story that Wada was the one that decided to push through FFXIV, even though it was still very, very uncooked - against the director's opinion?

 

[duckroll]

The main thing that comes to my mind is him nixing TWEWY2 while green lighting 13-2 & 13-3

Yeah because that's totally something that he specifically did. Stuff like this is why it is laughable watching fans comment on how much they hate a CEO or whatever, when in reality they are just projecting all their frustrations of the company at large onto the individual. I mean, to a certain extent, that's fair because the CEO's role is also to be the face of the company, but it's really childish and uninformed.

 

[Soltype]

When I look back on Wada's era as Square Enix CEO, the main thing that comes to mind is that he was pretty much the only big Japanese game publisher CEO who had his own twitter account, and he ones made a passionate series of tweets about how much he loves The Last Remnant as a game, while conceding that the market makes it really hard for such games to exist.

If he championed for The Last Remnant, then I have no beef with him . I'm still not so sure if square's outlook is any better, I'm not really excited for many of their upcoming titles.

 

[EmSeta]

Wada pushed for diversifying S-E's business into MMOs, mobile, and western interests. These are still the main elements today which represent the most successful parts of the company. He recognized that traditional Japanese business the company was known for was weakening in the last decade, and that they were struggling with development and satisfying products. If they didn't diversify their interests, they would have nothing successful instead of just having successful things which their core fans would "hate" them for. He also pushed hard for more efficiency in development from the internal Japanese teams, and he wanted better quality products. He was much less successful there, but it's hard to say that the failure was entirely his own.

True. He might have presided over the gradual decomposition of the Japanese teams, but he did make some great moves in other areas.

 

[YankeeDonB]

Wada pushed for diversifying S-E's business into MMOs, mobile, and western interests. These are still the main elements today which represent the most successful parts of the company. He recognized that traditional Japanese business the company was known for was weakening in the last decade, and that they were struggling with development and satisfying products. If they didn't diversify their interests, they would have nothing successful instead of just having successful things which their core fans would "hate" them for. He also pushed hard for more efficiency in development from the internal Japanese teams, and he wanted better quality products. He was much less successful there, but it's hard to say that the failure was entirely his own.

So he was not the CEO we deserved, but the CEO we needed?

Seriously, I think people will always look for a bipedal sentient scapegoat, but it was market forces and changing technology that tripped up SE (and every other Japanese game company) over the last ten years, not Wada.

 

[TGO]

Finally

 

[Pepin]

Wow, wada surprise.

You beat me to it!

 

[Deleted member 20920]

How awesome would it be if Square Enix merge with Mistwalker to reform Squaresoft?

I mean FFVII HD remake actually happened. Like, nothing is impossible now.

Mistwalker is too small to have any such venture to be considered a merger. I think they're just made up of a few key people.


Also,what if he brought over Itou with him???

Dun Dun Dun!

 

[Firmus_Anguis]

Yeah because that's totally something that he specifically did. Stuff like this is why it is laughable watching fans comment on how much they hate a CEO or whatever, when in reality they are just projecting all their frustrations of the company at large onto the individual. I mean, to a certain extent, that's fair because the CEO's role is also to be the face of the company, but it's really childish and uninformed.

While I completely understand where you're coming from, I'll say this, if FFXV is a success and brings the series back on track - Whilst delivering KH3 and FF7R in a timely manner... Wada will forever be remembered as the CEO who nearly killed off the brand. You can call it unfortunate timing, but FFXIII and the seemingly endless sequels it spawned all happened during his reign.

 

[duckroll]

While I completely understand where you're coming from, I'll say this, if FFXV is a success and brings the series back on track - Whilst delivering KH3 and FF7R in a timely manner... Wada will forever be remembered as the CEO who nearly killed off the brand. You can call it unfortunate timing, but FFXIII and the seemingly endless sequels it spawned all happened during his reign.

There is no question that Wada will be remembered as the CEO who was in charge of S-E's most turbulent period, filled with missteps and really poor showing from their Japanese brands. It is what it is. I just don't think it is necessary to attach made up scenarios to hate on him.

 

[Beartruck]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoyvvEWHodk

In all seriousness though, he probably did the dirty work nobody wanted to do in order to make the company more competitive. Shame the quality of games didn't match it.

 

[Theonik]

There is no question that Wada will be remembered as the CEO who was in charge of S-E's most turbulent period, filled with missteps and really poor showing from their Japanese brands. It is what it is. I just don't think it is necessary to attach made up scenarios to hate on him.

What about silliness such as this:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=458304

I mean in part this is true, but I feel really reluctant to simply label Wada as a victim of the times.

 

[Hypereides]

His closing note at the SE conference was unexpected and great. He made it clear that SE intends to focus on strengthening and revitalising their JRPG image. I have alot more faith in this company ,now with mr. Matsuda as CEO, compared to when Wada was administrating business.

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

Yeah because that's totally something that he specifically did. Stuff like this is why it is laughable watching fans comment on how much they hate a CEO or whatever, when in reality they are just projecting all their frustrations of the company at large onto the individual. I mean, to a certain extent, that's fair because the CEO's role is also to be the face of the company, but it's really childish and uninformed.

This is a guy who apparently said this:

http://kotaku.com/5011016/square-enix-president-laying-down-the-law

 

[duckroll]

What about silliness such as this:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=458304

I mean in part this is true, but I feel really reluctant to simply label Wada as a victim of the times.

But no one is saying Wada is a victim of the times. I'm saying it's stupid to saying something like "I will remember him as the person who cancalled TWEWY2 instead of FFXIII-2!"

Also, Fengshui/Geomancy stuff is huge in Asia, even for big companies. It's dumb but it is what it is!

This is a guy who apparently said this:

http://kotaku.com/5011016/square-enix-president-laying-down-the-law

Okay? I fail to see your point. What is it that you think CEOs at big publishers actually do? They're businessmen who are responsible for making sure the company is profitable and attractive to investors.

 

[SprachBrooks]

For me, give our Xbox fans FFXI online, FFXIII, FFXIII-2, Lighting Returns, Star Ocean 4, Last Remnant, Front Missions, etc. But I think to some people, this is why he is hated.

Every coin has 2 sides...

Except both sides of this coin were covered in shit. He got progressive worse and finally he's gone just as Enix is going in a new, better, direction.

 

[Zukuu]

Maybe Square can recover its reputation now, instead of solely its bank account.

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

Okay? I fail to see your point. What is it that you think CEOs at big publishers actually do? They're businessmen who are responsible for making sure the company is profitable and attractive to investors.

This is the culture that Wada fostered within SE, and what projects were promoted and what was suppressed. This is what I will remember him for. Which is apparently "childish and uniformed" of me. Okay.

I don't really care if he's a businessman. Do you expect me to remember him for YoY profit?

 

[DiipuSurotu]

I like Square Enix without Wada but I'm still curious to see what he does with that whole Shinra Technologies thing.

 

[Paz]

FF XIII and its awful sequels pretty much killed Final Fantasy for me, but I should have seen that coming after X-2.

Not that I have any illusions about one man being responsible for the entire output of a company, but it can't be any worse now surely?

I miss Sakeguchi & Uematsu

 

[LiquidMetal14]

He can at least enjoy his time with less stress now.

 

[SavoyPrime]

Maybe. Just maybe. Square Enix can get back to the awesomness that was the Squaresoft era during the PS1 days. Oh how nice that would be.

 

[Aeriscloud]

Goodbye destroyer of worlds.