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Square Enix projects stage of development
- Thread starter king zell
- Start date
Ganondorfo
Junior Member
Doom_Bringer said:
I don't want to wait 3 years for another big budget final fantasy title... I want every year one.
Doom_Bringer
Banned
Ganondorfo said:
nobody cares about you. Get used to the waiting times
TheJollyCorner
Member
Well, what worked in the PS1 era of FF was different teams, asset sharing, and brilliant project management from Square-EA.
You had FFVII- release: 1997- (development lasted two and a half years), then Kitase, using some graphic assets from Parasite Eve, had his team go directly to start FFVIII- release: 1999- in two years... and while FFVIII was mid-way through production Itou started FFIX - release: 2000-, which also was only in development for two years as well.
The way all of this micromanagement worked out was essentially 4 quality Final Fantasy games (this also includes FFX - release: 2001-, which production also only lasted about two years- Kitase had his team start on pre-production even before FFVIII released in Feb. 99) in the span of 4 years.
Remarkable, actually.
It took FFXII alone almost 5 years to complete production.
I'm not sure if it's Wada or just the Square-Enix merger in general, but that same fantastic project management doesn't seem to exist anymore.
Kitase is masterful in controlling and managing his teams, but a lot also has to do with what S-E allows him to do.
You had FFVII- release: 1997- (development lasted two and a half years), then Kitase, using some graphic assets from Parasite Eve, had his team go directly to start FFVIII- release: 1999- in two years... and while FFVIII was mid-way through production Itou started FFIX - release: 2000-, which also was only in development for two years as well.
The way all of this micromanagement worked out was essentially 4 quality Final Fantasy games (this also includes FFX - release: 2001-, which production also only lasted about two years- Kitase had his team start on pre-production even before FFVIII released in Feb. 99) in the span of 4 years.
Remarkable, actually.
It took FFXII alone almost 5 years to complete production.
I'm not sure if it's Wada or just the Square-Enix merger in general, but that same fantastic project management doesn't seem to exist anymore.
Kitase is masterful in controlling and managing his teams, but a lot also has to do with what S-E allows him to do.
I honestly think they don't have enough major staff and that's their biggest problem these days.
Back when 3 teams used to head FF titles it was great. 3 games in development at the same time. Even in the PS2 age you had Kitase and Matsuno teams working side by side. Now it just seems like you have Kitase/Toriyama team. Nomura doesn't count since his team does the A-RPGs.
If I were Square I'd hire like 100-300 new staff and getting FFXIV going on the double!
Back when 3 teams used to head FF titles it was great. 3 games in development at the same time. Even in the PS2 age you had Kitase and Matsuno teams working side by side. Now it just seems like you have Kitase/Toriyama team. Nomura doesn't count since his team does the A-RPGs.
If I were Square I'd hire like 100-300 new staff and getting FFXIV going on the double!
TheJollyCorner
Member
psy18 said:
how many price cuts did PS2 have in 2 years?
SolidSnakex
Member
Bebpo said:
In alot of ways it shouldn't really be too surprising that it's not too far into development. Back when they were interviewed around E3 they said they weer just nearing completion of the White Engine and then they're really begin the development of FF13.
Red Blaster
Member
Hopefully with this White Engine they'll be able to make way more console games. No more repeats of last gen.
SolidSnakex
Member
TheJollyCorner said:
Depends on where you live. In 2 years in the US there was only 1, Japan had 3, and the UK had 2.
TheJollyCorner
Member
Ceb said:
I'm just sad Naora's not doing the art direction for FFXIII.
Something suspicious about that...
He's heading the FFVII Remake! 
I want some confirmation that Nojima's on XIII's staff. He would be freelance now, right? Dunno why he'd get to work on Dirge and not XIII.
Bebpo said:
Yeah, going to have to disagree a bit. I'd count a number of other games from them as pretty major.
DQVr, for instance, and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (whether I liked what it was or not), as two examples. Romancing SaGa was pretty big, and Seiken Densetsu 4.
If you're going to count SO3/VP2/RS, then Grandia III merits inclusion as well.
But the thing is, if these are the only games you count as major, then no other RPG company has major titles at all, with the exception of Namco. Atlus, Capcom, Konami... none of their RPGs would rank as major under this criteria. So it's just a flawed definition you're using.
Bebpo said:
Well, on this at least, I agree with you. Square Enix really does seem to have minimized its actual in-house development teams a great deal -- they're not putting out nearly as much in-house stuff as they used to. More and more they seem to be following the Enix/Nintendo model of... get creative talent to lead a project, do the game/art/music design and direction, and have the actual coding done by a small independent developer or virtual second party. Most of the actual in-house programmers seem to be wrapped up on these massive projects like the numbered FFs.
Though I'd modify your wish a bit -- If I were Square Enix, I'd hire a lot more people, and get most of them cracking on the next numbered FF -- I'd also devote a lot of them to creating some other non-franchise games. Square Enix needs to rebuild its stable of franchises and add some really strong new ones
Lady Bird
Matsuno's Goebbels
Well, if FFXII was released on time (Somewhere in 2004), Kitase would release FFXIII for the PS2. But because of the huge delays, he was probably forced to scrap FFXIII PS2 version and start working on the next-gen FF. And then there's the fact that PS3 games take longer to develop. I think those factors messed a bit up with Square's project management, and made Square more dependent on spin-offs and compilations.TheJollyCorner said:
ethelred said:
Yeah, I forgot Grandia III. Meant to include it. I wouldn't count DQVr because it's a low-budget port (fantastic game though), I wouldn't count FFTA because it's a low budget handheld game (like all their other handheld titles), RS was definitely a low-budget remake and SD4 doesn't seem to have any higher production values than Code Age Commanders.
And yeah, there are the little rpgs that are cheaply made and still fun, but it's the big ones that really make the genre and the ones that most people really look forward to. Namco has Tales console titles and Monolith console titles and that's it. Atlus has Megaten (smaller budget, but for the company the production values are excellent), Konami .....yeah I'd say they have no major rpgs these days after Suikoden III/IV/V (if VI comes back looking like an FF/Tales quality game I'll change my mind), L5 has whatever they make, Capcom has BoF and that's it, and what other rpg companys are there according to you? I'd count Nautilus because Shadow Hearts 2 was a pretty nice good budget game, but SH3 was a bit cheap and it looks like the team may be dead at this point. This is only about standard rpgs so N1 isn't even in the equation, nor is Enterbrain, or any of the small companies making SRPGs.
Bebpo said:
I don't count a game's budget as being the determining factor for whether or not it's considered a "major" RPG -- certainly it's one factor to consider, but not the primary one. By that definition, Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness would be a more major RPG than Pokemon Diamon/Pearl -- as would just about every RPG ever. Other things need to be factored in, like popularity, series strength, and so on.
Anyway, you can't say "Megaten is high budget for the company," and you can't count Capcom with BoF or Level 5 or whatever when you're tossing out a statement like "Square Enix is no longer a major RPG company because they're doing only one major title a year while others are doing many," when other companies major titles are only on the same level (budget-wise) or lower as Square Enix's second and third tier franchises. That proves exactly the opposite as what you stated.
Conrad Link
Member
I wouldn't worry, that list is missing too many things to start going OMGZ ITS CANCELLED! They're working on another online game for 360 or somethin, and the new Mana games etc.
Isn't there a clip of the DS Crystal Chronicles floating around? I mean actual gameplay not just CG stuff they've shown for the Wii one.
Same thing happened with FFIII on DS, we get an announcement then didn't see anything for ages people start doubting it even exists or its been canned then suddenly its shown and its like whooo!
Isn't there a clip of the DS Crystal Chronicles floating around? I mean actual gameplay not just CG stuff they've shown for the Wii one.
Same thing happened with FFIII on DS, we get an announcement then didn't see anything for ages people start doubting it even exists or its been canned then suddenly its shown and its like whooo!
PantherLotus
Professional Schmuck
1. Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles?
2. Dragon Quest Swords?
3. Dragon Quest IX?
2. Dragon Quest Swords?
3. Dragon Quest IX?
charlequin
Banned
snatches said:
The same thing as when people were saying pre-E3 that FFXIII was coming out for PS2. That one proved to at least be semi-sensible, given that they originally targeted the PS2 platform. My logic is that it shouldn't take the actually proven FFX team longer than two and a half years plus six months of pre-prod to put out a Final Fantasy, and they would've had that long if they put it out in November '07.
I definitely wouldn't be surprised at all by a 12-style delay, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them avoiding comitting to a date because of the 12 delay, but I would really be shocked if Fall '07 wasn't the target date when FFXIII was announced at E3'06.
ethelred said:
This is really vital. Final Fantasy is kind of the spine of the company, but what really made the SNES and PS1 years so lucrative for Square was the parade of new well-developed IPs. Right now the company is in danger of poisoning the well by relying too heavily on FF/KH/DQ for everything. Even one or two RPGs with new concepts behind them could go a long way to restoring their cachet.
ethelred said:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115889740564671131.html?mod=rss_media_and_marketing
I would be seriously pissed if DQS was cancelled, it is my most anticipated game of the "new generation"
Bebpo said:
Well, I mean... I like you and all, Beb, but you're not the sole arbiter of what's a significant RPG, and if you've somehow gotten the impression that you are, your longtime tag may've gone a wee bit to your head.
And no, Mana 4 and Persona 3 are not on the same level of status. In terms of ranking how major certain games are (which can be viewed by comparing a number of factors, such as brand name, the game's ultimate sales/popular success, critical success, and your all-important favorite, the game's budget from the publisher) Mana 4 will likely come in well above Persona 3 when the day is done.
Monk said:
It's not cancelled. I was just kidding around.
charlequin said:
Yeah, absolutely. When you look at Square and Enix's success on the SNES and PSX and see how many non-FF/DQ million-sellers these companies had, it's just a really impressive thing. Look at them today, and that sort of popularity is almost strictly confined to their flagship series. That's great for right now, but at some point consumers will tire of oversaturation, and they really need to revitalize their brand name with some new big successes.
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
snatches said:
I thought it would.
I still think it will in Japan. December 2007
MirageDwarf
Member
Looks like they want to release FFXIII as a second generation title which, I think, will use everything PS3 has to offer.
Expect to be amazed!!!
I hope SE won't prove me wrong
Bizarro Sun Yat-sen
Banned
RS:MS was an 80% new game (only most of the story/quests were carried over from the original, the battle system was completely different) and had about twice the budget of any previous SaGa. I don't know how big the SD4 team is but it does seem to have been very long in development, over three years I believe which may be longer than any previous Square project save FFXII and FFTSW. Since the game will be Square's and Ishii's first heavy use of a physics engine there was probably a lot of time-consuming trial and error required.
At any rate, consider that today's cheapie projects cost about as much as the mega-budget productions of a decade ago...
XIII was confirmed in a magazine article. He wasn't involved with Dirge though (scenario writer/event director = Hiroki Chiba)
Naora's associated with both SaGa and Front Mission series these days; I'm sure he'll continue to get plenty of work from SE.
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