Support NeoGAF

[Johann]

NcSoft isn't a bad company to model yourself after but it took years of natural selection and talent building (Richard Garriott, ex-Blizzard Entertainment AKA A.Net, Yonsei graduates) for the company to get where it is. Wada has done little to keep the talent that made the company what it is. How many in-house musicians are they down to? Between the Western publishing and core focus, he's begun turning Square-Enix into a publisher modeled after Capcom and their (largely unsuccessful) publishing arrangements.

I have my doubts he is passing this directive on to his developers with the optimum amount of support.

I remember reading a interview in which Kitase wished he could put Wada in the Last Guy PSN game and have him run over. I don't think we was joking.

 

[antiloop]

Hope they won't spend too much time on mp so it affects sp...

 

[KTallguy]

The thing is, Square-Enix games should have more multiplayer tie ins while keeping the focus on single player.

Basically:

MMOs, pay for bits of the game in chunks = NO

Some DLC, Multiplayer hunts, battle arenas, co-op instanced questing like Monster Hunter = YES

As long as the single player is robust, I don't care what other stuff they add.
It just has to be done in good taste, if I want to disable all multiplayer stuff it shouldn't be a subpar game (White Knight Chronicles?).

 

[Dr. Light]

Man, you really hurt my feelings, don't you think before you insult someone? Damn.

Spoiler

I've been like a giddy kid the last few days cock bag

You're one of those people that cause me to just shake my head 90% of the time I read your posts, so you're either trolling or just have terrible opinions. I'll give you credit and say it's the former.

FF11 has earned more directly into S-E's pockets than FF7 -grossed-, and done it while being easily the most traditional 3d FF. (It's hilarious that the FF7/levels are haaaard! kiddies in this thread shit on it as something that needs to be kept out of their FF when it's produced by the man who designed FF1-3.)

So yeah, I'd say a brand-new reliable revenue stream equal to about 1/3 of the company's profit, compared to things like stagnant DQ and plummeting FF sales, is a bright spot.

You know, they are producing FFXIV. But come on, "plummeting"? The last two FF games both sold tons. If they would just start making games faster (2 FF games in 8 years, compared to 6 games from 1997-2002) they'd be absolutely rolling in dough. The DS games sell extremely well, in addition.

What Square Enix needs to do is focus on what brought them here in the first place, not branch out into a Western focus that is already covered by every Western game. Aquiring Western studios is fine, but Square Enix proper shouldn't be making Western games. Look at the studio that is arguably their equivilant in the west - Blizzard. It's safe to say that Blizzard has a fairly narrow focus, their entire library consists of 3 franchises. They are enormously successful, like Square at their best. They aren't making Farmville games. Neither should Square. Hopefully that kind of shit goes out of style real soon so we can all get on with our lives.

 

[Kagari]

They're really desperate, aren't they? Instead of focusing on creating games people want to play, they're grasping in panic for trends like online and western outsourcing.

Unfortunately, yes.

 

[shintoki]

It seems like Wada just wants everything, without really understanding what it takes.

 

[Kagari]

It seems like Wada just wants everything, without really understanding what it takes.

Quantity over quality.

But I don't think this will effect Versus XIII. Third Birthday has no multiplayer, so, maybe he means all games in development from a certain point.

 

[Cipherr]

Not all games need multiplayer.

Thank you, what the fuck. This trend is terrifying.

The last time I got some multiplayer in a Square related game I ended up punching squares on a fucking checkerboard in ehrgeiz, or whatever it was called.

fuckthisshit.jpg

 

[Hcoregamer00]

Yeah, you know it occurred to me while exploring the empty corridors of Final Fantasy XIII that all SquareEnix needed to do to make the game better was to add mutiplayer so that I can hear endless bitching from my co-op partners.

/sarcasm

 

[shintoki]

Quantity over quality.

But I don't think this will effect Versus XIII. Third Birthday has no multiplayer, so, maybe he means all games in development from a certain point.

I don't particularly see why they would be effected. The franchises that sell well in Japan still probably aren't going to be effect by this as much. They may through in some coop missions, time challenges, or something of the sort, but nothing major.

I view this more as their franchises they are aiming for the West. Cherry picking whatever is popular and jamming it into their titles. Then pondering why the poor follower can't seem to land the hits the creator does.

 

[Shadow780]

Only a matter of time

 

[thetrin]

Wada has lost the plot completely. Really unfortunate.

 

[Sacha]

Reading this gamesindustry interview with Wada published today, it seems this whole thing is not so much about multiplayer per say, but more about some kind of online community platform.

Q: Would Square Enix be interested in developing their own delivery methods along the lines of Valve's Steam platform or an equivalent on home consoles?

Yoichi Wada: If you're asking me if Square Enix is interested in creating a certain type of platform, my answer is yes. But it would not be the kind of platforms that you have mentioned in your question.

Q: What kind of ideas are you interested in exploring at Square Enix, how would a digital delivery service created by Square Enix work?

Yoichi Wada: What we are interested in is the layer or level closest to our customers, those that form communities. Anything below that level is something either we could do or we could take advantage of somebody else's technology and whatever it is we will choose the most efficient means to get there. The closest image I can think of is Valve's Steam service. But I do not want to end up fighting with Valve or the game console manufacturers and as a diplomat and ambassador I will not be saying anything that will offend them.

 

[ULTROS!]

Wada on Kinect, 3D, etc. http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=253273

Square Enix global boss Yoichi Wada has claimed that Microsoft's Kinect is "just a small extension to what is already available" in the games industry.

Wada instead believes the next "disruptive technology" will come online - with improvements in console network services.

The exec told GamesIndustry.biz that he wasn't blown away by the 3D 'revolution', either, adding: "3D today is not bad, but only so-so."

He said that PS3's 3D could have a "huge impact" on the market in years to come, but that he didn't think it will "have any effect" in the short-term.

He commented that the major E3 announcements from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony - Kinect, 3DS and 3D home gaming, respectively - were "not the kind of technology that will definitively change the industry itself" and were "only an extension of the existing trajectory, if you will".

"With game console input, Nintendo's DS and Wii had a dramatic effect," he added. "What was announced with Kinect is just a small extension to what is already available.

"So it has also reached a point where something different has to happen for next level disruptive technology.

"Unless Kinect becomes the interface like the one we have seen in Minority Report or it becomes so advanced that it reads brain waves, technology has jumped so much already we can't think of anything more that can be added to that."

We believe Microsoft when it says Kinect is sophisticated tech.

If it turns round and tell us the device can read brain waves, we'll probably just be a bit scared.

 

[Krev]

No one is going to be playing crappy shoehorned in multiplayer modes a month after launch.
What a waste of developer recourses this is going to be.