Square Enix president Yoichi Wada believes the recent PS3 price cut will have a significant impact on the company's financial results in the new fiscal year beginning April 2010.
Square Enix currently has three announced PS3 titles in the works, including Final Fantasy XIII, which is due to launch in Japan this winter, but feels the price cut will only offer the company a limited boost in the short term.
"In terms of the impact [the PS3 cut] will have on this financial year's earnings, I don't think there will be a major difference," Wada said, according to Reuters. "But I expect there to be a big impact from next year."
Despite recording a drop in sales and a net loss during its first fiscal quarter, during which time Square acquired Eidos for £84 million, the company has forecast full year net income of 15 billion yen ($154.3m/£92.8m).
I like Square Enix, they are one of my favorite developers, but I know for a fact that they have more than 3 PS3 titles in the works. FFXIII, FFvsXIII, FFXIV, The Last Remnant, Front Mission Evolved and Nier are all set for PS3, and I read somewhere that they have another, PS3-exclusive RPG in the works.
Back on topic, It's great that Square Enix can see PS3 boosting sales, it might mean that other companies want to cash in as well on the new PS3 slim so it might get more third party support. On a side note, I want FFXIII! I also hope that they show more of Versus & Agito at TGS.
Xbox 360 exclusive JRPGs failed in Japan big time.
I have to disagree with you. I think the exclusive RPG's are why the Xbox is in the position it's in at the minute in Japan.
Granted, they were not multi-million selling games, but when they were released MS were top in the console/game sales at that time. There were hundreds of thousands of Xbox consoles sold when that glut of RPG's were released.
Xbox 360 exclusive JRPGs failed in Japan big time.
I have to disagree with you. I think the exclusive RPG's are why the Xbox is in the position it's in at the minute in Japan.
Granted, they were not multi-million selling games, but when they were released MS were top in the console/game sales at that time. There were hundreds of thousands of Xbox consoles sold when that glut of RPG's were released.
And it did not work. PS3 has sold 3 million and will increase massively next month. Xbox 360's only 1 million which is extremely poor for exclusive JRPGs.
Xbox 360 exclusive JRPGs failed in Japan big time.
I have to disagree with you. I think the exclusive RPG's are why the Xbox is in the position it's in at the minute in Japan.
Last.
Hey i'm not disagreeing.
Compare total Japan sales with the old Xbox though.
The whole RPG exclusivity thing was just to get a foot in the door. They had to do something to try to get the sceptical Japanese gamers on board, who viewed the Xbox with negative eyes and thought it was all about First person shooters. And in my eyes, they suceeded.
MS knew then and they know now that currently they will never really conquer Japan. The runway success of the PS3 and Wii over there are seeing to that.
The whole RPG thing was just a blip. But i'm sure MS saw that blip as positive steps being made. Those several weeks where week in, week out the Xbox was outselling the PS3 must have given the company a boost.
And it's still selling. Being outsold by ever other console out there, but it's still in the several thousand console mark weekly. Better then the 350 consoles a week the Xbox was managing.....
What didn't work?? they sold the games didn't they?
Yes but not as many as SE hoped for.
Indeed. But you have to agree that however many each game sold, it allowed MS to get into the eyes of Japanese gamers.
Anyway. I'm not being pro one or the other. Back onto topic, what with the slim being released and the PS3 console numbers ever increasing, i can see SE being very happy. It also doesn't hurt that FF XIII is also just around the corner.
But all that being said. This is reliant on FFXIII actually being a good game. Going on Squares last few releases and all that.....
Hooray for a sensible opinion from Square Enix, if a little obvious. Any whiff of a price drop on PS3 is going to up sales. The position of Sony in Japan is pretty strong and generally nothing to do with Square Enix unless those PSN games they've been putting up have been selling like hot fudge cakes. In fact, FFXIII will be the first major game released by the company on the platform. In conclusion, weird that they would come out and say this no?
Remember Final Fantasy XIII is still PS3 exclusive in Japan, so that alone will add another 2m or so to the PS3's install base. Then they have Versus as well...
And SE's 360 exclusive JRPGs were aimed at the Western market. The 360 is last in Japan and has never had any consistant momentum, so the ony reason a Japanese developer would create a game for Xbox 360 is to get a piece of the large US/European install base the system has.
Compare total Japan sales with the old Xbox though.
The whole RPG exclusivity thing was just to get a foot in the door. They had to do something to try to get the sceptical Japanese gamers on board, who viewed the Xbox with negative eyes and thought it was all about First person shooters. And in my eyes, they suceeded.
MS knew then and they know now that currently they will never really conquer Japan. The runway success of the PS3 and Wii over there are seeing to that.
The whole RPG thing was just a blip. But i'm sure MS saw that blip as positive steps being made. Those several weeks where week in, week out the Xbox was outselling the PS3 must have given the company a boost.
And it's still selling. Being outsold by ever other console out there, but it's still in the several thousand console mark weekly. Better then the 350 consoles a week the Xbox was managing.....
Lets face it the 360 couldn't do any worse than the original xbox in Japan. Saying it's sold better isn't really much of a claim.
Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath, UK BA1 2BW England and Wales company registration number 2008885
