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As much as I would love to gloat about the most shocking news since the Resident Evil announcement I am not going to. You see there is very little to gloat about, other than the fact that two of the biggest games in Japan (Resident Evil and Final Fantasy) are avalible on one console. Whilst last time I flapped my arms and ran around in excitement, this time I had a much more interested approach, because you see I don’t really like Final Fantasy! And after reading news article after news article I have discovered that bringing one of the worlds largest games series to the Gamecube was a cleverly orchestrated plan that developed over many months.
The industry was very cruel to Nintendo last time, falling out with developers and stubbornly sticking with Cartridges was sure to have a negative effect on the company but no one could predict it would nearly destroy them. But Nintendo are finally doing what they should have done many years ago, being ruthless to survive. Nintendo were stubborn to believe they needed anyone other than themselves to do well, but after suffering humiliation to Sony they were proved wrong and so as they go into the next phase of console wars they needed to re-think their strategy. They switched to discs, they made their console amazingly easy to develop for, they got exclusive rights to the main Resident Evil games and they are selling their console way below its competitors, and why? To kick the opposition where it hurts that’s why. They have grabbed as many 3rd party developers as possible and are selling for an extremely cheap price something that did not happen on the N64. But Nintendo had one major problem; the need to re-claim the fans they lost and the majority of those fans disappeared along with the Final Fantasy series, they need to swallow their pride and get Squaresoft back.
Squaresoft left Nintendo over a row regarding Mario RPG, they knew Nintendo needed them even if Nintendo didn’t and they switched to Sony. Sure enough Sony discovered how successful the Final Fantasy series was and bought a 20% share in the company, which meant to Square no Nintendo (against popular belief Sony could stop Squaresoft making games for Nintendo as Nintendo can stop RARE going multi-format). There is one way that Squaresoft could switch sides and that is if Squaresoft bought their shares from Sony. But Squaresoft had no reason to return to their old best friends, which was until the Final Fantasy movie was released. Good it may have been but a flop it was definatly, Squaresoft spent a VERY large sum of money making and advertising that movie and they soon fell into debt. So all of a sudden the Gameboy Advance’s popularity became a very attractive prospect to Square, but Sony simply wouldn’t have it and Square didn’t have the funds to buy their shares back it all seemed bad for the Japanese software giant.
We all thought Nintendo hated them, how wrong we were as Nintendo and Square prepared to orchestrate a plan that would mean we would see Final Fantasy on the Gamecube and Gameboy Advance. First thing Square would need is money, they simply didn’t have the funds to make and publish Gamecube games, Sony wouldn’t publish them and Sony wouldn’t let Nintendo. So Yamauchi, head of Nintendo, the guy who was hurt most by Square’s departure set up Fund Q. Some of you will know all about Fund Q, it was a fund set up to help young developers, where they can borrow money so they can make their ideas come to life on the Gamecube or Gameboy Advance. But Square isn’t a new and small developer, so Square set up an "affiliate" (a company that works with another like Crawfish who converted Doom on to the GBA even though they never made the game). This company is legible to take money from the Q fund without taking money from Nintendo directly avoiding the whole Sony mess. Now Squaresoft can start making Final Fantasy on the Gamecube avoiding the wraith of Sony.
We wondered why Nintendo aren’t prepared to reveal their online plans, Phantasy Star Online Version 2 is ready to go. Now PSOv2 is all well and good but if you are looking for one singular title to guarantee a success online then it wouldn’t be SEGA’s game it would have to be Squaresoft’s Final Fantasy XI (or Final Fantasy Online), which is one of the biggest game names in the world. If tones of people buy Final Fantasy XI and a modem, then Nintendo can release Mario net or Pokémonline with little worry considering the success of the net, meanwhile if FFXI doesn’t sell that well then Nintendo will be successfully warned of the dangers of releasing any online titles of their own.
Another thing that has already been confirmed is GBA-GC link up, now Sonic is already running around parading the idea of connecting the two but if Final Fantasy did the same then Pokémon, Sonic and Final Fantasy will be 3 major reasons to get both consoles! With this in mind giving Square the money to develop games on the Gamecube wasn’t such a big deal for Nintendo considering what they would get out of it.
All this shows to me is that Nintendo are being ruthless, they have gone into this war, all guns blazing. First Namco, then Capcom and now Squaresoft! Now I can’t think of anything that would surprise me even if Rockstar announced GTA3 or Konami announced Metal Gear Solid 2. And it makes me happy to see Nintendo finally realising, nice guys finish last.
Here’s to the Future.
Dringo.
The industry was very cruel to Nintendo last time, falling out with developers and stubbornly sticking with Cartridges was sure to have a negative effect on the company but no one could predict it would nearly destroy them. But Nintendo are finally doing what they should have done many years ago, being ruthless to survive. Nintendo were stubborn to believe they needed anyone other than themselves to do well, but after suffering humiliation to Sony they were proved wrong and so as they go into the next phase of console wars they needed to re-think their strategy. They switched to discs, they made their console amazingly easy to develop for, they got exclusive rights to the main Resident Evil games and they are selling their console way below its competitors, and why? To kick the opposition where it hurts that’s why. They have grabbed as many 3rd party developers as possible and are selling for an extremely cheap price something that did not happen on the N64. But Nintendo had one major problem; the need to re-claim the fans they lost and the majority of those fans disappeared along with the Final Fantasy series, they need to swallow their pride and get Squaresoft back.
Squaresoft left Nintendo over a row regarding Mario RPG, they knew Nintendo needed them even if Nintendo didn’t and they switched to Sony. Sure enough Sony discovered how successful the Final Fantasy series was and bought a 20% share in the company, which meant to Square no Nintendo (against popular belief Sony could stop Squaresoft making games for Nintendo as Nintendo can stop RARE going multi-format). There is one way that Squaresoft could switch sides and that is if Squaresoft bought their shares from Sony. But Squaresoft had no reason to return to their old best friends, which was until the Final Fantasy movie was released. Good it may have been but a flop it was definatly, Squaresoft spent a VERY large sum of money making and advertising that movie and they soon fell into debt. So all of a sudden the Gameboy Advance’s popularity became a very attractive prospect to Square, but Sony simply wouldn’t have it and Square didn’t have the funds to buy their shares back it all seemed bad for the Japanese software giant.
We all thought Nintendo hated them, how wrong we were as Nintendo and Square prepared to orchestrate a plan that would mean we would see Final Fantasy on the Gamecube and Gameboy Advance. First thing Square would need is money, they simply didn’t have the funds to make and publish Gamecube games, Sony wouldn’t publish them and Sony wouldn’t let Nintendo. So Yamauchi, head of Nintendo, the guy who was hurt most by Square’s departure set up Fund Q. Some of you will know all about Fund Q, it was a fund set up to help young developers, where they can borrow money so they can make their ideas come to life on the Gamecube or Gameboy Advance. But Square isn’t a new and small developer, so Square set up an "affiliate" (a company that works with another like Crawfish who converted Doom on to the GBA even though they never made the game). This company is legible to take money from the Q fund without taking money from Nintendo directly avoiding the whole Sony mess. Now Squaresoft can start making Final Fantasy on the Gamecube avoiding the wraith of Sony.
We wondered why Nintendo aren’t prepared to reveal their online plans, Phantasy Star Online Version 2 is ready to go. Now PSOv2 is all well and good but if you are looking for one singular title to guarantee a success online then it wouldn’t be SEGA’s game it would have to be Squaresoft’s Final Fantasy XI (or Final Fantasy Online), which is one of the biggest game names in the world. If tones of people buy Final Fantasy XI and a modem, then Nintendo can release Mario net or Pokémonline with little worry considering the success of the net, meanwhile if FFXI doesn’t sell that well then Nintendo will be successfully warned of the dangers of releasing any online titles of their own.
Another thing that has already been confirmed is GBA-GC link up, now Sonic is already running around parading the idea of connecting the two but if Final Fantasy did the same then Pokémon, Sonic and Final Fantasy will be 3 major reasons to get both consoles! With this in mind giving Square the money to develop games on the Gamecube wasn’t such a big deal for Nintendo considering what they would get out of it.
All this shows to me is that Nintendo are being ruthless, they have gone into this war, all guns blazing. First Namco, then Capcom and now Squaresoft! Now I can’t think of anything that would surprise me even if Rockstar announced GTA3 or Konami announced Metal Gear Solid 2. And it makes me happy to see Nintendo finally realising, nice guys finish last.
Here’s to the Future.
Dringo.
Page:
The GBA is indeed the system that Square idolise.
Going by the statements by Squaresoft (Posted in the Official Announcement thread in Prime) GC will see FF, but not on the scale as PS2.
Still, at-least GC will have a FF title(Even if PS2 remains the primary console for the series), thinking of it though even if it'll be just a few titles- Having FF on GC-that's something to be happy about!.
Going by the statements by Squaresoft (Posted in the Official Announcement thread in Prime) GC will see FF, but not on the scale as PS2.
Still, at-least GC will have a FF title(Even if PS2 remains the primary console for the series), thinking of it though even if it'll be just a few titles- Having FF on GC-that's something to be happy about!.
Square needed the GBA to make loads of money it was very attractive. Sony wouldn't say no as it doesnt effect them. But Nintendo did and said you can make GBA games if you bring GC games to us as well. Sony said no and the Square did the above to get GC games on the Gamecube... i'm just surprised to see nintendo help them!
Good post Dringo!
But I'm still not entirely convinced about Square needing to develop on the GBA to make back money from the film.
As it happens, after the film flopped, Sony completely bought out Square's American studio- where the film was made. This gives them a massive proportion of the company (Can't remember whether it's 40% or 50%).
More likely is that Square have been developing for the Wonderswan in Japan for ages- they have several FF games on it already.
Of course, the Wonderswan hasn't reached us in the West, so it seems in Square's interests to port these games to make a buck.
As for going back to the GC, I still can't work out why they've done this... but it's pretty good to hear!
Sonic
But I'm still not entirely convinced about Square needing to develop on the GBA to make back money from the film.
As it happens, after the film flopped, Sony completely bought out Square's American studio- where the film was made. This gives them a massive proportion of the company (Can't remember whether it's 40% or 50%).
More likely is that Square have been developing for the Wonderswan in Japan for ages- they have several FF games on it already.
Of course, the Wonderswan hasn't reached us in the West, so it seems in Square's interests to port these games to make a buck.
As for going back to the GC, I still can't work out why they've done this... but it's pretty good to hear!
Sonic
Final Fantasy will be helpful for RPG fans but RPG fans tend to like adventure games like Zelda, Mario and Resident Evil (not all so don't jump on me)... will make the big N a load of cash meaning better games for us all.
Nice post Dringo, and a very good read... you been doing your Nintedno and Square homework eh? Anyway, I think that FF games are pretty good, and certainly should help GC. It should fill the 'true' RPG gap in the market, because N64 never had any big name RPGs except Zelda which some said wasn't a 'proper' RPG...
Nintendo have nabbed Resident Evil, one of THE biggest Japanese titles, this will sell millions in Japan as it is sooo popular, Sony's main counter-offensive has been Final Fantasy the other largest 3rd party game...
Now Nintendo have the massive hits such as Zelda and Mario which is just as big and the biggest 3rd party games such as Final Fantasy and Resident Evil, any undecisive Japanese man (or woman) may have his mind made up!
I am well aware of what has happened with Nintendo and Square in the past, i actually said it in the post. But you are missing something else as well.
No FF games have been confirmed, it is highly likely to be FFXI and maybe just maybe a port of FFX... But what else??? We will either see better or different titles as FF GBA is apparently supposed to link with FF GC. Now if an FF game on the Gamecube is the same as a PS2 one but can link to the GBA surly it would make it better.
And Resi Evil Fan just because PS2 games eat up soo much space it doesnt mean the Gamecube will need to, remember FF has been made on postage sized carts and were brilliant, Zelda Ocarina of Time was done on a 256 mbit cart and look how good it is! I am sure Squaresoft can make an FF game on two discs!
Now Nintendo have the massive hits such as Zelda and Mario which is just as big and the biggest 3rd party games such as Final Fantasy and Resident Evil, any undecisive Japanese man (or woman) may have his mind made up!
I am well aware of what has happened with Nintendo and Square in the past, i actually said it in the post. But you are missing something else as well.
No FF games have been confirmed, it is highly likely to be FFXI and maybe just maybe a port of FFX... But what else??? We will either see better or different titles as FF GBA is apparently supposed to link with FF GC. Now if an FF game on the Gamecube is the same as a PS2 one but can link to the GBA surly it would make it better.
And Resi Evil Fan just because PS2 games eat up soo much space it doesnt mean the Gamecube will need to, remember FF has been made on postage sized carts and were brilliant, Zelda Ocarina of Time was done on a 256 mbit cart and look how good it is! I am sure Squaresoft can make an FF game on two discs!
Dringo, Sony never had a problem with FF being on the GBA because the GBA and PS2 don't compete (most casuals have enough wallet for both).
The Nintendo/Square argument started with profits over the Mario RPG and ended in Square insulting Nintendo a lot which left Yamauchi very ticked off so...
So when Square were desperate to publish on the GBA, was Nintendo's boss going to be friendly?
Well maybe if they did something for him - release Japan's hugely popular RPG on the Gamecube, only Sony wouldn't allow that but that seems to be bypassed now...
I think that it's mainly that Sony couldn't care less about Nintendo having Final Fantasy anymore.
Most hardcore FF fans have bought a PS2 for FFX and the PS2 has a huge userbase anyway.
It's in Sony's best interests for Squaresoft to recover their profits in order to make more great games for the Playstation so if there's no longer any harm in PS2 sales by letting Square make a bigger profit on the Gamecube and GBA, so be it.
I think it's working something like that of some sort atleast... :-D
The Nintendo/Square argument started with profits over the Mario RPG and ended in Square insulting Nintendo a lot which left Yamauchi very ticked off so...
So when Square were desperate to publish on the GBA, was Nintendo's boss going to be friendly?
Well maybe if they did something for him - release Japan's hugely popular RPG on the Gamecube, only Sony wouldn't allow that but that seems to be bypassed now...
I think that it's mainly that Sony couldn't care less about Nintendo having Final Fantasy anymore.
Most hardcore FF fans have bought a PS2 for FFX and the PS2 has a huge userbase anyway.
It's in Sony's best interests for Squaresoft to recover their profits in order to make more great games for the Playstation so if there's no longer any harm in PS2 sales by letting Square make a bigger profit on the Gamecube and GBA, so be it.
I think it's working something like that of some sort atleast... :-D
I too have never been interested in the Final Fantasy series, but I wouldn't mind a Game Boy Advance game if one was to be released.
I think this is a major blow for Sony and their fans who used to always boast about Nintendo losing Squaresoft's support.
In all fairness, I don't think Nintendo were too badly effected by Squaresoft joining Sony's ranks. Nintendo were lucky enough to create a craze in Japan that would soon storm the world and is still popular today, Pokémon.
Nintendo have made so much money out of Pokémon, that they were able to compensate for the losses they were making on the N64.
After playing the GameCube however, I can't see Nintendo making any of the same mistakes. They've managed to get 3rd party support back up to what it should be, and I can see Nintendo becomming as popular as they were in the Super Nintendo days now Squaresoft are back.
Note: I am saying Squaresoft are back, but I'm not saying that they're exclusive to Nintendo. Don't get them mixed up.
I think this is a major blow for Sony and their fans who used to always boast about Nintendo losing Squaresoft's support.
In all fairness, I don't think Nintendo were too badly effected by Squaresoft joining Sony's ranks. Nintendo were lucky enough to create a craze in Japan that would soon storm the world and is still popular today, Pokémon.
Nintendo have made so much money out of Pokémon, that they were able to compensate for the losses they were making on the N64.
After playing the GameCube however, I can't see Nintendo making any of the same mistakes. They've managed to get 3rd party support back up to what it should be, and I can see Nintendo becomming as popular as they were in the Super Nintendo days now Squaresoft are back.
Note: I am saying Squaresoft are back, but I'm not saying that they're exclusive to Nintendo. Don't get them mixed up.
Hey that was a jolly nice read, thanks for that. Just to lead on from where you left off, i would say that if Nintendo could get Rockstar games to make GTA3 for the Gamecube then there would be no worries about a long an prosperous future.
As much as I would love to gloat about the most shocking news since the Resident Evil announcement I am not going to. You see there is very little to gloat about, other than the fact that two of the biggest games in Japan (Resident Evil and Final Fantasy) are avalible on one console. Whilst last time I flapped my arms and ran around in excitement, this time I had a much more interested approach, because you see I don’t really like Final Fantasy! And after reading news article after news article I have discovered that bringing one of the worlds largest games series to the Gamecube was a cleverly orchestrated plan that developed over many months.
The industry was very cruel to Nintendo last time, falling out with developers and stubbornly sticking with Cartridges was sure to have a negative effect on the company but no one could predict it would nearly destroy them. But Nintendo are finally doing what they should have done many years ago, being ruthless to survive. Nintendo were stubborn to believe they needed anyone other than themselves to do well, but after suffering humiliation to Sony they were proved wrong and so as they go into the next phase of console wars they needed to re-think their strategy. They switched to discs, they made their console amazingly easy to develop for, they got exclusive rights to the main Resident Evil games and they are selling their console way below its competitors, and why? To kick the opposition where it hurts that’s why. They have grabbed as many 3rd party developers as possible and are selling for an extremely cheap price something that did not happen on the N64. But Nintendo had one major problem; the need to re-claim the fans they lost and the majority of those fans disappeared along with the Final Fantasy series, they need to swallow their pride and get Squaresoft back.
Squaresoft left Nintendo over a row regarding Mario RPG, they knew Nintendo needed them even if Nintendo didn’t and they switched to Sony. Sure enough Sony discovered how successful the Final Fantasy series was and bought a 20% share in the company, which meant to Square no Nintendo (against popular belief Sony could stop Squaresoft making games for Nintendo as Nintendo can stop RARE going multi-format). There is one way that Squaresoft could switch sides and that is if Squaresoft bought their shares from Sony. But Squaresoft had no reason to return to their old best friends, which was until the Final Fantasy movie was released. Good it may have been but a flop it was definatly, Squaresoft spent a VERY large sum of money making and advertising that movie and they soon fell into debt. So all of a sudden the Gameboy Advance’s popularity became a very attractive prospect to Square, but Sony simply wouldn’t have it and Square didn’t have the funds to buy their shares back it all seemed bad for the Japanese software giant.
We all thought Nintendo hated them, how wrong we were as Nintendo and Square prepared to orchestrate a plan that would mean we would see Final Fantasy on the Gamecube and Gameboy Advance. First thing Square would need is money, they simply didn’t have the funds to make and publish Gamecube games, Sony wouldn’t publish them and Sony wouldn’t let Nintendo. So Yamauchi, head of Nintendo, the guy who was hurt most by Square’s departure set up Fund Q. Some of you will know all about Fund Q, it was a fund set up to help young developers, where they can borrow money so they can make their ideas come to life on the Gamecube or Gameboy Advance. But Square isn’t a new and small developer, so Square set up an "affiliate" (a company that works with another like Crawfish who converted Doom on to the GBA even though they never made the game). This company is legible to take money from the Q fund without taking money from Nintendo directly avoiding the whole Sony mess. Now Squaresoft can start making Final Fantasy on the Gamecube avoiding the wraith of Sony.
We wondered why Nintendo aren’t prepared to reveal their online plans, Phantasy Star Online Version 2 is ready to go. Now PSOv2 is all well and good but if you are looking for one singular title to guarantee a success online then it wouldn’t be SEGA’s game it would have to be Squaresoft’s Final Fantasy XI (or Final Fantasy Online), which is one of the biggest game names in the world. If tones of people buy Final Fantasy XI and a modem, then Nintendo can release Mario net or Pokémonline with little worry considering the success of the net, meanwhile if FFXI doesn’t sell that well then Nintendo will be successfully warned of the dangers of releasing any online titles of their own.
Another thing that has already been confirmed is GBA-GC link up, now Sonic is already running around parading the idea of connecting the two but if Final Fantasy did the same then Pokémon, Sonic and Final Fantasy will be 3 major reasons to get both consoles! With this in mind giving Square the money to develop games on the Gamecube wasn’t such a big deal for Nintendo considering what they would get out of it.
All this shows to me is that Nintendo are being ruthless, they have gone into this war, all guns blazing. First Namco, then Capcom and now Squaresoft! Now I can’t think of anything that would surprise me even if Rockstar announced GTA3 or Konami announced Metal Gear Solid 2. And it makes me happy to see Nintendo finally realising, nice guys finish last.
Here’s to the Future.
Dringo.
The industry was very cruel to Nintendo last time, falling out with developers and stubbornly sticking with Cartridges was sure to have a negative effect on the company but no one could predict it would nearly destroy them. But Nintendo are finally doing what they should have done many years ago, being ruthless to survive. Nintendo were stubborn to believe they needed anyone other than themselves to do well, but after suffering humiliation to Sony they were proved wrong and so as they go into the next phase of console wars they needed to re-think their strategy. They switched to discs, they made their console amazingly easy to develop for, they got exclusive rights to the main Resident Evil games and they are selling their console way below its competitors, and why? To kick the opposition where it hurts that’s why. They have grabbed as many 3rd party developers as possible and are selling for an extremely cheap price something that did not happen on the N64. But Nintendo had one major problem; the need to re-claim the fans they lost and the majority of those fans disappeared along with the Final Fantasy series, they need to swallow their pride and get Squaresoft back.
Squaresoft left Nintendo over a row regarding Mario RPG, they knew Nintendo needed them even if Nintendo didn’t and they switched to Sony. Sure enough Sony discovered how successful the Final Fantasy series was and bought a 20% share in the company, which meant to Square no Nintendo (against popular belief Sony could stop Squaresoft making games for Nintendo as Nintendo can stop RARE going multi-format). There is one way that Squaresoft could switch sides and that is if Squaresoft bought their shares from Sony. But Squaresoft had no reason to return to their old best friends, which was until the Final Fantasy movie was released. Good it may have been but a flop it was definatly, Squaresoft spent a VERY large sum of money making and advertising that movie and they soon fell into debt. So all of a sudden the Gameboy Advance’s popularity became a very attractive prospect to Square, but Sony simply wouldn’t have it and Square didn’t have the funds to buy their shares back it all seemed bad for the Japanese software giant.
We all thought Nintendo hated them, how wrong we were as Nintendo and Square prepared to orchestrate a plan that would mean we would see Final Fantasy on the Gamecube and Gameboy Advance. First thing Square would need is money, they simply didn’t have the funds to make and publish Gamecube games, Sony wouldn’t publish them and Sony wouldn’t let Nintendo. So Yamauchi, head of Nintendo, the guy who was hurt most by Square’s departure set up Fund Q. Some of you will know all about Fund Q, it was a fund set up to help young developers, where they can borrow money so they can make their ideas come to life on the Gamecube or Gameboy Advance. But Square isn’t a new and small developer, so Square set up an "affiliate" (a company that works with another like Crawfish who converted Doom on to the GBA even though they never made the game). This company is legible to take money from the Q fund without taking money from Nintendo directly avoiding the whole Sony mess. Now Squaresoft can start making Final Fantasy on the Gamecube avoiding the wraith of Sony.
We wondered why Nintendo aren’t prepared to reveal their online plans, Phantasy Star Online Version 2 is ready to go. Now PSOv2 is all well and good but if you are looking for one singular title to guarantee a success online then it wouldn’t be SEGA’s game it would have to be Squaresoft’s Final Fantasy XI (or Final Fantasy Online), which is one of the biggest game names in the world. If tones of people buy Final Fantasy XI and a modem, then Nintendo can release Mario net or Pokémonline with little worry considering the success of the net, meanwhile if FFXI doesn’t sell that well then Nintendo will be successfully warned of the dangers of releasing any online titles of their own.
Another thing that has already been confirmed is GBA-GC link up, now Sonic is already running around parading the idea of connecting the two but if Final Fantasy did the same then Pokémon, Sonic and Final Fantasy will be 3 major reasons to get both consoles! With this in mind giving Square the money to develop games on the Gamecube wasn’t such a big deal for Nintendo considering what they would get out of it.
All this shows to me is that Nintendo are being ruthless, they have gone into this war, all guns blazing. First Namco, then Capcom and now Squaresoft! Now I can’t think of anything that would surprise me even if Rockstar announced GTA3 or Konami announced Metal Gear Solid 2. And it makes me happy to see Nintendo finally realising, nice guys finish last.
Here’s to the Future.
Dringo.
Page: