Square Enix commits to simultaneous worldwide releases
by Jason Dobson 
{ Mar 11th 2008 at 4:30PM }
The timing of the comment, made to Japan's Nihon Keizan Shimbun daily, is particularly interesting following reaffirmation of the company's plans for Western expansion. However, it remains unclear when the RPG powerhouse plans to put Wada's plan into effect, or if his ambition even includes the company's two most hotly anticipated releases in Final Fantasy XIII and Dragon Quest IX. Still, assuming that he'll be able to make good on his claim, role-playing enthusiasts will have to find something else to complain about other than Japan getting to play everything first.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
randomidiot @ Mar 11th 2008 4:36PM
Really when you think about it theres no reason why a companies can't do this. All that is required is the introduction of a localization team at some point during the games production. The resources used are actually no different then they would be otherwise. I mean you need to go through a localization team anyway. So its actually kind of stupid that they haven't done this before.
Hamza @ Mar 11th 2008 4:36PM
Yea, they need to fix that. It pisses me off how Asians get to play FF first.
Hyams @ Mar 11th 2008 4:40PM
Yeah. White people should get to play games first.
[/sarcasm]
Neebs @ Mar 11th 2008 4:42PM
Because only White people live in the West.
Hamza @ Mar 11th 2008 6:14PM
No, actually you would be incorrect. The United States is home to 37.1 million African Americans, 13.1 million Asians, 0.43 million Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders, and 20+ million people who either have a different race altogether or are mixed.
Way to be racist Neebs. It's okay though, I'm here to lend you a helping hand.
[/homosex]
Wonderflex @ Mar 11th 2008 7:24PM
Way to not understand sarcasm Hamza.
Hyams said that whites should get to play first. Neebs made a sarcastic comment to play off the fact that not only whites live in the west.
Neebs @ Mar 11th 2008 7:34PM
I suppose I should have had a [/sarcasm] tag, so you'd know I was joking.
Nah, I think not.
Hamza @ Mar 11th 2008 8:46PM
I was being sarcastic as well. My two statements in this thread are ridiculously contradictory.
Not to mention the fact that I called you a racist for absolutely nothing.
I suppose I could have added a [/sarcasm] tag too, but yea, I was like "Na nah nah nah nah nah nah nah, I'm the lyrical gangster, murderer"
Derick @ Mar 12th 2008 10:02AM
You only have to look at the release dates in Asian regions to realise the door swings both ways. There are a bunch of title that get released weeks/months after US/EU releases.
But yeah. YAY for Square! I have such a dev crush on Square. They could crap in a box and Id still buy it... I hope they dont start doing that though.
Envoy @ Mar 11th 2008 4:40PM
Yay! Now if something like this can be applied to anime too.
Tango Charlie @ Mar 11th 2008 4:43PM
Random encounters.
(Finding something else to complain about).
deaftly @ Mar 11th 2008 4:49PM
FFXIII 360 CONFIRMED!
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Mar 11th 2008 5:06PM
LOL
Wonderflex @ Mar 11th 2008 5:47PM
On a collectors 35 DVD box set?
ruibing @ Mar 11th 2008 5:55PM
Those two never get old.
Ed @ Mar 11th 2008 8:49PM
LOL, yeah and Halo 3 is due out on PS3 this fall LOL.
JetEngineJesus @ Mar 11th 2008 5:04PM
Seriously, do people still care about JRPGs? They may have been cool and novel 15-20 years ago, but come on. Hey Squeenix, how about dishing up something other than the constant re-hashing of tired, formulaic plotlines and characters?
Night Elve @ Mar 11th 2008 5:28PM
Oh look at me I'm so cool because I don't care about popular stuff.
And yes we care about JRPG's.
jmf @ Mar 11th 2008 5:43PM
As of October 2007, Final Fantasy 12 sold 3.68 million, Final Fantasy 10 sold 5 million by then also. Both were in the top 10 of most selling games on the PS2.
I think there is a good amount of people who care.
ruibing @ Mar 11th 2008 5:57PM
JRPGs provide something western RPGs don't have. It's almost like playing through a school manga/anime (like in Persona), alternate universe (like Shadow Hearts), and a completely different world (like FF).
Slayer @ Mar 11th 2008 5:58PM
I still care about Jrpgs. Guess what? They're still cool as well. Just because you don't like them doesn't mean others wont. How about you stop acting like a douche?
MasterInsan0 @ Mar 11th 2008 5:58PM
Obviously you've never played any of the recent *good* JRPGs. Sure, Blue Dragon was crap and Lost Odyssey is pretty formulaic. However, the Shin Megami Tensei series (Persona, Digital Devil Saga) has always been unique in a number of ways, proving that you can do a JRPG without recycling the same old "save the world, get the girl" plot line.
Also, you forget that the Final Fantasy series continues to rake in high ratings and millions of sales in the US. Obviously, someone's still playing them.
(That said, I wish Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of the FF series, would stop trying to rehash his favorite ideas into crappy 360 games. Whatever spark he had, he seems to have left at Square-Enix.)
Mills and Boom @ Mar 11th 2008 6:59PM
Yea that's quite true. Square made some stellar games back in the past but they've slipped a bit since.
Plots are formulatic and cliched, but the fans seem to like.
VampireHunter Z @ Mar 11th 2008 5:25PM
Wish they thought of this before Crisis Core. Anyway it's coming out this month so the wait is almost over.
Donald @ Mar 11th 2008 5:47PM
What's next, a hero(ine) that doesn't have belts and zippers all over their clothing?
Hamza @ Mar 11th 2008 6:13PM
No, actually you would be incorrect. The United States is home to 37.1 million African Americans, 13.1 million Asians, 0.43 million Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders, and 20+ million people who either have a different race altogether or are mixed.
Way to be racist Neebs. It's okay though, I'm here to lend you a helping hand.
[/homosex]
???? @ Mar 11th 2008 6:30PM
@JetEngineJesus
The same thing can be said about Western RPG's or Western made games. (i don't play western rpg's)
Boring Star Wars like settings or boring Dungeon And Dragons like settings/All with boring characters/who look the same/A big budgeted Western RPG Borefest.
FPS, A big buff bald headed guy with a gun/he has some kind of tattoo on head/he's pissed off because the government killed or kidnapped his family/girl friend. Blah,blah,blah
Mills and Boom @ Mar 11th 2008 7:00PM
So? I avoid them too. And so should you.
I don't give money to people who rehash stuff over and over. Only when they emphasise that "this time it'll be different" though.
Ed @ Mar 11th 2008 8:45PM
Your forgetting the typacal genetically altered/ or power suit inhansed part of an FPS story. I keep hearing these guys whine about how rehashed and overdone JRPG's are, yet FPS's are almost the same exact game being rehashed over and over.
PSN: KillaKornbread (the shirt is a lie!) @ Mar 11th 2008 9:16PM
lets face it, as much as it cost developers to make these games now days, big budget risky titles are a thing of the past. thats why we have PSN, XBLA, and soon WiiWare. the only way to get innovation now seems to be crossing genres (ala Patapon). i tell you what though, as long as people keep buying the same rehashed games, they will keep making them. and im cool with that, as long as they are building on those good parts and not just putting out the same exact game.