Square Enix summons development studio in LA

by Ben Gilbert { Mar 21st 2009 at 9:30PM }

In a move that we'd have considered entirely out of the ordinary just a few years ago, Japanese developer Square Enix has shored up on the west coast of the US and opened shop. According to Ars Technica, this new development studio plans to cater to a western audience not by changing the type of games they make, but by employing western developers.

"It's not a good idea to make a game for people you don't understand," game development manager Fumi Shiraishi told AT." According to the piece, this new studio won't set out to develop "another FPS" but will push the envelope with regards to traditional Square Enix-developed titles. Considering the tepid reviews The Last Remnant received in the States, we're hoping this new studio can bring the signature Square Enix style to us with some much needed fresh ideas.

Shiraishi wouldn't reveal what the studio will be working on next, though he did say it falls under the "western niche" banner. So, an Infinite Undiscovery RTS, eh? Well played, Shiraishi. Well played indeed.

Tags: ars-technica, business, fumi-shiraishi, infinite-undiscovery, square-enix, the-last-remnant, western-development

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

BigD145 @ Mar 21st 2009 9:35PM

Smart move, SE. Also dumb. Bring in top talent to the hotbed of business, but kill them with smog.

Gehodra @ Mar 21st 2009 9:47PM

What?

devilsei @ Mar 21st 2009 9:50PM

Not that hard to understand

Smog = LA

Foetoid @ Mar 22nd 2009 1:38AM

It would be a little hard to understand for anyone living outside the US. I got it first time not because of general knowledge, just the sentence structure pointed to the fact that LA must be smoggy.

Poisoned Al @ Mar 22nd 2009 7:40AM

Oh no, most of us outside the US know that LA is pretty crap. Mind you, New York is pretty horrid and we still go there, and you want to see London for some unholy reason. Heh.

Foetoid @ Mar 22nd 2009 7:56AM

Hence why i haven't left Australia yet!

I do plan on seeing the rest of the world of course, but from what i've seen of the rest of the world, i can't think of anywhere else i'd rather live.

waynski1457 @ Mar 22nd 2009 10:26AM

@Gehodra

I seem to notice that you don't get the joke a lot around here with a lot of questions in your replies. That, or it's some other Pichu running around the tall grass here.

PR0F3TA @ Mar 22nd 2009 12:11PM

EDIT: People are allowed to express their opinions. Attacking them for their opinions is a great way to get banned. Here's a warning! Don't do it again! (P.S. I grew up outside NYC and love it with all my heart. If I can relax, so can you.)

time @ Mar 22nd 2009 2:26PM

"grew up outside NYC and love it with all my heart"

...I agree.

Markez @ Mar 22nd 2009 3:20PM

Yeah I'm up in LA for work about once or twice a month or so, and it's so incredibly noticeable that I was shocked when I came across this picture once - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:LA_Skyline_Mountains2.jpg

WHERED THOSE MOUNTAINS COME FROM, THEYRE COMING RIGHT FOR US!

devilsei @ Mar 21st 2009 9:49PM

Eh, most of the complaints in the reviews for TLR was because of the Unreal 3 engine, can't blame them for that.

And here's hoping for maybe a PS3 entry into the "Musashi" series, ya know, PS1 had Brave Fencer Musashi, PS2 had Musashi: Samurai Legend", so a PS3 one would be great.

Josh @ Mar 21st 2009 11:46PM

Actually you can. They didn't optimize the game well enough to run on Unreal Engine 3 on 360.

devilsei @ Mar 22nd 2009 12:11AM

Eh, well then its evident they didn't quite optimize Gears 2 then, because similar issues occur with it as well, though they don't last nearly as long, one in TLR was in the beginning, when a hooded chick asks you to take something to someone at the entrance of the castle ruins area. The textures for the wall and for her clothing didn't pop in till like 30-45 secs later.
And I guess it could be that as well, but could it have anything to do with the engine itself not being quite the best choice for TLR because the engine itself isn't meant to do all of what the game needed?

Battledrill @ Mar 21st 2009 9:55PM

I'd like to take this time to state how awful Dirge of Cerberus was. Maybe Squeenix should be like like fake gangsta rappers and stay away from guns.

devilsei @ Mar 21st 2009 10:01PM

Hey, I happened to like Dirge of Cerberus >:(

And its the fake rappers who carry guns and flash em everywhere :P

Moptimus Slime (Leader of the Taylor Swift Defense Force, Gobot in disguise) @ Mar 21st 2009 10:17PM

EDIT: A bit much, hombre.

Jack_Jackington @ Mar 21st 2009 10:10PM

OH YEAH!! im hoping for a(n) [insert lame ass non final fantasy game here] release day to be sooner than expected

Anticrawl @ Mar 21st 2009 10:31PM

Some more full quotes from Squeeeeeenix here:

"The games we do in Japan do what they are supposed to do...but the Japanese market isn't growing."

"We're not deliberately focusing on the North American audience. We're just trying to make a good game."

"We're not trying to make a game with a Western looking main character and with blood and gore.There is no point in making another FPS. Our task is different."

The source being Arstechnica (as Joystiq already pointed out).

tmacairjordan87 @ Mar 21st 2009 10:31PM

"It's not a good idea to make a game for people you don't understand,"

It's good you're finally catching on after a decade or so Squeenix.

JuanDHexen @ Mar 21st 2009 11:17PM

Square Enix could go F@#$ themselves for all I care.

Foetoid @ Mar 22nd 2009 8:00AM

You forgot the /sarcasm or the /i'm a twit, please don't listen to me.

JuanDHexen @ Mar 22nd 2009 2:11PM

okay Foetoid how about Square Enix rules /sarcasm.

Einlander @ Mar 21st 2009 11:31PM

Didn't they have a studio at one time in LA? I remember they did the background cg in ff8, and weren't they the ones that made 'Secret of Evermore'? That game i quit playing 30 minutes into it. That was the first and last American made Square[pre Enix] game ever iirc. I just hope that this doesn't repeat itself. Also i would like square to make some ps3 games, and to stop using the 360 to fund the next round of final fantasy games. (Thats my reason for why there are no ps3 games)

Josh @ Mar 21st 2009 11:39PM

Honestly, SE has got it wrong.

"It's not a good idea to make a game for people you don't understand," game development manager Fumi Shiraishi told AT.

It should be "It's not a good idea to *market* a game to people you don't understand".

I don't believe that there's some inherent difference between Japanese people and western people that prevents a game that sold well in Japan from selling well in the rest of the world. Instead, it's mostly a matter of marketing. If SE had a better understanding of how to advertise in the west, they could sell as many copies of Final Dragon Quest XVLIQ here as they can in Japan.

Just look at Nintendo. Brain Age, which was supposedly an impossible sell to North Americans, has become one of their biggest successes because they played it up to the strengths of the western market.

It's just a matter of tapping into your target market and introducing your product in the way most compatible that market.

Finally... "western niche" -- I call FPS or TPS.

AoF-Squall @ Mar 21st 2009 11:41PM

Maybe we'll finally get that much anticipated Secret of Evermore sequel?

BigD145 @ Mar 22nd 2009 2:00PM

Maybe Seiken Densetsu 3 will finally be ported over.

LokeSTL @ Mar 22nd 2009 12:15AM

TLR never had a chance. First of all, it has only been released on the 360. The audience, carried over from the X-box, is not the pool of American gamers they sold to last gen. They are dominantly gamers who like the western brand of RPGs: action combat, light on the cutscenes, and no random battles.

Second, they are now releasing TLR on the PC. The PC gaming community is where much of the X-box croud came from. So, as you might guess, they like the same or similar (but usually more technical) brand of (W)RPGs.

When and if they EVER release TLR on the PS3, I believe that it will be better received. The (J)RPG croud on the PS3 are like a lake full of piranhas starving for what they had on the PS2. Much of them (myself included) dove headfirst into a PS3 purchase for the excitement of the HD wave of (J)RPGs that we were would flood the new console. Take a quick look at the RPG section of the Playstation forums and you'll see what I'm talking about. I assure you that there will be a lot more cautious buyers next gen.

Unfortunately, the PS3 version of this game will probably be canceled soon. SE won't know the mistake that they've made until FFXIII is released in NA.

psycros @ Mar 22nd 2009 12:47AM

"'SE America" should focus on more mature RPGs than their typical home-grown fare. I'm not talking gratuitously vulgar and violent, ala Fallout 3, just more grown up than FF and their other franchises. A more accessible and user-friendly MMO would be really nice as well: I wanted to like FFXI, but I have no patience for a game that punishes you for playing it.

MRLN @ Mar 22nd 2009 3:10AM

How is Final Fantasy XIII not so full of win that it doesn't matter? I don't really care if that gae ever comes, out, the trailers are just so beautiful and full of promise, and THAT'S what Western audiences want. That's what Eastern audiences want, and that's what Southern and Northern and audiences on the freaking moon want.

We're all human, we like pretty things, we don't like being frustrated. Make a pretty game with a good story and non-frustrating controls and you have a good game. I know it's much more complicated than that, but it's still true.

Let's clarify one thing: I could care less about where my games are coming from. Just gimmie a new XIII, Crystal Bearers and MH3 trailer.

Bowser Rogozhin @ Mar 22nd 2009 6:57AM

Squaresoft should just stick to publishing. I'll give them credit, they hit home runs with Space Invaders Extreme, but their traditional output, TWEWY excluded (co-developed, supposedly), has been atrocious. This has been the case for 10 years. Like most Japanese developers, they're looking to yesterday to guide them for tomorrow, but the 90s are dead and people recoil from the artless Dragonball look. Sqauresoft are pretty much the worst of the big developers, right 'up' there with Capcom, Epic and ID Software. if there was a God, Acclaim would still be alive and Squaresoft would be dead.

Foetoid @ Mar 22nd 2009 8:05AM

God Bless Acclaim!. Shadowman 64 is still one of my favourite games of all time, as is Turok 2 and Forsaken 64 (where i got my username from). Acclaim were like the 'adult Rareware' for Nintendo, pumping out amazing titles that were a little more M-Rated. Took me a long long time to find 2 legit copies of Turok 2 and Shadowman for PC since waiting for the Virtual Console releases seems to be a fools game. I personally e-mailed Valiant Entertainment and according to them, they have been approached for a VC version of Shadowman 64. This was a long time ago (like 2 years ago) so i'm not holding my breath.