Square Enix and PopCap's Gyromancer started out as a joke

by Griffin McElroy { Sep 28th 2009 at 5:00PM }

In a recent interview with Wired, PopCap co-founder and chief creative officer Jason Kapalka claimed that he jokingly brought up the idea of a Final Fantasy and Bejeweled hybrid during a meeting with Square Enix (who publishes many of PopCap's games in Japan). Squeenix's Yuichi Murasawa, designer of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, loved the idea, and set out to create such a title. Last week, Gyromancer, the fruit of these two parties' labor, was announced during the Tokyo Game Show.

Other interesting tidbits came out of the interview -- namely, the sections dealing with the similarities and differences between Squeenix and PopCap's collaboration and 2007's Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords. However, we think the real takeaway info from the interview is the fact that this game, which will likely cater to our lust for tile-swapping and role-playing, enrapturing our attention and eviscerating our social lives, started out as a joke.

Really, really funny, Kapalka.

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

[Tre (TM), whom you must pay royalties to say his name] [blogs at trespeak.tumblr.com] @ Sep 28th 2009 5:07PM

Popcap, do you know that you guys create digital drugs? Simply wondering, because THIS IS GOING TO BE AN ADDICTION TO MANY, MANY PEOPLE AND IT WILL BE AN UNSHAKEABLE ONE.

Must have been a pretty darn good joke.

AsherR [Planeteer | Power of The Hoff] @ Sep 28th 2009 5:48PM

Did you hear the one about the world's productivity going down the crapper?

Hilarious!

Preston @ Sep 28th 2009 5:09PM

I think more games should start off as jokes.

dark_inchworm (stronger than never, ever before) @ Sep 28th 2009 5:33PM

Your Sex Life: The Game

Preston @ Sep 28th 2009 5:41PM

@inchworm: They made a game featuring your mother already? But how did they find a camera with such a wide angled lens?

AsherR [Planeteer | Power of The Hoff] @ Sep 28th 2009 5:46PM

I typically don't like "your mom" jokes, but this made me laugh.

Props to both of you! :D

dark_inchworm (stronger than never, ever before) @ Sep 29th 2009 2:55AM

That... was crafty
:)

Miku @ Sep 28th 2009 5:10PM

I wonder if Plants vs. Zombies started out as some kind of joke too. What about Peggle? Maybe this is just business as usual over at Popcap...

JXCgunrunna @ Sep 28th 2009 5:11PM

More addicting than Plants vs Zombies? check
More addicting than Peggle? Check
Grades down the drain when this hits? Double check

RogueJedi86 @ Sep 28th 2009 5:23PM

Imagine if World of Warcraft got a version of Gyromancer in-game like it did Bejeweled and Peggle. WoW+Square Enix+PopCap? Dear god, that combined force would be unstoppable, with its appeal to pretty much every gamer type on the planet.

MowDownJoe @ Sep 28th 2009 5:30PM

Squeenix already makes Final Fantasy MMOs. Most likely, Gyromancer would appear in one of those.

AsherR [Planeteer | Power of The Hoff] @ Sep 28th 2009 5:43PM

I know! That's what I said in the last Gyromancer article.
It's demented!

Sly (Now equipped with DS!) @ Sep 28th 2009 6:00PM

and then they added in lightsabers. THE MADNESS!

RogueJedi86 @ Sep 29th 2009 6:22AM

@MoeDownJoe

FFXI doesn't have the open-ended LUA structure to enable in-game addons, including ones like the PopCap games. Maybe XIV will have it, but XI doesn't, so I wouldn't expect to see it in that game. WoW's the only one with such open-ended addon structure that I know of.