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Square Enix: We take too long to make games
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 1:52 pm
by Christopher
Square Enix president and CEO, Yoichi Wada, has told GamesIndustry.biz that he believes his company takes too long to produce new games, and that cost performance and quality are not mutually exclusive facets in game production.
Speaking at one of the first interviews given since the acquisition of Eidos last week, Wada-san was answering a question on the practice of releasing games before they were truly finished in order to meet financial deadlines - and if gamers buying Eidos titles from now on could have more confidence in the brand.
"Yes - that's what I hope to achieve for the entire group," said Wada-san. "But we at Square Enix also have a problem - it takes too long for us to produce a game...
"In reality I think the issues we have are basically the same. On one side you might say that because of the budgetary constraints they released the games without having the games polished to perfection, but on the other side we take too long to release the game.
"So we have the same issue in the management and control of the process isn't strict enough. Even though we're producing entertainment products we need to have the right production process in place - and that is something that I'd like to implement across the entire business in our group.
He went on to hint at possible conflict with those working on the games over those production processes, noting that the group would be trying to "change the mindset of the creators".
"I personally believe that having a good cost performance and having a good quality game can co-exist - I think that this relationship is actually a positive one. But when you look to the creators they tend to think that if they're asked to pursue a better cost performance, they have to sacrifice quality.
"It's not true, but we have to change the mindset of the creators."
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/square-enix-we-take-too-long-to-make-games
Re: Square Enix: We take too long to make games
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 1:59 pm
by Floex
Well, duh
Re: Square Enix: We take too long to make games
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:04 pm
by TheTurnipKing
There is a certain amount of truth to this. The thing is, it's the knowledge that the main line Square games will usually be very good examples of their kind when they make it to market that gives Square it's reputation for quality titles, and without that reputation, the market would probably look much less favourably on all the tatty DS and PSP titles they release.
Re: Square Enix: We take too long to make games
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:32 pm
by Winckle
The article should have wrote:Square Enix: We take too long to make barely interactive films
Re: Square Enix: We take too long to make games
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 3:34 pm
by Dante
Wouldn't be a problem if they ended up releasing a decent game; but they spend ages make mediocre twoddle these days
Re: Square Enix: We take too long to make games
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:02 pm
by Oxx
Square Enix have had a funny old generation. They've been getting fat on the profits of outsourced handheld games and remakes while they have been beavering away on the likes of FFXIII, Versus XIII, and The Crystal Bearers for years.
Re: Square Enix: We take too long to make games
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 5:57 pm
by Extralife
All these rereleases are not a good thing; they are relying far too heavily on thier fan base for survival.
Re: Square Enix: We take too long to make games
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 6:02 pm
by Parksey
I miss waiting ages for a game to come out. Maybe it's because time seems to move a lot quicker when you're older, though maybe it's because I can buy umpteen games in the meantime to stave off any boredom.
But I rarely feverishly anticipate a game of months on end. I'll generally pre-order something a week or two before it comes out and then only actually look forward to playing it a day before it arrives.
So, yeah, Square.
Re: Square Enix: We take too long to make games
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 6:29 pm
by Harry Bizzle
This doesn't explain how they can make amazing games like FFXII and gooseberry fool out things like the Last Remnant, which while admitidly could have done with more time, could have probably done with a better concept to begin with.
I'd rather you just rip the system from FFXII and build a new story around it than release shite.
Parksey wrote:I miss waiting ages for a game to come out. Maybe it's because time seems to move a lot quicker when you're older, though maybe it's because I can buy umpteen games in the meantime to stave off any boredom.
But I rarely feverishly anticipate a game of months on end. I'll generally pre-order something a week or two before it comes out and then only actually look forward to playing it a day before it arrives.
So, yeah, Square.
Really? Nowadays huge games can launch without me caring much, safe in the knowledge that I'll pick it up at a fraction of the price when I've actually got the time to devote to them.
It's sort of a relief that I don't have that mad anticipation any more.