RipTen Videogame Blog » Yoichi Wada

Job Listing Raises Hopes for an Xbox 360 Version of Final Fantasy XIII Versus

Garrett Hartman — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 17:09:44 +0000

For the past two years Square Enix has made it perfectly clear that Final Fantasy XIII Versus is a PS3 exclusive. Recently, it has been revealed the developer was looking into a multi-platform release.

Now today, an interesting job listing has been found for a Versus XIII “Battle Planner”. Which by itself means nothing, but among the requirements for the position include “development experience on a PS3, or Xbox 360 package title”.

Because of this mention of an ‘Xbox 360 package title’ people are anticipating another multiplatform title (not unlike Final Fantasy XII), which should be considered likely considering how much extra money the 360 version of Final Fantasy made.

It’s like deja vu all over again.

Source: Kotaku

Square Enix CEO: “Nobody Has Succeeded at Globalisation”

Sam Naylor — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 17:31:33 +0000

Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada has stated that he feels the globalisation efforts of the videogames industry have been a failure, thanks to the sharp divide between Eastern and Western cultures.

“We have to appeal to customers with different preferences. Sega did not succeed. Konami did not succeed. Namco Bandai did not succeed. Western publishers have not succeeded in selling in Japan. Nobody has succeeded at globalisation,” he told VentureBeat. “But it hasn’t succeeded because it was always based on Japanese direction. It was Japanese people who commissioned the western developers to make games.”

“It is important that what’s in America should be handled by Americans,” he said. “The same goes in Europe and in Japan. These people who are deeply rooted in their own cultures can engage in their own dialogues. The mistakes I have seen so far are when Japanese people try to do everything the Japanese way, using Japanese workers in different areas of the world.”

Wada feels that Square Enix are doing a much better job of creating a global market. “We acquired Eidos,” he said. “By doing this, we have incorporated them in our group. They have become part of our family. It was not like we acquired slaves. In fact, the former CEO of Eidos is the European head of Square Enix. Eidos as a studio is treated as completely equal as the studio in Japan. What I wanted to do is create an environment where completely different ethnic groups can coexist in the same company.”

Of course, he seems to have completely forgotten about Nintendo, who have absolutely cracked the global market. How could he forget about them?

[Via EDGE]

Final Fantasy VII Remake Being Explored by Square Enix

Chad Lakkis — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 18:18:09 +0000

In a recent interview with Siliconera, Square Enix President, Yoichi Wada, said the following about a possible Final Fantasy VII remake:

“Right now we don’t have a clear direction, but many fans have requested we remake Final Fantasy VII … We’re going to explore the possibility – whether or not we’re going to do it, if we’re going to do it, and the platform.”

Hmmm. Let me help out. Throw it on both platforms (because Microsoft will pay you any amount you wish) and take some advice from Nike already … JUST DO IT!!!!

Thanks Siliconera

Square Enix President Downplays Final Fantasy XIII “Newness”, Still Predicts Record Sales

Chad Lakkis — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:33:44 +0000

In a recent interview, Square Enix President, Yoichi Wada, was asked if he thought Final Fantasy XIII would be the best selling Final Fantasy ever, and considering the recent US & European announcement video touted Final Fantasy XIII as “possibly the most anticipated game of all time”, his response may shock more than a few Final Fantasy fans.

“We would like to hope so. When we say that it is going to be the best selling title ever, the hurdle/bar is really high because Final Fantasy VII sold 10 million units.

… it’s not [that] there are new elements that are included into the Final Fantasy XIII, there are elements that are included that is expected out of the Final Fantasy title itself, for example a beautiful story, it being emotional and moving and you’ll be able to relax and enjoy. Those are included, but there is not a lot of newness to it.”

Not a lot of newness? Interesting response. In a day and age when others in his position are screaming from the mountain tops that there game will outsell everything known to man, Wada takes a less dramatic approach. Whether he meant exactly what the translator said or some element was lost during the literal translation, it’s important to note that Wada did contrast the game to that of Western RPG’s, so it may have been more of a comparison thing.

In closing, Final Fantasy XIII will include some advancements. It will feature high def graphics, combat system refinements, and a new weapon modifier feature, but the fact of the matter is a series with a lengthy proven track record of success, such as Final Fantasy, doesn’t need “a lot of newness”.

My opinion is that the game will sell like 5 cent lemonade on record high hot summer day. Considering it’s one of the main reasons I bought my PS3, I’d personally run through several brick walls to own it on release day.

[Thanks Final Fantasy Union]

Square Enix Boss: US & European Versions of Final Fantasy XIII Receiving “Final Touches”

Chad Lakkis — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:38:15 +0000

In a recent interview, Square Enix Global Presidentm, Yoichi Wada, revealed that the US and European version of the highly anticipated Final Fantasy XIII was receiving some “final touches”, adding that the “last stage of development has gone very smoothly…”

The the fact that he said “has gone” as apposed to “is going” gives me the impression that development is complete. With a mysterious announcement, for both Europe and the US, coming this Friday, we may be looking at getting Final Fantasy XIII in our grubby RPG loving hands much sooner than expected. All I want for Christmas is …

[Thanks GI]

Wada Wada Wada – Square Enix is Neutral in Hardware Wars

John Landis — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:33:18 +0000

Square Enix President and all around peaceful guy Yoichi Wada recently stated that his company remains neutral in the ever flame-inducing console war.

Fans (or fanboys) of the 360 and PS3 were at each other’s throats yet again recently when supposed long-time PlayStation backer Square Enix announced that their flagship title Final Fantasy XIII would be released for the 360 — in North America, at least.

“We’re now in the age of the multi-platform, but depending on age and territory, users have different tastes. Therefore it’s very difficult to just deal with one company or one hardware platform – in order to offer our product to the vast majority of gamers we need to deal with multiple companies and platforms.n North America Microsoft is doing very well with its hardware, and for that reason it’s a very important partner for us.”

He also states, “We always consider the territory and hardware for titles, and I just want to make sure that we’re neutral about dealing with companies.” This should come as no surprise to anyone, as Square Enix titles have popped up on nearly every system at some point since the glory days of the NES. So this isn’t a knife in the back to Sony at all — perhaps a bullet in the brain to Kaz Hirai considering the game is still a PS3 exclusive in Japan.

Speaking of Nintendo, when asked about the Wii, Wada said in typical lawyer-over-the-shoulder speak that they didn’t have any plans, but the system was kick-ass and that they’re “ready to offer various types of content to various types of users.” Basically, if it can make money, they’d be willing to make a game for it.

You can read the full interview over at gameindustry.biz

“Wii Is The Ideal Platform” Says Square Enix Chief Executive Yoichi Wada

Chad Lakkis — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 02:11:47 +0000

Yoichi Wada, Chief Executive of Square Enix was quoted on dailytech.com saying that Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are “over-engineered” with superfluous specs and require high definition equipment and broadband access to fully utilize all of the systems capabilities.

He then added that he believes that the Nintendo Wii is the ideal platform for Square Enix and that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3 are “mismatched to today’s environment” and that they will fare better in a few years time.

While we agree that the 360 and PS3 have superior specs we do not agree that they are years ahead of the current market. It is our belief that serious gamers are serious about every aspect of their gaming experience.

This is not to say that the Nintendo Wii is not an enjoyable system to play, we love it, we just think that it still has room for improvement graphically and calling it “ideal” at this phase in the “game” may be a bit of a stretch.