Square: We Can't Support Sony Too Much

September 26, 2006 | By: David Radd

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There you have it. An executive from a company, whose major home console hits over the past decade have almost universally come on PlayStation systems, said they will be dialing down their support for Sony in the future. Or will they? Read on for the analysis.

Squaresoft (and the combined Square Enix) have always had a "one girl sort of guy" philosophy to their console support. In an industry that has had a great deal of parity in the past 15 years, Square Enix has typically thrown the majority of its support behind one console maker. First it was Nintendo, and since 1996 it has been Sony and their PlayStation systems.

Now, however, on the eve of what may be the most hotly contested console war in video gaming's brief history, Square might be changing its tune. Michihiro Sasaki, the Senior Vice President of Square Enix, offered some vague yet significant statements to the Wall Street Journal. Said Sasaki, "We don't want the PlayStation 3 to be the overwhelming loser, so we want to support them. But we don't want them to be the overwhelming winner either, so we can't support them too much."

Now, before fans of the Wii and Xbox 360 set off fireworks in their houses [Kids, don't ever set off fireworks inside - Ed.] the statement probably doesn't mean Dragon Quest IX will be coming to Xbox 360 and Kingdom Heart III is bound for the Wii. It is quite likely that the comment by Sasaki was simply relating to the company's ever increasing support of the Nintendo DS.

For comparison's sake, so far Square has announced for next-gen consoles the RPG Final Fantasy XIII and the Versus XIII action spin-off for PS3, released the established Final Fantasy XI MMORPG and announced the space shooter Project Sylpheed for Xbox 360 and revealed the action/RPG titles Dragon Quest Swords and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers for Wii. If this trend holds, the 360 will receive action titles emphasizing online support, the Wii will get casual games for people to play in groups, and the PS3 will receive established RPG franchises that make up the backbone of Square Enix's lineup.

It is impossible to say which way the future will dart, especially since these theoretical games are inexorably tied to the fortunes of two systems which haven't even released on the market. With the Wii's potential and likely strength in Japan and the 360's established beachhead in the West, it is perhaps in Square's best interest to not put all their games on one console.