Square Enix shares circle six-year low

ill never leave squares side it WILL be good i know it

I totally agree Bassist_4Life. Bethesda rocks.

"If FFXIII disappoints me I'm done with Square Enix. Period. I'd rather play Atlus RPGs anyways." Fixed for the J-RPG crowd like myself.

Wow, a day delay and a public freak out cost them to plummet that much? Once FFXII actually comes out that alone probably will probably change things. It's the next offical FF number after all, not playing it is like First-Person shooting fans saying "Halo 4 is out? Nahhh...don't wanna try it". Every RPG gamer is going to pick it up at least once.

If FFXIII disappoints me I'm done with Square Enix. Period. I'd rather play Bethesda RPGs anyways.

I'm a huge fan of SE,but some of the dated concepts has got to go! Maybe that's why they're seeking partnerships with western dev now. I'll list some my problems with recent JRPG's and see if you agree with me. Static Environment- Though I've seen improvements, they really need to make it more immersive and interactive instead of being "locked" into a certain path. Text- I'm for texting especially for the hearing-impaired but there's no excuse for not having voice narratives included. Also the amount used is overwhelming at times (Lost Oddessy for example) I did just as much reading than actually playing,and that's bad. They need to be able to tell the story better in realtime while playing, as oppose to interupting the player in order to read for long periods of time. It really kills the gaming experience. Voice-acting- I really grow tired of the "corny" and "awkward" dialogue. With the amount of voice talent out there's no reason why the bad acting still exists in most JRPG's today. Skills/Technique- I love games with a robust amount of this stuff. The problem is alot of them have very little or no effect on gameplay or becomes obsolete before you're even mid way through the game. If you're gonna have alot of them,make it MEANS something. Character Models- a few postings have already touched on this. Does EVERY character have to be a kid with a spikey hair-cut? Or to the other extreme looong flowing white or black hair? How about putting in the character customization featured in most of the better RPG's today. Party/Combat System- I believe Star Ocean is heading in the right direction in making combat realtime even when switching characters. I can't tell how many times in similar games where you eventually end up putting the entire party on "auto" and you do more watching than actually playing. These are just some of the problems I see in a genre I love so much. Hopefully JRPG's devs will "get with the times" and I'll start seeing the improvements and great strides I've seen in other RPG's such as Oblivion,Mass Effect,Fallout 3 etc...

@pickelsrocks The problem with that Idea is that FF is mostly the only game that they make that is any good. They do make other games that are good but most of them are terrible. I still miss Squaresoft. They were so much better.

Perhaps Square/Enix should come out with a game that doesn't rely on the past eleven Final Fantasy games. A new story, new characters, a new perspective maybe. That would actually involve creation of something new, something Japanese gamers aren't all too hip on. Oh yeah do hairstyles not change in Japanese games? Is there some sort of time freeze on the advancement of hairstyles? What is up with the same old spiky haircuts?

@ Zaphod While you are right about the different delays generally associated with FF games in this case it is not as applicable as it was already confirmed that localization and translation were being done simultaneously. Take the fact that it is being in released in Japan on time and that means that the Game is done and ready to be released for the PS3. My point isn't that they shouldn't release it for the 360, my point is why would they wait and the only reason I can come up with for not releasing one then the other is that they are afraid of the products quality. Again Fanboys on both sides (I'm not calling you one) are failing to look at the big picture. Ps3 Fanboys need to admit that multi-platforming is best for gaming and developers, unless a clearly superior system is available. While the Ps3 has a few legs up on the 360 if it is fully tapped, it's just not enough to convince a dev to make less money then they can with a multi release. With 360 fanboys, you all need to realize that this is a finished product being delayed to release multi-platform, not only that but they haven't even announced if it has started actual production on the port. So while it was smart to release it on both systems you need to ask why they are waiting to release it on both systems at the same time, when they could be making money of one version to help fund the other. The only conclusion one can come to is that the only reason for the delay is that they haven't made a quality product, thus releasing one first would actually endanger sales of the other because of poor reviews both from gamers and critics. The simultaneous release prevents this as everyone goes and buys it before realizing the product is not as good as it was hyped or hoped to be. I personally hope I am wrong but there is just too much pointing towards the fact that I'm not. Sadly I'm going to buy it anyways.

she looks cute with her realistic hair

maybe they should make more franchises rather than making final fantasy 72

@ the_Darkwalker Yeah PS3 is a lot expensive compared to 360... But for people who is not living in US, like me... Don't have that 3 years warranty for RROD... I'm picking PS3 so that I won't be spending $100 for every time my console breaks down... And the only thing that the 360 is selling good in my country is that it can play pirated software... If you find the 360 fanboys here ridiculous... Go to my country... They are waaaay more ridiculous... Here we argue about exclusive games... and there they argue that they have the cheaper software... US$2 a disk meanwhile PS BD are US$60

Not joking at all, but when my mom saw the picture of Noctis (from XIII Versus), she seriously thought it was a chick. Personally, I'm all for the androgeny, ahahaha

Enough with the hair and androgynous jokes already. That joke has been getting really old, really fast. I could make more money then WoW if I got a penny for every time someone said a hair or androgynous joke on a game news.

Enough with the hair and androgynous jokes already. That joke has been getting really old, really fast. I could make more money then WoW if I got a penny for every time someone said a hair or androgynous joke on a game news.

Hmmm... maybe if they tried releasing some games on PS3 AND 360, they may have been able to recoup some losses. Sure, for the most part, these games were stinkers, but the same rationale that 360 diehards are using to excuse the delay of FFXIII applies here, I believe: selling games to the widest possible audience is the best possible way to make money, right? Right??

Square Enix has taken the same exact path as Sierra On-Line before they were absorbed by Cendant.

@ The_Darkwalker I agree with you that these accessories are not crucial but rather a bonus or a nice to have. I just wanted to point to others that if you have a 360 with most of those accessories (if not all) than you do have the money in buying a PS3 as well. Again, you are right that having a choice is a good thing, it helps you distinguish between what you need and what you want. Another to point is that the PS3 is marketed and made as a multimedia unit (hence the internet browser and blu-ray) and not just a gaming console like the 360. I've played both, and like both. So to me, for default features, I like the nice "bonuses" that the PS3 included without having me to run around and get them. but yeah, I'm going to get Star Ocean, and it better be good... I love SE through and through, but I'm slowly losing my confidence in them.

The_Darkwalker, Are you sure that silver allows you to play online multi-player? I could have sworn that silver is only for online store usage and downloading of patches, updates, etc. I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure I'm correct. On the news story I don't know if it is a good idea for SE to be looking for an acquisition at this time, unless the cash stores of that company will help the financial standing of SE, I would think taking on a ship with a leak is not a smart idea if you can't afford to patch it up.

everyone talking bout squre enix going down as a bad thing(not talking bout ppl that hate se for no reason) this is how we got the final fantasy series, square was gonna make a "final" fantasy game and they were going bankrupt but b/c of the sales of the game they made a great comeback and brought us many great games. ps. i don't want se to go down just saying next best rpg coming soon?

@Noctobum You make a fair point about the hidden costs when upgrading a 360 but at the same time a lot of people (including myself) see that as a good thing. Personally, I'm fine using a standard ethernet cable to connect to the internet. Wireless connectivity is great but in no way a necessity. Also don't forget that only the Xbox Live Gold accounts require a monthly subscription. Silver accounts are free if all you want to do is play against others in multiplayer. Yeah, you have to buy the Play and Charge kit separately and you can't browse the internet but these are, after all, game systems and some of the features (while neat) are not crucial. In the end I'd much rather be given the choice to upgrade rather than pay for unwanted features whether I want them or not.

Good, only real rpg maker is Bioware anyway.

Now's the time to buy some shares then with FFXIII being released in the near future. ;-)

@ abbotttazz and leeklong not flaming but 360 is similar priced to the $399 PS3 price tag. because: $199 console + $99 Wireless Network adaptor + $60 (give or take) Live membership + (again give or take cuz i don't remember the full prices) $30 rechargeable battery pack for the controller (1). Roughly $400 bucks already. This does not include web browser, blu-ray capability and HDD upgrades. I have both systems so yeah, I'm more upset that SE is just dragging on for so long, I mean I don't care where it's released just release it already. The other RPGS they've been releasing to fill the void isn't cutting it.

to :leeklong Ok Maybe for the xbox live your right....but you get free online...but itss garbage...on top of that....400 dollars why should i spend 400 dollars on that when i can pay a 199 for a 360 i mean it makes sense on top of that the graphics on the ps3 are the same as the 360 so yeah...anybody got any comments on my WII i think that would be pretty neat......square is going to go down....because all there games suck now a days

Woa, this one has quite the legs...fanboys on all sides here...the main point is: SE is focusing only on X360, with "Exclusives" in Japan (even if I think some of these will end up in PS3 sometime after poor sales in Japan). They MAY have better sales once released in US and EU, thats a big IF for you, that "fan base being split" theory is a big factor here. So, since J-RPGs are BIG (specially in , wow, guess where, Japan!) and their most expensive for development games didnt sell that well (It was pathetic really) there, they are paying for it (not as much as MS have paid them, thats for sure). The main point is: MS is paying to take those RPGs that woul, problably (not sure, for Japan gone hand held, its a freaking fact), sell well in the PS3, hopeing to both steal those sales in Japan (as I said, its a big red Fail in this one) and to take take those possible sales in the US and EU markets (still to see, problably will happen, since X360 is cheaper). Nice huh? Forget their own country preferences and TRY to get more money outside. Valid, but if it fails....just lets see what that report says, whenever it comes out. PS - yeah I meant Squall in my last post. Its a HUGE "Whatever..." for me now. The fact that they sold themselves + the rumors on the main staff of XIII and VsXIII longing to bail out of SE because of it its a let down on my liking to SE. PS2- So, just everyone knows MY OPINION: X360 is a POS hardware wise, so, no buy here, I work too hard to trow away my money (and I can buy its games on my PC, yeah this card again, but its true, so live with it). PS3 is lacking (to be nice...) in many of my favorite genres.... Wii....never will buy that thing, its just not me.

if they would just make a real RPG for the wii I would care,but chocobo dongon is lame, and i wish that Cristal cronicals would go away. I want a new final fanticy I have played 6 at least 4-5 time through.

Maybe they could release a new final fantasy game more than once every four years...

well stop makeing games only for 360 and make game for ps3 to and stop holding Final Fantasy XIII like forever is it ever comeing out seem not like yall holding it to year 3001 damn let the game come out allready yall guys sux i am glad yall going down p.s i will never buy 1 of yall games

ha according to solid stien we should all go and buy six copies every game we own that would boost sales just like the way you used to have to buy 3 x boxes untill they fixed it lol just kidding you all but these comments have nothing to do with the articles

to: abbotttazz stupid, what do you mean not everyone can afford a PS3? Anyone can afford a $400 game system, not to mention the "Free Online" the PS3 offers, unlike the 360s subscription. if you look at it long term, the PS3 will be much cheaper because its got free online, and the games are just as expensive as the 360s games. get your facts straight and look at it long term before you Submit your non-sense.

Can't really say the SE isn't the only developer having problems. I haven't purchased a console game for either my PS3 (1 game currently), or XBox360 (1 game currently) since Lost Odyssey came out. Had Mass Effect, but got rid of it for a PC version which I like a lot better. All my games have been PC purchases of late. Which makes me question my purchases of both consoles. Luckily I avoided the Wii entirely. Unfortunately, SE just hasn't produced the way it used to as Squaresoft. Even Enix has gone down the tubes since they joined Square. Which really sucks and some of my favorite games from Enix were the old 7th Saga and Dragon Warriors series on the NES and SNES. Squaresoft always had my attention with FF4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, and X-2 (only played it to see the continuation of 10, still wasn't a great game); while I have been unhappy with 9 and 12. As for a FF7 remake, it wouldn't be such a bad thing if they just upped the graphics and sound and left the story and game play intact. They don't have to add anything, and changing things would absolutely destroy the game. Shoot, I won't go into the number of purchases I have made on some of their remakes. Example being: FF4 Final Fantasy 4 SNES (Known as FF2 in the states) Final Fantasy 4 PSX Final Fantasy 4 GBA Final Fantasy 4 DS This, FF6, and FF7 are my all time favorite Final Fantasy games and I wouldn't hesitate to buy remakes of either of them if they updated them to one of the newer consoles......are they making a DS remake of FF6? There goes a quick 40 bucks. lol

@AnelZukic Seeing as they get most of their money from gamers..well..you get the picture....

one more thing if you really wanna think about it....if i was them i would put it on the wii.....for the simple fact...the graphics wont be great...but....how many people own a wii...they sold alot at christmas....so if SE was real smart they would stick it on the wii

Anybody that says FF should of never came to the 360 is dumb maybe retarted......if you think about it NOT EVERYBODY CAN AFFORD A PS3 there so damn expesive im happy its coming to the 360 SE is in a mess because of finacial problems but WHAT COMPANY ISENT?!!? the whole damn world is in a ressscion how the hell do u bail that out...so if you make it cross platform you make more money....its as simple as that...idiots

I don't remember a single FF game that wasn't delayed at least a year in the US from the Japan launch. It is a Japanese game and it takes a long time to localize all of that dialogue. Get over it. Also to Solidstein, although I think it is a mediocre game, MGS4 sold 4.33 million copies world wide, not 1.8, and Resistance has reached 2 million copies sold world wide, not 999,999. 2009 has K2, GoW3, GT5, and more to look forward to. Stop being a fanboy and start enjoying the games.

MGS4 Sold 4.5 million is quite good... Especially when you consider it's genre as an tactical stealth game... which not everyone is so hyped about... Whereas Gears of War 2 is a typical popular genre so of course it sold more... Yup, J-RPG is meant to capture the Jap market... But No... Square Enix want to expand it's market and forgetting the fans in Japan... I was wondering how much money did MS give to SE... because they are missing some opportunities in Japan....

[quote="NarcMonkey"]more finances. Well I guess it is gamespot's goal to turn us all into Wall Street Journal readers, though we may not need to if their ratio of financial reporting versus VIDEO GAME reporting continues on its current trend.[/quote] most countries on world are in recession, so I'm even glad that GS is giving us all this information, it really helps me to understand the developers and publishers :D [quote="ejay_kain"]it is all about the money now, squarenix does give a crap about creating a good game and when they do, they make the fans outside of japan wait until like 2010 perhaps :([/quote] and what do you want, should the companies just focus on us, gamers, and forget there finances. No, In my opinion, they should first focus on the money and there finances and then on us, gamers ;)

it is all about the money now, squarenix does give a crap about creating a good game and when they do, they make the fans outside of japan wait until like 2010 perhaps :(

more finances. Well I guess it is gamespot's goal to turn us all into Wall Street Journal readers, though we may not need to if their ratio of financial reporting versus VIDEO GAME reporting continues on its current trend.

@Solidstein What are you talking about metal gear solid 4 only sold 1.8 million copies? are you talking about just in America because even konami the devs of the game confirmed the game has sold 4.5 million copies? why only count America........ Also square enix have done this to themselves, they need to wake up and start putting JRPGS on JAPAN consoles not the 360 it's just a stupid move

@ squirrel that had to be the dumbest comment i have ever seen on gamespot.com the wii might be the king of software sales but look what there selling besides mariokart the rest are basicall components bundled with games if ps3 or xbox360 bundled a game with there controllers they would sell millions of that game would u like to see FFXIII with motion control i know i wouldn't plus who as more hardcore fans the WII or ps3/xbox360 nintendo prolly wouldn't even want it on there console. @ all the sony fanbys Maybe if you started buying more games you could have more exclusives but you dont you just sit there and complain i am a ps3 owner myself and i hate that there are no exclusives usually means its a good first party game or great triple a title but if we do some number crunching we will see why you either got to go multi-platform or xbox360..so lets compare to exclusives of about the same caliber we will start with mgs4 game of the year in most peoples eyes and yet it sold a measley 1.8million and im prolly being a little generous with the numbers then we compare xbox360s gears of war 2 which sold 4,2million in its first 3 months and is still counting sales now i agree the ps3 can have better graphics and can run better but you have to look at it from a developers standpoint sony or microsoft do not pay enough to make up for a few millions sales look at fallout 3 which is a multi platform game it sold around 4 million if that was and exclusive it would never do that good so for games that are now costing over 40million to make now adays and with the economy going down the drain so some people dont have as much to spend on games you almost have to go multi-platform to pull a profit selling a million games now adays is just enough for some dev/publishers to break even. i agree though that they should release the ps3 copy first build up hype for the game then sell it to the 360 owners that to me is the best way to do it but since ms is trying to conquer the japanese market they payed square a bunch of money to have the 3exclusives and bring FFXIII to the 360 its just part of microsofts plan for world domination. so PS3 fanboys if your not buying games then you have no excuse to complain here is a breakdown again MGS4 1.8million little Big planet 999,999 Resistance 700,000 ps3's best esclusives gear of war 2 4.3million and counting thats more then all those games combined so now you see why SE did what they did

@ Figo16v... I'm not complaining about the 360 multiplat... I agree with you... By releasing it to 360 might cover the development cost... But surely don't you feel it's too long already...2010... It's just too much... They developed the game since when? Yes the story is a major drive in an RPG.. And I hope they don't mess with the story this time... When did you last play a SE RPG with amazing story (not mediocre) For me it was FFX... Since Hironobu left... The soul of FF seems to slip away little by little... I love to see this game becoming a revolution in J-RPG... But what I have seen so far from what they teased us with videos... I only see beautiful CGI cutscenes... which supposedly look beautiful... But when the presented the in-game battles... It looks just ordinary...too ordinary for a game being developed for years... because they haven't presented us about the story whatsoever... I just hope the game has a good script with excellent voice cast like they have in FFXII

Bloody hell square enix who do you have managing your books Gordon Brown.

@ EnaVRi: Not a lot of sense making there... Releasing games before the Devs say they are ready results in Haze. And since the story IS the fore most selling point of a good RPG we should not care about the graphics... Which, just to add, have a lot more post processing effects than 90% the games currently out on PS3/360 and do simply look stunning... and to FabioPizzini: If Square did limit themselves to simply PS3 then chances are they would not make back the amount of time they spent on development and if they did it would be very little. The 360 Port is coming due to the fact there is twice as much Americans playing on the 360 than the PS3. I cannot see how it have negatively effected the end quality of the game considering MS will have "funded" some of the development seeing as both consoles are - lets face - pretty much identically capable maybe with slight differences here and there. This will mean a better game for PS3 gamers as well as 360 users actually getting the game. Its a Win Win for both sides. With the worlds economy going down the pan maybe its time to let this idiotic fanboy-ism slide and start supporting the developers rather than letting some childish grudge (against an inanimate object no less!) hurt the Industry and prevent you from playing quite possibly the pinnacle of Modern J-RPGS.

What I've seen from the newest teaser... The in-game is so ordinary... Nothing to be amazed... If it doesn't have a good story and gameplay to back up... i don't know what could safe the FF... Make games faster and gain revenue faster too... Other developers could make games faster then SE... Look at Konami with MGS... They both teased us from the very begining of this gaming generation... and Now FF is going to be 2 years later then MGS... With graphics that don't even match MGS...

If Square made some games using the REAL power of the PS3 i will buy them ... BUT if they still choose to make games for both ps3/xbox i will gladly avoid to buy products from this software house.

@pow121: let's see. which of what i said got the fanboy out of you? was it because of the m$ bribe to SE to skrew ps3 users and release their games exclusively or on timed exclusivity to rrod360? was it because of the implication that becuse of said bribe, ps3 owners has to wait even longer so they can water down FFXIII so it can fit in a DVD to please the 12 or maybe 13 rrod360 users who will buy it? or was it because of the FACT that rrod360 users don't get jrpgs? let me give you more info that might tickle the fanboy in you. this skrewed-up m$ "business strategy" is bad for the gaming industry. it didn't do s**t for rrod360 because of mediocre revenue and generated hatred from gamers who like to play games on a console that does not need to be shipped for repairs all the time. a lot of posters said that SE did this for the money. it is probably a good decision if you like being on the red in your financial spreadsheet. so pow121, out of topic, but just to reply to your post, yes the ps3 is worth every penny, you got to own it to understand it. there's nothing like playing, not just mgs4 and lbp on it, but the multi-plat games without the crazy noise or the long break to send the console for repairs (and yes, the blu-ray is a plus too, and the browser too and and did i say it doesn't effin break). sounds like fanboyism? i'm sure, even though i own the rrod360 too, i will never be a supporter of business strategies that harm the gaming industry or make consoles (and operating systems) that are so crappy, it gives the US a bad name.

In the business world which is the world SE operates out off no news is always symptomatic of bad news. Obviously they lost money on the various projects they released last year, and the one problem everyone had with there games was that although they were nice to look at they were shallow with a lack of story and character depth. Normally with a big game like FFXIII you would release the finished version (PS3) to help generate interest and sales in the unfinished, in this case possibly unstarted version (360). This is a model that has constantly worked for studios when a game that was originally exclusive went multiplatform (Bioshock, Orange Box, Oblivion). Now this leads one with a few questions on why they are waiting for a simultaneous release for the international version when if it was a quality project one version would sell the other (how many 360 owners would buy MGS4 if it was released for the 360. How many PS3 owners would buy Gears). What do we know so far about their biggest release this generation. It's being helmed by the same man who brought us FFX 2, a game that any fans of the original FFX wished would be wiped from existence as it totally destroyed the characters and world that had already been built and turned them into a contradiction of eerything that made the first game good. We have a lot of trailers telling us nothing of the story with no hint of character development but amazing graphics. We have them taking it multi-platform honestly a good decision whether it is a good product or not, yet the decision to basically hide it until it can be released to all simultaneously. In other words things do not look up for anything but the quality of the graphics as all their business decisions have been meant to delay and hide the already finished product (in the PS3's case). Don't get me wrong I'll still buy it but for those really looking forward to a Final Fantasy Game you may want to look at the companies body language as you generally don't try to hide a good thing.

@ Darkon X Totally with you... The In game graphics of FFXIII are just... they should've go for something like MGS4 in game looks... And the movement is still a bit stiff... a bit though... @ somberfox... I'm an SE fan... but, they are lowering their standards in making games... they should've come up with a new direction... we need OMG RPG... Not a mediocre one... Maybe Star Ocean will help the SE gain it props... I envy 360 owners for having the Star Ocean... Maybe I'll buy a 360 later when I get the money...