Should Square Enix Hand Final Fantasy To An External Dev?
- Thread starter Shademp
- Start date
It seems like they're going to discuss it in their next podcast, not their most recent one.
I don't see any reason why they should hand it over. I know we all like to complain about how "things ain't what they used to be", but it's not like any of us has a right to new, brilliant FF games. If Square Enix want to mess things up, that's their prerogative. Besides, lots of people liked XIII and their other recent titles. Who would they hand it over to, anyway?
As Boote suggested in that page you linked to, Shademp, I think they could hand over development of the spin-off games and whatnot so that they can concentrate on producing games for the main series. I can't help but reminisce about the the 1997-2001 period, when they released four fantastic games in the same number of years. Even if you didn't like a particular game, say VIII, it was only a short wait for the next one. Nowadays it takes them forever to release anything at all (I'm not counting the online games).
I don't see any reason why they should hand it over. I know we all like to complain about how "things ain't what they used to be", but it's not like any of us has a right to new, brilliant FF games. If Square Enix want to mess things up, that's their prerogative. Besides, lots of people liked XIII and their other recent titles. Who would they hand it over to, anyway?
As Boote suggested in that page you linked to, Shademp, I think they could hand over development of the spin-off games and whatnot so that they can concentrate on producing games for the main series. I can't help but reminisce about the the 1997-2001 period, when they released four fantastic games in the same number of years. Even if you didn't like a particular game, say VIII, it was only a short wait for the next one. Nowadays it takes them forever to release anything at all (I'm not counting the online games).
Heh, I mixed up the first and second paragraph of that news item. I really should stop making posts when already doing a handful of other things.
I don't have anything to contribute to said question, but I still think it interesting.
- AKA
- Smooth Criminal
Honestly, at this point, it might not be such a bad idea.
They clearly can't keep to any sort of reasonable, industry standard in terms of release schedule, and most of their console games seem to be stuck in perpetual Development Hell. We won't even talk about game quality or competitiveness in regards to games of the same genre, or on the same hardware. That's an entirely different kettle of fish right there.
As it is...I don't know how Square has fallen so far, but they seriously need some outside help. It's at the point that any relevancy and industry clout that once belonged to them, has now almost totally evaporated.
They clearly can't keep to any sort of reasonable, industry standard in terms of release schedule, and most of their console games seem to be stuck in perpetual Development Hell. We won't even talk about game quality or competitiveness in regards to games of the same genre, or on the same hardware. That's an entirely different kettle of fish right there.
As it is...I don't know how Square has fallen so far, but they seriously need some outside help. It's at the point that any relevancy and industry clout that once belonged to them, has now almost totally evaporated.
Hiring contract workers would probably help. If they gave away the development completely I'd worry we'd lose what is Final Fantasy more than what already have. But a fresh pair of eyes to review the projects and heavily influence them would be excellent, IMO.
- AKA
- Jesse McCree. I feel like a New Man
Send it to Bioware and be done with it. PROBLEM SOLVED!
Splintered
unsavory tart
No.
No.
Purple
Charmed
No they don't need to. As in majority of the cases, Final Fantasy has a lot of vocal haters nowadays but they're also in the minority in the grand scheme of things. I still enjoy the series immensely. But I agree with Flintlock, they should probably outsource their useless spin-off games, including the 1000 spin offs of KH, to other companies just so they can focus on the main FF and KH titles.
Oh and this group, SMH https://www.facebook.com/FinalFantasyTheEraOfDisappointments
Oh and this group, SMH https://www.facebook.com/FinalFantasyTheEraOfDisappointments
- AKA
- TresDias
At the very least, a western developer needs to have a hand in any forthcoming FFVII title. SE has had multiple chances to demonstrate that they no longer grasp the atmosphere and tone of the original game, while many of today's best developers (and let's face it -- most of them aren't in Japan) were inspired by FFVII to some degree. How many probably grew up -- or at least grew up in their field -- wanting to make a game like FFVII?
The love is with the fans now. Kitase et. al. clearly no longer have it. For God's sake, Dirge is the closest they've come to capturing the original feel.
The love is with the fans now. Kitase et. al. clearly no longer have it. For God's sake, Dirge is the closest they've come to capturing the original feel.
Monterosa
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- Tom
I think that since Square-Enix already has a number of development divisions it's not necessary. Compare FFXII and FFXIII and you can see from just how different the two games are that Square-Enix is already a company with a staff of diverse talents. I don't see why the company would need to look to external developers to contribute to their titles when they already have such a large, dedicated staff capable of handling numerous titles at one time.
Having said that, Square-Enix have already been working with a number of external developers for some of their smaller projects. Matrix Software, for example, have worked with S-E on the Nintendo DS versions of FFs III and IV as well as The 4 Heroes of Light. In my experience, FFIV DS is a very high quality game. I don't know exactly what Matrix Software contributed, but certainly they did not have a detrimental impact on the game.
So I would say that for the major, blockbuster titles, S-E already has the resources it needs without having to outsource. However, given that so much is put into the biggest development teams, presumably leaving little else for other projects, it is understandable that for smaller games they would look to other developers for assistance.
Now that S-E is such a big company with many assets in the USA and Europe, I wonder if they will use these for their traditionally Japanese-developed projects. The conservative structure of Japanese business makes me doubt it.
Having said that, Square-Enix have already been working with a number of external developers for some of their smaller projects. Matrix Software, for example, have worked with S-E on the Nintendo DS versions of FFs III and IV as well as The 4 Heroes of Light. In my experience, FFIV DS is a very high quality game. I don't know exactly what Matrix Software contributed, but certainly they did not have a detrimental impact on the game.
So I would say that for the major, blockbuster titles, S-E already has the resources it needs without having to outsource. However, given that so much is put into the biggest development teams, presumably leaving little else for other projects, it is understandable that for smaller games they would look to other developers for assistance.
Now that S-E is such a big company with many assets in the USA and Europe, I wonder if they will use these for their traditionally Japanese-developed projects. The conservative structure of Japanese business makes me doubt it.
Turin747
Lv. 1 Adventurer
I pretty much agree with this. I was a bit dissapointed with what Nomura did to Cloud in Advent Children. I never imagined he'd be so gloomy. Reserved perhaps but not emo. I