Topic: Final Fantasy Creator making 2 XboxNext RPG's

[Djunknown]

Here's the announcement


And here's the interview

Seems like Microsoft is hell-bent on making a bigger impact in Japan. Here's a snippet for you lazy bastards

"GI: Just to clear things up, is it just Sakaguchi-san who will be working with Microsoft Game Studios or will it be Mistwalker as a whole?

PM: Well the publishing will be done by Microsoft Game Studios.  This is a classic first party publishing deal, if you will.  The development funding will be done by us, as well.  Mistwalker is a company that Sakaguchi-san founded after he left Square Enix.  And it is, if you will, a “joint venture,” and I’ll put quotes around that because we’re not making any sort of financial investment in Mistwalker but is instead bringing Microsoft and Mistwalker together in the Tokyo marketplace and creating and developing both of these newly announced role playing games."

And a little bomshell:

"GI: Will the exclusivity be for just these two titles, or will it span all of Mistwalker’s RPGs?

PM: Right now it’s just for these two titles.  And one of the things that I can tell you is that he’s going to be very busy building two RPGs from the ground up.  His company has already made their first foray into next generation work, if you could categorize the DS as such.    But no, this is something that we’ve envisioned Sakaguchi-san working on for years and there’s very little room for him to do other things."

Verrry interesting...

[PaLaDiN]

We already know about the DS part... he's working on a strategy RPG for DS.

First party with MS though... the buying out has begun.

[Savior]

Ive been told that he  was in negotiations to go exclusive with Nintendo before Microsoft offered more $$...  So its not like Nintendo wasnt going to be "buying out" either PaLaDin


In the grand scheme of things its not a big deal... Xbox might be loosing Tecmo next gen....  Get a litle loose alot

[Caillan]

This really concerns me. I believe that worst thing that could happen to gaming right now is for Microsoft to pick up in the Japanese market. I have a natural aversion to Microsoft anyway, but the XBox took much of Nintendo's market share in North America and the XBox 2 could do the same in Japan. An early launch with two RPGs and an astute marketing campain could have Microsoft establishing a decent user base before either of its competitors do. If that doesn't have the big Japanese third parties like Konami and Capcom offering support I'm sure a few hats made of money will. Of course, I really have no idea if this studio will be any good, or whether they'll release both the games on time, (I'm guessing at least on will be delayed) but this doesn't make me happy.

[Ian Sane]

This is a brilliant move by Microsoft.  It's important to establish genres on a console early.  Otherwise the fanbase of that genre go somewhere else and it's hard to get third parties to create exclusives in that genre.  With two exclusive RPGs early on the XBox 2 can become established as an RPG friendly console.  The agressive attempt to establish a better presence in Japan is obviously beneficial as well but I don't think MS has any chance of seriously being a force in Japan.  Since they do so well in North America I think they should focus on that market.  Sega for example made a huge error by focusing the Saturn on the Japanese market which lost them a large chunk of the American fanbase they established with the Genesis.

Anyway I hope Nintendo is doing something to nullify this move.  Since Camelot is working on a Rev RPG maybe Nintendo already is.  They also have a strong ally in Namco who is also quite competent at making RPGs so there's no good reason Nintendo can't also establish their console as RPG friendly.

[Bill Aurion]

I predict we'll be getting more than our share of RPGs, so no worries there...What's funny about this is that 1) the American market won't care...and 2) These games aren't enough to persuade that many more Japanese gamers to purchase Xbox 2s...This will likely end in failure here, which is sad because I really do love small devs...

[ruby_onix]

As I gather it, Microsoft Game Studios is going to be doing all the real "work" of making these next-gen RPGs, under the direction of Sakaguchi/Mistwalker. Mistwalker is just a startup company, and probably not capable of putting together anything bigger than a handheld game right now.

And then once these two games are done, they become the property of Mistwalker, and get published by MS.

Also, Sakaguchi is supposedly taking up an "advisor" position on XBox2 development, particularly in how the XBox2 relates to Japan. He probably wants to do all that he can to make sure his new games don't bomb.

So really, Mistwalker is making out like a bandit with this deal. Of course, it seemed obvious that someone was going buy out Mistwalker, sooner or later. Microsoft just won the race to do it. It's a victory for MS, and they're obviously not worried about how much money they paid for it. And they're apparently giving Sakaguchi the keys to MS's Japanese XBox HQ, which... can only be a positive move.

MS is apparently not "locking down" Mistwalker (it's just a two-game contract, for now), which means that their DS game (Mistwalker's first "real" game) shouldn't be affected, and their potentially-growing relationship with Nintendo isn't in jeopardy.

All in all, I think the only groups really losing here are Sony and the "FF7 fanboy" crowd. MS is moving upward. At the expense of Sony's popularity, not Nintendo's. Which chips away at Sony's very foundation. It would've been nicer if Nintendo had pulled off this victory, but... they didn't. Perhaps a stronger MS might make it harder for Nintendo to score the #2 position with the Revolution, but if that's Nintendo's aim then they've probably got bigger things to worry about.  

[couchmonkey]

I hardly think MS is going to start favouring the Japanese market, its just trying to have an actual impact there.  I think this is a decent first step.  I doubt these games are going to sell a million Xboxes over there, but if MS can ensure the games are released before, or around the same time as, the competing systems, then it will have a small advantage.  If only one next-gen system is offering RPGs, it will probably attract a fair number of hardcore RPG fans.

Ultimately, Microsoft had to do something like this if it ever wanted to make progress in Japan, and the beginning of the generation is the best time to do it.

As for the DS game, I doubt Microsoft would stop development on it even if it had completely bought out Mistwalker.  Microsoft allowed Rare to continue development on GBA games, and with PSP looking strong as it enters the handheld market, I strongly suspect Microsoft will throw its weight behind Nintendo in the hopes of keeping Sony in check and maybe even weakening Sony in the home console market.

Edit: typos.

[Pale]

I think you are all forgetting just how well Final Fantasy sells on the PS2 here.  If Mistwalker is succesful, this could have a major impact on the north american market as well.

[Deguello]

While this may be a "smart" move, in all reality I don't think this will help Microsoft much.  Japanese gamers didn't all drop their Game Boys for WonderSwans when Square made games for it, and I doubt they will pick up Xbox 2's for Square-Lite.

It is by no coincidence that the best-selling RPGs on the Xbox just happen to have "Star Wars" in the title.  And by the sound of the interview, it seems these games are a ways off, so I don't really see how this will help MS shake the "Halo" image for the Xbox 2, an image I believe is deadlier than Nintendo's image problem .

Edit: And I agree with ruby here.  The only ones who really benefit here are Mistwalker.  A new developer gets a fat check to cut their teeth on new hardware with no worry of their games bombing.  And hell these games might not even materialize.  MS contracted Level 5 (They helped make Dragon Quest to make an MMORPG (True Fantasy Live Online or something) and then they canned it for no apparent reason.

[Savior]

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I think you are all forgetting just how well Final Fantasy sells on the PS2 here. If Mistwalker is succesful, this could have a major impact on the north american market as well.

maybe.. but Final Fantasy is now mainstream.. some of Squares other franchises arent as popular. Did Front Mission sell as gangbusters as FF x-2 did ?

Plus i dont know if these games will be that good. This guy made the FF Movie... I dont want to sound bitter but that movie sucked

[PaLaDiN]

Does Mistwalker have the rights to Final Fantasy anyway?

And does Square-Enix have the rights to Mistwalker's work?

But whatever. I'm happy as long as I'm getting that DS RPG. Good for Xbox fans, I guess.

[Avinash_Tyagi]

Its a smart move by MS no doubt, but I really doubt one game will make any major difference for them, unless this represents a shift in MS's thinking with regards to Japan I don't see it making much of a difference.

[Bill Aurion]

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Originally posted by: PaLaDiN
Does Mistwalker have the rights to Final Fantasy anyway?

And does Square-Enix have the rights to Mistwalker's work?

The two companies are completely independent of one another...

[Djunknown]

Yeah, it seems developer's 'creative babies' stay with the company they were in. I'm pretty sure if Shiggy, Shinji, or Kojima went out to strike it on their own, they would'nt be able to carry their franchises they made famous.

Depending on how big these RPG's are, I wouldn't expect them to come out, one after the other.  Most RPG's nowaday's are grand, sweeping epics. Maybe we'll see one 1 year after launch, then the other at the end of the console's lifecycle?

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2) These games aren't enough to persuade that many more Japanese gamers to purchase Xbox 2s...

We'll see. Right now, they've got nothing really to show. Let's see what Mistwalker can do.

EDIT: Sakaguchi gets to sound off

And for the slothful:

"...One of the games will be realistic. It will feature stylish graphics, and it will let you enjoy a sensation like walking through a spectacular movie, which is what I've always been aiming for...."

"...The other game will feature cute characters, and I hope it'll be an RPG that will raise people's spirits. It will feature a main character that keeps on going forward, without ever giving up, no matter what kind of hardship presents itself. The two games will have very different atmospheres..."

So it seems one will be Teh MaTurEH while the other is teH kItTy!

[KDR_11k]

Whoa, a japanese RPG hero that doesn't have sudden attacks of depression and nihilism! Innovation!!