Square Enix prez sees goals clearly, PS3 fuzzy
As Square Enix president Yoichi Wada spoke with CNET Japan, we borrowed Engadget Japan's Ittousai and listened in. While Wada defined the Square Enix vision as a 5-year plan to be a Top 3 worldwide publisher (currently ranked 11th by Game Developer), he's still having trouble seeing where Sony is going with PlayStation 3. "Is it a game console for gamers or a high-performance consumer electronics machine?" Wada wondered. "I really want [Sony] to make a clear decision."
As for Square Enix's own business plan, Wada doesn't want loyalists to think the company will water down its franchises to appeal to a broader market, though recent releases would suggest otherwise. When questioned about Square Enix's reliance on Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest (including a recycling campaign and string of simplified spin-offs), Wada countered with numbers, claiming that the two franchises accounted for less than half of the company's revenues. His defense suggested that fans' demands for new installments were the reason Square Enix dedicates 60% of development resources to existing IPs. Want something new? Quit with the death threats and love notes.
