Square Enix CEO Wada Talks Social Gaming and Console-Free Future

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Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada recently spoke with industry magazine Develop about the future of the company responsible for the beloved Final Fantasy series, with a focus on new development possibilities in social and browser-based gaming.

"Social and browser games, which is now a very big genre, is something we have started development into," Wada states. "I believe that these types of games are going to be spreading and growing dramatically - especially in areas like Asia which does not have much penetration of consoles."

Wada asserts that Xbox LIVE is the "true strength of the Xbox 360," and praises Microsoft's efforts of consistency and consolidation of Xbox LIVE and Games for Windows LIVE. He even hypothesizes that social games could overtake the traditional console game market in as little as 10 years, citing the current industry-wide focus on network-based gaming. Wada explains his vision, stating that "...instead of relying on the hardware layer the network becomes the operating system." He also mentions that the PS3 Cell chip is similar to a home server, and is "...well matched to the parallel processing we use on server-based games."

That's not to say that there aren't some hurdles to overcome, and Wada recognizes that there are. The console-free future he envisions would almost certainly have a devastating impact on distributors and sales firms. He also understands that typical social gaming markets are highly indigenous, advising developers to make shared experiences for the communities that they best understand from both social and cultural perspectives. This logic likely explains why Square Enix has begun its social gaming initiatives in Japan only, despite Wada's interest in getting Eidos involved in similar efforts for western audiences.

The social gaming space promises a lot of relatively untapped potential, though if 'cloud-gaming' services like OnLive are any indication, much pioneering is still to be done.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    December 15, 2009 6:17 PM

    Armchair analyst, Dr_Cube checking in but I agree with this. As a PC gamer I've seen my beloved PC cede the mass market to the consoles due to ease of use and cost but beyond the consoles there's apparently another, bigger frontier: the "casual" gaming market. This apparently dwarfs the 360/PS3 crowd. As companies chase those dollars which reside on platforms they don't control, services like Live Anywhere will determine the winner.

    Who was the genius at Microsoft that came up with and successfully pushed Xbox Live during the original Xbox days?

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      December 15, 2009 6:27 PM

      I hope that gaming as a whole doesn't go that way. It would ruin the hobby. Just look at the movies and music industries. I would hate it if the game industry become exactly like them.

      Like Dr_Cube, I'm a huge PC fan and while I'm also a big console gamer, I hate how gaming it geared to the casual gamers nowadays. "Accessibility is one word that every true gamer should be afraid of because it's one of the words they throw around these days meaning the watering down of a game.

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      December 15, 2009 7:10 PM

      Even as I'm building my OC'd i7 Quad dual SLI I realize it will be my last build for a very very long time. I mean is it real wise for a PC developer to publish games that will only play well on a small percentage of the PC market. Remember the Intel demos of Alan Wake on OC'd Quads. Microsoft has nixed Alan Wake on the PC. Message - We don't make games for PC hardware enthusiasts. No one wants to repeat CryTeks "Crysis" Uber PC hardware requirements that tanked sales.

      Other diehard PC players (including myself) have taken up the Console with little issue. I personally prefer to play the game on the platform is was designed for. Unfortunately, just like the PC before them, costs are getting extraordinarily high. Anyone else note how quickly publishers aim to trim or cut Dev teams altogether after the release of a Console title.

      For developers and publishers - It's easy to see the attraction of casual browser based games, more important their Accessibility.

      On the positive side, so long as their are a few publishers like Valve in the PC market, there will be a good reason to have a PC at the ready.

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        December 15, 2009 7:21 PM

        I agree with all of that and I have purchased a console as well. Too many of my friends are on Live. I hope enough of a market remains to keep devs like Valve and Blizzard around plus console ports. Right now, I think that's the best I can hope for.

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          December 15, 2009 10:20 PM

          Don't have the link handy but a recent story reported that 40% of PC game revenue equal the entirety of one of the consoles' software revenue (I assume PS3). I wouldn't worry about PC gaming going anywhere, though the days of endless technical advancement and corresponding hardware upgrades might be drawing to a close...

          Anyway, now that both the 360 and PS3 have died on me and games require patches and installs left and right, I'm not really sure how much "convenience" I gain anymore in exchange for losing all the customization and depth that PC games tend to offer compared to console.

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            December 16, 2009 4:21 AM

            "Anyway, now that both the 360 and PS3 have died on me and games require patches and installs left and right, I'm not really sure how much "convenience" I gain anymore in exchange for losing all the customization and depth that PC games tend to offer compared to console. "

            Couldnt have said it beter myself. I have an xbox 360 and I admit some of the games are fun. But when it gets down to it. there is always something missing especially in an FPS game on a console. I really wish they would at least make a keyboard mouse controller available for games on consoles. I know they do that on the PS3.

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