Microsoft obviously went all out and recruited the top-tier talents of Square Enix somehow,,, lord knows how many of their wives they prostituted and their kids they offered as ritual sacrifices in order to pull off this major coup! But it' s finally done and it' s what I' ve been saying they' d need to do in order to make an impact in the Japanese market.

The Xbox360' s Japanese launch is going to be mighty interesting. I can' t wait to see how it performs over there. Can' t friggin wait to check out those weekly sales!

It' s also gonna be mighty interesting to find out Sony' s reaction to it all as I don' t think this bit of news pleased them at ALL! I remember after Soul Calibur was announced for the Dreamcast how it was reported that Sony and Namco had a major disagreement over that move and how afterwards Namco was planning to bring more hit titles over to the Dreamcast, but I guess Sony chilled out long enough to work things out with them so that those key franchises remained on their platform...

But now Sony Computer Entertainment finds themselves going up against a very hungry competitor who can outspend them in acquiring exclusives and hit titles. This next-gen war is gonna get NASTY!!!!

Just as clarification from an E3 conference standpoint: S-E has only committed to FF XI for the 360, which already exists. Sony maintains a significant share of S-E, and any further installments in the flagship series (FF XIII, FF IV, whatever) are expected to remain exclusive to Sony.

This is much like the deal S-E brokered with Nintendo, when they developed FF: CC for the console. The original and continuing FF franchise titles have, and will more than likely continue to be, exclusive to Sony platforms. As far as other S-E titles are concerned, multi-platform is the best that can be expected; S-E hasn' t " left" Sony. This is a rumor that is flying all over the Internet, so before it spirals out of control on our site here, I wanted to shed some light on this.

Although I doubt that Square Enix could produce a game that I' d call heavenly (unless they finally decide to give us a true ActRaiser 2 with Yuzo at the podium of a major symphony orchestra), I still think it is a good deal because it will help attract more Japanese players (along with the other Japanese developers that are making games for the 360). More Japanese players means a bigger market in Japan, which means more Japanese games, which means fewer FPS games per capita, which means more enjoyment from the console as a whole for me.

But Final Fantasy 11? I wish MS tossed more $$$ in their face and got them to debut Final Fantasy 13 on the thing. Now that would be a major coup. And games like Final Fantasy Crystal Meth do not count.

It makes sense, however I don' t see many games other than online RPG' s being released on the system.

Fathoms

How much of Square Enix do Sony own? I know Sony bought a share in Squaresoft when they were struggling after the debacle that was the Final Fantasy Movie and the Hawaii movie studio. However I didn' t think it was that big (10% at most).

Q: What will happen to Square' s relationship with its main investor, Sony Computer Entertainment, after this merger?

Wada: Square has received an investment from Sony Computer Entertainment. However, this investment is a completely independent issue from what games we provide for the PlayStation 2 system. Therefore, if you' re asking whether our relationship will change after the merger, then no, it wouldn' t have changed whether Square merged or stayed by ourselves. [With Square' s old stock in hand, Sony will own about 8 percent of Square-Enix off the bat.]

From an interview at the time of the Square-Enix merger a while ago.
It wouldn' t surprise me if FF13 ends up on PS3 and X360

Just to let you guys know, that tech demo they showed off after unveiling FFXI seems to be a bit more than a tech demo. I think you get what I mean. though nothing official has been said, MS is saying that Square Enix is giving them some big support and they' ll make an announcement related to that tech demo some time soon. Square Enix has said they are dedicated to making games for the 360. Games, as in more than one game. Go watch that " tech demo" a few more times and you' ll basically see the beginning of the next game coming from Square Enix. Still, nothing is " official" .

Rampage, where can the " tech demo" be downloaded?

btw, i' m more interested in the two RPG by Sakaguchi, Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey.

I too am more interested in in the Mistwalker creations since they come from the people that made FFVII.

Let' s see... link, link, link... where did I put that... http://xboxyde.com/news_1529_en.aspx