A lot of Japanese companies have no vision for the future. CAPCOM seems to be playing the "DLC cashgrab" as much as they can. Sqeeunix is...well, no explanation needed. Konami is going okay, but they're dwindling in terms of their influence (remember the days of DDR?). Nintendo can't seem to make up their minds as to the direction of the WiiU or the 3DS. The same goes with Sony for the Vita.

I think it's an attitude thing. Japanese companies have been spending way too much time "reimagining" franchises (DMC, Dragon Quest, Metroid, Resident Evil, Final Fantasy, etc) instead of trying to deliver on what the fans have already said they want.

I agree with everything you said with the exception being Nintendo. Nintendo always has a vision for the future. They are not perfect, but they are sitting on 14 billion in unencumbered cash due to their recent success. This is no accident or fluke. Who knows what the future holds, but with the exception of the recent losses, they've just had the most successful run the company has ever had. Not fair to clump them in with other Japanese developers, Nintendo is the exception to the rule in this case.

exactly , Japanese dev houses seem to be going through an identity crisis, there just trying to conform to western styles

yeah i just wish they go back to turn based for final fantasy, stop conforming to western games, its not working. I loved the new xcom that came out. We really need a new final fantasy tactics style game.

lol they haven't even had a good vision for the present

"Suzuki-san tweeted that Square’s 2003 merger with Enix has failed"

About time someone admitted it.

Like ive been saying all this time the current gen game development costs are ruining game developers because of this you see alot of developers rush games or cut content and sell as dlc.

its sad too because the Square and Enix merger was supposed to be amazing. Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy under one roof was like a JRPG fans wet dream. now they're just shit.

Ive known this all too well...

Spirits Within is the cause of it all. They put all their eggs in that basket and nearly went bankrupt. The merger of 2 GREAT companies created 1 MEDIOCRE company. Sad time for all RPG lovers.

the spirits within disaster was after merger talks had begun...enix actually wanted to back out after spirits! but yea the merger killed both companies along with attempting to be western to try and match cods profits

The second they merged the competition between ff and DQ died and therefore didn't need to better each other

and after that merger they sold their souls.....

Why are these companies so damn ignorant? Do they EVER do research on the games we actually want?! It's seriously pissing me off!!!!!

well, if you take into account the majority, what "we" really want is more FPSes...

sad but true.

Funny how its mostly Japanese companies are like that, the japanese are proud people, not like they would admit defeat or want help.

@chadboban: Also localize Final Fantasy Type-0 since it's supposed to unbelievable.

If they do all the things you mention plus the above, they'll be back on top again.

I agree with your sentiment entirely.

However, SE has been crafty. Whilst the development house have have been ignorant to the wishes of fans (to the point of bloody mindedness) the company are publishing games with big names and followings like Hitman, Tomb Raider and Deus Ex. Basically that means a consumer base will always be there. It might not be the traditional one, buts it's a consumer base none the less.

Don't forget the Batman Arkham games!

Ah you are correct though I wonder just how long those titles will continue to keep a following. With new games "original" games coming out and fresh ideas coming out just how much weight will it hold? Jabber brings up a pretty good point if they do such things as making games as great as Batman Arkham (Asylum/City) then more than likely they will have that future; although if they let it slip by the wayside especially in a JRPG department it kind of makes me wonder.

The World Ends With You was great, unfortunately I didn't finish it.

Most kingdom hearts sequels are actually important to the story, two of them offer and expand the series as much as the first three games did.And the series is held back because of versus, which is really their own fault.

Then TWEWY... I dont know if i still want a sequel to that game considering it was great as a standalone game with no real reason to go forward as the town wasn't destroyed in SMT fashion or was there anything left to answer, besides the higher planes.

Good luck knowing anything if you don't play those KH "spin-offs." They are really important to the series. Just because it's on a handheld doesn't mean it's a side game. I think Coded was probably the only spin off.

The keyword there were "fans want", you know.

They bought Edos. They aren't getting smaller.

Sad that people still think that Versus has any kind of chance at being good.

sad you don't think Versus could have topped both 13-1 and 2 instantly like the rest of us. Q_Q all over the place

Didn't say that. If it comes out it'll likely outsell all three of the regular FF13 titles combined - IF ITS GOOD.

If it its not, if there's the usual confusion surrounding fan reaction and reviews as the last ones, its going to sell less than one of them. And after all this time, when there are only current Square titles to go by, its too much to expect that they'll suddenly do better.

FFXI was the best MMORPG I ever played, nice try though.

They've done nothing even remotely good with the FF franchise. XI was horrendous and and the series continued a downward trend since. So much so I doubt I'll be buying another until they can prove that they can make FF relevant again.