Well, my gaming word just ground to a halt today

[Anastasia]

http://www.forbes.com/business/newswire/2002/11/25/rtr806282.html

http://www.gamepro.com/index.html/gamepro/famitsu/games/news/27256.shtml

Damn, just damn.  It's not everyday that my console RPGing world gets rocked to this degree.  Square and Enix merging will undoubly have a huge impact on RPGs for years to come.  Comments?

[Carthrat]

Oh. My. God.

They *BETTER* not fuck up. >_>

[Dracos]

They have already been fucking up. -.-

But it annoys me to see the competition lessen.

Fearless Leader

[Ginnezumusha]

Mmmm... RPG Monopoly.

[Shukuen]

Monopoly? Yeah right. Maybe in Japan, but that isn't the issue, is it?

(E)ffective November 26, they will begin to merge operations and form Square Enix, a brand-new company created to compete in the world marketplace on the same level as America and Europe's large third parties.

It even states that the reason for their merger was "(they're) having difficulty competing with EA, Activision, Infogrames and other Western software giants."

They aren't as blind as you believe. They see competition overseas and wish to better their position in the industry.

[Anonymous]

Well, there is something I'd like to add to this.  For any naysayer, merging the two companies is a good thing, especially if we see things from this perspective...

It'd add new blood to the mix...

Would do good things for both of them to have a different perspective on the goods they make, yah?

[RyderHakubi]

One thing I'm trying to figure out...

Didn't Square already have a deal with EA?  Or did that die?

[Shuten]

Bleh! The *only* thing it means is that Enix will *finally* have a dedicated Development Team instead of relying on outside Development Teams who are woefully unreliable.

Dragon Quest VII anyone?

Mind you I'm not going to criticise the game itself seeing as I haven't played it but I'd like to know honestly from those who have...  Was it truly worth the wait? Were all the delays worth it?

Still I have to commend Enix in one regard. At least they're faster than Working Designs and could technically blame it on the development teams for the delays.

Working Designs can't.

Still that's another tangent that has no place in this discussion. Regardless I view this as a good thing if for no other reason than we might see Enix actually start speeding up.

As it stands they can't get much slower. -_-;


Shuten

[Dracos]

Dragon Quest seven was a stellar game...

BUT had it come out when it should have it would have easliy been one of the best games of the year, instead of merely one of the ending shots for the playstation.

That said though...  Enix' ability to work with outsourced companies seems to be nothing more than pathetic from what I've read.

Tacitically this is a very sound move for both companies.

How it will effect us gamers...well, only time will tell.

Fearless Leader

[Shuten]

That said though...  Enix' ability to work with outsourced companies seems to be nothing more than pathetic from what I've read.

Enix's big problem is they rely *completely* on Outsourcing to develop their games. Every single game they've published was outsourced.

Prior to this announcement my opinion could be summed up like so:

"The next time an Enix game is delayed rest assured that some lazy bum is probably getting a backrub somewhere in the South Seas rather than doing his/her job."

Now though, much like yourself and others before, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. I would be quite pleased if I can move Enix to my A List.

Only time will tell though.


Shuten

[Anastasia]

I'm hoping this breaths new life into the stalled DQ 4 remake on the Playstation.  It got canned in the States due to developer shenanigans, and I'm still sore about it.

Dammit, I wanna play as Death Pisaro!

[Shuten]

Hmm... While on the subject of Dragon Quest you might be interested to know that Dragon Quest 8 is in the works.

Yuji Horii *Creator of Dragon Quest and Director of Chrono Trigger*, Akira Toriyama *Reponsible for the artwork featured prominently through out the Dragon Quest series*, and Koichi Sugiyama *The series composer* are set to return.

Being developed by Level 5, the same group who developed Dark Cloud, it will feature cel-shading and a tentative release sometime in 2004.

Source:
http://www.jaggedteam.com/bin/shownews.cgi?id=1895
http://www.jaggedteam.com/bin/shownews.cgi?id=1900


Shuten

[Anastasia]

About time...

Although, I'll just be happy if they don't hose you like they did in DQ 7.  The level/job point cap ruined the game for me until I 'sharked it away.

Why, let's give them worlds of building up to do and limit them to a bit each time.  UGH.

[Yuthirin]

Necropost: Blame Dune Edition

We're all used to this now. Hell, I'm pretty sure Dracos works for these people. Current opinions?

[Anastasia]

Beware the Dracos, that's what.