Square-Enix's Wada Says: It's All About Handhelds
The times, they are a changing. It used to be, that handheld games were the ugly stepchilds of the consoles. It seemed that developers got lazy when designing hand held games--you'd get bad remakes of games you already own, or games that only take a few hours to beat. I've owned probably every handheld device that Nintendo has had to offer, and can honestly say that until the DS, only owned a few decent games on each one.
But with DS sales through the roof in Japan and the US while PS3s sit quietly on storeroom shelves, you have to ask what exactly is going on. Reported by the Financial Times, Square-Enix President Yoichi Wada says that the current gaming environment will be focused on handhelds. If deciding to put Dragon Quest IX on the DS isn't the proverbial proof in the pudding, he also said,
“There are too many specs – and you also need a high-definition TV, a broadband connection and a deep knowledge of gaming – these consoles are mismatched to today’s environment. In a year or two years they will fare better.”
And it's true that I know a small amount of people with HD TVs, and a large amount of people with broadband connections, but almost none with both and a next gen console. Personally, that's why I bought a Wii too, not having the specs to fully enjoy a 360 or PS3.
What's next, FFXIV PSP?
[via Siliconera]
Pirate Prince
Posted to Hot Stuff on 12 June 2007
Other stuff like this: financial times, handheld gaming, square-enix, yoichi wada
