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It seems like we've been waiting for a very, very long time for a
few of this year's most-anticipated Square Enix titles. As time has
passed, the hype has been layered on in thick, gooey helpings;
screenshots, trailers, and demos have helped the process along very
nicely for titles such as Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy III.
How many of us realize, though, exactly how long some of
these games have been in the works? I realized this the other night,
while sifting through some old news, and yes, the answers might
surprise you.
Final Fantasy III, as many people know, was supposed to be remade
a long, long time ago. Indeed, the DS remake was first promised
almost two years ago, towards the end of 2004. While few
details were available for a long while after that, the game is now
finally set to be released. But how many of us know of the
convoluted history of the game? In reality, the idea of a Final
Fantasy III remake is far older than two years; a Game Boy Advance
version was heavily rumoured as far back as 2003, when the DS wasn't
even an idea. The roots of it, however, began when Squaresoft
announced that it would be remaking the game for Bandai's Wonderswan
Color a full three years earlier, in 2000! Perhaps it is fortunate
that the system failed and the plans fell through, or the current
incarnation may never have came to be. In essence, though, the idea
of bringing back this classic has been around since the Y2K buzz was
big and Bill Clinton was still President of the United States.
The story of Final Fantasy XII has been even more incredible.
It's been in development for the same console for almost as
long! We first caught wind of this game in January of 2001, if you
can believe that. That means that we'll have waited for the better
part of SIX YEARS by the time we finally get our hands on the game
in October. Six years! Sure, there were some development
difficulties along the way, and it was delayed almost two years from
its original 2004 release date over concerns of quality, but jeez...
that's a really long time. A whole lot of forethought, if you
will.
Square Enix did a lot of that, over the first couple of years of
the decade. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children was announced three
years in advance, and then delayed. Dragon Quest VIII was announced
in 2000, a full five years before it was released in North America.
The list goes on and on.
Let's fast-forward to today. Dragon Quest VIII has been released,
and the world has finally watched Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
without fear of the piracy police coming after their children.
Square Enix is set to release all of these other games - Final
Fantasy III, XII, VII: DoC - within the next few months. Where,
though, are the games of tomorrow? Why haven't we heard more about
the games we'll be seeing five years down the road? Why has the
largest RPG company not announced anything when it comes to the big,
bad future? Sure, we've had a pretty trailer of about seventeen
versions of Final Fantasy XIII, and a more recent announcement of a
new online venture, but beyond that, there isn't a whole lot to talk
about, it seems.
The question is, has Square Enix become hesitant to leap onto
many brand new projects with confidence? Perhaps the future is
somewhat cloudy; perhaps a clear winner in the next-generational
race will have to be clearly defined before Square Enix decides to
announce a Kingdom Hearts III, a Dragon Quest IX, or dare I say it-
a new Chrono game.
The next year or so will be a very interesting time, because once
the wave of Square Enix releases has passed, the time will come for
a gap to be filled, and the next wave will have to be announced
sooner or later. What games do we have to look forward to from the
big, bad Square Enix? And what systems will they be released for?
The decisions that Square Enix must eventually make could very well
decide the winner among next-gen consoles among RPGamers across the
world.
It won't be long now,
everybody. |
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