This is coming from a Nintendo diehard.

I'll give you a play-by-play of what I was thinking when I saw your article on Yamauchi. Keep in mind this happened in about a second. (The page loads and I see his face) First thought, finally, this is the news that Square and Nintendo are talking. (Read the headline) Second thought, noooo, crap noooo. (Read the article) Worst dreams are realized.

This reminds me of the Pac-Man fallout. Granted this is just from articles I've read. Nintendo really sticks it to Namco to get Pac-Man on the system. Namco declines because of the outrageous demands from Nintendo. Namco must then come crawling back to when they had no other option. I've heard the president of Namco actually had to beg or something equally humiliating. At that time they had no other option. Now they do and how many good games has the N64 seen from Namco compared to how many they could have seen. Tekken is still a stranger. Giant bullheaded Nintendo(Hiroshi Yamauchi) politics at work. That was then

This is now. Just when we think it's a new company, almost under new management, the big dinosaur rears his ugly head again. I don't know the falling out these two companies had but it must have been enormous. He's reverted back to his old "My way or the highway" routine and Square is probably now doing just like Namco and giving the big-N the big finger.

The problem for us as gamers is that it's hard to see the big picture. All we know is that Nintendo doesn't have Square therefore they must suck, the N64 missed a bunch of marquee titles therefore it must suck. We need to think like businessmen. Ever seen Nintendo's bottom line, they are raking in the dough, Pokemon might seem like a stupid kiddy franchise but not to the people whose paychecks depend on it. The reason Nintendo can do this is because they can afford it. If the economic rumors about Square are even possible then they might not be able to. That would mean Nintendo just needs to wait till they cave. Unfortunately I don't know what is really going on, Yamauchi may just not like Square's attitude or something equally childish.

Either way it sucks for us.
Y@

~MF

P.S. Don't you think it's funny that Yamauchi would be willing to accept Sega, a company they've better battling for nearly two decades, while they won't bring in Square, a company that could be essential to sales in Japan and the US, over an old act of opportunism?

Even though it's become something of a cliché, I think it's important to remember that respect and honor are still important in Japanese society, especially to people over 40 and especially to people in their seventies like Yamauchi.

First of all, without Nintendo's direct financial assistance, Square might not even exist today. They enjoyed a very close relationship even while the N64 was being developed (note the old Final Fantasy demo running on "SGI hardware" which, in retrospect, was probably pretty damn close to the N64 architecture).

Square's move to Playstation is now understood to have been a wise business decision, but to Yamauchi, who may have never seen it coming, it was a betrayal.

And even as recently as this year, when Square announced that Final Fantasy II for the Wonderswan (number 5 on Famitsu's most wanted list) would launch against the Game Boy Advance and that Final Fantasy X would launch against the Gamecube, they've been in face-to-face competition with Nintendo.

By being one of the biggest factors in Sony's home-system dominance, Square has found itself not only in demand but perhaps required for hardware success. But as far as Yamauchi is concerned, Nintendo does not rely on others for help; other companies rely on Nintendo. So when Sakaguchi made his flippant comments about the possibility of GBA development, Yamauchi made a point of reaffirming that he decides who is granted a GBA license.

It's not unreasonable to suggest that Yamauchi's strength and pride helped put Nintendo where it is today. So even if you don't fully understand him, you have to admit that he gets results, that he's got an admirable sense of honor, and that, all things considered, he could probably take Bill Gates in a fight.

Chris Kohler

Chris,

Sure, Yamauchi's statement may enrage us, but I urge everyone to calm down and think about this in another way: What will we do when the guy retires? Who will insult all of his competitors without any factual evidence while blindly proclaiming the godlike nature of his own company? Who will accuse said competitors of lurking in the shadows instead of fighting him face-on [damn, I wish I could find the exact quote..]? And compare Bill Gates to a bad sumo wrestler? And, of course, make horrible business decisions that will do nothing but harm both companies involved; decisions seemingly based on nothing but childlike pride and spite? He may be denying his system one of the most talented and most profitable developers in the gaming industry, but.. well, in the long run, aren't we so much better off with this guy around? Aren't we? ...yes? ...anyone...?

SR

-Josh Rivera

On a slightly less inane note, do Yamauchi's comments about Microsoft strike anyone else as incredibly naive? Our friends at Sony didn't appear to know a great deal about games when they appeared on the scene, and they, well, you know. I'd be immensely surprised if Nintendo shuts out MS in the coming years.

-CS-

I don't care much if you don't print this, but please read it for yourself. Bear with me, it is relevant to gaming in the end.

I put my nostalgia to the test the other night and watched Jim Henson's "The Dark Crystal" (If there have been any cheap, knockoff video games based on this that I'm unaware of, please mentally separate them from the movie). I was surprised to find myself enjoying it quite a bit more than I had when I was little; I suppose my more critical sense gave me a better appreciation for all the care put into the project. I found the world Jim Henson and company create with their elaborately crafted Muppets and sets, and modest special effects techniques to be far more immersive than any RPG I've played to date (and I do love my RPGs). Watching the "Making Of" section and seeing how much the film was a labor of love increased my appreciation of the film twofold. These people had a vision, created an entire world, and shared a part of this world with others, and that, to me, is what art is all about, whether that world consists of notes, acrylic, clay, or anything else.

So my point is this; I would hate to see Square, or anyone else for that matter, making games just because they are "a corporation", and "Corporations need to make money, or they get shut down." Someone asked, "Do you REALLY wanna wait an extra year and a half for the next Final Fantasy, Seiken Dentsu, SaGa, etc?" I say hell yes. Yes, if it means that the game creators get to flesh out their vision as sincerely and painstakingly as people like Henson and crew did for The Dark Crystal. If "The Corporation" feels it needs a new heritage title released every fiscal year to stay alive, then it's thinking bass ackwards, in my opinion. RPGs especially should be created to express an artistic vision, not to keep a company afloat, because the companies are there to support the creation of games, not the other way around.

So go check out The Dark Crystal and watch the documentary on its production if you haven't already (its all on the DVD). The project as a whole, from start to finish, parallels what I believe needs to go into a good RPG and what it needs to be. I think it would be a shame for game designers to treat their art with any less respect, dedication, and purity of purpose than The Dark Crystal folk did theirs.

-lowtech, wondering if Mr. Henson is watching Sakaguchi and his Spirits Within team from above, wondering if CG artists are the puppeteers of the new millennium

Yea, yea, I'm all pissed at the big fella too, but I had an interesting thought. If you consider Square's upcoming endeavors, could it be possible that this isn't a bad thing on Nintendo's behalf, but on Square's? We've debated that Square is going to need a load of support in order to sustain its investments in PlayOnline, and they can't do that simply by developing for the PS2 anymore. Unless, of course, every PS2 user signs up for PO, then there won't be a problem...Yea, right. There's still X-Box to develop for, but it's iffy where it's going to go...

They've put $150 million into the movie, and if it bombs then Square will surely be hurting financially. It seems to me that Square, as indestructable as they seem now, may actually -need- Nintendo and Gamecube's/GBA's support in order to provide the support they need for themselves, with the increased userbase and what-not. Not now, but soon.

Maybe Yamauchi is a man of vision, and he sees the future clearly; he's merely taking out Square's kneecaps now in order to buy them out when they're about 5.1 nanometers from bankruptcy later. That Japanese vengeance is a mean, powerful thing, I'm told.

Or all these viewpoints could simply be inaccurate completely. But whatever it is, I feel like this isn't a completely lost cause -yet.- We'll just see.

P.S. - Or maybe I'm in denial?

John L. MavericK

You know that warm, tingly feeling you get when you see something that makes you really happy? Ya know, it's like when you see two adorable kittens playing with a ball of string, or meeting with an old friend for the first time in years. That's the feeling when I heard Square was ready and willing to work with Nintendo again. And then, much like the Grinch who steals the nutty little holiday you and I like to call Christmas, Yamauchi comes and rips, rips, RIPS that joy away from me, leaving me with nothing more than tears and bitter words about how unlikely it will be I'll be getting that joy back.

I knew something like this was gonna happen, though. I was thinking, when I first heard Square's announcement there, I was thinking, "Well, the ball's in Nintendo's court! I'll bet they'll do something stupid like turn Square down." I said that last part half jokingly, and then it's exactly what happens!!! I was soooo looking forward to what it would be like having Square and Nintendo together again. It may have started with just the GBA, but then maybe the Gamecube, and then I'd be able to play Zelda and Final Fantasy and not have to pay for two consoles, just like in the days of old! But, alas, it was too good to be true. Hopefully, like the Grinch I compared him to earlier, Yamauchi's heart will grow 3 sizes when he hears all the fan's singing, and ride down on a sled full of SquareSoft games for Nintendo systems, but as of right now, it seems pretty unlikely, and that's a damn dirty shame. Man, first NBC cancels Daddio, and now this.....

-Melissa Tanchez

A theory is that Square wants to make GBA games primarily to cover their upcoming losses for the FF Movie. The GBA has virtually no competition; developing games for it would be a no-brainer. Because of their deals with Sony, Square can make GBA games, but no exclusive GameCube games. Yamauchi sees this as an opportunity to either get all of Square (with games for both NGC and GBA, and none for competitors), or none of it (thereby counter-screwing Square over). Square has a choice: either come crawling back to Nintendo (losing face, but making a lot of money) or stick with the PS2 (making less money -- enough to cover $137 million? :P).

Thus, Yamauchi is both a business genius and a heartless bastard.

Jogurt

How about a battle system where you get gp (or whatever) for killing or capturing the creatures you fight as a bounty. Perhaps there is an over-populization of monsters, and the local/global government has put prices on their heads. You kill a little creature, you get a little bit of money. You kill a big one, you get a bigger reward. And as for items, perhaps you could ask for those instead of cash, as an option.

Just a thought.

-Banjax, wishing he had a robotic arm, a super intelligent dog, and a computer-hacking lunatic.

~Qui-Gon Joe