PSP World

Does Square Enix Heart the Wii?

With over 30 million units sold worldwide and legions of devoted gamers young and old, who doesn’t love the Wii? Square Enix, apparently. The Japanese software giant most well known for its Final Fantasy series of games recently announced the titles that it plans to show at this year’s Tokyo Game Show. Among the impressive lineup is not a single upcoming release for the Nintendo Wii. The lack of any kind of a showing for the motion-sensing console has many wondering whether this is simply an accident of timing, or if the venerable software maker has something against Nintendo’s family fun console.

The pessimistic sentiment among Nintendo owners is somewhat justified. Back in 2007, Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada came out and publicly denounced the console, likening it to a “toy” rather than a real gaming machine. Interestingly, he wrapped his insult in a bundle of compliments for another, unlikely competitor, the Xbox 360:

“I think the current trend is that most people aren't buying the Wii as a game machine, but as a toy," said Wada in speaking with CNET Japan. "The Wii is the antithesis of the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 is strictly for hardcore gamers. The attachment rate for the Xbox 360 is much higher than for the Wii. People who buy the 360 really like games."

Wada’s statements seem to have been borne out in the company’s software lineup. A plethora of games are planned for the Xbox 360 (including flagship title Final Fantasy XIII) in a country where the American machine has encountered desultory sales. Meanwhile, nary a Wii game is in sight, despite the company having previously made some intriguing announcements.

Square Enix has vaguely hinted at a number of projects for the Wii, including the upcoming Soul Eater: Monotone Princess. None of these will be shown at TGS this year. We hope that the company will make some exciting announcements during the conference, but given their past aversion to the console, we won't be holding our breath.