yoichi-wada

Wada wants Japanese gamers to stop discriminating against Western games

December 8th, 2009 at 06:00pm Under Xbox 360

Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada wants Japanese gamers to be more open to Western games. In a Japanese TV interview (excerpted and translated by Kotaku), Wada said, “Even now, there have been people in Japan using the label youge- (literally ‘Western games’) with a terribly discriminatory meaning.” While the concern about Western games may seem uncharacteristic for the head of a Japanese publisher, this is the Japanese publisher who just purchased Eidos, and who is currently marketing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in Japan.

“I’d like them to try it once,” Wada said about Modern Warfare 2. “If they play it once, they’d realize how incorrect that label is.” Just like the subtitles.

Wada wants Japanese gamers to stop discriminating against Western games originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tags: fps, japan, modern-warfare-2, square-enix, western-games, yoichi-wada, youge

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Square Enix summons Earnings Report; Final Fantasy XIII Sales Projections evade attacks

November 6th, 2009 at 11:30pm Under DS

Square Enix recently chose to attack with its annual earnings report, and among the 12-page PDF file’s barrage of numbers, things look pretty good for the company. Net sales for the six months ending September 30, 2009 were up 33 percent over the same period last year to 91 billion yen ($1 billion), while operating income was also up by 39 percent to 13 billion yen ($144.5 million) over the same period last year. It’s not all roses and Dragon Quest IX sales, however — net income was down almost 58 percent to 2.7 billion yen ($30 million).

The statement also talks about the acquisition and assimilation of Eidos in direct proportion to Square Enix’s games group division — which includes video games across all platforms and online games for personal computers. Through the aid of titles like Batman: Arkham Asylum, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and the aforementioned Dragon Quest IX, the games division rose its net sales and operating income by 117 percent and 63 percent to 4.8 billion yen ($53 million) and 1.0 billion yen ($11 million), respectively.

As for the company’s upcoming darling, Final Fantasy XIII, Square Enix prez Yoichi Wada spoke about concern regarding the title’s projected domestic sales. Basically, he’s not concerned at all! “PS3 sales continue to increase. We’re bundling PS3 and FFXIII, and can expect even further sales increases. Orders for FFXIII are definitely not bad,” he said. While he didn’t reiterate anything as bold as six million, Wada did claim that the game is expected to sell in the millions.

Source – Square Enix earnings (PDF) [Via andriasang]
Source – Wada comments on FFXIII sales

Square Enix summons Earnings Report; Final Fantasy XIII Sales Projections evade attacks originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tags: dragon-quest-ix, earnings, earnings-report, eidos, financial, square-enix, yoichi-wada

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Square Enix ‘considering’ Dragon Quest IX localization sometime after April

August 9th, 2009 at 04:30pm Under Wii / Nintendo

Having sold well over three million copies of Dragon Quest IX in Japan, isn’t it the obvious choice for Square Enix to bring the hit RPG worldwide as soon as possible? Well, maaaaaaybe.

In an investor Q&A session, president Yoichi Wada said that the company is “considering” releasing DQIX overseas, according to Siliconera’s translation, and still deciding which regions will receive it. And when Square Enix does get around to it, the company doesn’t plan to release it anywhere until after April 2010, the start of the company’s next fiscal year.

The Dragon Quest series, obviously, isn’t as major anywhere else as it is in Japan, but Dragon Quest VIII sold around half a million copies in North America, which seems, at least … worth the trouble.

Square Enix ‘considering’ Dragon Quest IX localization sometime after April originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 09 Aug 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tags: dragon-quest, dragon-quest-ix, rpg, square-enix, Wii / Nintendo, yoichi-wada

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Square Enix expects to ship 5 million copies of Dragon Quest IX

July 20th, 2009 at 01:30pm Under DS

Last week, Square Enix president Yoichi Wada gave a statement to Japanese press that helps illustrate the company’s (justifiable) sales expectation for Dragon Quest IX. “We’re looking at reaching over 5 million copies of Dragon Quest IX shipped,” he said, as translated by Kotaku. With three million shipped in the game’s first week, 2.3 million of which sold right away, five million seems conservative, and we can only assume Wada is referring only to shipments in Japan.

Somewhat less conservative is the forecast Wada made last year, of ten million units. While we have absolutely no doubt DQIX will break a record or two in Japan with the combination of Dragon Quest-level initial sales and DS-style longterm sales, that still seems optimistic.

Square Enix expects to ship 5 million copies of Dragon Quest IX originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.