Square-Enix Thinks "This Generation Has Lasted Way Too Long"; Haven't Made Worthy Game in 10 Years

While talking to GamesIndustry.biz, Square-Enix Worldwide Technology Director Julien Merceron shared his thoughts on the current state of the gaming industry and his views on the current generation of consoles. While other gaming execs have voiced their desire for next generation consoles, none have done it as boldly as Mr. Merceron, who believes that the lack of next generation consoles from Sony and Microsoft this year was the biggest mistake possible from the two leading companies and “this generation has been way too long.” Of course, Mr. Merceron conveniently seems to forget that the PS2 equally lasted this long during which Square-Enix enjoyed great success.

Speaking of the PS2, it’s probably worth mentioning that Square has done everything wrong this generation by turning out two dull Final Fantasy titles which were both poorly received and has yet to pump out anything worthy of the Square title which, in the heyday, automatically meant quality with games like Final Fantasy 7-10, Xenogears, Romance Saga, Kingdom Hearts, and more. Instead, Square has continued to purchase smaller companies and release their games like Deus Ex: Human Revolution and the yet-to-be-released Tomb Raider and Hitman: Absolution. After the jump, the full statement from Square.

“Now you don’t need to manage longevity by complexity of programming, because your longevity is ensured by your online model. And I would suggest that maybe we don’t want long generations. We have Sony and Microsoft talking about this generation lasting 7,8,9 or even 10 years and it’s the biggest mistake they’ve ever made.

This generation has been way too long, and I say this because you have a lot of developers that work on a new platform, and perhaps will not succeed, so they will wait for the next generation, and will jump on that platform. You could not do that with this generation though. So these developers went elsewhere to see if the grass was greener. They found web browsers, they found iOS, they found other things and a lot of them won’t come back to the hardware platforms. So you could look at it that thanks to Microsoft and Sony and the length of this generation, it helped the emergence of other platforms and helped them get strong before the next hardware comes out.”

Despite turning out to be a dud company who has yet to provide a next generation experience that fans wanted from the once acclaimed RPG maker, Square-Enix also seems to be out of touch with the game industry and the worldwide economic downturn that started way back in 2007. With developers like Naughty Dog continuing to push the gaming experience with games like Uncharted 3, and The Last of Us which are able to wow us, 6 years into the PlayStation 3’s release, its easy to see why the answer for Square-Enix is simply for new consoles which can provide easy new graphics without requiring the developer to truly understand the system. On the other hand, gamers continue to be happy with their invest into their console(s) of choice as both Sony and Microsoft continue to add new functionalities to their devices like the PlayStation Move, Kinect and a host of new apps like Netflix and Hulu.

With so much entertainment still left in each console and the worldwide economy still adjusting itself with all the troubles from the financial market which have made finding jobs harder, its easy to see why gamers might not yet be ready for next generation consoles and why it was a good move on both Sony and Microsofts part to not yet release them. Further more, to assume that the mobile explosion would not have taken place had there already been a PS4/Xbox 720 is both bizarre and borderline idiotic as one would have to assume that the reason 5 year olds and 75 year olds enjoy games like Angry Birds on say iOS is because they were waiting for next gen consoles and because they never came to fruition, they simply moved on to an iPhone or iPad.

Speaking of games, hey Square, how did Final Fantasy 14 turn out, and where is our Final Fantasy Versus XIII?