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Sakaguchi managed to successfully brown-nose the company's "cutting-edge" efforts for the next-gen race, and stated that he was "excited about the two epic game titles [they] will be developing." Note that "they" in this case is Microsoft Game Studios, and that the Mistwalker crew will merely be involved as designers, with Sakaguchi doing what he did best before Square canned him -- executive production.

Additionally, an interview with Sakaguchi published on Xbox.jp gives some further insight into the upcoming titles, as well as Sakaguchi's intentions. The "esteemed creator" claims that both titles will be epic, but one will be a realistic, stylistic RPG with "deep psychological development", and the other will pursue SD (super-deformed) renditions akin to the upcoming Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song, and lend its scenario more to clich?s. Both of these projects were started several months ago, between Fall and Winter 2004.

Game Informer Online also took advantage of the opportunity to talk to Microsoft's Peter Moore, although it's not too descriptive -- some marketing mumbojumbo about how Sakaguchi-san is the best choice for Japanese development, yada yada (it's quite obvious at this point that Microsoft can't get Square Enix on Xenon no matter how hard they try), Game Informer asks some stupid questions met with equally stupid answers, the usual.

Apparently "a number of talented creators" are also involved, which probably explains the mythical FFXII delays, and Sakaguchi thinks the new games will be "a new vision for gaming". He concluded with some rhetoric about emotionally affecting gamers with his new epic stories.

This would seemingly cement increased success for Microsoft in Japan the coming generation, considering that thusfar all attempts at flirting with the Japanese gaming audience have been met with failure. But is this Sakaguchi being bought by Microsoft, or Microsoft allowing Sakaguchi to sign on with them?

Forums / News / Sakaguchi returns to executive producer's role on two upcoming Xbox 2 RPGs

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25 Feb 2005 05:19 staff Nephtis Vapid Buttmunch online | PM | e-mail	I'm going for Microsoft buying up Sakaguchi, but at the end of the day, I will be very interested to see how many of these titles actually go western, and whether they'll be good, or simply crap. (Mostly in the translation area)
27 Feb 2005 15:09 staff Ziyad Nerd Patriarch online | PM | e-mail	It's going to take me a very long time to chain enough expletives together to describe this.
28 Feb 2005 15:00 staff Nephtis Vapid Buttmunch online | PM | e-mail	Can I help? I think you'd need quite a few people, the South Park Movie and a few other films to aid in this quest.
01 Mar 2005 17:31 staff Matt Vapid-in-Chief online | PM | e-mail	Don't pout yet -- it's yet to even be known whether Mist Walker is even capable of quality titles.
02 Mar 2005 00:20 staff Nephtis Vapid Buttmunch online | PM | e-mail	I'm not pouting! (Simpsons!) Nah, I don't care whether it'll be 'quality' because I won't be buying an Xbox, aside from the principle, I won't have the money anymore thanks to lovely uni!
02 Mar 2005 05:05 staff Rahul Face of Square Haven online | PM | e-mail	I'm sure Mistwalker has design skill (Sakaguchi has 20+ years of experience designing games). My worry is whether MGS can implement the ideas to any relevant extent. If the quality of the RPGs doesn't at least somewhat match Square Enix, what's the point? I doubt they're waiting for the next Baten Kaitos (Masato Kato) or Xenosaga (Takahashi).
04 Mar 2005 16:53 staff Nephtis Vapid Buttmunch online | PM | e-mail	Yeah that's true, if they can't match the rest, they'll just die. They are new, so I agree with implementing the ideas. I suppose time will tell.
21 Apr 2005 09:31 Mr. Domino Vapid Buttmunch online | PM | e-mail	I think Sakaguchi's leaving Square was inveitable, and going over to Microsoft was probably the best choice. The Mistwalker games will probably start out a little shaky, as Sakaguchi gets used to working with both new hardware and new developers, as well as they to him, but in the end, it might spur up competition between Square and Mistwalker, which is always a good thing.
23 Apr 2005 07:49 malachy Vapid Buttmunch offline | PM | e-mail	Yes, so lets hold our breath til we know more.

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