Can you tell us about some of the titles being developed by Square?

Yamauchi: One of my steps with the Fund Q was to create a separate company for a group of Square developers working on a new GameCube Final Fantasy title that will linkup with the Game Boy Advance. In Japan, Final Fantasy is a dependable franchise that sells quite well. Previous installments of the series sold more than 2.5 million units each, but with its most recent online version, Square's sales have dropped drastically. I think this is a big disappointment for Square, and the entire Japanese game industry. The Final Fantasy title being developed for the GC/GBA needs to differentiate itself from the rest of the series. It shouldn't be the same as its predecessors.

Final Fantasy has matured into an impressive series. However, I feel the era of a two or three-year development phase for a single game has ended. It simply doesn't equal prosperity in the gaming business. Game companies are losing profits and facing the dilemma of shortening development cycles while maximizing game quality. I believe that game creators have reached the point where we must give serious thought to this issue. A talented group of Square artists share that feeling, and they have started a project that attempts to face this challenge. How will Japanese gamers respond? If this new brand of Final Fantasy sells as well as previous incarnations, it will mean that audiences have recognized a game developed more quickly and at a lower cost than before. Developers everywhere are curious as to how it will turn out. They're all wondering on what sort of game we will create and how players react. Depending on the outcome, it will have an effect on how games are developed in the future. At its core, the Gam eCube (and my personal fund) has the potential to make new things a reality and change the gaming market forever. We're taking a big chance, and I'm very excited about the possible results.

Source: Dengeki magazine, Nintendo GameCube Fan Page