Square's take on the Virtual Console; Ten years of FFXIII

IGN has a rather lengthy and enjoyable interview up with Shinji Hashimoto of Square Enix, whose first involvement with the company was as "Promotions Producer" of Final Fantasy VII. The interview covers a ton of Final Fantasy-related questions, some of which I'm fairly certain FF fans will enjoy reading. Although, as is always the case with Square, there was some bad news involved:

As for other Nintendo-based Final Fantasy product, the magazine began by asking about possible Virtual Console downloads for the series. Things look bleak, at least in Japan. "We feel that the Japanese game market still requires media," explained Hashimoto. "Also, FF and Dragon Quest are played by a wide range of users, from children to adults, so there are limitations when you consider the problems that we would have with billing systems."

Hashimoto wouldn't specifically comment on future Final Fantasy games for Nintendo systems. When asked about the possibility, he noted the DS's success, but also pointed out that this doesn't necessarily guarantee that a game will sell. "We have to consider how we can make something that will be easy for casual users to get into."

Game|Life's Chris Kohler thinks he might have a better explanation as to why Square isn't embracing the Virtual Console just yet:

A much more likely explanation -- hinted at by Hashimoto's point about physical media -- is that Square Enix is still raking in too much cash by porting its old games and charging $30 a pop for them at retail to want to screw that up by letting people download Dragon Quest for $5.

I'm inclined to agree. Moving on, no serious consideration of a Final Fantasy game for a Nintendo system is kind of sad, but not surprising in the least. But the old "casual games" excuse again? You can do better than that, guys!

Here are some of the other interesting topics covered in the interview:

- Final Fantasy XIII to last ten years?

- Un-announced FF game to make an appearance at the Square Enix party in May.

- The workings of Square's Final Fantasy team and an interesting Zelda tidbit.