Wada: "Square-Enix stands to benefit from PS3 price drop in 2010."

Addressing the press in Tokyo this week, Yoichi Wada (president of Square-Enix), told the media that the company will benefit from the recent price point drop of the PlayStation 3 console in the next fiscal year. Several Square-Enix titles are being developed for the system, most notable of which: Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Here's a full report from Gamasutra:

Square Enix To See 'Big Impact' From PS3 Price Cut Next Year
by Kris Graft
August 26, 2009

Square Enix head Yoichi Wada told reporters Wednesday that the PlayStation 3's recent price cut won't have a major impact on the company's current fiscal year, but expects "a big impact" next year.

Wada told media members in Tokyo the price cut and PS3 hardware redesign doesn't warrant an increase in sales and profit guidance for the current fiscal year ending March 2010.

"In terms of the impact (the PS3 cut) will have on this financial year's earnings, I don't think there will be a major difference. But I expect there to be a big impact from next year," he said in a Reuters report.

Square Enix's highly-anticipated Final Fantasy XIII is expected to launch on PS3 in Japan in calendar Q4 this year, and sometime in the next fiscal year (beginning in April) in the U.S. and Europe, where the game is also launching on Xbox 360.

Square Enix recently acquired U.K.-based publisher Eidos, which released the Rocksteady-developed Batman: Arkham Asylum this week, a game that is expected to be a strong seller, considering the brand recognition and strong reviews.

Earlier this year, Square Enix released Dragon Quest IX for Nintendo DS, a major hit for the firm that has sold 3.64 million units in Japan to date.

A week ago, Sony announced at the Cologne, Germany GamesCom convention that it would be dropping the price of the PS3 to $299 from $399, at the same time redesigning the hardware into a sleeker package.

SOURCES: Gamasutra, image from Kotaku

Kitase: "Development on Versus will be quicker than FFXIII"

Recently at the Gamescom conference at Cologne in Germany, FFXIII producer Yoshinori Kitase was asked by Gamekyo about the development of Final Fantasy Versus XIII since we haven't heard much about it in a good long while. Here's a translated answer:

Tommy Angelo
Gamekyo
-rough translation from French-

While media and information about Final Fantasy XIII abound on the web lately, we must admit that Versus XIII stands well back from the media spotlight for several months. Disturbing? Not really if we believe Yoshinori Kitase has affirmed during the 09 Gamescom that development for Final Fantasy Versus XIII will be "faster" than FF XIII.

While it is true that part of the team responsible for the action RPG that helped FF XIII lately for Kitase this will result in accelerating the development of first city. Thence to imagine a kind of FF Versus XIII for 2011 there is only one step. You cross it?

SOURCES: Gamekyo (Tommy Angelo)