Square Enix to buy Eidos, cover it in zippers.

[G-Boobie]

This is probably the weirdest news I've seen yet this year. Square Enix has offered to buy Eidos outright for $120 million, and it looks like Eidos is going to sell.

Link!! (http://kotaku.com/5152117/square-enix-trying-to-buy-tomb-raider)

The news is especially odd in light of Square Enix's latest game delays and revised financials for 2008. (http://kotaku.com/5152115/square-enix-slashes-financial-forecast) Sales and income are expected to be down.

So! Lara Croft in Kingdom Hearts 3 confirmed.

[sisko]

Squeenixdos?

Can't say I'm a terribly huge fan of Eidos games at the moment, so it'll be interesting to see how they handle the merger.

[Ze_ro]

I don't find this very surprising. Square Enix has been trying to get into the Western market for quite some time, and this seems a rather logical step.

Hopefully, they'll leave Eidos mostly to themselves, but enforce some stricter quality control.

--Zero

[Cinder6]

I'd rather have Raziel in KH3, personally... :)

[Gunface]

Interesting. Also, I like your thread title haha!

[Kitsune Sniper]

I don't find this very surprising. Square Enix has been trying to get into the Western market for quite some time, and this seems a rather logical step.

Hopefully, they'll leave Eidos mostly to themselves, but enforce some stricter quality control.

--Zero

You mean the old Square / Electronic Arts deal from years back wasn't enough? And aren't they a household name already? They have been for years, especially after Kingdom Hearts hit.

I fail to see the reasoning behind this merger, especially considering they're posting about financial losses; but I'm not a marketing guy, so who knows what's going on.

If they can afford to buy Eidos, let 'em. I'm just worried they're going to end up losing on this deal.

[aclbandit]

I don't find this very surprising. Square Enix has been trying to get into the Western market for quite some time, and this seems a rather logical step.

Hopefully, they'll leave Eidos mostly to themselves, but enforce some stricter quality control.

--Zero

Yes, YES, and MORE YES. I've been a Tomb Raider fan since the first one on the PSX, and was obviously saddened at the turn the series had taken for a while there. On the upside, they're less crappy now, but the newest one apparently still needs some help.

Thus, you're absolutely right: same games, better QC. Amen.

[TonyTheTiger]

As much as I like Final Fantasy XII, Square Enix isn't exactly at the top of the game anymore either so I don't know where all this talk of better games is coming from. We might get great remakes of Tomb Raider 1 and 2 out of them but I can't see this having a huge impact one way or the other.

[skaar]

I want a new Hitman game dammit.

[The 1 2 P]

Square Enix is going after everyone lately. First Tecmo and now this. Who do they think they are, EA?

[Cornelius]

In a world where K-mart can buy Sears, anything is possible!

[aclbandit]

In a world where K-mart can buy Sears, anything is possible!

Damn good point. I used to work for K-Mart, and up until that point in my life, I had always assumed it had been the other way around.

[Nionel]

Square Enix is going after everyone lately. First Tecmo and now this. Who do they think they are, EA?

Worse...they're the Japanese EA, that isn't EA Japan...or something...

Anyway, I was reading Kotaku a little bit ago, and it looks like in addition to this Namco Bandai is looking to purchase D3, man this combined with Midway filing for chapter 11...the developers have been busy today...

[Ze_ro]

You mean the old Square / Electronic Arts deal from years back wasn't enough? And aren't they a household name already? They have been for years, especially after Kingdom Hearts hit.
It's not a matter of getting their games into North America and Europe. They obviously haven't had any problems doing that over the last 10 years... What they want is to get some western developers making western style games that they can profit from. If you haven't heard Japanese game developers bemoaning the state of the Japanese game industry, then you haven't been paying much attention.

It's kind of funny, really... you see so many western developers trying to make Japanese style games, and ripping off their ideas... meanwhile, the Japanese developers are trying to do just the opposite.

--Zero

[Nikademus1969]

In a world where K-mart can buy Sears, anything is possible!

That's exactly what I was thinking!

[chrisbid]

hooray for overleveraged debt!!!


this could be the nail in the coffin for square... unless the japanese government bails them out

[GarrettCRW]

It should be noted that Square Enix also owns Taito. You'll notice that Taito's presence in North America hasn't exactly increased since 2005.

[G-Boobie]

It should be noted that Square Enix also owns Taito. You'll notice that Taito's presence in North America hasn't exactly increased since 2005.

I'd argue that point. Space Invaders Extreme, Legend of Kage 2, Arkanoid DS, Space Invaders Get Even, Liquid Kids DS, Rainbow Island DS, New Zealand Story DS... That's more original output from Taito in one year than they'd put out in the five years before.

[maxlords]

Not to mention that most of the games G-Boobie mentioned are awfully damned good too.

[poloplayr]

hooray for overleveraged debt!!!


this could be the nail in the coffin for square... unless the japanese government bails them out

how so?

[kupomogli]

I'm not really a fan of anything Eidos aside from the Legacy of Kain series and various other single games.

I'd like to see another good LoK game. That series has always been a hit or miss I think. I loved the original Blood Omen, Blood Omen 2, and Defiance, but I disliked Soul Reaver and Soul Reaver 2. Defiance is more like a Soul Reaver title but much more enjoyable.

[Sabz5150]

Lara and Tifa in one game? Even a PS3 doesn't have enough processor power to render that much bouncing.

[Mimi Nakamura]

It's simply a business acquisition. It doesn't mean Square Enix and Eidos will merge.

Didn't any of you learn about this kind of thing at school?

[G-Boobie]

It's simply a business acquisition. It doesn't mean Square Enix and Eidos will merge.

Didn't any of you learn about this kind of thing at school?

... Huh. I'm trying to figure out where you got the idea that anyone assumed there was a merger going on, since no one's even mentioned it except you. I certainly never said it.

Whether or not Square Enix and Eidos merge is irrelevant: Square Enix will own Eidos, and they will have tied themselves to a failing company. Eidos has put out nothing but crap and under-performing Tomb Raider titles for a couple years now. They're a shady company with a bad reputation for manipulating the gaming press and lying in their advertising. They've been losing money for years. They were failing. And Square Enix is trying to spend 120 million dollars to buy a failing company. Which makes no sense. because they're constantly losing money too.

My point is that Square Enix seems incapable of making a good business decision lately. They've posted losses for two straight years. The ONLY internally developed game they've released since the beginning of this console generation was Last Remnant. Which flopped. There is no fucking way that Final Fantasy XIII becomes profitable at this point, because it's been in development for something like five years with a full triple A dev team, and there's no end in sight. Dragon Quest IX, a DS GAME, has been in development Hell for three years. They haven't even nailed down a release date, but they've already announced Dragon Quest X? They can't get one single game out the door that isn't a Tose developed DS remake of a ten year old game, but they can spend over one hundred million dollars to buy a failing company with absolutely nothing going for it but Lara Croft?

[Nirvana]

Bring back Fighting Force

>_<