Sony and Square Bigwigs comment on deal. Take a deep breath and read on

The groovy Fengi at Video-Senki has translated the transcripts of the conference held between Square and Sony that took place yesterday in Tokyo.

It seemed that the first and possibly most important issue on the agenda was to address the exclusivity rumours that had started to circulate. There were well-founded concerns that Sony would begin to pressure Square into discontinuing its multi-platform strategy for the upcoming RPG Final Fantasy XI and beyond.

Ken Kutaragi was keen to address this. "We're not asking Square to make games only for PlayStation and PlayStation 2." Kutaragi stated "We're simply asking them to make fun games that everyone can get into."

Engendering support from Square is something Sony has excelled in over the past few years, so continued support for Sony systems should be viewed without financial suspicion, as Square President Nao Suzuki explained. “That possibility has not completely fallen away. However, we don't think the PlayStation will suddenly lose popularity. Our belief has always been to produce games for whatever platform is the most popular, and for now, that platform is the PlayStation and PlayStation 2.”

When asked about the future of the PlayOnline agreement with Namco and Enix, Suzuki stated, “There is no change to the agreement we had with the two companies, but we will be re-balancing our time and ability with an eye towards packaged software. We won't worry about anything other than games for now; starting with Final Fantasy XI next Spring, our first aim is to slowly gather a userbase. Namco and Enix are also behind this.

The future of Square’s handheld development was explained. We are still progressing with our initial plans,” said Suzuki. “We don't believe the portable and home console markets conflict with each other. If SCE decides to release a portable machine, though, that's a different story. For the time being, though, our stance towards Game Boy Advance and the WonderSwan has not changed at all. What happens next depends on the hardware developers.”

So there you have it, there is absolutely nothing to worry about. Hmmm…