Maruyama move spells Final Fantasy Xbox? Can he better bikini girls?
Square Senior Vice-President joins Microsoft’s Eastern push.
Bikinis: Failed to shift Xbox in Japan
Microsoft’s Xbox division has announced that it has appointed Yoshihiro Maruyama to the key role of Xbox General Manager for Japan, in a move that will doubtlessly make the Xbox-sceptical consumer base in the country sit up and take notice.
Maruyama-san was former senior vice president and chief operating officer of Squaresoft, amicably leaving the firm at the time of the Enix merger.
Yoshihiro is going to be a tremendous asset to Microsoft and our Japanese initiatives,” said Microsoft's Peter Moore. “He has proven to be a stellar trans-Pacific talent over the years, and he has a great depth of understanding of Japanese and U.S. market issues as well as solid relationships with many industry leaders.”
Speaking at the Tokyo Game Show where the announcement was made, Maruyama-san requested questions from the audience, one of which was whether his move spelled future Square Enix support for the Xbox, which has still to gain a foothold in the Japanese market. The answer was intriguing. He said that talks had been ongoing between the two companies for years, though nothing was in place at this point in time.
He said that Microsoft considers support from SE as important and the Japanese Xbox office would continue to “court” the firm hoping to ensnare one of Japan’s most important developers.
We’ll bring you any updates on this intriguing prospect as soon as we can.
Maruyama-san was former senior vice president and chief operating officer of Squaresoft, amicably leaving the firm at the time of the Enix merger.
Yoshihiro is going to be a tremendous asset to Microsoft and our Japanese initiatives,” said Microsoft's Peter Moore. “He has proven to be a stellar trans-Pacific talent over the years, and he has a great depth of understanding of Japanese and U.S. market issues as well as solid relationships with many industry leaders.”
Speaking at the Tokyo Game Show where the announcement was made, Maruyama-san requested questions from the audience, one of which was whether his move spelled future Square Enix support for the Xbox, which has still to gain a foothold in the Japanese market. The answer was intriguing. He said that talks had been ongoing between the two companies for years, though nothing was in place at this point in time.
He said that Microsoft considers support from SE as important and the Japanese Xbox office would continue to “court” the firm hoping to ensnare one of Japan’s most important developers.
We’ll bring you any updates on this intriguing prospect as soon as we can.
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