Square Co., Ltd.

Square Co., Ltd. was a Japanese company founded in 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto and Hironobu Sakaguchi.

Related Topics:
Japan - Company - 1983 - Masafumi Miyamoto - Hironobu Sakaguchi

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Square's first games were released for the Nintendo Family Computer (also known as the "Famicom," and known internationally as the Nintendo Entertainment System) and the Famicom Disk System. Their early games were not very successful, and by 1987 the company was faced with the possibility of bankruptcy. That same year, Square employee Hironobu Sakaguchi was charged with the creation of a game that might well prove to be the company's last. The result was Final Fantasy, a computer role-playing game for the Famicom.

Related Topics:
Nintendo - Family Computer - Famicom Disk System - 1987 - Hironobu Sakaguchi - Final Fantasy - Computer role-playing game - Famicom

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The term Final was picked because he was planning on retiring from the gaming industry and that Final Fantasy was going to be his last game. Final Fantasy did much better than Sakaguchi and Square had hoped, and led to a North American distribution deal with Nintendo of America, who released to market Final Fantasy in the United States in 1990. Due to its success, Hironobu Sakaguchi's plans for retirement ended and he stayed at SquareSoft to develop new Final Fantasy games. It may also be possible that the reason every new Final Fantasy game has a new story, with new characters is because the original Final Fantasy game was created with the belief that a sequel would never be created.

Related Topics:
North America - Nintendo of America - United States - 1990

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Final Fantasy was followed by a sequel in 1988, marketed exclusively in Japan until Final Fantasy Origins. North American localization was originally planned for the Famicom version of the sequel, but given the age of the game at that point, and the imminent arrival of Nintendo's Super Famicom (known internationally as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System), it was abandoned in favor of the Super Famicom Final Fantasy IV.

Related Topics:
Sequel - 1988 - Final Fantasy Origins - Localization - Nintendo - Super Famicom - Super Nintendo Entertainment System - Final Fantasy IV

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Square has also made other widely known games such as Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Seiken Densetsu 3, Xenogears, Final Fantasy Tactics, Brave Fencer Musashi, Vagrant Story, and Kingdom Hearts (done in collaboration with Disney Interactive).

Related Topics:
Chrono Trigger - Secret of Mana - Seiken Densetsu 3 - Xenogears - Final Fantasy Tactics - Brave Fencer Musashi - Vagrant Story - Kingdom Hearts - Disney Interactive

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Square was merged into Enix, another Japanese video game producer, in 2002 so as to curb development costs and become more competitive as a result of Square's major financial loss with '. In April of 2003, the merger was completed, forming the new company, Square Enix.

Related Topics:
Enix - 2002 - 2003 - Square Enix

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