Squaresoft

In 1985, Squaresoft began making games for the Nintendo Famicom (called the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America and Europe). Their early games were not very successful, and by 1987 the company was facing the possibility of going out of business. However, that same year, Squaresoft employee Hironobu Sakaguchi was given a chance to make a game that would either make or break the company. He named his creation Final Fantasy, a console role-playing game that revolved around four sacred crystals, one for each of the four elements in the fantasy world. Final Fantasy did much better than Sakaguchi had ever hoped, in both Japan and the U.S.; the game was followed by a sequel in 1988, marketed exclusively in Japan until Final Fantasy Origins. Squaresoft has made fourteen other Final Fantasy games since, and has become a defining force in the role-playing genre.

Square has also made other games such as Xenogears, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy Tactics, Threads of Fate (a.k.a. DewPrism), Vagrant Story, and Kingdom Hearts (with Disney Interactive). The company's Square Pictures division also made a CGI movie based on Final Fantasy called Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within in 2001.

Square agreed to merge with Enix (another Japanese company best known for its popular Dragon Quest series) in 2002 so as to curb development costs and become more competitive. In April of 2003 the merger was completed, forming the new company, Square Enix.

=Softography=

• NES
  • 1986: King's Knight
  • 1987: 3-D WorldRunner, Rad Racer
  • 1989: Final Fantasy
  • 1989: Final Fantasy II (Japan only for the NES, fan-translated in 1998; Playstation remake released in the United States under Final Fantasy Origins)
  • 1990: Final Fantasy III (Japan only, but fan-translated in 1999), Rad Racer 2

• Super NES
  • 1991: Final Fantasy IV, Romancing SaGa (Japan only)
  • 1992: Final Fantasy V (JAP only for the Super NES, but fan-translated in 1998; released in the United States on the Sony Playstation under Final Fantasy Anthology), Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
  • 1993: Secret Of Mana, Romancing SaGa 2 (Japan only)
  • 1994: Final Fantasy VI, Live A Live (Japan only, but fan-translated in 2001)
  • 1995: Chrono Trigger, Secret Of Evermore, Seiken Densetsu III (Japan only, but fan-translated in 2000), Romancing SaGa 3 (Japan only), Front Mission (Japan only, but fan-translated in 2001)
  • 1996: Bahamut Lagoon (Japan only, but fan-translated in 2002), Rudra no Hihou (Japan only, fan-translated in 2003), Super Mario RPG, Treasure Hunter G (Japan only, fan-translated in 2003)
  • 1998: Radical Dreamers (Japan only, fan-translated in 2003)

• Playstation
  • 1996: Tobal No. 1
  • 1997: Bushido Blade, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy Tactics,
  • 1998: Brave Fencer Musashi, Bushido Blade 2, Einhander, Final Fantasy VIII, Parasite Eve, Saga Frontier, Xenogears
  • 1999: Chocobo Racing, Chocobo's Dungeon 2, Final Fantasy Anthology,
  • 2000: Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy IX, Front Mission 3, Legend of Mana, Parasite Eve II, Saga Frontier 2, Threads of Fate, Vagrant Story
  • 2001: Final Fantasy Chronicles
  • 2003: Final Fantasy Origins

• Playstation 2
  • 2000: The Bouncer
  • 2001: All-Star Pro Wrestling II, Final Fantasy X
  • 2002: Kingdom Hearts, World Fantasista
  • 2002: Unlimited SaGa

• Nintendo GameCube
  • 2004: Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles

• Game Boy
  • 1989: Final Fantasy Legend
  • 1991: Final Fantasy Adventure, Final Fantasy Legend II
  • 1992: Final Fantasy Legend III

• Game Boy Advance
  • 2003: Chocoboland, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

• PC
  • 1998: Final Fantasy VII
  • 1999: Final Fantasy VIII

External links

• Squaresoft official homepage
• The History of Square

Referenced By