http://cube.ign.com/articles/611/611909p1.html
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Square Enix Talks Revolution
Could Nintendo's next console see support from the maker of Final Fantasy?
by Anoop Gantayat
May 11, 2005 - A recent interview with Square Enix president Youichi Wada at 
Japanese site Impress Game Watch suggests good things both for Nintendo's 
networking plans and the next generation Revolution system.


In response to Nintendo president Satoru Iwata's recent comments on the 
company's upcoming networking plans (Wada's comments seem to have been made 
prior to Nintendo's official announcement regarding its DS WiFi service), 
Wada offers up praise for the ideas featured in the plan, and even suggests 
that Nintendo could bring new users to the Online gaming world.
One area that Wada seems to be impressed with is a particularly 
controversial side of Nintendo's Online plan. In his comments posted at 
Impress Game Watch yesterday, Iwata states that Nintendo is going through 
with the idea of letting players connect only to players whom they've met in 
real life. While it's unclear how strict Nintendo plans to be with this idea 
(Animal Crossing DS is reported to allow for play amongst strangers), Wada 
applauds the move in his comments today, stating "It gives the image of 
taking the real world seamlessly into the virtual world." This new structure 
could lead to a number of changes in the current network gaming system, with 
Wada suggesting "the means of building a community will be completely 
different, and support and services will also change."

The stance Square Enix takes on the new networking plan in relation to 
Revolution is the most intriguing. "What increased our interest further," 
states Wada regarding the networking plan, "is that the next step is already 
being prepared for Revolution." Nintendo's networking plan is, according to 
Wada, "not just a portable, not just a console -- it's exactly what we 
wanted in that it's the birth of a completely new platform."

Wada finishes off on the note of support from Square Enix: "From here on, 
we'll have to challenge ourselves with content in response to what Nintendo 
offers. We would like to give strong support."

With these comments, Wada seems to be committing Square Enix to support of 
Nintendo's new networking plan, and this will almost certainly take early 
form on the DS. The mention of Revolution's role in the company's decision 
process suggests that future support for the console is a possibility as 
well.

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