[Hero]

It depends on where the company ventures after first success or failure. The Terminator 2 movie did very well, yet it took ten years for a sequel for that to surface, and when it did, the director/writer that made it popular didn't even step up to the plate. Mortal Kombat 1 was a successful movie, but then again, I was in Junior High when it was released. At the time, I wasn't a very credible movie critic. At this time I watch the movie, and I am quite disappointed. If you contrast it to other movies that came out in its time, (Braveheart, The Rock) then it was not as good as we thought it was. It was a transitional movie that was more like the company's quick cash pot. You won't see a Criterion Mortal Kombat box set any time soon. The other problem was that Midway pocketed all the profit and could only afford Robin Shou, who is not so good of an actor that he wouldn't need support from comedy sidekicks and Christopher Lambert. (Yes, if you watch Mortal Kombat 1, you will realize that Robin Shou's acting and script didn't make him a lively character... Only him being paired with Linden Ashby and Bridgette Wilson, who are both washed up now, made his performance more than dissapointing)

The whole Jean-Claude Van Dam, "Scream dramatically while you slowly strike your opponent" scheme just doesn't fly anymore. Soon, wire frame kung fu will be in the same wash up category. In a few years, you'll look back and realize how much better of a movie We Were Soldiers was compared to The Matrix, just because of all the cliche that arise from it.

Now back to the subject... I am on the_artist's side on this one. Square's developement chart is no where near astounding and they're running out of idea's. Unlimited Saga (Which was released but was so horrible, they better not continue it) and Final Fantasy X2 aren't exactly chart busting RPG's like what 7 and 8 were. They also won't have cycle sales like FF6 does. (People buying it again and again, becoming a collectors item in original form). Other companies are "developing" a feel for good rpg's, (I love making puns) and are striking really hard when the iron is hot for them, and not for Square. Think about it. Final Fantasy X came out, which has controversial success (One person likes it, the next doesn't), and not too long afterward, Konami releases Suikoden 3.

The best sales technique is to release something better AFTERWARD, because you get time to make something that makes people think, "Wow this game is so much better than X(Insert wash up Shaq Fu title here)X, which was made by X(Insert Midway type company here)X, so from now on I'm going to only buy from X(Insert company that, like Sony, played the cards right)X"

It's an advertising scheme, and Square isn't playing by that deck of cards anymore. They went with the rockstar approach. "I made so much money of my other crap, now Im going to make stuff that I wanted to make before, but was scared of not making sales" And it's NOT going to help them in the long run. Merging with Enix only unveils some of Square's new faults, because such a prestigious company used to be sour about merges. (After the thing with Capcom) I think they teamed up with Disney, merely for the fact that Disney is following the same "wash up" path. "All our new stuff doesn't sell, so let's make sequels to the stuff that did". (Final Fantasy X2, The Little Mermaid 2, catch my drift?)