Speaking to Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Japan's leading economic daily newspaper), Square President Hisashi Suzuki admitted that his company has made mistakes over the past few years. Suzuki-san was quoted as saying, "Our true enemy, was our pride," pride resulting from the several excellent years Square enjoyed on the PlayStation.In an attempt to cope with two straight fiscal years of losses, Square is still trying hard to obtain a license from Nintendo for GameBoy Advance development. Earlier this year, Nintendo of Japan President Hiroshi Yamauchi, still angry because of Square's departure to the PlayStation camp, was quick to turn down that request. In retrospect, Suzuki says, the public battle of tough words and action (Square pursuading Enix to jump on the PS bandwagon as well) which has been waging for almost four years wasn't exactly a great idea.
Square executives have frequently mentioned the GBA issue in interviews throughout the year, saying they would love the develop games for the platform, in particular ports of Final Fantasy V and VI. Nintendo, on the other hand, was only interested in giving Square a GBA license if in return they develop five titles for Nintendo's next generation console, the GameCube as well. With Nintendo's major competitor, Sony Computer Entertainment acquiring a 19% stake in Square earlier this month, this scenario has become more unlikely, though.
