Square Enix CEO: 360, PS3 too complex

Square Enix dropped the bombshell in December that the latest in its Dragon Quest role-playing game series, Dragon Quest IX: Guard of the Starry Night (working title), would be coming exclusively to the DS. As the last installments of the game--which is very, very big in Japan--were on Sony's PlayStation 2 and original PlayStation, the news was a head-scratcher for many.

Square Enix's president and CEO, Yoichi Wada, has now explained the decision, which he says was made so that the "widest array of people" could play the latest installment in the RPG series, reports the Financial Times. He believes bringing the series to the DS means the game could find fans outside of its current audience.

Wada appears not to be a fan of complex next-gen consoles like the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, which he calls "over-engineered." He told the newspaper, "There are too many specs--and you also need a high-definition TV, a broadband connection, and a deep knowledge of gaming--these consoles are mismatched to today's environment. In a year or two years, they will fare better."

The Square Enix executive believes that the ground has shifted in the gaming industry. "[Whereas] in the old days,we could just focus on the PlayStation or the Game Boy," he said, "the environment has changed completely." A new breed of gamer has also emerged on the back of the release of Nintendo's marketing push to embrace nontraditional gamers--including women and older people--and this means, Wada says, "we have to make games for all kinds of people."