Square Enix prez talks next gen

Intel's new Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme line of computer processors were hyped today at a special event in Tokyo. But perhaps the most pressing news stemming from the event came from the appearance of Yoichi Wada, president and representative director at Square Enix.

Wada delivered a speech and brought with him a screenshot from an unspecified, online game in development at Square Enix, according to Impress Watch.

The picture showed an elaborately rendered female in some sort of medieval fantasy setting, with a caption reading "Engaging next-generation platforms." Impress Watch said that the picture appears to be similar to one shown at the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo, where the game was introduced as an "MMORPG for next-generation platforms."

Wada used part of his speech at the Intel event to discuss next-generation game making. "It's a fact that the cost of game development is on the rise," Wada said. But, he added, "We haven't given up on the high-end market. If anything, its importance is increasing."

The exact platform has never been specified, and it could be that the mystery title is a PC game, but Wada, instead of revealing the information, seemingly tiptoed around the issue. "The question of what platform will be able to run this game is of great importance to the users," he said, without elaborating.