Yesterday I listen to the RetroforceGO! podcast. This time, the subject was simply Squaresoft (That’s beforethey merged with Enix and became Square-Enix for those of you unaware of that 
). It was a complete nostalgia trip for me, remembering all the great games they developed. As a young lad, they were without a doubt my favourite game company, probably still thou not as in the old days. In recent years they have released some really strange titles. But the memories from my youth, playing all those great classic games which have shaped me in many good ways.
Still everything wasn’t as great as one would hope. Especially one thing that always bugged me, and still do, is how Europe don’t get all new titles. A problem that have been discussed by Europeans on Destructiod and by the great Zero Punctuation in Australia. Not only the wait for games to be released here and there, but some games simply won’t be released at all!
I remember reading about Secret of Mana 2, after playing the first one and starting looking forward for that game. Then for some strange unknowing reason Square only release the game in Japan. Thank god for dedicated fans who spend their spare time translating the whole game and release it for other fans to play. I downloaded it and played in a Super Nintendo emulator, it was the only way to ever experience the game. If fans take their time to translate a game, doesn’t that say something about whether the game should have been release to begin with? The same goes for Bahamut Lagoon, Japan only release, but unofficially translated by fans. Okey back in the days when games weren’t as big, but this continue.
Today I mostly react to the different releases among the 3 markets, Europe, US and Japan. Why is this still going on, and complicating things with different regions!? The same can be said about regions for movies. Real fans don’t want to wait, I know I’m one of those. In the old days we didn’t have much choice, but in the present days high technological constant connected society, its a different story. Why should we have to wait?
Sure you could import the games, but this wasn’t all as smooths as one would want. I imported Final Fantasy 3(6), Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross and a hell of a lot other Square games from the US, some to play the instant they got released, but some simply wasn’t released here at all. I have chipped my Playstation One, used special adapters for my Super Nintendo, just to be able to play some of the greatest games ever made! I love these games, but still confused why they have complicate things for the players and fans.
Eventually fans will figure out ways to play these games, but why not make it easy for everyone to play them? Skip the regions, have a worldwide release! And release those old games again, not as remakes, but originals, instead of just making spin-offs of the new games like Final Fantasy 7, oh how I don’t want any more games from that universe. I want my 2D pixel fix…please! 
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