Square Enix Frustrated With PS3 Marketing

Square Enix president Yoichi Wada took Sony to task Friday, saying the future success of the PlayStation 3 console may be in doubt "if its marketing strategy is not straightened up."

The PS3 was initially marketed as a home entertainment product, however pressure from game developers has caused Sony to market the device more as a gaming machine. The resulting confusion has some game developers upset, including Yoichi.

Square Enix is the game developer behind Final Fantasy, one of the most successful game franchishes on the PlayStation platform. If the company is not happy, it could easily port these titles to another platform, further damaging hopes of the PS3's recovery.

It would not be the first time that something like this has happened. Many developers who had signed up to produce launch exclusives for the PS3 instead decided to release versions for the Xbox 360 as well when it became apparent the console would be delayed.

While Yoichi has not come out and said that Square Enix would abandon the PS3, his comments sound like a stern warning to Sony to figure out ways to be more competitive.

Japanese gamers may finally be warming up to the PS3 -- or cooling off on the Wii -- if statistics from gaming magazine Enterbrain are any indication. In June, the console was being outsold six-to-one, while that number fell to four-to-one in July.

In the most recent survey for August, the figure has shrunk again to three to one. However, looking at the actual numbers tells a different story. In July, 91,987 PS3's were sold. Only 82,000 were sold this month. Thus, the falling ratio has more to do with less Wiis being sold than a broader interest in the PS3.

"With the competition in Japan being between the Wii and PS3, Sony's total decimation in the market isn't sitting well with third-party publishers that have major costly titles set up for the PS3," Alexander Sliwinski wrote for the blog Joystiq. "The PS3 may be doing better, but it's still not doing well."