spoonyrogdrumps
Blue Mage
Sure. I've said it before but have used it within certain contexts that are traits that have to do with IP's in this thread as well as another one called what is a "true" Final Fantasy. IP is a legal term which stands for Intellectual Property. I've used the term IP loosely as I address the traits of IP's in reference to video game creation and this franchise. In short IP is a legal term in relation to the creation of ideas that are bound by the creator and or creators in which they hold exclusive rights. Various similar definitions can be found. A sibling of mine is a corporate lawyer and could expound on it further. In some ways "IP" is just a collective law as it has several laws that follow under it. Sakaguchi and a few others were the creators of the Final Fantasy IP. They technically should hold exclusive rights to it. Square Enix is a publicly traded company though with a Transactional Intellectual Property which is a variant of the IP law and business's tend to have problems in this area especially when they grow. Squaresoft wasn't as big as it is now as Square Enix. Legally, technically, yes Square Enix owns the rights to the IP Final Fantasy. It is a Final Fantasy if they name it as such. In the defense though of the creators and their rights it belongs to them. They ran the company under Squaresoft and it is their property. Business politics, unethical practice, and greed pushed out Sakaguchi and they took his creation from him.
A true Final Fantasy or what is Final Fantasy or what should be is different from consumer to consumer, as most people will just look at a title and just think it to be so if it's named so.
In the eyes of the creator it's theirs. I like making money just as much as anyone else. If I create something I wouldn't want anyone taking it from me. Based upon certain statistics in market share the executives and major shareholders wanted Square to break into other genres to increase capitol. That's why you would here such things from Square or Toriyama talking about Call of Duty for inspiration. Whether that is him or actually Square speaking is unknown as I don't trust media or internet articles. They aren't doing a very good job at trying to get call of duty gamers or gamers more interested in other genre IP traits. The executives, shareholders and actual creators of the games themselves sort of have a push pull business relationship. The creators want money just as much as executives or shareholders wanting a return on investments. Square Enix owns the rights to Final Fantasy, but under the defense of this law I defend it's original creators as it is their IP. The core mechanics that they made is their creation. Their ideas. Therefore, the IP belongs to them. Even before the merger Squaresoft was pushing them out of the way. Sakaguchi didn't direct Final Fantasy X he just produced. Final Fantasy has changed it's IP with every game from X on.
Law and Literature go hand in hand. A lot of people that go into law school study History or English literature as a lot of heavy reading is required in law. Square Enix has not followed this law of literature in the naming of their franchise. They continue to number the games with roman numerals and avoid what they should do. They do it purposely and purposefully to capitalize on the franchise. Psychologically they confuse people by doing it that way. This also is saying that the creators of the IP Final Fantasy broke this law as well. It's easier for common minded people to follow a series by numbering it. That's not me talking that's just a statistic. I give more credit to people as this knowledge is obtainable if you do the work yourself and seek it out. These are the reasons I defend Sakaguchi and his team for creating Final Fantasy. Based on the ethics and morality of Law and Literature the IP belongs to them even though Square owns the franchise. Square may own the name but the IP belongs to the creators. The core mechanics are tied to it's creators. When the creator changes the IP changes. The core ideas were the same under Sakaguchi. He could have changed his own ideas/core mechanics but even then under the same creator the IP would need to change. When one changes the other changes with it no matter who created it. The video game industry have not for the most part followed these laws and ethics of literature. The laws, literature, ethics, and morality of an IP require them to re-boot the franchise under a new IP name/title. It can still be named Final Fantasy, but because of the laws of literature the roman numeral series as it is needs to stop, and the series needs to be reintroduced under a new IP/title. It's a historical fact that when you break the laws of literature the material doesn't hold up. In order for video games to be taken seriously at higher production values and have the same affect as a well crafted novel, a brilliant play, or an A-list movie the industry needs to follow these morals and ethics. Some video game developers are starting to do this. Video games over the years have had higher budgets for AAA titles.
So, did Final Fantasy die when Sakaguchi stopped creating it. Partly, as the name is tied to the IP which is tied to the creator. I believe though that the core mechanics, the vision and ideas of the IP Final Fantasy that Sakaguchi and his team created can come back even though Sakaguchi isn't there. They can still make good games but Final Fantasy has an identity crisis and the games have been terrible as a result based on the majority. They either need to stick to the IP as it was created by Sakaguchi keeping most if not all it's traits or change completely for it to survive if it survives at all. "Final Fantasy XV" which should be named Final Fantasy, looks like a good game, but most likely it will end up being Kingdom Hearts for older people teens and up, instead of being targeted to kids. It could prove to be a great game and may even have some traits of the core mechanics/ideas, but under the law of literature which is tied to law, laws of IP, moral and business ethics the games are not Final Fantasy. I hope for a time where they can bring the original IP back, but I'm doubtful. Sakaguchi was the President of Squaresoft and legally he should hold exclusive rights to the IP of Final Fantasy though he doesn't as he gave up that right by not being able to defend it in corporate law. It would have cost Sakaguchi more than his net worth to maintain hold of his position as the shareholders and other executives wanted more out of Squaresoft, hence the merger and changes. In short, Square Enix is struggling now and if they don't take their head out of you know what they will continue to suffer in sales with Final Fantasy because they alienate it's fan-base doing a poor job trying to get a new fan-base. There are lots of books, including text books on all these subjects. I hope that clarified your question and then some.
Last edited:
