Square's president Yoichi Wada gave an interview in the Japanese daily newspaper Nihon Keizai Shinbum, speaking about the company's recent agreement with Nintendo. In the interview, he reassured PlayStation 2 owners that Square's main focus remains development for that system; despite the fact the situation isn't what it was seven years ago, when Square turned away from Nintendo to develop exclusively for the PlayStation, the bulk of Square's programmers, designers, and their entire studios will remain devoted to the PlayStation 2.

Perhaps of most interest to RPGamers is the example Wada cited to back up his statements; Final Fantasy XII, which as of yet remains shrouded in mystery, has been confirmed as a PlayStation 2 release. For the first time, a tentative release date has also emerged; Wada has indicated Square plans to release the game sometime in 2003.

Wada did not clarify whether or not a Final Fantasy title would eventually appear on the GameCube; he did, however, say that there were programmers within Square who wished to do so. He went on to say that this does not pose a conflict of interest for the company in terms of its relationship with Sony, since the latter's console is more focused on the online aspect of gaming (Wada referenced Final Fantasy XI as an example of this focus), while Nintendo is currently concentrating on the more traditional offline console titles. He then emphasized that Game Designer Studios will be responsible for titles developed for Nintendo.

This interview doesn't exactly clear up any of the uncertainties surrounding the Square-Nintendo reconciliation, but it does give some indication that perhaps, development on FFXII has begun. RPGamer will provide information on that title as it becomes available.