"Square Enix is considering releasing the next installments in its popular RPG series on both Sony's and Microsoft's next-gen consoles.

In an interview with Reuters, Square Enix president Yoichi Wada disclosed that his company is considering releasing new installments of its Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest role-playing series on both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. "We will decide by E3 in May [2006] as to whether to release them on both the PS3 and Xbox, or just one platform," Wada told Reuters.

For the most part, both Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest have been exclusive to a single platform. Both series made their debut on Nintendo's NES in the 1980s, and they continued to be hits on the SNES. However, Square defected to Sony Computer Entertainment's camp in the late 1990s, and the primary Final Fantasy series became exclusive to the PlayStation and later the PlayStation 2. Enix also shifted its Dragon Quest series to the PlayStation in 2001 before merging with Square in 2003. The series then shifted to the PS2 with the 2004 remake of Dragon Quest V and Dragon Quest VIII, which just shipped in North America.

That said, there have been exceptions to the two RPG series' platform exclusivity. The massively multiplayer RPG Final Fantasy XI is currently available for both the PC and PlayStation 2 and will be released on the Xbox 360 next year. The spin-off Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles was released for the GameCube in 2004, and plans for a Revolution version have been announced. Reissues of older FF games have been released for the Game Boy Advance, including the forthcoming Final Fantasy IV Advance. Slime MoriMori: Dragon Quest 2 is coming soon to the DS in Japan. There have also been mobile versions of both series, as well as Final Fantasy releases on the now-dead Wonderswan Color platform." [link]

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