Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd.

Type	Public
Traded as	TYO: 9684
Industry	Software & programming Books & magazines (Japan only)
Founded	September 22, 1975 (Enix)[1] September 1986 (Square Co.)[1] April 1, 2003 (as Square Enix)[1] October 1, 2008 (as Square Enix Holdings)[1]
Headquarters	Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
Key people	Yasuhiro Fukushima, Honorary Chairman Yoichi Wada, President and CEO (Square Enix & Taito) Keiji Honda, Executive Vice President Phil Rogers, President and CEO (Square Enix Europe) Mike Fischer,[2] President and CEO (Square Enix, Inc.)
Products	Final Fantasy Dragon Quest Kingdom Hearts Tomb Raider Hitman Deus Ex Thief
Revenue	¥127,896 million (April 1, 2011 - March 31, 2012)[3]
Net income	(¥6,060 million) (April 1, 2011 - March 31, 2012)[3]
Employees	3,297 (as of March 31, 2011)[4]
Subsidiaries	Square Enix Group Taito Group Square Enix Europe[5] Eidos Group
Website	www.square-enix.com

Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. (株式会社スクウェア・エニックス・ホールディングス, Kabushiki-gaisha Sukuea Enikkusu Hōrudingusu^?) TYO: 9684 is a Japanese video game publisher^[6] and distribution company best known for its role-playing video game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the Kingdom Hearts action RPG series. Its headquarters are located in the Shinjuku Bunka Quint Building in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo.^[7][8]

The original Square Enix was formed as the result of a merger between Square and Enix. The merger occurred on April 1, 2003, with Square stockholders receiving 0.85 shares of stock in the new company compared to Enix stockholders receiving a one-to-one trade.^[9] Enix was the surviving company of the merger.^[10] At the time, 80% of Square Enix staff were made up of former Square Co. employees.^[11] As part of the merger, many of the top officials within Square Co. assumed the leadership roles in the new corporate hierarchy, including president Yoichi Wada, who was appointed president of the corporation. The original founder of Enix, Yasuhiro Fukushima, is currently the honorary chairman and largest shareholder of the corporation.^[12]

The company also owns Taito Corporation, best known for arcade games such as Space Invaders and Bubble Bobble, and former game publisher Eidos Interactive, which has been absorbed into Square Enix Europe. Square Enix now publishes all of Eidos' IPs and runs Eidos' development studios. Eidos was most well known for publishing the Tomb Raider, Hitman, Deus Ex, Thief, Legacy of Kain and Championship Manager series of games.

Corporate history[link]

This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (October 2009)

• April 1, 2003 - Square Enix formed in a merger between Square Co., Ltd. and the Enix Corporation.
• July 2003 - Square Enix relocated its headquarters to Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo.^[1]
• March 2004 - Square Enix acquired UIEvolution, Inc. in order to strengthen its wireless market.
• January 2005 - Square Enix founded Square Enix (China) Co., Ltd (China), expanding their interests in the People's Republic of China (The company also has a controlling interest in Community Network Software Engine of Beijing, China which focuses on network middle-ware for gaming)
• August 22, 2005 - Square Enix announced its acquisition of the gaming developer and publisher, Taito Corporation, renowned for their arcade hits, such as Space Invaders and the Bubble Bobble series.
• September 28, 2005 - The acquisition of Taito is completed.
• week of September 5, 2006 - Square Enix sued for breaking a contract with Soft-World International.^[13]
• December 2007 - UIEvolution splits from Square Enix to become an independent company
• August 29, 2008 - Square Enix made plans for a friendly takeover of Tecmo by purchasing shares at a 30 percent premium with a total bid of 22.3 billion yen.^[14]
• September 4, 2008 - Square Enix withdrew their offer after Tecmo rejected the proposed takeover.^[15] Pure Dreams series formed.
• October 1, 2008: Square Enix transforms into a holding company and is renamed into Square Enix Holdings. At the same time the gaming, contents and publishing businesses are transferred to a spin-off named Square Enix,^[1] sharing the same corporate leadership and offices with the holding.^[4][16]
• February 12, 2009 - Square Enix Holdings announced a takeover deal worth £84.3 million (32p per share) for Eidos plc, the holding company for Eidos Interactive, the UK-based publisher of the Tomb Raider, Hitman, Deus Ex, Thief and Legacy of Kain franchises.^[17]
• April 22, 2009 - The acquisition of Eidos is completed.

Business model[link]

The business model of Square Enix is centered on the idea of "polymorphic content", which consists in developing franchises on all potential hardware or media rather than being restricted by a single gaming platform.^[18] An early example of this strategy is Enix's Fullmetal Alchemist manga series, which has been adapted into two anime TV series, two movies, and several novels and video games. Other polymorphic projects include Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Code Age, World of Mana, Ivalice Alliance and Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy. According to Yoichi Wada, "it's very difficult to hit the jackpot, as it were. Once we've hit it, we have to get all the juice possible out of it".^[19]

The standard game design model of Square Enix is to establish the plot, characters and art of the game first. Battle systems, field maps and cutscenes are created next. A typical game of the company involves a team of at most 200 people. Square Enix doesn't usually use other companies' engines, preferring to code from scratch.^[20] According to Taku Murata, Square Enix has settled into this game making model since Square's Final Fantasy VII in 1997 and did not try other approaches since,^[21] as Enix did not have any internal development studio. Similar to Sony's Greatest Hits program, Square Enix sometimes re-releases games under the Ultimate Hits label, a designation given to games that have achieved a certain level of sales, at a reduced retail price.

In 2004, Square Enix began to work on a "common 3D format" which would allow the entire company to develop titles without being restricted to a specific platform: this led to the creation of a game engine, named Crystal Tools, which is compatible with the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360, Windows-based PCs and to some extent the Wii.^[22] Nevertheless, Square Enix has also begun considering other companies' engines and programming languages, licencing Epic Games' Unreal engine in 2007 for use in The Last Remnant,^[23] and using the Squirrel language for the WiiWare title Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King.^[20]

Production teams[link]

In 2003, Square Enix's development staff consisted of eight Square and two Enix Product Development Divisions (開発事業部, kaihatsu jigyōbu^?).^[24][25][27] Product Development Division 5 had a management office in Tokyo but the actual development team was based in Osaka. All the other Product Development Divisions had their development teams based in Tokyo.^[24]

As of May, 2005, Product Development Division 10 was headed by Yoshinori Yamagishi.^[28] Yusuke Hirata, the former head of Product Development Division 5, left Square Enix in June, 2005 to join Aquaplus.^[29] He was replaced by Yoichi Yoshimoto.

Yasumi Matsuno, the former head of Product Development Division 4, left in August, 2005 due to prolonged sickness.^[30] He was replaced by Hiroyuki Ito.

Koichi Ishii, the former head of Product Development Division 8, left in April, 2007 to start game development company Grezzo.^[31] As a result, Product Development Division 8 was closed and the remaining staff transferred to other divisions.

Toshiro Tsuchida, the former head of Product Development Division 6, left in March, 2011 to join GREE.^[32][33] It is currently unknown if somebody has replaced him or if Product Development Division 6 has been closed and the staff transferred to other divisions.

1st Production Department[link]

At present, the teams in charge of Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy, Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Dissidia: Final Fantasy and the Kingdom Hearts series is collectively referred to as the 1st Production Department (第1制作部, dai-ichi seisakubu^?). The current structure of the 1st Production Department is the result of a fall 2010 merger between Product Development Division 1 in Tokyo and Product Development Division 5 in Osaka.^[34] However, despite the new name, there is no 2nd and 3rd Production Department as the other divisions maintain their original names.^[34]

Properties[link]

Video games[link]

Square Enix's main concentration is on video gaming. Of its properties, the Final Fantasy franchise is the best-selling, with a total worldwide sales of over 100 million units as of June 2011.^[35] Square Enix's Dragon Quest franchise is considered one of the most popular game series in Japan and new installments regularly outsell other games at the times of their release. Of the 57 million units of games in the series sold so far, about 52.4 million have been from Japan, about 2.9 million have been from North America, and about 1.7 million have been from Europe.^[36] More recently, Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts series (developed in collaboration with Disney's Buena Vista Games) has become popular.

In early 2003, Square Enix's U.S. subsidiary registered the Dragon Quest trademark, retiring the Dragon Warrior moniker, which was necessitated in 1989 due a trademark conflict with the now defunct TSR, Inc.. In May 2004, Square Enix announced an agreement with Sony Online Entertainment for the Japanese publishing rights to EverQuest II. Square Enix has produced or is producing titles for most major consoles beginning with the Nintendo Entertainment System, though never on a Sega platform. Square Enix has historically developed exclusively for certain consoles. The company developed its flagship games almost exclusively for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, PlayStation, and PlayStation 2 in their respective eras. However, Square Enix is not developing all of its major titles for one console exclusively in the seventh generation, as they have done in the past, but instead released the next major installment in the Final Fantasy series, Final Fantasy XIII on both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in North America and Europe, and has recently announced that Dragon Quest X will be released on the Wii. Square Enix has also developed titles for handheld game consoles, including the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable. In addition, they have published games for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers, and for various models of mobile phones. Square Enix mobile phone games are available on the Vodafone network in some European countries, including Ireland, Great Britain, Spain, and France. Twenty-seven Square Enix games were included in Famitsu magazine's 'Top 100 Games Ever', seven being in the top ten list, with Final Fantasy X claiming the number one position.^[37]

Before its launch, Michihiro Sasaki, senior vice president of Square Enix, spoke about the PlayStation 3, saying "We don't want the PlayStation 3 to be the overwhelming loser, so we want to support them, but we don't want them to be the overwhelming winner either, so we can't support them too much."^[38] Square Enix continued to reiterate their devotion to multi-platform publishing in 2007, promising more support for the North American and European gaming markets where console pluralism is generally more prevalent than in Japan.^[39] Their interest in multi-platform development was made clear in 2008 when the previously PlayStation 3-exclusive game Final Fantasy XIII was announced for release on the Xbox 360.

In 2008, Square Enix and Gas Powered Games announced partnership on the game Supreme Commander 2.^[40] On July 8, 2008, Square Enix released their first game for the iPod, Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes. Square Enix made a new brand for kids gaming that same year, known as Pure Dreams. Its purpose is to create games suitable for kids. The brand is now planning more games. Pure Dreams have just completed their first two games, Snoopy DS: Let's Go Meet Snoopy and His Friends (released in Japan on October 9, 2008) and Pingu's Wonderful Carnival (released in Japan on November 6, 2008). Fortress was the codename of a video game that was to be a spin-off of Square Enix's Final Fantasy series. It was envisioned as an action game set in the fictional world of Ivalice, and was intended for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows platforms.^{[citation needed]} Although not yet officially announced, the project's existence was revealed after the closure of the original developer, GRIN, by former members of the development team and sources in the video game industry. The game had been cancelled,^[41] along with Highlander: The Game, Downfall: San Francisco,^[42] Gun Loco,^[43] Catacombs,^[44] and Project Dropship.^[45]

In 2009, Square Enix acquired Eidos, the company responsible for popular game series such as Tomb Raider, Hitman, Deus Ex, Thief and Legacy of Kain, as well as the publishing of the Windows versions of Final Fantasy VII and VIII. Square Enix has absorbed Eidos into a new division called Square Enix Europe. Square Enix will also create a new game engine called Luminous Studio.^[46]

Square Enix also helped deliver Ubisoft games to Japan since 2009.^[47]

Online gaming[link]

Before the merger, Enix published its first online game Cross Gate in Japan, mainland China, and Taiwan in 2001 and Square release Final Fantasy XI in Japan on May 16, 2002 for the PlayStation 2. With the huge success after Square Enix released Final Fantasy XI worldwide in March 2004, Microsoft had the game ported into the Xbox 360 two years later, making it the first Final Fantasy game ever to be on the Xbox console. Due to the success of their MMORPG, Square Enix began a new project called Fantasy Earth: The Ring of Dominion. GamePot, a Japanese game portal, got the license to publish Fantasy Earth in Japan and it was released in Japan as "Fantasy Earth ZERO." In November 2006, however, Square Enix dropped the Fantasy Earth Zero project, giving acquisition to GamePot.

A next-gen MMORPG code named Rapture was developed by the Final Fantasy XI team using the company's Crystal Tools engine. It was unveiled at E3 2009 that the MMO, Final Fantasy XIV, for PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows, was released on September 30, 2010. A code to have a chance to be included in the Final Fantasy XIV beta was included with the PS3 version of Final Fantasy XIII. Also included is a code for an in-game item upon the release of Final Fantasy XIV.

Dragon Quest X was announced in September 2011 as an MMORPG being developed for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U consoles.^[48]

On May 8, 2012, Square Enix announced a collaberation with Bigpoint Games to create Gameglobe, a free-to-play game platform that "throws players into 'limitless game worlds' directly through their web browser".^[49] Square Enix is also making Facebook games, like Chocobo's Crystal Tower and Knights of the Crystals,^[50][51] and online games for Yahoo! Japan, such as Monster x Dragon^[52] and Crystal Conquest.^[53]

Other media[link]

The company has made two forays into the film industry. The first, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001), was produced by Square subsidiary Square Pictures prior to the merger (Square Pictures is now a consolidated subsidiary of Square Enix).^[54] Its box-office failure caused Enix to delay the merger, which was already considered before the creation of the film, for fear of associating itself with a company that loses money.^[55] In 2005, Square Enix released Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, a CGI-animation movie based on the PlayStation game Final Fantasy VII, set two years after the events of the game.

The company also has a manga publishing division in Japan (originally from Enix) called Gangan Comics, which publishes content for the Japanese market only. However, in 2010, Square Enix launched a digital manga store for North American audiences via its Members services, which contains several notable series published in Gangan anthologies.^[56] Titles published by Gangan Comics include Black God, Durarara, Papuwa, Haré+Guu, Pani Poni, Spiral, He is My Master, Yumekui Kenbun, Doubt, Bamboo Blade, Heroman, Pandora Hearts, Black Butler, Soul Eater, Zombie Loan, Tasogare Otome x Amnesia, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. Other titles include manga adaptations of diverse Square Enix games, like Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts and Star Ocean. Some of these titles have also been adapted into anime series.

Fullmetal Alchemist so far is the most successful offspring of Square Enix's manga branch, with more than 30 million volumes sold in Japan alone. The anime series obtained great popularity and even spawned a movie sequel. Both series and movie are licensed to many locations worldwide (in North America by FUNimation Entertainment). The same occurs with its manga series, licensed in North America by Viz Media. Kingdom Hearts and Spiral were licensed in North America by Tokyopop; Tokyopop dropped Spiral, but the title was later licensed again by Hachette's Yen Press, which has licensed other Square Enix titles including Soul Eater, Bamboo Blade and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. Other titles like Soul Eater, Sekirei, Bamboo Blade and Shikabane Hime also were adapted to TV and licensed to other countries, including a second Fullmetal Alchemist anime series which debuted on Japanese television in 2009 and America on Adult Swim in 2010.

Square Enix also has a smartphone subsidiary, HipposLab.^[57]

Subsidiaries[link]

• Square Enix Co., Ltd. (Japan, Headquarters) Shinjuku Bunka Quint Building in Shibuya, Tokyo.
• Square Enix Montreal (Montreal, Canada) Announced November 21, 2011. Planned for opening in 2012.^[58]
• Square Enix, Inc. (North America) the third floor of 999 North Sepulveda Boulevard in El Segundo, California, United States.
• Square Enix Ltd. (Europe/ PAL areas) the second floor of the Castle House in Borough of Islington in London, United Kingdom.
  • Square Enix Europe
    • Beautiful Game Studios
    • Crystal Dynamics
    • Eidos Montreal
    • Eidos Shanghai
    • IO Interactive
• Square Enix (China) Co., Ltd. Room 610 of Golder Plaza, No. 10 in Haidian District, Beijing, People's Republic of China.^[59]
• Digital Entertainment Academy Co. Ltd.
• Square Enix Mobile
• Taito (Headquartered in Japan), founded in 1953, acquired on September 28, 2005.
• Visual Works, a CGI studio previously known as Square Visual Works.

Reviews and rating[link]

• The company won IGN's award for Best Developer of 2006 for the PlayStation 2.^[60]
• Square Enix's North American subsidiary, Square Enix, Inc., joined The Better Business Bureau in July 2007 and was assigned a rating of "C++". The BBB rating has since been upgraded to "A+".^[61]

References[link]

External links[link]

	Tokyo portal
	Companies portal
	Video games portal

• Square Enix Global Site
• History of Enix and Square (Official Site)
• PlayOnline Square Enix's Portal for their Online titles including Final Fantasy XI & Front Mission Online
• Financial details of Square Enix's acquisition of Taito
• The official Square Enix YouTube channel
• Square Enix profile on MobyGames

Emma Stone
Emma Stone in March 2012.
Born	Emily Jean Stone (1988-11-06) November 6, 1988 (age 23) Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S.
Other names	Riley Stone
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2004–present

Emily Jean "Emma" Stone (born November 6, 1988) is an American actress.

Stone was a cast member of the TV series Drive, and made her feature film debut in the comedy Superbad (2007). She appeared in The House Bunny (2008) and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009). She then starred in the horror-comedy Zombieland and the indie comedy Paper Man in 2009. In 2010, Stone voiced the character Mazie in Marmaduke, and starred in the high school comedy Easy A, which earned her a nomination for a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy. In 2011, she starred in the films Crazy, Stupid, Love. and The Help, both of which were well received by critics and commercial successes. Stone will play Gwen Stacy in the Amazing Spider-Man film, a reboot of the Spider-Man film franchise.

Early life[link]

Stone was born in Scottsdale, Arizona, the daughter of Krista (née Yeager), a homemaker, and Jeff Stone, a contractor.^[1] She has a brother, who is two years her junior.^[2] Stone's paternal grandfather was of Swedish descent, and his family's surname was anglicized to "Stone" when immigrating to the U.S. through Ellis Island; some of her ancestors also lived in Pennsylvania Dutch Country.^[3]

While growing up, she was a member of the Valley Youth Theatre, a regional theater in Phoenix, Arizona, where she appeared in her first stage production, The Wind in the Willows, at the age of 11.^[4] Stone attended Sequoya Elementary School and then Cocopah Middle School for sixth grade. She was home schooled for two years, at which time she appeared in 16 productions at Valley Youth Theatre, including: A Winnie-the-Pooh Christmas Tail, The Princess and the Pea, Cinderella, The Wiz, Titanic, Honk!, The Little Mermaid, Schoolhouse Rock Live!, Alice in Wonderland, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,^[4][5] and performed with the theater's improv comedy troupe.^[6]

Stone attended Xavier College Preparatory,^[4] an all-girl Catholic high school, as a freshman for one semester. She gave a PowerPoint presentation to her parents, set to the Madonna song "Hollywood", to convince them to let her move to California for an acting career.^[7] She dropped out of high school, and in January 2004, moved with her mother to a Los Angeles apartment, at the age of 15.^[8] She was then home schooled, so that she could audition during the day.^[9]

Career[link]

2004–2011[link]

Stone at the Zombieland world premiere, 2009

Stone launched a career in television after winning the role of Laurie Partridge on In Search of the New Partridge Family (2004), a VH1 talent competition reality show.^[10] The resulting show, The New Partridge Family (2005), only produced a pilot episode. Stone next had appearances in the television series Medium, Malcolm in the Middle and Lucky Louie. In 2007, she had a regular role on the Fox drama Drive, playing Violet Trimble, until the series was cancelled. She also auditioned for Heroes, and overheard in the casting room "On a scale of 1 to 10, you are an 11" — the casting directors were referring to Hayden Panettiere, who was cast as Claire Bennet instead. Stone called this experience "rock bottom."^[11]

Stone made her feature film debut in the 2007 teen comedy Superbad, playing Jules, the love interest of lead character Seth (Jonah Hill). In 2008, she appeared in the comedy The Rocker, with Rainn Wilson. Stone played Amelia, the bass guitarist in a band featuring singer Teddy Geiger. Stone learned to play bass for the role. Also that year, Stone appeared in The House Bunny, starring Anna Faris, alongside Katharine McPhee, Kat Dennings, Rumer Willis, and Colin Hanks.^[12] Stone played the president of a sorority and sang on a single from the film, "I Know What Boys Like," a cover version of the 1982 song by The Waitresses.^[13]

In 2009, Stone appeared in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, a romantic comedy directed by Mark Waters, the director of Mean Girls, starring Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner.^[14] Stone played "The Ghost of Girlfriends Past," a takeoff of the Ghost of Christmas Past from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. She starred in the horror/comedy Zombieland, along with Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg. The project began shooting in Atlanta in February 2009.^[15] Stone played Wichita, a survivor/con artist from Wichita, Kansas, traveling across the U.S. with her younger sister Little Rock (Abigail Breslin).^[16] Stone also starred in Paper Man in 2009, alongside Jeff Daniels, Ryan Reynolds and Lisa Kudrow, directed by Kieran and Michele Mulroney.^[17] She played Abby, a babysitter that Daniels' character hires after moving to Long Island.^[18] Stone began filming the independent comedy on November 11, 2008, in Montauk, New York, using well-known local locations.^[19]

Stone at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival

In 2010, Stone had a voice role in Marmaduke, a film adaptation of the long-running comic strip about a Great Dane.^[20] She voiced Marmaduke's friend, Mazie, a tomboyish Australian Shepherd.^[21] Stone landed her first leading role that year, starring with Amanda Bynes as a high school student in Easy A, a comedy directed by Will Gluck.^[22] Her character scandalizes her teachers and more conservative religious classmates after a false rumor circulates that she is sexually promiscuous.^[23] The script contrasts the novel The Scarlet Letter and its heroine, Hester Prynne, to the life of the protagonist in the film. Stone read the script before the project was optioned for production, and kept an eye on it along with her manager until preparations were made.^[24] She was attracted to the script because it was "funny and sweet" and her character was "fantastic from the first read" who was "fleshed [..] out so much in the script".^[24] When she found out that the film had gone into production, she met with Gluck to express her enthusiasm about the project.^[24] A few months later, the audition process started and Stone met again with Gluck to be one of the first actresses to audition.^[24] Stone was nominated for the 2011 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for her role.^[25]