Final Fantasy VII‘s Shinra company is now a real thing (owned by Square Enix, no less), however it’s not at all what many may expect.
At this year’s Tokyo Game Show, Square Enix revealed “Shinra Technologies,” an upcoming cloud gaming business.
As most gamers will notice, Shinra Technologies takes it’s namesake from the Final Fantasy VII‘s Shinra Electric Power Company.
Read more details after the break.
Final Fantasy VII‘s Shinra Electric Company IRL
Shinra Technologies will be led by former president of Square Enix, Yoichi Wada, and be based in New York City, with satellite offices in both Tokyo, Japan and Monteal, Canada.
Shinra Technologies has worked out a collaboration another company that has its roots in New York, Avalanche Studios, developer of Just Cause, to assist with games and technology.
Yoichi Wada had the following to say about the newly established company:
“[the company will provide a…] new ecosystem for the games industry. The industry will only continue its expansion, but in due time a correction to this path is necessary.”
Wada later added:
“I think this is the right direction, but if we continue on this [current] path, game experiences will become diluted.”
His goal for Shinra Technologies is to establish necessary, yet innovative means in order to deliver AAA video games by way of streaming cloud-based architecture. Additionally, Wada believes that 2016 will see the rise of cloud gaming.
The senior vice president at Shinra Technologies, Jacob Novak said the the announcement of the company is the “first flag for the final frontier for the game industry,” and expects it to be a callout to other developers who are being held back by current technology.
At its core, Shinra Technologies’ game streaming innovations are expected to empower new types of games.
In regards to the above statement, Wada said:
“We needed a technical breakthrough to make this happen, if we simply bring traditional games to the cloud, you will never get a game experience that surpasses current games. We want developers to create entirely new games with revolutionary game experiences.”
Shinra Technologies will conduct a tech beta of its cloud gaming service in Japan early in 2015, which will include a number of Square Enix titles, including but not limited to Final Fantasy VII, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Tomb Raider, and Hitman Absolution.
The beta is expected to come to the United States later in 2015.
What are your thoughts on Shinra Technologies? Does the name alone remind you of the good old days, sitting on the couch and playing Final Fantasy VII? Or Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy IX, whatever your favorite Final Fantasy game may be.
Do you think that cloud based gaming is the future of gaming?
Let us know in the comments section below! As always, stay tuned to GamerHeadlines.com for the latest in video game and technology news.
Source: Tokyo Game Show 2014, Shinra.com
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