Developers from around the world have practically gone “ga-ga” over Sony’s upcoming new portable, the PlayStation Vita. Ubisoft has 8 confirmed games in the works for the system, Capcom is working on 4 Vita titles, and Sega is opening a new studio in the UK to develop exclusive games for the Vita. From Activision to Vanillaware, the PS Vita is garnishing developer support that even the PS3 didn’t see in it’s early days.  However one well known video game company seems to be falling behind others when it comes to Vita titles.

"Final Fantasy XI?! Are you kidding Kimahri!?"

Even though Square Enix is one of the over 150 developers who have announced their support for the handheld, the only title the Japanese developer has openly expressed interest in bringing to the Vita is Final Fantasy XI, a port of an almost decade old mmo.

While Square Enix has nothing to show at the Tokyo Game Show for the Vita, they do plan to have 4  playable 3DS  games and 1 PSP title at the event. On top of that, SE plans to devote 30 whole minutes to smartphones and SNS development at the TGS as well.  

Meanwhile Sega, Tecmo Koei and Konami are just a few companies that will offer demos( many playable ) for their Vita games on the show floor along with games for other platforms too.

The PS Vita isn’t the hardest or most expensive system to develop for. In fact, according to those in the know, it’s quite the opposite on both fronts. So what’s up with Square Enix?  Are they playing the waiting game where the PS Vita is concerned before they devote resources to this new, unproven system? 

It almost feels like 2006 all over again doesn’t it?  Back then Square Enix published countless titles for every other system on the market but it wasn’t until 2009 when they released their first game for the PS3. Three whole years after the system went on sale. Surely it won’t be that long before we see our first Square Enix developed Vita game, will it?

With Final Fantasy XIII-2  & Type-O nearing completion perhaps Square Enix will surprise us with their first Vita project(s) during the Tokyo Game Show or sometime soon. As someone on the outside looking in it’s hard for me to say what’s going on with Square Enix as far as Vita development goes. But from where this gamer stands it sure looks like history is repeating itself.