While the bridge has since been mended, Nintendo and Square Enix's breakup was a very awkward affair that seemed overdramatic and a little petty! Like, seriously, it sounds like the crazy story your buddy tells you when they visit their ex one final time after the breakup! Nintendo Life says the point of contention between the two came when SE (who was just called Square at the time) was attempting to make Final Fantasy VII.
After a lot of toiling on the development side and frustration, it became apparent that Square could not make the game they wanted on the N64 without several cartridges, and even then the hardware was too limited for what Square had in mind. One thing leads to another and all the sudden it's become public news that Square has jumped ship to Sony for the graphically superior PlayStation console.
So the news is out, and Square, has to make that break-up talk with Nintendo. Keep in mind this is an entirely Japanese affair so there's a lot of business customs and stuff you have to go through to avoid publically shaming your company and junk like that, although I would imagine most companies would have a dinner like this...just not quite as weird.
So both parties meet in what would typically be a tea ceremony, except Nintendo President has instead opted for expensive bento boxes and beer in place of tea. It was either a very extravagant "thanks for the memories" or a "say goodbye to this" kind of thing...
Yoshihiro Maruyama, VP of Square Enix U.S., says Nintendo acted very proud and gave an odd goodbye...
"I don't think [anyone from Nintendo gave us a hard time]. They said, 'Oh, we don't need that.' That's what they said. [Laughs] Their philosophy has always been that Nintendo hardware is for their games, and if a publisher wants to publish, 'OK you can do it. But if you don't like it, We don't want you.'"
In case that wasn't explicitly clear, character programmer Hiroshi Kawai adds what he heard in the meeting...
"What I heard was Nintendo said, 'If you're leaving us, never come back.'"
Flash forward to now and the beef between the two is all but quashed. While the two have since worked together, there has never been another main Final Fantasy game since that fateful night. With rumors swirling that Square Enix is planning on releasing the remaster of Final Fantasy VII on Nintendo Switch...perhaps the issue will officially be laid to rest.
