I am not sure why they couldn't bring over their iconic games that already had their run on the DS. Like the much-lauded Chrono Trigger, say. I mean, there are a lot of DS ports on the Appstore already and I understand that the porting isn't expensive. So, why not garner some extra sales even for 10$? And possibly get new audience interested in Square Enix's main portfolio in the process. PS1 ports would be great too. New exclusive games won't happen, of course, but so what?
Being on PSP has no bearing on that, it just so happens to have the latest whorings of FFI -II for SE to whore out again. KH Coded is a 3D KH game (polygonal envrionments, sprite characters) able to run on low tech. Porting it to the App store makes a whole lot of sense.
No, it wouldn't have been $15 wholesale, SE doesn't have a budget line on the DS. When I said on the retailers end I mean with that copy you bought the retailer is losing on that end, because that copy would have been an unsold new copy (thus the retailer discounted it). SE would have been paid their share (the original wholesale price) some time ago. As I said, DQIV is a year and a half old, unsold brand new copies are common even for the biggest of IPs after so long.
You realize, of course, that the iPhone/iPod Touch is "higher tech" than the DSi, right? If SE were ever to port KH to the iDevice (which is unlikely), it would almost certainly be the DS version.
Level of tech means little, I'm talking of the cross-platform development of SE's mobile gaming department. KH Coded is a far easier port than KHDS.
So far they have ported none of their cellphone titles, choosing either to develop new franchises or port PSP titles. SE is not a dumb publisher: they know that cellphone ports are seen as second tier on this platform. If they really care to compete on the iPhone, they are going for premium status: why imitate Gamevil when they can go after Activision and EA? That's where the real money is. The market has been rewarding high profile DS to iPhone ports. I don't expect SE to go a different route.
That doesn't matter though, especially since their mobile game wares aren't low quality and aren't know to the vast majority in the West. When consumers see Kingdom Hearts Coded a game that plays the same as previous KH games, it previously being a cellphone game (which the vast majority of them won't be aware of) isn't going to matter. The real money is in using the IP of their key franchises, what particular titles to use from that IP is a distant second. Also again, using FFI and FFII as a PSP port is stretching it. It is just ports of whored out games, the latest versions happening to be on PSP. If this was Dissidia, Crisis Core, Agito, etc you would have a point. EDIT: Indeed, with regards to importance, Coded not only has better presentation than the DS version but has more relevance within the series. Coded takes place after KH2, plays out more like KH1 and KH2, and focuses just as much on the Disney properties. The DS one is set inbetween KH1 and KH2, its single player mode is mission based, is more focused on multiplayer and features little of the disney properties. I think you're underestimating Coded, because as far as being seen which 'tier' it is, it is probably above that of the DS one. EDIT II: In any case, this discussion is largely pointless. At this point in time SE has shown it is more focused on new properties (the new upcoming RPG from media.vision).
In regards to that coded discssion, it is much more likely that coded is coming to the App Store than 358/2 Days is. The reason simply being: A) There is no point in porting it to the App Store B) Nomura, director of Kingdom Hearts, intended for the three new KH games to each be on different platforms. 358/2 Days for the DS, Birth by Sleep for the PSP, and coded for mobile phones.
I'm not very familiar with the mobile version of KH or any of the SE mobile games, so I'll take your word for their quality. KH is an interesting case because it involves the Disney Interactive Studio, which has a close relationship with Apple. Of all the properties we have been discussing, that's probably the one with the most natural fit on the platform. I wouldn't expect SE to port Dissidia or Crisis Core, since both were specifically made for the PSP. My point with FF1 and FF2 is that SE had a choice -- they could've ported the mobile versions, but chose instead to go with the PSP updates. That suggests to me that SE doesn't quite see the iDevice as just another mobile platform. (On a personal note, Crisis Core and Dissidia are among my least favorite game on the PSP, so I couldn't care less if they get ported). Up until now, SE has focused pretty much exclusively on the new properties when it comes to the iDevice. Porting FF1 and FF2, however, reads to me like a change in strategy. I know, I know, they've "whored" those games to pretty much every platform out there. But they are not required to do so. Again, they've made a choice: one can decide to read into it or not. You think it's pretty much meaningless, and I disagree. Time will tell, I guess.
Of course Dissidia and the like won't be ported, what I meant was such titles would actually make your point valid, as your use of FFI and FFII doesn't serve it well. The PSP version was chosen as the base simply because it is the latest edition of the whored out titles, the art assets are the most visually appealing and less dated of all the graphical assets made for those two games throughout the decades. However that doesn't suddenly point towards SE making an appearance of porting handheld games, so it doesn't make much sense using that as a base for why KHDS would be ported over Coded. That was my only point.
