The merger also has meant Square Enix has taken the majority in the RPG market in Japan specifically by publishing titles created by smaller companies.
Infinite Undiscovery is NOT a Square Enix created game, it was created by Tri-Ace. Microsoft holds the original publishing rights to the game, but it was published by Square Enix because of their experience in the RPG publishing market. Tri-Ace is also the creator of Star Ocean, as you know, and now Square Enix is the publisher for that series as well with a similar arrangement with Microsoft, which is why you see the game only on Xbox 360.
Publishing a game is vastly expensive, and requires a huge division in a company and lots of money invested. Whether a publisher is Microsoft or Square Enix or Sony, publishing has definitely been one way that companies have created their large stake in the RPG market.
However this is NOT ALL BAD. Because of the expense involved, game creators would not be able to publish and market their games. By using a larger publisher who has their publishing business streamlined, game creators can focus on what they do best: creating games. Otherwise, game companies could not stay in business if they try and publish a game themselves. Staying in business is even more dicey these days when consoles are changing and updating, requiring that whole game companies invest in training people in the new programming requirements for games.
Microsoft has gained a large share in JRPGs not just because they have bucks to throw around, which is true, but also because the Xbox 360 is easier and faster to program games than other consoles. Square Enix stated that they decided to use the Xbox-developed Unreal Engine to program The Last Remnant because otherwise, Square Enix would have needed to create a game engine entirely from scratch, a huge time and monetary expense.
Not to be underestimated is the impact that the new gen consoles had on gaming companies. There were many hundreds of game companies set up entirely around the Playstation 2. This system allowed companies who programmed for Playstation X to stay in business with a short period of learning to program for the PS 2. This all changed with the PS 3, Xbox 360 and Wii. Suddenly game companies had to decide whether their staff could be retrained to program for these new consoles. Some companies simply went out of business because they didn't have the cash to retool. Others had to pick which console would be the most lucrative for them to train for their programmers. Many have gone with the Wii because of the large installed base of customers. Others went with the Xbox 360 because there were game engines already developed which then only required animation and media programming staff, rather than computer engineers, because the engineering was already done.
The expense of creating a large RPG has gone up astronomically with the new generation of consoles. However, one bright spot is the availability of smaller games for download via Xbox Live, Playstation Network, Wii, and also phones like the IPhone. Game creation now can literally be a garage business, and people are getting rich creating smaller games in their own time and then selling them on the Live networks as a download. The creators of the action RPG "Braid," for example, are a couple of guys working in their spare time. Their kids now have college funds. Braid is a little game that has won a bunch of awards and is just a download on Xbox Live. So before you get too angry over big companies like Microsoft or Apple, consider that the new independent opportunities available via game downloads on Xbox Live, Playstation Network, Apple Iphone etc., are making it possible for mom and pop creators, college students, etc. to get rich by creating a small video game . Also these games are less expensive than the big company products, so everybody wins with the new opportunities that Square Enix, Microsoft, Sony and Apple are offering via game downloads.
Overall, mergers are then a win-win situation for everybody. They are NOT all bad.
