TOKYO - Earlier today, Square held an event to let the American press meet with the design team members responsible for future US titles like Final Fantasy VIII, Saga Frontier 2, and Vagrant Story. The event was headlined by a speech from Square president Tomoyuki Takechi. He began speaking with one main topic - one we were not expecting. Square is interested in Nintendo's Dolphin.

　　"The gaming industry is becoming more and more exciting, judging from the recent announcement of the next-generation Dolphin machine from Nintendo at E3," said Takechi.

　　The quote itself could carry more meaning other than that Square is interested in Nintendo's next platform. When, how, and to whom this information was presented makes it all the more curious as the American media tend to read into information of this nature far more than the Japanese media do. On top of that, no one could obtain further comment through any line of questioning. Takachi knows quite well that this type of information would be construed as something more.

　　When we questioned the Final Fantasy VIII team on whether it could see the Final Fantasy series ever returning to a Nintendo platform, members responded that while the Dolphin is intriguing, they wouldn't make a decision to go to Nintendo until they have seen the system's final specs. Even so, it's extremely interesting to hear Square's excitement over the Dolphin system - that Square would publicly announce its interest in the system makes one wonder just how strong its loyalty to Sony is.