new company, with two additional divisions brought in from Enix. Overseas publishing The original Final Fantasy was published in North America in 1990 by Nintendo of America close to the launch of the Super Nintendo, resulting in its two NES sequels being passed over for localization at that time. Many other Square titles also remained exclusive to Japan, for reasons including design complexities, low graphical quality, and technical difficulties. Notable localization staff during the 1990s included Kaoru Moriyama, Ted Woolsey, Seth Luisi, Michael Basket, Richard Honeywood, and Alexander O. Smith. Square's first Western branch, SquareSoft, was established in 1989 in Redmond, Washington for publishing and development support. A second Western R&D subsidiary called Square LA was founded in 1995 in Marina del Rey, California, and was renamed Square USA in 1996. In 1997, a second branch of Square USA was opened in Honolulu, Hawaii to focus on new interactive entertainment research. Square Europe was founded in 1998 in London, England, focusing on publishing in Europe. Square also partnered with several different distribution partners in Europe, including Crave Entertainment, Infogrames (later Atari Europe), and Ubisoft. After opening their North American offices, Square began publishing selected titles under the "SquareSoft" brand. Square's presence in the West during the 1980s and 1990s was small; RPGs were not popular in the North American market, and Square's presence in Europe was limited. A notable third-party game localized and published by Square in North America was the original Breath of Fire, as developer Capcom had a busy schedule at the time. In the 1990s, Square's first six PlayStation releases were published by Sony. On May 1, 1998, Square formed a North American and Japanese joint-venture partnership with Electronic Arts; the North American branch Square Electronic Arts published Square's titles in the region, while the Japanese branch Electronic Arts Square focused on PC releases from Electronic Arts. The partnership emerged the year following Electronic Arts winding down a similar partnership with Victor in December 1997. On February 19, 2003, to coincide with the Square Enix merger, Square announced that both ventures would cease operations in March, with the company certifying that the North American venture achieved the above-mentioned initial purpose of its establishment. Each partner purchased the other's shares. The SquareSoft company itself remained, rebranded under the Square Enix name. Subsidiaries and affiliates Between 1986 and 1988, Square led a collective of game developers dedicated to the