Gamasutra sat down with Square Enix's Taku Murata for a chat about Crystal Tools and Unreal 3.

Originally known as the White Engine, Square-Enix's Crystal Tools initiative has taken shape over the past few years as one of its key efforts to standardize cross-platform technology for its forthcoming titles, being used not only for Final Fantasy XIII, but also its forthcoming MMO.

While the company has also licensed Unreal Engine 3 for some future development, Crystal Tools general manager Taku Murata has previously said that its internal engine was designed to cater strongly to the demands of Square Enix's developers.

To learn more about the history of the effort, why Square has licensed Unreal Engine, and whether Japan is being held back by not licensing locally developed technology, Gamasutra talked with Murata, who elaborated on how the work behind Crystal Tools was an amalgamation of all the experiences gained on working on large scale productions like Final Fantasy.

Read the interview here.