Support NeoGAF

Shig · Jan 25, 2011

squall211 said:
Tales isn't exactly a big series here in the west. Is a "layman" even going to know that there is a lesser Wii version in Japan?

That was sort of the point. If they think it's a PS3-only game, they're going to see it and think it's a really shitty-looking effort for that system.

Last gen environments and geometry still look like last-gen environments and geometry no matter how nice a coat of paint you throw over them.

squall211 · Jan 25, 2011

Shig said:
That was sort of the point. If they think it's a PS3-only game, they're going to see it and think it's a really shitty-looking effort for that system.

Last gen environments and geometry still look like last-gen environments and geometry no matter how nice a coat of paint you throw over them.

Well, someone who isn't a Tales fan already isn't likely going to pick up the game anyway, regardless of how it looks, and Tales fans already know about the Wii version. I really don't think it's going to matter much in the end.

Rpgmonkey · Jan 25, 2011

Shig said:
So their first step to reestablish the brand here is a PS3 port of a game built for Wii.

Without any context, the layman is going to see it as a really, really lackluster PS3 game. I hope Namco's not thinking of charging more than $40 for this if they want to succeed.

I'm quite sure it's going to sell like most other Tales games: which is very slowly and not that great at all. Even if it were Xillia (okay, not a good example of a great-looking PS3 game...).

Then the "Tales cycle" continues.

thefro · Jan 25, 2011

It'd be pretty dumb to only bring F out when your best-selling Tales game in the west by far has been on a Nintendo console.

Bring both and spread out your localization costs over 2 platforms.

Foffy · Jan 25, 2011

Rpgmonkey said:
Then the "Tales cycle" continues.

Nooo! I don't want to miss five or so games before they localize one again! ;_;

Xater · Jan 25, 2011

I don't want to get my hopes up.

AniHawk · Jan 25, 2011

thefro said:
It'd be pretty dumb to only bring F out when your best-selling Tales game in the west by far has been on a Nintendo console.

Not like it would sell on the Wii nowadays anyhow. Two years ago, probably. And only if they called it Tales of Symphonia: Graces

Paracelsus · Jan 25, 2011

thefro said:
It'd be pretty dumb to only bring F out when your best-selling Tales game in the west by far has been on a Nintendo console.

No it would not. Sales at the time ToS released were pretty good for most Jrpg regardless of the platform (Xenosaga I sold over 300k in the same year ToS released, and so did .hack//infection).

expy · Jan 25, 2011

Interesting... Will await new info.

Nuclear Muffin · Jan 25, 2011

thefro said:
It'd be pretty dumb to only bring F out when your best-selling Tales game in the west by far has been on a Nintendo console.

Bring both and spread out your localization costs over 2 platforms.

This is Namco after all...

AniHawk · Jan 25, 2011

Paracelsus said:
No it would not. Sales at the time ToS released were pretty good for most Jrpg regardless of the platform (Xenosaga I sold over 300k in the same year ToS released, and so did .hack//infection).

...on the PlayStation 2. That was the home for RPGs last gen.

These days, the home is kinda the DS.

Coxswain · Jan 25, 2011

thefro said:
It'd be pretty dumb to only bring F out when your best-selling Tales game in the west by far has been on a Nintendo console.

Bring both and spread out your localization costs over 2 platforms.

A game that sold well on a Nintendo platform eight years ago isn't really a great reason to prioritize the Wii version of Graces, and Symphonia 2 sold roughly in line with Vesperia despite being on a Nintendo platform and actually sharing a title with the previous best-selling game, so I don't think it's really all that strong of an argument. On the other hand, looking forward, the next Tales game with a decent shot at localization is PS3-only, and if a meteorite strikes the Earth hard enough to somehow make Graces F (and possibly Xillia) a breakout hit, there's also a Vesperia port they could touch up and shove out.

(Granted, it might make some sense to try to localize both versions of the game, assuming that it would work that way, but then it also probably would have made sense to make Graces F and Xillia both PS3/360 multiplatform if only to catch as many sales as possible in the west, so that would be a pretty funny line to draw in the sand as far as rationality goes.)

Rpgmonkey · Jan 25, 2011

Foffy said:
Nooo! I don't want to miss five or so games before they localize one again! ;_;

Well then you have to hope they don't just throw it out and the game bombs when it turns out only a couple fans care enough to buy it.

...lol

durrrrrrrrrr · Jan 25, 2011

the fans are taking care of the Wii version, Namco should do the PS3 one. release the translation patch the same day as the PS3 version, everyone gets what they want.

Urban Scholar · Jan 25, 2011

Xater said:
I don't want to get my hopes up.

Far too late now by posting in this thread friend, this roller coaster of emotions is always a fun ride.

Nuclear Muffin · Jan 25, 2011

Coxswain said:
A game that sold well on a Nintendo platform eight years ago isn't really a great reason to prioritize the Wii version of Graces, and Symphonia 2 sold roughly in line with Vesperia despite being on a Nintendo platform and actually sharing a title with the previous best-selling game, so I don't think it's really all that strong of an argument. On the other hand, looking forward, the next Tales game with a decent shot at localization is PS3-only, and if a meteorite strikes the Earth hard enough to somehow make Graces F (and possibly Xillia) a breakout hit, there's also a Vesperia port they could touch up and shove out.

(Granted, it might make some sense to try to localize both versions of the game, assuming that it would work that way, but then it also probably would have made sense to make Graces F and Xillia both PS3/360 multiplatform if only to catch as many sales as possible in the west, so that would be a pretty funny line to draw in the sand as far as rationality goes.)

Dawn of the New World was a crappy low budget spinoff that recycled most of the same areas and didn't even have a world map. The fact that it sold as much as Vesperia is pretty telling of where the western Tales fanbase is...

Considering the fact that the Wii version would cost nothing to localise since the PS3 and Wii versions share the same dialogue, it should be a no brainer.

Acosta · Jan 25, 2011

Nuclear Muffin said:
Dawn of the New World was a crappy low budget spinoff that recycled most of the same areas and didn't even have a world map. The fact that it sold as much as Vesperia is pretty telling of where the western Tales fanbase is...

Yes, in the only console that Namco has not tried in west yet: PS3

Anyway, I wanted Tales for any platform and I will take anything they drop on us out of principle, I just hope the chances Xillia getting a western release don't depend on the success of Graces.

Rpgmonkey · Jan 25, 2011

Nuclear Muffin said:
Dawn of the New World was a crappy low budget spinoff that recycled most of the same areas and didn't even have a world map. The fact that it sold as much as Vesperia is pretty telling of where the western Tales fanbase is...

It's quite likely (almost guaranteed, in fact, at this point) that the Western Tales fanbase isn't that large, no matter what platform and are the only ones that are ever going to care about Tales games, and therefore no matter where they put a Tales game in the West it's not going to sell that much better or worse than if it were on something else.

If they're going to put the game on multiple platforms, they're better off putting it on the 360 and PS3 at this point. The Wii already got burned with DotNW, the 360 has a stronger precedent for the series than any platform right now, and it seems really dumb to sell one version that's better than the other in just about every way at the same time as the original, worse version.

Dead Prince · Jan 25, 2011

it better be tales of grace F.

BluWacky · Jan 25, 2011

durrrrrrrrrr said:
the fans are taking care of the Wii version, Namco should do the PS3 one. release the translation patch the same day as the PS3 version, everyone gets what they want.

I love fan translations, I really do. But in an ideal world both versions would be released commercially - why should Wii-only owners be deprived of a game where the vast majority of the localisation work will have already been done?

Plus, not everyone has a homebrew-enabled Wii, myself included. I'd rather not have to hack my Wii to play a game if I can help it.

It's a moot point - I own a PS3, it's unlikely that Graces F will ever come out in PAL territories so I'd just import the US version thanks to the PS3 being region free. But if there's a chance Namco will release both that would be my preferred option.

Bel Marduk · Jan 25, 2011

durrrrrrrrrr said:
the fans are taking care of the Wii version, Namco should do the PS3 one. release the translation patch the same day as the PS3 version, everyone gets what they want.

No. I'd prefer to play ToG without having to deal with homebrew and import prices, and I'm pretty sure everyone else is the same.

Release both versions and port ToGF content to the Wii to maximize sales. Would it really be that hard?

Anyway great news. I doubt they'll end up localizing Vesperia PS3 though :/ Hopefully this gives Xillia better chances too.

LiquidMetal14 · Jan 25, 2011

So there's a small chance? And this tease, when will we see the fruits?

Bel Marduk said:
No. I'd prefer to play ToG without having to deal with homebrew and import prices, and I'm pretty sure everyone else is the same.
.

Of course this is the best way. And we will likely get English voices (maybe). I wouldn't mind a JP dub though.

Wilsongt · Jan 25, 2011

Not only am I a Shining fan, but I am also (somewhat) of a Tales fan. Talking about being screwed. :lol :lol

...

nincompoop · Jan 25, 2011

thefro said:
It'd be pretty dumb to only bring F out when your best-selling Tales game in the west by far has been on a Nintendo console.

Yep, which is exactly why Namco will only bring F out, lol.

Shig said:
That was sort of the point. If they think it's a PS3-only game, they're going to see it and think it's a really shitty-looking effort for that system.

Last gen environments and geometry still look like last-gen environments and geometry no matter how nice a coat of paint you throw over them.

I think you give the average consumer way too much credit. If they see Tales of Graces running side by side with something like Eternal Sonata, I doubt they'd be able to tell that one was much more advanced than the other technically.

CruxisMana · Jan 25, 2011

At least if it is ToGF I can import it when they decide to skip Europe...

MechaX · Jan 25, 2011

Nuclear Muffin said:
Dawn of the New World was a crappy low budget spinoff that recycled most of the same areas and didn't even have a world map. The fact that it sold as much as Vesperia is pretty telling of where the western Tales fanbase is...

Considering the fact that the Wii version would cost nothing to localise since the PS3 and Wii versions share the same dialogue, it should be a no brainer.

Again, that was two years ago. Hell, given the "RPG market" on the Wii currently, I wouldn't be surprised if that audience just hasn't moved on to other consoles at this point. And the fact that the Wii's 2011 line-up is essentially an empty desert is more of a double-edged sword; it could sell well due to how there's virtually nothing else out (even though precedent doesn't look too good when considering the failures of many core games on the platform for the past few years) or it will not sell well at all simply because no one is left to care.

And I would really prefer for Namco not to use the lackluster sales of a Wii version as an excuse to keep the Tales franchise down even further (like we all know they will).

At least on the PS3, they have a chance of selling to some RPG market that was around for games like Valkyria Chronicles and Demon's Souls. Hell, if released, if Graces F can pull a Demon's Souls like debut, that would be even better.

Relix · Jan 25, 2011

I want Xilia =(

LiK · Jan 25, 2011

Relix said:
I want Xilia =(

Just don't wear protection.

TunaLover · Jan 25, 2011

Namco should team up with Nintendo, and present the game as the RPG Triforce in the west.
Xenoblade
The Last Story
Tales of Graces

u___u

Urban Scholar · Jan 25, 2011

LiK said:
Just don't wear protection.

Your blade is rather sharp today, I was about to say the same.

ULTROS! · Jan 25, 2011

BTW, why is it called a tale of "two Richards"?

Was there a Rich/Richard in Vesperia?

Coxswain · Jan 25, 2011

Nuclear Muffin said:
Dawn of the New World was a crappy low budget spinoff that recycled most of the same areas and didn't even have a world map. The fact that it sold as much as Vesperia is pretty telling of where the western Tales fanbase is...

Considering the fact that the Wii version would cost nothing to localise since the PS3 and Wii versions share the same dialogue, it should be a no brainer.

Well, yes, the calculus of the whole situation is slightly more complicated than comparing the two platforms as if everything else was equal. But if DotNW needed to both be a direct sequel to the most popular game in the franchise and be on the platform where the series supposedly has a big fanbase, just to barely cancel out that Vesperia was a better game (and let's be completely fair here: To somebody who hasn't been following either game closely, Vesperia doesn't immediately look like it had a mega-budget, and Dawn of the New World doesn't immediately look like a cheap cash-in; DotNW even comes out ahead in a few fairly important areas, like cutscene animation), that suggests that the fanbase really probably doesn't have a particularly strong platform-bias, eight years after Symphonia, on a completely different console generation.

I can see the argument for releasing the Wii version as well, and I'd prefer to see that happen, but the arguments against it (from it being a strictly inferior version of the game, to questions about whether people would really even care about it in the first place) aren't completely empty. It's not necessarily the stupidest move they could make.

Foffy · Jan 25, 2011

Rpgmonkey said:
Well then you have to hope they don't just throw it out and the game bombs when it turns out only a couple fans care enough to buy it.

...lol

I think they should try to find a good time to release the game, too!

I still have nightmares of when Tales of the Abyss came out a week or so before Final Fantasy XII. D:

Rolf NB · Jan 25, 2011

squall211 said:
Well, someone who isn't a Tales fan already isn't likely going to pick up the game anyway, regardless of how it looks, and Tales fans already know about the Wii version.

And thusly there will never be growth of the franchise. Selling to "already fans" is a horrible long-term business strategy.

Firestorm · Jan 25, 2011

john tv
killer of dreams

i mean it says a tale of two

two

has to be tales, right?

Urban Scholar · Jan 25, 2011

ULTROS! said:
BTW, why is it called a tale of "two Richards"?

Was there a Rich/Richard in Vesperia?

nope but there is one in Graces which is linked in the OP.

Mockingbird · Jan 25, 2011

TunaLover said:
Namco should team up with Nintendo, and present the game as the RPG Triforce in the west.
Xenoblade
The Last Story
Tales of Graces

u___u

See, now this is a problem. If only one of those games came out this year for Wii then it could sell well, since there aren't any other JRPGs for the system. But three in one year? That's overflooding it. Xenoblade should've came out earlier. Tales of Graces and Last Story have an excuse for not coming out till Dec/Jan anyways, but Nintendo should've been on the ball with Xenoblade.

InternHertz · Jan 25, 2011

Good news for western fans of the franchise. Personally I won't double-dip, I already 100%'d the japanese version (230h22) in addition of finishing the first wii version (60+h). And there's a big chance they won't keep the japanese voices so it's even more worthless for me to get it a third time.

A good news nonetheless.

durrrrrrrrrr · Jan 25, 2011

Coxswain said:
Well, yes, the calculus of the whole situation is slightly more complicated than comparing the two platforms as if everything else was equal. But if DotNW needed to both be a direct sequel to the most popular game in the franchise and be on the platform where the series supposedly has a big fanbase, just to barely cancel out that Vesperia was a better game (and let's be completely fair here: To somebody who hasn't been following either game closely, Vesperia doesn't immediately look like it had a mega-budget, and Dawn of the New World doesn't immediately look like a cheap cash-in; DotNW even comes out ahead in a few fairly important areas, like cutscene animation), that suggests that the fanbase really probably doesn't have a particularly strong platform-bias, eight years after Symphonia, on a completely different console generation.

I can see the argument for releasing the Wii version as well, and I'd prefer to see that happen, but the arguments against it (from it being a strictly inferior version of the game, to questions about whether people would really even care about it in the first place) aren't completely empty. It's not necessarily the stupidest move they could make.

Vesperia looked cheap? we must have played different demos, i thought the areas looked amazing.

the Wii jrpg scene is pretty barren, but it does have a couple titles: Arc Rise Fantasia, Sakura Taisen, Phantom Brave, Final Fantasy CC EOT. plus there's games like Muramasa and Fragile whose audience would probably be interested in Tales as well. however, if Namco picks one i hope it's the PS3 version, i already imported Graces.

i don't think this game will sell well enough on either system to please Namco though.

hank_tree · Jan 25, 2011

Sweet. This is good news. Hopefully the release date won't be too far away.

Jucksalbe · Jan 25, 2011

Urban Scholar said:
nope but there is one in Graces which is linked in the OP.

But why is it "two Richards" then? Does it have something to do with the story or will they bring over both versions (Wii and PS3)?

RPGCrazied · Jan 25, 2011

Wow. If true I will... I will... I don't know! I know I want this game like bad. The demo of it was sooo good, sure I had no idea what was going on, but it was awesome. After the awesome Vesperia, I've been patiently waiting on another Tales game.

thefro · Jan 25, 2011

durrrrrrrrrr said:
Vesperia looked cheap? we must have played different demos, i thought the areas looked amazing.

the Wii jrpg scene is pretty barren, but it does have a couple titles: Arc Rise Fantasia, Sakura Taisen, Phantom Brave, Final Fantasy CC EOT. plus there's games like Muramasa and Fragile whose audience would probably be interested in Tales as well. however, if Namco picks one i hope it's the PS3 version, i already imported Graces.

Unless Iwata is just flat out trolling us, we're obviously getting Xenoblade and The Last Story.

I think there was a lot of crossover with the Zelda audience for Symphonia on GC too. That's how Nintendo consoles always have a JRPG fanbase despite having "no JRPGs". There's Pokemon, Zelda, the Paper Mario RPGs, etc. With the artstyle of Tales it would also seem to skew younger as far as appealing to a Western audience.

durrrrrrrrrr said:
i don't think this game will sell well enough on either system to please Namco though.

That's why it should come out on both.

Rpgmonkey · Jan 25, 2011

durrrrrrrrrr said:
Vesperia looked cheap? we must have played different demos, i thought the areas looked amazing.

It just has a style that's pleasing to the eye. On a technical level it isn't anything that special compared to other cel-shaded games, and the animation is pretty bad, especially regarding story scenes.

Jucksalbe said:
But why is it "two Richards" then? Does it have something to do with the story or will they bring over both versions (Wii and PS3)?

It's an idiotic name for the site because you have to spoil a major part of the story to even know what the heck they're talking about.

Akainu · Jan 25, 2011

durrrrrrrrrr said:
Vesperia looked cheap? we must have played different demos, i thought the areas looked amazing.

In cut scenes it really does. It's like they didn't even bother with the animations in Vesperia while DoTNW was pretty good.

RPGCrazied · Jan 25, 2011

Is Hell frozen over? I thought that was the next time we would see a Tales game.

sixteen-bit · Jan 25, 2011

Never expected to see this localized.

Shiggy · Jan 25, 2011

Wasn't Tales of Graces F meant to see a Wii release this year? Thought this got leaked?

TunaLover · Jan 25, 2011

Rpgmonkey said:
It's an idiotic name for the site because you have to spoil a major part of the story to even know what the heck they're talking about.

Wii/PS3 confirmed

Shiggy said:
Wasn't Tales of Graces F meant to see a Wii release this year? Thought this got leaked?

GameInformer one?
I think that one had several mistakes in other releases, it even delete ToG date later.

Garcia · Jan 25, 2011

So apparently making this kind of puzzles is the new fad on the internet huh?

Anyways the west needs more Tales !

Support NeoGAF

Namco teasing Pacman & Galaga 3DS [Up7: Tekken, Soul Calibur, Tales, Ono, Vesperia?]

Strap on your hooker ...

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Banned

hide your water-based mammals

Member

Banned

Member

Member

he's Virgin Tight

Member

Member

Member

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Similar threads

he's Virgin Tight