[Bel Marduk]

Apparently this blog post is saying the Tales studio is in trouble. Can't read it but the guys over at the Tales forums are saying that's the case...

http://blog.esuteru.com/archives/516469.html

No surprise since they've been milking them out since 2006 on every platform. I guess this is partly the reason for Graces not coming over? :/ Hopefully they get things straightened out since Tales is my favorite series...

[ShockingAlberto]

Would not surprise me.

Entirely Namco's fault, too.

[farnham]

bring graces, innocence, hearts, PSP ones and vesperia ps3 to europe and NA -> sell units -> ??? -> profit

[AceBandage]

That's what they get for not releasing Graces and Vespereria PS3 stateside.

[Painraze]

Namco spent too much money on E3.

[RPGCrazied]

Or how about letting XSEED/Atlus translated them?

Also they poorly market these games, no wonder they don't sell.

[farnham]

Or how about letting XSEED/Atlus translated them? Also they poorly market these games, no wonder they don't sell.

didnt symphonia 1 sell like 500k in NA alone ?

[Diablos]

So Vesperia isn't even coming out here in NA for PS3?

That's bullshit.

[Jigsaw]

That's what they get for not releasing Graces and Vespereria PS3 stateside.

cant be said enough

BRING OVER VESPERIA YOU BASTARDS

[highluxury]

I smell another corporate fusion coming..

Tecmo & Koei had to merge, so did Sega & Sammy... Namco is probably next.

[Vic]

After watching this year's Konami E3 conference, I am not surprised.

[Urban Scholar]

Or how about letting XSEED/Atlus translated them? Also they poorly market these games, no wonder they don't sell.

Just bolding the clear obvious for people coming in here later on asking about Graces and ToV PS3.

[Jucksalbe]

didnt symphonia 1 sell like 500k in NA alone ?

Wasn't Symphonia by far the best selling Tales game?

[Peff]

It's a shame now that the latest installments were so good but after Namco milked the series so hard a few years ago something like this was bound to happen. Waiting for more details...

[Aeana]

So Vesperia isn't even coming out here in NA for PS3? That's bullshit.

That train sailed long ago. John TV said as much several months ago, and if his company wasn't working on it, I don't think anybody else would be.

[Finaika]

I smell another corporate fusion coming.. Tecmo & Koei had to merge, so did Sega & Sammy... Namco is probably next.

Bandai Namco?

[theusedversion]

That's very sad if true. Tales is one of my favorite series.

[miladesn]

Namco has some serious financial problems, they laid off 10% of their work force not long ago IIRC.

[Lyphen]

Having their franchises fail is just Namco's first step in becoming a top 5 worldwide publisher.

[Krev]

After watching this year's Konami E3 conference, I am not surprised.

Namkonami is the new Capkonami.

[highluxury]

Bandai Namco?

Triple fusion then :p

[SailorDaravon]

bring graces, innocence, hearts, PSP ones and vesperia ps3 to europe and NA -> sell units -> ??? -> profit

Most of the Tales games have bombed in the US. The last one that did well was Symphonia, and Vesperia maaay have turned a small profit (I think it did like 200k?)

Or how about letting XSEED/Atlus translated them? Also they poorly market these games, no wonder they don't sell.

THIS is the right answer. Namco's apparent refusal to let other companies release these games in other territories really pisses me off. I don't know that some of them would do well by any publisher, but someone like Atlus would bring their userbase and probably make most of these sell well enough to turn a profit, like Graces and Vesperia PS3.

[ShockingAlberto]

Neither Graces nor Vesperia would have made a dent in expectations, guys.

[Bel Marduk]

Most of the Tales games have bombed in the US. The last one that did well was Symphonia, and Vesperia maaay have turned a small profit (I think it did like 200k?)

IIRC Vesperia did 130k in NPD. ToS: DotNW did the same...

[Clevinger]

That's what they get for not releasing Graces and Vespereria PS3 stateside.

The development team has nothing to do with that.

[jiggle]

translation plz



this calls for ANOTHER ToP

Tales of Phantasia 3D!

[Case]

This would pretty much kill the rpg genre for me.

[Aeana]

As for what's linked, I don't really know if it's very conclusive. It looks kind of bad, but I don't think there is enough information provided to really draw a solid conclusion.

[Sohter.Nura]

Where the hell is graces >(

[madara]

First the console jrpgs pretty much completely vanish compared to PS2 era. Then major rpgs on handhelds and consoles that you think surely have to come over don't. Now this, sad times.

[legend166]

They completely failed to capitalise on the success of Symphonia. It was pretty amazing, actually.

[ShockingAlberto]

As for what's linked, I don't really know if it's very conclusive. It looks kind of bad, but I don't think there is enough information provided to really draw a solid conclusion.

I admit I'm mainly leaping to conclusions based on observations, but damn if it doesn't make sense that Tales Studio is suffering.

It's like watching a Sonic Team-style rut before it happens. (The original analogy was a car crash in slow motion, but I felt this was more gruesome.)

[kswiston]

IIRC Vesperia did 130k in NPD. ToS: DotNW did the same...

Atlus would not only do a better job marketing the games, but I'm sure they could turn a profit on 125k+ sales. Most of their titles sell less than 150k copies in the US. Why Namco refuses to bring two thirds of the tales titles State-side, and then refuses to let anyone else do it for them is beyond me. 150k of additional sales is nothing to scoff at when some of your games are barely breaking 200k in Japan.

[farnham]

Wasn't Symphonia by far the best selling Tales game?

what i was sayin

good marketing -> tales can sell

[Teppic]

Worst news ever. Tales of Vesperia is one of the absolute best JRPG's ever made. I can't believe it didn't sell.

[ShockingAlberto]

Symphonia was a combination of a lot of factors, like Nintendo shouldering some publishing duties, an extremely JRPG-starved audience, an artstyle that fit the audience, etc.

I don't know that Tales team can force lightning to strike there again.

Really the smart thing to do would be to put Team Symphonia on a PS3 game and get another Tales team on a good, non-rushed 3DS title to establish the RPG market there out of the gate.

But I'm guessing the decision making process at Bamco is more "Why would we limit ourselves to just two systems?" instead of "How can we focus ourselves better?"

[duckroll]

For the record, I saw this yesterday and discussed it with Y2Kev. I translated the stuff, and he tried to make sense of the financial part of it, but ultimately it's just a balance sheet and there isn't really enough information to draw any real conclusions. If anyone has more details on actual profit or cash flow, or anything that could actually provide concrete details, it'll be welcome. Otherwise, this doesn't really say that Tales Studio is in trouble at all.

[KibblesBits]

What was the last 2D Tales game they made? I might buy one if it was recent.

[DidntKnowJack]

Dammit, if Sega can bring Yakuza 4 to the states, why can't they (Namco) bring friggin' Vesperia over to the PS3? I sold my 360 copy awhile ago thinking I would just get the more "complete" PS3 version. But that's all kinda beside the point.

Hopefully this news isn't as dire as we think.

[kswiston]

Worst news ever. Tales of Vesperia is one of the absolute best JRPG's ever made. I can't believe it didn't sell.

Tales of Vesperia didn't light up the NPD charts, but worldwide the game did alright. 550k+ in Japan between both versions, and probably north of 750k worldwide.

[CoolS]

I actually didn't follow graces after it was released. Was it really good?

If so, fu namco :(

[ShockingAlberto]

What was the last 2D Tales game they made? I might buy one if it was recent.

Hearts on the DS, I think.

It did not come here.

[hteng]

Triple fusion then :p

FINARU! FUUUUSION!

[kswiston]

Hearts on the DS, I think. It did not come here.

Last 2D tales game with an english release was the PSP port of Tales of Eternia in EU. Other than a Tales of Phantasia port on GBA, North America hasn't had a 2D tales game in 9 years.

[flsh]

After thinking about this for a few minutes and reading in wikipedia that the Tales team are a company owned by Namco I have come to the conclusion that GAF must buy it. This will give EviLore the excuse to charge for GAF Gold, and use the extra profit to make Tales of games that will come to the west.
And we could finally have the search feature back!

Maybe Namco will sell a few of team Tales' shares to Sony or Nintendo and the games will be localized by them if Namco doesn't want to pay for the costs

[Varion]

If anyone has more details on actual profit or cash flow, or anything that could actually provide concrete details, it'll be welcome. Otherwise, this doesn't really say that Tales Studio is in trouble at all.

Well this is encouraging. I think knowing nothing at all about economics I'm going to go with hope over fear.

I've loved all of the games Team Symphonia have put out, so I really hope these guys stick around.

I actually didn't follow graces after it was released. Was it really good? If so, fu namco :(

The combat was awesome, but the world felt too small and the story and characters were really poor, even for Tales standards.

[2San]

Is it the same team that keeps making the Tales of Rpg's? Isn't it about time they do something else. I liked ToV since the RPG's this gen where so shitty, but come on it is the same thing all over again.

[notworksafe]

Triple fusion then :p

Quadruple fusion! Bandai-Namco-Koei-Tecmo! NamKoMoDai!

[Bel Marduk]

Is it the same team that keeps making the Tales of Rpg's? Isn't it about time they do something else. I liked ToV since the RPG's this gen where so shitty, but come on it is the same thing all over again.

No, there's two different "main" teams along with some Tales games being outsourced. Team Symphonia recently did Vesperia and Team Destiny recently did Graces.Then we have Alfa System that did Innocence, and a combination of TS and TD members who did Hearts. Dimps also did Tempest but that's the only (and final :P) Tales they did.

[RPGCrazied]

I think its time for them to just sell the IP.
As I said, I'm sure XSEED/Atlus would be more than happy to buy it.

or atleast let them translate your damn games namco.