Alextended said:
What kind of game would that be? Did they announce the genre?
And if you mean turn based strategy or strategy rpg and such, eh, they work just great on home consoles and even PC (in their more Western form) too.
And why would they only be able to add multiplayer if it was on iOS? Not that multiplayer is what most people want from such titles.
I meant sales-wise and profit-wise. I guess if they decided to take away all the strategy and turn-based and huge party-building aspects, then yeah, it might fly on 360 or ps3. We could just re-issue Oblivion but call it Shining Force 4.
But the tactical rpg genre doesn't really have a lot of legs or sense on consoles or PC right now. I'm not saying there aren't good games, but they're awfully niche, and there's no way you're selling over a million on something like that.
As for why I think it makes the most sense on iOS, three reasons.
First, Shining force controls are mucho simple and not twitchy in the slightest, so not having buttons wouldn't really matter. Also, it's not a franchise or genre where graphics are especially important, so it's make more sense as a DS game than a 3DS game, and it'd fit in well with the presentation level expected of iOS games.
Second, I don't know what online gaming is like on the 3ds or on the new psp2 or ngp, but iPhone is basically the perfect little platform for playing asynchronous strategy games. You make a move, then wait, maybe an hour or more, for the other guy to make a move. Rinse, repeat. Let's be honest, waiting for another player to move all 15-20 of his little soldiers, cast his spells, use his items, etc, would be mucho dull. It just wouldn't make any sense as a console game where you're sitting there waiting for the other guy. I've seen games like Battle Bugs do it in interesting ways by using a timer to keep you moving, but speed and tactical rpgs don't mix well. Anyone who has played multiplayer civilization knows what i'm talking about.
Third, you've got a freaking HUGE player base of people who are already used to playing non-rushed games where they can put in 4-5 minutes at a time. The army of people who spend their time playing scrabble knockoffs will surely be more likely to get into a game like Shining Force than will the CoD klansmen types on Xbox Live. It helps that SF has always been kindof cute, though not quite to the level of dragon quest, and it might prove to be popular with girls if done right since the franchise has historically been pretty easy to get into in a very non-avalon hill kind of way. As the saying goes, it's not complicated but complex.
