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[FluxWaveZ]

Sohei Niikawa, president of Nippon Ichi Software in Japan, had an interview with 4Gamer where he talked about how development of their console games have shifted to being PS4 exclusive (instead of multiplatform with the PS3). He also had some things to say about the state of console development in Japan.

Nippon Ichi Software’s new titles will be solely for PlayStation 4 and PS Vita, according to company president Sohei Shinkawa. Besides Disgaea 5, the company has another PlayStation 4 title due out later this year.

“It’s precisely because nobody else is making that big jump that we think there’s value to be had in setting our sights square on PS4,” Niikawa explained. “As a result, we’ve received support from Sony and are now able to do things like put out commercials. In that respect from a promotional perspective, there are merits to going the route that we have here.”

There are a lot of companies taking a wait-and-see approach with this hardware transition, but if you look at it from the perspective of our customers, they’re not seeing a whole lot of games coming out, which is in turn making them wary to move onto new hardware. It’s our job as game developers to bring that energy to life and make that market a reality. Of course, saying it is one thing and doing is another, but when we made this decision to switch over, we did it because we’re really enthusiastic about helping make that shift happen ourselves.”

Via Gematsu.

Niikawa also addresses the technical aspect of developing multiplatform console games now, and how developing for previous generation hardware holds them, and their industry, back.

Lock if old and all.

 

[Luke_Wal]

Sohei Niikawa, president of Nippon Ichi Software in Japan, had an interview with 4Gamer where he talked about how development of their console games have shifted to being PS4 exclusive (instead of multiplatform with the PS3). He also had some things to say about the state of console development in Japan.

Via Gematsu.

Niikawa also addresses the technical aspect of developing multiplatform console games now, and how developing for previous generation hardware holds them, and their industry, back.

Lock if old and all.

I've literally never played an NIS game, so forgive me for the dumb question, but because of their Japanese nature, I would assume the fact that they're not making anything for PC or Xbox One isn't news, right? It's just the next-gen part that stands out here?

 

[Dead Prince]

Bless them. NISA knows what to do.

 

[TomShoe]

I've literally never played an NIS game, so forgive me for the dumb question, but because of their Japanese nature, I would assume the fact that they're not making anything for PC or Xbox One isn't news, right? It's just the next-gen part that stands out here?

Yep. Making their games for XBO/PC doesn't really make much business sense. There's not much an audience there to making porting worth it, especially on the Xbox side.

What's really surprising is that they're dropping the PS3 install base so quickly, especially since most Japanese publishers appear to be lagging behind in this department.

 

[AniHawk]

I've literally never played an NIS game, so forgive me for the dumb question, but because of their Japanese nature, I would assume the fact that they're not making anything for PC or Xbox One isn't news, right? It's just the next-gen part that stands out here?

they've made some nintendo platform stuff, but never xbox.

the way things are moving this generation in japan, i wouldn't rule out steam happening though,

Bless them. NISA knows what to do.

more 3ds, ps4, and steam games!

 

[SeanTSC]

I've literally never played an NIS game, so forgive me for the dumb question, but because of their Japanese nature, I would assume the fact that they're not making anything for PC or Xbox One isn't news, right? It's just the next-gen part that stands out here?

Pretty much. Totally unsurprising. Personally I'm pretty glad that the small Japanese Niche devs are hopping on the PS4 so fast.

 

[SerTapTap]

NIS was an early adopter of PS3 too, right? Cool they're jumping the PS3 ship, kinda sad this qualifies as unusual (for Japan) though. Kinda weird the nicher companies (Compile Heart too) seem to be leaving PS3 before some of the larger ones even.

 

[Shizuka]

Vita! Vita! Vita!

 

[Shengar]

Yeah, the situation of wait and see truly creates an unending cycle of wary and waiting for both sides. If none ofbtge parties try yo break it, the industry might collapse fron its own conservartiveness. NIS do what other (Japanese) publisher don't (yet), glad to see them brave the future in order to break the cycle.

 

[Replicant]

I've literally never played an NIS game, so forgive me for the dumb question, but because of their Japanese nature, I would assume the fact that they're not making anything for PC or Xbox One isn't news, right? It's just the next-gen part that stands out here?

There's no point for them to make any for PC or Xbone when their target market is small and mostly gravitate towards Playstation consoles.

But yeah, the surprise here is them ditching PS3 so quickly. Maybe the ease of development for PS4 makes it more tempting/cost effective for them than staying on PS3.

 

[gigantor21]

NIS was an early adopter of PS3 too, right? Cool they're jumping the PS3 ship, kinda sad this qualifies as unusual (for Japan) though. Kinda weird the nicher companies (Compile Heart too) seem to be leaving PS3 before some of the larger ones even.

Yeah, it's a heaven-and-earth difference compared to the west, where several devs have cancelled last gen ports outright or saw the bulk of their cross-gen sales on the later consoles. The PS3 versions are still outselling the PS4 games in Japan, so the leeriness is understandable.

I wonder how aggressively Sony is courting more devs to make that leap with similar support.

 

[grumble]

Good call - they have the opportunity to get a lot of exposure on an empty playing field. Now what they have to do is make their games a little less niche as well and they could be a much more successful company. Dropping some of the fanservice would be wise...

 

[AniHawk]

There's no point for them to make any for PC or Xbone when their target market is small and mostly gravitate towards Playstation consoles.

But yeah, the surprise here is them ditching PS3 so quickly. Maybe the ease of development for PS4 makes it more tempting/cost effective for them than staying on PS3.

ps4 is also a pretty big market worldwide and the ps3 is fairly toxic for software sales in the west, these days, so it makes sense on a global scale at least.

 

[serversurfer]

Do we have any idea what the other PS4 game may be?

 

[AniHawk]

Good call - they have the opportunity to get a lot of exposure on an empty playing field. Now what they have to do is make their games a little less niche as well and they could be a much more successful company. Dropping some of the fanservice would be wise...

unfortunately, this is a sort of thing that has become increasingly more accepted in japan. it makes it really difficult for people localizing content since it's so at odds with what most western audiences appreciate.

 

[DooD1234]

I think they only found success on Playstation so ignoring Xbox and Nintendo platforms wouldn't bother them too much. Maybe they might make a move on PC soon though.

 

[Inuhanyou]

NIS and CC2 are the saviors of the Japanese game industry. Even SE is getting into the act I'm happy there are some people trying atleast.

CC2 and NIS have both spoken about dropping last gen support in order to help the new install bases thrive, and its nothing but happiness from me. So to hear NIS already has another game in addition to DIsgaea 5 lined up, and CC2 is working on 3 next gen only projects not even counting Jojo or Naruto, its a great thing to see.

 

[AniHawk]

Do we have any idea what the other PS4 game may be?

given how they're trying to make franchises out of things lately, maybe a ps4 hd update of the firefly diary, the fate games, that yandere hell thing, or the witch and the hundred knight.

 

[Pinko Marx]

There's no point for them to make any for PC or Xbone when their target market is small and mostly gravitate towards Playstation consoles.

But yeah, the surprise here is them ditching PS3 so quickly. Maybe the ease of development for PS4 makes it more tempting/cost effective for them than staying on PS3.

I think there is a market for their games on PC, but I don't blame them for focusing on the PS family.

 

[Inuhanyou]

And we know that consumers are hungry for content in Japan. In the past few months, PS4 has been selling at the top of the charts HW wise, beating out all handhelds and consoles alike, and the software is sellling abnormally well. Dragon quest sold 250,000 in the first week, the player base is about a million people, so 1 in 4 people who owned a PS4 went out and bought it.

If the japanese devs make it, they will come.

 

[spatenfloot]

we’re really enthusiastic about helping make that shit happen ourselves.

This is how I read it initially. Keep it real, NIS!

 

[Einbroch]

Interesting that Sony is going to help them with marketing.

Couple this with the fact that they're basically competing against no one and you have a very safe bet that they'll at least keep the lights on. We're not even talking about the west. Western PS4 gamers are starving for jRPGs. Pretty safe bet this'll be a win.

 

[Tohsaka]

It seems like the smaller Japanese devs are jumping on board with the PS4 faster than they did with PS3. I'm glad it's happening, hopefully the games sell decently enough for them over there.

 

[Kagari]

Good. Japan needs to stop using PS3 as a crutch.

 

[desmax]

Nice to hear they're getting support from Sony. Their TV Ad is pretty funny

 

[TomShoe]

Good. Japan needs to stop using PS3 as a crutch.

Agreed. The console space has been just as stagnant as the country itself.

Spoiler

Too much?

 

[Team Alucard]

Seems silly to not release them for PS3 as well. Its not like their games are known for their cutting edge graphics and high production values.

 

[Inuhanyou]

Seems silly to not release them for PS3 as well. Its not like their games are known for their cutting edge graphics and high production values.

That has nothing to do with getting software exclusively on PS4 so people don't keep saying "PS3 is enough". The PS3 right now is one of the biggest enemies of the PS4 in Japan in the core gaming space.

His entire point is that if devs keep making vertical mutliplatform games, it provides no real incentive to upgrade for many users, its not specifically to do with graphics or technological underpinnings, even though he said that was one detriment

 

[AniHawk]

And we know that consumers are hungry for content in Japan. In the past few months, PS4 has been selling at the top of the charts HW wise, beating out all handhelds and consoles alike.

the ps4 has been doing better than usual, but it's only outsold the 3ds twice since the start of 2015.

it seems ps3 owners are finally moving over, slowly but surely. if persona 5 and ffxv come out this year, those games plus metal gear solid v will help solidify what will be the japanese ps4 base (even if two of those are cross gen).

vita is in a decline, and has been since around october of 2014. i imagine most projects will start shifting to ps4/steam in the future if developers have any interest in traditional console games. the 3ds is in decline as well, and has been since the end of 2013. the new 3ds seems to have delayed the very sudden cliff it looked like it was falling from during 2014 though. sales in 2015 are lower than 2014, but not by much.

the japanese market is doing quite bad. the vita will probably not get a replacement, the ps4 will be the lone playstation platform in 2016 and beyond, and nintendo's successful handheld (and the most successful dedicated device right now in japan) is kind of doing ho-hum and may not get a replacement for 18 months, and that's sort of a best-case scenario.

 

[Dragun619]

Dude knows what's up. Develop those PS4 games, NIS, need more jrpgs on here.

And I did noticed that Sony been giving them support in their ads, so that's pretty cool. Hopefully, Disgaea 5 sells good for them.

 

[AniHawk]

Good. Japan needs to stop using PS3 as a crutch.

it's not a crutch, kagari. it's just something they've come to rely on to help get through life.

 

[Takao]

Wonder what Niikawa's opinion on PS4 will be if Disgaea 5 performs as poorly as early indications seem to suggest.

 

[VariantX]

Good. Japan tends to stick with older hardware way longer than it should. Took what seemed like forever for them to walk away from ps2 and psp

 

[XxRampage07xX]

That's nice! PS3 needs to die ASAP.

 

[nampad]

Vita! Vita! Vita!

YES! YES! YES!

 

[Flunkie]

dat Vita

 

[Drkirby]

I feel they are leaving a lot of money on the table ignoring the PC space, but they likely need the Sony Money.

 

[BrokenEchelon]

NIS stands for Nippon Ichi Software.

 

[Busaiku]

It seems like the smaller Japanese devs are jumping on board with the PS4 faster than they did with PS3. I'm glad it's happening, hopefully the games sell decently enough for them over there.

Not really, Disgaea 3 came out just 13 months after launch, which is the same for Disgaea 5.

 

[makingmusic476]

I wish Sony would throw some money at other pubs to nudge them along. Dropping the ps3 version of MGSV and Yakuza 0, getting Namco to make Tales of Zestiria for ps4 (too late for that now), etc. etc.

 

[Verelios]

Love NIS' s attitude. It's a shame quite a few developers quit, but I'm looking forward to another great year from them.

 

[Josh5890]

They still love the Vita.

 

[DangerMouse]

Awesome, great news NIS. I'm ready for your new games.

 

[cj_iwakura]

That's nice! PS3 needs to die ASAP.

Nope. Keep 'em coming.

 

[Kasper]

Wonder what Niikawa's opinion on PS4 will be if Disgaea 5 performs as poorly as early indications seem to suggest.

Why do you think (or what do you think indicates) that Disgaea 5 will do poorly?

 

[Busaiku]

Why do you think (or what do you think indicates) that Disgaea 5 will do poorly?

Based on preorder rankings at Japanese retailers.

 

[Tohsaka]

Not really, Disgaea 3 came out just 13 months after launch, which is the same for Disgaea 5.

I wasn't really just talking about Nippon Ichi. Compile Heart, for example will already have two PS4 games out next month, with a third (Fairy Fencer F sequel) coming later this year. There's other stuff from smaller devs like Onechanbara Z2, Natsuiro High School, etc. as well.

 

[SuperSonic1305]

Sony should just buy them.

 

[Shin-Ra]

When's Gust expected to release their first PS4 game?

 

[Cornbread78]

I wish Sony would throw some money at other pubs to nudge them along. Dropping the ps3 version of MGSV and Yakuza 0, getting Namco to make Tales of Zestiria for ps4 (too late for that now), etc. etc.

Tales of Z better be on PS4 or it's being sent to die in NA


Everyone needs to pre-ordet/buy Disgaea V to fully support these actions!!