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[Kilrogg]

Sure, I don't disagree. I could probably narrow my definition further. My point is really just that if one looks at what "game development" was understood to be ten or fifteen years ago, those methods and forms of development are still gloriously alive today -- just not in the production of high-budget AAA PS360 games.

Damn you, you never actually say that you agree with me!

Seriously, you're absolutely right. I guess that what I was hinting at is that "high-budget AAA" games today really are "high-budget" games, which entails high risks and, judging by most 3rd parties' losses, diminishing returns. Also, it seems that those AAA HD games are usually seen as ambitious and serious as far as game development goes. They're seen as what small-to-medium-sized developers should aim for when they "grow up". This perception of resource-demanding, production values-focused games as the be all, end all of game development is what led me to take a shortcut and call them "traditional games", even though, as you said, other forms of game development are alive and kicking. This was lazy phrasing on my part, and in the end, we're in agreement.

 

[markatisu]

Isn't DQ X and SH:Shattered Memories coming out on Wii? Didn't Muramasa just come out? These games are third party games or am I missing something?

Out of those DQX is the only one that will sell

 

[Mutanthands]

Wii: -53.4%
DSL+DSi: +14.8%
PS2: -53.0%
PS3: +29.1%
PSP: -45.9%
X360: +79.3%

Home hardware: -30.3%
Portable hardware: -18.5%
Sum of all hardware: -23.2%

Last year:

This year:

Interesting to see the significant drop in the PSP numbers this year. Obviously, the 3000 did not do for Sony what the 2000 did in 07-08, along with no new Monster Hunter.

Is the upcoming release of the PSP GO on November 1st getting any hype in Japan? Or are the retailers freaking out there like they are in Europe?

I get the feeling that the PSP GO is not going to make much of a splash beyond the first month, epecially with the robust used market in Japan. It seems like it's more of a solution for lower numbers in the North American and European markets.

Outside of a Monster Hunter 3, what does Sony have to reverse the downward trend? Do they care?

 

[Brofist]

Interesting to see the significant drop in the PSP numbers this year. Obviously, the 3000 did not do for Sony what the 2000 did in 07-08, along with no new Monster Hunter.

Is the upcoming release of the PSP GO on November 1st getting any hype in Japan? Or are the retailers freaking out there like they are in Europe?

I get the feeling that the PSP GO is not going to make much of a splash beyond the first month, epecially with the robust used market in Japan. It seems like it's more of a solution for lower numbers in the North American and European markets.

Outside of a Monster Hunter 3, what does Sony have to reverse the downward trend? Do they care?

Haven't there been a ton of new PSP game announcements this year?

 

[Mutanthands]

Haven't there been a ton of new PSP game announcements this year?

I only think 3 of the recent announcements would have any effect on sales in Japan:

1. Agito Final Fantasy XIII
2. Kingdom Hearts: Birthed by Sleep
3. Parasite Eve (and this one is questionable)

Most of the games announced have been more NA or European focused, or minor RPGs that will sell ok, but not drive hardware sales.

Besides, the game situation was never as dire in Japan as it was in NA and Europe.

The PSP in Japan rose on the 2000 and Monster Hunter. I'm interested if there is anything out there that will drive sales back up until the eventual announcement of Monster Hunter 3.

I'm also curious about the opinions on the PSP GO.

 

[donny2112]

The PSP in Japan rose on the 2000 and Monster Hunter.

Wii happens to be at the point now that PSP was when PSP-2000/Crisis Core was released. Price drop/NSMBWii going to make as much difference?

Edit:
Just because I was curious. All data from my database, i.e. Famitsu but not 100% complete.

PSP vs. Wii through 2 yrs, 9 mos

Total SW:
PSP - 13.0m
Wii - 32.0m

Total 3rd-party SW:
PSP - 10.4m
WII - 8.1m

Total 1st-party SW:
PSP - 2.6m
WII - 23.9m

 

[Grampasso]

Wii happens to be at the point now that PSP was when PSP-2000/Crisis Core was released. Price drop/NSMBWii going to make as much difference?

Edit:
Just because I was curious. All data from my database, i.e. Famitsu but not 100% complete.

PSP vs. Wii through 2 yrs, 9 mos

Total SW:
PSP - 13.0m
Wii - 32.0m

Total 3rd-party SW:
PSP - 10.4m
WII - 8.1m

Total 1st-party SW:
PSP - 2.6m
WII - 23.9m

So 50%+ 3rd party sales on PSP are Monster Hunter titles?

 

[HK-47]

So 50%+ 3rd party sales on PSP are Monster Hunter titles?

Through 2 years and 9 months man.

 

[Grampasso]

Through 2 years and 9 months man.

Oh right /facepalm

 

[donny2112]

Through 2 years and 9 months man.

Yeah, though that point I have MHP, MHP (BEST), and MHP2 at ~2.2m.

 

[Grampasso]

Yeah, though that point I have MHP, MHP (BEST), and MHP2 at ~2.2m.

Can I ask you the total sales of MH titles combined compared to the total sales of 3rd party sales on PSP?

 

[Tmac]

Interesting that in just those two last weeks the ps3 sold about 25% of YTD and about 6% of its LTD in Japan.

 

[Gadfly]

Any indication how PS3 did last week (ending Sept 20th)?

 

[Grampasso]

From Garaph, Monster Hunter Portable franchise total sales in Japan is 6261315, so probably isn't 50% but maybe 40% of 3rd party software sales for PSP? That's quite amazing. Indeed Capcom is the only developer together with SE who gets the market this generation.

 

[Moor-Angol]

Maybe anyone didn't know, but from today till thursday is holiday in Japan.
Called "Silver Week", it has been introduced this year.
I really didn't know that, my gf told me yesterday (and i cheated her "it's always holiday over there !!!!" :lol

Very curious to see if sales will raise during these days...

 

[bttb]

.

 

[onken]

I only think 3 of the recent announcements would have any effect on sales in Japan:

1. Agito Final Fantasy XIII
2. Kingdom Hearts: Birthed by Sleep
3. Parasite Eve (and this one is questionable)

Most of the games announced have been more NA or European focused, or minor RPGs that will sell ok, but not drive hardware sales.
.

I imagine P3P will do pretty damn well.

 

[thestopsign]

I imagine P3P will do pretty damn well.

You mean like 200k-300k?

 

[Stumpokapow]

Any indication how PS3 did last week (ending Sept 20th)?

That information comes Tuesday/Wednesday.

 

[Aru]

I imagine P3P will do pretty damn well.

I'd be surprised if P3P does better than 150k first week.

 

[Acosta]

I'm just calling a spade a spade. We can change the word, if you want, to "illogical" or "irrational" or "unreasonable." The point is that developing for a market leader has always, throughout gaming's history, been a very good position to be in

I'm not disputing that, what I want (or would like) to know is the reason about it.

Dalthien addresses this very effectively above. There is a major loss third-parties as a category have experienced in Japan's marketplace this generation that is directly attributable to their unwillingness to support the market leader. (Where I differ with many people is that I also assign blame to Nintendo for not responding by making such support more attractive, but the base description of third-party choices as mistaken remains accurate.)

I'm not sure about a 100% correlation between the loose of third party business and not supporting the third party. An important factor? yes, but I think there are more here and it has been being like that for years, big companies were already seeing the signals of a problem ahead, but they reacted differently. Some companies looked to west (Capcom), others (especially Nintendo) looked for other way around the traditional one, and there is a couple who could keep it on doing what they normally do (Koei comes to mind), and other just spread their business in other fields out of gaming (Konami). I'm not sure if the third companies closed would have adapted to the new circumstances, even developing for the market leader.

I might suggest that if you actually thoroughly read my posts in this thread and thought through the prisoner's dilemma situation I describe you might notice that there is, in fact, an explanation, just not one that has any remotely factual connection to the idea that the Wii is an inherently unsuitable software platform.

I has never defended the idea of Wii being an unsuitable software platform, and yes, I have read your post about the prisioner's dilemma situation and that scenario suits well with my point, because what I'm saying is that there must be reasons behind the fact companies has been so reluctant to put their prime support on Wii. As you have exposed, the situation is clear, Wii sells more, therefore it has more potential clients, 1+1=2, right? Everyone can see it, so why didn't happen?

I think there could be many type of scenarios, different for each companies. But in general, I see lack of confidence on the machine and Nintendo should have take the leadership to address that (I think both us agree at that point).

Our points are not that far after all.

 

[oldie-newbie]

As you have exposed, the situation is clear, Wii sells more, therefore it has more potential clients, 1+1=2, right? Everyone can see it, so why didn't happen?

I think there could be many type of scenarios, different for each companies. But in general, I see lack of confidence on the machine and Nintendo should have take the leadership to address that (I think both us agree at that point).

One can explain this situation with the fact that the large majority of companies have been confident that PS3 would take the leadership this gen and so started to develop their big franchises with the development kit for PS3.

When they saw that Wii took the leadership, they had developped many projects for PS3 for at least one year (or more) and they continue in this way because of the time and money spent for these projects.
But for MH3 or DQX, there was not time spent on development and the best way is to put them in Wii. For example, MH3 was previously announced for PS3 but as the development was not running, it is more easy to switch to Wii.

For example and unfortunately for Nintendo, the next titles for RE and MGS (RE6 and MGS5) will be developped for PS3 or X360 because their engine motor running on Cell processor are already done and the costs of development are reduced. In the same way, new IPs using same engine motor will be developped for PS3 and X360.

 

[Road]

Dengeki Sales: 09/07 - 09/13

01./00. [NDS] Pokemon Soul Silver (Pokemon Co.) - 716,332 / NEW
02./00. [NDS] Pokemon Heart Gold (Pokemon Co.) - 714,503 / NEW
03./02. [NDS] Tomodachi Collection (Friend Collection) (Nintendo) - 70,742 / 1,060,389
04./03. [NDS] Dragon Quest IX: Defenders of the Starry Sky (Square Enix) - 40,606 / 3,878,894
05./01. [PS3] Kidou Senshi Gundam Senki: Lost War Chronicles (Namco Bandai) - 36,126 / 220,341
06./04. [WII] Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo) - 30,178 / 1,151,173
07./05. [NDS] Love Plus (Konami) - 27,200 / 71,907
08./06. [WII] Monster Hunter 3 (Capcom) - 15,147 / 870,878
09./00. [PS3] Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (BEST) (Square Enix) - 15,136 / NEW
10./07. [NDS] Sloane and MacHale's Mysterious Story 2 (Level 5) - 12,225 / 29,810

11./09. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2 G (BEST) (Capcom) - 11,522 / 955,393
12./00. [360] Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (BEST) (Square Enix) - 9,067 / NEW
13./08. [NDS] You'll Incur Losses if You Remain Ignorant: How Money and Things Work DS (Nintendo) - 8,333 / 39,317
14./11. [NDS] Puyo Puyo 7 (SEGA) - 8,106 / 164,145
15./00. [PSP] MAPLUS Portable Navigator 3 (Edia Co.) - 8,075 / NEW
16./12. [PSP] Way of the Samurai 2 Portable (Spike) - 6,878 / 16,253
17./16. [NDS] Penguin no Mondai X: Tenkuu no 7 Senshi (A Penguin's Troubles X: 7 Warriors of the Sky) (Konami) - 5,695 / 131,142
18./10. [PS3] 428: Fuusa Sareta Shibuya de (Spike) - 5,206 / 19,131
19./17. [NDS] Welcome Home! Chibi-Robo! Happy Rich Big Cleaning! (Nintendo) - 4,944 / 123,778
20./15. [PS2] SD Gundam G Generation Wars (Namco Bandai) - 4,456 / 295,462


Other software:

[NDS] Pokemon Diamond / Pearl (LTD = 5.922 million)
[NDS] New Super Mario Bros. (LTD = 5.259 million)

Hardware |  This Week |  Last Week |    LTD
NDS      |     81,721 |     69,629 | 27,570,181
PSP      |     17,450 |     21,213 | 12,638,396
Wii      |     16,533 |	    20,718 |  8,600,222
PS3      |     56,776 |	   147,928 |  3,562,993
X360     |	7,116 |	     5,683 |  1,131,174
PS2      |	2,707 |	     3,143 |	
Total    |    182,303 |	   268,314 |

Monster Hunter 3 on the three trackers (LTD and difference):

 -----------------------------------------------------------------
| W | Famitsu | M-Create | Dengeki || Fami-MC | Fami-Den | MC-Den |
|---|---------|----------|---------||---------|----------|--------| 
| 1 |     583 |      520 |     527 ||      63 |       56 |     -7 | 
| 2 |     720 |      657 |     671 ||      63 |       49 |    -14 | 
| 3 |     793 |      750 |     759 ||      43 |       34 |     -9 | 
| 4 |     835 |      801 |     802 ||      34 |       33 |     -1 | 
| 5 |     866 |      836 |     833 ||      30 |       32 |      2 | 
| 6 |     881 |      857 |     856 ||      24 |       25 |      2 | 
| 7 |     894 |      873 |     871 ||      21 |       23 |      2 | 
 -----------------------------------------------------------------

(thousand units)

 

[donny2112]

http://mainichi.jp/enta/mantan/news/20090917mog00m200014000c.html

From Traders video game division director in Tokyo's Akihabara district, Toshikazu Kobayashi.


Used game rankings for Sept 8-14

01./02. NDS Love Plus
02./01. NDS Dragon Quest IX
03./07. PS3 Kidou Senshi Gundam Senki
04./08. PS2 SD Gundam G Generation Wars
05./03. 360 Dream C Club
06./04. PS3 Resident Evil 5
07./00. PSP Monster Hunter Portable 2 G
08./00. PS3 428: Fuusa Sareta Shibuya de
09./06. PS3 Atelier Rorona
10./10. PSP Hatsune Miku: Project Diva


I'll probably do this for next week, too, but then that'll probably be it for awhile.

 

[mclem]

From Garaph, Monster Hunter Portable franchise total sales in Japan is 6261315, so probably isn't 50% but maybe 40% of 3rd party software sales for PSP? That's quite amazing. Indeed Capcom is the only developer together with SE who gets the market this generation.

And yet, where are the people lamenting:

"Third parties can't afford to develop on PSP! They have to compete with Monster Hunter there!"?

I do generally agree that there's more to the apparent dislike of Wii by third parties other than the competition reason largely for that sort of reason; there's *always* one or two Big Fish publishers on a system which dominate a significant proportion of that system's sales, but generally other publishers can find a niche.

 

[oldie-newbie]

And yet, where are the people lamenting:

"Third parties can't afford to develop on PSP! They have to compete with Monster Hunter there!"?

:lol Do not forget : this argument is only valid for the Wii :lol

 

[oldie-newbie]

Maybe anyone didn't know, but from today till thursday is holiday in Japan. Called "Silver Week", it has been introduced this year. Very curious to see if sales will raise during these days...

Can only impact on Pokemon Soul "Silver" sales

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Since I already had a script to give the known total software per week, I modified it to cut out the first party stuff.

Both PS3 and Wii are easily having their best year of third party numbers yet, though they didn't set much a bar in previous years. Rule of thumb for seeing where years end: look for simultaneous spikes--that tends to mean an influx of Top 500 data.

I actually found this a bit interesting. Even at this very high PS3 sales rate (about 150k a week), it is pretty much impossible for the PS3 to outsell the Wii in this console generation in Japan (and maybe worldwide as well). I guess that is old news that the PS3 wont have a chance to outsell the Wii in this generation though, but i still found it interesting to see it like this

Note that the week you quoted was the one when PS3 was at 55K. If it really continued selling 150K/week (would we call that "pulling a DS"?), it would be caught up by about mid next year.

EDIT:

The week of ToV release on the 360 was in the middle of Obon last year, which means Famitsu numbers were for two weeks. What Joshua did, I assume, was divide the total by 2, giving us 15k in each week. (I don't know how he does to split the software sales.)

Yeah, if there are two combined weeks I split the hardware in half. If it's odd, the extra 1 goes to the second week. For software I leave out the weekly numbers altogether and just put in the new LTD values. Often we can get a proper top 20 per week from a different source, though, which helps fill things in.

 

[Busaiku]

PSP vs. Wii through 2 yrs, 9 mos

Total SW:
PSP - 13.0m
Wii - 32.0m

Total 3rd-party SW:
PSP - 10.4m
WII - 8.1m

Total 1st-party SW:
PSP - 2.6m
WII - 23.9m

Would you mind doing software comparisons between GBA and PSP?
I'd like to see where it stands right now, though GBA software would've been trending downward by this time in the PSP's life, since it and the DS came already.

 

[donny2112]

Would you mind doing software comparisons between GBA and PSP?
I'd like to see where it stands right now, though GBA software would've been trending downward by this time in the PSP's life, since it and the DS came already.

GBA vs. PSP through 4 yrs, 9 mos (DS/PSP launched at ~ 4 yrs, 8 mos into GBA's life)

Total SW:
GBA - 52.7m
PSP - 30.3m

Total 3rd-party SW:
GBA - 22.8m
PSP - 26.1m

Total 1st-party SW:
GBA - 29.9m
PSP - 4.2m


1st/3rd-party split @ 4 yrs, 9 mos:

GBA - 57/43
NDS - 56/44

PSP - 14/86
PS2 - 10/90

Edit:
1st/3rd-party split @ 2 yrs, 9 mos:

GCN - 70/30
WII - 75/25

 

[Grampasso]

http://mainichi.jp/enta/mantan/news/20090917mog00m200014000c.html

From Traders video game division director in Tokyo's Akihabara district, Toshikazu Kobayashi.


Used game rankings for Sept 8-14

01./02. NDS Love Plus
02./01. NDS Dragon Quest IX
03./07. PS3 Kidou Senshi Gundam Senki
04./08. PS2 SD Gundam G Generation Wars
05./03. 360 Dream C Club
06./04. PS3 Resident Evil 5
07./00. PSP Monster Hunter Portable 2 G
08./00. PS3 428: Fuusa Sareta Shibuya de
09./06. PS3 Atelier Rorona
10./10. PSP Hatsune Miku: Project Diva


I'll probably do this for next week, too, but then that'll probably be it for awhile.

Wow, I'm pretty surprised at the lack of MH3 in this list, or at the lack of Wii titles at all :O

 

[mckmas8808]

GBA vs. PSP through 4 yrs, 9 mos (DS/PSP launched at ~ 4 yrs, 8 mos into GBA's life)

Total SW:
GBA - 52.7m
PSP - 30.3m

Total 3rd-party SW:
GBA - 22.8m
PSP - 26.1m

Total 1st-party SW:
GBA - 29.9m
PSP - 4.2m


1st/3rd-party split @ 4 yrs, 9 mos:

GBA - 57/43
NDS - 56/44

PSP - 14/86
PS2 - 10/90

Edit:
1st/3rd-party split @ 2 yrs, 9 mos:

GCN - 70/30
WII - 75/25

So Nintendo really kicks it up when it comes to their consoles? Or do they just get less overall support from 3rd parties on consoles?

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

So Nintendo really kicks it up when it comes to their consoles? Or do they just get less overall support from 3rd parties on consoles?

It seems to be a bit of a chicken and egg situation. It would be interesting to see such information for Famicom/Super Famicom/early Game Boy, but the modern sales data we use is pretty spotty until Sony is already the dominant console player.

 

[Kingsora]

I only think 3 of the recent announcements would have any effect on sales in Japan:

1. Agito Final Fantasy XIII
2. Kingdom Hearts: Birthed by Sleep
3. Parasite Eve (and this one is questionable)

Most of the games announced have been more NA or European focused, or minor RPGs that will sell ok, but not drive hardware sales.

Besides, the game situation was never as dire in Japan as it was in NA and Europe.

The PSP in Japan rose on the 2000 and Monster Hunter. I'm interested if there is anything out there that will drive sales back up until the eventual announcement of Monster Hunter 3.

I'm also curious about the opinions on the PSP GO.

Kingdom Hearts and Phantasy Portable 2 are probably going to make a big splash for the PSP this year.

 

[charlequin]

Damn you, you never actually say that you agree with me!

:lol

Also, it seems that those AAA HD games are usually seen as ambitious and serious as far as game development goes. They're seen as what small-to-medium-sized developers should aim for when they "grow up".

Yep. I agree. lol ) This idea is essentially idiotic, basically comparable to the idea that, like, visionary independent filmmakers should all aspire to be Michael Bay when they grow up, but it is also extremely prominent.

I'd be surprised if P3P does better than 150k first week.

I'd be shocked.

I'm not disputing that, what I want (or would like) to know is the reason about it.

The reason that it's better to support a market leader? Because... they... have sold a lot of consoles? And selling your game to a big audience is... good?

Sorry, I'm not actually clear what your question is here.

I'm not sure about a 100% correlation between the loose of third party business and not supporting the third party.

I'm not arguing for a 100% correlation, only a strong causal relationship that is one of, but not the only, factor contributing to the massive decline of third-party developers this generation.

I think there are more here and it has been being like that for years, big companies were already seeing the signals of a problem ahead, but they reacted differently.

I think it's arguable that there are very many companies that saw a problem coming, and even more arguable that there are many who reacted in a manner that was in any way strategically justifiable. Capcom actively and consistently hung its hat on a stream of HD cross-platform action games intended to be able to perform decently in Japan but become hits in the US, and this strategy has proven relatively wise; I don't think anyone could say the same about Namco's completely undirected flailing, or Konami's descent into being an MGS factory, or Square's litany of failed HD products only propped up by their (quite sensible) DS/PSP investment.

what I'm saying is that there must be reasons behind the fact companies has been so reluctant to put their prime support on Wii.

Sure, but my point in bringing up the prisoner's dilemma illustration is that those are ultimately not particularly good reasons.

The risk of being "the only people failing on the Wii" only exists because companies blinked rather than simply by default allocating resources to supporting a market-leading system in a sensible way. It's like a whole class of kids who won't go in the pool because one guy told them on the bus that there was an alligator in it -- ultimately you may need to coax one particular child to dive in first by offering him a cupcake or something, but from an external point of view there was never actually any good reason to go in the pool.

Everyone can see it, so why didn't happen?

Because, IMO (as I also said somewhere in this thread) companies don't actually make decisions based on strong rational analysis, they make decisions filtered through heavy cognitive biases that often favor courses of action that are visibly suboptimal to an external observer simply because they are familiar or based on "conventional wisdom."

Nintendo should have take the leadership to address that (I think both us agree at that point).

Yes. If you're the camp counselor and your kids won't go in the pool because of the alligator, it's your job to figure out how to get them in the pool. If you just shrug your shoulders and say "not my problem," you get fired. :lol

 

[Mushashi]

I am not predicting Japanese developer collapse, but it could happen. Who will be the first ? No idea, but I think Konami is one of the candidate. Konami relied too much on MGS4, and if anything happen to the cash cow, they will have big problem.

Hi #3
Sorry I think you are quite wrong to think Konami depends on MGS and will be a possible candidate for bankruptcy. Konami is quite a stable business and has maintained good profitability, even without greatly supporting Nintendo systems.

 

[Fredescu]

This idea is essentially idiotic, basically comparable to the idea that, like, visionary independent filmmakers should all aspire to be Michael Bay when they grow up, but it is also extremely prominent.

I don't think that's necessarily a valid comparison. Narbacular Drop turned into Portal with AAA backing. I don't think it's valid to say that visionary developers lose their vision because they have a higher pixel budget. Which developers made the transition from innovative SD games to run of the mill HD games? I wouldn't be suprised if there is a couple, but I doubt it's the norm.

 

[xs_mini_neo]

GBA vs. PSP through 4 yrs, 9 mos (DS/PSP launched at ~ 4 yrs, 8 mos into GBA's life)

Total SW:
GBA - 52.7m
PSP - 30.3m

Total 3rd-party SW:
GBA - 22.8m
PSP - 26.1m

Total 1st-party SW:
GBA - 29.9m
PSP - 4.2m


1st/3rd-party split @ 4 yrs, 9 mos:

GBA - 57/43
NDS - 56/44

PSP - 14/86
PS2 - 10/90

Edit:
1st/3rd-party split @ 2 yrs, 9 mos:

GCN - 70/30
WII - 75/25

Even when Nintendo made deals with third parties, those same parties always had one eye on Sony's dick. Even Rare (from the N64 days) toyed with the idea. Remember the Capcom 5? After that epic backstab, I don't expect Nintendo to ever bend to the will of any third party. What they're doing with Metroid: Other M and DQ is more reasonable from a post-GC era Nintendo. There are legitimate things to bash Nintendo for, but this reason is not one of them.

 

[charlequin]

I don't think that's necessarily a valid comparison. Narbacular Drop turned into Portal with AAA backing. I don't think it's valid to say that visionary developers lose their vision because they have a higher pixel budget.

It's a good thing I didn't say that, then!

That someone can go from a shoestring masterpiece to later create a huge-budget game with a gigantic team that is also worthy of praise is certainly possible, but the idea that the former is an essentially pointless exercise that one should abandon in favor of racing towards the latter is a foolish idea and one that is more prominent than it ought to be in the current environment.

 

[Fredescu]

It's a good thing I didn't say that, then!

Really? What else would you call a transition from "visionary independant" to Michael Bay esque flash over substance? It sounds like you're saying that a large number of devs are losing their vision in favour of "HD".

That someone can go from a shoestring masterpiece to later create a huge-budget game with a gigantic team that is also worthy of praise is certainly possible, but the idea that the former is an essentially pointless exercise that one should abandon in favor of racing towards the latter is a foolish idea and one that is more prominent than it ought to be in the current environment.

If that notion is "extremely prominent" I was wondering if you had a few devs in mind.

 

[Kilrogg]

It's a good thing I didn't say that, then!

That someone can go from a shoestring masterpiece to later create a huge-budget game with a gigantic team that is also worthy of praise is certainly possible, but the idea that the former is an essentially pointless exercise that one should abandon in favor of racing towards the latter is a foolish idea and one that is more prominent than it ought to be in the current environment.

Not a pointless exercise, but something that should be pursued inasmuch as it allows you, as a company, to establish a financial foothold in the business – or maintain it in times of trouble, mind you. I liken it to the idea that developers should develop "casual" games in order to fund AAA HD games and to that end only. In this scenario, lower-budget games (and games that are not geared towards a tech-enthusiast population, to take a shortcut) are treated like potboilers. They're not recognized as having value in and of themselves.

 

[Busaiku]

GBA vs. PSP through 4 yrs, 9 mos (DS/PSP launched at ~ 4 yrs, 8 mos into GBA's life)

Total SW:
GBA - 52.7m
PSP - 30.3m

Total 3rd-party SW:
GBA - 22.8m
PSP - 26.1m

Total 1st-party SW:
GBA - 29.9m
PSP - 4.2m

Thanks for this.

It seems like the PSP will probably not be able to match the software numbers of the GBA within its lifetime, though it could reach the hardware by the end of its life.

I was not at all aware of how total PSP software had been doing.
I find it pretty surprising that PSP's software is still lower than Wii's.
It did more than double in less than 2 years, but it still grew at a much slower rate than Wii's doing.

 

[thestopsign]

Thanks for this.

It seems like the PSP will probably not be able to match the software numbers of the GBA within its lifetime, though it could reach the hardware by the end of its life.

I was not at all aware of how total PSP software had been doing.
I find it pretty surprising that PSP's software is still lower than Wii's.
It did more than double in less than 2 years, but it still grew at a much slower rate than Wii's doing.

I think in general portables have a lower attach rate than consoles, so even with more hardware sold it's likely that they won't have as much software sold. This is especially true with the PSP, but the DS and GBA also have had fairly low attach rates compared to their console counterparts.

 

[apujanata]

Hi #3
Sorry I think you are quite wrong to think Konami depends on MGS and will be a possible candidate for bankruptcy. Konami is quite a stable business and has maintained good profitability, even without greatly supporting Nintendo systems.

Hi #5. Where were you in the last 12 months ? Posted nothing on NeoGAF ?

You are right. I forgot about Winning Eleven series, another big series from Konami. I must have been sleepy when I post that post (i pull up an all nighter at that time), since it is a major blunder, especially since I have WE 2009 for Wii. I also have Power Pro 2008 Wii, another Konami game that are a big series in Japan.

So, which Japanese developer you think are the closest one to bankruptcy ?

 

[charlequin]

Really? What else would you call a transition from "visionary independant" to Michael Bay esque flash over substance? It sounds like you're saying that a large number of devs are losing their vision in favour of "HD".

Do you agree that it would be insipid for people to talk about newly successful independent filmmakers or people with quirky, niche hits recently under their belt as if "that's all well and good, but maybe with a few more years in the industry they can make real movies the way Michael Bay does"? Do you see the parallel to this argument in the frequently stated idea that it's nice that a company can succeed on DS/PSP/XBLA/PSN/WiiWare/budget-games/etc. but maybe in a few years they can make a real game that sells for $60 on HD consoles?

My analogy has nothing to do with accusing individual developers of "selling out" (or whatever) and instead solely refers to a broad lack of respect for certain platform and development choices.

 

[xs_mini_neo]

I definitely don't buy that Nintendo is a victim of the "stupidity" of the industry.

Well plenty of people buy that the industry was a victim of Nintendo once upon a time, so why not the other way around? The industry has been getting payback for three generations now...I think it's time to get over it, "industry." Darth Nintendo died over ten years ago. It's time to adjust to the present day climate. lol

Certain people invested a fuckton of cash on PS3 winning the universe, so when that didn't happen, they decide to make it happen...against its will. And as you can see, it has been hilarious. It's such a good clusterfuck. It will be remembered as a modern day classic. That's "why." Oh, and third parties getting a little too comfortable with the PS2's industry dominance...after the PS1 did the same. It was natural for them to think that Sony IS the industry and to think that anyone else running the show was blasphemy. Been to PS3 fanboy forums? People like that are all over the industry...that belonged...ahem, excuse me, belongS to Sony. When you hear certain people in this lovely industry saying they must save Sony, when you've never heard that for any other console maker before, you know something has gone terribly...

Spoiler

creepy.

 

[Sadist]

Hyperbole at it's finest.

 

[RurouniZel]

Hyperbole at it's finest.

Sure, there aren't as many as he's describing, but I know a couple at my work. I avoid talking videogames with them because they look like they're on the verge of tears whenever Sony's not winning something, or whenever they see other people at work joyfully chatting about enjoying a game of Wii Sports or something.

It is creepy.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Sure, there aren't as many as he's describing, but I know a couple at my work. I avoid talking videogames with them because they look like they're on the verge of tears whenever Sony's not winning something, or whenever they see other people at work joyfully chatting about enjoying a game of Wii Sports or something.

It is creepy.

Welcome to all fanboy races. It's not just an exclusive Sony trait, believe me.

 

[AniHawk]

I wonder if, after we heard so often that the PS2 and the PS3 were very hard to develop for, that Sony will make their next system more developer-friendly. They were able to get away with it on the PS2, and a little bit on the PS3, but it's been biting their ass for the most part in recent years.