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Sony admits PS4 is a tougher sell in Japan
- Thread starter Bundy
- Start date
Damnit, I was already writing mine.
vinnygambini
Why are strippers at the U.N. bad when they're great at strip clubs???
http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2014/06/04/frozen-ranks-as-third-biggest-hit-in-japan/
Edit: Beaten by Aqua. Aqua takes the crown again.
Nightengale
Member
Tons? Some would be an overstatement.
Off the top of my head, external teams with the caliber and potential to make a major JRPG titles in Japan are:
From, tri-Ace, Level-5,
Even if I broaden the market, and loop other smaller devs into the equation:
Media.Vision, Marvelous AQL, Silicon Studios, CC2...
OK Great. You identified a problem. Now do fucking something to fix it. Throw some money hats around like it's the days of Ken Kutaragi trying to sell his old SNES CD add-on converted to a new console to japanese developers.
The industry isn't going to take the hard road to try to bring back the console industry in Japan. It's easy to do mobile development and a safe bet. You have to take the hard road for them by paying for some of their development to jump start the industry and interest again.
The industry isn't going to take the hard road to try to bring back the console industry in Japan. It's easy to do mobile development and a safe bet. You have to take the hard road for them by paying for some of their development to jump start the industry and interest again.
Nightengale
Member
Imru al-Qays;120612025 said:
This is true for practically any country in the world. Across the globe, some things that are popular to the extent of ubiquity in Country A could easily be an unknown, D-tier brand in another.
funkystudent
Member
I feel weird that I have somehow completely missed this Frozen thing.
Its apparently the biggest movie ever but must have come out a few months ago when I was swamped with College + Work because I dont think I have ever been exposed to any advertising for it, seen anyone talk about it or anything.
Also do you think Sony will be teaming up with Level 5 again? Seems like the only Japanese developer they have a decent relationship with who could deliver something in a reasonably timely fashion.
Anyway there is a big JRPG hole on PS4 and I bet whoever gets there first with something ok will make a pretty penny. So many PS3 games coming from Japan now. Sony has to be trying to get these fools to go cross gen right? Next gen people are hungry for games. I bet even some bullshit licensed anime game would make top 10 NPD's if it slightly scratched that itch.
Its apparently the biggest movie ever but must have come out a few months ago when I was swamped with College + Work because I dont think I have ever been exposed to any advertising for it, seen anyone talk about it or anything.
Also do you think Sony will be teaming up with Level 5 again? Seems like the only Japanese developer they have a decent relationship with who could deliver something in a reasonably timely fashion.
Anyway there is a big JRPG hole on PS4 and I bet whoever gets there first with something ok will make a pretty penny. So many PS3 games coming from Japan now. Sony has to be trying to get these fools to go cross gen right? Next gen people are hungry for games. I bet even some bullshit licensed anime game would make top 10 NPD's if it slightly scratched that itch.
Projectjustice
Banned
Japan immune to hype.
All they can really do is just hang on until Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts III come out, and hope those games still matter in the Japanese market. After that, DQXI (which is confirmed to be a console game) will help probably.
Japan sales or global? I'd like to see if maybe the split between western and Japanese software sales changed for those franchises. I think FFXIII is still the only PS3 game to ever sell over 1 million in Japan.
This is what sunk SEGA -- not recognizing and building upon the success the Genesis had in western markets. Probably hurt Nintendo too -- letting Microsoft siphon the N64's American audience.
Imru al-Qays;120599239 said:
Japan sales or global? I'd like to see if maybe the split between western and Japanese software sales changed for those franchises. I think FFXIII is still the only PS3 game to ever sell over 1 million in Japan.
This is what sunk SEGA -- not recognizing and building upon the success the Genesis had in western markets. Probably hurt Nintendo too -- letting Microsoft siphon the N64's American audience.
Distinct? In what way? I thought the PS4 was a video player in Japan. If it was a game console I'd imagine it would have games.
no, there's tons, you're forgetting about lots of teams like Sega Overworks, Gamearts etc simply because of my exact point, they're not doing anything major right now
It's funny how if you say demographics are working against the industry people come out of the woodwork to tell you that you're wrong. Meanwhile, if you say demographics are working against the industry in Japan, well, of course. Who could ever solve Japan? I mean, if Sony is failing there, it must not be worth succeeding.
Hopefully this nut gets cracked because mobile gaming isn't likely to please too many of us long-term.
Hopefully this nut gets cracked because mobile gaming isn't likely to please too many of us long-term.
which is in itself problematic.
why should you have to do the work for the 3rd party publisher? it's their fucking business; they should be able to find a solution to their own problems & sink holes.
if they want to succeed in the console business, they should be the ones pro-active about understanding the problem and perhaps teaming up with a hardware manufacturer to attempt to solve the problem.
unless the hardware manufacturer OWNS the publisher/developer, it is not their responsibility to find a market for them.
the hardware manufacture surely has its own problems and tasks to deal with.
seriously, since when did the '3rd party' become this aristocratic, royalty that gets to sit around and wait for hardware manufacturers to pander to their needs.
look at sony for example. they used to be solely a software company (imagesoft), that teamed up with a hardware manufacturer. that deal went south, but instead of packing their bags up & sulking about it & exiting the market, they identified a potential opening and released their own hardware -and the rest is history.
obviously it's a little more complicated than that, but the fact is they got VERY proactive about wanting to expand their presence in gaming and they DID not rely on any other company to do the work for them.
obviously i'm not saying every software company needs to release their own hardware, but they just need to get creative on what they can do to avoid having their maker shrink around them.
abandoning ship at the sight of trouble is not the answer.
Sorry if I am mistaken but this article from May http://www.ibtimes.com/frozen-track-become-japans-second-biggest-movie-ever-next-week-1592685 has different figures than yours and puts frozen in the second spot and the figures you attribute to Frozen would actually put it in first place but the highest figure I have found online for Frozen's box office was somewhere around 235 million, but I am skeptical of that because if that were the case and it was the highest grossing movie I would be surprised there wasn't an article about it. The 300 million figure you are attributing to spirited away and Titanic seems high and may be including second runs and rereleases like the one Titanic had in 3d two years ago. Either way, I think the overlap in audience between people who play video games and people who watch kids movies is probably much wider than you think and there is probably a healthy market of people who would buy a ps4 if only for the ugly hd cover.
ArkhamFantasy
Member
This problem can't be solved with money hats, the 3DS has huge exclusives and even it hasn't been doing that great.
The PS4 needs Morpheus or Playstation Now to become a big hit in Japan for the PS4 to be a success there imo. I dont think Sony can rely on Square Enix to sell Playstations anymore, and even MGS5 is taking forever.
Imru al-Qays
Banned
Global. I'd be interested in that split too, though let's not overestimate how much the PS2-era MGSes, Resident Evils, etc sold in Japan.
vinnygambini
Why are strippers at the U.N. bad when they're great at strip clubs???
I don't think Level-5 would be up to such a task given their limited resources.
Furthermore, Akihiro Hino, Level-5's CEO, has mentioned that moving forward their target audience would be kids; as such, mobile & tablets + 3DS are the platforms the publisher is devoting resources on.
Aquamarine
Member
Maybe it's more common domestically (like in the USA), but I'm not sure about the correlation between Japanese kids / Japanese people watching Frozen and hardcore gaming consoles like the PS4.
Maybe a 3DS or a smartphone...but a PS4?
The numbers may very well include re-releases. But they come from the Motion Picture Association of Japan, so I assume they're as legitimate as they get.
See this:
http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2014/06/04/frozen-ranks-as-third-biggest-hit-in-japan/
Japanese figures for Frozen were estimates from Box Office Mojo. Here are the actuals:
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=intl&country=JP&id=frozen2013.htm
that's only half the truth. the 3ds is a big success already. it has nothing to prove anymore. additionally, the 3ds is approaching the senior part of its lifespan.
when those big titles you speak of came out on the platform, the sales of the system were incredible. almost reminiscent of DS level sales.
while 3rd parties are still releasing games for the system, the fact that nintendo has also shifted focus away from the handheld is why sales have simmered and support lessened.
maybe it's just me, but it looks like once again, the 3rd party needs the hardware manufacturer to hold its hand & tell it what to do.
ProfessorMoran
Member
The problem is that when Japanese publishers start getting behind a console, they're way too late and that console is well into its lifespan. It's like no publisher in Japan is willing to take the risk.
Jarod McChicken
Member
Between a console selling around 10k on an average week with Mario 2D, Mario 3D, Mario Kart, Donkey Kong, Pikmin, Dragon Quest, Zelda and Monster Hunter in its library...
And a (most expensive) console selling around 8k, with ONLY western games to help (Yakuza Ishin and Ground Zeroes being not even exclusives)...
You could wonder which one is actually underperforming the most.
In the foreseeable future, of course, Wii U will get Smash Bros while PS4 will have to wait next spring to get its very first japanese hit (Bloodborne), but as of now, the fact that PS4 numbers are closer to Wii U than Xbox 360 is, in some way, almost impressive.
And a (most expensive) console selling around 8k, with ONLY western games to help (Yakuza Ishin and Ground Zeroes being not even exclusives)...
You could wonder which one is actually underperforming the most.
In the foreseeable future, of course, Wii U will get Smash Bros while PS4 will have to wait next spring to get its very first japanese hit (Bloodborne), but as of now, the fact that PS4 numbers are closer to Wii U than Xbox 360 is, in some way, almost impressive.
Nightengale
Member
Gamearts is owned by Gungho. SEGA Overworks is owned by SEGA.
I'm excluding published-owned developers, whom post-ownership, have not worked with any other publisher other than their own. ( Who knows if From will also end up in this state in the future )
A lot of talent and teams have been consolidated by publishers. It's partly why I laugh at the notion that Mistwalker is somehow involved with another major project, given that all their previously associated developers have now been consolidated, thus closing many doors to the availability of developers.
And that's Japan Studio's fault. They should've been a lot more productive during the years of the PS3.
Which is exactly what's happening right now with Japanese 3rd party publishers that are now developing games for PS3 while everyone else around the world has moved onto PS4.
It's so mind-boggling.
entremet
Member
But what games are there that Japanese audiences find kinship with? The only one on the horizon is FFXV, which is who knows when.
that's like two fatally wounded people arguing over which one has the least fatal wound.
who cares. they're both in very bad shape.
the wiiU's problem is not the games; it's the console, & nintendo's inability to hype & communicate a clear conceptual message on what the hell it is to the average consumer.
the consumer has no idea why they should buy it. the hardware needs to be able to sell itself in concept independent from the game releasing on it.
the ps4's problem is not the hardware, it's software. there aren't any issues with the hardware, and consumers seem to take fairly well to it. the problem is with the developers. the ps4 is a high end HD console and once again, the local publishers & developers are a bit hesitant on taking financial risks on a platform brand that can't offer any assurance of success like it did during the ps2 era.
the ps2 was fantastic because it supported A, AA, & AAA games at retail. the ps3 largely did not do this, and the ps4 is not likely to do this either. that's why the downloadable indie market is taking off… because thats the only place where you can release a game that isn't going to cost an arm & leg to develop. the achilles heel of this market is exposure.
Unfortunately retail is still the standard method of purchasing for consumers, and only AAA games have the shelf space these days.
the alternative is handheld, however that's not as 'secure' a market as it once was either.
it's a real rock & hard place for japanese developers & publishers.
vinnygambini
Why are strippers at the U.N. bad when they're great at strip clubs???
Japanese publishers do not have the same luxury as Western publishers however; few of their properties are popular overseas: Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Metal Gear and Nintendo franchises are the only remaining. As such, their content must be tailored exclusively in mind for Japanese audiences - Gundam or Dragon Ball will not have favorable results overseas.
Until PS3 owners migrate to PS4, Japanese publishers will simply continue to delegate resources to profitable ventures such as PS3, 3DS, Mobile & Tablets.
Phoenician_Viking
Banned
Of course you can. GOW 2 released in 2007 and sold more than GOW.
test_account
XP-39C²
I think it would have sold better then indeed, but i'm not sure that it would have sold a lot better (depends on how you define "a lot"). But i was thinking about that Sony should basically be the only one releasing games on it, and those games alone should build a userbase which then 3rd parties could jump on board because they see that the PS4 is selling. That is why i used Nintendo and WiiU as a comparison because Nintendo is almost the only supporter of WiiU software in Japan, and they have stronger selling IPs than Sony, yet 3rd parties arent jumping on board, so i'm not sure if Sony would be able to push the PS4 userbase a lot with their games alone. Of course there can be other factors regarding the WiiU VS PS4 sales, but i think the games are the biggest factor.
sega and gungho and so on own them, but they arent going to risk a multimillion dollar development at this stage in the game, they'll just waste their talents away on smaller games.If sony offered them the money to make a game they wanted to make, they'd bite their arm off.
right but wii u is hardly the start of nintendo's problem with 3rd parties. third parties are on board with PS4 and will release games on it eventually. but they'll ease on over in 2016 or so after FFXV starts to pave a way for them. PS4 will have a slow growth eventually but it could have had an explosivew start like the rest of the world if they'd made any games.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
JP/Rest of the world
FFX -- 3.019 million / 3.6 million
FF13 -- 1.965 million / 4.635 million (PS360)
MGS2 -- 1.072 million / ????
MGS4 -- 980k / 5.02 million
RE4 -- 772 (PS2) / 5.9 million [total WW] (Wii,PS2,GC)
RE5 -- 1.026 million (PS3) / 5.574 million (PS360)
GT3 -- 1.5 million / 13.39 million
GT5 -- 730k / 9.93 million
As you can see even for the big Japanese pubs the Western gaming world is far more important in terms of sales. Heck even smaller franchises are starting to see Western sales match or beat JP sales such as Dynasty Warriors, Dragons Crown and Persona.
Manmademan
Member
Imru’ al-Qays;120608710 said:
They most certainly are a shrinking genre. Everything not labeled "FF" is niche as hell right now. This wasn't the case during the 32 bit era.
Think about why this might be. If there was an audience another company would step up to exploit it. Everyone is running away from making traditional JRPGs en masse. Compare this to the souls games- when Demon's Souls caught fire, not only did Namco step up to publish Dark Souls and Dark Souls II, but Capcom released Dragon's Dogma/Dark Arisen, and has Deep Down in development, Sony obviously went to work on what would become Bloodborne, and lords of the fallen is in development for next year, with Namco/Square publishing. There are plenty of people who COULD pick up the slack, the issue is that *no one wants to*.
Final Fantasy was a success in the west due to the explosion in popularity of the PS1, combined with one of the most expensive ad campaigns of all time. There's a gap the size of the grand canyon between the sales of FFVI and FFVII, and FFVII-VIII and every other game in the series.
FFX sold well, FFX-2 and FFXII did not. FFXI is hard to quantify, being an MMO. Kingdom Hearts leaned heavily on disney properties and is about as far away from a traditional JRPG as humanly possible- even farther than the souls games if you want to get technical. It's an action RPG more like zelda than anything in the FF franchise.
Square Enix wasn't the only company making JRPGs during the PS2 era though, Atlus had what is most certainly their strongest output ever during that time, with a lineup that was unquestionably better than what S/E was putting out. Despite that, their sales were mediocre to terrible, despite critical acclaim. Nocturne was a dismal failure here, failing to shift even 10k copies during the first run. Persona 3/4 were probably the bright spots, but even those weren't anywhere in the same ballpark of an FF title. And how did Dragon Quest VIII and Valkyrie Profile 2 do? Critical Acclaim, abysmal sales.
This is exactly what they did.
FFXIII did not sell well at ALL. it's one of the worst selling and worst reviewed titles in the series, and is well known to be massively overshipped. And what about it's sequels? despite being better reviewed than it's predecessor, FFXIII-2 was a commercial failure, and FFXIII-3 was a massive, massive flop.
you may want to actually check sales figures sometime. There's a reason no one is sinking money into JRPGs anymore, the genre is dying and on it's way to DOA. if S/E doesn't manage to repair the brand with XV, it's dead, jim.
Imru al-Qays
Banned
It was the case during the 32 bit era, though. What JRPGs not called Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest sold millions of copies back then? I can't think of any. Final Fantasy has always been the only JRPG game in town in the West.
No one else has the expertise to make a JRPG that'll sell in the West, and no one has invested in developing that expertise because they've taken the wrong lessons from Square Enix's implosion.
Didn't X sell more than VIII?
XII sold in line with IX (both north of five million units) and no one ever expected X-2 to sell as well well as mainline installments in the series because it's a spinoff. The pattern is that end of generation FFs sell worse, not that there's a linear trajectory of decreasing FF sales. This is a pattern that holds true for lots of franchises, not just FF.
The pattern could also be that medieval setting FFs sell worse than scifi setting FFs. The fact that sales increased from IX to X and from XII to XIII means that the pattern isn't a linear decline in FF sales, though.
The precise nature of the combat system has never been the distinguishing characteristic of a JRPG. But fine, we don't have to count Kingdom Hearts.
How's that any different from the PS1 era? This is evidence that JRPGs that aren't FF have never sold well, not that they suddenly collapsed.
FFXIII sold almost as many copies as VIII, didn't it? It certainly outsold IX and XII. It didn't sell as well as X, but considering how widely reviled it was it sold really well.
The reason XIII-2 and 3 sold so poorly is because XIII was a terrible game that no one liked. That XIII itself was able to sell well is evidence that there's still a market for JRPGs, not that that market has disappeared. It may well have disappeared now, but that's because of XIII. It's not something that happened on its own.
Why don't you link me your sales figures, because they don't comport with what I've been able to find.
You haven't demonstrated this.
Isleofsancroy
Banned
People do realize Jrpgs were never really big and FF7 only really opened the door to primarily Square/Square Enix? Jrpgs outside that company have been selling similar for years (Pkmn excluded) even in Japan.
Isleofsancroy
Banned
X-2 is not a spin off.
Imru al-Qays;120657067 said:
Why are you listing year late ports of Monster Hunter and Dragon Quest for Wii U and in the next breath discounting simultaneous releases of Yakuza and MGS for PS4 due to being multiplatform?
jhmtehgamr20xx
Banned
The funny thing is Sony has a wealth of franchises that would appeal to Japanese players, and they're just sitting on them. Tomba. Parappa. Mark of Kri. Last Guardian. Echochrome. Jumping Flash. Motor Toon. Bloody Roar. Valkyrie Profile. Omega Boost. Mr. Mosquito. Vib Ribbon. Wild ARMS. And I'm sure they could get permission to make a few games w/ 3rd party properties that are strongly tied to PlayStation as well.
And yet, from what we've seen so far, they aren't doing that. If they don't announce or show something at least somewhat along the lines of what I mentioned above by TGS, then it's obvious they're oblivious to their own opportunities. Those games have great qualities that would appeal to Japanese players and have quite a lot of fans here in the West too. Most of them also wouldn't cost nearly as much as an Uncharted 4 to make, either. As far as I'm concerned, Sony's walking away from easy money.
suggestions.
And yet, from what we've seen so far, they aren't doing that. If they don't announce or show something at least somewhat along the lines of what I mentioned above by TGS, then it's obvious they're oblivious to their own opportunities. Those games have great qualities that would appeal to Japanese players and have quite a lot of fans here in the West too. Most of them also wouldn't cost nearly as much as an Uncharted 4 to make, either. As far as I'm concerned, Sony's walking away from easy money.
That's an interesting way to look at it. Who knows; if PS4 hits its stride there and can start managing 30k weekly or so, I guess that wouldn't be too bad. Probably the best Sony can hope for right now, granted they take some of our (and my
suggestions.Nightengale
Member
Sony doesn't own Valkyria Profile and Bloody Roar. And your statement about its appeal to Japanese players is unfounded, given that many of these franchises have been in hibernation for so long that its appeal to the Japanese audience is either unproven, or not there at all. (Wild Arm's contracting sales performance)
Oh really? You're sure?
And why would Sony make games that's not their property? If anything, they'd make new IPs that they'd own. They didn't make God Eater 2, but instead made Freedom Wars.
Dragon Ball is one of the franchises that has favourable results overseas. Battle of Z sold 70k in Japan, but shipped 620k globally. Naruto is the same too. If you want to be exhaustive, your list is also missing Resident Evil, Gran Turismo, Tekken, Street Fighter, Dark Souls and Soul Calibur.
Do you have numbers for that, or are you just assuming because Koei Tecmo localizes everything? If Muso did as well, or better in the west as it did in Japan, I don't think as many releases would be digital-only.
Manmademan
Member
Imru’ al-Qays;120657067 said:
I'll have to rely on wikipedia, which isn't great but it's better than nothing. Outside of FF (which sold monster numbers) and DQ (which only sells in japan)
Parasite Eve 1.799 million; 1.94 million shipped
Parasite Eve II 1 million
Chrono Cross 1.269 million; 1.5 million shipped
The Legend of Dragoon 1.24 million (with about 900,000 of that in the US)
Xenogears 1.131 million; 1.19 million shipped
Arc the Lad 1.1 million
Arc the lad 2 1.04 million
SaGa Frontier 1.1 million
Star Ocean: The Second Story 1.094 million
There's other high profile ones I can't find any figures for, like legend of legaia, Vagrant Story, Breath of Fire III, and Lunar. edit: there was definitely an audience for Lunar though-
FF sold the best by FAR, but 1-2 million is respectable numbers for these games, which were new IPs with the exception of CC and Star Ocean (edit: forgot SaGa was a series, though unknown in the US). Between 1-2 million is about what Demon's Souls ended up selling worldwide, IIRC. If we look at the best selling PS2 games list (also from wiki), the only non FF or KH game that even charts over a million is Xenosaga: Episode 1- at exactly 1 million units. Again, this is despite the PS2 having a userbase of 150 million vs. 100 for the PS1, and no viable competition.
Plenty of people have the expertise. They just choose not to use it.
nowhere close. X was about 6 million or so, VIII was north of 8 million. 8 actually outsold 7, until 7 got a digital re-release later on through PSN.
XII sold very poorly. "about as well as IX" isn't a good metric, especially when you consider that the PS2 had 50 million more units out there than the PS1 did, and less viable competition. Despite being released in 2006 at the "end of the PS2 lifespan" the PS2 sold a good 50 million units between the release of FFXII and sony terminating support in 2013.
There is most certainly a linear decline. 7 and 8 sold about 8 million (at release), 9 sold about 5, X sold about 6.5 million, X-2 about 4, XII about 5, XIII about 6.6 million shipped (over two platforms) and XIII-2 about 3 million. XIII-3 I don't even think hit the million seller mark
we have to draw a line somewhere. "game made in japan" is a bit vague, and KH is *drastically* different from all other traditional JRPGs you might name.
See the above. there were plenty of titles that hit the million+ mark in the PS1 era, you're not really likely to find that in the PS2 or 3 era unless it's named FF or DQ, and DQ only in japan. americans have never really liked that one.
FFXIII was nowhere close to 8. several million short, even if we go by "shipped."
orthodoxy1095
Banned
I think all of us not in development have a warped idea of what "easy money" is. There's no such thing in gaming. Especially not with decades old properties that haven't been touched for a while. There's all kinds of issues with making those games.
Just one off the top of my head is that when you're mucking around with a beloved franchise, you risk the ire of fans if you screw it up. If you mess up a new property, like say Knack, no one cares all too much. If they screw up something like Wild Arms, they'll turn off new fans and piss off old fans. Then of course there's questions of how you can take PS1/2 era games and make them into compelling full-fledged PS4 titles.
jhmtehgamr20xx
Banned
I'd like to think so, yes.
A good reason to do that would partly be b/c w/ an existing IP you already have a built-in fan base. So there's some security there. We want new IP logically but I'm just looking from the other side on this one.
And yeah you might be right about some of those franchises. However I'm just under the impression some of them, being inherently quirky, would perform better in Japan since quirky games tend to perform better there. There's also nostalgia with most of them.
Yeah, that's something I've had to think over, but might have a decent answer for.
Some of those games would not need to become AAA full-fledged experiences; I don't even think that's suitable for some of them. But they could be great opportunities to fill in the mid-tier market for the system; Sony themselves have said that they want to provide diversity on the PS4. They've got AAA covered and a lot of low-scale indies covered, but very few mid-tier sort of experiences. Rime and The Witness are the only two I can think of, the latter isn't an exclusive.
Basically Sony has the IP they could use to fill out the system's portfolio and of course there's risks involved but if you don't take the risks, you'll never get the reward.
Nightengale
Member
SEGA/Bamco wouldn't even let other publishers localize their games, so not everything's as simple as it may seem.
Furthermore, even if we entertain that assumption that your thoughts are correct, we've seen that Sony values IP ownership, so it's unlikely Sony will ever put out the offer to fund another company's IP.
If that existing IP can't promise sales of an upward of 250k, it's not worth talking about. You're overestimating how much value there are in old IPs, even more so for IPs that have been dormant for many years. The fanbase may not even be there anymore.
And since you mentioned Wild Arms in one of your examples, the most recent Wild Arms game sold below 100k in Japan. So much for a built-in fanbase, right?
Companies have finite resources. For every game that is made, another game is scheduled for later because games take time, money and people to make.
Gravity Daze wasn't a risk? Freedom Wars wasn't a risk? Rime wasn't a risk?
Sony is investing in new mid-tier IPs, as well as AAA-ones. Why is there a need to revive old IPs other than nostalgia?
Imru’ al-Qays;120593683 said:
Eh, what would constitute as a JRPG with global appeal, pick your national flag? There's no such thing, just make a good JRPG and it'll sell great everywhere.
Tales of series is far from being 'A' and yet works very well for Namco.
A very popular practice in the last months.
Nightengale
Member
I never said Tales was an 'A' game effort.
As a franchise, it doesn't need to hit a million sales to be profitable, nor has the franchise ever needed to 'cater to the western market.'
I love the franchise, but I wouldn't necessarily consider it to be anything more than the top-end of a mid-tier JRPG franchise that knows its boundaries, and manages its brand and sales expectations accordingly without needing to push any graphical or experiential leap.
Xplatformer
Member
That's ok SONY. The west has got your back.
DESTINY, a western game from Bungie may help a tiny bit.
Maybe the Japanese have an affinity for really shitty controllers.
Oh well.
DESTINY, a western game from Bungie may help a tiny bit.
Maybe the Japanese have an affinity for really shitty controllers.
Oh well.
That's what I meant.
A very good model I'd say for many developers outside and inside Japan.
Budgets are a problem, well manage them carefully and make the middle-ground a valid place to develop in. Some developers are doing it, they make their money, users play and everyone is happy. The notion that "AAA-game or out", needs to die, now that we've reached a point where graphics (primarily, there's other factors too) are becoming too expensive to produce.
Polygons and tessellation are great, but not when they actively prevent the game from being made.