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[galian beast]

Its so crazy for me to look at my game library between ps2 and ps3 and the drastic shift of western games vs east. I have DS, Folklore, MGS4 and Siren and thats it! 90% of my games were Japan grown last gen.

I feel the same way. The following games that I still own are Japanese made: FF13, GT5. That's it. And as I said before I gave up on FF13.

 

[galian beast]

I can't really fault Squenix for their games taking forever to come out...in the same way I can't fault Polyphony Digital or Team Ico or Blizzard. Quality takes time. That being said, they could have at least SHOWED us some new stuff.

When you take forever, your game needs to be deep and polished.

That's another fallacy in Japanese development. I love GT5, but it came out rushed. I don't know how that is possible, but it was terribly rushed. FF13 feels rushed and shallow.

I want to be excited about Last Guardian, but I keep on expecting a Zelda like experience, but I know I will get something much less.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Stop focusing solely on FF, then.

3rd Birthday? Tactics Ogre? The Taito releases? They have other releases if you look.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Well as long as they know that they're fucking up.

 

[galian beast]

I can't parse this sentence.

But considering a game like Dragon Quest Swords can sell 500k on the Wii in Japan, it suggests that if any third party put a main game in a franchise on the Wii with similar strength to things like Resident Evil/Yakuza, they'd get sales in Japan. That's what happened with Monster Hunter.

Look how well RE sold on wii...

 

[sonicmj1]

Sadly, yes. The only really good stuff were remakes. And people complain about Capcom. But really Capcom was one of only a few Japanese Companies that did it homework. Successfully launched some new IPs, did fan-service with stuff like Megaman, Street Fighter, technological side was fine etc. . Really why are people giving Capcom such a hard time?

It's funny that people are giving Square so much shit for focusing on the 360 early on, when Capcom's first two next-gen games were 360-exclusive new IPs. They both sold over a million worldwide, and both came out within a year of console launch.

The problems with Square's development houses are much deeper than a few bad bets, and they've been plaguing the company for years now.

 

[badcrumble]

This has probably already been said, but if Square is going to remake Final Fantasy titles, at least give all of the titles equal treatment, ala Dragon Quest. All but two Dragon Quest titles (7 and 8) have been remade in some way on another platform and have sold well. However, Square is focusing more on porting FFI and II to as many platforms as humanly possible. How about giving other Final Fantasy titles some love. I would LOVE to have a Final Fantasy VII game with a decent translation and less popeye arms. I would LOVE to see Final Fantasy V and VI redone in the same way as FFIV was on the PSP.

I know I am not the only one who wants those things, either.

I think HD Collections of PS2/PSP games are very likely for a quick buck; in addition to that, I think it'd be a very, very smart thing for Squeenix to start to leverage their back catalog as you say and start doing remakes of their SNES-era catalog on the PSV and/or 3DS.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

I agree that their focus on western games at E3 was disappointing. I loved what they showed of XIII-2, but I really wanted to see Type-0 and Kingdom Hearts. I'm hoping for a big showing from Square Enix at TGS.

 

[faridmon]

I missed lot of E3 news, so I have to ask: Have they anounced Type-0 release here in the west?

and Lol at people saying only Capcom are the only Japanese company to step up thier game. Apart from Street Fighter, Capcom on consoles have been embarrissing.

 

[sonicmj1]

Look how well RE sold on wii...

RE4 Wii Edition was the best-selling version of RE4. Umbrella Chronicles, a spinoff nobody really wanted, sold almost a million worldwide.

Then they stopped making Wii Resident Evil games, except for Umbrella Chronicles 2 much later.

 

[galian beast]

He only did character design for those. Are you honestly saying that the reason Square-Enix is bleeding money is because of character design?

Bland and overused character design isn't helping but let me be more specific

Versus 13 - director
Birth By Sleep - director
358/2 - director
Dissidia - producer
re: chain of memories - director

 

[HK-47]

RE4 Wii Edition was the best-selling version of RE4. Umbrella Chronicles, a spinoff nobody really wanted, sold almost a million worldwide.

Then they stopped making Wii Resident Evil games, except for Umbrella Chronicles 2 much later.

I'm pretty sure the PS2 version is still the best selling.

 

[syoaran]

I missed lot of E3 news, so I have to ask: Have they anounced Type-0 release here in the west?

and Lol at people saying only Capcom are the only Japanese company to step up thier game. Apart from Street Fighter, Capcom on consoles have been embarrissing.

Prehaps, but their DS games are amazing.

As for Type-0, no announcement. Which is quite worrying.

 

[galian beast]

RE4 Wii Edition was the best-selling version of RE4. Umbrella Chronicles, a spinoff nobody really wanted, sold almost a million worldwide.

Then they stopped making Wii Resident Evil games, except for Umbrella Chronicles 2 much later.

Pretty sure that was the PS2 version...

 

[Tiktaalik]

I felt E3 was pretty weak from not just SE but a lot of Japanese developers. It seems like E3 has gradually become much more of a NA focused show. It will be interesting to see if these companies can redeem themselves at TGS.

 

[badcrumble]

Bland and overused character design isn't helping but let me be more specific

Versus 13 - director
Birth By Sleep - director
358/2 - director
Dissidia - producer
re: chain of memories - director

All of those games sold well, except for Versus 13, which isn't out yet.

 

[sonicmj1]

I'm pretty sure the PS2 version is still the best selling.

Yeah, I'm wrong there. Sorry.

It sold over 1.6 million worldwide, passing the Gamecube version, but short of the PS2 version.

Not bad for a port released over two years late.

 

[galian beast]

All of those games sold well, except for Versus 13, which isn't out yet.

It's not that their games are selling horribly. It's that they are few and far between, and hardly any of them are becoming the premier titles that square enix is known for.

 

[galian beast]

I felt E3 was pretty weak from not just SE but a lot of Japanese developers. It seems like E3 has gradually become much more of a NA focused show. It will be interesting to see if these companies can redeem themselves at TGS.

I think they have to, and I think Sony needs to help them do it by dropping the PS3 to 19,800.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Yeah, I'm wrong there. Sorry.

It sold over 1.6 million worldwide, passing the Gamecube version, but short of the PS2 version.

Not bad for a port released over two years late.

The Wii was the best version(the PS2 version being the worst), so there's that.

 

[lunchwithyuzo]

Look how well RE sold on wii...

It doubled (REUC) and quadrupled (RE4) expectations respectively.

 

[faridmon]

Prehaps, but their DS games are amazing.

As for Type-0, no announcement. Which is quite worrying.

Hence me saying Console output. Thier DS anmd PSP games are awesome. Ghost Trick is my game of the year so far.

Bloody hell SE! Where is bloody Type-0?

All of those games sold well, except for Versus 13, which isn't out yet.

all those games are selling less than thier previous ones which are biger problem.

 

[Lesiroth]

All of those games sold well, except for Versus 13, which isn't out yet.

Yes. Not sure where the ludicrous idea that Nomura is the cause comes from, these games were well-received by the press too.
Square's problems originate from their retarded way they began this generation. They kept targetting the Xbox 360 exclusively at first, significantly the viability of the PS3 in Japan. And when they finally woke up and passed development hell, they came through with a game that was disappointing to say the least.

Why the hell Square wants to keep 'westernizing' their games, I don't know. I'm pretty sure their fanbase didn't ask for that. They just risk alienating their existing fanbase without necessarily making any inroads in other markets. I was hoping their purchase of Eidos would make them focus on decent RPG output from their Japanese studios. But apparently they beg to differ with stuff like MindJack.

 

[perfectnight]

Deus Ex HR is better than anything you could have shown S-E

 

[galian beast]

Yes. Not sure where the ludicrous idea that Nomura is the cause comes from, these games were well-received by the press too.
Square's problems originate from their retarded way they began this generation. They kept targetting the Xbox 360 exclusively at first, significantly the viability of the PS3 in Japan. And when they finally woke up and passed development hell, they came through with a game that was disappointing to say the least.

Why the hell Square wants to keep 'westernizing' their games, I don't know. I'm pretty sure their fanbase didn't ask for that. They just risk alienating their existing fanbase without necessarily making any inroads in other markets. I was hoping their purchase of Eidos would make them focus on decent RPG output from their Japanese studios. But apparently they beg to differ with stuff like MindJack.

Love the Hisoka avatar, but the problem with Nomura is that he is everywhere... Square Enix used to be A LOT more diverse...

We can't even get a solid action rpg at this point. Gone are the Seiken Densetsus, thread of fates, brave fencer musashi's... all we get is final fantasy, and they cant even deliver versus...

 

[seady]

When they purchased Eidos I thought they saved Eidos. But it turns out to be the vice versa.

 

[vocab]

It's funny because if they showed FFXIII-2 on stage no one would give a shit.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

It's funny because if they showed FFXIII-2 on stage no one would give a shit.

Yeah, it's not like it's the sequel to a game that sold six million copies or anything like that.

 

[vocab]

Yeah, it's not like it's the sequel to a game that sold six million copies or anything like that.

Sales = quality. Kuwabara, the man, the tensai.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Sales = quality. Kuwabara, the man, the tensai.

Sales don't equal quality, but when a game sells that much, you have to believe that there are a lot of people who would be looking forward to the sequel. Besides, the game was nowhere near as poorly received as some people would have you believe.

 

[jmdajr]

Yeah, it's not like it's the sequel to a game that sold six million copies or anything like that.

so after all the years in development, did they actually make their money back?

 

[Lesiroth]

Love the Hisoka avatar, but the problem with Nomura is that he is everywhere... Square Enix used to be A LOT more diverse...

We can't even get a solid action rpg at this point. Gone are the Seiken Densetsus, thread of fates, brave fencer musashi's... all we get is final fantasy, and they cant even deliver versus...

Haha, thanks! I adore the character and the anime, was a pretty big part of my childhood

Anyway, I think Nomura being everywhere is a symptom of the problem, not its cause.

 

[Momo]

Yeah, it's not like it's the sequel to a game that sold six million copies or anything like that.

Kuwabara, Kuwabara

 

[galian beast]

Haha, thanks! I adore the character and the anime, was a pretty big part of my childhood

Anyway, I think Nomura being everywhere is a symptom of the problem, not its cause.

I'm a big fan of Gon Freaks myself. Which they kept the series going.

Yeah it might be a symptom, I'm not sure, but I think you should treat the symptoms.

 

[lunchwithyuzo]

I'm pretty sure the PS2 version is still the best selling.

Yep, but not by all that much.

RE4 PS2: 2.2m
RE4 Wii: 1.8m
RE4 GC: 1.6m

http://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/english/business/million.html

Considering it was the 4th release of the game, and on a system that could already play some 1.6m copies out there, RE4 Wii was a phenominal success. One that Capcom only expected 450k sales out of, and that they never followed up on.

It's weird, in a way Revelations almost seems like the apology for how Capcom mismanaged the franchise on Wii. It's sort of like the Wii game we should've gotten years ago.

 

[MalboroRed]

Yes. Not sure where the ludicrous idea that Nomura is the cause comes from, these games were well-received by the press too.
Square's problems originate from their retarded way they began this generation. They kept targetting the Xbox 360 exclusively at first, significantly the viability of the PS3 in Japan. And when they finally woke up and passed development hell, they came through with a game that was disappointing to say the least.

Why the hell Square wants to keep 'westernizing' their games, I don't know. I'm pretty sure their fanbase didn't ask for that. They just risk alienating their existing fanbase without necessarily making any inroads in other markets. I was hoping their purchase of Eidos would make them focus on decent RPG output from their Japanese studios. But apparently they beg to differ with stuff like MindJack.

They essentially tried to play king maker with the xbox360 but it didn't pan out the way they had hoped, one can always argue there's money left on the table with the 360 in terms of multiplatform titles but the platform has yet to get its foot in the door in Japan and the exclusive titles basically did nothing for the 360 when all is said and done. The result is of course a weaker PS3 and a fragmented market, and now they lack a dedicated console userbase in Japan for their games, the problem is that this problem affects other publishers as well, Capcom took the same approach, but they're not mainly a JRPG publisher.

Yep, but not by all that much.

RE4 PS2: 2.2m
RE4 Wii: 1.8m
RE4 GC: 1.6m

http://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/english/business/million.html

Considering it was the 4th release of the game, and on a system that could already play some 1.6m copies out there, RE4 Wii was a phenominal success. One that Capcom only expected 450k sales out of, and that they never followed up on.

It's weird, in a way Revelations almost seems like the apology for how Capcom mismanaged the franchise on Wii. It's sort of like the Wii game we should've gotten years ago.

It actually makes no sense why their fans would rebuy the same game on multiple systems, the userbase essentially is asking to be milked.

 

[Einbroch]

Give me Versus, KHIII, and a proper HD 2D Mana and you can do whatever you want.

 

[LM4sure]

Japanese gaming is dead! Long live western gaming!

 

[careksims]

Can I get a Xenogears remake? It's not like Monolith is working on anything for Western audiences these days so I'm sure they'd have time free to lend a hand.

YES! THIIIIIS!!!!!!!!

 

[Regulus Tera]

Wada's Squeenix is the gift that keeps on giving.

 

[lunchwithyuzo]

It actually makes no sense why their fans would rebuy the same game on multiple systems, the userbase essentially is asking to be milked.

Each console version added something worthwhile. I think each port also probably had a significant number of "new" buyers though.

 

[MalboroRed]

Each console version added something worthwhile. I think each port also probably had a significant number of "new" buyers though.

Frankly having both the GC version and the PS2 version, I wouldn't call what was added worthwhile, I suspect the bulk of the sales came from people rebuying the same shit, personally I contributed to the problem but fortunately I didn't get the wii version, the milking is just too fucking much tbh, RE should really be suffering from serious franchise fatigue if the RE fanbase isn't so devoted.

 

[disappeared]

Nobody to blame but themselves. I can't feel bad for a company who, only ten years ago, was putting out the best of the best material for the PlayStation. It's their own damned fault they dropped the ball so bad.

 

[CrunchyFrog]

I disagree.

What SE needs to do, imho, is ride the decline of the JRPG genre.

That doesn't mean abandoning the FF multimillion sales colossi, but acquiring external talent to develop and publish a range of "low" budget, 2D based JRPGs that can be profitable without needing 3 million sales and 5 years in development.

We were buying 4, 5, 8 JRPGs a year in the SNES/PS1 era. One every X years was FF. The rest where the Grandias, the Thousand Arms, the FFT, the Lufias, the Chronos, the army of different franchises constantly released.

Now they're obsessed with the FF mentality, which dictates them to release a title that is technically at the top of the current production values pyramid. Fuck that. That's FF. Create a 2.5D isometric engine, acquire all the small studios, new and old, that have good ideas or traditions in the JRPG genre, and put them to work. If the budget is low enough or you're afraid the title won't sell well.. put it on the XBLA/PSN/

Spoiler

Steam/AppStore

.

You need to rebuild the Japanese videogame industry? Start from the basics. The genres that worked 15 years ago can still work today. Realize we only buy FPSes because we're only sold FPSes. We're starving for more RPGs. Keep the budgets in check, and you'll start making money again.

"Burning, people! He said what we're all thinking!"

 

[MalboroRed]

Nobody to blame but themselves. I can't feel bad for a company who, only ten years ago, was putting out the best of the best material for the PlayStation. It's their own damned fault they dropped the ball so bad.

They can't, a lot of the talent left, they're never going to get people like Matsuno back, it's like Capcom, your best creative guys like Kamiya and Mikami are gone.

 

[disappeared]

They can't, a lot of the talent left, they're never going to get people like Matsuno back, it's like Capcom, your best creative guys like Kamiya and Mikami are gone.

True enough, I suppose.

 

[John Harker]

Dead Island was better than I was expecting, Deus Ex was pretty disappointing.

Why wasn't Tomb Raider actually playable?
Uh, Hereoes of Ruin showed promise I suppose.

 

[ULTROS!]

It's not that their games are selling horribly. It's that they are few and far between, and hardly any of them are becoming the premier titles that square enix is known for.

You do know that those games had a good-to-decent reception (probably not for 358/2 and obviously not including Versus XIII), you could throw in TWEWY too since Nomura was the "creative director" or something.

If you take Nomura out of the picture, the only premiere directors you'll have are Tabata (Crisis Core) and Minagawa (Tactics Ogre PSP, Final Fantasy XII). Dunno if you want to consider Toriyama as a director of premiere titles.

 

[Regulus Tera]

What Japanese game was worth showing in E3 this year?

Catherine?

Zelda, dude.

 

[Terrell]

When the most anticipated RPG release right now is from NINTENDO, you can tell that Square Enix has fallen quite far. Not to short-change Nintendo or anything, but RPGs aren't exactly their genre of strength.