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[GhostTrick]

It seems like there are many people really passive aggressively hostile about PC JRPG ports and their success.

Don't worry, your PS4 isn't going to disappear if PC gamers get their hands on these titles and they became a viable market. There is obviously pent up demand considering the history of such games on the PC, and the publishers are seeing and responding to that.

Its good for everyone that these games don't sink into the abyss of mobile or whatever flavor of the month Japan feels they need to bank on in their domestic market

It's in fact the opposite. Bigger markets for niche games means more niche games. Some people wanted Danganronpa 1 and 2 on PS4 after the V3 announcement. Considering DR1 and 2 is coming to Steam, it likely means there'll be a PS4 version too.

 

[Lingitiz]

It seems like there are many people really passive aggressively hostile about PC JRPG ports and their success.

Don't worry, your PS4 isn't going to disappear if PC gamers get their hands on these titles and they became a viable market. There is obviously pent up demand considering the history of such games on the PC, and the publishers are seeing and responding to that.

Its good for everyone that these games don't sink into the abyss of mobile or whatever flavor of the month Japan feels they need to bank on in their domestic market

People should be ecstatic that deep and traditionally niche Japanese games are succeeding on PC. The entire push for JRPGs on PS4 by Square and other publishers is a last ditch effort to revitalize the console market in Japan. But at the budget they are operating, that system alone is difficult to justify continuing with big budget games, especially if the PS4 isn't successful in Japan. PC at least gives them this low-risk, potentially high reward avenue to help offset the costs in.

Both platforms need to be successful to convince Japanese publishers that operating solely in the mobile and pachinko markets aren't the only ways to survive.

 

[Grief.exe]

It seems like there are many people really passive aggressively hostile about PC JRPG ports and their success.

Don't worry, your PS4 isn't going to disappear if PC gamers get their hands on these titles and they became a viable market. There is obviously pent up demand considering the history of such games on the PC, and the publishers are seeing and responding to that.

Its good for everyone that these games don't sink into the abyss of mobile or whatever flavor of the month Japan feels they need to bank on in their domestic market

Cutting off your nose to spite your face.

 

[Thoraxes]

Yep, great number even before the sale, looks like we don't have to worry about the localizations of futures Tales of games, with Berseria being logically already planned for PS4 & Steam.

On the other hand, we know that Steam is not going to make shine every single japanese game. One month after its release, Dragon Quest Heroes has reached... less than 19.000 owners on Steam.

As a reminder, that same DQ Heroes did 31.000 on PS4 for the October NPD, so that was for US only and for retail only. I'm sure some of the NPD thread visitors remember how the low score was supposedly because there was not enough audience for japanese games around here on PS4.

It's also really didn't help DQH that the PS4 version was on sale for $40 pretty much the entire launch window of the title. If they launched it with a discounted $40 price-tag, I would've jumped in right away.

 

[Inuhanyou]

Actually, PS4 users should be happy this games sell well on PC, because I'm sure there are some games Japanese publishers would not risk localizing just for PS4. Like Dragon Quest: Heroes.

I don't think that's necessarily the case, especially ones that have been confirmed to be coming westward but not for PC at this time(or not immediately anyway)

Japan's desire in the console/core gaming space was really reignited by the sales trajectory of PS4, hence any localization for PS4 is a hope for success on the platform in western markets on PS4.

If Sony were struggling right now, i am very afraid where the market might be in regards to publishers okaying AA and AAA games in the way they are period, not even mentioning localization

All it says is that PC and PS4 have a far better united front together in regards to propping up sales potential of these types of games than they would apart.

Cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Its shameful.

People should be ecstatic that deep and traditionally niche Japanese games are succeeding on PC. The entire push for JRPGs on PS4 by Square and other publishers is a last ditch effort to revitalize the console market in Japan. But at the budget they are operating, that system alone is difficult to justify continuing with big budget games, especially if the PS4 isn't successful in Japan. PC at least gives them this low-risk, potentially high reward avenue to help offset the costs in.

Both platforms need to be successful to convince Japanese publishers that operating solely in the mobile and pachinko markets aren't the only ways to survive.

All of this is my full opinion 100%. Are you me?

 

[gundamkyoukai]

People should be ecstatic that deep and traditionally niche Japanese games are succeeding on PC. The entire push for JRPGs on PS4 by Square and other publishers is a last ditch effort to revitalize the console market in Japan. But at the budget they are operating, that system alone is difficult to justify continuing with big budget games, especially if the PS4 isn't successful in Japan. PC at least gives them this low-risk, potentially high reward avenue to help offset the costs in.

Both platforms need to be successful to convince Japanese publishers that operating solely in the mobile and pachinko markets aren't the only ways to survive.

Well it's only SE every other pub just doing the same like they used to ( then again SE was useless last gen overall )
Where there games never had big budgets to begin with like Gust for eg.

 

[orochi91]

Its good for everyone that these games don't sink into the abyss of mobile or whatever flavor of the month Japan feels they need to bank on in their domestic market

Yea, for a while it seemed like JRPGs were gonna be a predominately mobile affair.

 

[MrSaturn99]

It seems like there are many people really passive aggressively hostile about PC JRPG ports and their success.

Don't worry, your PS4 isn't going to disappear if PC gamers get their hands on these titles and they became a viable market. There is obviously pent up demand considering the history of such games on the PC, and the publishers are seeing and responding to that.

Its good for everyone that these games don't sink into the abyss of mobile or whatever flavor of the month Japan feels they need to bank on in their domestic market

I didn't even know this was a thing. I care about the game being good, which...yeah. Here's hoping for Berseria, but my faith in Tales is practically shot at this point.

 

[TGO]

Good, I got it on PS4 for £13
I've put 12 hours into it already, fantastic game.
Just waiting for God Eater Revolution and God Eater 2, Valkyria Azure Revolution and Attack On Titan.

 

[texhnolyze]

It seems like there are many people really passive aggressively hostile about PC JRPG ports and their success.

Don't worry, your PS4 isn't going to disappear if PC gamers get their hands on these titles and they became a viable market. There is obviously pent up demand considering the history of such games on the PC, and the publishers are seeing and responding to that.

Its good for everyone that these games don't sink into the abyss of mobile or whatever flavor of the month Japan feels they need to bank on in their domestic market

Yes, at this point people should've realized that we've failed them in the past. Consoles alone can't sustain those jrpg franchises. We wouldn't want another dead Japanese frachises in the future just like what we saw in PS/PS2 era, we didn't bought enough copies. More platform(s) mean more reassurrance, especially at these times when Japanese consoles market is on its low tides. PC is these poor Japanese devs' new hope.

 

[Inuhanyou]

Yea, for a while it seemed like JRPGs were gonna be a predominately mobile affair.

Yeah...breath of fire 6 was truly a dark time for me, and SE under Wada was clearly gearing up for SE to become a mobile only company, that really felt like the end result. It was only under Matsuda with the success of the PS4, that he decided to push the company into core gaming as a core focus again, and i have to respect the man. Now we need more ports to PC confirmed, because that will only help the sales potential of these titles to expand.

I don't know about anyone else, but i want a Star Ocean 6, and anything that helps me get closer to that should be fully supported.

I didn't even know this was a thing. I care about the game being good, which...yeah. Here's hoping for Berseria, but my faith in Tales is practically shot at this point.

It is a thing. Its not just about tales, but Japanese games in general needing all the help they can get really. The momentum of the PS4 and PC(and maybe NX..?) will surely help the core market.

 

[gundamkyoukai]

Yes, at this point people should've realized that we've failed them in the past. Consoles alone can't sustain those jrpg franchises. We wouldn't want another dead Japanese frachises in the future just like what we saw in PS/PS2 era, we didn't bought enough copies. More platform(s) mean more reassurrance, especially at these times when Japanese consoles market is on its low tides. PC is these poor Japanese devs' new hope.

While it's great that Tales getting more sales in the west .
I still see this series life depending on Japan .
If sales get really low on consoles over there don't think the west will save it be it consoles and PC.

 

[Father_Brain]

People should be ecstatic that deep and traditionally niche Japanese games are succeeding on PC. The entire push for JRPGs on PS4 by Square and other publishers is a last ditch effort to revitalize the console market in Japan. But at the budget they are operating, that system alone is difficult to justify continuing with big budget games, especially if the PS4 isn't successful in Japan. PC at least gives them this low-risk, potentially high reward avenue to help offset the costs in.

Both platforms need to be successful to convince Japanese publishers that operating solely in the mobile and pachinko markets aren't the only ways to survive.

Worth noting in this context that the entire Japanese dedicated gaming market, not just home consoles, is in serious decline.

PSP and DS combined sold over 50 million units there, whereas Vita and 3DS won't reach 30M combined by the end of the generation. And that's in the strongest remaining region for dedicated handhelds.

Even if NX manages to reverse that trend slightly (not likely, IMO), it's safe to say that PC won't get any less important as an avenue for overseas sales growth.

 

[QaaQer]

It seems like there are many people really passive aggressively hostile about PC JRPG ports and their success.

It goes both ways:

Those sales numbers seem pretty excellent to me. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Steam ends up being the preferred platform for JRPG enthusiast's in the West simply because many of us who grew up playing them have now migrated to PC's as our go-to game box.

We'll take a console version if that's all that is available but when given the option of a competent PC port (with all that implies in terms of frame rate, visuals and customization) then we tend to reward those efforts with our gaming dollars.

I hope this trend continues and I hope that the good JRPG's are very successful on the PC going forward.

Threads like these are passive aggressive showcases, esp with the banhammer hanging overhead. The tension is sweet if one is in a lolatu frame of mind.

 

[falconxcrunner09]

Awesome. The more people that buy Tales of games, the bigger and better the budget will be for the next one (hopefully).

PC port did a lot better than I thought it would do considering it wasn't the best port.

 

[Mifec]

Awesome. The more people that buy Tales of games, the bigger and better the budget will be for the next one (hopefully).

PC port did a lot better than I thought it would do considering it wasn't the best port.

It was a pretty good port http://www.pcgamer.com/tales-of-zestiria-port-analysis-durantes-verdict/#page-1

 

[Inuhanyou]

It goes both ways:



Threads like these are passive aggressive showcases, esp with the banhammer hanging overhead. The tension is sweet if one is in a lolatu frame of mind.

I suppose your right.

My thing in general is, as a PS4 gamer, me and a PC gamer who like the same kind of games should stick together to support our hobby. So whether its coming from PC gamers or console, that kind of thing should be dissuaded

 

[Nillansan]

My thing in general is, as a PS4 gamer, me and a PC gamer who like the same kind of games should stick together to support our hobby. So whether its coming from PC gamers or console, that kind of thing should be dissuaded

I like you, what a refreshing attitude given some of the threads I have browsed through recently.

 

[Iva Demilcol]

It seems like there are many people really passive aggressively hostile about PC JRPG ports and their success.

Don't worry, your PS4 isn't going to disappear if PC gamers get their hands on these titles and they became a viable market. There is obviously pent up demand considering the history of such games on the PC, and the publishers are seeing and responding to that.

Its good for everyone that these games don't sink into the abyss of mobile or whatever flavor of the month Japan feels they need to bank on in their domestic market

I hope you're not saying that because of my comments in this thread because, as someone who voted in GAF's GOTY for Tales of Zestiria and one of my reasons stated for it was that ToZ was the first Tales of game for PC, and as someone who has supported the release of games like Valkyria Chronicles, Trails in the Sky and other RPGs on steam, you would be wrong.

As I said in my first comment in this thread I was truly wondering if Bamco had released an statement about the sales of Zestiria (it's pretty common for publishers to do that so it's not unreasonable to wonder if Bamco hadn't done that already) since in my perception, that number mentioned in the OP seemed low. Now, my perception could be totally wrong and if Namco released an statement about Zestiria's sales performance tomorrow or in one year I would accept I was mistaken about it. I'd love these games to have hundreds of thousands of sales, that's all; and I'm sorry to insist on this but a link to a blog than contains news regarding the announcement of Tales of Berseria don't give me information about what were Namco's expectations about Zestiria, despite all the defensive comments on this thread.

I have noticed in other threads (pretty sure I've written comments about it too) that there are indeed some people who seemed to want all these Japanese ports to sell poorly, I'm not one of them, please, relax guys.

 

[jmga]

I don't think that's necessarily the case, especially ones that have been confirmed to be coming westward but not for PC at this time(or not immediately anyway)

Japan's desire in the console/core gaming space was really reignited by the sales trajectory of PS4, hence any localization for PS4 is a hope for success on the platform in western markets on PS4.

If Sony were struggling right now, i am very afraid where the market might be in regards to publishers okaying AA and AAA games in the way they are period, not even mentioning localization

All it says is that PC and PS4 have a far better united front together in regards to propping up sales potential of these types of games than they would apart.

IMHO, the fact they don't confirm it for PC initially is not really meaningful.

Dragon Quest Heroes was revealed and advertised during months as a PS4 exclusive in the west. Despite it, a really optimized PC version was launched a month and a half later, it's obvious it was planned from the beginning.

They just want to push PS4 sales harder, because japanese reasons.

 

[Inuhanyou]

IMHO, the fact they don't confirm it for PC initially is not really meaningful.

Dragon Quest Heroes was revealed and advertised during months as a PS4 exclusive in the west. Despite it, a really optimized PC version was launched a month and a half later, it's obvious it was planned from the beginning.

They just want to push PS4 sales harder, because japanese reasons.

I don't know what the case is for DQH, i'm just saying that the argument that PS4 games are only being localized because the publisher plans to put the game on PC too, otherwise they would not localize the game isn't the case.

I hope you're not saying that because of my comments in this thread because, as someone who voted in GAF's GOTY for Tales of Zestiria and one of my reasons stated for it was that ToZ was the first Tales of game for PC, and as someone who has supported the release of games like Valkyria Chronicles, Trails in the Sky and other RPGs on steam, you would be wrong.

I'm not referring to you in particular, but its a sentiment i've heard all around the net in certain places, and its very concerning.

I like you, what a refreshing attitude given some of the threads I have browsed through recently.

I'm just saying the truth, we're in a very fragile marketplace after the crash of the AAA games market late last gen.

And devs are just now only starting to really try and reinvest, and they should be supported in any way they feel will be successful.

 

[Mastamind]

Hopefully the sales can get bamco to release berseria and future games in the west the same time as japan.

 

[On Demand]

Please keep in mind when comparing PS and Steam sales that Steam is a WW figure to date. I see people comparing opening NPD sales to this number.

 

[Mifec]

I suppose your right.

My thing in general is, as a PS4 gamer, me and a PC gamer who like the same kind of games should stick together to support our hobby. So whether its coming from PC gamers or console, that kind of thing should be dissuaded

Everyone should stick together, we are consumers we should only care about each other and not the big companies because they don't care about anything other than our money.

 

[jmga]

I don't know what the case is for DQH, i'm just saying that the argument that PS4 games are only being localized because the publisher plans to put the game on PC too, otherwise they would not localize the game isn't the case.

I think it perfectly can be de case for games like DQ, the game sold like crap both on PS4 and Steam(as expected), but maybe the effort of localization was profitable between two platforms.

 

[z1ggy]

Please keep in mind when comparing PS and Steam sales that Steam is a WW figure to date. I see people comparing opening NPD sales to this number.

I don't know why people needs to compare them. All that matters is if the publisher makes some profit and if we get more games because of it.

 

[Dusk Golem]

I'm sure this has been posted, but I've read that PC ports need considerable less sales to still perform well, or even better, than other platforms.

Mixture of the cost to port to PC being a lot cheaper than the port to consoles, and they get more of the money per unit sold. Via Steam, the developer gets a 70% cut of the profits, while on other platforms and storefronts they get a lesser split for physical cost, store distribution costs, etc.

So due to the lower cost to make the PC version plus the fact they get more money per copy sold than on other platforms, plus PC has a lot longer shelf life and the title can continue to be sold theoretically indefinitely with sales keep on going to them, they usually get more money from it a lot easier. Thus why PC ports are becoming more common despite the smaller market share PC currently has to consoles.

 

[Iva Demilcol]

I'm not referring to you in particular, but its a sentiment i've heard all around the net in certain places, and its very concerning.

Cool. My apologies, then. I've seen it too and I agree it's not healthy for Japanese devs and games at all.

Hopefully the sales can get bamco to release berseria and future games in the west the same time as japan.

This, too. I hope that that extra time they're using to polish Persona 5 mean we can get a summer release too for the English version.

 

[StereoVsn]

I think it perfectly can be de case for games like DQ, the game sold like crap both on PS4 and Steam(as expected), but maybe the effort of localization was profitable between two platforms.

Yeap, that's a great incentive for publishers since it can mitigate potential losses and bring the project into black. Plus, it really doesnt cost much to leave the game in there generating sales over time, so once the publisher builds up a bit of a library on Steam/PSN/Live, they can have consistent yearly sales without having to spend much money at all.

Say for DHQ, DQ11 hits and proves popular in the West, it's likely that sales of DHQ will spike or DHQ2 possibly, and having the games on digital platforms at that point is essentially "free money" as porting have been recouped by then and everything going in is just profit. So that Steam/Sony/MS Digital sale hits and the game is $15-20 (say in a year or two), but that's still fine because even 2/3 of that is just additional funds to the company and they wouldn't be there otherwise. Even if it's extra 30-50K units shipped over 2-3 years, that's $500K - $1mil depending on the sale price, which is great.

That said, I hate crappy KT/SE ports, it's a shame they dont' put just a bit more effort into it (not talking Eidos SE side obviously).

 

[Sandfox]

This game is doing well on Steam as expected.

Awesome. The more people that buy Tales of games, the bigger and better the budget will be for the next one (hopefully).

PC port did a lot better than I thought it would do considering it wasn't the best port.

I don't see that ever being the case and If anything the current trend will just continue..

 

[StereoVsn]

This game is doing well on Steam as expected.

I don't see that ever being the case and If anything the current trend will just continue..

Didn't Namco said that "tales of berseria" is going to be enhanced vs normal releases? Plus they got 2+ years to work on that (assuming PS4/PC port of Zesteria was handled by diff teams).

 

[Paltheos]

Cool. Good to hear.

 

[Inuhanyou]

Didn't Namco said that "tales of berseria" is going to be enhanced vs normal releases? Plus they got 2+ years to work on that (assuming PS4/PC port of Zesteria was handled by diff teams).

yeah..that doesn't matter much. COD gets 2 years work. That's not enough to overhaul literally everything about your game.

 

[Sandfox]

Didn't Namco said that "tales of berseria" is going to be enhanced vs normal releases? Plus they got 2+ years to work on that (assuming PS4/PC port of Zesteria was handled by diff teams).

ToZ was in development for 3 years and ToB will probably reuse a ton of stuff. I would expect some improvements, but nothing budget related.

 

[3Kaze]

Didn't Namco said that "tales of berseria" is going to be enhanced vs normal releases? Plus they got 2+ years to work on that (assuming PS4/PC port of Zesteria was handled by diff teams).

Where did you hear that? The game is releasing this year in Japan, so that means less than two years of development. It will sadly be rushed and/or will recycle a lot of assets. After Xillia shipped 1 million worldwide, we got a game that looks arguably worse, and I don't think the series will reach these numbers again even with PC sales. At least not until they make an appealing game again.

 

[Silent Chief]

Eh, it's better to compare to western ToZ sales where we know it debuted at like 50k in NA.

World Steam vs one month of US physical sales?

It's probably over a million on consoles.

 

[Sandfox]

World Steam vs one month of US physical sales?

It's probably over a million on consoles.

I really doubt console sales are that high, but future sales will help it out.

 

[Fdkn]

It's probably over a million on consoles.

Nah, that's way too much. I could see them over 200k (not counting japan ofc) as a optimistic result right now. More sales will come when it gets pricedrops and digital sales.

 

[kewlmyc]

Good on ya, Zestiria. While I'm not the biggest fan, Tales of games doing well in the west, especially on a new platform like Steam can only mean good things. No wonder Berseria got confirmed for Steam the day it was announced for the west. Hopefully Symphonia does good as well so we can see some ports of the other PS3 Tales games like the Graces or Vesperia (lol).

World Steam vs one month of US physical sales?

It's probably over a million on consoles.

You have zero idea how this franchise does sales wise, do you?

 

[Kasumin]

This game is doing well on Steam as expected.



I don't see that ever being the case and If anything the current trend will just continue..

Came here to say this.

I was once a wide-eyed, naive Tales fan thinking that the series would surely improve and was clearly on the upswing!

Yeah, no. Namco is cutting corners. Xillia 2 was the copy paste cash-in sequel. Zestiria was the cut-every-corner-possible botched anniversary title. I doubt that they're going to change their tune much for Berseria. The series has been declining in quality since Vesperia. Whether it be the devs, Hideo Baba, or management higher up and elsewhere, the games are being managed in such a way that they are coming out feeling incomplete. In some cases, literally incomplete (Xillia 1).

Back in 2009 I would've bought 2 Tales games just to support more localizations. Right now I'm just meh about it. I find it ironic that we start getting consistent releases outside of Japan just as it hits its decline.

 

[3Kaze]

You have zero idea how this franchise does sales wise, do you?

Well, Xillia managed that. But that's not happening here because of franchise mismanagement, and consoles dying in Japan. From Xillia to Zestiria they lost over 300k sales (670k vs 360k), that's a huge difference.
Edit : I guess he was talking about western sales.

 

[Lulubop]

So happy Berseria is coming to PC!

 

[Tizoc]

I really doubt console sales are that high, but future sales will help it out.

Japan+asia sales of the game didnt even reach 500,000 iirc.

 

[gundamkyoukai]

Well, Xillia managed that. But that's not happening here because of franchise mismanagement, and consoles dying in Japan. From Xillia to Zestiria they lost over 300k sales (670k vs 360k), that's a huge difference.
Edit : I guess he was talking about western sales.

Don't really think it has anything to do with consoles dying in Japan .
It has to do more with the drop in series quality .
The drop from xilla 1 to 2 was rather big and things have been going down hill since then .

 

[MUnited83]

World Steam vs one month of US physical sales?

It's probably over a million on consoles.

is your name patcher

 

[Easy_D]

So happy Berseria is coming to PC!

Me too, fucking love that JRPGs are coming to PC these days, they're usually the only 3rd party games that interest me that usually *don't* release outside of the console space .

Nintendo + PC is becoming an even better combo thanks to this.

Edit: Also don't popular Steam releases usually have extremely long legs?

 

[goldenpp72]

Pretty cool, definitely must help keep the series relevant here then.

 

[kewlmyc]

Well, Xillia managed that. But that's not happening here because of franchise mismanagement, and consoles dying in Japan. From Xillia to Zestiria they lost over 300k sales (670k vs 360k), that's a huge difference.
Edit : I guess he was talking about western sales.

Xillia was the first true PS3 Tales game (the other being ports). The marketing (in Japan) was great, it was the introduction of lifelike character models and motion capturing, and the seyiuu they used we extremely popular, even more so than usual. I feel all of those let to the game feeling like grand reintroduction to the franchise. Sadly, the game showed obvious signs of being rushed and some questionable design decisions lead to a bad drop off of sales for future games. Doesn't help that each Tales game since has had some sort of questionable design choices in them.

 

[Hubb]

Great for ToZ, I'll get to this eventually hopefully Tales of Berseria does even better.

Edit: Also don't popular Steam releases usually have extremely long legs?

Normally, the question is at what price point.

 

[Rpgmonkey]

Actually a higher number than I expected within an earlier time frame than I expected.

Where did you hear that? The game is releasing this year in Japan, so that means less than two years of development. It will sadly be rushed and/or will recycle a lot of assets.

I don't see why Berseria couldn't have started development in 2013? There was free Tales staff around at that time capable of doing that, assuming they weren't laid off or moved to a non-Tales project.

I mean I really doubt they started the game in early 2015, everything shown so far outside of a couple special effects and some monster models actually all seems to be stuff original to Berseria. I don't know how much time they've actually been given for it, but we already know how recycled a Tales game given only 16-18 months can be and if this is a late 2016 release (I wouldn't expect a release before July anyway) they would run out of original content to show pretty fast.