why dId Sony abandon all of their first party RPG ips?
- Thread starter ReaperXL7
- Start date
Bluekaveli
Member
Right
Abdul Hafeez
Member
Yeah, but no one says that Bloodborne is a Souls-killer, because lets face it: Bloodborne is a Souls game. And no one calls Freedom Wars a God Eater-killer (I think). I'm saying it would weird if they specifically made a game to *compete* with another series that sells better on their platform. If they make a JRPG without actively and intentionally calling it a FF-killer, then I think it's fine.
sensui-tomo
Member
wish sony would sell Legend of Legaia on psn as a classic. dont know why they havent yet.
autoduelist
Member
From a business standpoint, it doesn't matter if low genre sales are due to the 'state of the genre' or not. For example, if there's crap horror movies for a few years, and people stop going to see them, studios will stop greenlighting horror movies for awhile since they're not making money. Then someone will have a hit movie (Blair Witch, or whatever) and it's in vogue again. During the lull, no studio cares that the reason the genre is doing badly might be because the movies weren't good, they just care that the genre isn't currently a money maker.
BoilersFan23
Member
It's because some of these series during the PS1 days, sold pretty good. But during the PS2 generation (some on PSP), sales started to decline. Arc The Lad, Legaia, Wild Arms, PoPoLoCrois, and even Dark Cloud sold less w/ the sequel/latest installment. With declining sales (especially in Wild Arms and Arc the Lad), it just wasn't worth it anymore to keep making the games. With consoles development becoming much more expensive on PS3 especially, they had to move onto more of what sells.
Also keep in mind that they worked w/ Level 5 numerous times, but outside the first Dark Cloud, none of their Sony published games sold well. Their goal was to make Rogue Galaxy along the ranks for DQ and FF, but it didn't sell too well.
Also keep in mind that they worked w/ Level 5 numerous times, but outside the first Dark Cloud, none of their Sony published games sold well. Their goal was to make Rogue Galaxy along the ranks for DQ and FF, but it didn't sell too well.
If that's the case then starting last gen, Sony should have rebuilt their internal RPG development team.
As of now, Square will never release anything exclusively on a system unless Moneyhatted.
That said, Sony really needs to get an internal studio like Monolith for Nintendo to focus on jrpgs.
Square cannot be relied on anymore, since they themselves are incompetent as fuck when it comes to delivering on time.
Well, it's the truth. Japanese 3rd party publishers are also to blame for the decline of consoles in Japan while being dead set on dedicated gaming handhelds & mobile.
orthodoxy1095
Banned
Right, so JRPGs are in a lull. It's therefore in Sony's best financial interest to find the thing that puts them back into vogue.
Face it Tiger..
Banned
You'll get Bloodbourne, and you'll like it.
LegendofDragoonLives
Member
That's open world western RPG. I want some of that jRPG goodness. In a dream-like world, we would get Sony to fund 2 AAA jRPGs teams from Studio Japan to make games, one the greatest of them all, Legend of Dragoon reboot and another either a new IP or continuation of their other jRPGs as well as 2 colaborations similar to FROM with Bloodborne, maybe SEGA, Capcom or SE to make 1 or 2 jRPGs.
Basically, I just want more of the jRPG genre. This gen I will do my best to buy as many RPGs that get released as long as they're not terrible.
of Dragoon
Next year is looking pretty good.
You interested Bloodborne, Type0HD, Disgaea5, Persona5, GodEater2RB, Y's8, DQHeroes next year when (if) they come over?
Where you heard this?
But really I would kill for a new Legend of Dragoon, but sony gotta be sony.
I don't think you understood what I was getting at. Sony happens to have a handheld and mobile devices.
acheron_xl
Member
They need better RPG-optimized middleware tools to grease the process a bit. Speed Dialog Tree or something.
LegendofDragoonLives
Member
Bloodborne is my #2 game of the year after Uncharted 4. I'm getting P5, D5, Y's day one and GE2 day one or shortly after depending on time.
Type 0 I'm not getting unless it comes out on Vita, it seems like a game that was made for handhelds being ported to a console. In regards to DQ Heroes, I don't know enough if it's a full fledged game or not unfortunately. Depending the effort that goes into this game, will determine if I get it. The issue is I haven't done my research for it.
I don't think there is any plan about calling anything a "FF-killer". That's extremely childish, and Final Fantasy is very important to the PS4, especially in Japan. I also don't believe SCE has ever marketed something as a franchise killer (maybe Crash during the days of PS1 or something). Japan Studio has a lot of focus on it at the moment, and a lot of effort is involved in getting that studio to the level of productivity, and also success, that many other SCE studios are currently enjoying. You naturally focus on a potential strength, and as the name of the game is currently digital, and mostly big projects, it's fitting to try something which there is certainly a potential market for. At least, in the eyes of some of those who are in charge.
I see a lot of threads about RPGs from Japan posted on GAF, but pretty much all of them are targeted at certain demographics. They aim small. Part of this is because those developers don't have the money to take risks, but also because they're sticking with what they know works for them. It's an investment, and they make it work for them the way they see fit. The Tales series is an example of this. I certainly don't expect something like that to find huge success worldwide, because it feels limited, and huge success today means selling a lot more than what that series is capable of.
There isn't a need to do that with whatever is being attempted by SCEJ/A. It's going to be a game targeted at a worldwide audience, and Final Fantasy is just the best example of something that keeps a different aesthetic without delving too much in territory which is awkward or off-putting for large amounts of people. It helps that it has a built in fanbase, but when I look at something like Final Fantasy VII, or X, or XII, or even XV to an extent, there's nothing particularly off-putting about these games from a marketing standpoint. That's largely where the comparison comes from (and from a production values standpoint). It's ultimately going to be its own thing. And today, where Final Fantasy isn't releasing every year, there's certainly a greater chance of standing out and potentially earning that success.
Every studio at Sony is experimenting or creating IPs with ideas of future success. Some studios have already achieved this and found their route of success (Polyphony, Media Molecule, Santa Monica, Naughty Dog), and continue to move forward with other projects, whilst others have been moderately successful but will get opportunities to try again with different projects (Guerilla, Sucker Punch, London etc). And of course, there have been those that failed unfortunately. Japan Studio is no different. There was a known problem, which is why they had a change of management. They also need to find their foundation, build some projects that can be lasting, and also have an impact. Once The Last Guardian is out the door, what next? It can't just end with that. This is the moment to attempt things and aim for something different, which can also be successful. There is a strong workforce there, and they can certainly build big projects, they just needed focus and guidance. Not everything has to be small like Knack.
SCEJ/A in general has its head on straight at the moment, and it also helps that they're currently doing a great job of approaching various developers to get other projects off the ground to help support the PS4 in that market whilst their own projects remain farther away, and also provide more variety. Dragon Quest coming back to Playstation seemed laughable last year, but it's happened. And that's just the beginning, even for that series in particular on Playstation. There is a strong focus at the moment from that branch, and that focus, separately, is also something Japan Studio needed in particular. It doesn't mean they'll find success necessarily, or that four or five years from now, there won't be regrets. But addressing and fixing the issues is a start, and there have already been fruits of that labour.
IAmRandom31
Banned
There are very few AAA high budget JRPGs in the first place so it's hard to say that genre wouldn't sell well here in the US. Really we get Final Fantasy. Is Persona high budget? Dragons Quest rarely gets ported here but 8 sold well enough on the PS2.
I really think if Sony put together a team with a 100 million dollar budget and made a high budget, incredible looking JRPG it would sell very well. The market is ripe for it. Build an engine that shames FFXV which Sony could easily do. Make it a very cinematic ATB type system ala Final Fantasy 7 with crazy ass summons and insane spell effects. Build a very lively and expansive overworld map to explore. Put together a serviceable storyline with cool characters and you are golden.
They should collaborate again with Level 5 at the very least. Would really love to see a collaboration with them and Mistwalker. Working together hand in hand with Sakaguchi to build one last magnum opus to destroy the world
I think the perfect timing to announce a project like that would be soon after the FFXV launch. Build off that games hype worldwide and keep the momentum going. Get Dragon Quest XI on the Ps4 and release your own JRPG in mid 2016 or so. If the market accepts it, build a whole team dedicated to them within Japan Studio and employ the great RPG minds out there.
I really think if Sony put together a team with a 100 million dollar budget and made a high budget, incredible looking JRPG it would sell very well. The market is ripe for it. Build an engine that shames FFXV which Sony could easily do. Make it a very cinematic ATB type system ala Final Fantasy 7 with crazy ass summons and insane spell effects. Build a very lively and expansive overworld map to explore. Put together a serviceable storyline with cool characters and you are golden.
They should collaborate again with Level 5 at the very least. Would really love to see a collaboration with them and Mistwalker. Working together hand in hand with Sakaguchi to build one last magnum opus to destroy the world
I think the perfect timing to announce a project like that would be soon after the FFXV launch. Build off that games hype worldwide and keep the momentum going. Get Dragon Quest XI on the Ps4 and release your own JRPG in mid 2016 or so. If the market accepts it, build a whole team dedicated to them within Japan Studio and employ the great RPG minds out there.
Pretty much. Happened when you weren't looking I guess.
GOGOheadray
Member
Well I hope SCEJ gets thigns back rolling again. Those PS1 era JRPGS are the primary reason that I have still stuck around with sony even today.
manzoman96
Member
The world is ready for some more JRPG goodness. It's been too long.
Verendus, if I may ask a question with your insight if you can answer it specifically about the bolded part. We saw Japan Studios struggle last gen going into the high def market (as we saw a lot of Japanese devs) where the US and European devs has a much easier transition. We know that within Sony WWS, a lot of information is shared between teams, and so far that Sony has the ICE team at Naughty Dog that helps out with tools for the other WWS. Was Japan Studios lagging behind because they did not want to (or could not) implement some of the shared information from the NA and European teams (language barriers perhaps) or was it something else? You might not have that insider knowledge but it would be interesting to find out something about that
ZombiePlatypus
Member
Man I hope you end up being right.
I'd love to see a resurgence of Sony's Japanese efforts on consoles.
I think the PS3 generation, in general, was difficult, even on the Western front. Bear in mind that from over a dozen studios, you only have two in Japan. You just had a lot of studios that overcame it in the West, and were successful to varying degrees. In regards to Japan Studio, it was a combination of things; poor communication and the mismanagement of resources. I think there is an interview with Allan Becker out there, the current head, which would give you more insight on this than I could provide. That's the man who had to go there and change things. It's a much better time now than it's been in the last decade however. There's been years of effort invested already. I think what I would really emphasise is that it's not just about smaller projects. There will be AAA projects from them on the PS4. You just have to be a little patient.
I understood this as more of a press thing, rather than a Sony thing.
IAmRandom31
Banned
Nightengale
Member
Dark Cloud showed a massive decline from DC1 to DC2.
Level 5 are now making games that's selling significantly more than Dark Cloud ever did.
jackissocool
Member
Would their developer pedigree be enough to give Dark Cloud/Rogue Galaxy a big boost? I mean Yo-Kai is like the biggest thing in Japan right now, would that audience flock to DC "from the creators of Yo-Kai Watch"?
Hours Left
Member
I'm ready for all of these to be revived.
RPG renascence phase 2.
RPG renascence phase 2.
Ew
5 more years for this RPG
And ffviir won't come until near the end of the generation?
I could be Dead by then
The one on dragon quest came true
And apparently there's another, not dq11
So that's nice
I missed the brawler, Sega/Sony, Sega/capcom ones
Any links?
Nightengale
Member
From the creators of Monster Hunter have not helped Capcom in other parts of their gaming business. Ghibli design did not help Ni no Kuni. Toriyama design didnt help Blue Dragon.
Pedigree is important, but unless the game is desirable, it means shit.
OuterLimits
Member
Grandia 3 was fun but damn was the story terrible. Started off promising but quickly fell apart.
I sometimes think I am the only one who really liked Legaia 2 Duel Saga and Wild Arms 5. Music is incredible in Legaia 2. Sakimoto, Mitsuda, and Oshima all composed for the game.
Tidus_Great
Banned
lack of RPGs was the main reason ps3 failed to beat ps2.
LegendofDragoonLives
Member
Give me Ni No Kuni 2 with proper ally AI and a protagonist that's older than 5 years old, and I'm in instead.
ZombiePlatypus
Member
What are you guys referring to though? Last thing I heard from Dragon Quest was just X on WiiU and PC I think. (With no word on any localization.) Did they confirm DQXI for PS4 or something?
EDIT:
Wait the DQ Mouso game huh? I'd love to see a mainline, non-spin off entry on consoles.
Nightengale
Member
The producer for Wild Arms is tweeting a lot about the games on Twitter, looking back at past releases.
TheGreatDirector
Banned
Who's the producer if I may ask?
For real????
You are coming up with games who came out nearly 20 years ago?!?
Ask yourself if these studio still exist... I doubt it.
Another point is, that games like white knight chronicles royally fucked it up.
And of course sony probably owns the IP, but not the studio.
I would love to see some dark cloud but it has been.... 10 years since the last game( rogue galaxy, i enjoyed it sooooooooo much)
You are coming up with games who came out nearly 20 years ago?!?
Ask yourself if these studio still exist... I doubt it.
Another point is, that games like white knight chronicles royally fucked it up.
And of course sony probably owns the IP, but not the studio.
I would love to see some dark cloud but it has been.... 10 years since the last game( rogue galaxy, i enjoyed it sooooooooo much)