UE3 means TLR took less time to develop since they didn't have to build an engine for the game, and therefore consumed less resources. Furthermore, if you're going to roll up here and say sales for TLR are shit and then proclaim that sales don't matter down there, don't make this argument.
The point was that no titles other than XIII and XIII-2 helped Square Enix making profits lately. Titles like LR took an enourmous amount of time to release and didn't even reach the expectations they set up for them, thus ending those series immediately. One of the reasons why we're not playing LR2 and we're instead having XIII-2. XIII on the other way, made profits. That's why they decided for a XIII-2 soon after. And know what? We're getting more XIII games in the future because... apparently is considered by Square Enix profitable? I really don't understand what's so strange about what I'm saying. If they insist on this franchise is because, obviously, there's something convenient to them for doing so. Though if you prefer to think that M.Toriyama is a crazy god with absolute power and the influence all over the board of producers there, do as you like.
XIII is going to be tossed out the moment they have XIV up and running and Versus is out.
I never said XIII will continue forever.
You might want to say the only reason they're developing more XIII titles is to recoup more of initial investment.
I guess that's also a reason - like for every sequel more or less - but also that making money out of XIII sequels is easier and more convenient than starting from zero with new projects. That's why it'll not be surprising to see FFXV released from the start as a trilogy series. This could be very well what Wada intended years ago when he said he wanted a major FF released every year, the franchise stronger and more compact. That's happening already for what I see. Little by little of course, we're just at the start.
Kitase said the XIII-3 project started off in a rush;
I never heard anything like this. I knew he said the development of the next project just started. "Just started" could also mean that development began shortly after April of this year, when the last DLC for XIII-2 released.
They're not pumping the money into minor spinoffs because they were developing new IPs, like Bravely Default, the new Unreal RPG, and the Unity RPG rumored a while back, as well as cellphone games to expand into that market. They're supposed to be porting FF10 to Vita too, but who knows about that. MMOs also require large amounts of resources, so there's no doubt 14 and DQ10 have been consuming a lot. If you're only considering the FF franchise and nothing else, of course you're going to come to your half-baked conclusion as to why no spinoffs have been made or announced.
As if in the previous generation we've been given ONLY FFs spinoffs. Square Enix always produced and developed tons of games in the past and keeps doing that. What's changing is they're plans for the Final Fantasy franchise, like anticipated years ago by Wada. XIII is the key to the future of the series, like it or not.
Don't talk as if you're the only FF fan, because there's no doubt the people who loved XI gave Square much more money than you.[...]
I said that most of the fans of this franchise didn't play FFXI and that's why FFXIV didn't damage the brand at all. The reasons why Square Enix is repairing it is not for repairing the name of FF but just XIV itself, that being the successor to XI and the only mmorpg currently available for them together with DQX, essential for they're online strategy. That's what I was saying.
The steep dropoff in sales between
The steep dropoff was also true for FFX-2, the sequel of the most beloved title in the series together with VII. How you explain that? It's obvious the community of FF is used to see sequels differently from other series' sequels, but that's exactly what has to change for the franchise to live and what they're trying to do. You'll keep seeing more and more sequels or prequels in the next years even if FF will never top those huge numbers again. Though I might imply that contained sales don't mean necessary that these sequels on the long run will not be able to gather more profits than a single standard hit on the market. Afterall, if they manage to sell every year 2 millions of FF with cheap and fast developements, you can figure out for youself that this could be very well a better strategy to them than taking six years to release a 5 million single entry. The franchise could shrink, that's true, but the profits overall could not.
Is rubbish. How many times do people have to correct you so that you would stop fudging 13 and 13-2's numbers? When did 6 million shipped become 6.5 million?
Square Enix numbers and the only official numbers we currently have. The same numbers we use to know how much all the previous entries sold. They're numbers are usually given to investors, thus important for measuring the health of a series. Sold to customers or not, the earnings are the for S-E.
XIII-2 should be around 2 million at the end of the year I guess. It's not important though, the game is already considered a success by Square Enix that's why we're getting more of those. While discussing the total numbers, one should always remember that this is not a race in which the one that sells the most automatically wins, only the one that makes profits wins. Max Payne 3 sold alot, so L.A. Noire... still, they didn't generate profits if I remember correctly. What if XIII-2 gave them better profits than a title like XIII or the incoming Versus XIII? It's possible I guess... even if the total amount of copies sold is way less. The current status of the franchise and its future is not so easy to read as you imply. It's a new strategy for Square Enix which fruits will be counted in the future and not right now.