Phife Dawg said:
And Ash...well Mistwalker seems to be in trouble. I don't think LO will be a huge hit either.
Well... define "in trouble." I don't think the bankroll of hardware makers interested in having the Gooch onboard their systems has run out yet, nor do I expect any drastic action like cancelling their other two DS games in production. That said, they are probably going to want to have an
actual hit at some point very soon, yes. :/
At this point I do think we're starting to look at a possible story, though: new IPs aimed at hardcore gamers aren't succeeding. ASH is actually putting up pretty much the exact same performance as IAWW: retailers being forced to price collapse after their assumed sales (which are not particularly high in the first place) are massively undercut.
Since Japan doesn't seem to have an agreed-upon and relatively successful "hardcore" platform (like X360 in the US) where new IPs are being rewarded with consistent sales, I'm not too excited about the prospects for more innovative new series. (And I guess, given that Mistwalker's portfolio is by definition all new IPs, they're not in great shape here either....)
EDIT: I expect LO to do better than ASH.