Except for the occasional Sonic retail title and some eShop releases like Space Harrier 3D don't expect a lot.
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Media Create Sales: Week 50, 2012 (Dec 10 - Dec 16)
- Thread starter Chris1964
- Start date
Baffling as i said... doesnt dqx already have more subscriber than ffxiv?
Yet they focus on ffxiv which got panned universally
electroplankton
Banned
That's true, but given how well Square Enix performed on DS, I would expect a far better support in quantitative terms.
Somic sold millions on wii
I dont see a port of generations or a port of the mario and sonic london games.. Thatnwould be easy sells...
Or what about monkey ball? Banana blitz was a great peformer on wii
kobashi100
Banned
Sega is a funny story as didnt they originally back the PSP and when that fell apart they moved development teams over to the DS.
Surprised by the lack of software on 3DS though.
Regarding S-E. DQ VIII remake is a big title so thats good news.
Will DQ XI be announced in 2013? I am guessing it will be on 3DS.
Surprised by the lack of software on 3DS though.
Regarding S-E. DQ VIII remake is a big title so thats good news.
Will DQ XI be announced in 2013? I am guessing it will be on 3DS.
metalslimer
Member
FF14 has the potential to make them a lot more money. And who says they aren't focusing on Dragon Quest X. The Wii U version is releasing soon.
Honestly I'm not sure what people are expecting from 3rd party publishers. 3DS games are not as cheap to make as DS games, they are stretched thin making more expensive games elsewhere for the worldwide market, and there are other release options available. Of course the support is less. Publishers don't have infinite resources. It's not like these publishers think the 3DS is a shit platform so they are not going to put all of their money into it.
test_account
XP-39C²
That is why they focus on FF14, trying to fix the faults it has. There will be a relaunch of FF14 (version 2.0).
sega's been backing out of retail over the last couple of years.
Are you sarcastic or what? We already had Super Monkey Ball 3D, Sonic Generations and Mario & Sonic at the Olympics for 3DS.
I was talking about wiiu. Should have specified
You know what.. I oftentimes posted that third parties rather would go bankrupt then support nontendo and looking at sega that might be true..
Sonic sells well on nintendo platforms some of the titles even eclipsing halo sales? Oh lets make generations exclusive on ps360 and not port it on wiiu
You have also to count the market changed: some titles which saw releases as retail titles on DS now could be released on iOS or on eShop / other download services. But so far, Square released on 3DS two Dragon Quest titles, with another one coming very soon, a KH semi-main title, a FF spin-off, a brand new IP which did very well, and they're releasing soon another "almost" brand new RPG ( the Gyrozetter portable game, which doesn't look bad at all
).Sega changed so much that it doesn't have so many titles releasing overall (retail, I mean).
you forgot their best 3DS game!
metalslimer
Member
Oh god farnham. You and your conspiracy theories got old years ago.
Exactly. They don't have a main Sonic game announced for anything and its been over a year. This hasn't happened for a long time.
Yeah but they botched the game badly. How high is the probability that a botched mmo will be succesful afterwards?
I know sonic all stars has performed badly and its not hard to beat but I wouldnt be shocked to see the 3DS version easily outsell the other platforms. For me making sure the 3DS version was out before xmas should of been a priority.
electroplankton
Banned
You have also to count the market changed: some titles which saw releases as retail titles on DS now could be released on iOS or on eShop / other download services. But so far, Square released on 3DS two Dragon Quest titles, with another one coming very soon, a KH semi-main title, a FF spin-off, a brand new IP which did very well, and they're releasing soon another "almost" brand new RPG ( the Gyrozetter portable game, which doesn't look bad at all
Sega changed so much that it doesn't have so many titles releasing overall (retail, I mean).
You're right, perhaps it's the lack of announcements that seems strange (they just have two games planned now for 3DS).
Shinobi
Farnham is not entirely insane about Sega's support for Nintendo platforms. Someone from Sonic Team did specify that Nintendo consoles would receive the storybook spin-off or stuff like Colours because they seem rather populair on Wii. Generations was mainline and more suited for Playstation and Xbox.
Edit: I'm still peeved about no Final Fantasy V or VI remake for 3DS
I remember that the last time we questioned Square's support on the platform, then DQVIIr got announced. Please, let's lament towards Square, I want that FFXV as a 3DS exclusive developed both by Square and Nintendo ( which basically has the old Square elements).
LOL
However, I remember to be quite "angrily confused" (heh XD )in seeing how low their 3DS support was for 2012 back in March, especially compared to Vita, when they released FY results...but now, looking at the overall situation, I understand much more what's happening. Still, I think Sega will announce something else for the platform, retail. I mean, at least one game that isn't Sonic.
That reminds me.. Wiiu is the first nintendo console in a lomg time i didnt buy a sega launch game
Gc- monkey ball
Ds - i would die for you
Wii- monkey ball
3ds- monkey ball
You have also to count the market changed: some titles which saw releases as retail titles on DS now could be released on iOS or on eShop / other download services. But so far, Square released on 3DS two Dragon Quest titles, with another one coming very soon, a KH semi-main title, a FF spin-off, a brand new IP which did very well, and they're releasing soon another "almost" brand new RPG ( the Gyrozetter portable game, which doesn't look bad at all
Sega changed so much that it doesn't have so many titles releasing overall (retail, I mean).
I actually wanted to take a moment to make an aside about Bravely Default and Gyrozetter, and how I actually feel they're a positive sign for Square Enix Japan.
Last generation (DS/PSP/360/PS3/Wii), Square Enix Japan had a habit of creating new IPs, having the first one be either unsuccessful or only a moderate success, and then dumping them in favor of putting the team on to one of their notably more successful IPs (Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, or Kingdom Hearts).
While this did increase sales in the short term, when two of their brands started to collapse (Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts), this meant that Square Enix Japan had no growing IPs to offset this impact and simply saw their sales fall apart across the board.
Now, this may be a bit premature, but with both Gyrozetter and Bravely Default, we seem to see Square Enix not only focusing on launching new brands, but indicating that they intend to stand by these brands despite their first outings being unprofitable and moderately successful (relative to like FFIII DS, BbS, Dissidia) respectively.
1.) With Gyrozetter, we see Square Enix trying to launch a kid focused multimedia brand that lives across multiple mediums and platforms. The arcade game, by their own admission, tanked. Despite this, Square Enix went ahead with the anime and is still working on the 3DS game. Square Enix has also indicated that they have attempted to figure out what went wrong with the arcade game, and are making efforts to try and correct this in time for the 3DS title. Their proposed problem was that they weren't clear about what was actually interesting about their game (that the cars transform into robots), and that they feel the anime and a Burger King toy tie-in will help inform audiences and thus increase sales. Now, I have no idea if this was actually the problem with the series, but it does show that they are willing to spend effort and continue supporting a new IP even if it went wrong out the gate.
2.) With Bravely Default, we saw Square Enix take a rather novel approach relative to their normal strategy. With Bravely Default, we had a game that was originally a sequel to the troubled Final Fantasy Gaiden: 4 Warriors of Light. Instead of forging ahead with a sequel to a ho-hum performing FF spin-off, Square Enix did the opposite of their normal approach and rebranded as it a new IP, and then spent a large amount of time showing off the game, the base concept, and sending out lots of media and playable mini-demos to try and get feedback about what people did and didn't like about the product. They then altered the game based on this feedback and the final product actually released to a decent amount of success. Now, judging by their survey, instead of shoving the team back on making Final Fantasy spin-offs or merging them into the Final Fantasy XIV support team, they're actively polling for feedback about the title indicating that they're interested in still making games in the series, and that they want to ensure those games will actually improve upon the things people didn't like about the title and retain what they did like, in addition to presumably adding in a lot of their own ideas. That they have made a browser game spin-off of the series and actually indicated that this isn't their only future intention, it would seem to indicate that they also view this as a potential growing brand in multiple arenas. This once again shows an unusual commitment to new IPs for the company.
Now, if Square Enix can keep doing things like this, repair their existing major brands, and perhaps even revive a few old ones, they could actually create a strong turnaround in their Japanese division.
Of course, that's a lot of ifs, but I see that as a notable positive for them.
test_account
XP-39C²
If they fix a lot of the faults it has, i think it has a good chance. As long as people are aware of the things being fixed that is. I havnt played FF14 myself, so i cant say much about it. But Square Enix has used a lot of time and resources on it, i think it is worth trying to fix it than just scrap it.
metalslimer
Member
I wish them all the luck in the world but subscription MMOs are doomed. Maybe they get some traction in Japan, but I think they are screwed in the west.
electroplankton
Banned
I think that might still be a pure coincidence. Gyrozetter is the attempt to attract the same audience Level-5 and Namco Bandai have tried (both successfully and not successfully) to catch in the past few years; the arcade game tanked, the 3DS game might be moderately successful, given how kids are still buying the platform (and the sales of Inazuma Eleven, Little Battlers eXperience, etc.). Bravely Default, instead, had a really good advertisement strategy, aimed at stressing how unique the game was, while being a traditional jRPG; I think Bravely Default is something jRPG players were looking for, and I'm sure the almost sure sequel will open far bigger and will sell far better; I can totally see potential for growth, given how well it has been received, and the good reputation it's having in the video games community.
2 years ago Wada did mention that he wanted the whole of Square Enix (including Eidos) to have 10 huge franchises. They already have few with Hitman, Tomb Raider, FF, KH, DQ and, I would argue, DE. There was a slide that showed that Square Japan is to create 2 new IPs that they could keep on having into the future, Crystal Dynamics was supposed to create another new IP and I think Square Europe had to create one more new IP as well.
The original timeline was show off the first games within 2-3 years and have all of the new IPs out in 5 years. Now with Square Japan being Final Fantasy XIV team, that could be delayed a bit. But what is interesting is that what you have observed is pretty much going with Wada's strategy of actually creating new IPs and sticking with them. It's important to note that he saw the same thing as you said, people were getting tired of FF and KH spinoffs and it hurt the franchises quite a lot.
We also know that Square Japan is at least making one new IP, being an ARPG using UE3.
To be honest the only thing that directly contradicts this is Toriyama's team working on making XIII sequels.
Right, it might not actually be a trend, but so far it is still an improvement over the last 6-8 years of the company's Japanese branch in terms of supporting new IPs.
Now, if that UE3 game magically disappears, the Gyrozetter franchise halts, Bravely Default falls off the face of the planet, or we see a decided lack of anything else new ever coming out of them, then I'll assume this was just a malformed perception.
Just a clarification on the UE3 game, I did some googling, and it seems they are still only building a team for it, so I guess that'll take a few years to come out.
electroplankton
Banned
FFXIII is basically the cheap cash-in on HD platforms now.
Yeah, basically their goal was originally to have eight strong IPs (defined as series that could sell 2 million units in a mainline entry) that could release every 24 months, allowing them to have one major 2+ million unit game every fiscal quarter.
They later changed it to 10 strong IPs, but interestingly enough, they actually have more than 10 potential candidates, meaning they assumed that not every new IP would necessarily be successful enough to become a recurring 2+ million performer, which actually shows a fair amount of foresight (relative to what they normally do).
So far, their current line-up is (based on what they're currently developing and what could feasibly hit 2 million copies in my mind. As a note, not all of these currently sell 2+ million, but are at least seen as candidates that could do so):
Square Enix Japan: Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, The UE3 IP(?)
Crystal Dynamics: Tomb Raider, New AAA IP
IO Interactive: New Co-Op Shooter IP (presumably a replacement for Kane & Lynch)
Square Enix Montreal: Hitman (they're kind of taking this over to an extent)
Eidos Montreal: Deus Ex, Thief, New AAA IP (it's some kind of medieval melee game with Uncharted-esque dialog IIRC)
External: Just Cause, Sleeping Dogs
Note: Sleeping Dogs was explicitly listed as part of the 10 in their last fiscal call.
I don't believe they ever indicated that these franchises had to be 2 million copy selling hits out the gate, but that they wanted them to reach that level relatively quickly and grow.
You will note that we actually get 12-13 depending on if the UE3 game still exists.
To your XIII series note, that largely seems to be the result of a cash flow problem. Like, if we look at Square Enix's announced April 2013-March 2014 line-up, there's almost nothing there.
Now, I am often pessimistic of Square Enix's ability to actually execute on a given strategy, but I do feel their core strategy for the "HD games (and handhelds)" department conceptually seems pretty solid this time around.
True that, but the seems to go directly in contradiction with the 'FF is diluted', though.
electroplankton
Banned
I think they still need something so to say "Hey! Our Japanese branch is still alive on HD platforms!". I wouldn't be surprised if we will see FFXIII-4 or whatever sooner or later.
im kind of sceptical
many mmos have tried to be the next wow but have failed (wow is also not that popular anymore mind you) with kotor being the last big one. there will be a lot more games in the mmo space and ff xiv already has a very bad image. only a few mmo players will even notice that square has tried to fix everything.
now for the japanese audience they might have a chance with the ps3 release. but then again ff xi wasnt that successful in japan with the ps2 and the pc version was the release that got things going for ff xi and eventually made it successful with 600k subscribers or so.
You have also to count the market changed: some titles which saw releases as retail titles on DS now could be released on iOS or on eShop / other download services. But so far, Square released on 3DS two Dragon Quest titles, with another one coming very soon, a KH semi-main title, a FF spin-off, a brand new IP which did very well, and they're releasing soon another "almost" brand new RPG ( the Gyrozetter portable game, which doesn't look bad at all
Sega changed so much that it doesn't have so many titles releasing overall (retail, I mean).
And just as an additional follow-up note on the topic, I agree with electroplankton in that I think their 3DS announcements are a bit barren (I think I've brought this up in a few Media Create threads), but I am willing to bow out on calling this a rather notable problem until we hit the beginning of April and their biggest 3DS game has been released for over two months with basically nothing (Gyrozetter not withstanding) on the horizon.
That's also probably the period I'll start notably mentioning the complete lack of Wii U third party games if it still looks as bad as it does now.
electroplankton
Banned
I always liked their ideas and their strategies. I mean the whole 8 (or 10 now) 2 million sellers is a great strategy. It actually allows the dev teams more time to build a very good game. It also contributes to steady cashflow without much franchise dilution. This goes well with their MMO strategy which is meant to be a steady stream of revenue while other games are being built. Now obviosly, things don't really go as smoothly as they are stated here, and Square's problems with execution of these strategies could be pretty large as evidenced by the past.
I think this could be done in this way, so that if a game that they develop, which may be risky flops, it won't cause them too much of a problem. It also allows for more risky development and less stress put on the creative process.
Thanks for the breakdown of their studios and potential franchises. I wasn't even aware that Eidos Montreal had a new IP in the pipeline, I'll be quite interested with whatever that studio cooks up next.
That's the kind of handheld game I definitely feel they have stopped developing in favor of investing in the mobile/social games area.Where's my Chocobo Racing 3D?
It's the larger stuff that I mainly wonder about (like Dissidia, Type-0, FF handheld remakes, or even somewhat smaller things like FFTA and TWEWY), at least in terms of volume.
Yeah, Eidos Montreal is actually a 400+ employee and growing studio with three full development teams.
There's a bit more about their new IP here (that I have admittedly made a lot of fun of based on that description): http://www.siliconera.com/2012/05/1...xplorer-searching-for-a-way-to-save-his-love/
Thanks for the link, I'll read up on it! That's a pretty huge studio they have in Montreal, and if they are all as talented as people that created DE then I can't wait for their games.
Regarding the handheld games, I would say Type series is a definite bet on being on being either a handheld or Wii U series. They stated mainline FF games will always be on the consoles and with the amount of work that always goes into the visuals of an FF game I can see the series continuing on ps4 and/or next box. That would leave the 3 possible platforms for the Type series, which Square definitely want to keep making, since it sold quite well in Japan. I think they are now only scratching their head trying to decide which platform to put it on, because 3DS is obviously selling ok, but they already ran into hardware limtiations with the PSP. Vita would be the natural progression but so far it's performance is nothing to write home about. And the same goes for the Wii U.
Dissidia is gone, some members of the team are gone and Nomura stated that if they were to do some sort of a cross over fighter then they'd have to go another route.
I have no idea what they are going to do with TWEWY but I'm afraid they might go the iOS route and that could be the worst move for the franchise, I think.
While the individual series themselves are definitely good questions, I more so meant just that tier of budgeting.
If I treated Square Enix's biggest (budget/production wise) handheld games last generation, I would probably pick Type-0, Birth By Sleep, The 3rd Birthday, Dragon Quest XI, Crisis Core, and probably Dissidia (even though it's a fighting game). There are likely some games I am forgetting as well.
Were I to run their list this current generation, so far we would have Kingdom Hearts 3D and Dragon Quest VII. As great as Bravely Default looks, I would guess budget wise it is more like a mid tier title than the previous two. Other examples of major 3DS productions from third parties would be Resident Evil: Revelations, Monster Hunter 4, and SMT4, if that helps paint a clearer picture of what I mean.
Obviously those kinds of things take a while, so them not being immediately visible isn't a huge problem.
Then there's the mid tier which would be things like we're seeing now with Bravely Default and Gyrozetter or TWEWY and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 last generation where they can still be impressive titles, but likely didn't completely break the bank relative to their peers.
The low budget tier would mostly be like Blood of Bahamut, Nanashi no Game, and Sigma Harmonics, which I think most people here agree Square Enix has almost entirely moved to mobile. That kind of stuff though did help inflate their volume on the platforms, which I would say is part of the reason we perceive them as having a very low title count on handhelds currently.
electroplankton
Banned
I agree. TWEWY had a quite solid following on DS, and after KH3D, many people expected something on 3DS. I'm not saying such a sequel will be big, but it could easily replicate and overcome the first one sales.
I would put Dragon Quest / Final Fantasy remakes as well.
Hero of Legend
Member
How likely is it that we're getting a ND this week? Some seem to think so I recall.
I would definitely agree on the Final Fantasy remakes, since they largely look on par with higher end DS games, but I would say the DQ remakes (before VII) were probably mid-tier budget given that they look a lot less graphically advanced than DQIX even though they sell a bazillion copies.
IIRC DQVIr didn't even have many unique sprites for important characters.
Sammy Samusu
Member
Amazon: #11
Comgnet: 97pt
I think it's going to do well. (Fantasy Life)
Anyway, Amazon watch!
(ignore if you don't care)
One Piece 2
PS3 #04
PSV #51
Dead or Alive 5
PSV #15 (Collector's Edition) #253 (Standard)
Soul Sacrifice
#63 (Standard) #146 (Double)
Did it reach #1? Shouldn't SS be charting higher? They just released a demo and from what I have seen Sony is holding quite a few Nico Nico presentations. It will be interesting from now on!
Moor-Angol
Banned
electroplankton
Banned
Then why don't the numbers read;
One Piece 2
PS3 #04
PSV #32
8/10
SS wont do as well as some people seem to think.
electroplankton
Banned
Amazon rankings are just indicators, and they don't reveal so much in particular for new IPs. Soul Sacrifice will do nicely because it'll be one of the few exclusives Vita will have next year.