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[jeremy1456]

When looking at Japanese publishers, perhaps it would be useful in identifying the actual franchises in their stables and whether it's likely the next installments will appear on the Wii U (as opposed to the 3DS, PS3-only, PS360, PS4-only or PS4/Durango).

For example, are we expecting:

• Resident Evil 7 to appear on the Wii U?
• The next Tales?
• The next mainline Final Fantasy?
• The next Kingdom Hearts if it ever comes?
• The next Yakuza?
• The next Winning Eleven or Pro Baseball?
• The next Dynasty Warriors?
• The next Atelier or Ar Tonelico?
• The next Disgaea?
• The next Street Fighter?

And so on.

Resident Evil 7 is a probably not. Capcom likes to push the newest tech available with mainline games in this series.

Tales could go any which way. Until recently it has never made total sense, and that might just be a coincidence rather than the norm.

Mainline FF is probably impossible. They had that video using the engine they developed, and it's way past the Wii U's graphical prowess.

Kingdom Hearts I doubt, but I guess it's always possible.

The guy who makes Yakuza has always been down with Sony hardware, so I really doubt it would ever be released for the Wii U.

Winning Eleven is a probably.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a watered down port of future Dynasty Warriors games.

Nippon Ichi seems allergic to Nintendo home consoles, so I doubt they will ever make anything for it. Ports of the older Disgaea games wouldn't be surprising, but I highly doubt anything new from them will come out on the system.

Who knows with the next Street Fighter. It isn't un-Capcom to release a watered down port (see Street Fighter IV on the 3DS and iOS.)

What we should be asking about is Monster Hunter. I wouldn't be surprised in the least to see a cross play version of 4 on the Wii U.

 

[lunchwithyuzo]

Probably.I think it's strange that we havent see a Dragon Quest game for PSP(almost 20 millions units in Japan).Also there aren't any Dragon Quest games on PSN like DQIV and DQVII for PSONE classics or DQ5 for PS2 while all the FFs and Chocobo games are already there.

There's also no DQ games on Virtual Console, though there is other SE stuff like FF, Mana, SaGa, Ogre, etc.

 

[Rolf NB]

Are you saying the Wii U won't outsell the PS3? Very possible looking at Wii U's support and the home console market in general. Of course with the pricetag the PS4 will probably come at will kill its chances in Japan.

Lack of BC and probable high entry price will ensure yet another slow, painful generational transition for Sony. That doesn't automatically make the Wii U the rational choice for the next new Dragon Quest game though. 3DS and PS3 are the safest platforms now.

 

[pieatorium]

When looking at Japanese publishers, perhaps it would be useful in identifying the actual franchises in their stables and whether it's likely the next installments will appear on the Wii U (as opposed to the 3DS, PS3-only, PS360, PS4-only or PS4/Durango).

For example, are we expecting:

• Resident Evil 7 to appear on the Wii U?
• The next Tales?
• The next mainline Final Fantasy?
• The next Kingdom Hearts if it ever comes?
• The next Yakuza?
• The next Winning Eleven or Pro Baseball?
• The next Dynasty Warriors?
• The next Atelier or Ar Tonelico?
• The next Disgaea?
• The next Street Fighter?

And so on.

Sports series and 2d fighters I would expect to be on everything, next RE and FF i don't expect to see on WiiU unless it's also on PS3 but even then might be questionable.

I think Yakuza is fairly well sown up on sony.

Dynasty Warriors is a chance i think same with Tales.

KH I don't know it's a maybe i guess but it would be a long way off anyway so there would be more time for tthem to decided which platforms look healthy.

Anything that sells lin the 200k range has potential to be moneyhatted or just end up on any random platform imo.

 

[Nekofrog]

Zero chance that the Wii U is going to outsell the PS4 at the end of the generation.

If it wasn't so far away, I'd place a ban bet on it.

 

[Mileena]

Not to mention the fact that Sony's only big selling game in Japan is Gran Turismo, and we can probably expect a several year wait for that.

Meanwhile Nintendo has 3D Mario, Smash Bros., Animal Crossing, Mario Party and Mario Kart. Not to mention their C-tier selling titles like Pikmin and Mario Sports.

Aside from Gran Turismo, Sony's top selling first party games (the only ones that are guaranteed to be exclusive) don't even sell as much as Nintendo's C or D tier (saleswise) series.

You have to factor in Japan hates Xbox/MS/America so PS4 is gonna be the only true next gen console over there. Anything that isn't on Wii U over there might as well be PS4 exclusive. At least I hope it does well so it gets awesome Japanese games.

 

[shinra-bansho]

What we should be asking about is Monster Hunter. I wouldn't be surprised in the least to see a cross play version of 4 on the Wii U.

For some reason I thought there already was an announced version of MH4 for Wii U.

I wouldn't be surprised if it happened.

And I doubt it would have much overall impact. The franchise seems very entrenched in the handheld space now.

 

[schuelma]

Zero chance that the Wii U is going to outsell the PS4 at the end of the generation.

If it wasn't so far away, I'd place a ban bet on it.

I'm curious why you think this will happen.

 

[Nekofrog]

I'm curious why you think this will happen.

The Wii/PS3 was an anomaly. It's back to business as usual in Japan from the looks of it.

 

[schuelma]

The Wii/PS3 was an anomaly. It's back to business as usual in Japan from the looks of it.

Based on what?

 

[pieatorium]

I think trying to predict any kind of hardware performance in Japan is not going to end well for the predictor at least this far out from any actual results .

We can say now that the 3ds is going to be the dominant platform but 18 months ago even it was looking pretty shaky.

 

[Sandfox]

Based on what?

I'm guessing he's assuming that the Wii U will never pick up and the PS4 will be a huge success.

 

[schuelma]

I'm guessing he's assuming that the Wii U will never pick up and the PS4 will be a huge success.

Well, I can see a perfectly valid argument for why the Wii U will never pick up, but nothing in the Japanese market would lead me to believe PS4 is destined for success.

 

[shinra-bansho]

If I were to make completely unsubstantiated predictions, I'd say that neither the PS4 nor the Wii U will end up dominating the other.

The PS4 will probably be priced high enough to stifle uptake. While I ultimately don't see the touchscreen controller taking off in any significant way.

 

[jeremy1456]

Zero chance that the Wii U is going to outsell the PS4 at the end of the generation.

If it wasn't so far away, I'd place a ban bet on it.

Zero chance leaves no room for error.

I'd say there's like a 45% chance the PS4 outsells the Wii U. Of course, that's a prediction without any vested emotion, but one that is logical.

 

[Currygan]

Zero chance that the Wii U is going to outsell the PS4 at the end of the generation.

If it wasn't so far away, I'd place a ban bet on it.

yep, zero chance. Also, i hear the Vita is going to destroy the 3DS when it gets released

 

[Somnid]

The Wii/PS3 was an anomaly. It's back to business as usual in Japan from the looks of it.

Did I miss the announcement where Sony got DQ and MH back exclusively and FF has returned to former glory?

 

[ambientmystic]

If I were to make completely unsubstantiated predictions, I'd say that neither the PS4 nor the Wii U will end up dominating the other.

The PS4 will probably be priced high enough to stifle uptake. While I ultimately don't see the touchscreen controller taking off in any significant way.

If current trends continue, Japan is more than likely to be further and further entrenched into nintendo handhelds and will continue to be apathetic to any form of home based consoles, which is in direct defiance to Western mobile trends (IOS, tablets etc).

The 3DS has already reclaimed the current throne in Japan after a shaky start and with the continuous flurry of quality titles that has come and will come to the platform along with the current 1-2 knockout punch of Dragon Quest VII and the unstoppable Animal Crossing, it is highly unlikely to lose its position for the near future.

 

[Spieler Eins]

yep, zero chance. Also, i hear the Vita is going to destroy the 3DS when it gets released

All people just want that high tech beast of a videogame machine. KAZ TOLD ME!!1

At the end, Japan will be 3DS land anyway.

 

[DR2K]

Well, I can see a perfectly valid argument for why the Wii U will never pick up, but nothing in the Japanese market would lead me to believe PS4 is destined for success.

Depends what is your definition of success? 3DS sales? PSP sales? PS3 sales? Wii sales?

 

[RPGamer92]

Did I miss the announcement where Sony got DQ and MH back exclusively and FF has returned to former glory?

Console MH isn't as big as handheld MHs, DQ is an MMO now, and FFXV is imo gonna be Versus renamed which is a game that has been highly anticipated for years.

 

[Skyzard]

All people just want that high tech beast of a videogame machine. KAZ TOLD ME!!1

At the end, Japan will be 3DS land anyway.

No, in the beginning.

 

[Colonel Mustard]

Console MH isn't as big as handheld MHs, DQ is an MMO now, and FFXV is imo gonna be Versus renamed which is a game that has been highly anticipated for years.

Making one game from a series an MMO doesn't mean the rest of the series will follow suit.

 

[pieatorium]

Well I think the PS4 probably has a better chance of replicating the PS3 than the WiiU does of the Wii. If like we assume will happen and the main 3rd party franchises are secure on PS4 (FF, RE, MGS etc) I would expect it to outsell the WiiU when all is said and done.

I don't think PS4 will be a runaway success though, more of a slow burn like the PS3 was.

One thing that might not be in PS4's favour is that alot of the core 3rd party franchises we are talking about here have or will be releasing not that long before it's available. RE and Yakuza just had entries, FF is coming out this year for current gen, MGS stuff so far has PS3 and 360 logos attached. It's not hard to imagine there will be some decent gap before the next installments of these franchises.

 

[Somnid]

Well I think the PS4 probably has a better chance of replicating the PS3 than the WiiU does of the Wii. If like we assume will happen and the main 3rd party franchises are secure on PS4 (FF, RE, MGS etc) I would expect it to outsell the WiiU when all is said and done.

I don't think PS4 will be a runaway success though, more of a slow burn like the PS3 was.

One thing that might not be in PS4's favour is that alot of the core 3rd party franchises we are talking about here have or will be releasing not that long before it's available. RE and Yakuza just had entries, FF is coming out this year for current gen, MGS stuff so far has PS3 and 360 logos attached. It's not hard to imagine there will be some decent gap before the next installments of these franchises.

Would you say Wii U has a better chance of replicating the PS3 than the PS4 does?

 

[Nekofrog]

Would you say Wii U has a better chance of replicating the PS3 than the PS4 does?

It has a better chance replicating the 360.

 

[shinra-bansho]

Would you say Wii U has a better chance of replicating the PS3 than the PS4 does?

Why would it replicate the PS3 when discussion over this last page has centred on whether it will get the franchises the PS3 did - with most opinion being negative.

How would it replicate the PS3, when it will essentially compete against the PS3.

 

[Colonel Mustard]

It has a better chance replicating the 360.

In Japan?

Hmm. You're either brain dead, or just being silly...

 

[Somnid]

Why would it replicate the PS3 when discussion over this last page has centred on whether it will get the franchises the PS3 did - with most opinion being negative.

Not necessarily franchises but userbase.

edit: actually it was a lot of B-grade Japan targeted franchises that have made up Sony's contemporary platforms, could we see more of those on Nintendo platforms?

 

[pieatorium]

Would you say Wii U has a better chance of replicating the PS3 than the PS4 does?

Not at the moment, but like I said all this speculation depends on the franchises I listed remaining on Sony home console, I think most people here would predict that to be the case as those games still have a sales base in the west and western 3rd parties are most likely to be cultivating that same base on PS4 and 720.

 

[schuelma]

It has a better chance replicating the 360.

Sigh

 

[Nekofrog]

In Japan?

Hmm. You're either brain dead, or just being silly...

Unless Nintendo takes drastic action to bolster it, the Wii U is already nosediving in sales and won't stop.

 

[shinra-bansho]

Not necessarily franchises but userbase.

From the former derives the latter.

Unless you're simply saying it will reach the PS3's 9M units on the back of Nintendo's franchises in themselves. But I don't think that was what pieatorium was getting at.

 

[schuelma]

Unless you're simply saying it will reach the PS3's 9M units on the back of Nintendo's franchises in themselves. But I don't think that was what pieatorium was getting at.

Well, as a bit of perspective, Nintendo's last console reached 9 million consoles sold in 3 years strictly off the back of Nintendo's first party output.

 

[shinra-bansho]

Well, as a bit of perspective, Nintendo's last console reached 9 million consoles sold in 3 years strictly off the back of Nintendo's first party output.

Are we still expecting the Wii U to replicate the Wii?

I don't think that is what he was implying. A host of first party titles on the WiiU could certainly get the WiiU to PS3 numbers eventually.

I'm personally unconvinced a system can be sustained by first-party output alone without a Wii-like phenomenon, to the extent it would reach the same installed base as the PS3.

 

[Jamix012]

Are we still expecting the Wii U to replicate the Wii?

I don't think that is what he was implying. A host of first party titles on the WiiU could certainly get the WiiU to PS3 numbers eventually.

 

[schuelma]

Are we still expecting the Wii U to replicate the Wii?

Probably not.

Just trying to point out that Nintendo's first party franchises are extremely powerful, and even if they lose something in the transition, it is equally foolish to equate them to the GameCube days.

 

[pieatorium]

Not necessarily franchises but userbase.

edit: actually it was a lot of B-grade Japan targeted franchises that have made up Sony's contemporary platforms, could we see more of those on Nintendo platforms?

Alot of that B tier stuff follows the A tier because thats where the fanbase for those games are. You see most of the MH clones might not have jumped to 3DS (yet) but that is most likely a case of Sony paying or assisting with marketing and also alot of them still have psp versions looking for easy money selling to the old fanbase.

So far it seems Nintendo haven't been as aggressive in trying to do the necessary deals to get these smaller/mid teir games on the WiiU and while they might not be system sellers as we have seen with Vita's performance they at least supply a stream of releases which i think would be preferable to the current situation.

 

[Sandfox]

Alot of that B tier stuff follows the A tier because thats where the fanbase for those games are. You see most of the MH clones might not have jumped to 3DS (yet) but that is most likely a case of Sony paying or assisting with marketing and also alot of them still have psp versions looking for easy money selling to the old fanbase.

So far it seems Nintendo haven't been as aggressive in trying to do the necessary deals to get these smaller/mid teir games on the WiiU and while they might not be system sellers as we have seen with Vita's performance they at least supply a stream of releases which i think would be preferable to the current situation.

Well Nintendo said they have a few unannounced partnerships(like FExSMT) so we may see a few interesting moves from Nintendo.

 

[Jamix012]

The Wii/PS3 was an anomaly. It's back to business as usual in Japan from the looks of it.

Truly? When Sony's Playstation brand is at its weakest since its inception you really think the PS4 will flourish above the WiiU given it's, likely, higher entry price and lack of japanese support. Don't get me wrong, come TGS maybe they'll have FFXV, Persona 5 and Monster Hunter and maybe they'll market it well to restore brand loyalty but right now the PS4 looks to be on the road to disaster in the east.

 

[pieatorium]

Probably not.

Just trying to point out that Nintendo's first party franchises are extremely powerful, and even if they lose something in the transition, it is equally foolish to equate them to the GameCube days.

It was only the Wii_, 2d mario and Mario Kart that really hit those highs though.

All their other franchises didn't perform a whole lot better than their gamecube counterparts despite the massive instal base differences. I think they will have to rely on those other games like smash, zelda and 3d mario alot more this time which is a part of why i think PS4 might sell better in the long run.

 

[Somnid]

From the former derives the latter.

Unless you're simply saying it will reach the PS3's 9M units on the back of Nintendo's franchises in themselves. But I don't think that was what pieatorium was getting at.

Well what I'm getting at is that Sony seems to not give 2 shits about Japan anymore and really the PSP, Vita (for whatever it has) and to a slightly lesser extent PS3 were built on the backs of pretty Japan targeted franchises. Furthermore, a lot of these games are developed by companies that just can't keep up with Western mega-million budget development both in terms of team size and in terms of appeal and wouldn't be likely to push PS4 at all. I think this is one reason why portable development is in vogue in Japan, it just costs less. It also seems that the big players SE with FF, Konami and MGS, and Capcom with RE are pretty much also more interested in foreign markets than local ones.

Given that PS4 will not have handheld synergy (by virtue of Vita being pretty dead) and possibly a real lack of Japanese focus, could Wii U fill in that gap the way 3DS will probably fill the gap left by Vita.

 

[H_Prestige]

Truly? When Sony's Playstation brand is at its weakest since its inception you really think the PS4 will flourish above the WiiU given it's, likely, higher entry price and lack of japanese support. Don't get me wrong, come TGS maybe they'll have FFXV, Persona 5 and Monster Hunter and maybe they'll market it well to restore brand loyalty but right now the PS4 looks to be on the road to disaster in the east.

WTF? What japanese support does the Wii U have?

Even in Japan people buy consoles to play games. And if it comes down to more expensive ps4 with major games vs. less expensive Wii U with no games, ps4 will win that battle with little effort.

 

[shinra-bansho]

Probably not.

Just trying to point out that Nintendo's first party franchises are extremely powerful, and even if they lose something in the transition, it is equally foolish to equate them to the GameCube days.

I think people are far more prone these days of overestimating the strength of Nintendo's franchises than underestimating them. Nintendo sits among those people, based upon this launch.

At any rate, selling like the PS3 for the first 3 years is essentially the same as selling like the GCN. I don't think that's beyond the likes of the Wii U or PS4 at this stage.

Replicating the longevity of the PS3, relative to the GCN, however, is another matter.

 

[Jamix012]

WTF? What japanese support does the Wii U have?

Even in Japan people buy consoles to play games. And if it comes down to more expensive ps4 with major games vs. less expensive Wii U with no games, ps4 will win that battle with little effort.

Wii U has Nintendo. NSMBU will outsell every game shown off so far for the PS4 combined in Japan.

 

[jakncoke]

Unless Nintendo takes drastic action to bolster it, the Wii U is already nosediving in sales and won't stop.

In a couple weeks Wii U will likely have as many 9k+ week as 360 has had in all these years. So i dont know how you can figure Wii U is likely to be a 360 type console in Japan. Thats really silly talk

 

[Little Green Yoda]

[*]The next Winning Eleven or Pro Baseball?

Has there been any news about Winning Eleven / Pro Evo Soccer? Specifically if a Wii U version is announced and if so, will Wiimote pointer controls return?

 

[shinra-bansho]

Well what I'm getting at is that Sony seems to not give 2 shits about Japan anymore and really the PSP, Vita (for whatever it has) and to a slightly lesser extent PS3 were built on the backs of pretty Japan targeted franchises. Furthermore, a lot of these games are developed by companies that just can't keep up with Western mega-million budget development both in terms of team size and in terms of appeal and wouldn't be likely to push PS4 at all. I think this is one reason why portable development is in vogue in Japan, it just costs less. It also seems that the big players SE with FF, Konami and MGS, and Capcom with RE are pretty much also more interested in foreign markets than local ones.

Given that PS4 will not have handheld synergy (by virtue of Vita being pretty dead) and possibly a real lack of Japanese focus, could Wii U fill in that gap the way 3DS will probably fill the gap left by Vita.

Which of the Japan-targeted franchises that built the PS3 house are expected to transition to the Wii U? Yakuza? Disgaea? Atelier? Ar Tonelico?

The latter bolded is largely why people expect those publishers to develop for the PS4 and 720.

What handheld synergy? What gap? I'm not sure what you're on about there.

 

[schuelma]

It was only the Wii_, 2d mario and Mario Kart that really hit those highs though.
.

Isn't that a pretty big understatement, given that Wii had 14 million sellers and Game Cube (and PS3) only had 1?

Just so people don't get the wrong idea- I'm not claiming the Wii U versions of these franchises are going to sell similarly.

But I also think it goes too far to harken back to the Game Cube era which was a decade ago and expect such a huge reversion back.

 

[schuelma]

Which of the Japan-targeted franchises that built the PS3 house are expected to transition to the Wii U? Yakuza? Disgaea? Atelier? Ar Tonelico?

Other than Yakuza, which is roughly similar to Pikmin or Rhythm Heaven in terms of selling power, those franchises you listed are pretty niche.

I guess I'm confused as to why the benchmark is Nintendo stealing mid tier Japanese franchises instead of Sony having to come up with games that equal Nintendo's top franchises.