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[duckroll]

FUCK!

http://fridge.soraya.jp/info.html

*Soraya Saga already has quit this series. No inquiry please.

That about wraps it up for XS. My interest in XS is now officially 0. Fuck whatever Monolithsoft/Namco releases in the "series". Clio Saga and Tetsuya Takahashi are what made XG and XS Ep1. XS Ep2 was crap with less involvement from them and now that Clio Saga is completely off the project it's unlikely her husband has much input left.

Once again... FUCK!

 

[Bebpo]

Well at least ep2 softened the shock. I mean after ep2 I never really expected anything good to come from the series again.

It's pretty sad that Saga and Takahashi left a huge corperation to pursue making their dream series, yet they got 1 step into that and another huge corperation fucks thems over and steals their studio from them and they lose the ability of ever manifesting that dream. Meanwhile what they tried to create gets turned into crap by others and will just spiral down to the realm of forgotten crappy rpgs.

I wish them the best of luck on whatever they plan on doing and I really really hope they can accomplish it in game form. Hell, do a super low-budget text adventure like that recent Nippon-ichi game. I'd rather see a low-budget series under their full control than another XS.

 

[ElyrionX]

Xenosaga Ep1 should never have existed in the first place. After the awesome gear designs in Xenogears, the gears in Xenosaga were a complete travesty.........

 

[Doom_Bringer]

Xenosaga Ep1 should never have existed in the first place. After the awesome gear designs in Xenogears, the gears in Xenosaga were a complete travesty.........

Yeah, everything about Xenosaga sucked (music, graphics, battle-system, characters etc) compared to Xenogears. The series is garbage, I lost all interest after playing Xenosaga I.

 

[Bebpo]

Xenosaga Ep1 should never have existed in the first place. After the awesome gear designs in Xenogears, the gears in Xenosaga were a complete travesty.........

Yeah, everything about Xenosaga sucked (music, graphics, battle-system, characters etc) compared to Xenogears. The series is garbage, I lost all interest after playing Xenosaga I.

This is a mourning for two very creative, intelligent writers who had the guts to challenge the world and make a game they wanted with their hand-chosen ultimate staff.

This is not a thread for backlash against them, and seriously I haven't defended XSep1 in years because everyone has an opinion and I respect that. But if there ever was a thread where I would fight to the last breath to defend two people this is it.

 

[duckroll]

Yeah, everything about Xenosaga sucked (music, graphics, battle-system, characters etc) compared to Xenogears. The series is garbage, I lost all interest after playing Xenosaga I.

I think that's a very unfair statement. Xenosaga was created to be far longer and more epic than one game would allow as compared to Xenogears there they cramped everything into one long complete game. It is sad that they did not have the chance to fully realize their vision and it would be unfair to judge one part of Xenosaga against all of Xenogears. I for one loved Xenosaga Episode 1's characters and the music, graphics and battle system were hardly "sucky" compared to Xenogears.

As Bebpo said, this isn't a thread for bashing XS Ep1 or even XS Ep2. It's simply a thread dedicated to Xenosaga being pretty much dead to fans now and if you aren't a fan don't trample on us now. Please?

 

[ferricide]

can you better explain the meaning behind this? i don't know anything much in detail about the tumultuous history of xenosaga -- i recognize the names, but i don't have the details.

 

[duckroll]

can you better explain the meaning behind this? i don't know anything much in detail about the tumultuous history of xenosaga -- i recognize the names, but i don't have the details.

Soraya Saga/Clio Saga/Kaori Tanaka is the wife of Tetsuya Takahashi. They both created and wrote Xenogears when they were at Square. She's also the original character designer for many characters in Xenogears like the Elements, Billy and his family, Bart and his crew and family/enemies, etc. Many of Xenogears' concepts were also credited to her including the Deus planetary terraforming weapon, the substories of Billy, Bart, Shitan, etc. Basically Takahashi wrote the main story while she wrote all the backstory and sidestories and handled character relations.

For Xenosaga, she did pretty much the same job, creating MOMO, Ziggy, Jr/Albedo, and all their respective stories, backstories and character relations. Say what you may about Xenosaga Ep1 but the characters were well crafted and they all had their little backstory and played some part in the larger picture. They were all well-developed and within the game itself you could see even the most minor characters developed and given character in some way or other. In Xenosaga Ep2, she and Takahashi only got to write the first draft of the screenplay before it was edited and rewritten by Monolithsoft. For any longtime fan of the series we could clearly see which parts were actually written by Saga and Takahashi and which parts were tacked on by Monolithsoft staff. Takahashi also losing the director's chair in Ep2 didn't help the game one bit and the entire "saga" started to fall apart in our eyes.

Soraya Saga has been pretty adament on her site that XS Ep2 and Pied Piper were both altered by Monolithsoft by varying degrees (XS Ep2 was altered a lot, while Pied Piper was altered a little) on her site. At different points of time she changed the stuff on the info page accordingly, probably because Monolithsoft complained. It used to be a lot more detailed listing specifics of what she did on each game. With her declaring on her site that she's no longer part of the series, it's pretty clear that Takahashi has no more power at Monolithsoft and the series will go however Namco deems profitable.

Xenosaga has pretty much gone the way of Terminator now for us fans, so whatever else is made, it just won't be canon or matter anymore. I don't expect the quality to ever rise again either.

*duckroll am cry

 

[Doom_Bringer]

I think that's a very unfair statement. Xenosaga was created to be far longer and more epic than one game would allow as compared to Xenogears there they cramped everything into one long complete game. It is sad that they did not have the chance to fully realize their vision and it would be unfair to judge one part of Xenosaga against all of Xenogears. I for one loved Xenosaga Episode 1's characters and the music, graphics and battle system were hardly "sucky" compared to Xenogears.

As Bebpo said, this isn't a thread for bashing XS Ep1 or even XS Ep2. It's simply a thread dedicated to Xenosaga being pretty much dead to fans now and if you aren't a fan don't trample on us now. Please?

If Monolith were going to create a "longer and more epic" game than Xenogears they should have at least made the first episode fun!

Xenosaga blew! The game just wasn't fun and the story sucked! Shit battle system, cuts cense over gameplay, I dunno what they were thinking.

Xenogears was a great RPG and my favorite on PSOne, but the series now is dead to me.

Hopefully Namco will kill this awful series and bring Batin Kitos or something similar to PS2.

 

[jiggle]

That's sad to hear.

Why does she have 3 names?

More importantly, who's the one that drew all those character artworks for Xenogears and Xenosaga? Are they by the husband/wife team? I always thought they came from the same person.

I was thinking it's kinda strange that XSII promotional images only showed 3D rendered portraits as opposed to 2D drawings.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

I liked Xenosaga Episode 1.

*gets the fuck out of town*

 

[duckroll]

More importantly, who's the one that drew all those character artworks for Xenogears and Xenosaga? Are they by the husband/wife team? I always thought they came from the same person.

I was thinking it's kinda strange that XSII promotional images only showed 3D rendered portraits as opposed to 2D drawings.

That would be Kunihiko Tanaka, the character designer of XG/XS. He was another casualty when XS Ep1 didn't meet sales expectations. Both he and Mitsuda were removed from involvement in XS Ep2. Even thought he's the character designer and illustrator for the games, many of the characters were drawn by Soraya Saga first before he touched them up to fit his more anime style that influenced the Xeno games in a great way.

Much of Soraya Saga's art designs can be seen in the XG Perfect Works and XS Ep1 Official Design Materials books.

 

[Vashu]

I liked Xenosaga Episode 1.

*gets the fuck out of town*

Same here, only I'll stay indoors, and continue playing.. It's just too bad that not only do they get the shaft from Square Enix, now they get it up the ass again by Namco. I heard bad stories about Episode II, which wasn't even necessary if they could've continued working on their vision.

Too bad...

 

[Grizzlyjin]

Same here, only I'll stay indoors, and continue playing..

Saying you like Xenosaga and Suikoden III is likely to get you killed 'round these parts. I just keep my mouth shut when either game is brought up. BUT THE TRUTH HAS BEEN SET FREE!

I still have to see how horrible Episode II is before I write off the series. I've heard nothing but bad things, but I can't be sure that will reflect how I feel about it.

 

[Vashu]

Saying you like Xenosaga and Suikoden III is likely to get you killed 'round these parts

Yeah, what's up with that? I've played many an RPG in the last few years, and most of the time I've been enjoying myself with it. Heck, I'd even stick it up for Legend of Legaia which was quite refreshing with it's battle-system. Graphics and story weren't much to write home about, but at least it was playable.

Oh well, the Suikoden series is my favorite series, and part III does right (though I had to get used to the reworked battle-system) what it has to do.

But, at the moment, I'm curious what Saga and co. are going to do next. I hope they retry, create new stories and start their own studio without the meddling of Square Enix, Namco and the likes.

 

[gamergirly]

I think that's a very unfair statement. Xenosaga was created to be far longer and more epic than one game would allow as compared to Xenogears there they cramped everything into one long complete game. It is sad that they did not have the chance to fully realize their vision and it would be unfair to judge one part of Xenosaga against all of Xenogears. I for one loved Xenosaga Episode 1's characters and the music, graphics and battle system were hardly "sucky" compared to Xenogears.

As Bebpo said, this isn't a thread for bashing XS Ep1 or even XS Ep2. It's simply a thread dedicated to Xenosaga being pretty much dead to fans now and if you aren't a fan don't trample on us now. Please?

I agree. Xenosaga is just part 1 of the entire series, who knows how much they could improve the game series in a few more chapters. Besides, what he said was exactly what I would say if I had never played the game and intentionally came here to bash it. You can tell who played it and who didnt.

Give the developers time to work with each game, until then enjoy the continuing storyline. Eventually it should pay off.....

 

[seismologist]

There probably wont be another Xenosaga. The last one bombed horribly. The DS XS is probably a port of Pied Piper.

 

[ElyrionX]

Now c'mon, practically EVERYTHING about Xenogears rocked. The story rocked. THE MUSIC ROCKED (LONG LIVE YASUNORI MITSUDA!!!!! NOBUO UEMATSU CAN KISS MY SMELLY ASS!). The battle system rocked. The gears ROCKED. id rocked. Xenogears rocked. Citan rocked (especially after he got his sword).

And then we got Xenosaga. Admittedly, KOS-MOS was cool like hell, especially in those cut-scenes where she dished out massive ownage. However, everything else about the game was bad IN COMPARISON to Xenogears. The music was literally non-existant. This was a huge disappointment since the OST for Xenogears almost single-handedly defined the game.

 

[Bebpo]

There probably wont be another Xenosaga. The last one bombed horribly. The DS XS is probably a port of Pied Piper.

Isn't kinda hard to "quit [the] series" if there aren't going to be any more games in it?

 

[Kiriku]

Now c'mon, practically EVERYTHING about Xenogears rocked. The story rocked. THE MUSIC ROCKED (LONG LIVE YASUNORI MITSUDA!!!!! NOBUO UEMATSU CAN KISS MY SMELLY ASS!). The battle system rocked. The gears ROCKED. id rocked. Xenogears rocked. Citan rocked (especially after he got his sword).

And then we got Xenosaga. Admittedly, KOS-MOS was cool like hell, especially in those cut-scenes where she dished out massive ownage. However, everything else about the game was bad IN COMPARISON to Xenogears. The music was literally non-existant. This was a huge disappointment since the OST for Xenogears almost single-handedly defined the game.

You forgot another thing that rocked in Xenogears: Billy! Such a cool character. His storyline was interesting too.

And even though Xenosaga was disappointing in comparison to Xenogears, I still think it was good game that had some Xenogears vibes in it. And I also realize that it was only one part of a longer series of games, whereas Xenogears was a much more "finished" game.

 

[Bebpo]

Now c'mon, practically EVERYTHING about Xenogears rocked. The story rocked. THE MUSIC ROCKED (LONG LIVE YASUNORI MITSUDA!!!!! NOBUO UEMATSU CAN KISS MY SMELLY ASS!). The battle system rocked. The gears ROCKED. id rocked. Xenogears rocked. Citan rocked (especially after he got his sword).

And then we got Xenosaga. Admittedly, KOS-MOS was cool like hell, especially in those cut-scenes where she dished out massive ownage. However, everything else about the game was bad IN COMPARISON to Xenogears. The music was literally non-existant. This was a huge disappointment since the OST for Xenogears almost single-handedly defined the game.

Xenosaga's story was excellent especially for the first 1/6th of a story. The difference with Xenogears is you got 5/6th of the story in one game so of course a lot more happened and things were cleared up. Xenosaga was never meant to be about introducing mysterious and solving them in the end, it was just about introducing the characters/world view/mysteries/themes with the idea that future installments would continue to develop and expand on them.

As for the music, It's hard for me to choose which I prefer between XG and XSep1. But the XSep1 ost is one of the few osts I still listen to often and I feel it is an amazing achievment by Mitsuda. Especially for his first run with a full orchestra.

The battle system in XSep1 was pretty darn good for a traditional turn-based rpg. It's one flaw is that it was slow and that caused the battles to drag a bit. But between the boost system, the tech editing, ether trees, and Gear upgrades there was plenty of depth to it and it's not like XG had such a deep and strategic battle system in the first place ^^;

What Xenosaga did have other Xenogears was much better cutscene direction when taken to the 3rd dimension. The cutscenes were well-paced (though if you aren't big on dialogue they run a bit long), and were always film-like and interesting. Xenosaga also had an incredible voice cast (Jpn version only) full of AAA actors that really gave excellent performances and brought their characters to life. It had a multi-character party where more than just MR(S) LEAD gets developed. No instead it was a ensemble piece that simultaniously gave interesting and strong development to the majority of the party. In XG there was Fei/Elly and then everyone else in the party. Xenosaga is a more achieved work where I found character after character interesting. Even the side characters (Andrew) were allowed fantastic development due to the large scope of the game.

XG is an amazing title. Especially considered that it's a rushed/unfinished title that still leaves a strong impression on many today.

XSep1 is what 1/6th of a XG-type game would be if it was allowed the time and budget to not be rushed, but rather take the time to explore and fine-tune each part of the story to it's best. Sadly we never got the real ep2+ and so this goal is an unfulfilled one. XSep1 is a doomed masterpiece. A game that will never be truly viewed for what it was meant to be.

 

[callous]

Well this sucks. I'm currently enjoying Xenosaga quite a lot. KOS-MOS, what can I say. Effin cool. Very sad to hear we won't get any more true Xeno games, but I'll certainly give Xenosaga 2 a try, anyway.

In short: Fuck.

 

[john tv]

It certainly does suck that the two main talents behind Xenosaga are gone, but did you ever consider that perhaps they couldn't handle the responsibility of running a project of that size and (more importantly) cost? The main reason Takahashi fell out of favor with Square is because he paid no regard for deadlines and spent all their money, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if he did the same thing with Namco on Xenosaga.

Face it, the guy may be a great writer, but he should never have been placed in a role of that responsibility. He obviously can't handle it.

 

[Miburou]

Uh, Gigadense, Xenosaga shipped over a million worldwide.

 

[Suikoguy]

so its offically done with?

*cries*

 

[Mejilan]

Good. It deserved to die.

*continues awaiting the XS Ep2 + Bonus preorder*

 

[duckroll]

It certainly does suck that the two main talents behind Xenosaga are gone, but did you ever consider that perhaps they couldn't handle the responsibility of running a project of that size and (more importantly) cost? The main reason Takahashi fell out of favor with Square is because he paid no regard for deadlines and spent all their money, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if he did the same thing with Namco on Xenosaga.

Face it, the guy may be a great writer, but he should never have been placed in a role of that responsibility. He obviously can't handle it.

Yes, I've said this over and over. I agree that Takahashi isn't one for responsibility and is overambitious in all his visions. That being said, Square had talent in high places to keep the project going and wrap it up properly even after it was long overdue. Square respected his vision even though they know he wasn't completely responsible. That is the role of a producer and the publishing company and they did a fantastic job. Namco on the other hand completely fucked it up. The answer is NOT to fire all key staff and then do dumb re-writes and low-quality replacements and ship a half-finished product out then proceed to milk the shit out of it after throwing the original creators aside.

When Takahashi worked with Square on Xenogears it would be like a director going far overbudget on a project and then the studio giving him a deadline to wrap it up, throw in an extra 3 million and then telling him that they don't really want to work with him again but great job anyway. Takahashi working with Namco was like the studio not liking his first film, then taking his script for the sequel, letting some hack re-write it to add more "action" and less "talk" and then getting the 2nd unit cameraman on the first film to direct it while recasting all the actors and getting a new (crappier) cinematographer, then STILL putting his name on it.

So yes, Takahashi may not be the most "responsible" director when it comes to budgets and deadlines, but that doesn't mean that Namco is remotely doing the right thing here.

 

[Cloudy]

WTF is Pied Piper?

 

[Mejilan]

A XenoSaga mobile phone game. Also being ported to the NDS.

 

[jarrod]

Uh, Gigadense, Xenosaga shipped over a million worldwide.

I think he meant Episode 2 in Japan. It's worth noting that Episode 1 was originally expected to ship a milion in Japan alone, but fell way short of Namco's expectations (about half). Interestingly enough, Episode 2 also moved about half it's target in Japan. And we won't even get into Baten Kaitos... I'm surprised Namco didn't clean house at Monolith sooner.

 

[duckroll]

A XenoSaga mobile phone game. Also being ported to the NDS.

It hasn't been confirmed anywhere that Xenosaga DS is Pied Piper at all. The game itself was a 3 chapter cellphone RPG taking place 100 years before XS Ep1 covering Ziggy's backstory when he was a cop up to his suicide. There are many story links to XS Ep1 and Ep2, and Bebpo's the only one I know who played it all and finished it. Sad thing is he said the writing was really good and all in all because of longass dungeons the entire game was about as long as XS Ep2 (just shy of maybe 20 hours).

Pics of all the chapters here: http://www.monolithsoft.co.jp/left/special/pied-piper/index.html

I think he meant Episode 2 in Japan. It's worth noting that Episode 1 was originally expected to ship a milion in Japan alone, but fell way short of Namco's expectations (about half). Interestingly enough, Episode 2 also moved about half it's target in Japan. And we won't even get into Baten Kaitos... I'm surprised Namco didn't clean house at Monolith sooner.

No, Takahashi was the one who expected 1 million in Japan for XS Ep1. Namco had a more modest expectation of 600k. The series did 400+k in the first few weeks and eventually did maybe 500+k in Japan, thus not meeting the lower expectation either.

 

[Necroscope]

Seriously, I don't know where is all this hate come from for da game. I know Xenosaga is not for everyone because of the excessive cutscene and less than hardcore battle system but if you look at this game objectively, I think it has set a high point on art direction for the consistence of the world, attention to the details of the enviornments, the epic story and back story. Why can't ppl appreicate these aspects a little more.

 

[SiegfriedFM]

I officially stopped caring about Xenosaga when Mitsuda (and thus, Joanne Hogg) left. The four songs (Small Two of Pieces, Stars of Tears, Pain and Kokoro) are among the best ever made, but now I'll probably never hear another.

And for some reason Joanne Hogg's own work (with Irish band Iona) and Mitsuda's other game productions aren't anywhere near as great.

 

[Suikoguy]

Seriously, I don't know where is all this hate come from for da game. I know Xenosaga is not for everyone because of the excessive cutscene and less than hardcore battle system but if you look at this game objectively, I think it has set a high point on art direction for the consistence of the world, attention to the details of the enviornments, the epic story and back story. Why can't ppl appreicate these aspects a little more.

Cause some people think their game tastes are better then everbody eleses?

 

[Miburou]

I think he meant Episode 2 in Japan. It's worth noting that Episode 1 was originally expected to ship a milion in Japan alone, but fell way short of Namco's expectations (about half). Interestingly enough, Episode 2 also moved about half it's target in Japan. And we won't even get into Baten Kaitos... I'm surprised Namco didn't clean house at Monolith sooner.

Episode II hasn't been released here yet (and I think this time they're releasing it in Europe, too?), so it's a bit premature to say it bombed based on sales in one country (and didn't it sell like 300K or so? that's better than any Sony RPG).

Seeing as how Xenogears didn't crack a million (and that was back when even an RPG like Parasite Eve could sell a million), I'm not sure what Namco were thinking when they gave that 1M figure.

 

[duckroll]

Episode II hasn't been released here yet (and I think this time they're releasing it in Europe, too?), so it's a bit premature to say it bombed based on sales in one country (and didn't it sell like 300K or so? that's better than any Sony RPG).

No I don't think it's going to be released in Europe. Also no, it did not do 300k in Japan, it did like 120k in the first week and eventually broke 200k but not by much.

Seeing as how Xenogears didn't crack a million (and that was back when even an RPG like Parasite Eve could sell a million), I'm not sure what Namco were thinking when they gave that 1M figure.

Once again, Namco didn't give that figure.

 

[gamergirly]

Episode II hasn't been released here yet (and I think this time they're releasing it in Europe, too?), so it's a bit premature to say it bombed based on sales in one country (and didn't it sell like 300K or so? that's better than any Sony RPG).

Seeing as how Xenogears didn't crack a million (and that was back when even an RPG like Parasite Eve could sell a million), I'm not sure what Namco were thinking when they gave that 1M figure.

Xenogears wasnt even find(able) over here for years. It wasnt a big title when it first came out but eventually became a sleeper hit. It was hard to find until Square decided to re-release it again.

Anything that sells 300,000 or more will make publishers and developers continue on it. Monolith knew the risks involved when developing such an ambitious series. All of the changes will be for the good. Besides, we know in rpgs that it's the story that keeps you going for most people. I think the story is very inspired and original. They put alot of thought into it instead of the same ole same ole

 

[jarrod]

No, Takahashi was the one who expected 1 million in Japan for XS Ep1. Namco had a more modest expectation of 600k. The series did 400+k in the first few weeks and eventually did maybe 500+k in Japan, thus not meeting the lower expectation either.

600k was expected for Episode 2, not 1 iirc. I think ToD2 might actualy be Namco's only original console RPG this gen to reach it's target figures in Japan. :/

GAME (Target) Actual

Xenosaga Episode I (1,000,000) 450,000
Tales of Destiny II (800,000) 900,000
Tales of Symphonia (500,000) 350,000
Baten Kaitos (500,000) 70,000
Xenosaga Episode II (600,000) 250,000
Tales of Rebirth (800,000) 500,000+

Episode II hasn't been released here yet (and I think this time they're releasing it in Europe, too?), so it's a bit premature to say it bombed based on sales in one country (and didn't it sell like 300K or so? that's better than any Sony RPG).

Seeing as how Xenogears didn't crack a million (and that was back when even an RPG like Parasite Eve could sell a million), I'm not sure what Namco were thinking when they gave that 1M figure.

Yeah I agree with all that. FWIW, Xenosaga evidently surpassed it's target western figures by a good amount (though I've no idea what they were) which led to the series continuing. I'm guessing Episode 2 will do well here too, hopefully enough to make up for the shortfall in Japan.

Namco's usually a bit pie in the sky for expectations imo. 1M for XS and 500k for BK is just insane.

 

[Miburou]

No I don't think it's going to be released in Europe. Also no, it did not do 300k in Japan, it did like 120k in the first week and eventually broke 200k but not by much.

Ah, OK. So it sold 200K+ (and might've shipped 300K or more). Not too bad, and it'll probably do better in the US.

Once again, Namco didn't give that figure.

I wrote that before I saw your reply. Anyway, whether it's Takahashi or Namco, it's still an overoptimistic figure.

 

[border]

This is as sad as when Ion Storm had to shut down and John Romero left.

 

[duckroll]

600k was expected for Episode 2, not 1 iirc.

Wrong. If there's one thing you should NEVER even consider debating with me about, it's Xeno.


600k from Namco:
http://ps2.ign.com/articles/100/100036p1.html
http://www.rpgfan.com/news/2001/1642.html

1million from Takahashi:
http://ps2.ign.com/articles/075/075041p1.html

600k was ALSO the target for Namco for XS Ep2, but that doesn't mean they expected to sell 1 million of XS Ep1. The source for the numbers stem from the original Japanese press releases but they might no longer be online, either way the facts are available in English and I'm not digging through Watch Impress right now.

 

[jarrod]

Wrong. If there's one thing you should NEVER even consider debating with me about, it's Xeno.


600k from Namco:
http://ps2.ign.com/articles/100/100036p1.html
http://www.rpgfan.com/news/2001/1642.html

1million from Takahashi:
http://ps2.ign.com/articles/075/075041p1.html

600k was ALSO the target for Namco for XS Ep2, but that doesn't mean they expected to sell 1 million of XS Ep1. The source for the numbers stem from the original Japanese press releases but they might no longer be online, either way the facts are available in English and I'm not digging through Watch Impress right now.

Hrmm, I believe you (no need for WI excavations!), I just find it strange that Namco didn't lower Ep2 targets after 1 missed it by a good 150k. Then again Namco expectations are usually batshit insane in some way (they were expecting PlayStadium PS2 to sell 1.3 million?!?) :/

Doesn't change my chart too much though, TOD2 still being the only Namco RPG on consoles to hit it's target this gen in Japan.

 

[Senretsu]

the series had a lot going for it. I sorta enjoyed the first one but was expecting a lot more than that. From the impressions i've read on EPII my interest in the series has waned considerably.

 

[duckroll]

Yeah, Namco has had a pretty shitty RPG gen as far as sales expectations were concerned, but hell considering what they did to Xenosaga they deserve it! I feel no sympathy.

 

[gamergirly]

This doesnt look too bad to me:

http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~hokora/english/ps2rank_e.html

Rank タイトルTitle メーカー/開発Publisher/Developer ジャンルGenre 価格Price
(w/
Tax) 発売日Release
Date 初動First
Week
Sales 初動率First
/Total 累積売上Total
JP Sales 米国売上Total
US Sales

Last Updated: Jan 12, 2005
Total number of released titles in Japan:1975

Playstation2 Software Top 200 Best Selling Ranking (From: Mar 4, 2000 - Dec 26, 2004)


54 Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Mucht Namco/Monolith Soft RPG 8,190 02/28/02 300,849 66.29% 453,853 474,081

453,853 in Japan + 474,081 in USA = 930,000 without any other numbers. Safe to say it made it past 1 million worldwide. When did 1 million+ worldwide become a failure?

 

[jarrod]

453,853 in Japan + 474,081 in USA = 930,000 without any other numbers. Safe to say it made it past 1 million worldwide. When did 1 million+ worldwide become a failure?

Actually... was Xenosaga released in PAL regions? I thought only Namco's GC RPGs have been so far (by Nintendo themselves)? If I had to guess worldwide sales (so far)...

Xenosaga Episode I (1,000,000)
Tales of Destiny II (900,000)
Tales of Symphonia GC (700,000)
Baten Kaitos (150,000) PAL release coming
Xenosaga Episode II (250,000) US release coming
Tales of Symphonia PS2 (400,000)
Tales of Rebirth (550,000)

 

[duckroll]

Actually... was Xenosaga released in PAL regions? I thought only Namco's GC RPGs have been so far (by Nintendo themselves)?

Nope it wasn't.

Oh and to the other poster, Xenosaga Ep1 is considered a failure by Namco because it failed to meet expectations. Sure it sold over a million worldwide, but if a movie that cost 150 million to make makes back 100 million at the box office, it's still considered a flop. Not all games are judged equally and XS Ep1 was an expensive undertaking that took a long time to get out and had a lot riding on it. Namco invested in the entire Monolithsoft studio just for Xenosaga, and it just didn't deliver.

 

[callous]

So what members, of importance, are left at Monolith now and actually doing work?

 

[RiZ III]

Games should NEVER be released in chapters.

 

[Miburou]

Where does it say that Episode 1 is considered a failure by Namco? Sure, it's around 140K less than Namco expected in Japan, but didn't it exceed expectations in NA? Wouldn't that make up for it?