360 Gamers Day in Japan. JRPG's on the menu.

[RobertR1]

Star Ocean 4
The Last Remnant
Tales of Vesperia
Infinite Undiscovery

Trailers are up on market place. Demo's coming soon!

Check this thread on GAF for tons of info.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=308806

 

[PARANOiA]

I've been reading the news about this and I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised. Most interesting news is Square giving timed exclusive over PS3 to a JRPG. That's on top of SO4 coming to 360, possibly exclusively.

Who'd have thunk?

 

[patsu]

How does that song go ?

Money makes the world go around ~~

Xbox 360 needs all the help it can get there. Good for MS to watch over its fans.
I doubt absolute exclusivity though.

 

[AlNom]

Xbox 360 needs all the help it can get there. Good for MS to watch over its fans.
I doubt absolute exclusivity though.

I believe the only expected console life-time exclusivity is with Infinite Undiscovery. Isn't MS funding that one? The copyright information shows MS as having shared ownership. Star Ocean is completely owned by SE, and it doesn't say "exclusive" either despite not mentioning PS3 -> seems likely they'll bring it eventually.


http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/16756/Square-Enix-Announces-RPG-LineUp-for-Xbox-360/

STAR OCEAN: THE LAST HOPE
Platform ￾- Xbox 360

INFINITE UNDISCOVERY
Platform - Xbox 360 Exclusive
Copyright Information - © 2008 SQUARE ENIX CO.,LTD.￾^Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Developed by tri-Ace Inc.

THE LAST REMNANT
Platform ￾- Xbox 360 / PLAYSTATION® 3
Release Date ￾- ( Xbox 360 ) This winter / (PLAYSTATION® 3) TBA

 

[patsu]

Dunno anything about Infinite Discovery (I was referring to SO4).

What happened to Mistwalker ?

 

[Rangers]

How does that song go ?

Money makes the world go around ~~

Xbox 360 needs all the help it can get there. Good for MS to watch over its fans.
I doubt absolute exclusivity though.

I doubt these moves are targeted at Japan, MS has admitted that is a lost cause. People need to understand these are more aimed (from the publisher and MS alike) at the JRPG market in the West..

The high end console market in Japan is near nil anyway, most software sales are either Wii or handhelds there. 360 is a huge failure, but PS3 is pretty much a non-factor as well keep in mind.

 

[patsu]

I don't think Sony has given up on Japan yet (because they are still banging on Blu-ray trend). For MS, even though major price drop didn't help, they should still be working on software that will draw casual gamers in (including Japanese).

For now, if MS wants to use these timed exclusive to lure overseas gamers, then I assume they would want to release them in overseas market asap.

The Japanese Gamer day and announcements are targeted for the Japan market. Will the timed exclusivity apply to other markets ? (Only Last Remnant is a worldwide release it seems).

 

[obonicus]

I don't think Sony has given up on Japan yet (because they are still banging on Blu-ray trend). For MS, even though major price drop didn't help, they should still be working on software that will draw casual gamers in (including Japanese).

For now, if MS wants to use these timed exclusive to lure overseas gamers, then I assume they would want to release them in overseas market asap.

The Japanese Gamer day and announcements are targeted for the Japan market. Will the timed exclusivity apply to other markets ? (Only Last Remnant is a worldwide release it seems).

Well, to see what the PS3's chances are in Japan, I think we'll have to look at what happens after MGS4 is released. Will it be like Monster Hunter, pushing PS3 well out of its next-to-the-bottom position for more than one week, or will it be more like Yakuza 4, giving the PS3 a nice boost, but just a blip? If even MGS4 can't get them out of the 10k(I'm being generous) range, then what's left? FFXIII?

 

[zarbaj]

Infinite Undiscovery is indeed funded by MS.

 

[patsu]

Well, to see what the PS3's chances are in Japan, I think we'll have to look at what happens after MGS4 is released. Will it be like Monster Hunter, pushing PS3 well out of its next-to-the-bottom position for more than one week, or will it be more like Yakuza 4, giving the PS3 a nice boost, but just a blip? If even MGS4 can't get them out of the 10k(I'm being generous) range, then what's left? FFXIII?

The Japanese may very well have moved on from PS2-like consoles. In the long run, Sony and MS may have to invent new kind of experience to excite them. As long as there is a head honcho in Xbox, Japan or SCEJ, they will continue to farm the market one way or another.

MGS4 should be able to move more than 10K PS3s given that now it's 8K or so (The last time I checked). For now, Sony's secondary strategy is to hope that Blu-ray gains mainstream adoption. That route will likely take a few years to pan out.

 

[Dominik D]

GTA4 was supposed to push consoles on both ends but both PS3 and 360 tanked around GTA4 release. At this point I don't think such thing as "should be able" exists. MGS4 may or may not push PS3 sales up (I'm inclined to say "it will" but I don't want to guess any more).

 

[patsu]

PS3 is #1 (white), #2 (black) and #3 (MGS4 bundle) on Japanese Amazon now. It should show some impact. The question is how much, how long and perhaps where.

Also, I am not sure if GTA4's scenario applies here, we will have to see. I have zero emotion attachment to GTA4's Bellic. I don't care if he dies or lives.

But many gamers know Solid Snake. I am curious to see if story and character have any impact on sales.

 

[Dominik D]

Amazon is a tiny retailer when it comes to consoles. It may or may not reflect trends in other outlets, but it's not a good way to measure sales.

Argument about Belic vs Snake is purely subjective and hardly belongs to this boards. I don't care about either, does that prove anything? No.

 

[patsu]

They are valid points. We will know the console sales soon enough.

As for my point about story and character, it still stand. GTA4 has an unknown character and story. MGS4 has a known character and history. I am simply wondering if these elements will have stronger pull in general; not your preference or mine.

 

[Xenus]

Well you think Final Fantasy will move consoles but anything other then that seems a shot in the dark at this point.

 

[obonicus]

They are valid points. We will know the console sales soon enough.

As for my point about story and character, it still stand. GTA4 has an unknown character and story. MGS4 has a known character and history. I am simply wondering if these elements will have stronger pull in general; not your preference or mine.

As far as I can tell, very few people play GTA for the story in the first place. I don't know if this time was any different, though we had pretty much all the idiot reviewers talking about how the story was great.

 

[Oninotsume]

Microsoft's efforts to attract an audience with J-Rpgs is commendable, but I have to concur with the notion that high-end gaming in Japan is for the most part irrelevant. Maybe it will come around when the Wii market overflows and price drops follow, like the DS to PSP. I imagine other posters who live in Japan share a similar opinion.

To be honest during the morning announcements this past Monday, our sales were lamenting the poor pickup of Ninja Gaiden II, and added that many retailers see the 360 as a hard sell when the majority of Japanese consumers just wait for the PS3 version anyway.

In Japan there is no such thing as sell through, once you sell it to the retailer the sale is done, so when the retailer's opinion wanes there isn't much to do.

 

[Rangers]

Infinite Undiscovery is indeed funded by MS.

I think being "The RPG console" is something MS has stated and marketed. I think it's not aimed at Japan, though.

MS basically stated they will not be putting major resources into Japan anymore recently. So I think these games are aimed at the worldwide market.

 

[Dominik D]

I seriously don't think that MS's investment in jRPG genre is there to reinvigorate sales in Japan. Just like Rangers I also believe that these games are targeting western jRPG gamers. Just like you pointed out: high-end gaming in Japan is irrelevant and I'm sure MS is aware of that.

//edit
That was in response to Oninotsume's post.

 

[AlphaWolf]

I think being "The RPG console" is something MS has stated and marketed. I think it's not aimed at Japan, though.

MS basically stated they will not be putting major resources into Japan anymore recently. So I think these games are aimed at the worldwide market.

Well MS's funding would have went into these projects when? 2-3 years ago or so? The original intent may well have been focused at Japan, but there's no doubt they've revised that plan since.