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Siliconera Sounds Off: Are JRPGs Being Phased Off Consoles?

Siliconera writes: "Now that everything is in order (finally!) and we've gotten debuting Facebook out of the way, it's time to get Siliconera Sounds Off up off the ground. Here's the premise: We're going to have someone from the development side talk to us - us being no more than 2 SE staff members (we'll rotate) - about matters pertaining to niche games and the industry issues that surround them. We'll cover everything from sales to localization to design and more.

Joining us for our debut - and because he's such a nice guy, he's going to be a regular - is Nick Doerr, Script Editor for NIS America. Some of you might know him from the comments."
Cyrus365 - contributor
Published: 47 days 17 hours ago | Article | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360 | Wii
 
 

Showing: 1 - 16 of 16 Comments
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Bodyboarder_VGamer - 47 days 19 hours ago
1 -
most japanese companies are cheap and poor, just wait until the development cost goes down and they will start making jrpg's for consoles instead of handhelds.
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presto717 - 47 days 16 hours ago
1.1 - This breaks my heart as JRpG's are by far my favorite genre
I really have not played a lot of them this gen, which is why sometimes, I find this gen depressing. I just hope they make really good ones soon.
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Dragun619 - 47 days 15 hours ago
1.2 - Are JRPGs Being Phased Off Consoles?
Well, PS3 seems to be picking up the Genre.

PS3 jrpg line up

- White Knight Chronicles
- White Knight Chronicles 2
- Final Fantasy Versus XIII
- Final Fantasy XIII
- Final Fantasy XIV
- Resonance of Fate
- The Last Rebellion
- Trinity Universe
- Atelier Rorona
- Ar Tonelico 3
- Agarest: Generations of War (11/06/09 for NA)
- 3D Dot Heroes
- Trinity: Zill O'll Zero
- Neir Replicant
- Tales Of Vesperia
- Star Ocean IV: The Last Hope International

But the article is right, 3 years in this console gen, and only a few good jrpgs have been released, compared to the DS, I'd say the developers just see more profit in developing portable games than developing a full console Jrpg game. Theres little risk involve Compared to a console game, the chances of it failing cannot be taken especially if its coming from a small development company.
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Nuri - 47 days 19 hours ago
2 - Are JRPGs Being Phased Off Consoles?
I hope not, also pretty good read.
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Feral Gamer - 47 days 18 hours ago
3 -
I prefer western style RPGs. I'm tired of the same art style, storylines, and combat systems. Most Japanese RPGs have metro cartoony characters which I personally don't care much for.

Picking from a menu to attack is so 80s. I prefer more real time combat. Dragon Age isn't exactly real time, but I prefer it to the more traditional Japanese RPG style. You don't have 20 spells that all look the same. You don't have spells that are just variations of the same thing. (i.e. fire, fireu, firex, fireaux, firexxs) LAME!

I'm also tired of the lame attempts at humor. There's a huge difference between Japanese and western style humor. For instance, in MGS4. Diarrhea is not funny in western cultures, however it's seems to be very funny in Japan. Characters in Japanese RPGs also tend to have exaggerated emotions, which I think get old very quickly.
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Strikepackage Bravo - 47 days 17 hours ago
3.1 - You're quite right
in fact overall Japanese developers, at least most of them are stuck in the previous two gens. The only reason they get away with it is because of the inferiority complex and cultural bias (in favor of any culture but their own) most western white reviewers have when reviewing Japanese games. Much of what Japanese developers get away with, if done in say gears of war, or mass effect, would be unanimously bashed as more of the same, last gen, and not innovative.

Look at the heat Gears of War 1 took for its less than stellar story. At the same time, countless Japanese games are given a pass for their completely non nonsensical stories, that are often filled with sexism, ethnocentrism, and mild racism. If Bungie ever tried some of that moronic diarrhea humor in a Halo game they would be crucified by the gaming media.
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Estranged - 47 days 17 hours ago
3.2 - Yeah...
I've played tons of JRPGs that are different in art style. That said, if you feel that way you will just end up feeling the same way with WRPGs when you realize they have a lot of similarities as well.
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El_Colombiano - 47 days 15 hours ago
3.3 -
Personally, I love the Japanese humor that games bring. It's different than the same old stuff WRPG's offer time and time again.
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Cyrus365 - 47 days 14 hours ago
3.4 -
Feral Gamer, very true, but you can say same kind of generalized things about Western RPGs, or any genre really...

Definitely need a variety....
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jdktech2010 - 47 days 17 hours ago
4 -
I like a little of both....I loved Lost Odyssey and like Final Fantasy. While I'm loving Dragon age and liked Mass Effect. JRPGs have their place and that's in my 360
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Estranged - 47 days 17 hours ago
5 - The problems with Japanese developers are...
Because of the shift with the 360 being the best selling HD console in America instead of the Playstation, they put their games on the 360 and when they fail they think it's because the West just doesn't like their games when that is absolutely not true.

They also think that their games are inferior and that the West develops better games. Hence why you have Square trying to Westernize which is completely destroying what made them good. Sure they can Westernize, but then they are only copying them and will be generic. What made them good is that they made games that were unique, not copying someone else's style.
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Cajun Chicken - 47 days 17 hours ago
6 -
Hahaha. No. At least you can't count the amount of JRPGs released over a year on one hand which you can do with Platformers.
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Xof - 47 days 16 hours ago
7 - Er....
This notion only holds water if you only look at NA/EU releases of JRPGs... I don't think I need to point out how incredibly stupid that is, but there you have it. There are just as many JRPGs coming out now as there ever were, if not more. There are just more platforms. Instead of solely seeing these games on the Playstation 2, we're seeing healthy quantities of JRPGs appearing on the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PSP, DS, PC and mobile phones.

In terms of what the English-speaking world sees, fewer Japanese titles are being localized. I'm certain we're all aware of the increasing anti-Japanese sentiments in the gaming industry, yes? I sure there's a causal relationship in there somewhere. Add to that the greater variety of platforming and the increasing popularity of PC and mobile gaming in Japan, and it's easy to see why the genre may appear to be "dwindling" to an American or European who doesn't own five different platforms--but that's simply not the case.
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NDoerrFans - 47 days 15 hours ago
7.1 - True, but...
They're talking about consoles proper, here. If you take away the PSP, DS, and mobile phones... being three years into a console cycle and releasing little over a dozen JRPGs (JRPGs, mind you) is kind of sparse. There are only a small amount of console RPGs that haven't been localized, as well. Agarest Senki Zero and Tears to Tiara are the ones that comes to mind, but that's really it, at least for the PS3. I'm not sure what RPGs haven't been localized on the 360 or Wii, honestly.
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hatchimatchi - 47 days 16 hours ago
8 -
i love level grinding. I miss traditional jrpgs. Thankfully the ds is full of great ones. I'd love to seem some though on my ps3, or even the wii for that matter.
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Lifewish - 47 days 16 hours ago
9 -
great write up guys
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