Perfect sense for everyone but PS3 owners, of course.

Anyone who visits VGChartz regularly has seen how obscure the japanese market has been in recent times, leading more and more japanese companies to come out and say they want to expand greatly in the western markets (Square-Enix is a name that particularly springs to mind.)

Microsoft's japanese image has always been poor, and despite their efforts already this generation it doesn't seem to be getting that much better. So, following the announcements they've made, it's clear that some pretty big deals have gone down in Japan. Microsoft has never been scared of pushing money into the xbox brand, (particularly it's japanese division with a whole lot of JRPG's already going to the 360 this generation); and it seems like theyve done the same again.

At first glance it seems like a stupid prospect; why are Japanese developers focusing development on a console that barely pushes 10,000 consoles a month? However, for all parties involved it seems to be a win win situation. MS aren't exactly going to miss the money they're pushing into these deals, Japanese developers not only get a portion of their gaming budget paid for, but they also gain extra exposure in the western markets by putting their game out on the strongest HD console (in terms of install base). But, what about Sony's position in all of this? Well, while many would question their apparant backing down and losing potential games to their nearest rival, it's makes sense. They put zero money forward (no more than usual), and although they recieve these games later (months, perhaps even a year), they know that the 360 versions aren't going to take many, if any, of their potential japanese consumers away. So even though it's released late, its safe to assume it'll still perform much much better than its MS counterpart, most likely even as well as it would have done had it been exclusive. 

Alot of people have been reiterating the old "the PS3 is too hard to develop for" as the reason for the timed exclusives, but I don't agree. Square-Enix have already claimed they have the White engine running on the PS3, which is what they're using for all their multiplatform games, and I cant remember them saying theyve had any issues with it. 

 So, who loses here? People like me, who anticipated a slew of RPG's on their PS3 and thus far have been well and truly shafted by Sony. I personally think the japanese developers in question are treading dangerously and putting far too much faith in the 360; we've seen how poorly (against expection that is) the exclusive JRPG's have performed thus far this generation, it seems wishful thinking to imagine these latest games would destroy the sales of those already released.

 Okay, im ranting, and making assumptions here, but I honestly don't think this is in anyway unrealistic. People have probably already said something similar to this but I had an urge to post so I did. 

The PS3 hasn't seen a huge increase in sales yet. Once the huge increase comes, I'm sure Japanese developers will be happy to switch over

 Unfortunately the way Sony have dealt with things this generation, I don't think they're willing to do something to spark this huge increase. I'd have thought the awful start they had would be a good kick in the teeth so to speak, but apparantly not.

Sorry but it still makes NO SENSE.....

Why not the Wii then

 Hmm, a good question, but why would Nintendo put out big money to acquire these games? It's safe to assume their development had already been started for the HD consoles, but regardless I think it's simply a case that Nintendo didn't feel the need to put money out for them. Why would it need to?

@Bladeneo

Your title should have read 'Who else realises that this JRPG announcement is not unrealistic' based on what you said:

'I personally think the japanese developers in question are treading dangerously and putting far too much faith in the 360'

So it makes perfect sense to you but thats your personal view? ermmmokkkayy.

Anyway, if Square/Namco had any doubts at all, they would have just released no time exclusives and no exclusives. This is their investment on 360 and MS and the West. Too many people on this forum think it was all MSisveryytrickssyyy.

I would not be surprised if Square/Namco were the ones who approached MS and didnt ask for much exclusitivity fees based on their financial reports and recent comments from their CEO.

And as much as you think MS grows money on trees, these are all profit making corporations. ANY money is important. Money is a long term thing, basically MS has invested in Square Enix/Namco, and vice versa.

 Actually, it's the Japanese customers that loses the most. The comapnies they love publish the games they love on a system they hate. So, they stop being interested in consoles and move to handhelds where the Japanese developers haven't yet sold out. The Japanese developers are basically getting profit on titles that sell bad. In the long run, it will hurt them as their fanbase will shrink. Smaller companies that tried something different on Wii or PS3 will be rewarded as all their profit will come from sales and not from moneyhats.

The consumer will lose, this only benefits maybe MS.

 My first line read: " Perfect sense for everyone but PS3 owners, of course." So,yes, that IS my personal opinion because it's screwing the PS3 owner over.

Yes. It does benifit MS and really thats the only winner here. I said in another thread though, this makes perfect sense for microsoft. And....its a winning strategy.

But Aiemond! MS is dead in Japan!

Yup, it is. And this is not going to save it. So why is MS shelling out all this cash? The same reason that it got in the console market in the first place. To prevent Sony from having a multimedia hub in the living room with little competition.

"But, they are loosing so much money Aiemond!"

Yes, they are in the short term. But to them, this is a win in the long term. They see Sony's big botch this generation and are on it like a shark that smells blood in the water. This is the generation that MS feels it can kill PS...or at least SEVERELY weaken it.

"How are they weakening it Aiemond?"

No one is buying xbox in Japan."Well, they are doing this by preventing the popular games in Japan from being on the Sony system. Thus, Japanese owners have no interest in buying the PS3, especially when DS is so strong. And since many gaming trends begin in Japan, this may also trickle over to the other terretories as well. HD is strong here atm (compared to japan) but how long will that last? The fact is, MS considers anything that hurts the ps3 a win. If the PS3 died and the xbox died as well while the wii rose to the heavens MS would be ok with it. Thier goal for entering the console market would have been met. Of course, thier best case scenario is Xbox360 domination, but that is not the only "win" for them. So, no matter how it sells, MS sees buying major JRPGs for the 360 as a win by preventing Sony from having them, thereby leading to lower PS3 sales and thus preventing the PS brand from becoming a major living room multimedia hub. The End :)