The "Tales of" series, and exactly why Vesperia is a "big deal"

[johnsobas]

talkingparrot said:

I can understand the fandom the Tales series has, but the gushing in this thread is completely unnecessary. I've played every Tales game (and finished only 4 of them- Symphonia, Destiny, Phantasia, Abyss)- and for what its worth- they are good to great at best. The review scores, sales numbers, and critical reception will give you an idea to gauge what the series is worth.

Tales has, and always will be, a second tier RPG. It caters to a particular audience. It isn't as niche as say a Disagaea, or any of the Nippon Ichi titles, however, its still not a million seller in any sense of the word.

My frustration with this thread begins with fanboys who claim the game will never come out on another console (you know who I'm talking about- are you really that dense?), people acting as if this game is the gemstone in the RPG caveat for the 360 (that belongs to Final Fantasy XIII and Mass Effect), and as if suddenly this game will end the HD console war in Japan.

I've lived in Japan for 6 months for a semester of school. Most people here have no idea what the lifestyle is over there. I am garunteeing you this, half of those 360s will be traded back in immediately. Same goes for the PS3s. Until and unless they shrink the sizes of the respective consoles down - or - they figure a way to truly captivate the imagination of the audience (Wii Sports and potentially Little Big Planet), there will be deadpan in the region.

Namco is intelligent- they like money, they know their boundaries, and will take money hats when they can get them. The game will end up on the PS3. Tales of Symphonia 2 will come out in the USA (only I am garunteeing you it sucks- I'm playing it right now). Finally, the HD RPG console war will not be decided by this game. These proxy battles people bicker about are pointless. I can point out Valkyria Chronicles (an RPG that has been extremely well previewed), White Knight Story (by Level 5- who are positioning themselves as the next Square Enix), and Fire Emblem on the Wii. In the end, this game is destned for multiplatform love, unlike those three above.

Seriously, stop posting this bullshit like you know more than other people when in reality the average poster on vgchartz seems to know more about it than you do.  You looked like a fool in the other thread and you're looking like a fool again.  It's true many people sell their systems back in situations like this, but it doesn't affect sales as much as you think it does.  For the record i spent 2 semester in Japan, i normally wouldn't mention that but you seem to think it's so important.

The proof is in the numbers, take a look at what happened when Blue Dragon was released.  If everyone had sold back their systems then the used price of 360s would have dropped so low that people would not be buying new systems.  Not only that but blue dragon was released in a time where nobody knew 360 would get this many RPGS, and there was a long drought at that time.  That's not really what happened though, 360 weekly sales were raised for a very very long time long after blue dragon stopped selling..

Now the situation is much better for the 360 and there are many other games especially star ocean that would interest these people.  Rather than a price collapse of the 360 like you are saying we are actually looking at the price of the 360 rising (especially because it's sold out).