Successes so far 2008
Lost Odyssey - Strong sales at 780k with a chance to be the first million seller in this genre. It got decent reviews and reception. A good lead for 2008.
Tales of Vesperia - Good opening week sales of 100k in Japan and moved roughly 30,000 Xbox360s in Japan given the boost in the leading weeks and the impressive spike for the release week and above average trailing week sales.
Failures so far in 2008
Ninja Gaiden - came and went without a fuss, more a failure than success due to wasted potential more than anything else.
Too Human - So far not looking good for this game. At this point I would consider it a failure until proved wrong or otherwise.
Games to come 2008 (S)Exclusives
Tales of Vesperia U.S release. 08/26
Infinate Undiscovery U.S 09/02, EU 09/05, JP 09/11.
Fallout 3 U.S 10/07 - (S)Exclusive downloadable content.
Fable 2 U.S 10/21
Last Remnant U.S E.U JP 11/20
My thoughts on the JRPGs/WRPGs
Microsoft is releasing a quartet of (s)exclusive JRPGs this year and Microsoft has expended its resources to give this genre a priority. This push has already seen some key dividends with the TOV and LO sales and the aquisition of FFXIIIs multiplatforum status.
This genre is a priority for Microsoft this year for several key reasons IMO, which are not limited to just Japan. The main goals imo are:
- To round out the lineup of games so that the Xbox360 can cater to a wide variety of hardcore to niche gamers and all the different combinations of taste to widen the potential market for the Xbox360
- To distinguish the Xbox360 from the PC gaming side to help the Xbox360 differentiate itself better in markets where PC gaming is strong such as the European/Asian markets.
- To further improve the Xbox360s standing in the Japanese market to give the Xbox360 and future Xboxes a chance to improve its chances in this important market for developers/gamers.
On the WRPG side, things haven't gone to plan so far with the loss of the Sacred 2 exclusivity and the critical failure of the Too Human game. However Fable 2, the key to the WRPG side of the equation is still looking good and it should provide a good synergy with the remaining JRPG releases for 2008. Even being on its own now, Fable 2 looks like an excellent game to tip the balance firmly towards the Xbox360 in the WRPG genre and the Fallout 3 downloadable content is just icing on the cake. As there aren't many major releases previously in this genre, every big release is still disproportionately important so its important not to diminish the importance of Fable 2.
Tying it all together and concluding.
One common feature with all these RPG games is that they all only require an Xbox360 Arcade to experience fully. Microsoft is using its own price advantage to play to the strengths of this RPG lineup. Rather than pushing games that would require an Xbox360 Premium such as shooters to experience online, they are pushing games which are designed as single player experiences so they are playing to their own strengths wisely and in this battle they are fighting under their own favourable conditions.
This is a solid strategy, They are using their strenghts in concert and they are diminishing some of their key weaknesses which have held them back previously.
Feel free to agree or disagree. :)
Tease.
