Dear JRPG Developers; You’ve made your bed, now lie in it. (HONEST article)

[johnlucas]

The author hit it on the head.

Politics & ego caused this situation. They bet on wrong horse & instead of shifting strategies they doubled down.

Economics folks. Why in the hell would somebody spend more & more money to make a game that sells for the same rate as games of the past?

More & more investment in products should yield more & more returns from that product but it's not. That's not sustainable. And that's the kind of stuff that crashes an industry.

The companies need to adjust their philosophies or they are going down with a sinking ship.

In Japan, it's Nintendo followed by Sony followed by a nearly non-existent Microsoft. PSP is competitive with DS because it's an alternative to the dominator. Wii is top home console but home consoles are #2 in Japan since Japan became centered around portable play. PS3 has gotten a boost thanks to PSP. PS2 is fading & won't be a factor for much longer. Handhelds have less graphical technology than home consoles. Why would you put so much emphasis in graphics when what sells are systems comparable to the last 2 generation's graphics?

In rest of the world, it's Nintendo followed by Microsoft followed by Sony. Nintendo's Wii & DS top virtually every market in the world. Microsoft's XBox 360 either does very well behind Nintendo or at least average. The XBox 360 is an American console made with a "Western" focus. Microsoft's productions which come from PC developers get star emphasis on platform. Sony either lags behind both competitors or at best does averagely. PS2 is fading everywhere, PSP is handheld alternative but is not as close to DS as it is in Japan, PS3 is struggling as a bankable platform. Why would you focus on the HD platforms exclusively when your titles are not the absolute superstars there & both of the HD platforms are behind the leader either a little or a lot? Why would you ignore platforms which allow for lower costs & are uniform for market performance all over the world?

Yeah, they made their bed & now they have to lie in it. They better hope Nintendo doesn't get more aggressive on securing marketshare this year or they're in even worse shape. Capcom got smarter. Spread it out amongst 'em all.

John Lucas