The World Ends With You (or It's Wonderful World in Japan) is a rare high quality new IP that SE released in the last few year. It has an interesting story, great visual style and innovative battle system but did not generate the kind of sales that SE has hoped. (If you have a DS and like RPGs or just enjoy great games, you should pick up this game...now!)
Here is an interview with the directors of the game and their thoughts on what went right and what went wrong with the project.
What Went Right
1. Getting to go wild with original IP and gameplay concepts.
2. A story created by committee (and free of those pesky RPG plot holes)!
3. Implementing a player-controlled risk vs. reward system.
4. Going full-bore 2D.
5. Working closely with our middleware provider to cram a full vocal soundtrack into the game.
What Went Wrong
1. Time management and development culture clash.
2. Story creation scheduling.
3. Overloading the player with new concepts and game systems.
4. Dual-screen battles, or "What's going on here?"
5. Animation quantity and quality.
It's certainly an interesting read. The full article can be found here
MikeB predicts that the PS3 will sell about 140 million units by the end of 2016 and triple the amount of 360s in the long run.
