Persona 5 Platform speculation.

[Onyxmeth]

Qays said:
I'm not sure about the Wii having the potential to sell a Persona game in all markets. The jury is still very much out on how well quality third-party games in general, and third-party RPGs in particular, can sell on the system in the various markets.

Here's what we know:

No quality third-party RPGs have been released for the Wii in the west.

Only one quality third-party RPG has been released for the Wii in Japan: Monster Hunter Tri. Its performance has been respectable in the absolute sense, but very lackluster compared to the performance of its PSP prequel. This can't be a very encouraging sign for Atlus vis à vis the potential sales of a Wii version of Persona 5.

Compare to the impressive sales of the hyper-niche Demon's Souls on the PS3 in the US, and of the PSP re-releases of the PS2 Personas in Japan. A PSP Persona 5 is almost guaranteed to sell well, and a PS3 Persona 5 probably would sell well enough to make a profit (especially when you factor the fat exclusivity check Sony would cut Atlus into the bargain).

A Wii P5 might sell OK. It might also sell next to nothing, at the cost of development money and Sony exclusivity money. Atlus is a fairly conservative company: my instinct is that they'll wait and see how games like Monster Hunter Tri and The Last Story do on the Wii before taking the plunge.

The Wii has healthy sales in all markets, thus it can potentially sell Persona 5 in all three. You're not getting the point though. Putting the game on the PS3 limits it to the PS3. It'll be the only platform to have it, or maybe it'll be shared with the 360 for an extra bit of sales. Putting it on the Wii/PSP/PS2 gives it the following advantages:

1. Reusing assets from previous Personas and having lower development costs going in than an HD Persona would have.

2. It would be featured on the two platforms Persona has been known for the last 5 years, the PSP and PS2. The Wii is merely added in because of the ease to port between PS2, PSP and the Wii. 

3. It opens it up to both the handheld and console market, and it allows the series to grow into a new platform from this generation without much risk of tanking or having to rework the game to accommodate more expensive art, as the PSP and PS2 can ease it by showing strong sales in their own markets that they flourish in.

So this option gives the series security, allows for a less expensive title to be produced even while on three platforms, and opens it up to a new audience. I'm not saying this is what Atlus will do, but it would be the smartest choice they could make.