Is this why JRPG's are a dying breed?

[Demotruk]

Khuutra said:

Demotruk said:

I'm not gonna say anything about Twesterm's central thesis, but can people at least get past the point that jRPG's are in decline. Decline means they are no longer as popular as they once were, and sales are a metric of that. No matter which you look at, the biggest jRPG series like Final Fantasy XIII compared to X or VII, or the more middling series like Tales, they are almost all in decline. They are selling a lot less than they did in previous generations within Japan and outside of it.

There are notable exceptions like Dragon Quest but they are not enough to change the overall trend. And "I think the RPG's this gen are great" is completely irrelevant to whether or not they are in decline.

The topic is abotu Twesterm's central thesis, not the general decline of JRPGs, which you yourself have not qualified via sales - if you try to sit down and make comparisons, don't forget that the body of JRPGs are not mainline games.

Also don't forget Pokemon.

Ok, just took a look at the numbers in a number of different ways and I have to concede that if you go with a literal definition of jRPG, ie. role playing game made in Japan, they are roughly flat taking into account that some titles have still a few more million to sell (Pokémon HG/SS primarily). Whether that's by total combined sales or total million sellers each gen, it's pretty much the same.

 

However, if you take the more common use of "jRPG" which is not strictly literal, ie. exclude Pokémon and possibly Monster Hunter, then the total sales is much less due mostly to the diminishment of Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts and lesser series.