In this post: the rest of SPD 2’s Japanese (third-party) partners:
MISTWALKER
| Developer | Latest game | Release date | Other games and projects | Next game |
| Mistwalker | The Last Story | February 2012 | Blue Dragon Series | (?) Terra Battle |
What are they working on?
Mistwalker is Hironobu Sakaguchi’s company (the creator of final fantasy). Mistwalker also houses Nobuo Uematsu (the composer of most Final Fantasy games). Mistalker’s team is currently working on the mobile game Terra Battle. Because the game has already been downloaded more than two million times on mobile devices, Sakaguchi should honor is promise of bringing Terra Battle to current gen consoles. Whether WiiU will be one of those consoles, is hard to tell. Mistwalker’s last big production (before they switched to mobile) was for the Nintendo Wii, but I’m not sure if that would actually play a role in their decision to bring Terra Battle to WiiU or not. SPD 2 probably won’t have any involvement in the decision since Terra Battle is not a Nintendo franchise.
Although the studio is best known for some high profile RPG’s (including Blue Dragon and – a personal favorite – Lost Odyssey for the Xbox 360), chances that they will produce another high profile RPG by themselves are small. The studios that assisted Mistwalker (Artoon) or that were created to assist Mistwalker (feelplus Inc.) in producing these titles are now part of Marvelous AQL, who have their own franchises to worry about. A sequel to The Last Story seems very improbable at the moment.
What does this mean for WiiU?
Maybe Terra Battle will come to WiiU, but chances are slim. The Last Story 2? Don’t count on it.
MONOLITH SOFT
| Developer | Latest game | Release date | Other games and projects | Next game |
| Monolith Soft | Project X Zone | July 2013 | Xeno(blade) series
Project X Zone series Super Robot Taisen series Baten Kaitos series Disaster: Day of Crisis |
Xenoblade Chronicles X |
What are they working on?
Just like Intelligent Systems, they are not really a third party studio anymore (although they still make games that are published by Bandai Namco). Relations with Monolith Soft are still being handled by SPD 2 though.
Monolith Soft has finished it work of Xenoblade Chronicles X which will release in December for WiiU. It has already been released in Japan. Director Tetsuya Takahashi has already confirmed that they have started working on their next big RPG, which may or may not be another title in the Xenoblade Chronicles series, but which most likely will not appear on WiiU anymore.
Project X Zone 2 will be released early 2016, which they are co-developing with Banpresto (a subsidiary of Bandai Namco) and which will published by Bandai Namco on Nintendo 3DS.
Apart from working on their own franchises, Monolith Soft has a supportive role. For instance, they helped EAD 3 in the development of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and have mentioned wanting to work with EAD 3 again on the new Legend of Zelda for WiiU.
Although Monolith Soft has worked on several Super Robot Taisen games, chances are small that they are currently working on a new game in the series, which is published by Bandai Namco. Mostly because there’s already a game (Super Robot Wars BX for the Nintendo 3DS) that will be published by Bandai Namco this year in Japan, and I don’t think Monolith Soft is involved in its development.
What about Baten Kaitos? Around the launch of the 3DS there were rumors about a Baten Kaitos game being in development for the platform (titled Silence of the Mechanized Sun). Nothing has been heard of this game since 2011, so chances are that is has been cancelled – if it ever existed in the first place. Baten Kaitos on WiiU? Not going to happen.
What does this mean for WiiU?
Xenoblade Chronicles X will release in December (if it is not delayed). Monolith Soft may help EAD 3 on their new Legend of Zelda game, but that will be all we can expect from Monolith Soft for this generation of Nintendo home consoles.
PLATINUMGAMES
| Developer | Latest game | Release date | Other games and projects | Next game |
| PlatinumGames | Bayonetta 2 | October 2014 | Bayonetta series
The Wonderful 101 Star Fox Zero |
Star Fox Zero |
What are they working on?
PlatinumGames has been releasing about two games per year the last few years, and have at least four development teams. One team is currently working on Star Fox Zero and Project Guard together with EAD 5. Platinum Games has taken over most of the development effort for these games.
PlatinumGames is also working on Scalebound for Xbox One (published by Microsoft), the newest NieR game for PlayStation 4 (published by Square Enix), and Transformers: Devastation for every non-Nintendo platform out there (published by Activision). It is unlikely that they have the capacity to be working on another game for Nintendo at the moment, which means that: no, we won’t get to see Bayonetta 3 anytime soon, nor will be getting a Wonderful 102 – if anybody still expects to see a sequel to that game. A port of Transformes: Devastation? Maybe, but not likely. The other two Transformers games on WiiU didn't do all that well sales wise.
What does this mean for WiiU?
Star Fox Zero and Project Guard are releasing later this year. Those will be the fourth and fifth PlatinumGames games on WiiU. Not a bad track record for a third party developer. Chance of another one of their games on WiiU? Zero. And I don’t mean Star Fox Zero.
RED ENTERTAINMENT
| Developer | Latest game | Release date | Other games and projects | Next game |
| Red Entertainment | Fossil Fighters Frontier | May 2015 | Fossil Fighters series | (?) New Fossil Fighters |
What are they working on?
Red Entertainment finished working on Fossil Fighters Frontier by the end of 2013 or at the beginning of 2014, when it was released for 3DS in Japan. Although the latest game in the series isn’t a big success, development on the next installment may be well underway. The new Fossil Fighters game will probably release on the next Nintendo handheld.
Red Entertainment has assisted Intelligent Systems in the development of Fire Emblem: Awakening, but they were apparently not involved in the production of its sequel: Fire Emblem Fates (correct me if I'm wrong). They are probably not involved in another Fire Emblem game at the moment.
Red Entertainment’s other big franchise is Record of Agarest War which they co-develop with Idea Factory. The Record of Agarest War games have not yet made an appearance on Nintendo consoles, and for the time being, probably won’t.
What does this mean for WiiU?
No Red Entertainment games will be released on WiiU.. unless you would consider a possible Fossil Fighters Virtual Console release as a new release.
SYN SOPHIA
| Developer | Latest game | Release date | Other games and projects | Next game |
| Syn Sophia | New Style Boutique
Style Boutique 3 (JP) |
November 2012 | Style Boutique series | (?) Style Boutique 3 |
What are they working on?
Syn Sophia was formerly known as AKI Corporation, as which they were mostly known for creating fighting games (Ready 2 Rumble Revolution, Def Jam Vendetta and WCW/WWF games). After their name change they have only released two games in the West, and those are the two games in the Style Boutique (Style Savvy) series.
Style Boutique 3 was released in Japan this year. It will probably still be localized for the West and will most likely release after Spring 2016 for Nintendo 3DS. Work onStyle Boutique 4 for the next generation of Nintendo handhelds may have already begun.
Syn Sophia also makes Japan exclusive mobile games.
What does this mean for WiiU?
Syn Sophia will not make a game for WiiU. The first Style Boutique may still come to the Virtual Console.
TOSE
| Developer | Latest game | Release date | Other games and projects | Next game |
| TOSE | Splatoon | May 2015 | The Legendary Starfy series
Super Princess Peach Kid Icarus: Of myths and monsters Resident Evil Revelations (HD) Dragon Quest Monsters series Final Fantasy GBA ports |
(?)Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry’s Wonderland 3D |
What are they working on?
TOSE is mostly known for its close working relationships with Nintendo and Square Enix. They handle the Dragon Quest Monsters series. Although two (remade) games (Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry’s Wonderland 3D and Dragon Quest Monsters 2: Ira & Luca) in the series have already been released for Nintendo 3DS in Japan, none of the Dragon Quest Monsters 3DS games they have made, have come to the West so far. With the localization of Dragon Quest VII and VIII for 3DS having been (somewhat) confirmed, it is not entirely impossible that these games will still make it West though. Today (15/7) is has been confirmed that Dragon Quest Joker 3 is in the works for Nintendo 3DS. I expect that TOSE is developing the game.
With regards to Nintendo’s own franchises, TOSE has assisted EAD 2 with the development of Splatoon. As such they have shown that they still have a good working relationship with Nintendo, even though they haven’t released a single game for a Nintendo platform published by Nintendo itself that was coordinated by SPD 2 on this generation of consoles.
TOSE also has a lot of experience creating platform games (Kid Icarus: Of myths and monsters, Super Princess Peach and The Legendary Starfy). Since Nintendo has not announced any platform game for WiiU coming in 2016, and I cannot fathom Nintendo NOT releasing a single platform game on WiiU that year (or any year), it may just be TOSE’s turn to show us what they have been working on ever since they have finished working on Final Fantasy XIII: Lightning Returns (for non-Nintendo systems), Resident Evil Revelations HD (for different systems, among which WiiU) and Splatoon (a WiiU exclusive). Super Princess Peach WiiU? Who knows?
TOSE also makes the The Legendary Starfy games for Nintendo, of which four games have been released so far in Japan and only one in the West (in 2008). The series has been dormant for some time now, so maybe it would be opportune for a new game in the Starfy series? For 3DS? For WiiU?
TOSE developed both Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D and Resident Evil Revelations for Nintendo 3DS. They also ported that last game to WiiU (as well as other systems). Could a port of Resident Evil Revelations 2, which they did not develop themselves, to WiiU still happen? Probably not, but one can hope.
What does this mean for WiiU?
TOSE may be working on a platform game for WiiU like Super Princess Peach WiiU or Starfy WiiU. They may also be working on a port of Resident Evil Revelations 2 for WiiU. But they may as well be working on nothing at all for Nintendo’s current home console. Time will tell.
TREASURE
| Developer | Latest game | Release date | Other games and projects | Next game |
| Treasure | Sin & Punishment: Successor of the Skies
Gaist Crusher God (JP) |
May 2010
September 2014 (JP) |
Wario World
Ikaruga Sin & Punishment series Gaist Crusher series Bleach series |
(?) Gaist Crusher |
What are they working on?
Treasure is mostly known for its shoot-em-up games, with Ikaruga and the original Sin & Punishment being cult classics. Treasure is most likely working on another game in the genre, though it is not certain whether that will be for a Nintendo platform. With them having published Ikaruga by themselves on Steam (which did pretty well there) they may just start publishing more of their games themselves... on Steam. And even though they would be the go to developer for Nintendo to make a new Sin & Punishment game, most likely they’re letting the series have a little rest at the moment.
Treasure’s last two (new) games were published exclusively in Japan by Capcom for the Nintendo 3DS: Gaist Crusher, and its sequel: Gaist Crusher God. It is unlikely that these games will come West, but apart from a possible new game in the Bleach series, it is unlikely we will see another game by them anytime soon on a Nintendo system.
Or can we expect to see Ikaruga HD on WiiU?
What does this mean for WiiU?
Treasure won’t be releasing a game on WiiU. The only possibility seems to be Ikaruga HD, but that is unlikely to happen.
VALHALLA GAME STUDIOS
| Developer | Latest game | Release date | Other games and projects | Next game |
| Valhalla Game Studios | none | none | Devil’s Third | Devil’s Third |
What are they working on?
Valhalla Game Studios has been working on Devil’s Third since 2010. It will release in August. No other games are in the works. They will shift focus to mobile now that Devil's Third is finished.
What does this mean for WiiU?
Devil’s Third will release on WiiU in August. That’s the only game we may expect from this studio for the console.
CONCLUSION FOR SPD 1 AND SPD 2:
SPD 1, SPD 2 and Japanese third parties supervised by SPD 2 are working on three of the most important WiiU releases still coming to the Nintendo WiiU this year, namely Devil’s Third, Star Fox Zero (including Project Guard) and Xenoblade Chronicles X. Also the only big title announced for WiiU (apart from Zelda) next year is being taken care of by SPD 2, Intelligent Systems and Atlus. Apart from those titles we can only guess whether these studios still have titles in the works for WiiU. Sadly, it may not be much from looking at it. (i) PlatinumGames and Intelligent Systems are very busy with their other projects for the moment. (ii) Monolith has started working on its next big RPG, which we won’t see within the next 2 years. (iii) Many of Nintendo’s known previous partners have shifted their focus from home console development to mobile development (Arika, Mistwalker and Syn Sophia for instance), (iv) while others have worked on less popular/smaller Nintendo franchises which may be in rest for the time being (Ganbarion, Treasure and Tose for instance).
So while I have made some suggestions about possible games these studios are working on, it may actually be that we see none of them release on WiiU at all. The most likely game to release on WiiU of the bunch? Fullblox World/Stretchmo World, and that isn’t exactly the big name game Nintendo fans are still hoping for.
This is an updated version of an article I wrote on my blog. Original article @ https://makeaccountlater.wordpress.com/2015/07/08/the-future-of-nintendo-whats-to-come-after-spring-2016-3/
Check the Make Account Later blog @ www.makeaccountlater.wordpress.com
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