JRPG's the Xbox 360 and why my PS3 needs shot

[jman8]

jman8 said:
@Goddbless

Here's the flaw in that logic: JRPG fans don't have to cross over. The fans can simply lose interest. Just look at Japan from the start of this generation. There have been a number of JRPG releases, but they've all pretty much been on the 360. In 2 1/2 years, pretty much no one has bought a 360, and JRPG sales have plummeted compared to past generations. Where have all the JRPG fans gone? I think a lot of them have faded away. Based on sales, it's pretty clear the interest in the JRPG genre is at an all time low. And for the first time ever, the concentration of JRPGs have been diffused over multiple systems, which IMO is weakening the genre.

This whole situation in which MS pays for JRPGs is certainly not helping MS and it's certainly hurting Sony, but the most nefarious consequence is the demise of the JRPG.

N.B. I'm not saying the genre is dead, but with DQ on the DS and FFXIII on the PS3 and everything else on the 360, the genre has become more niche and less profitable than ever.

 (Yes, you're eyes don't deceive you, I just quoted myself!)

Here's the counter-argument that assumes JRPG fans have not faded away: In the last gen, there was effectively only one console with JRPGs: the PS2. Therefore all the fans were concentrated on that system. For arguments sake, let's say there were 10 million JRPG fans and they all had PS2s.

 In this generation, the JRPGs are spread across 3 systems: DS has DQ, PS3 has FFXII and vXIII, and the 360 basically has everything else. So now, those JRPG fans don't have one system to rely on. All of a sudden they have to spread across three systems. Some of those fans will buy multiple systems, but most probably will not. Again, for argument's sake, let's say JRPG fans bought 4 million of each of the three systems (that adds up to 12million which help accounts for people who buy multiple systems). It should be pretty clear that no one system comes close to having the market that the PS2 had.

Obviously, these numbers aren't based in reality, but the point is that for each system, the JRPG market is just a fraction of what the PS2 had. Therefore, it's significantly harder to make profitable JRPGs in this climate, which means you're going to see less risky and innovative titles, which in turn only hurts the genre.