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Forums - Nintendo - What's up with Wii in Japan?

The Wii is kinda stuck in the middle. The Wii doesn`t have the hardware prowess of the HD consoles but yet it`s not as cheap to develop for as the handhelds and has a smaller install base than the handhelds.

The Wii does have its jrpgs. They just don`t appear to be big named jrpgs. Compared to DS and PSP, Wii has very little. But compared to PS3 and 360, the Wii either has about the same amount or slightly less. The Wii jrpgs just appear to be more niche in general.

Monster Hunter Tri (I guess you can consider this an Action RPG)
Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo`s Dungeon
Rune Factory: Frontier
Muramasa (Action RPG)
Sakura Wars (SRPG. PS2 version is favored though due to dual audio)
Dokapon Kingdom (also on PS2)
Shiren The Wanderer
Dragon Quest Swords
Opoona
Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of The Moon
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers
Baroque (also on PS2)
Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga

Would Little King`s Story also count? It has some RPG elements apparently.

And then of course you have these upcoming jrpgs...
Dragon Quest X
Last Story
Xenoblade
Arc Rise Fantasia (in June I think. Yet another niche jrpg though)



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famousringo said:
If you want JRPGs, get a handheld. That's where the target market is and the dev costs are low enough. The DS would generally be a better choice for this than the PSP.

Only exception really being if you are interested in low quality SRPGs.  



The truth is that the numbers in both consoles are incredibly small in comparison to past generations.

Console gaming is stale in japan. Wii is popular with teenage girls and housewives while PS3 is popular with hardcore geeks. I doubt it will change drastically and that's something that Nintendo has addressed in the past and tried to fix and although some games like NSMBWii has helped is not enough over there.

The "REAL" consoles in japan are portables. PSP is the cool console for teenagers while DS is, well with everybody. They fit better with Japan's lifestyle than home consoles.



Here's a short history of this gen and JRPGs:

DS and XBOX360 comes out before other systems - As a result, early JRPGs are put on those systems first. Major productions for DS and XBOX360 are announced before Wii/PS3/PSP even launch such as Eternal Sonata, Lost Odyssey, Pokemon Diamond/Pearl, DQ Remakes, etc.

PS3/PSP/Wii launch strangely devoid of JRPGs. XBOX 360 continues to get a small helping of JRPGs each year and DS is flooded with them. It takes a good 2 years before the 'new' systems which came a year later see any major JRPG releases.

Warp forward to 2010, and here we are with the Wii itself. It is still the most devoid of all the major consoles of JRPGs, despite being Japans highest selling console outside of handhelds. Multiple reasons are given, but what is obvious is there has been few companies even try to put a major JRPG on the system. Until now. With Monster Hunter Tri, Arc Rise Fantasia, Fragile and a few others only slated for Japanese release, the tide is turning. By the end of this gen, the Wii may surpass the other consoles in the amount of JRPGs to its name.

But the biggest names are yet to come. Three major JRPGs, possibly the biggest of this gen next to Pokemon Diamond/Pearl, Dragon Quest IX and Final Fantasy XIII, have been named. And all for Wii. They are Xenoblade, The Last Story and Dragon Quest X. Those are the ones to look out for.

Of course, if you really want the machine for JRPGs, you want a DS.



Six upcoming games you should look into:

 

  

loves2splooge said:

The Wii is kinda stuck in the middle. The Wii doesn`t have the hardware prowess of the HD consoles but yet it`s not as cheap to develop for as the handhelds and has a smaller install base than the handhelds.

The Wii does have its jrpgs. They just don`t appear to be big named jrpgs. Compared to DS and PSP, Wii has very little. But compared to PS3 and 360, the Wii either has about the same amount or slightly less. The Wii jrpgs just appear to be more niche in general.

Monster Hunter Tri (I guess you can consider this an Action RPG)
Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo`s Dungeon
Rune Factory: Frontier
Muramasa (Action RPG)
Sakura Wars (SRPG. PS2 version is favored though due to dual audio)
Dokapon Kingdom (also on PS2)
Shiren The Wanderer
Dragon Quest Swords
Opoona
Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of The Moon
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers
Baroque (also on PS2)
Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga

Would Little King`s Story also count? It has some RPG elements apparently.

And then of course you have these upcoming jrpgs...
Dragon Quest X
Last Story
Xenoblade
Arc Rise Fantasia (in June I think. Yet another niche jrpg though)

You forgot some games in your List:

- Tales of Graces

- Super Paper Mario

- Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

- Muramasa (if this counts, but its SO japanese)

I think the Wii has a real good list of JRPGs and is obviously the better choice für JRPG-Fans than the PS3 or Xbox360.

 



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Looking at the critical appreciation of HD RPGs, i'd say the best bet this gen is still with the big 3 upcomming Wii RPGs...



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Hephaestos said:
Looking at the critical appreciation of HD RPGs, i'd say the best bet this gen is still with the big 3 upcomming Wii RPGs...

I don't know what the Topic Creator Guy Likes or has but... yeah, I agree. However, I don't know if that will make them less critical of Wii JRPG's, cause Critics Gave Tales of Symphonia on GC only an 86. And Valkyria Chronicles, Tales of Vesperia, and FFXIII under 90's. Which obviously critics are entitled to their ratings, but the Last Story, is by Mistwalker, whose 2 RPG's were, not recieved extremely well whether deserving or not. And Xenoblade is by monolith which PS2 Xenosaga was receieved about the same as Mistwalkers. So I don't see any reason for that trend to not continue on wii.

However if the topic creator has already looked at those JRPG's and is not interested in them. I can't really think of any significant ps3/360 jrpg, besides FFvXIII (I could be wrong) coming out on the HD consoles. And those 3 Wii RPG's are the best bet (and I'm quite excited for.)



Unbelievably, JRPG's are a dying genre in Japan for home consoles, apart of known AAA franchises such as Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.

Even Tales is underperforming this gen.

I believe that instead of changing focus, JRPG's produced for both consoles will be even less in the future.



jrpg have been selling better on ps3.
probably because the huge amount of following FF13 had before release.

vesperia was old port and it outsold all tales even wii grace, wii have twice the userbase.

though demographic it's clear more than 2/3 bought the ps3 for FF in japan demographics.

wiii will get dragon quest X that will provide a huge boom, and it doesnt matter the console, even on the xbox DQX it's on it's way to sell alot.



thelifatree said:
Hephaestos said:
Looking at the critical appreciation of HD RPGs, i'd say the best bet this gen is still with the big 3 upcomming Wii RPGs...

I don't know what the Topic Creator Guy Likes or has but... yeah, I agree. However, I don't know if that will make them less critical of Wii JRPG's, cause Critics Gave Tales of Symphonia on GC only an 86. And Valkyria Chronicles, Tales of Vesperia, and FFXIII under 90's. Which obviously critics are entitled to their ratings, but the Last Story, is by Mistwalker, whose 2 RPG's were, not recieved extremely well whether deserving or not. And Xenoblade is by monolith which PS2 Xenosaga was receieved about the same as Mistwalkers. So I don't see any reason for that trend to not continue on wii.

However if the topic creator has already looked at those JRPG's and is not interested in them. I can't really think of any significant ps3/360 jrpg, besides FFvXIII (I could be wrong) coming out on the HD consoles. And those 3 Wii RPG's are the best bet (and I'm quite excited for.)

sorry, I meant the critical appreciation that I see in these forums, not the actual grade...

90+ is reserved for FF, WRPGs and a chosen few....



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