http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=250381

Japanese RPGs 'were never popular' - Mikami

Japanese RPGs aren't declining in the West - they were never popular to begin with.

That's according to Resident Evil and Vanquish creator, Shinji Mikami, who when asked his thoughts by CVG on the supposed decline of J-RPGs, gave us a surprisingly straight answer.

"I think it is because Japanese RPGs were really never all that popular in the west to begin with," the outspoken designer told CVG. "I think the best way of interpreting things is that they aren't getting less popular; they weren't very popular from the start." Tell it like it is, Mikami-San.

Final Fantasy aside, Japanese role-playing games clearly aren't commanding the influence and sales numbers that they once did in the West.

BioWare co-founder, Greg Zeschuk threw in his two cents on the issue last Christmas, when he said the reason for the J-RPG downslide is because they're lacking "evolution".

He said: "The fall of the JRPG in large part is due to a lack of evolution, a lack of progression. They kept delivering the same thing over and over. They make the dressing better, they look prettier, but it's still the same experience."

There seems to be widespread concern for the Japanese games industry in general at the moment. Even in Japan itself, Lost Planet 2 producer Jun Takeuchi said the Japanese gaming industry doesn't have "a hope in hell" of catching up to the west if it doesn't evolve.

is he rite? did othr jrpg aprt from ff sell well in west?

hmmm well he kind of right.

I would say that he is kind of right in the same sense that I am kind of biased in writing this statement.

JRPG I still believe are popular in the west, and in Japan, the problem is that not that many quality JRPGs have been released this generation on the right consoles (I like my 360 JRPG, but lets be honest with ourselves....they could have done better on the ps3 market).  Also why is it, that Pokemon is always ignored when talking about JRPG. It would be like ignoring Call Of Duty franchise when talking about FPS.

I agree pretty much.

Say Lost Oddessy and Last Remnant were multiplat, LO would be over 1 Million combined and Last Remnant would be above whatever its at now. Japanese companies said they thought going 360 only would help them penetrate the western market in terms of JRPG's....

He sounds like an expert in Western culture.

He is jpnese, i dnt thnk he has knowledge on west, I knw how the industry works in jpn, they make games they thnk they like 2 play, not wht west or gamers want. tht is how jpnese industry works, i hve reserched it well.

You forgot the part where they shoot themselves in the foot. I am starting to doubt your expertise.

I am nt undrstnding wht u say? I thnk I cud tell u how jpn thinks with games, I thnk u are understnding that.

Well he is right that JRPG's were never big in the west (except FF), but that dose not mean that they haven't declined. 

 As for why JRPG's are struggling -- its because they have horrible voice acting / translations in the west, the time investment is too much for casual gamers, and there are too many times where the game expects you to stop what your doing and grind to progress unless your exceptionally good at the battle system. 

 To fix this i would look at adding difficulty settings, make side quests more fun and rewarding and add in places i can go to grind via some side quest or mini game (still combat based, but better than running in circles to grind).

That's exactly it.

I do think that most of west rpg fans are loyal Sony gamers nowadays.

Regarding Mikami's statement, I think  that with the expeption of Final Fantasy franchise, he's right. Not many RPGs have been millon sellers. Nevertheless, though not a mainstream genre in the west, it does have a very loyal consumer population.