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Forums - Sales - Why did ni no kuni and xenoblade go so bad in japan, compared to the west?

IsawYoshi on 27 February 2013
outlawauron said:
IsawYoshi said:
outlawauron said:
IsawYoshi said:
Sparks said:
IsawYoshi said:
Mnementh said:
IsawYoshi said:
Torillian said:
Mnementh said:
As I didn't try Ni No Kuni yet, I can only speak for Xenoblade: it may be a JRPG, but it plays and feels like a western RPG. It has taken over all the good points: many side-quests, more or less open-world etc. So, while technically it is a JRPG it is at the heart a WRPG, so it has more success in the West.


Is it really that must of a WRPG?  I mean everything I played reminded me of an MMO and that's definitely not something totally foreign to Japanese consumers.  I'd say it's more more MMORPG than WRPG.

A JWMMORPG it is then

Yes, I must remember this. JWMMORPG. And you both are right, that the adopted mechanics are not specifically WRPG (as nothing really defines JRPG and WRPG beside the country of origin), but for me it felt like Baldur's Gate reborn, so I got the feeling it is more an WRPG.

I talked about this with KHlover, and the thing I got to say about this is that the developer making the last story are situated on hawaii. That is a jrpg game, but should by the whole country of origin thing mean that the game is a wrpg (mind=blown)

wow I had no idea about this.

Based in Honolulu, Hawaii, Mistwalker is a co-developer similar to Red Entertainment and Armor Project,outsourcing development duties to other companies (including Artoon and feelplus), preferring to focus primarily on the story and music portions of game development, as well as generally overseeing the process. Nobuo Uematsu, known for his work in the Final Fantasy series, has written music for various games developed by Mistwalker.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistwalker

Still a Japanese company run by native Japanese people.

Still developed on hawaii.

So, if a very small developer moves its home office from Japan to Hawaii, they suddenly stop being a Japanese company, got it.

That's not what I mean. I think the fact that"A jrpg is a rpg game developed in japan" is wrong. You got a perfect example here. The game was developed in hawaii, and the wikipedia page specificly says: "Based in Honolulu, Hawaii"



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Screamapillar on 27 February 2013
outlawauron said:
Screamapillar said:

It's just a matter of platforms. For most of Wii's life, there were simply no JRPG's, and all of the sudden there were three or four major JRPG's released three or four years into the Wii's lifespan. By then, the people who wanted console JRPG's had long since purchased a PS3 to get what they wanted.

Xenoblade, Last Story, Pandora's Tower... unfortunately, were all too little too late.

These games need to come out within the first two years of a console's life, not in year four or five.

Had any of the above been made for PS3 instead of Wii they would have sold far more copies.

TLS, Xenoblade, and Pandora's Tower will have come out in the US in the 6th and 7th year. Console is already dead when it gets the games that it needed years ago.

I was referring to Japan, as they all released over there long before they came to the US. 



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outlawauron on 27 February 2013
IsawYoshi said:
outlawauron said:
IsawYoshi said:
outlawauron said:
IsawYoshi said:
Sparks said:
IsawYoshi said:
Mnementh said:
IsawYoshi said:
Torillian said:
Mnementh said:
As I didn't try Ni No Kuni yet, I can only speak for Xenoblade: it may be a JRPG, but it plays and feels like a western RPG. It has taken over all the good points: many side-quests, more or less open-world etc. So, while technically it is a JRPG it is at the heart a WRPG, so it has more success in the West.


Is it really that must of a WRPG?  I mean everything I played reminded me of an MMO and that's definitely not something totally foreign to Japanese consumers.  I'd say it's more more MMORPG than WRPG.

A JWMMORPG it is then

Yes, I must remember this. JWMMORPG. And you both are right, that the adopted mechanics are not specifically WRPG (as nothing really defines JRPG and WRPG beside the country of origin), but for me it felt like Baldur's Gate reborn, so I got the feeling it is more an WRPG.

I talked about this with KHlover, and the thing I got to say about this is that the developer making the last story are situated on hawaii. That is a jrpg game, but should by the whole country of origin thing mean that the game is a wrpg (mind=blown)

wow I had no idea about this.

Based in Honolulu, Hawaii, Mistwalker is a co-developer similar to Red Entertainment and Armor Project,outsourcing development duties to other companies (including Artoon and feelplus), preferring to focus primarily on the story and music portions of game development, as well as generally overseeing the process. Nobuo Uematsu, known for his work in the Final Fantasy series, has written music for various games developed by Mistwalker.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistwalker

Still a Japanese company run by native Japanese people.

Still developed on hawaii.

So, if a very small developer moves its home office from Japan to Hawaii, they suddenly stop being a Japanese company, got it.

That's not what I mean. I think the fact that"A jrpg is a rpg game developed in japan" is wrong. You got a perfect example here. The game was developed in hawaii, and the wikipedia page specificly says: "Based in Honolulu, Hawaii"

Yes but the "team" that makes up Mistwalker doesn't actually live in the US. They're only based out of Hawaii because that's where the Gooch wants to live. Considering the unique setup of the team (they've never made anything on their own), all of their partners are completely located in Japan.



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irstupid on 27 February 2013
osed125 said:

Maybe because they don't have Anime style characters and it isn't a FF or DQ game? I honestly don't know lol.

Have you seen Ni NO Kuni.

It's the very definition of anime style 



IsawYoshi on 27 February 2013
BasilZero said:
Because there were better RPGs in the market l0l

Are you insulting xenoblade?

I'm putting a spell on you!!!



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irstupid on 27 February 2013
BasilZero said:
IsawYoshi said:
BasilZero said:
Because there were better RPGs in the market l0l

Are you insulting xenoblade?

I'm putting a spell on you!!!


xenoblade may of been good but when compared to the great RPGs of yesteryears, its a far cry - same with ni no kuni.

Please list better RPG's.  Curious to see what you consider top tier RPG's.



IsawYoshi on 27 February 2013
irstupid said:
BasilZero said:
IsawYoshi said:
BasilZero said:
Because there were better RPGs in the market l0l

Are you insulting xenoblade?

I'm putting a spell on you!!!


xenoblade may of been good but when compared to the great RPGs of yesteryears, its a far cry - same with ni no kuni.

Please list better RPG's.  Curious to see what you consider top tier RPG's.

If you read the title you see that I am speaking of sales in Japan. WRPG's have no influence in that market. Thats why I went straight for JRPG. Anyhow, too me, xenoblade is one of the best games I have ever played, on a similar level to oot. Thats why I consider it a top tier rpg. Tht's my oppinion. Now, I have played a lot of rpg games in the past (my family used to own only sony consoles, and my brother were a huge rpg fan) so I don't think that my oppinion is to out of touch. Xenoblade is a fantastic game, but it isn't for everyone.



irstupid on 27 February 2013
IsawYoshi said:
irstupid said:
BasilZero said:
IsawYoshi said:
BasilZero said:
Because there were better RPGs in the market l0l

Are you insulting xenoblade?

I'm putting a spell on you!!!


xenoblade may of been good but when compared to the great RPGs of yesteryears, its a far cry - same with ni no kuni.

Please list better RPG's.  Curious to see what you consider top tier RPG's.

If you read the title you see that I am speaking of sales in Japan. WRPG's have no influence in that market. Thats why I went straight for JRPG. Anyhow, too me, xenoblade is one of the best games I have ever played, on a similar level to oot. Thats why I consider it a top tier rpg. Tht's my oppinion. Now, I have played a lot of rpg games in the past (my family used to own only sony consoles, and my brother were a huge rpg fan) so I don't think that my oppinion is to out of touch. Xenoblade is a fantastic game, but it isn't for everyone.

I was talking to BasilZero.  He said the games sold poorly because there are better RPG's on the market than those two.  I'm curious to see what he considers better games.  



JazzB1987 on 27 February 2013

Because they are nothing special there + they are not on 3ds + you cant date girls in those games!



IsawYoshi on 27 February 2013
BasilZero said:
irstupid said:
BasilZero said:
IsawYoshi said:
BasilZero said:
Because there were better RPGs in the market l0l

Are you insulting xenoblade?

I'm putting a spell on you!!!


xenoblade may of been good but when compared to the great RPGs of yesteryears, its a far cry - same with ni no kuni.

Please list better RPG's.  Curious to see what you consider top tier RPG's.

In terms of quality - From the previous generations on the ones I have played/own - there are far more that I have yet to play.

Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy XII
Kingdom Hearts
Star Ocean Till the End of Time
Dragon Quest VIII
Tales of Symphonia
Xenosaga Episode I

If you want to discuss by sales it speaks for itself on the sheer volume.

  Xenoblade Chronicles Wii 2010 Role-Playing Nintendo 0.39 0.21 0.16 0.07 0.83
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch PS3 2011 Role-Playing Namco Bandai Games 0.16 0.12 0.20 0.05 0.54

versus

1 Final Fantasy X PS2 2001 Role-Playing Sony Computer Entertainment 2.91 2.07 2.73 0.33 8.05
2 Final Fantasy XII PS2 2006 Role-Playing Square Enix 1.88 1.19 2.33 0.54 5.95
3 Kingdom Hearts PS2 2002 Role-Playing Sony Computer Entertainment 3.64 1.20 0.94 0.07 5.85
4 Final Fantasy X-2 PS2 2003 Role-Playing Electronic Arts 1.92 1.08 2.11 0.17 5.29
5 Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King PS2 2004 Role-Playing Square Enix 0.65 0.75 3.61 0.20 5.21
6 Kingdom Hearts II PS2 2005 Role-Playing Square Enix 2.20 0.58 1.12 0.17 4.07
7 X-Men Legends PS2 2004 Role-Playing Activision 1.00 0.72 0.00 0.21 1.93
8 Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht PS2 2002 Role-Playing Namco Bandai Games 0.63 0.49 0.45 0.17 1.74
9 Star Ocean: Till The End of Time PS2 2003 Role-Playing Square Enix 0.80 0.21 0.55 0.15 1.72
10 Dragon Quest V: Tenkuu no Hanayome PS2 2004 Role-Playing Enix Corporation 0.00 0.00 1.65 0.00 1.65
11 Dark Cloud PS2 2000 Role-Playing Sony Computer Entertainment 0.83 0.44 0.08 0.19 1.54
12 Champions of Norrath PS2 2004 Role-Playing Sony Online Entertainment 0.63 0.49 0.00 0.16 1.28
13 .hack//Infection Part 1 PS2 2002 Role-Playing Atari 0.49 0.38 0.26 0.13 1.27
14 Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance PS2 2001 Role-Playing Virgin Interactive 0.61 0.48 0.00 0.16 1.24
15 Suikoden III PS2 N/A Role-Playing Unknown 0.29 0.23 0.38 0.08 0.98
16 Dark Cloud 2 PS2 2002 Role-Playing Sony Computer Entertainment 0.38 0.25 0.26 0.07 0.96
17 Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories PS2 2008 Role-Playing Square Enix 0.73 0.03 0.00 0.12 0.87
18 Rogue Galaxy PS2 2005 Role-Playing Sony Computer Entertainment 0.24 0.16 0.39 0.05 0.84


Even the crappy games like X-men legends sold almost 2 mil compared to the most sold RPGs of this generation - a sign of the RPG genre or the jRPG genre going down in the shitter literally this gen.

 

Edit: I'm not saying both of the games are bad, I'm just saying there were better RPGs out in the market last gen than they are now which was my main point.

The newest game you listed was from 2008 (sales list), don't you think that people want more games as the years progress?