Well put Disolitude, if the PS3 gets a good amount of top notch RPG's, I'll pick one up. I am not gonna fork out $500* for potential.

*I don't buy low end console models.

@tombi123

Folklore isn't considered to be a role playing game by most media sites. Instead it is usually listed as an adventure title. Honestly I will defer to popular opinions discretion on the genre of a title. That is why including it would be odd, but since the PS3 has such an unacceptably low variety of such titles I can see why owners might consider the title a role playing game. Beggars not having the luxury of being choosers and such.

That said the title doesn't stand up to likes of Blue Dragon, Eternal Sonata, or Lost Odyssey in the sales department. My comments weren't in reference to game quality, but in reference to the titles sales. Even Eternal Sonata the worst selling of the three managed to crawl over two hundred thousand units. Folklore could only manage a hundred and sixty thousand, and oddly enough it did better in North America.

That actually says a lot about the user base. Eternal Sonata had one horrific flaw in North America. The package threatens ones masculinity, maturity, or sexual proclivity. Basically picking this game up at your local game store is an embarrassing prospect. Even if you don't know the guy behind the counter you really could care less for the idea that he either thinks your gay, childish, or into little children. Basically a bad packaging choice to say the least. I am willing to bet it has driven more prospective purchasers away then it has attracted a young child to want this game.

I played the demo and honestly I didn't think the game was bad it had some strong points, but thankfully I have choices. Honestly it does make an older gamer feel a little dirty, like being caught seriously watching a Sailor Moon cartoon. So sweet and so innocent it must be smut. That said it still beat folklore that is just staggering. I can't wait till the PS3 gets this game, because I want to see the conflict in the PS3 owners out there especially if the package is not changed.

Really its hard to overlook the packaging. You stand there thinking can I overlook this childish presentation. Can I overlook how the guy behind the counter will look at me. Will I have to hide this game from my friends. Basically in the end you figure if another game is a little less good but looks more mature you could probably live easier with that. I might eventually pick up that game, but its not going to be full price in case I can't stomach it. Plus it probably will not be in a store I intend to shop in again. You just know the guy behind the counter wants to see what kind of person can buy that game.

 I point out this post because, the Xbox360 has more stereotypically "Japanese" games than Ps3 does in Japan right now. Microsoft has two major exclusive RPG's, a ton of Namco/Bandai exclusives (Ace Combat, Katamari, Culdcept), and every major Ps3 game except 2 went multiplatform. Ps3 has.....Disgea 3 (SP), Folklore, and sooner or later Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, and White Knight Story (in terms of the stereotypical "Japan" appeal)

Oh boy...I shouldn't say this......in Japan, right, now, Microsoft should be winning. They have the better lineup and the price is better. By all logic, Tales of Vesperia should not be being sent "out to die" (I agree that is, in the current state of affairs) In terms of 2008 game lineup, Ps3 is going to make huge strides this year, but in 07 Ps3 lost more ground than it gained.

But.....Remember early on (Early 07) how the VG Japan charts said people were buying Ps3's but weren't buying games? In America, it is really common to do a lot research before buying an expensive product. This proved that was not the case in Japan. Name me a major title at the Japan Ps3 launch if you disagree, Ridge Racer doesn't count since MS also had a Ridge Racer. Clearly the lack of titles wasn't going to stop a Japanese consumer.

 Microsoft has the hard fight, because it can not rely on just having the goods. They have to twist the arms of the developers (and hopefully in turn, consumers) into their product. The consumers in Japan may be stubborn but thats not going stop Microsoft from running head first into the concrete wall again and again until it breaks.

I hope this makes sense. 

Love my 360.
thank you microsoft for working so hard to get great, good, decent games for me.

I too will buy PS3 soon for BR and hopefully some games I'd like to play.

Need to buy a 360 only for this....and Fable 2 : >

The problem with the 360 and JRPGs (it's fine for western ones) is the potential future. The majority of JRPGs (and even Japanese games in general) on the system are paid exclusives. If if MS decides they've spent enough money on Japan and stops funding games, the flow of titles is likely to dry up. The horrible sales in Japan make it really unlikely for JRPG developers to put games on it w/out some incentive from MS. They might make a few to capture sales in the west if the 360 was really dominating sales in the west, but that's becoming less and less true, especially in Europe.

Also, the 360 has been out a year longer and most of the JRPGs didn't come until the second year. This is pretty typical for JRPGs on new systems. The PS2 had a really lacking JRPGs lineup its first year too. So I don't think it really makes sense to compare current libraries when looking for a predictor of the future.

As for the PS3, it's pretty much a no-brainer that it will get JRPGs given the current situation. In the worst case scenario, it will at least get first/second party JRPGs like Rogue Galaxy, Dark Cloud, etc. Being a Japanese company, Sony has a pretty strong ability to produce JRPGs on their own. More importantly though, the console actually sells in Japan, and for all the negativity it receives, it's not doing that poorly outside of Japan (and certainly not failing anywhere on the level the 360 does in Japan). Furthermore, they have FFXIII. This is big enough that small developers making more niche JRPGs will follow wherever it goes. If a system has a main entry FF games, there's no doubt that a fair portion of the target demographic for JRPGs owns that system. The 360 on the other hand has not proven that the target demographic is there at all. You can argue that it hasn't been given a chance to prove JRPGs can sell on it since it hasn't had any big franchise titles, but the point is moot since the target demographic for JRPGs is largely Japan (imagine that) where the system is all but dead.

So what it comes down to for me is not only what's available now, but what the future holds. Right now the 360 has more exclusive JRPGs, but that doesn't mean it has a lot or that I want all of them. I'd very much like to play Blue Dragon, have mild interest in LO (looks too geared toward western gamers for my taste), and I'm certainly interested in just about anything Tales. So three games, maybe. There's no way in hell I'm buy a $300+ system for three games. It may get more, but it's hard for me to imagine there will ever be more than 5 or 6 JRPGs on the 360 that I'm interested in. On the other hand, it would be shocking if the PS3 were to end up with fewer than a dozen, making it a much more attractive purchase. This is of course a very selfish reason to want the game on the PS3, but with the sales disparity in Japan, it also seems completely insane to not put it on the PS3.

@slacker164

The problem with your argument is that the market in Japan might not belong to Microsoft but it won't belong to Sony either. Basically it belongs to Nintendo, and that doesn't appear like it is going to change. Going with the winner means going with Nintendo and not Sony. Market dominance should secure the majority of must have titles unless Microsoft and Sony purchase enough titles to slake the appetite of gamers.

That said if all the innuendo is to be believed, and you really trust what Sony's public relations has told the press. Microsoft is making a habit of purchasing exclusive role playing games for their console which is high definition. While Sony refuses to pay for exclusive games. Honestly I don't believe that Microsoft is buying all their exclusives any more then Sony isn't heavily bribing Square. Sony is getting treated too well for being a distant third, and being far from dominant in their domestic market. Microsoft and Nintendo have thrown serious punches in North America. In japan Sony has got cold cocked right out of the corner.

Basically if you think its a question of market dominance in Japan then your question was answered months ago, and the answer was Nintendo. Now if your question was who could secure the most high definition exclusives outside of Nintendo in Japan. Well Microsoft has been doing a very good job of that. Over time it will be harder for developers to justify ignoring the Wii in Japan without financial incentives or good relationships, and square plays too close to the middle for that to work to Sony's favor. I can see Microsoft and Mistwalker sticking tight, and I can see Microsoft making a point to purchase a few role playing games every year. After all they need them more then Sony. Which doesn't seem to need them in Japan for their distant second place position.

@ Dodece

dude, remind me never to argue/debate with you. You got every angle covered...

@Dodece
I probably should've mentioned it in my original post, but I tend to be long winded and felt it was long enough already, but I agree with your comments about Wii. I think it's a given that the Wii is going to get a good amount of JRPG support. However, that doesn't mean it will be the only console with a nice selection of JRPGs. I think the PS2 was a bit of an anomaly in that respect. If you look at the PSP and DS, the PSP gets quite a lot of JRPGs despite being dominated by DS in terms of market share. There are developers that really want to work in HD and there is a distinct market for it.

If you talk in terms of HD or simply secondary markets, the PS3 makes more sense to put a JRPG on than the 360. It would be different if the PS3 was tanking in the west like the 360 does in Japan, but it sells pretty much OK in all regions. So for JRPG developers that either want to work in HD or take the big-fish-small-pond approach, the PS3 is the more attractive console. With Sony's current relationships, locked in exclusives, and first/second party abilities, I just cannot see the PS3 having a worse selection of JRPGs than the 360. It may very well end up a distant second to the Wii though.

@slacker164

You've nailed down my reasoning exactly, in good english.
I had this reasoning since the beginning of 2007, despite the PS3 losing badly. And it very well seems like that's what's happening.
I said at the time, that the Wii would get most JRPG, and I thought that though the PS3 would get less, they would have the HD ones (which have to be good). I was lured by Level 5 too, though I may not like their Shirokishi game, as it's not a SRPG like I thought.