RPG is still a thriving genre. They may not sell as well as FPS but that still are thriving. You cannot determine that a genre is niche just by looking at the sales of new IPs. You also have to look at the sales of established RPG franchises

The reason why jRPGs haven´t been that succesful this gen on consoles, is because either they were released on the least successful console in Japan, which has an audience with the least contact to jRPGs, or they weren´t the big AAA blockbuster jRPG with a hefty amount of marketing.

IU is going to suck most likely, and I don´t want to hear any "it´s Tri-Ace!". i love Tri-Ace and especially their Valkyrie Profile franchise, that doesn´t mean they can´t pull bad games from time to time. And don´t blame SE on that, it´s not even their IP (it belongs to Microsoft), they didn´t fund Tri-Ace and they were called for help once the production had already started.

It´s true, SE has lost lots of talent just like Konami, Capcom and countless of other japaneses publishers have. The great talent that left these companies formed their own studios and in 4-5 years we all are going to be amazed from what it´s going to come out from these new japanese studios. The fact that the talented left is a good sign for the publishers as well, since young talented people are given the opportunity to shine. In SE´s case, Yoshinari Kitase and Nomura are still in the company and everybody knows that Yoshinari Kitase has made the best FFs. Yoshitaka Amano has never been part of the company, he has always been hired for the concept artwork.

I think the best RPG won't be from a known franchise.

It has to be something original and inviting to everyone, gamer and non gamer

It could be for any platform

JRPGs' decline is one part a changing market (with games becomming more interactive and with increasing graphics, the appeal the genre had during the dull 2D gaming days and early 3D days is evaporating) and two parts neglect. It's a genre that has fallen into a rut of no real innovation and most the major developers abandoning it as a major investment.

FFXIII will be an interesting gamble, but don't expect it to do anywhere near as good as FFXII did. The series is on the decline, they aren't bad games, but hardly the must have gaming experience they used to be.

@onimusha

once again you spew your typical BS

the Series ISN'T on a decline...

as every game after the first FF on a platform always sells less....

e.g FF7 - 9.8 million -- LOADS of hype -- setting standards for grfx

FF8 - 8 million

FF9 - 5 million -- very low hype as PS2 had luanched then

________

FF 10 - 8 million -- LOADS of hype....set grfx standar

FF12 --5 million -- LESS HYPE -- PS3 had launched (i mean FF12 came out the month PS3 launched....in Eu it came on the same week
_________

see a pattern

Uh...J.RPGs,er RPGs have never been very popular outside Japan. No RPG that I can think of has sold a million in NA except Final Fantasy [VII-XII] and Kingdom Hearts (excluding Pokemon). So RPGs were never popular among the mainstream so low RPG sales are the norm. Always have been. And I'm an RPG fan.

So you're activily ignoring the fact that Squre-Enix has lost the lion's share of its talent and its games have only dissapointed more and more fans.

FF13 will be suffocated relatively by the PS3's limited appeal in regards to the casual and core audience that made the PS2 such a success.

Even then if sales are all you think I'm basing my argument on then you paint our own bias right on your face in this clumsy debut. FF13 will have alot of hype, but forgive me if I at least don't think fans have gotten tired of the dissapointing decline in FF games. Do you really think a flashy RPG will sell that well on a console that is geared towards FPSs and Western Gaming? Perhaps you have seen the PS3's sales in Japan as of late.

You're confusing the PS3 with the 360.  Yes, the PS3's sales have declined in Japan, but only because Sony took out BC from the PS3 in Japan from the 60 gig (which they really shouldn't have done).  FFXIII is a guaranteed system seller, no doubt.  Some people may be skeptical, but considering that FFXIII is SE's first major FF on an HD console, it should sell really well.  Don't forget that in Japan, the FF series has the best record for launch debuts.  Generally they sell about 1.5-2million on the first day.  That's about as much as the current PS3 install base.