Soriku just stop dude. People like them cant be changed. No use in arguing.

Actually no lol.  I'm hoping to get to it sometime in January. :P

        My posts aren't a joke (well some of them are supposed to be funny, but I'm speaking what I really feel on the matter of where I believe P5 will be).  The effort that Microsoft has been putting into getting jrps on the 360 this gen in an attempt to gain a foothold in Japan combined with the success that the Persona series has been enjoying over the past year with the incredibly high review scores that the games in this series have been receiving from multiple publications (scores not enjoyed by any other rpg games as of late) makes my posts on this matter much more than jokes.  I'm sure that Microsoft wants to add another jrpg to their catalogue of games.  If they can manage to have three highly critically acclaimed jrpgs in one year, then they will pretty much have captured the early overall jrpg crown this gen.  Also, since they aren't getting FFXIII in Japan or Dragon Quest X, Persona 4 as an exclusive would still give them two high profile rpgs there in one year.  Star Ocean in the spring and Persona 5 in the winter.  Persona 5 will be a natural fit for the 360's library.  It will be a mature audience oriented rpg sure to please the 360's more hardcore oriented audience.

     Your posts also bring up a couple of other points:

     1.  They imply that if a person doesn't think that the Wii is the best console on earth, then they deserve to be reported or banned.  What's up with that?  That implies that this site would actually be the Big Brother of gaming sites if true.  It would be like we're a very unbiased sales site that heavily prefers the Wii and if you don't worship the Wii and strive to the best of your ability to have it be the best selling game console on earth, then we can't have your ideas around here because this is 1984, for real man.

     2.  You imply that if a person doesn't think that the Wii (despite is limitations -- not as powerful as the 360 or PS3 with clock speeds higher than yet much closer to those of the original xbox than they are to being as high as the speeds of the 360 and PS3, and -- if you don't count the downloadable classics from earlier eras -- a game library that doesn't have the same type of critical acclaim that either the 360 or PS3 does) is the greatest console on earth will not be well thought of.  I didn't know that my gaming console preferance was as important as my religious or political affiliations or as just being an all around nice fellow for that matter.

     Really the Wii's most redeeming features are the fact that Mario and Zelda and some of their other older series are still highly respected franchises; Dragon Quest X; the aforementioned classics from earlier eras that you can download for the Wii; its innovative though still  seldomly well-implemented by anyone other than Nintendo controller (accounting for its lack of high quality third party games according to Metacritic, Game Rankings in comparison to the 360 and PS3) which doesn't make up for the discrepancy of the graphics between the consoles in third party multiconsole games; and its popularity (that no one is really sure what accounts for it -- the controller; the hype generated by past shortages causing many people to not know what the console was about only that they thought they should own one due to word of mouth; key endorsements from certain popular nongamers for some of its nongames (eg.  Ellen Degeneris for Wii Fit); The Wii's being seen as the family console of choice -- which a game like Persona if they tried to promote and if further publicized by the rightwing groups I mentioned earlier would take away from (I don't know how Nintendo would market or allow to be marketed for the Wii in the US a game with demons and dark, controversial themes  in it when they like to maintain their image as the Disney of video games and in the past they have even censored something as innocent as the churches out of FF games in the US and have been reticent to bring over Mother / Earthbound games maybe because they thought they wouldn't sell well (even though there is a loyal fanbase of the game here) or perhaps because of the game's controversial themes (ancient astronauts, fifties sci-fi vibe, quirky spiritual aspects, cultists -- kind of like more innocent Robert Anton Wilson type rpgs) ; or the Wii's price which is no longer the lowest on the market.

     I have always preferred to be right than liked, and my prediction is Persona 5 on the 360 Christmas '09.

Now I have popcorn.

I may have to buy this game.

Teehee!

Seriously though do I need to grab other Persona games if I want to look at this one?

No. 1 and the two parts of 2 are connected between themselves, but 3 and 4 are each standalone and feature no connection at all to the previous games. So don't hesitate in picking 4 first (though you shouldn't miss 3 either, it's also fantastic)

Atlus published a really bad WW2 fantasy SRPG called Operation Darkness on X360, nothing more on HD consoles. Disgaea 3 was published by NIS (Nippon Ichi of America) themselves.
Atlus mentioned that they chose the ps2 because their fanbase owned that system the most. So their next main SMT installment would be on a system which their fanbase owns the most. I believe that would be psp and then ps3, but I could be wrong. It could be the Wii, since so many people have one already.

       Persona 3 only received an 85 from IGN and it has an 87 at Metacritic.  Persona 3:  FES was given an 88 by IGN and a 89 from Metacritic, and Persona 4 received a 90 from IGN and a 94 from Metacritic.  Each game has been getting more and more acclaim bringing more attention to the series something that I'm sure Microsoft has noticed.

     Why can't Microsoft just ask Atlus for something?  Ever heard the expression ask and you shall receive?  There must have been asking from somebody to get Tales of Vesperia and Final Fantasy XIII on the 360.  Also, Atlus has a deal with Microsoft to release games on the 360.

http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/atlus-becomes-third-party-publisher-for-xbox-360/

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6183068.html

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3164461

     They have already released two strategy rpgs on the 360.  Operation Darkness (I think a sequel is in the works even though the first one wasn't supposed to be that great) and Spectral Force 3 (which was supposed to be okay but very derivative of other fantasy strategy rpgs).

     Look all I'm trying to say is that Microsoft has to know that the Persona games have been getting good reviews lately (better than any 360 jrpg released so far) and that is probably generating new fans for the series.  They also already have a working partnership with Atlus.  And, I don't think it is a huge leap in logic to think that Microsoft would have interest in strengthening their jrpg lineup and position in Japan (which they have been working hard to acquire) by adding the next Persona game to their lineup.

so did anyone pick this game up? impressions anyone?