jkimball said:
Fixed that for you. For JRPG to be a success in the west, it has to be a success in the east - that's where the 'advertising' comes from. A good rep in japan leads to sales in west. Since Microsoft bought the JRPG dev's in Japan the JRPG is dead pretty much everywhere. We lost a generation of JRPG's due to Microsoft fiddling. |
Wrong. Ever heard of a series called 'Dragon Quest'? It sells over 3,000,000 units per new IP in Japan, but sells under 500,000 in America. VIII sold 3.6 million in Japan, and under 500,000 in America, and 600,000 in PAL/Other territories.
Persona...
Monster Hunter...
Tales...
Super Robot Wars...
All have had very poor sales in America, despite great sales in Japan. It does not always translate. We didn't lose a generation to Microsoft's fiddling. If that was the case, then why didn't WKC or Demons Soul have higher reviews in their home country?
Microsoft has absolutely nothing to do with it. It's possible that with HD budgets, developers are skimping on what makes a JRPG 'good' (story, combat, lack of technical issues), but that's not a 360 problem. That's an HD problem.
Ultimately, JRPGs have done poorly because their Western counterparts are now superior, and reviewers are treating them as such. Tales of Vesperia is the only Japanese-developed RPG I've played this generation that comes anywhere close to the Western powerhouses of Mass Effect, Oblivion, and Fallout....And I haven't even played Fable 2 yet.
JRPGs started dying the day that Morrowind came to consoles, and gamers learned what 'good' RPGs consisted of. The average WRPG is better than the average JRPG, and Western consumers are realizing that, and consuming the better variety of games.
I'd love to ask this question of any JRPG fan: What was the last JRPG you played that had a storyline that matched Mass Effect, and especially at, and during Virmire? I think, for myself, Chrono Trigger may be the only one I've played that rivals ME's storyline.
Back from the dead, I'm afraid.
