See for me it isn't dead at all. HANDHELDS is where it is at, if console only users can't accept that than they are missing out.

This is also true, forgot about this.

Though, to be honest, I prefer home console JRPGs over handhelds like... A lot. I don't know why...

It didn't have to, the JRPG's were thriving in the West last gen, not so much this gen.

I think the question is, can Final Fantasy XIII appeal to all the kids in the west who were five when Final Fantasy X was released, skipped Final Fantasy XII, and think Kingdom Hearts 1 or 2 is the greatest game Square Enix has made, or will the Final Fantasy fanbase in the West continue to get older without recruiting new fans, making it less and less likely that the continued focus on teenager-driven stories will resonate with them as the years go by.

Certainly. I'm willing to give it a shot.

I mostly enjoy handhelds mainly due to fact they have old school SNES/PS1 era feel...which I believe is the Golden Age.

It will be huge...

WRPGs are newer now, and they have had the higher buzz factor involved, and feel fresher.  There is also a consuming of the RPG genre itself into other game genres, the way adventure games faced.  Consider what you see with Modern Warfare.  You gain XP for doing stuff and you level up.  What you have with traditional JRPGs is linear plots and selecting what to do via menus, in a turn-based setting.  That is the template that was popular when RPGs were trying to emulate paper RPGs, right down to having a team of characters you commanded. 

Now, we may end up getting a "bouncing back" of RPGs made in Japan, but no guarantee they will likely end up being what we consider JRPGs.  No amount of added production value is going to end up making them far more appealing.  When you can do a game that has more mass appeal, and have it grab people who aren't into RPGs normally (Fallout 3 drags in FPS fans), then the JRPGs aren't going to match sales and see as a comback.

I say no, just because there isn't a another to significantly back FFXIII once it releases. So the best of luck to the JRPG market. Western games are making a huge impact in the industry.

I hope some developers hurry up with some sequels to good franchises like Rogue Galaxy and Dark Cloud and many others and not new IP's.

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Yes.  Those and the Wii tend to be the place where JRPGs are landing at this place.  Apparently JRPGs aren't dependent upon full-motion video cut scenes to work.  I had thought that Final Fantasy VII totally changed the rules, but apparently that wasn't the case.