You know that bolded part pretty much proves my point?

As for Monster Hunter and Pokemon, I'm sure someone that knows more about RPG's than I do could name 20 failed ones for every wildly successful ones.

Also, Pokemon is barely an RPG and only sells because kids eat it up.  Just like WoW will never be the thing to save PC gaming, Pokemon will never save any genre.  As for Monster Hunter, it's a portable game and portable RPG's generally do better because they're immune to the infinite budget thing since you don't need PSP and DS games to look as amazing as FFXIII.

And Fire Emblen and Paper Mario may both be amazing but how well did they sell?

If the bolded point proves your point, why are you trying to discount handheld titles in comparison to FFXIII?

Also failed Pokemon titles?  SquareEnix would GLADLY trade the sales of the worst Pokemon title for any of their Final Fantasy games.  You do understand how much the Pokemon games sell right....?  They're the best selling JRPG ever.  And yes, they ARE JRPGs.  Saying they are 'barely' RPGs is like saying WoW or Final Fantasy Tactics is 'barely' an RPG.

Also you need to look up information about all the parts I highlighted.  Especially the fact that its not just 'kids' buying Pokemon, the fact that you pretty much proved my point about not one Final Fantasy title not saving the JRPG genre by using WoW as a comparison for 'saving PC gaming' and the fact that there's multiple Monster Hunter games on consoles.

I believe the term is resurgence, not revival. It's just that there has been a large influx of Western type games that have set a mood in NA gamer minds for several years. JRPGs are doing just fine even now, just not as good as some other games that have seen an increase in success.

You can't look at the absolute top sellers now and say that they are the only ones doing good. Even the second, third and so on...

There are plenty of JRPGs still being made so they must be doing something right, it's just that you hardly ever see them advertised in the west. But they are still selling, just not at obvious proportions.

I don't count handhelds because, as I said, they don't need to be flashy.  At the moment, they aren't going to be compared to your flashy HD JRPG's so they can still be made on the cheap and actually succeed.

And where did I say anything about failed Pokemon titles? 

I realize it's not just kids buying Pokemon, that doesn't change the fact it's a kids game.  It is aimed at kids.

And again, how well did those other console RPG's sell?

Paper Mario sold well but that was only because it had the word Mario in the title and it was a launch window title (and don't get me wrong, I love the Paper Mario series).

Fire Emblen didn't do well and didn't make money.  That means it failed.

It looks like Monster Hunter Tri sold nearly a million but Monster Hunter G has only sold 250k so they're about breaking even.  Having one game succeed and another flop so you barely break even isn't reassurring in the least.

Traditional RPG's are a dying breed and that's about that.  They are going to survive, barely, on the handhelds but there isn't a lot of hope for them on the consoles.  Maybe when we get to a point where we can make them cheaper they might come back but right now they take too much time to complete, it costs a shit-ton of money to make, if it isn't a big name it doesn't sell, most people that buy it don't even finish it, it's never going to look as good as Final Fantasy, and it's just a giant risk.

That is one giant recipe for failure.

And again, JRPG's just take too much money to make in order to be profitable.

It's hard enough to make an 8 hour game be profitable, how much harder do you think it is to make a 60 hour game?

Your general AAA game is a GIANT risk unless it's part of an already established franchise (and even then there's still risj).  Making a AAA game means a giant investment, giant risk, and anywhere from little to no return to a decent return unless you're a runaway hit.

Because of Final Fantasy, every game must at least meet the game bar that game sets or else you will look absolutely inferior regardless of how good the game actually is.

If you don't have infinite time and money that just isn't easy to do and makes a big risk even bigger. 

Until making HD games is cheaper (and that isn't going to happen any time soon at all), console JRPG's are going to continue to come around less and less.

Oh, and one thing I did forget to mention is that just like how the DS and PSP are immune to this, the Wii is too, though not in as big as way.  A JRPG will get released on the Wii and still be compared to Final Fantasy, but people will also go easy on it because it is the Wii.  So you can still make a console JRPG on the Wii for a reasonable budget and at least have a justification for not looking as good as FFXIII (but you still need to look as good as FFXII which isn't simple either).

I think he was talking about appeal.  But kids aren't the only ones who constantly buy Pokemon games.  However, depending on how constant a game's appeal is, it will keep that same audience coming back for more.  One negative thing about keeping the same appeal in your game is that it might not attract any new gamers.

In FF's case, it's weird because the series is constantly changing.  That could be good and bad at the same time, however only bad in it's constant appeal factor. The FF series has attracted many different gamers with it's different appeals and some have given up along the way because of the constant change.  However, since the series constantly changes, even gamers who might have given up on the series will be back for more; simply because it changes and they have the idea in their head that they will like the next installment.  Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.  But that possibility is in their mind and many of the same customers will keep coming back no matter what.

This might be the only series that has been able to pull something like this off.  I don't know if the developers intended for something like this, but it's ingenious either way.  Is there another?

@twesterm

All these points you are making are still pointing back to the main point I made originally. Japanese RPGs are targetted to a different market than 'the west'. They're focused on Japan. And as such, that's why nearly all of them are on the DS and PSP this gen. As such, Final Fantasy XIII (and all the other 'HD' RPGs) is not only an exception to the standard JRPG this gen, its bucking the trend of both the standard and the JRPG market (aka, the fanbase). I think you're trying to make the point that FFXIII is going to set some benchmark for JRPGs that will make all others seem inferior while I'm trying to show you that FFXIII is on a platform that will make it have a very limited appeal in comparison to a DS or PSP RPG. Such as...Pokemon, Dragon Quest or Monster Hunter.

And while we're on that subject, there's more than 2 Monster Hunter games. For instance, the Monster Hunter Freedom games sold multi-millions each (1.42, 2.41 and 4.05 million each, all on the PSP). That's some of the best selling Japanese games this gen, and beyond any Final Fantasy game this gen (except FFXII).

Exactly.  Part of FF problem is its constantly changing formula.  It was a blessing in the past, but now it is a problem as it has established a fanbase, who wants many of the sequels to be similar.  Hence why sales have fallen since FFVII and the recent sales this gen have stagnated for all the sequels, spin-offs, etc.  The series is at a cross roads and its either going to continue to make drastic changes...or become more of the same to appeal to its set fanbase.  Either way I feel its going to have a problem appealing to fans in the future.

I meant 'only bad in it's constant appeal factor' as in the ONLY definite bad thing; not FF constantly changing can only be bad now.  Emphasis on constant appeal.  Due to it always changing, it's a curse and a blessing in disguise.  FF fans have gone on and off of the series, and there are those customers that will always buy the next installment. 

The thought that gamers will like the next installment is still there, because they know it's a possibility.  It's happened for them before.

Sadly no, well atleast not here in America, this gen is all about shooters, sports, and mindless violence. I remember when I was 10-12(about 7-9 years ago) all my friends and other people talked about were RPG's(mostly Pokemon and Final Fantasy). Nowadays I walk into my local electronics store and see these 8-12 year old kids talk nonsense about Halo, CoD, and other shooters, and supposedly how they "own" in those games. and how their mom lets them get rated "M' games(and try to talk slang/ebonix...really)

*sigh*...Japan's dominace is no more.....

Watch this new FFXIII CM



My answer is yes. FFXIII will revive the JRPG genre.