Atlus is in trouble...

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12 Nov 2003, 08:11 PM
Roufuss

Atlus is in trouble...

http://www.gamespot.com/all/news/news_6083378.html

Looks like Atlus has lost 7.8 million dollars this first half of the fiscal year.. this is quite a shock, as I thought recent Atlus games were doing pretty well, such as Disgaea. This is what worries me the most though...

Quote:

However, the consumer sector still recorded a 672 million yen ($6.17 million) operating loss due to declining video game sales and the cancellation of projects in development. Atlus also suffered 483 million ($4.4 million) yen in special losses that emerged from revaluation of video game back stock.

It looks like seeing Shin Megami Tensei getting translated looks to be never. Atlus is going to be real careful about what they translate and bring over now, which means even less games like Disgaea :(

Hopefully their merger with Takara will help.
12 Nov 2003, 08:56 PM
Videodrone

What the heck did they all cancel?
12 Nov 2003, 08:58 PM
MechDeus

Bastards! Anyone slacking needs to get out there and support them! They release damn good stuff.
12 Nov 2003, 09:06 PM
Frogacuda

Ohhh... Atlus of Japan. Alot of japanese companies are losing money. Sales are in the crapper right now.
12 Nov 2003, 09:08 PM
Spike

They are now owned by Konami, I guess.
12 Nov 2003, 09:09 PM
MechDeus

In that case, my comment is misdirected. But it still stands.
12 Nov 2003, 09:10 PM
Roufuss

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spike

They are now owned by Konami, I guess.

Atlus is? I'm not too sure on that, since Takra (of Transformers fame) is merging with Atlus.
12 Nov 2003, 09:17 PM
Spike

Yeah, but Konami owns Takara.
13 Nov 2003, 02:56 AM
ferricide

Quote:

Originally Posted by MechDeus

In that case, my comment is misdirected. But it still stands.

not really. disgaea is selling quite well for them -- it's their best selling game this generation and doubtlessly profitable.

what this means for the future of atlus USA is unclear but if they're operating OK they'll likely retain their autonomy.

and atlus japan has been losing money for years.
13 Nov 2003, 05:23 AM
g0zen

Every day I lose atleast one reason to live.
13 Nov 2003, 05:27 AM
Diff-chan

Quote:

Originally Posted by g0zen

Every day I lose atleast one reason to live.

Run with that.
13 Nov 2003, 06:44 AM
Bar81

Quote:

Originally Posted by g0zen

Every day I lose atleast one reason to live.

how many reasons do you have left?
13 Nov 2003, 08:07 AM
Rich

Bah, I want to play Disgaea some more but I have school.
13 Nov 2003, 10:30 AM
Werewolf

Well that’s not really surprising, they haven’t released all that much this year in Japan… with the exception of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocture there lineup wasn’t that impressive so far… plus they only released 3 console games (2 PS2 and 1 XBOX), most of their games where for the Game Boy Advance (6 games) 2 of which where ports of older games and another 2 which where the Light and Dark versions of their monster battle game Devil Children (DemiKids in the USA).

They have Growlanser IV: Wayfarer of Time coming out in December, which should sell fairly well since the series has a good following in Japan.
13 Nov 2003, 04:04 PM
ferricide

they definitely need to pull it together. i love R&D1, but the rest of their lineup is sketchy. well, growlanser is solid, but i dunno if it's my kind of thing and it's irrelevant because we're never going to see any past 2 and 3 here (if WD even manages to get 'em out.)

demikids was disappointingly meh. can't take down pokemon with that interface, chaps. as much as i wanted to like it, it needs work.
13 Nov 2003, 04:25 PM
Kinopio

I hope Atlus USA publishes Giftpia.
13 Nov 2003, 06:33 PM
Yoman0chaos

Hm. With Takara having control of Atlus maybe we'll see a turaround. But they did seem to be wishy-washy with their games this year. I remember they were screwy with Shin Megami Tensei Nine. They announced it for the X-Box, then delayed it, then cancelled it, then reannounced it for the PC, then delayed it again...

On a side note, a big "I hate you" to Atlus for not releasing Innocent Sin stateside. Then again this is Atlus who is notorious for releasing like 2 copies of every game they ever make (Atlus USA, not sure about Atlus Japan). I can never find games like Persona 2, Brigandine, Thousand Arms, Tactics Ogre for PSX (I think it was by them, not sure) and stuff around my area, and they only seem to be on e-bay with exorbitant prices.
14 Nov 2003, 01:57 AM
ferricide

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kinopio

I hope Atlus USA publishes Giftpia.

uh, i thought nintendo was...

http://www.gamespy.com/e32003/preview/gcn/1002353/

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yoman0chaos

On a side note, a big "I hate you" to Atlus for not releasing Innocent Sin stateside.

get over it. i have. persona was my favorite PS1 game, and i have managed to move on with my life.

it's not entirely atlus USA's fault in that regard, although they do bear some responsibility. of course, in the minds of people who don't know anything about running businesses -- especially international ones -- that sort of thing is irrelevant.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yoman0chaos

Then again this is Atlus who is notorious for releasing like 2 copies of every game they ever make..

well, it's it a bit late to be finding copies of fairly rare PS1 games at retail? they print as many copies of a game as stores order. you can still find disgaea at retail now because it's new and stores are reordering it. when they stop, atlus will stop producing it, and it will disappear from retail. this is what is known as supply and demand. if you wanted a copy of persona 2 you should have bought it right away because it was bloody obvious that it wasn't going to be a million-seller.
14 Nov 2003, 02:07 AM
MechDeus

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yoman0chaos

Then again this is Atlus who is notorious for releasing like 2 copies of every game they ever make (Atlus USA, not sure about Atlus Japan).

Considering how long the same copies of Cubivore and Sky Gunner have been sitting at my local GS I can't blame them. Hence I direct people to my earlier comment.

(Okay, so they didn't technically make either. But they still published both.)
14 Nov 2003, 04:24 AM
Yoman0chaos

Quote:

Originally Posted by ferricide

it's not entirely atlus USA's fault in that regard, although they do bear some responsibility. of course, in the minds of people who don't know anything about running businesses -- especially international ones -- that sort of thing is irrelevant.

Perhaps buisness is part of the reason Innocent Sin wasn't released stateside, seeing that the first Persona didn't do too well in the U.S. However, I've heard other reasons that the story content had "risque material" on it such as it taking place in a highschool, one of the characters (Jun) was openly homosexual, Hitler coming back to life, etc. and didn't fly with Atlus (at least this is what I've heard, I could be wrong). If this is so, wouldn't they just strap on an "M" label? It hasn't stopped an RPG from selling *points to Parasite Eve*. I guess I'm just blindly complaining but I found it odd that they held back on this project while releasing Eternal Punishment instead. They've released games that are more obsure and sold less than Persona (Brigandine, Hoshigami). Just holding off on a game and releasing its sequel is annoying and stupid. It's like a studoi saying "Hey, we're not releasing the Matrix, but we're releasing The Matrix Reloaded" and people who watch the movie know what's going on at the very moment, but so much of the storyline is blocked out because you haven't seen the plot of the first one.

But hey, since Takara is buying Atlus we may be able to see more Shin Megami Tensei titles and their spinoffs come stateside. And since RPG game remakes are all the rage nowadays, maybe we could see a Persona boxest or whatnot. Anyways, don't mind me, this is just mindless ramblings from a Shin Megami Tensei fan...
14 Nov 2003, 11:18 AM
Frogacuda

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yoman0chaos

Perhaps buisness is part of the reason Innocent Sin wasn't released stateside, seeing that the first Persona didn't do too well in the U.S. However, I've heard other reasons that the story content had "risque material" on it such as it taking place in a highschool, one of the characters (Jun) was openly homosexual, Hitler coming back to life, etc. and didn't fly with Atlus (at least this is what I've heard, I could be wrong). If this is so, wouldn't they just strap on an "M" label? It hasn't stopped an RPG from selling *points to Parasite Eve*. I guess I'm just blindly complaining but I found it odd that they held back on this project while releasing Eternal Punishment instead. They've released games that are more obsure and sold less than Persona (Brigandine, Hoshigami). Just holding off on a game and releasing its sequel is annoying and stupid. It's like a studoi saying "Hey, we're not releasing the Matrix, but we're releasing The Matrix Reloaded" and people who watch the movie know what's going on at the very moment, but so much of the storyline is blocked out because you haven't seen the plot of the first one.

PErsona 2:EP wasn't a sequel to IS per se. They were more like the different scenarios of Shining Force III: The same story from different sides, chronologically the same.

The reason they picked EP instead of IS was because it was generally regarded as the better of the two. It came out later and they had more time to do what they wanted with it.
14 Nov 2003, 11:40 AM
Dolemite

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yoman0chaos

Hitler coming back to life

:lol: You've got to be kidding me.

Oh, and I got really worried when I read the thread title, because I thought it was Atlus USA. The parent company can probably weather hard times easier than a U.S. branch. As far as I know Atlus USA is doing pretty well, thank god.
14 Nov 2003, 11:44 AM
Mzo

Quote:

Hitler coming back to life

This is the greatest game ever made.

Please tell me that Abraham Lincoln is also in this somewhere.
14 Nov 2003, 12:06 PM
Werewolf

Personally Atlus and Atlus USA should'nt even be considered the same company IMO, Atlus USA is more like Working Designs in that they localize more of other peoples games and hardly their own ... but without the delays and old jokes ;)

Don't get me wrong, I like the games they choose to bring over... it's just that they make some good games as well and I would love for once to get a Shin Megami Tensei game or Growlanser title from them :(
14 Nov 2003, 12:09 PM
epmode

1 Attachment(s)

he looks so happy.D
14 Nov 2003, 12:13 PM
Dolemite

Holy shit, that's awesome. Can Hitler be in your party? :)

"Super blitzkrieg magical oven attack!!"
14 Nov 2003, 12:25 PM
Roufuss

Quote:

Originally Posted by Werewolf

Personally Atlus and Atlus USA should'nt even be considered the same company IMO, Atlus USA is more like Working Designs in that they localize more of other peoples games and hardly their own ... but without the delays and old jokes ;)

Don't get me wrong, I like the games they choose to bring over... it's just that they make some good games as well and I would love for once to get a Shin Megami Tensei game or Growlanser title from them :(

Werewolf, Growlanser 2 and 3 are coming from Working Designs, in the year 2008.
14 Nov 2003, 12:53 PM
Werewolf

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roufuss

Werewolf, Growlanser 2 and 3 are coming from Working Designs, in the year 2008.

I know that ;)

How about Atlus release Growlanser IV here... we might just get that before 2 and 3 :lol:
14 Nov 2003, 12:59 PM
Mzo

2008???

That's fucking nuts. Did the games even take that long to make in the first place??
14 Nov 2003, 01:04 PM
epmode

i think he might be joking
14 Nov 2003, 01:51 PM
Kinopio

Quote:

Originally Posted by ferricide

uh, i thought nintendo was...

http://www.gamespy.com/e32003/preview/gcn/1002353/

Nintendo had an image and a sentence or two about Sin and Punishment in their E3 2001 brochure thing. That never got localized. And it even says in the article you linked to "nor have they officially confirmed that an English language version will be released".
14 Nov 2003, 11:18 PM
ferricide

maybe if i can string some of these observations together, we can figure out what happened. =)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yoman0chaos

If this is so, wouldn't they just strap on an "M" label? It hasn't stopped an RPG from selling *points to Parasite Eve*.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frogacuda

The reason they picked EP instead of IS was because it was generally regarded as the better of the two. It came out later and they had more time to do what they wanted with it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Werewolf

Personally Atlus and Atlus USA should'nt even be considered the same company IMO...

you're right in suggesting that the content is probably not the reason.

the second almost hits the nail on the head, too.

and finally.. yes. that's also true.

it's not as if atlus USA gets these games for free and then a localization magically appears. they have to pay licensing fees to the japanese company (as do many US divisions of japanese companies) just like they do to nippon ichi for disgaea and just like WD is paying to atlus japan for GL2&3.

further there are other conflicts. one of them is re-coding the game for english. by the time a team moves on to its next project, they may not have time or interest in re-coding the changes needed for a localized version. atlus R&D1 seems particularly bad about this, and it contributed to the downfall of innocent sin's release in the US.

and atlus USA and atlus japan do not work very tightly together as far as i can tell.