Chrono Series Coming to 360?

Speculation! Speculation! Speculation! This probably has a snowball's chance in hell of being true, but why not discuss?

From Xbox Circle:

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Two European websites are reporting that Square-Enix is in the process of selling off two of its licenses to other companies. The reports came first from a Dutch site followed by a German site. The news suggests that Square-Enix is off loading the Kingdom Hearts license to Buena Vista Games and will be selling the Chrono Trigger license to Mistwalker. Here is a rough translation from the German site:

The German Wunderlampe come outside with reported to that Square-Enix of plan are two of its gamereeksen to another developer/publisher. this sell because the development costs of these games burst out higher than (expected) to sell. From own speculation the site ends up on two candidates, namely knows the Kingdom Hearts-reeks and the Seiken Densetsu-reeks (Mana-reeks). Thus Wunderlampe that the Kingdom Hearts-licentie expect will be sold to Buena Vista games, where Xbox 360-game and Wii-game belong entirely to the possibilities. At the Seiken Densetsu-licentie the site ends up at Nintendo, since there parts still more appear for Nintendo consoles. Licenties also other are evaluated. Thus Chrono-licentie are already bound to Mistwalker (Chrono Trigger 2 to the Xbox 360?), and the remaining ranges are already excluded weigh moderate sales in the west. To what extent Wunderlampe are right, I doubt it, but rumours are rumours.

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Blue Dragon looks great, would love to see a Chrono game on 360

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(Mana-reeks)

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That's just uncalled for.

Seriously, it's an interesting rumor that sounds logical. I doubt it's true, though, because there's no way Square wasn't turning a nice profit on Kingdom Hearts unless Disney really squeezed them dry.

James

Sqeenix selling off Kingdom Hearts? Yeah right.

I'm fairly certain this ended up being false, but just in case it's not:

"That Kingdom Hearts news sucks, but that Chrono news is awesome, so I dunno whether to feel good or bad."

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Originally Posted by g0zen

Sqeenix selling off Kingdom Hearts? Yeah right.

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Last I heard, Disney was pushing the hell out of them to get another game out, like, this year. Square said they wanted to wait a while. Knowing the way Disney is, this makes sense to me.

So all they're selling is the name of the series, right?

That doesn't say anything for the quality of the games. Even if that does happen, I think that Chrono Cross proved only one thing. Chrono should stay right where it is; In the past, when it was wonderful, rather than be bastardized by another shitty future series.

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Originally Posted by Do You Like Erotic?

So all they're selling is the name of the series, right?

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...to the exact people who made the original.

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Originally Posted by Do You Like Erotic?

So all they're selling is the name of the series, right?

That doesn't say anything for the quality of the games. Even if that does happen, I think that Chrono Cross proved only one thing. Chrono should stay right where it is; In the past, when it was wonderful, rather than be bastardized by another shitty future series.

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IAWTP

Please keep the JRPG crap off the 360. You want to make shitty games, then there are two other systems that the Japanese buy. Keep em over there.

If it'll help sell 360s, then bring on the JRPGs. There's a definite lack of titles in the genre as it is, and it's not like people are going to be playing Oblivion forever. There needs to be SOMETHING else over here.

No...there doesn't. Mass Effect is coming.

So, one new game until...

How can you think that more RPGs wouldn't be a good thing? Regardless of whether or not you'd personally buy them, there are plenty of people who would, which would mean more 360s sold, which would in turn yield more games.

It's win/win.

This all sounds like bullshit.

But I wouldn't argue with a 360 Chrono.

Joust will.

Yeah. I don't need Japan stinking up the 360's library. Lost Planet can stay.

Considering the way the story was going in Kingdom Hearts and what I've read of for KH3 (the war of the keyblade stuff), it seems like they could really just get to the point where they don't even need the Disney characters anymore. They set up everything perfectly in KH but in KH2 all the world visiting was basically just so that the game would be similar to the first. Almost all the important stuff was new areas and original characters (Mickey and Final Fantasy people aside), I'd almost prefer most of KH3 and/or a possible sequel to eventually pull off of the Disney side completely. So to that I say Square shouldn't sell off KH but instead continue to make it their own.

In regards to Chrono I'm in full support. Trigger and Cross were both awesome so I'm down for another on whatever system.

In Joust's world, if the games appeal to him then they're good enough for everyone. Personal taste is what losers indulge in.

I wonder how much money MS gave to Mistwalker to get Blue Dragon and their other projects as system exclusives?

James

You can't seriously blame me for not wanting dogshit RPGs with no gameplay on the system. Attack, Attack, Item, Attack, Attack...yawn. It's obvious that the racist Japanese aren't going to buy the 360 no matter what, so screw em. Use your $$$ to buy exclusives that are fun and appeal to Americans that fund your system.

If Chrono comes to Xbox 360 I want it to be with Square behind it. I hate it when developers take over established franchises unless it's a rebirth of sorts (metroid for example) because they usually change shit around and ruin it.

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Originally Posted by James

In Joust's world, if the games appeal to him then they're good enough for everyone. Personal taste is what losers indulge in.

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Why should anyone care about what others could potentially be playing?

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I wonder how much money MS gave to Mistwalker to get Blue Dragon and their other projects as system exclusives?

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I'm not sure, but I'm sure they overpaid no matter what it was.

You people are all saps, this is a GameFAQs level rumor.

That's true g0zen.

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Originally Posted by Joust Williams

No...there doesn't. Mass Effect is coming.

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and dont forget two worlds, it looks like it may be an interesting oblivion style game. im keeping an eye on it.

Fallout 3

Also Mistwalkers Blue Dragon.

Technically Bioshock.

Lost Odyssey is another one.

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Originally Posted by g0zen

Fallout 3

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After Morrowind my hopes for F3 being good are lower than ever. If that was even possible.

Why? Morrowind was a great game.

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Originally Posted by Joust Williams

You can't seriously blame me for not wanting dogshit RPGs with no gameplay on the system. Attack, Attack, Item, Attack, Attack...yawn. It's obvious that the racist Japanese aren't going to buy the 360 no matter what, so screw em. Use your $$$ to buy exclusives that are fun and appeal to Americans that fund your system.

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You're right, that's boring as hell and I don't want that at all. But the thing is, I also don't want Import Tuner Challenge, American Civil War, WWE 2007, or any of a number of other games that appeal to other people. That doesn't mean they don't have a place on the system, or that the people who do like that kind of thing aren't part of what Microsoft (and every other console manufacturer) are chasing. Seriously, if I got aggravated about everything I think is pure crap I wouldn't have time to enjoy the good stuff.

Also, why isn't Dark Messiah of Might & Magic on 360? I wanted to play that but my gaming PC is still dead.

James

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Originally Posted by g0zen

Why? Morrowind was a great game.

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It's bland and uneventful. It's not the worst I've played as I am enjoying it somewhat, but there just seems to be a whole lot of nothing going on. It's also lacking much of the depth Fallout had with character creation, coversations, perks, everything. Fallout felt like a living breating world, Morrowind doesn't to me.

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Originally Posted by James

I wonder how much money MS gave to Mistwalker to get Blue Dragon and their other projects as system exclusives?

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Mistwalker is just a bunch of guys drawing pictures and thinking up ideas. Microsoft put together Feel Plus and sank a truckload of money into Artoon to actually develop the games for them, no doubt giving Mistwalker the bulk of the royalties without having to deal with the tedium - or Square execs telling them what they should be doing.

I can't find the link, but I believe MS sank $50 million into Mistwalker projects; that's the number I've seen tossed around. No way they could have gotten that kind of financing with that kind of creative freedom anywhere else.

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Originally Posted by Survival Kid

It's bland and uneventful. It's not the worst I've played as I am enjoying it somewhat, but there just seems to be a whole lot of nothing going on. It's also lacking much of the depth Fallout had with character creation, coversations, perks, everything. Fallout felt like a living breating world, Morrowind doesn't to me.

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You fucking suck.

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Originally Posted by Survival Kid

It's bland and uneventful. It's not the worst I've played as I am enjoying it somewhat, but there just seems to be a whole lot of nothing going on. It's also lacking much of the depth Fallout had with character creation, coversations, perks, everything. Fallout felt like a living breating world, Morrowind doesn't to me.

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Fallout and Elder Scrolls are two different series with two different focuses. Just because Bethesda makes Elder Scrolls games one way doesn't mean they'll make Fallout games the exact same way. For some reason many people can't grasp this.

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Originally Posted by Joust Williams

racist Japanese

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Japan has no problems with buying American products in other markets (the iPod is massive there), so blaming the failure of the Xbox in Japan on pure xenophobia has always struck me as a bit disingenuous.

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Originally Posted by StriderKyo

You fucking suck.

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No, you fucking suck. Fallout is better in every way.

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Originally Posted by sethsez

Fallout and Elder Scrolls are two different series with two different focuses. Just because Bethesda makes Elder Scrolls games one way doesn't mean they'll make Fallout games the exact same way. For some reason many people can't grasp this.

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Oh I can grasp it. Morrowind/Oblivion is what Bethestda does. It's everything Fallout is not. F3 may be good and it may not be like Morrowind/Oblivion, and if it's good then great. However, based on Bethesda's past titles my hopes aren't high. Why can't you grasp that?

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Originally Posted by Survival Kid

No, you fucking suck. Fallout is better in every way.

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Fallout fans are the most obnoxious people on the internet. They make me embarassed for liking the games.

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Originally Posted by sethsez

Fallout fans are the most obnoxious people on the internet. They make me embarassed for liking the games.

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Except I'm not being obnoxious. StriderKyo is. So I didn't find Morrowind to be the greatest ever, big deal.

I find your criticisms of Morrowind could be easily applied using the same logic to Fallout, and in both cases you're wrong. So, while you may not fucking suck, you are totally wrong here. And no, this isn't just a matter of personal preference.

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Originally Posted by Survival Kid

Except I'm not being obnoxious. StriderKyo is. So I didn't find Morrowind to be the greatest ever, big deal.

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The point is that most people can understand that companies are capable of multiple approaches to games. When it was announced that Level-5 was making Dragon Quest VIII, nobody worried that it would be Dark Cloud 2 with slimes. When Square was going to make Mario Hoops 3 on 3, nobody expected long summoning animations.

But for some reason, when Bethesda is making Fallout 3, everyone just assumes it'll be Morrowind/Oblivion with a gun. For some reason, the fanbase is convinced that they understand Fallout is a different series than Elder Scrolls, but Bethesda is unaware.

Elder Scrolls is about scale. Fallout is about personality. Bethesda, and everyone else, is aware of this. They're not just going to give the main character a gun, replace "outlander" with "vault dweller" and ship it out.

I never said it was going to be Morrowind/Oblivion with guns. I said Morrowind isn't that good of a game. If a developer has yet to impress me I have every right to wonder if F3 will be any good. I'm not running around screaming "MORROWIND WITH GUNS! BETHSOFT SUCKS!" I just don't have high hopes based on my experience with their titles.

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Originally Posted by g0zen

You people are all saps, this is a GameFAQs level rumor.

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or neogaf, lawl.

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If Chrono comes to Xbox 360 I want it to be with Square behind it. I hate it when developers take over established franchises unless it's a rebirth of sorts (metroid for example) because they usually change shit around and ruin it.

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Sakaguchi (Mistwalker) is a big part of old Square. He had a big hand in all the old stuff, like director for Final Fantasy I-V. It wouldn't be like getting all da guys back together to make it, but it'd be as much giving it to another company if Square-Enix decided to make Chrono whatever without Masato Kato and Yuji Hori.

"so blaming the failure of the Xbox in Japan on pure xenophobia has always struck me as a bit disingenuous"

So what is it then? The 360 has more titles geared to the Japanese than either the Wii OR the PS3 right now...yet look where it sits.

If i was Japanese, i'd have a 360 to play idolm@ster. They just don't know yet. They will. They will...

maybe.

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Originally Posted by Joust Williams

"so blaming the failure of the Xbox in Japan on pure xenophobia has always struck me as a bit disingenuous"

So what is it then? The 360 has more titles geared to the Japanese than either the Wii OR the PS3 right now...yet look where it sits.

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The Wii and the PS3 JUST launched, and will most likely have more Japan-oriented games than the 360 by the end of this year. This shouldn't be any major surprise... even the Japanese games on the system are by and large made for western audiences.

Japan doesn't have any problem embracing American products and culture when it wants to. The GTA series does quite well, the iPod is a huge success with over half the market (and completely stomping Japanese alternatives), etc. The Xbox just doesn't offer anything they want, and on the rare occasion that it does (Blue Dragon), it moves some units. Saying it's xenophobia only in this particular instance when it's clearly not an issue elsewhere just seems like a lame excuse.

Horseshit. "The Xbox is huge"...then they go out and buy a PS3.

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Originally Posted by Joust Williams

Horseshit. "The Xbox is huge"...then they go out and buy a PS3.

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...who the fuck brought up the Xbox's size? :doubt: You're not even replying to what's being said anymore, you're just responding to catchphrases bouncing around inside your head.

Bocca biscuits? You're so fucking ridiculous! How would that cause a man to burst into flames?

The fuck are you talking about, Finch?

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Originally Posted by Finch

Bocca biscuits? You're so fucking ridiculous! How would that cause a man to burst into flames?

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:tu:

The Japanese and the fear of the Xbox360.

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Originally Posted by Finch

or neogaf, lawl.



Sakaguchi (Mistwalker) is a big part of old Square. He had a big hand in all the old stuff, like director for Final Fantasy I-V. It wouldn't be like getting all da guys back together to make it, but it'd be as much giving it to another company if Square-Enix decided to make Chrono whatever without Masato Kato and Yuji Hori.

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i feel like people always forget that it wasn't just square who made the original chrono trigger. it was like if dragon quest and final fantasy had a baby. it's one big reason i don't like cross so much. too much like an ff game for my taste...+ it was sad sad. i'd mostly like to see some kind of chrono game if they got the original square and enix staff to work on it. otherwise....i don't care much. though, blue dragon looks like it could be something like that.

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Originally Posted by Finch

The Japanese and the fear of the Xbox360.

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RAWR IT'S XBOXZIRRA!

http://the-nextlevel.com/board/attac...1&d=1168761210

I think it's irrational fear of the premium 360's bossoms. It's not that they don't want it, they just don't know if they can handle it.

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Originally Posted by Finch

http://the-nextlevel.com/board/attac...1&d=1168761210

I think it's irrational fear of the premium 360's bossoms. It's not that they don't want it, they just don't know if they can handle it.

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i dont know japanese, but im guessing the one on the left wants hard drive implants too?

tee hee, hai defu

fu

Oh! Furusu peku jiizasu!

i think that's what that says. Say it out loud. It's funny. ^__^

nnnfuuu

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Originally Posted by Finch

Bocca biscuits? You're so fucking ridiculous! How would that cause a man to burst into flames?

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Well played. :tu:

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Originally Posted by sethsez

Japan has no problems with buying American products in other markets (the iPod is massive there), so blaming the failure of the Xbox in Japan on pure xenophobia has always struck me as a bit disingenuous.

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It's easier and funner though. Clearly Survival Kid doesn't need to bother with all of these fancy facts and figures the rest of us big city folk are using nowadays. Satan magic is what he calls it.

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Originally Posted by Finch

Sakaguchi (Mistwalker) is a big part of old Square. He had a big hand in all the old stuff, like director for Final Fantasy I-V. It wouldn't be like getting all da guys back together to make it, but it'd be as much giving it to another company if Square-Enix decided to make Chrono whatever without Masato Kato and Yuji Hori.

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That doesn't sound half bad then.

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Originally Posted by g0zen

Fallout 3

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If it ain't isometric it ain't Fallout.

Joust spouts out "Racist Japanese" all the time, but most of his comments could be contruded as racist as well. How come noone ever noticed that, or did we and it was said elsewhere?

Good observation Advocate. Good eye.

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Originally Posted by Advocate

Joust spouts out "Racist Japanese" all the time, but most of his comments could be contruded as racist as well. How come noone ever noticed that, or did we and it was said elsewhere?

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Because nobody gives a flying fuck what joust thinks. Thats the main thing.

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Originally Posted by Andrew

It's easier and funner though. Clearly Survival Kid doesn't need to bother with all of these fancy facts and figures the rest of us big city folk are using nowadays. Satan magic is what he calls it.

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I'm not the one he was replying to, ass. He was replying to Joust. Learn to fucking read.

And TNL quoting facts and figures? LOL!!!

It's easy to get you two cooky bastards confused. Pea's in a pod.

Too bad I'm nothing like Joust, though.

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Originally Posted by Saint of Killers

If it ain't isometric it ain't Fallout.

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Brotherhood of Steel was isometric and it was garbage. Besides, don't give me this purist bullshit. Did you see the screenshots for the original Fallout 3? They barely looked like a high-res version of the old games, I want more than that. I love Fallout and I love the Elder Scrolls games. I think this is win-win.

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Originally Posted by Finch

http://the-nextlevel.com/board/attac...1&d=1168761210

I think it's irrational fear of the premium 360's bossoms. It's not that they don't want it, they just don't know if they can handle it.

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... Wait... I thought they didn't sell the "core" Xbox 360 in Japan. o_o;; This comic confusses me.

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-...n-70-1kzr.html nfu

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Originally Posted by Advocate

Joust spouts out "Racist Japanese" all the time, but most of his comments could be contruded as racist as well. How come noone ever noticed that, or did we and it was said elsewhere?

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Any individual or people who fail to fellate MS are attacked. Racist Japanese is a decent insult.

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Originally Posted by sethsez

The Wii and the PS3 JUST launched, and will most likely have more Japan-oriented games than the 360 by the end of this year. This shouldn't be any major surprise... even the Japanese games on the system are by and large made for western audiences.

Japan doesn't have any problem embracing American products and culture when it wants to. The GTA series does quite well, the iPod is a huge success with over half the market (and completely stomping Japanese alternatives), etc. The Xbox just doesn't offer anything they want, and on the rare occasion that it does (Blue Dragon), it moves some units. Saying it's xenophobia only in this particular instance when it's clearly not an issue elsewhere just seems like a lame excuse.

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I really hate to side with Joust, especially against sethsez, but come on. These examples are clearly the exception to the rule.

Famitsu published the results of a poll ranking the top 100 games of all time. There were 3 games not from Japan on the list, and 2 of them were japanese-developed ports thereof. GTA was the only pure Western game on the list, and it was ranked like 70-something. There have been very few American and European games to achieve mainstream success in Japan. The Sims, Myst, Doom, Halo, and indeed every other massive selling franchise originating in the west other than GTA have failed to sell big numbers in Japan.

The European and North American markets are far more diverse with games developed in all regions doing well. Japan is closed minded, xenophobic and there is a resistence to the Xbox brand from the major publishers, as well as the audience. It's hard to say which is more to blame (kind of a chicken/egg thing), but it's still a reality.

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Originally Posted by Frogacuda

There have been very few American and European games to achieve mainstream success in Japan. The Sims, Myst, Doom, Halo, and indeed every other massive selling franchise originating in the west other than GTA have failed to sell big numbers in Japan.

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The Sims and Myst not selling shows impeccable taste on the part of the Japanese.

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Originally Posted by Yoshi

The Sims and Myst not selling shows impeccable taste on the part of the Japanese.

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Yeah, but Dragon Quest, Pokemon, and various dating sims kill that theory.

True.

Japan doesn't like Doom. Though there are many worthy parts to their culture, this fact alone shows that there's something important missing or broken over there.

James

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Originally Posted by Finch

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-...n-70-1kzr.html

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I'll be damned.

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Originally Posted by Finch

nfu

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NFU?

Most FPS fail over there since they get motion sickness while playing the game. I can attest to it, but there are certain ways artound it. Goldeneye was the first FPS I could play without vomitting in my popcorn bowl. One of my programmer friends says, its because the game is played in a sort of fisheye lense. Once my7 eyes were trained I was alble to play more FPS's. Perfect Dark for the N64 was the next. But the big ones were Operation Flashpoint and Halo. I wish more Japanese played FPS's, but I can understand.

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Once my7 eyes were trained

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holy shit

Kind of like how your body mutates itself to digest cows milk.

Anyone who hates on Chrono trigger is downright gay.

And that's that.

jonas, do you have to train to be this bad at TNL?

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Originally Posted by Tain

holy shit

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Yeah I fucked up.

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Originally Posted by Andrew

Kind of like how your body mutates itself to digest cows milk.

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Fuck you.

I still get motion sick but not to the extent I was in the beginning. Its true though alot of Asians can;t play FPS's due to motion sickness. And if they do its for a short amount of time. And if their not playing they will not watch. Hence why it was a shock for a Japanese company to make a FPS (Breakdown).

Yeah, but Japan also avoids the western games that are popular in other countries. They all play FFXI because they're afraid of World of Warcraft. They won't play RTSs or other predominantly western genres that completely dominate the Korean market. It goes beyond motion sickness.

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Originally Posted by Do You Like Erotic?

That doesn't say anything for the quality of the games. Even if that does happen, I think that Chrono Cross proved only one thing. Chrono should stay right where it is; In the past, when it was wonderful, rather than be bastardized by another shitty future series.

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Cross was better than Trigger.

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Originally Posted by Joust Williams

So what is it then? The 360 has more titles geared to the Japanese than either the Wii OR the PS3 right now...yet look where it sits.

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Have you been to Japan anytime lately? It took me all of five seconds of looking at the Xbox 360 section of any of the game shops I walked in to to understand why Japanese gamers aren't buying it: because there AREN'T many games on the console made for them. It amazes me that Microsoft had such gigantic failure with the Xbox in Japan, and didn't learn any sort of lesson for the second time around. Work out more deals from the beginning, get off their ass and develop more of in-house titles, whatever they need to do. The 360's failing in Japan is squarely on the shoulders of MS.

The PS3 has less software geared towards Japanese gamers because, uhm, wow, it just came out. As for the Wii, just don't even try.

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Originally Posted by Frogacuda

Yeah, but Japan also avoids the western games that are popular in other countries. They all play FFXI because they're afraid of World of Warcraft.

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Or it could be because WoW hasn't been released in Japan. But hey, why let a little detail like that get in the way.

Yeah, Chrono Trigger really doesn't hold up at all. Cross wasn't bad.

I don't understand this whole "Let's make excuses for Japan" crap. It's always "iPod" and that's it. It'd be like, "See, we like Japanese games too, Mario sells well here!"...and then nothing else would sell. That's not the case though. Why not? Because we're not closed-minded people that can't get over some insecurities.

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Originally Posted by Joust Williams

I don't understand this whole "Let's make excuses for Japan" crap. It's always "iPod" and that's it. It'd be like, "See, we like Japanese games too, Mario sells well here!"...and then nothing else would sell. That's not the case though. Why not? Because we're not closed-minded people that can't get over some insecurities.

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Have you left America or something?

Hell no, why would I do that?

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Originally Posted by Frogacuda

stuff

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I'm not saying that Japan isn't incredibly picky compared to Europe or America. I'm saying that it's hard to pin that on xenophobia when other pieces of western culture (like music and movies) go over relatively well there. It could just be that they don't get FPS and RTS any more than we get train games and dating simulators (don't western developed platformers, a genre Japan likes, do well in general? I know Crash Bandicoot was a success). Blaming the failure of the Xbox (which was pretty much the first worthwhile western console since the Colecovision) on xenophobia just seems like an easy excuse.

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Originally Posted by shidoshi

Cross was better than Trigger.

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Oh jesus FUCK.

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Originally Posted by Advocate

Its true though alot of Asians can;t play FPS's due to motion sickness.

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This doesn't stop Korea from being big on the genre.

I think the main reason the Japanese don't play them is an aversion to Western games for whatever reason, like has been said. Japanese FPS development in the early days was dominated by junk like Space Griffon VF-9 and Robotica. If companies like Capcom and Konami had made awesome games in the genre back in the day, I think it could have caught on back then.

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Originally Posted by sethsez

I'm not saying that Japan isn't incredibly picky compared to Europe or America. I'm saying that it's hard to pin that on xenophobia when other pieces of western culture (like music and movies) go over relatively well there. It could just be that they don't get FPS and RTS any more than we get train games and dating simulators (don't western developed platformers, a genre Japan likes, do well in general? I know Crash Bandicoot was a success). Blaming the failure of the Xbox (which was pretty much the first worthwhile western console since the Colecovision) on xenophobia just seems like an easy excuse.

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Well, yeah, it is a little more complicated than that.

A big part of it was that MS completely blew off Japan with the Xbox. They did nothing to court companies to release products that would appeal to the Japanese crowing about how "the Korean sales make up for it." So, of course Xbox 360 is going to be perceived similarly. Except now MS does want to court Japan, and none of the large companies will do anything more than throw them token support. Sure independent companies like MistWalker and Q Entertainment are happy to cash MS's checks to get their game made, and stuff like Blue Dragon is going to help a lot, but let's face it: It's not Final Fantasy.

But yeah, that still doesn't explain why the Japanese only play Japanese games 99% of the time, even on Japanese formats. I don't think they really give a shit about where the game was made, so it's not xenophobia in that sense, but they only like their kinds of games, where as Western gamers generally like Japanese style games. It might be because we grew up with Japanese games due to Nintendo and Sega's 100% combined market share for two console generations, but whatever the reason there's a definite resistence to idetifiably American games in Japan.

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Originally Posted by NeoZeedeater

This doesn't stop Korea from being big on the genre.

I think the main reason the Japanese don't play them is an aversion to Western games for whatever reason, like has been said. Japanese FPS development in the early days was dominated by junk like Space Griffon VF-9 and Robotica. If companies like Capcom and Konami had made awesome games in the genre back in the day, I think it could have caught on back then.

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I think it actually just comes down to the fact that the Japanese like to see their character in-game, no more no less.

It's undeniable that the Japanese don't go for 'yoge' (western games), but it's not xenophobia - western music, fashions and movies do just fine.

It's just that they say they find the artwork and character designs cold, and often don't relate to the themes. It's important to note that Japan - despite messed up anime you may have seen - is not as openly angry a society as we have here. Stuff like GTA may as well be coming from the moon. Something like Yakuza, which has a more humanized central character can find an audience, but on nowhere near the same scale.

There are heavily Japanized exceptions - I'll never get how gory things like Fist of the North Star find widespread acceptance - but by and large the template still stands.

It's also worth noting that western games do have an audience, it's just a subculture rather than the gaming mainstream. But if you look at Japanese top 10 sales charts, they're very similar to what we have here - ie., little indication of what hardcore types are buying. They're largely made up of big time franchises and (especially) licensed properties. For all the talk about Dragon Quest, Resident Evil & Fiinal Fantasy, crappy Gundam (Gundam nerds = Star Wars nerds) and Naruto properties probably outdo it on a year to year basis. Children's games are also really big on those charts - Pokemon, Animal Crossing etc. - and you know how kids are, they all want what the other kids have so they get the same thing en masse.

But if you were to look at North American npd sales, you'd conclude that everyone here is currently playing Cars, WWE Smackdown and three versions of Lego Star Wars. Somewhere, there's a Japanese version of TNL that can't believe how retarded we all are.

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Originally Posted by StriderKyo

It's just that they say they find the artwork and character designs cold, and often don't relate to the themes. It's important to note that Japan - despite messed up anime you may have seen - is not as openly angry a society as we have here. Stuff like GTA may as well be coming from the moon. Something like Yakuza, which has a more humanized central character can find an audience, but on nowhere near the same scale.

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Except GTA is more popular than Yakuza in Japan. You picked a really bad example.

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Originally Posted by Joust Williams

I don't understand this whole "Let's make excuses for Japan" crap. It's always "iPod" and that's it. It'd be like, "See, we like Japanese games too, Mario sells well here!"...and then nothing else would sell. That's not the case though. Why not? Because we're not closed-minded people that can't get over some insecurities.

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Originally Posted by shidoshi

Have you been to Japan anytime lately? It took me all of five seconds of looking at the Xbox 360 section of any of the game shops I walked in to to understand why Japanese gamers aren't buying it: because there AREN'T many games on the console made for them.

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Yes, I know - you enjoy talking about things like you know what you're talking about when you don't. It's your thing.

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Originally Posted by Do You Like Erotic?

Oh jesus FUCK.

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Hey, what can I say? I don't have this cloudy nostalgic view of Trigger, and the gameplay engine in Cross was far more enjoyable.

But why aren't there any games made for Japan? Because Japanese companies refuse to support the system, and they only like Japanese games. Nothing MS makes will ever appeal to them.

If something doesn't sell...

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Originally Posted by Frogacuda

But why aren't there any games made for Japan? Because Japanese companies refuse to support the system, and they only like Japanese games. Nothing MS makes will ever appeal to them.

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Well, GTA, Crash Bandicoot, Wizardry, etc show that it's certainly possible for western games to break through in that market. For some reason though, they just don't give two shits about Microsoft. I imagine it's similar to the Turbografx-16 in America, with piss-poor advertising and a populace that's already decided what it's going to like.

As for Trigger versus Cross, Cross's story was such a mishandled clusterfuck that Trigger wins by default for me. Though it's probably because Trigger felt like Dragon Quest does time travel, while Cross felt like a latter-day Final Fantasy to me, and I greatly prefer the Dragon Quest approach in general.