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[Roto Prime]

Is Yuka watch (*yummy*) doing good?

 

[Kresnik258]

Which is insane, unless they're getting a lot of money from western sales to make up for the loss.

Well, if SC on Steam is any indication... no. Trails in the Sky did well but it definitely benefited from the "the first entry" in PC/Steam sales, but it fell off a cliff with SC.

Falcom will just get licencing fees from Trails in the west, same as when they licence the games to Asian companies. It won't be making them a whole lot of money, especially since XSEED seem to be the only company interested in the series.

Yes, chalk me down to majorly skeptical about ToCS3 PS4-exclusive. I fail to see how the console can support a game like this opening to ~ 140k (previous two games) in its current state, but as someone mentioned before, maybe Kondo is betting on all the activity from now until then (DQ/FF/Persona) boosting the console enough.

 

[Hellraider]

There's obviously something publishers know which we don't considering a lot/most of them are forging ahead despite mixed results.

I think there is less of something they know and more of an attempt to bruteforce a result. They need the PS4 to succeed because otherwise in their eyes there is only mobile left which doesn't accomodate for the type of game these particular publishers and developers make.

It's gonna be really interesting to see what's gonna happen to them if (when?) PS4 fails to become what they need it to be and whether NX will gain something out of it.

 

[duckroll]

Probably worth noting that they said they might go PS4-exclusive for Cold Steel 3.

Source? I don't think they've talked about the platform at all.

 

[MacTag]

SC Steam sales are somewhat explainable given it launched during a big sale, has held it's higher price and is a direct data-sharing sequel to a game only about 30k of FC's 200k owners completed. Which funny enough is about what SC sold. I wouldn't worry yet, it'll have a long tail and probably crawl to a surprisingly decent total. Not every game can do Valkyria numbers.

 

[Oregano]

I think there is less of something they know and more of an attempt to bruteforce a result. They need the PS4 to succeed because otherwise in their eyes there is only mobile left which doesn't accomodate for the type of game these particular publishers and developers make.

It's gonna be really interesting to see what's gonna happen to them if (when?) PS4 fails to become what they need it to be and whether NX will gain something out of it.

I think we're just going to see a lot of series straight up cease to exist. I don't think Nintendo platforms are even on the radar of a lot of third parties.

Source? I don't think they've talked about the platform at all.

http://gematsu.com/2016/07/falcom-c...nd-heroes-trails-cold-steel-iii-ps4-exclusive

 

[Hellraider]

Falcom will just get licencing fees from Trails in the west, same as when they licence the games to Asian companies. It won't be making them a whole lot of money, especially since XSEED seem to be the only company interested in the series.

Yes, chalk me down to majorly skeptical about ToCS3 PS4-exclusive. I fail to see how the console can support a game like this opening to ~ 140k (previous two games) in its current state, but as someone mentioned before, maybe Kondo is betting on all the activity from now until then (DQ/FF/Persona) boosting the console enough.

Honestly, if I was Falcom I would seriously look into an Idea Factory-like expansion to the west. SC might have failed(?) for a number of reasons, but I still believe that they can built a niche on Steam just like Idea Factory International did. The fact that PC has always been a major pillar in their company's MO only aids the situation.

 

[Shizuka]

Falcom will just get licencing fees from Trails in the west, same as when they licence the games to Asian companies. It won't be making them a whole lot of money, especially since XSEED seem to be the only company interested in the series.

Yes, chalk me down to majorly skeptical about ToCS3 PS4-exclusive. I fail to see how the console can support a game like this opening to ~ 140k (previous two games) in its current state, but as someone mentioned before, maybe Kondo is betting on all the activity from now until then (DQ/FF/Persona) boosting the console enough.

Which is crazy, because the previous two games in the Cold Steel arc aren't available on the PS4.

 

[DriftingSpirit]

You're arguing Japan cares about graphics but then go on to list a bunch of crossgen games? Doesn't this sort of imply Japan won't care for the Pro, given they barely care for PS4 as it is?

Well, the PS3 version of those games should have sold more than the PS4 counterpart if people truly didn't care about that stuff, yeah? People bought a new system and wanted the best version (leave me alone, PC people!).

Japanese owners like that stuff (who doesn't?) but Japan developers aren't in a situation where they can really get something out of it.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

This bad:

Going by Steam Spy Trails in the Sky did around 200K and TiTS: Second Chapter did around 26K so nearly a 90% drop.

Talking strictly about number of sales and not its price the first one sits currently at around 200k while the second one at around 26k.

Good God.

That's bad.

 

[horuhe]

Ok then. Let's say 3DS will sell only 100k, not one unit more, in the last 6 weeks of the year (after Pokémon moon/Sun and when holiday start). That's alone is +600k.

This leave < 257k unit for sell 22 million. Now, let's say 3DS will sell an avg of 25k (even after 2DS release) from week 37 to week 46, that's 250k.

7k to go for sells 22 million... you 100% sure 3DS won't sells another 7k in January?


Again, 3DS will most likely sells 22 million this year, if not, will surely happen in January.

Now, I see it. Thanks. Didn't wanna be beaten by the Splatoon Million Predictor, haha.
Checking last year numbers, now I can clearly see the possibility. But, we better hope October isn't a murder for the market.

 

[duckroll]

http://gematsu.com/2016/07/falcom-c...nd-heroes-trails-cold-steel-iii-ps4-exclusive

Damn. I hear Cold Steel already runs like garbage on Vita, can't wait to see how much worse it gets if they actually try to make it look even better.

Which is crazy, because the previous two games in the Cold Steel arc isn't available on the PS4.

It's not really crazy if they assume that the majority of core gamers who bought games like that on PS3 are on the PS4 now. That's probably a pretty good read on the situation really. I mean, are we expecting Persona 5 to do better on PS3 than PS4? Lol. Persona 3 and 4 aren't on PS4 either!

 

[MacTag]

Well, the PS3 version of those games should have sold more than the PS4 counterpart if people truly didn't care about that stuff, yeah? People bought a new system and wanted the best version (leave me alone, PC people!).

Japanese owners like that stuff (who doesn't?) but Japan developers aren't in a situation where they can really get something out of it.

PS3 versions were selling better until just recently. Platforms die but even PS3 phasing out doesn't seem to be lifting PS4 enough. Just look at at the Trails discussion.

Besides which, listing mostly crossgen games as proof that PS4 owners care about visuals is just sort of unsound logically.

 

[Pellegri Testament]

Good God.

That's bad.

It's a sequel to a game that basically requires you to have played the first to even understand what's going on in the 2nd. Going by Steam achievement data only about 10% of the people who played FC, have beaten it.

It's not really crazy if they assume that the majority of core gamers who bought games like that on PS3 are on the PS4 now. That's probably a pretty good read on the situation really. I mean, are we expecting Persona 5 to do better on PS3 than PS4? Lol. Persona 3 and 4 aren't on PS4 either!

I really would not put Persona in the same ballpark as Kiseki, considering direct sequel Kiseki requires you to have played previous entries to understand the next, while Persona you can play any entry as a starting point.

 

[Shizuka]

Damn. I hear Cold Steel already runs like garbage on Vita, can't wait to see how much worse it gets if they actually try to make it look even better.

There isn't any issue other than the loading times.

 

[duckroll]

It's a sequel to a game that basically requires you to have played the first to even understand what's going on in the 2nd. Going by Steam achievement data only about 10% of the people who played FC, have beaten it.

Sounds like all 10% of those players bought SC! 100% conversion rate!

 

[wrowa]

SC Steam sales are somewhat explainable given it launched during a big sale, has held it's higher price and is a direct data-sharing sequel to a game only about 30k of FC's 200k owners completed. Which funny enough is about what SC sold. I wouldn't worry yet, it'll have a long tail and probably crawl to a surprisingly decent total. Not every game can do Valkyria numbers.

It's worth pointing out that FC was at 130-140k units sold when SC launched. Now it's at 200k. Even if SC itself isn't setting the world on fire, it helped generating attention to the franchise and it's very existence in English was important to FC becoming as successful as it is on Steam. I very much doubt that FC would have come even remotely close to 200k if it was known as "that game whose ending will never be available in English".

 

[gundamkyoukai]

Xseed should have ported Cold Steel to PS4 in the west .
It can't be that hard since it on PC already .
Japanese games should always be PS4\PC to cover all bases .

 

[duckroll]

It's worth pointing out that FC was at 130-140k units sold when SC launched. Now it's at 200k. Even if SC itself isn't setting the world on fire, it helped generating attention to the franchise and it's very existence in English was important to FC becoming as successful as it is on Steam. I very much doubt that FC would have come even remotely close to 200k if it was known as "that game whose ending will never be available in English".

I guess the question is, if people were interested enough to buy FC after SC launched simply because they heard it now has an ending, how is it that SC still has so few sales? If the game having a conclusion mattered so much to these 60k or so people who bought FC after SC was finally released, why wouldn't they have picked up SC by now too?

Xseed should have ported Cold Steel to PS4 in the west .
It can't be that hard since it on PC already .
Japanese games should always be PS4\PC to cover all bases .

What? It's not on PC.

 

[Oregano]

It's a sequel to a game that basically requires you to have played the first to even understand what's going on in the 2nd. Going by Steam achievement data only about 10% of the people who played FC, have beaten it.



I really would not put Persona in the same ballpark as Kiseki, considering direct sequel Kiseki requires you to have played previous entries to understand the next, while Persona you can play any entry as a starting point.

Do you think all the people who bought Second Chapter in Japan completed the First Chapter?

Even if that's the case it's a bad strategy to make a product like that and doesn't really excuse its performance.

 

[DriftingSpirit]

PS3 versions were selling better until just recently. Platforms die but even PS3 phasing out doesn't seem to be lifting PS4 enough. Just look at at the Trails discussion.

Besides which, listing mostly crossgen games as proof that PS4 owners care about visuals is just sort of unsound logically.

Like what games? Were they relatively big budget and graphically sound like the examples listed?

I don't think he was saying that was proof that visuals are a priority. He was just saying there is potential there for those sorts of games and that it isn't correct to say Japan doesn't care for graphics at all. They are, after all, the best selling games. If much more of those type of games were being made, I think Pro would have a somewhat better shot. Unfortunately, that isn't the case in Japan.

 

[MacTag]

Xseed should have ported Cold Steel to PS4 in the west .
It can't be that hard since it on PC already .
Japanese games should always be PS4PC to cover all bases .

Xseed says they can't afford to produce ports themselves, only license them. Although an even smaller publisher (Mastiff) is having a Falcom game ported to 3DS (Gurumin) so who knows.

 

[Pellegri Testament]

Do you think all the people who bought Second Chapter in Japan completed the First Chapter?

Even if that's the case it's a bad strategy to make a product like that and doesn't really excuse its performance.

I'd say it's a safe bet that a good majority of the people who played FC, went on to buy SC, same as TC, Zero/Ao and CS1 and 2. Those who didn't likely went on to be like some of the posters on the Steam forums where they complain about the game not making sense, even though it's heavily encouraged that you play the first before it. Not everyone is smart enough to do research before buying a game.

 

[gundamkyoukai]

What? It's not on PC.

Made a mistake and said CS when i mean the older games.

 

[Ryng_tolu]

Now, I see it. Thanks. Didn't wanna be beaten by the Splatoon Million Predictor, haha.
Checking last year numbers, now I can clearly see the possibility. But, we better hope October isn't a murder for the market.

Fine

and yes, i hope October won't be a bad month for hardware...

 

[Ryng_tolu]

Now that i think about this, must ask as well, will PS4 December 2016 beat Wii U december 2015?

Wii U December 2015

[WEEK 49] 32,604
[WEEK 50] 47,890
[WEEK 51] 79,266
[WEEK 52] 92,801
[WEEK 53] 53,547

Total - 306,108

 

[Vena]

Do you think all the people who bought Second Chapter in Japan completed the First Chapter?

Even if that's the case it's a bad strategy to make a product like that and doesn't really excuse its performance.

I have both TotS and SC and I never finished TotS because I got bored of the combat near the end. I YouTubed the ending and then went on to SC. I am a drastical outlier in this analysis!


... I also got bored with SC. I should stop buying this series.

 

[Elandyll]

Now that i think about this, must ask as well, will PS4 December 2016 beat Wii U december 2015?

Wii U December 2015

[WEEK 49] 32,604
[WEEK 50] 47,890
[WEEK 51] 79,266
[WEEK 52] 92,801
[WEEK 53] 53,547

Total - 306,108

Wouldn't there be a good chance of that happening, with both P5 and FFXV available, on top of new slimmer hardware (not sure of the Pro's appeal to Japan) and PSVR?

 

[Shizuka]

It's not really crazy if they assume that the majority of core gamers who bought games like that on PS3 are on the PS4 now. That's probably a pretty good read on the situation really. I mean, are we expecting Persona 5 to do better on PS3 than PS4? Lol. Persona 3 and 4 aren't on PS4 either!

How can you compare individual entries to direct sequels, just because they're both numbered titles?

 

[Brazil]

This bad:

This shit is infuriating.

 

[Calm Mind]

Now that i think about this, must ask as well, will PS4 December 2016 beat Wii U december 2015?

Wii U December 2015

[WEEK 49] 32,604
[WEEK 50] 47,890
[WEEK 51] 79,266
[WEEK 52] 92,801
[WEEK 53] 53,547

Total - 306,108

Those are some very good Holiday numbers for the console given its situation.

 

[Vena]

Wouldn't there be a good chance of that happening, with both P5 and FFXV available, on top of new slimmer hardware (not sure of the Pro's appeal to Japan) and PSVR?

P5 will be irrelevant, the used market will dominate by then. And the Slim is going to change the baseline not create a 20-70K hardware swing out of nowhere months later. The WiiU situation was a storm of software. Will FFXV and other software do the same then? Who knows!

 

[Takao]

It's not really crazy if they assume that the majority of core gamers who bought games like that on PS3 are on the PS4 now. That's probably a pretty good read on the situation really. I mean, are we expecting Persona 5 to do better on PS3 than PS4? Lol. Persona 3 and 4 aren't on PS4 either!

You know that's a poor comparison. Both of the Cold Steel games sold better on Vita than PS3, so ditching a handheld audience exclusively for a home console one is beyond foolish. Despite Sony's efforts, Vita -> PS4 isn't an upgrade path.

Previous engagement is going to be a lot more important here than with Persona. The next game is Cold Steel III, not a new Kiseki sub-series.

 

[duckroll]

Here's an interesting look at the success of the Kiseki series after leaving PC. These are all LTD numbers for each product as of the end of the listed year.

2006:
FC PSP - 31k

2007:
FC PSP - 66k (+35k)
SC PSP - 50k

2008:
FC PSP - 108k (+42k)
SC PSP - 86k (+36k)
3rd PSP - 73k
Trilogy Set PSP - 20k

2009:
FC PSP - 114k (+6k)
SC PSP - 92k (+6k)
3rd PSP - 80k (+7k)
Trilogy Set PSP - 28k (+8k)
Super Price Set PSP - 6k

2010:
Zero PSP - 126k
Super Price Set - 28k (+22k)
FC PSP Best Collection - 14k

2011:
Zero PSP - 146k (+20k)
Ao PSP - 173k
FC PSP The Best - 21k
SC PSP The Best - 24k
3rd PSP The Best - 16k

2012:
Zero Evo Vita - 37k
FC Kai PS3 - 14k
Zero PSP - 150k (+4k)
Ao PSP - 182k (+9k)
FC PSP The Best - 28k (+7k)
SC PSP The Best - 30k (+6k)
3rd PSP The Best - 20k (+4k)

2013:
Sen Vita - 112k
Sen PS3 - 94k
Zero Evo Vita - 48k (+11k)
FC Kai PS3 - 28k (+14k)
SC Kai PS3 - 18k
3rd Kai PS3 - 14k
Zero PSP The Best - 3k

2014:
Sen 2 Vita - 115k
Sen 2 PS3 - 88k
Sen Vita - 120k (+8k)
Sen PS3 - 100k (+6k)
Sen 1+2 Super Price Vita - 7k
Sen 1+2 Super Price PS3 - 2k
Ao Evo Vita - 43k
Zero Evo Vita - 53k (+5k)

2015:
Sen 2 Vita - 123k (+8k)
Sen 2 PS3 - 92k (+4k)
Sen 2 Vita The Best - 2k
Ao Evo Vita - 46k (+3k)
Zero Evo Vita - 56k (+3k)

---------------------------------------

And some additional data to chew on:

FC - 114+28+28+14+28+28 = 240k
SC - 92+28+28+30+18 = 196k
3rd - 80+28+28+20+14 = 170k

Zero - 150+3+56 = 209k
Ao - 182+46 = 228k

Sen - 120+100+7+2 = 229k
Sen2 - 123+92+7+2+2 = 226k

Those are the cumulative sales for each individual title when adding together all the re-releases, ports, other platforms, etc over nine years. The numbers are shockingly close and consistent, indicating that as the series popularity grew with each new release, new buyers were actively getting into the series by buying available ports or budget releases of old titles. Super interesting data imo.

-----------------------------------------------

You know that's a poor comparison. Both of the Cold Steel games sold better on Vita than PS3, so ditching a handheld audience exclusively for a home console one is beyond foolish. Despite Sony's efforts, Vita -> PS4 isn't an upgrade path.

Previous engagement is going to be a lot more important here than with Persona. The next game is Cold Steel III, not a new Kiseki sub-series.

???????

I'm not talking about ditching Vita for PS4. I'm talking about ditching PS3 for PS4. Obviously the Vita audience is important, which is why Falcom is seriously considering it. But the game is not coming out on PS3, we can be certain of that. Previous engagement is important but the PS3 audience hasn't just died. I reckon most of them still buying PS3 games will have PS4s now.

 

[Ryng_tolu]

Wouldn't there be a good chance of that happening, with both P5 and FFXV available, on top of new slimmer hardware (not sure of the Pro's appeal to Japan) and PSVR?

Persona will do nothing in December. In Japan games have very bad legs, expecially Jrpg.

I personally expect PS4 to sell more thanks Final Fantasy XV in the first week of December, but not by much.

 

[wrowa]

I guess the question is, if people were interested enough to buy FC after SC launched simply because they heard it now has an ending, how is it that SC still has so few sales? If the game having a conclusion mattered so much to these 60k or so people who bought FC after SC was finally released, why wouldn't they have picked up SC by now too?

I'm not actually suggesting that 60k people hold off buying FC due to the lack of an ending. Rather I'm saying that the announcement that SC would get an English release was from the very beginning one of the driving factors behind FC's success on Steam. Even if statistically most people don't finish the games they buy, "that great PSP RPG that will finally receive the ending to its story!" is still an infinitely better sales pitch than "that great PSP RPG that ends in a mean cliffhanger and which will never receive an ending". That whole ordeal behind SC is really what got people talking. The great WOM FC's Steam release received from day 1 can largely be attributed to the small TitS fanbase being extremely hyped about SC's announcement and spreading the word religiously.

That most people ultimately never even came close to finishing FC isn't really affecting that. After all, RPGs are a huge time commitment and who even buys a long game like that when you know that even if you end up liking it you'll just end up with an unfinished story whose ending people are desperately waiting for four years without an end in sight?

 

[Bebpo]

One thing when talking about Trails licensing to the US and sales numbers outside of Japan: Supposedly Trails is a very large seller in the Asia market, so that probably helps.

There isn't any issue other than the loading times.

lol. what. There's a section in CS1

Spoiler

school festival

where the game runs about 8 fps. Other parts have pretty large dips/low framerates as well. Loading times are barely longer, the framerate is a much bigger issue.

 

[djtiesto]

Tokyo Xanadu sales are concerning. They put a lot of effort into this ps4 version with about 25% new story/dungeon/bosses/gameplay content besides just graphical upgrades.

I would imagine Ys 8 Ps4 is going to sell similar numbers, so they're spending a year upgrading Ys 8 and adding content most likely to get 20k-30k lifetime sales. Doesn't seem financial a great idea.

Not worried about Cold Steel 3 simce it'll probably launch Ps4/Vita day 1. And a lot of TX's low sales come from it being a re-release (of a game that already had one compete edition re-release on vita already). Working on Ys 8 through next summer just seems like a bad idea, but at the same time they don't have much for 2017, so they need to stretch Ys 8 ps4 out.

I'm thinking the Ys 8 and Xanadu PS4 versions were mainly created with the western Falcom fanbase in mind...

 

[Pellegri Testament]

lol. what. There's a section in CS1

Spoiler

school festival

where the game runs about 8 fps. Other parts have pretty large dips/low framerates as well. Loading times are barely longer, the framerate is a much bigger issue.

Ya I wouldn't even put the loading as a real complaint next to the framerate, which actually isn't much better on the ps3 versions of either game. There's multiple areas in CS1 where you can feel it chugging along, most of which are cities that you'll be in for half a chapter. It's the same thing with CS2, except they also decided to put in multiple large areas outside of said cities which also chug as you're running along.

I'm thinking the Ys 8 and Xanadu PS4 versions were mainly created with the western Falcom fanbase in mind...

There's a good chance that's why Ys 8 is getting a PS4 version, but for Tokyo Xanadu, we don't even have a confirmation that we're getting that version, even though it's been confirmed for Vita and a PC port.

 

[Bebpo]

Since CS3 seems fairly far away (maybe end of 2017, but it's one delay away from 2018) and Falcom's 2017 lineup is jack & shit outside of Ys 8 port that'll sell 20k copies in the summer, I am half expecting to see CS1&2 PS4 edition released in 2017 to deal with the whole "how can people jump into 3 when they haven't played 1&2?" issue. Now that Pyramid/Kadokawa is out of Evo games to make, they can even do Evo versions of CS1 & CS2 if Falcom doesn't have the time.

Those will probably sell like 20k as well, but /shrug.

 

[duckroll]

Maybe with the power of the PS4 Pro, CS can finally run at 40fps?

 

[Nirolak]

All right, now that I have a bit more time, I'll do a late weigh in on a few things.

For the Sony conference, I felt that it had an upside and a downside.

The upside is that they, for perhaps the first time ever, had a strong line-up of PS4 games across the next six months that Japanese people might actually want to buy. Similarly, for the most part, the games didn't look embarrassing when put next to the Western titles. Combined with the Slim and the new pricing structure, this is probably about as compelling a proposition as they're going to muster this generation.

The downside is that the new announcements were pretty weak. They had a total of Koei Warriors, Fortune Street, Earth Defense Force 5, Gundam Versus, and Badman VR as new titles. These are fine titles to fill in a line-up, and Fortune Street continues to show Square Enix's commitment to supporting the platform, but none are really flagship titles, major production hikes on existing series, or surprising new entrants that could make a big splash. I think it's clear at this point that the publishers supporting the PS4 announced much of their line-up years ahead of release and don't have much to follow up with since they still have to get all their existing games out the door. Announcements throughout this entire year, not just the TGS window, have been pretty light.

At this point, I suspect they'll spend the next 4 to 12 months vacuuming up whoever is still willing to buy a home console in Japan, and then return to a pretty modest sales level for the rest of the generation.

I feel God Eater Online is a good demonstration of the thinking a lot of publishers have with regards to where mobile gaming is headed. It might still be a bit early for something like this however. Capcom is supposed to have quite a few new flagship mobile games this year that they've yet to unveil, and I'm rather curious to see what they look like as well, given Capcom's strength is definitely not in casual gaming.

As for the Vita -> PS4 (primarily or only) transitions, I suspect there's an extent to which developers are looking at their series and asking if they have a future, determining the answer is "no" or at least "more likely no than yes", and deciding to go out making a game the way they want it to be instead of squeezing out two entries with compromises. Mind, I don't think this applies to every case, and I wouldn't put Falcom in this bucket. If business cases don't match up, it's generally best to start looking at what external factors might be interfering, and it seems unlikely Sony is paying for that kind of development, so I'm guessing it's driven by developer desire. That, or maybe publishers really just expected way more out of the PS4.

 

[Takao]

Since CS3 seems fairly far away (maybe end of 2017, but it's one delay away from 2018) and Falcom's 2017 lineup is jack & shit outside of Ys 8 port that'll sell 20k copies in the summer, I am half expecting to see CS1&2 PS4 edition released in 2017 to deal with the whole "how can people jump into 3 when they haven't played 1&2?" issue. Now that Pyramid/Kadokawa is out of Evo games to make, they can even do Evo versions of CS1 & CS2 if Falcom doesn't have the time.

Those will probably sell like 20k as well, but /shrug.

Didn't Xanadu eX+ tease another Alternative Saga game? Of course, that would probably do like 50k, but it's something they could maybe squeeze out quickly.

As for the Evo ports, I want to say Kondo expressed interest in a Gagharv re-release. That might change, but I don't think they're necessarily out of games yet.

???????

I'm not talking about ditching Vita for PS4. I'm talking about ditching PS3 for PS4. Obviously the Vita audience is important, which is why Falcom is seriously considering it. But the game is not coming out on PS3, we can be certain of that. Previous engagement is important but the PS3 audience hasn't just died. I reckon most of them still buying PS3 games will have PS4s now.

You're not, but Falcom is.

I don't think CS3 on PS3 was ever really on the table.

 

[Oregano]

An interesting thing about God Eater Online is that it very much looks like a reskin of the developer's other game(s)(as Duckroll pointed out). Publishers hiring mobile developers to reskin games with their franchises is probably something we'll see somewhat often going forward.


EDIT: Also Nirolak out of interest what's an example of a developer you think are going for the "one last hurrah" thing?

I'm still of the opinion that publishers had much higher expectations for PS4.

 

[Vena]

I'm still of the opinion that publishers had much higher expectations for PS4.

I would say they definitely did. No one expected it to come out to an effectively empty-of-competition home console market and struggle like the PS3* did before it. All those games announced years in advance as Nirolak noted, were probably not expecting to end up in the market conditions we have today... or they were an attempt to avoid these conditions but failed to really produce results.

Nirolak touched on another problem in that after the announced line-up completes this and into next year, there's just nothing of impact or potential to Splatoon that we can really see or envision. That leads to a scenario of lacking longevity once the remainder of console buyers is "vacuumed up".

*A (very expensive) product stuck in the shadow of the Wii, that saw a massive decline from the PS2 and was an unwieldy and unruly beast for development.

 

[Nirolak]

An interesting thing about God Eater Online is that it very much looks like a reskin of the developer's other game(s)(as Duckroll pointed out). Publishers hiring mobile developers to reskin games with their franchises is probably something we'll see somewhat often going forward.


EDIT: Also Nirolak out of interest what's an example of a developer you think are going for the "one last hurrah" thing?

I'm still of the opinion that publishers had much higher expectations for PS4.

Given that Kou Shibusawa got up on stage at TGS looking about 3000 years old, and has been attaching his name very prominently to lots of Koei Tecmo projects, I'm suspicious some of Koei Tecmo's recent aggression is him wanting to make a big splash before he retires.

There's also Ni no Kuni 2, where Level-5 barely even acknowledges the game when talking about their own business strategy, and basically took a sweet deal from Bandai Namco to make a big shiny PS4 Ghibli game.

 

[AniHawk]

I would say they definitely did. No one expected it to come out to an effectively empty-of-competition home console market and struggle like the PS3* did before it. All those games announced years in advance as Nirolak noted, were probably not expecting to end up in the market conditions we have today... or they were an attempt to avoid these conditions but failed to really produce results.

Nirolak touched on another problem in that after the announced line-up completes this and into next year, there's just nothing of impact or potential to Splatoon that we can really see or envision. That leads to a scenario of lacking longevity once the remainder of console buyers is "vacuumed up".

*A (very expensive) product stuck in the shadow of the Wii, that saw a massive decline from the PS2 and was an unwieldy and unruly beast for development.

ps4 should hit 6m no problem. that's probably not what sony or third parties wanted from it, but sony is so western-focused now, i don't think they really care.

for third-parties, if they were having success on ps vita/ps4, or ps vita/ps3, or psp/ps vita/ps3, or psp/ps3, they will probably just shift things over to ps4/nx unless nintendo is super against multiplatform titles.

 

[Vena]

ps4 should hit 6m no problem. that's probably not what sony or third parties wanted from it, but sony is so western-focused now, i don't think they really care.

for third-parties, if they were having success on ps vita/ps4, or ps vita/ps3, or psp/ps vita/ps3, or psp/ps3, they will probably just shift things over to ps4/nx unless nintendo is super against multiplatform titles.

As I said, "like the PS3".

 

[Kresnik258]

2015:
Sen 2 Vita - 123k (+8k)
Sen 2 PS3 - 92k (+4k)
Sen 2 Vita The Best - 2k
Ao Evo Vita - 46k (+3k)
Zero Evo Vita - 56k (+3k)

You're missing the Vita re-releases of FC & SC. FC is ~ 44k by the end of 2015 while SC is ~ 21k.

Also, I completely forgot they re-did the Trails in the Sky games for PS3, lol.

 

[test_account]

The downside is that the new announcements were pretty weak. They had a total of Koei Warriors, Fortune Street, Earth Defense Force 5, Gundam Versus, and Badman VR as new titles. These are fine titles to fill in a line-up, and Fortune Street continues to show Square Enix's commitment to supporting the platform, but none are really flagship titles, major production hikes on existing series, or surprising new entrants that could make a big splash. I think it's clear at this point that the publishers supporting the PS4 announced much of their line-up years ahead of release and don't have much to follow up with since they still have to get all their existing games out the door. Announcements throughout this entire year, not just the TGS window, have been pretty light.

How does this compare to the previous generation? Was there are more steady flow of big game announcements? I cant recall that personally, but i dont know.