Japanese developers talk about 2018 plans and beyond in this week's Dengeki Playstation

DarkDetective · Dec 26, 2017

AniHawk said:
nisa kinda 'gets around to it' these days. they tend not to localize visual novels unless they seem like a sure bet (danganronpa wasn't at the time, but it was a big property in japan with a cult following in the us, and psycho-pass was a well-known anime property). so exile election is way off-base unless nisa localizes it like the way ghost stories came over here, where it's self-aware that it's a danganronpa ripoff. shin hayarigami is similarly difficult due to crappy platform choices (the first was ps3/vita in 2014? the second was ps4/vita in 2016?) princess is a miser and the world's longest five minutes might be coming over a year or two late, but they're making it. they also brought over cladun 3, yomawari 2, and a rose in the twilight last year, with witch and the hundred knight 2 also slated for early next year.

I agree with this. Visual novels usually are too much work. The Hayarigami series is much older than the 2014 PS3/PSV game (the first game released in 2004 for PS2), and even in the earlier days, they never localised it. Exile Election doesn't look like the kind of VN that would do well (at least in the west; I'm not sure about its performance in Japan, but I remember it didn't move a lot). Not on PS, but also not on Steam or Switch. I think NISA's priorities are a bit skew. The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 is a big game for NISJ yet it takes them more than a year to release it in the west. I was actually surprised by the October release of Yomawari: Midnight Shadows. Meanwhile, they're localising things that I don't think will make a lot of money, like The Lost Child and Tokyo Tattoo Girls. They also released Touhou Kobuto V in the west. They should've known that that's not a great game, and a 40/100 Metascore won't do good to their reputation. The same goes for Ys VIII's localisation catastrophe. They're not very careful, which is a real shame...

AniHawk said:
more often than not, platform choices matter too. hero must die seems to be a casualty of neglect. not sure why that one got passed over, but i think the vita mattered quite a lot as a platform. hakoniwa company works should have been on switch in some way, or at least vita for japan (but wound up being ps4-only). unfortunately i think the fanbase for that kind of game isn't on ps4 in the us either, and the lukewarm reception in japan means we're unlikely to see it too. coven wound up being an odd one because it was on vita and then ps4 during a whole time period in which dungeon rpgs really weren't doing it for those platforms (the only bright spot was stranger of sword city).

i'm sure that going forward you'll see more yomawari, small platformer games from the rose/firefly diary team, disgaea of course, and perhaps the new princess-style game, as long as penny-punching princess does well.

I think Hakoniwa Company Works was for the most part a learning effort for UE4 development. Lack of a portable version really hurt the game yeah. After all those reports about how easy it is to port UE4 projects to the Switch, I'm kind of surprised that they didn't release it on there too (since UE4 doesn't support the PSV). I don't see that game getting localised, but I think projects like this demand much less localisation work for NISA and therefore are easier for them to consider. It's weird that NISJ themselves seem so lax on the localisation of their games. NISA is 100% owned by NISJ after all.

As for NISJ development efforts, I've written a whole post earlier in this thread. I think it's too soon for Yomawari 3, but instead hope they port 1+2 to Switch first before releasing the third game for PC/PS4/NSW in 2019. Disgaea 6 seems like a given. Coven 2 would be cool too, but I expect that to stay in Japan (or NISA needs to announce localisation real soon). NISA have had since June 2016 to localise the game and add it to the PS4 version that was released in September 2017 in Japan. About the Penny-Punching Princess team, NIS will release a new brawler on March 8, 2018 in Japan for NSW/PS4/PSV, so there's that.

Chaos2Frozen · Dec 26, 2017

jett said:
Interesting, if true. Maybe now that Kojima is an independent and using other people's money he feels more responsible towards being budget-conscious.

Kojima mentioned in an early interview that in any other company he had to spend a good portion of the time in board meetings getting approval but with Sony they just nodded and let him go right ahead.

A lot of progress can be made when you're not tied down by red tapes.

Gameblog: Why did you choose Sony as a partner for the first project of your new studio, Kojima Productions?

Hideo Kojima: I'll admit I received numerous offers. But for our first title, I wanted to ensure that we would be under the best conditions. I've maintained for a while now a wonderful relationship with Sony, with absolute trust between us, which allows me to focus on the creative aspects. Working with another partner would definitely have required more time on the non-game development tasks. It would have taken time for contract negotiations, and I don't think things would have happened as quickly as they have to date. Working with Sony also afforded me a lot of freedom, and their support has been exceptional.

For example, if this had been with a "normal" company, right now, I'd be preparing a pitch for my game, we'd be looking for financing, explaining what we wanted to do. Like with a Kickstarter.

With Sony, of course I have to explain my plan to them, but they immediately told me "go for it, you do what you have to do." They offered me their trust. All the energy that would have gone into the project pitch, I could focus it on the creation of the project itself. That makes a real difference.

french site though: http://www.gameblog.fr/news/59881-hideo-kojima-nous-explique-pourquoi-il-a-choisi-playstation

AniHawk · Dec 26, 2017

DarkDetective said:
I agree with this. Visual novels usually are too much work. The Hayarigami series is much older than the 2014 PS3/PSV game (the first game released in 2004 for PS2), and even in the earlier days, they never localised it. Exile Election doesn't look like the kind of VN that would do well (at least in the west; I'm not sure about its performance in Japan, but I remember it didn't move a lot). Not on PS, but also not on Steam or Switch. I think NISA's priorities are a bit skew. The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 is a big game for NISJ yet it takes them more than a year to release it in the west. I was actually surprised by the October release of Yomawari: Midnight Shadows. Meanwhile, they're localising things that I don't think will make a lot of money, like The Lost Child and Tokyo Tattoo Girls. They also released Touhou Kobuto V in the west. They should've known that that's not a great game, and a 40/100 Metascore won't do good to their reputation. The same goes for Ys VIII's localisation catastrophe. They're not very careful, which is a real shame...

i think they had something like 20 releases in 2017, which is insane for their size, and especially when they handled two huge games at the same time. they also didn't grow to meet the demand of the projects, so people had to crunch on time quite a bit more than usual. aside from that, nisa's role has been something of a brand builder. they brought neptunia, atelier, and danganronpa out to the west, and try to do the same with other outside companies and brands like touhou. or they build alliances with companies like kadokawa and experience, which also demands their time and resources. it would be nice to see them focus more on nisj's output though. i think they could make a real go at uta no prince-sama for instance. hayarigami would have also made sense as a ds game when ace attorney was making it big, but the producers of that era had to pick and choose carefully since there were only 10-15 people at the time and ps2 and psp games were far better bets.

I think Hakoniwa Company Works was for the most part a learning effort for UE4 development. Lack of a portable version really hurt the game yeah. After all those reports about how easy it is to port UE4 projects to the Switch, I'm kind of surprised that they didn't release it on there too (since UE4 doesn't support the PSV). I don't see that game getting localised, but I think projects like this demand much less localisation work for NISA and therefore are easier for them to consider. It's weird that NISJ themselves seem so lax on the localisation of their games. NISA is 100% owned by NISJ after all.

As for NISJ development efforts, I've written a whole post earlier in this thread. I think it's too soon for Yomawari 3, but instead hope they port 1+2 to Switch first before releasing the third game for PC/PS4/NSW in 2019. Disgaea 6 seems like a given. Coven 2 would be cool too, but I expect that to stay in Japan (or NISA needs to announce localisation real soon). NISA have had since June 2016 to localise the game and add it to the PS4 version that was released in September 2017 in Japan. About the Penny-Punching Princess team, NIS will release a new brawler on March 8, 2018 in Japan for NSW/PS4/PSV, so there's that.

yomawari 1+2 makes sense. unfortunately midnight shadows did worse than night alone so far, at least on steam. the new brawler seems neat. would be nice to have that localized if it's any good.

Oregano · Dec 26, 2017

I wonder if the next Disgaea will be polygonal?

It seems that would go badly with the fanbase but it would be cost effective in the long run.

Deleted member 887 · Dec 26, 2017

Decimal engine doing work huh?

BadWolf · Dec 26, 2017

J-Skee said:
Holy crap, Kojima is actually going to put a game out in a reasonable time-frame?

Where does talk like this even come from?

The only time he took more than usual is MGSV and that was because they were building the Fox Engine from scratch, even then it was about 5 years of development which is nothing out of the ordinary.

Deleted member 12833 · Dec 26, 2017

Death Stranding going to be so good

Chaos2Frozen · Dec 26, 2017

BadWolf said:
Where does talk like this even come from?

Probably from the same place where people think all of his projects were expensive and over-budget.

00stevenm · Dec 26, 2017

There's more to DS than meets the eye...

Furisco · Dec 26, 2017

The big DS surprise is another actor reveal.

Gotta love video games.

Areez · Dec 26, 2017

Laplasakos said:
Dengeki PlayStation (magazine) had a "Creator Interviews" feature in this week's issue, where some developers talk about their 2018 plans and beyond. Some tidbits have already appeared online but it seems that more will come so i will updating the OP (and make a new post).

Level5

In 2018, Ni no Kuni and Yokai-Watch studio Level-5 will celebrate its 20th anniversary and Level-5 president Akihiro Hino said the company is working on "a major title" to commemorate the company's milestone anniversary

Koei Temco

Kenichi Ogasawara, the producer of the Toukiden series and Koei Tecmo-side producer of the Dragon Quest Heroes series. Some tidbits

-Numbered titles for this and that are starting up.
-There is also a new collaboration project.
-Since the core team members of Toukiden are working on a new project, it will be a bit of time before I can say anything more.
-That new project will be quite a surprise, so please look forward to its announcement.

Yosuke Hayashi: "I want Nioh to become even bigger. Please keep an eye out in the future"

Nihon Falcom

Toshihiro Kondo: "In The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV ~The End of Saga~, the foreshadowing that spread across The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, The Legend of Heroes: Zero no Kiseki, and The Legend of Heroes: Ao no Kiseki will considerably come to surface, and for those who have played the series, there will be a surprising development in the beginning."

Aquaplus

Naoya Shimokawa: "I am realizing there are many people hoping for an anime adaption of Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth. I too am hoping for it, and want to someday make it a reality."

Kojima Productions

Hideo Kojima: "Development on Death Stranding is going well enough that SIE told us, 'We have never before seen a game being created at such a fast pace.' We are planning an announcement that will further surprise everyone in 2018."

Nippon Ichi Software

They are planning sequels for Coven and Labyrinth of Refrain and Yomawari and both titles are being brought up as up-and-coming rookies. Additionally, Nippon Ichi Software is preparing to discuss new developments for the Disgaea series in 2018, as well as announce a new project at the start of the year. The company is also considering sequels for other past titles.

Cygames

Tetsuya Fukuhara, who shared a few new details about the game. Some tidbits

-When playing single-player, the other three characters are controlled by AI. There is also four-person multiplayer.
-Since we developed the non-graphics parts side by side (with the graphics), I wonder if we will be able to see the goal in a little while.
-Since we cannot compromise on graphics, Cygames and CyDesignation staff are being stationed at Platinum Games.

They also talked to Famitsu so i will put this here too

-The team has reached a point where it can say it feels good about the basic actions.
-New information beyond this past weekend's Granblue Fantasy Fes 2017 is still a little while ahead.
-The graphics will improve even further.
-The goal is to make a game in which players can enjoy "situations" where the course changes from one to the next, as well as enjoy "multiplayer."

Thanks Gematsu
https://gematsu.com/2017/12/level-5...wants-make-nioh-even-bigger-developer-tidbits
https://gematsu.com/2017/12/toukide...ses-new-numbered-titles-collaboration-project
https://gematsu.com/2017/12/nis-pla...quels-new-disgaea-developments-discussed-2018
https://gematsu.com/2017/12/granblu...r-person-multiplayer-wont-compromise-graphics

Could we be getting a 2018 release date for Death Stranding??

Mr. RPG · Dec 26, 2017

Laplasakos said:
Level5

In 2018, Ni no Kuni and Yokai-Watch studio Level-5 will celebrate its 20th anniversary and Level-5 president Akihiro Hino said the company is working on "a major title" to commemorate the company's milestone anniversary

Dark Cloud 3 is finally almost here. :)

Loakum · Dec 26, 2017

The last time I got hyped for one of Kojima "surprises", it turned out to be the reveal of the "Chicken Hat", Hai!

ZER0 · Dec 26, 2017

Strings said:
A sequel to Coven and the Labyrinth of Refrain is fantastic news. Easily the best game NIS has put out in years.

Also... Is the Level-5 title for PS4, if they talked about it in Dengeki Playstation? I dunno. I'm just surprised they have a 'big' title outside of NNK2.

yes and no, Multiplat games have been announced before in Dengeki Playstation.

Im not to sure when it was but they did announce a switch game recently in the magazine, although the game also came to ps4.
It's safe to say the level-5 title will either be ps4 exclusive, or multiplat(ps4/switch/...)

ZER0 · Dec 26, 2017

purseowner said:
Even Yokai Watch? Doubtful of that.

I'll agree though that nothing will remain Nintendo-only from Level-5 now though. Either Nintendo platform + PS4 or Nintendo platform + mobile.

No way yokai watch will come to the ps4, I agree it will probably be switch + mobile from now on for the Yokai Watch franchise.

DarkDetective · Dec 26, 2017

AniHawk said:
i think they had something like 20 releases in 2017, which is insane for their size, and especially when they handled two huge games at the same time. they also didn't grow to meet the demand of the projects, so people had to crunch on time quite a bit more than usual. aside from that, nisa's role has been something of a brand builder. they brought neptunia, atelier, and danganronpa out to the west, and try to do the same with other outside companies and brands like touhou. or they build alliances with companies like kadokawa and experience, which also demands their time and resources. it would be nice to see them focus more on nisj's output though. i think they could make a real go at uta no prince-sama for instance. hayarigami would have also made sense as a ds game when ace attorney was making it big, but the producers of that era had to pick and choose carefully since there were only 10-15 people at the time and ps2 and psp games were far better bets.

Yeah, but taking that role means handling the products with care, or not even start handling them if they're not worth it. They judged a lot of NISJ stuff that way (I think Hayarigami missing the boat only makes sense). And while they have made alliances with companies like Kadokawa Games, that doesn't mean it's financially viable to localise everything those partners make. Touhou Gensou Wanderer was good and totally deserves to be played by many, but Touhou Kobuto V for example isn't. Just judging from a critical standpoint. From a business standpoint, I doubt Tokyo Tattoo Girls made and The Lost Child will make any money. In the end, you want your company to survive. Those games didn't break through in their country of origin; why would such niche products do elsewhere?

AniHawk said:
yomawari 1+2 makes sense. unfortunately midnight shadows did worse than night alone so far, at least on steam. the new brawler seems neat. would be nice to have that localized if it's any good.

Midnight Shadows is the second game in the series. People are open to try things with the first game in the series, and if they like it, they might buy the second one. If they don't or just think nothing about it, they don't. It's very hard to make your second game outsell the first one. There also is the discount culture on Steam. Midnight Shadows is out for only two months now. It might need some more Steam Sales to get to Night Alone's number. Right now, Midnight Shadows is at 20% discount on Steam, which is okay in Steam's current climate. Its Japanese sales alone already give the series every right to exist and continue tho.

Midnight Shadows's Steam sales so far make clear that there is no established fanbase of size yet (at least on PC). That's part of the reason why I think NIS shouldn't mass-produce Yomawari games now. If they're releasing Yomawari 3 next year, it will hurt Midnight Shadows' sales, as it will still be getting sales from people who are testing the waters with it at discounted price. Expanding availability is more important than feeding the current (tiny) fanbase with new games.

As for that brawler, its localisation will probably depend on Penny-Punching Princess' success.

Dabi3 · Dec 26, 2017

silva1991 said:
Death Stranding at the end of Sony conference hopefully(should start with TLOU2 gameplay)

Flip it

ILikeFeet · Dec 26, 2017

Mr. RPG said:
Dark Cloud 3 is finally almost here. :)

why on earth would Sony fund a large-ish budgeted japanese RPG?

Kresnik · Dec 26, 2017

AniHawk said:
more often than not, platform choices matter too. hero must die seems to be a casualty of neglect. not sure why that one got passed over, but i think the vita mattered quite a lot as a platform.

Hooray, someone talking about Hero Must Die. I just imported it like 3 days ago. Watch it get a localization announcement now... :(

But yeah, really surprised they passed over that one. Would've been prime localization fodder in the PS3 era.

AniHawk said:
so exile election is way off-base unless nisa localizes it like the way ghost stories came over here, where it's self-aware that it's a danganronpa ripoff.

I've heard the game isn't so great, but I still reckon it could be profitable overseas purely by pandering to the DanganRonpa audience.

DarkDetective said:
The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 is a big game for NISJ yet it takes them more than a year to release it in the west.

This one always surprised me. They were pushing it as their big property a few years ago and then the sequel gets completely looked over for ages in localization. I know it flopped relative to the first one in Japan, but I still think it has a hell of a lot more appeal than the vast majority of the stuff NISA localizes.

DarkDetective said:
Meanwhile, they're localising things that I don't think will make a lot of money, like The Lost Child and Tokyo Tattoo Girls. They also released Touhou Kobuto V in the west. They should've known that that's not a great game, and a 40/100 Metascore won't do good to their reputation

DarkDetective said:
From a business standpoint, I doubt Tokyo Tattoo Girls made and The Lost Child will make any money. In the end, you want your company to survive. Those games didn't break through in their country of origin; why would such niche products do elsewhere?

I think The Lost Child has potential of appealing to the SMT audience. I'm not saying runaway success, but I don't think it'll be an outright bomb either. With that said, the platforms must just suck for NISA on it. Vita has been a good home for gridders (iirc Demon Gaze did pretty well) but not in 2018 where it's fading away; and PS4 just doesn't seem like a good home for them.

I don't think your point about not breaking through in country of origin meaning they can't do well overseas holds true either. We've seen plenty of games megabomb in Japan that I am certain sold a lot better overseas, even from NISA things like Natural Doctrine. I also suspect Lost Dimension did miles better than its pitiful Japanese sales figures when Atlus localized it.

AniHawk said:
aside from that, nisa's role has been something of a brand builder. they brought neptunia, atelier, and danganronpa out to the west, and try to do the same with other outside companies and brands like touhou. or they build alliances with companies like kadokawa and experience, which also demands their time and resources. it would be nice to see them focus more on nisj's output though. i think they could make a real go at uta no prince-sama for instance. hayarigami would have also made sense as a ds game when ace attorney was making it big, but the producers of that era had to pick and choose carefully since there were only 10-15 people at the time and ps2 and psp games were far better bets.

I totally 'get' the brand-building thing, but they've also been burned by it multiple times in the past now (Atelier left; Neptunia left; it looks like DanganRonpa will be going soon). In the meantime they've been passing over NIS games and potentially losing out on things that could've found overseas success and could've been built into a brand from there with a bit of co-ordination with the Japanese branch.

It would be really nice to see them take a shot at Uta no Prince Sama. Tbh, they've not even missed the boat on that one if they got it out in 2018 - I think the otome audience overseas is pretty damn dedicated judging by the fact that Aksys have like 3 more releases lined up for 2018, plus they can just do a quick Steam port as well like IFI do with Hakuoki.

Deleted member 5596 · Dec 26, 2017

Hideo Kojima: "Development on Death Stranding is going well enough that SIE told us, 'We have never before seen a game being created at such a fast pace.' We are planning an announcement that will further surprise everyone in 2018."

jiggle · Dec 26, 2017

ILikeFeet said:
why on earth would Sony fund a large-ish budgeted japanese RPG?

Because what else is sceja going to spend money on?
More knack?
Nvm...

Skeeter49 · Dec 26, 2017

Sounds like good news for Level 5 and Kojima Productions.

Seems like Death Stranding should hit 2019 easily.

Wiggles · Dec 26, 2017

Nioh 2 would be nice to see. Nioh was one of the best Souls-like games to be released (in fact I liked it more than Dark Souls III). For a sequel to be nearly perfect, they just need to streamline the end game, tone down the sheer amount of loot drops, trim away a chunk of the re-used content, and hopefully that would make it a more succinct 30-40 hour game.

Deleted member 6539 · Dec 26, 2017

Nippon Ichi Software

They are planning sequels for Coven and Labyrinth of Refrain and Yomawari and both titles are being brought up as up-and-coming rookies. Additionally, Nippon Ichi Software is preparing to discuss new developments for the Disgaea series in 2018, as well as announce a new project at the start of the year. The company is also considering sequels for other past titles.

I would really love to see a sequel to Phantom Brave or Makai Kingdom.

Van Bur3n · Dec 26, 2017

Control + F: FromSoftware

Inuhanyou · Dec 26, 2017

Nioh 2, DOA6, Toukiden spirtual successor, Level 5 Dark Cloud 3 LETS FUCCKIING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

SOLDIER · Dec 26, 2017

Velezcora said:
This is hilarious considering we haven't see gameplay of this so called game yet.
Oh god...
the surprise is gonna be gameplay isn't it? I hope Death Stranding is supposed to be a satire of AAA game development and hype culture because otherwise... lel

It depresses me that Level 5 is known for No no Kuni and Yokai-Watch now instead of Dark Cloud but it makes sense since it's their most recent and currently running franchise.

I would love to see Level 5 bring back the Ushiro game for Switch. It had a light novel adaption but gimmie dat game. It looked really unique.

God I wish.

Has the novel been translated? Is it worth checking out?

SolidSnakex · Dec 26, 2017

Here's one from Kadokawa Games

2018 will be the year Kadokawa Games progresses on a new collaboration project by means of a "never before imagined partnership," company president Yoshimi Yasuda told the latest issue of Dengeki PlayStation for a "Creator Interviews" feature.

https://gematsu.com/2017/12/kadokawa-games-teases-never-imagined-partnership-2018

WanPisu · Dec 26, 2017

You think more of these will trickle in?

DarkDetective · Dec 27, 2017

Kresnik said:
I think The Lost Child has potential of appealing to the SMT audience. I'm not saying runaway success, but I don't think it'll be an outright bomb either. With that said, the platforms must just suck for NISA on it. Vita has been a good home for gridders (iirc Demon Gaze did pretty well) but not in 2018 where it's fading away; and PS4 just doesn't seem like a good home for them.

I don't think your point about not breaking through in country of origin meaning they can't do well overseas holds true either. We've seen plenty of games megabomb in Japan that I am certain sold a lot better overseas, even from NISA things like Natural Doctrine. I also suspect Lost Dimension did miles better than its pitiful Japanese sales figures when Atlus localized it.

You must have a lot of faith in a certain product with such a niche appeal to try to sell it elsewhere if it fails in its country of origin. Sometimes it works out, sometimes not. Is it worth the risk and time? Maybe I'm underestimating The Lost Child, but I don't think it'll move much.

Kresnik said:
I totally 'get' the brand-building thing, but they've also been burned by it multiple times in the past now (Atelier left; Neptunia left; it looks like DanganRonpa will be going soon). In the meantime they've been passing over NIS games and potentially losing out on things that could've found overseas success and could've been built into a brand from there with a bit of co-ordination with the Japanese branch.

That's how the business of licensing works. The Japanese publishers they're licensing from aren't interested in taking the risk until it's been proven that there's money to be made. We saw that with Idea Factory's titles and now it's likely to happen to Danganronpa too with the establishment of Spike Chunsoft in North America. I think NISA would still be localising Atelier titles if Gust wasn't bought by Koei Tecmo, who have their own localisation department. And yeah, that's how the business of licensing works. I think Touhou has a big chance on staying, because the brand is owned by literally own guy (ZUN), but it'll happen again if sales of the Ys and The Legend of Heroes games rise to higher levels. Right now, the west only accounts for 15% of Falcom's revenue, but they may want to setup their own localisation department when it rises to >35%. They're expanding business anyway, so they'll have more work to translate and localise anyway.

Kresnik said:
It would be really nice to see them take a shot at Uta no Prince Sama. Tbh, they've not even missed the boat on that one if they got it out in 2018 - I think the otome audience overseas is pretty damn dedicated judging by the fact that Aksys have like 3 more releases lined up for 2018, plus they can just do a quick Steam port as well like IFI do with Hakuoki.

The big problem of rhythm games is music licensing. Most contracts prohibit sublicensing and/or use outside Japan (or sometimes Asia), which has to do with music industry politics, so the deal ends there. It's a shame. The solution is an English release in the Japanese version, like Bandai Namco did with Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum Session for PS4 (and hopefully they continue to do that!).

J-Skee · Dec 27, 2017

BadWolf said:
Where does talk like this even come from?

The only time he took more than usual is MGSV and that was because they were building the Fox Engine from scratch, even then it was about 5 years of development which is nothing out of the ordinary.

And MGS4.

Kresnik · Dec 27, 2017

DarkDetective said:
You must have a lot of faith in a certain product with such a niche appeal to try to sell it elsewhere if it fails in its country of origin. Sometimes it works out, sometimes not. Is it worth the risk and time? Maybe I'm underestimating The Lost Child, but I don't think it'll move much.

I would never be able to find the quote these days, but some time around 2013/14 someone from either Atlus or XSEED (I'd probably lean towards Tom from XSEED) said that domestic performance is only a tiny consideration for them, they'll look at how marketable the game is in their own market. Which makes perfect sense, when you've got things like Zero Escape being kept alive by western sales despite being a write-off in Japan.

DarkDetective said:
The big problem of rhythm games is music licensing. Most contracts prohibit sublicensing and/or use outside Japan (or sometimes Asia), which has to do with music industry politics, so the deal ends there. It's a shame. The solution is an English release in the Japanese version, like Bandai Namco did with Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum Session for PS4 (and hopefully they continue to do that!).

Absolutely, but the UnPS games I'm talking about are the VN's not the rhythm spinoffs, which still have music in but games like Code Realize and Norn9 can come across with licenced songs, so I'm sure it's possible (especially since NISJ are involved in the development).

BadWolf · Dec 27, 2017

J-Skee said:
And MGS4.

MGS3: November 17, 2004
MGS4: June 12, 2008

About 3.5 years of development is nothing unusual, especially for a next gen game.

Ayra Sutoraifu · Dec 27, 2017

MWorldII said:
What if...?

Talk about a typo in that video title…

J-Skee · Dec 27, 2017

BadWolf said:
MGS3: November 17, 2004
MGS4: June 12, 2008

About 3.5 years of development is nothing unusual, especially for a next gen game.

I guess nothing can be as bad as Too Human or the Last Guardian.

zephyrcian · Dec 27, 2017

Level 5 wouldn't be hyping up Dark Cloud 3 unless Sony announces it so that one is probably off the table, sadly. Wonder what they're preparing after NNK2? A 20th Anniversary game could be anything but Dark Cloud certainly fits...

And Kojima's comments are interesting. Does that mean Death Stranding is possibly a 2018 game?

zephyrcian · Dec 27, 2017

Psycho_Mantis said:
Final Fantasy Musou has more potential than all of their other collabs combined. I hope SE is involved in its design if its happening.

I'm not sure it's a FF DW they're talking about. That's not really a surprise and Dissidia already exists so I don't think they'd bother. Could be anything, really.

saenima · Dec 27, 2017

Laplasakos said:
In 2018, Ni no Kuni and Yokai-Watch studio Level-5 will celebrate its 20th anniversary and Level-5 president Akihiro Hino said the company is working on "a major title" to commemorate the company's milestone anniversary

Finally Dark Cloud 3. Thanks!

Oh and that Kojima quote :/

ILikeFeet · Dec 27, 2017

zephyrcian said:
Level 5 wouldn't be hyping up Dark Cloud 3 unless Sony announces it so that one is probably off the table, sadly. Wonder what they're preparing after NNK2? A 20th Anniversary game could be anything but Dark Cloud certainly fits...

True Fantasy Live Online Revival. BELIEVE

Japanese developers talk about 2018 plans and beyond in this week's Dengeki Playstation

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