extremus

Come to Ireland, videogame developers; our industry jobs are dublin!

Because one thing the videogame world was sorely lacking was another first-person shooter.

Sega historically has never showed a proper respect for their AAA RPG and SRPG franchises or for the legions of fans who love them, which is baffling. PSO is pretty nice and all, but we haven't seen a new traditional story-based Phantasy Star since the Genesis. That's right, since the GENESIS. And now we don't even get the new PSO over here in the West (seriously, Japanese developers think, sadly corectly, that most American gamers only care about FPSes and button-mashing play mechanics).

The Phantasy Star franchise is not alone, either. We've seen no new traditional SRPG Shining Force since SF III for the Saturn (and then the US and Europe only got one of three scenarios). The incredible Dragon Force had to be localized by Working Designs because Sega wouldn't bother. Panzer Dragoon Saga, which many believe to be one of the greatest RPGs ever made, only saw 3,000 official US copies (and those had PAPER SLEEVES inside the case; I know because I was one of the fortunate few who got a copy). Skies of Arcadia, the only game ever to win Game of the Month in Electronic Gaming Monthly twice over a year apart (Dreamcast and then the GameCube version), never saw a sequel despite an outpouring of requests from fans. Sega said "Aha! we knew that RPGs were niche!" after Valkyria Chronicles' initial sales tanked and relegated its two sequels to portable oblivion, but then they had scarcely bothered to promote the game at all prior to launch. And obviously they've ignored passionate pleas to bring a new console version of VC out or even VC3 for the PSP, which they are no longer supporting (they apparently won't even allow another localization dev to do it).

I just cannot understand why Sega doesn't understand what they have in their RPG lineup; it's easily on par or even better than any series Square has ever done (including Final Fantasy). Sure, sales for such games may total in the tens or hundreds of thousands rather than the millions like a "mainstream" FPS or sports title, but that's still tens or hundreds of thousands of gamers with real money and passionate loyalty to these franchises being ignored time and again. From a business standpoint it makes no sense to treat your biggest demographic as your ONLY demographic; RPGs, SRPGs, and Strategy still very much have a place on western consoles, and we want them back, please!

Not that I would have bought the 3G version anyway, but what's the point of 3G download speeds if you have a 20 MB cap? Makes no logical sense, and certainly not to pay an extra $50 for said feature given this information.

@Lone Starr

There are times when succinctness is definitely an asset, but in cases like this it helps to be able to make your case in detail. People can read and agree with it or not, but at least you said what you feel is necessary.

@MystcLazrDragon

The DS and PSP DO NOT COUNT AS CONSOLES. The portable market is simply not the same as the console market; if it's made for a portable device (the 3DS and Vita notwithstanding), it's usually because it's considered not worth the effort to do on console, which is plain stupidity on developers' parts. RPGs especially are meant to be played while relaxing for hours at a time; no portable system I've ever held allowed me to comfortably do that.

@Acosta02

By cinematic I mean depending on long periods of non-interactive CGI. The SNES Final Fantasies conveyed emotions and story elements with as much if not more impact than any modern versions, in my opinion.

@spin cycle

I played, beat, and loved, Portal 2 and just got Portal. Great games that require cerebral solutions. But they're the exception rather than the rule.

As far as saying enjoying FPSes (or any other genre type) is wrong, you misinterpreted my meaning; it's simply that they're WAYY oversaturated and have been so at the expense of other deserving (but considered less marketable or "niche") gametypes.

The middle paragraph describes the entire videogame industry (especially this console generation) in a nutshell: when the powers-that-be decide "to go in a certain direction", EVERYTHING goes in said direction from then on, whether it was ever asked for, ever really desired by gamers, or whether it's even practical or not.

Some cases in point:

1) After Mario 64 2D platformers almost completely disappeared for over 15 years.

2) Since online arrived single player gametypes have diminished to the point that now the CAMPAIGN is the afterthought; we haven't had a new story-based, traditional Phantasy Star since the Genesis (PSO was great and all, but it killed the TRUE PS franchise).

3) After Final Fantasy VII traditional menu-based RPGs drifted more and more toward western-influenced things like extended cutscenes, fancy graphics, and button-mashing battle mechanics, and by now even Square is a shadow of its former glory. Ironically, FF VII heralded the decline of the traditional JRPG on American consoles.

4) Motion-based controls are hard to develop for (just look at all the shovelware for the Wii, but hey, if it makes tons of money off of new folks who don't know any better that's what corporations are about (and don't get me started about the cost of all these peripheral attachments necessitated by motion controls).

5) First-person shooters and "gritty" material are an AMERICAN stereotype; a Japanese developer visiting last year's E3 remarked, "You Americans sure seem to enjoy war" in reference to all the FPSes at the show...and fewer Japanese and smaller developers are bothering to attend E3 every year now.

6) Less genre variety and more copycat lookalike, playalike games: Sorry fanboys, but I honestly can't tell Battlefield and Call of Duty apart anymore, what with the umpteen sequels coming out every single year, let alone all the wannabe FPSes out there. Third-person "action games" mostly look and play alike with mind-numbing, repetitive combos and moves; overall game design is so similar at times it borders on plagiarism (as in the Dante's Inferno/God of War debacle). What we need is for game companies to say, "Hey, there's this or that segment of gamers who are still interested in this type of game, and they're worth the effort to market to" rather than constantly try to "appeal to the masses who don't/have never played games". We need game developers who still listen to longtime hobbyists and return that investment with what is REALLY wanted, NOT hour-long demonstrations at E3 declaring "This is the way we're going, this is 'the future'; take it or leave it" (if you don't understand what I mean just think of how many times Move, Kinect, and 3D were mentioned at E3 2011).

In the past two or three generations of consoles alone we've seen the death or sharp decline of JRPGs, SRPGs, Strategy, schmups, puzzle games, and more on consoles. There are only so many launch windows in a calendar year for more FPS, sports, and third-person action games, and so much tolerance for the same old, same old where longtime gamers are concerned.

The industry is thriving; I won't argue with that. But the HOBBY, folks, is dying, especially if you're a longtime old-school gamer like myself.

While it has a ton of upsides and great specs, when you factor in the necessary memory cards and battery life extension module the Vita has already far surpassed any sensible entry price range for a portable system, perhaps even a new CONSOLE game system. In this economy, asking $350-400 or more is just too much to ask to expect a high adoption rate (particularly when you factor in the risks inherent to any portable game system, such as drops, theft, or simple loss by the owner; this DEFINITELY isn't a system to allow little Jimmy to take to school with him).

My personal beef with the Vita is that Sony is following Nintendo's Wii business model and have designed the Vita around squeezing every extra dollar they can from peripherals. I think in the long run it frankly won't matter how good this portable is; most folks just won't be able or willing to invest that kind of money in it. I know I'm having second thoughts for the time being.