Disgaea 5's failure could spell the end for Nippon Ichi

[Originality]

Just release Disgaea 5 in the west. I'll preorder it (like I did with the previous games).

 

[TheCasketMan]

There's always pc. Heck there's always multiplatform. And there are handhelds, oh and cellphones.
OH and i almost forgot.
Ps3, x360 are still alive as well.


But then again if the creators had brains they'd get enough money to fail from sony before making it an exclusive for a start up platform.

Making it multiplatform costs a lot of money. 360 still doesn't sell at all, PS3 is good but sales has declined bit by bit, smartphones users won't pay $30-40 for a game, and even if it was $10 it probably won't sell 150k on phones, and I do not know about PC sales in Japan.

There is nothing NIS can do except hope or be bought by another company.

 

[Skelletonike]

NISA should do all future Tales games imo.

Tales games are made by Namco themselves, so that'll never happen.

 

[WiiUBricker]

Tales games are made by Namco themselves, so that'll never happen.

They are made by Namco Japan and localized by Namco America. As far as I'm concerned, Namco America should fire all their Tales translators and Namco Japan should licence their Tales IP to NIS America.

 

[T-hug]

To be honest just relying on D5 isn't a good plan anyway. I love Disgaea, but the games are so long that I have barely even started D4. When a game lasts hundreds of hours, putting them out every yeah leads to fatigue. They also have the problem of people just waiting for the Vita version so as to get the 'complete' edition.
Pretty sure I read that D5 wouldn't be on Vita though as it wouldn't be able to run the new engine.
NIS and NISA have published a shit ton of games this year, so where is all that money at? Also why not try something new instead of just using the same style and genre constantly?
Anyway, I hope it doesn't affect htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary, that game looks gorgeous!

 

[Skelletonike]

They are made by Namco Japan and localized by Namco America. As far as I'm concerned, Namco America should fire all their Tales translators and Namco Japan should licence their Tales IP to NIS America.

I find most Tales games to be pretty well localised. Tales of Vesperia, Tales of Phantasia (gba), Tales of Legendia, Tales of the Abyss, Tales of Symphonia, etc etc etc... All of them had great translations.

As for the most recent game brought over Tales of Hearts, it's main issue with the translation, is that it maintains the original audio and as such, the altered english names and phrases might sound somewhat off at times.

The only game that is just downright depressing regarding it's localisation is Sword Art Online. The game is great, the DLC is great, but the localisation sucks. They really should release an update to fix that. .-.

 

[WiiUBricker]

I find most Tales games to be pretty well localised. Tales of Vesperia, Tales of Phantasia (gba), Tales of Legendia, Tales of the Abyss, Tales of Symphonia, etc etc etc... All of them had great translations.

As for the most recent game brought over Tales of Hearts, it's main issue with the translation, is that it maintains the original audio and as such, the altered english names and phrases might sound somewhat off at times.

Somewhat off? Are you serious? Look at how stupid the translation is.

 

[Skelletonike]

Somewhat off? Are you serious? Look at how stupid the translation is.

Yes, I know that. I check Kaji's blog from time to time.
The previous Tales translations also changed the script in one way or another. The only difference is that in this case, the original audio is maintained and as such the difference is more noticeable.

 

[Ashtonx]

Making it multiplatform costs a lot of money. 360 still doesn't sell at all, PS3 is good but sales has declined bit by bit, smartphones users won't pay $30-40 for a game, and even if it was $10 it probably won't sell 150k on phones, and I do not know about PC sales in Japan.

There is nothing NIS can do except hope or be bought by another company.

If they thought ahead while building an engine porting wouldn't cost that much, Lowering price to get more customers might also be a good move, but then again japs want top price for indie level products. Also translation wouldn't be that expensive so if they had brains they'd release game in different languages with subs from the begining.

They also have the problem of people just waiting for the Vita version so as to get the 'complete' edition.

Will they be a first company that killed itself by dlc ? that'd be hilarious.

 

[WiiUBricker]

Yes, I know that. I check Kaji's blog from time to time.
The previous Tales translations also changed the script in one way or another. The only difference is that in this case, the original audio is maintained and as such the difference is more noticeable.

The japanese audio is not the problem here.

 

[Prior22]

Don't really understand why NIS has barely developed for Nintendo handhelds over the years. Producing console games is getting more and more expensive because of HD technology, and the quirky style of games like Disagea seems perfectly suited for Nintendo. Plus having two screens is ideal for RPG and strategy titles.

 

[Deleted member 357656]

Bad news... As Ashtonx said, there is always PC.
Why I have always the feel that most Japanese developers are PC-phobic?

PS: They say localization is costly, but it will sell more if its in english, at least... (ironic)

 

[Harsky]

Don't really understand why NIS has barely developed for Nintendo handhelds over the years. Producing console games is getting more and more expensive because of HD technology, and the quirky style of games like Disagea seems perfectly suited for Nintendo. Plus having two screens is ideal for RPG and strategy titles.

They ported Disgaea to the DS but it was definately a terrible version. Lack of voice acting and just generally downgraded graphics.

Anyways, it looks like Nippon Ichi wants to "pull a Fire Emblem Awakening" and make Disgaea 5 the one that prevents the series being put on an indefinate hold. Seriously, they should've just made a new Disgaea game for the 3DS.

 

[Qtis]

"If this game doesn't sell well we are finished!"

"Well lets make sure to release it on only one system with a relatively small userbase then!"

"Genius!"

While I agree in the sense that it's interesting they're making it for just one console, the install base of the PS4 is far from small. As is, it's growing quite well monthly with the Xbox One following suite and the Wii U a bit behind that. They'd reach the 150k sales if about 1% or less of PS4 owners bought the game (not sure of the current sales data, but I digress). Still, if you can't expect to make a profit on the best selling console, you really need to prioritise making better selling games.

The Disgaea series has been a favorite for quite a few people and the following is quite fanatical. Still I don't see the series becoming huge on the home consoles. The PSVita on the other hand.. *looks at D3 and D4 Vita versions on my shelf*

 

[GameWinner]

If there fanbase isn't on 3DS, why put their latest title on the 3DS. Vita makes the most sense because their fanbase is on PlayStation platforms. It's been that way for years.
It's also what bit them in the ass too...

 

[emigre]

NISA must live. I'm meh about NIS gaems but NISA are decent publishers and we need more publishers like them particularly in Europe.

 

[CathyRina]

Bad news... As Ashtonx said, there is always PC.
Why I have always the feel that most Japanese developers are PC-phobic?

Thats Because the west is more into PC's than Japan. Something like Steam never boomed the market and Arcades never went away. ( Video for reference )
Heck Arcades have more digital distribution support than PC's there.

Disgaea is a series that became "popular" on handhelds and handhelds are most popular in japan. The PS4 and Xbone currently aren't doing that well in Japan. NIS shot themselves in the foot.

 

[eriol33]

How come Nipponichi makes Sony exclusive games nearly all the time?

Do they have a contract with Sony or something or are they just Sony fanboys?

I think the japanese video game companies simply hate xbox. the user base in japan is abysmal

 

[eriol33]

So when they go bankrupt and theres an auction to grab all their intellectual property.

Whos gonna grab it?

I hope sega/atlus. sega is one of my favorite publisher now because they are very flexible. I mean, who expected they release valkyria chronicles in PC?

 

[trumpet-205]

How come Nipponichi makes Sony exclusive games nearly all the time?

Do they have a contract with Sony or something or are they just Sony fanboys?

No. In Japan it is well known that Sony is the go to company for RPG/SRPG/TRPG genre. Players who are interested in those games expect them to be on Sony.