Neverland Company will be ceasing operations

[Foxi4]

Also, they need to embrace digital distribution more, Sony's been doing this well on the Vita having some nice discounts at times and freebies for Plus members, but it still needs improvement, I want digital versions to have more than a 300-500 yen price reduction over their physical counterparts. Another thing that should take place more often is Vita/3DS ports of both F2P and complete mobile games, there have been some great mobile ports last gen such as Front Mission 2089, there are actually a few mobile titles I'd buy if they were on the PSN/E-shop. Also, I hate to say this but the moe and other concepts like fanservice have to go in gaming in most genres (Idol games are pretty much the exception and dating sims/eroge since those are only marketed towards the Otaku fanbase), while it's not the only issue, it's one of the main source of negative opinion on Japanese gaming since it also has negative connotations as in liking moe might signal the person to be an Otaku (a bad thing in Japanese society). This will also lead to a better opinion of Japanese games in the Western mainstream over time since the west has similar problems with games containing such content.

The term "Otaku" used to have negative connotations in Japan but those days are long since gone - as of today, Japan sort of "lives and breathes" Otaku every single day - it became an inseparable part of their culture, both internally and internationally. If weird, quirky games sell to the Japanese audience then by all means, they should make weird and quirky games for the Japanese audience, just do so moderately and keep their aims straight, aim at the widest appeal possible for the "big" games and limit fan service to smaller games for die-hard fans.

 

[Hop2089]

The term "Otaku" used to have negative connotations in Japan but those days are long since gone - as of today, Japan sort of "lives and breathes" Otaku every single day - it became an inseparable part of their culture, both internally and internationally. If weird, quirky games sell to the Japanese audience then by all means, they should make weird and quirky games for the Japanese audience, just do so moderately and keep their aims straight, aim at the widest appeal possible for the "big" games and limit fan service to smaller games for die-hard fans.

It also depends on which kind of Otaku you're speaking of, there are many types, you're not going to hear as much about video game otaku in a negative light as say an idol Otaku, some don't get much if any light (positive or negative) whatsoever since they tend to be supremely niche. Moderation is definitely the key in keeping the balance between Japanese and overseas interests.

 

[Bladexdsl]

oh fuck no not rune factory now we'll never get rf4 localized....

 

[Sop]

SMT IV is released, Atlus gets sold. Rune Factory 4 is released, Rune Factory IP is sold (hopefully). The number 4 is cursed ;O;
Actually I think I remember something like 4 means death or is an extremely unlucky number in Japan. Huh.

Sad to see them go I guess, though I'm only familiar with RF series.

ye shi means four and death in japanese

 

[ShadowSoldier]

Mobile has killed another developer in Japan.

East Asian gaming is in a Dark Age.

Or you know they haven't really made any big "OMG" titles since.. ever.

Hell, I've been gaming since 1990, and not once have any of their games be talked about or praised, or covered or previewed or anything other than Rune Factory 4. They're a small company and let's be honest, them closing won't be that much of an impact on the gaming industry if at all.

 

[Gahars]

I guess "Ruined Factory" would be more accurate now.

 

[Skelletonike]

Hum... If there's one game series that changed in order to be more popular in the west, that would be Final Fantasy, I enjoyed the older games and IX (which returned to it's roots) the most. In comparison, there's Dragon Quest, the old FF rival which has remained the same all these years and been successful.. I wonder why most people think that Squaresoft bought Enix though, even though that wasn't the case. z.z


Back on topic, Rune Factory games are pretty good, alas they're not games that would please everyone, a recent example of this was Cing. I thoroughly enjoyed most of their games, for the most part being good point and click adventures with interesting plots however they went bankrupt and the series went with them.
The main difference between these two though, is that Neverland has been making games for a very long time and has left a bigger mark in the industry and since they've worked on several IP's from other companies, who knows... They might be interested in buying some of their stuff.

 

[GamerzHell9137]

oh fuck no not rune factory now we'll never get rf4 localized....

Don't worry. At least u can import it from Europe.

Ohh and quick update, guess Rune Factory won't die

http://www.siliconera.com/2013/11/29/rune-factory-series-producer-shares-brief-message-future/

First asking if we are enjoying RF4 and months ago said that RF5 is in development.
It needs to be announcement of RF5

 

[Bladexdsl]

are we enjoying rf4.....how can we since we still haven't even got it yet!!

 

[Hells Malice]

Honestly never really cared much for their titles...i've SEEN Rune Factory but i've never really had any interest in playing it.
Lufia was okay but I never even got to the half way mark.

Sucks to see a dev with recognizable IPs go down though.

 

[EZ-Megaman]

I really liked Lufia and Energy Breaker on the SNES, but haven't played many of Neverland's newer games. It's sad the team go bankrupt, though.