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[KillerMan91]

They forecasted a decrease in R&D (as well as marketing) cost for this year.

4DS research started with the release of the 3DS, home console research with the release of the Wii U, the largest part about the Research is probably already done.


Revenue will go down because of decreased hardware sales (though, the weak Yen could help), but they should achieve decent profits regardless.

We probably won't see much change because the 3DS hardware sales are going down and Wii U doesn't sell well either way, they can only maximize their profits until their next generation launches & QOL.

Oh. Interesting. Thought that highest surge in R&D costs happens something like year before the launch but perhaps it makes sense that it actually happens earlier. And yeah probably mostly hw sales will take the hit next year so perhaps with enough software they can keep the company in the profits despite biggish drop in overall revenue once again. I guess it depends on how much of their current profits come from their hw sales (probably not that much).

 

[Orniletter]

I'm not disagreeing with you but One Piece: Unlimited Red wasn't any more of a MonHun clone than the Unlimited games that came before it.

Thats correct. It was pretty cool actually. Far too short, but what was there had great production values and looked great in HD.

 

[test_account]

Having the FF name slapped on a game doesn't make it magically sell well. There's a reason Bravely Default wasn't Final Fantasy: 4 Heroes of Light 2.

True, but it most likely doesnt hurt either. Like Spiegel said, its not like FF: Explorers is a mega seller (at least not yet). But who knows how it would sell if it was a brand new IP instead.

 

[E-phonk]

Nintendo has always show strong sales on holidays, but it didn't change the fact that the last few years' financials were not good.

Except the previous quarter (which was positive) was july-august-september. Financial Q2 and Q3 will be profitable. Q1 had a small negative, which was more than made up for with the profits in Q2 ($92m loss in Q1, $224m profit in Q2).

I don't see any importance in using the most recent quarter for any kind of analysis.

Euh, what? Also countries and companies work according to different economic laws and dynamics.

 

[test_account]

They forecasted a decrease in R&D (as well as marketing) cost for this year.

4DS research started with the release of the 3DS, home console research with the release of the Wii U, the largest part about the Research is probably already done.


Revenue will go down because of decreased hardware sales (though, the weak Yen could help), but they should achieve decent profits regardless.

We probably won't see much change because the 3DS hardware sales are going down and Wii U doesn't sell well either way, they can only maximize their profits until their next generation launches & QOL.

Does japanese companies usually cash in (as in currency exchange) much of the money that they make in the west?

It was you that invented a goalpost. Who said that I was talking about a quarter at the beginning? Nintendo has always show strong sales on holidays, but it didn't change the fact that the last few years' financials were not good.

I don't see any importance in using the most recent quarter for any kind of analysis. The country I live in has been on recession, but the last quarter had a growth of 0.1%. The only people claiming it was a good result was the people discussing politics, trying to defend one political party. I am not here to discuss politics of game market, defending Nintendo or Sony.

The most recent quarter is whats more relevant because it tells how the situation is right now. What happened some years ago is history. Of course, its not like one can ignore what happen in the recent years, but its whats happening now and forward that is the most important thing.

 

[Spiegel]

I'm not disagreeing with you but One Piece: Unlimited Red wasn't any more of a MonHun clone than the Unlimited games that came before it.

The game was clearly positioned as a 4 player coop game. If I'm not mistaken the Wii games didn't have multiplayer, or if they had it, it wasn't the focus.

 

[Oregano]

True, but it most likely doesnt hurt either. Like Spiegel said, its not like FF: Explorers is a mega seller (at least not yet). But who knows how it would sell if it was a brand new IP instead.

No of course it helps but it's not fair to dismiss any success it has as a result of bearing the FF name when there's quite a few FF games that have sold worse.

...and of course in comparison Phantasy Star was second only to Monster Hunter in the genre. Lets not pretend that didn't have a strong brand backing it up.

 

[L~A]

Having the FF name slapped on a game doesn't make it magically sell well. There's a reason Bravely Default wasn't Final Fantasy: 4 Heroes of Light 2.

True, and it sometimes can be a handicap in my opinion.

Bravely Default being a brand new IP (even though it's a spiritual successor to FF4oL) really helped the game imo, as it attracted players who wanted a new traditional JRPG, and not necessarily a FF game.

Not sure how well Bravely Default would've sold with the FF name attached to it, but being able to start from a clean slate was only beneficial imo.

 

[test_account]

No of course it helps but it's not fair to dismiss any success it has as a result of bearing the FF name when there's quite a few FF games that have sold worse.

...and of course in comparison Phantasy Star was second only to Monster Hunter in the genre. Lets not pretend that didn't have a strong brand backing it up.

Absolutely, i didnt mean to imply that. For example, Toukiden sold about 188k and that was a new IP, so maybe it would be possible for Explorers to do the same, or better, even if it wasnt a Final Fantasy branded game. I just wanted to say that being a FF branded game probably didnt make it less attractive. Yeah, Phantasy Star is also a very well known IP indeed. What i said in the reply to you was just ment as a comment to Final Fantasy Explorer alone.

 

[Kresnik258]

It's really pointing to the fact that the Phantasy Star underperformance was down to the game/IP itself rather than anything else.

You are just blaming the game/IP. Are you implying that this game in particular wouldn´t have sold more on 3DS? I think the general market situation in favour and also a not established spin-off in the same genre performing considerably better suggest otherwise. Since there really doesn´t seem to be such a huge difference in quality between FFEX and PSN in favour of the former.

Err... yeah, that's exactly what I just said

I think it would've sold better on the 3DS. And I think that's because of the competition of PSO2 on Vita which isn't there on 3DS.

I'm just not really seeing this comparison. In a very broad strokes, hunting game vs. hunting game on competing platforms then sure. Is that all there is to the situation though? Of course not - there's loads more going on here. So I'm not sure what conclusions you're drawing from this.

This Vita collapse you've been saying is happening ever since an underwhelming TGS - which yes, it very much was - isn't evident on this one game. And I don't see how an average-to-slightly-above-average Final Fantasy performance on 3DS comes into it either.

If we similar God Eater / Sword Art Online implosions next year (one of those games is looking to be quite down on COMG, but there's still plenty of time), then you may have more of a point.

 

[test_account]

True, and it sometimes can be a handicap in my opinion.

Bravely Default being a brand new IP (even though it's a spiritual successor to FF4oL) really helped the game imo, as it attracted players who wanted a new traditional JRPG, and not necessarily a FF game.

Not sure how well Bravely Default would've sold with the FF name attached to it, but being able to start from a clean slate was only beneficial imo.

Yeah, being a completely new/fresh IP/game can also have its benifits, i agree.

If we similar God Eater / Sword Art Online implosions next year (one of those games is looking to be quite down on COMG, but there's still plenty of time), then you may have more of a point.

If i'm not mistaken, i think both of those games are expansions and not brand new games, so a decline is most likely going to happen based on that alone.

 

[Pennywise83]

True, but it most likely doesnt hurt either. Like Spiegel said, its not like FF: Explorers is a mega seller (at least not yet). But who knows how it would sell if it was a brand new IP instead.

Tell that to Lighting Returns

 

[monpiece]

The most recent quarter is whats more relevant because it tells how the situation is right now. What happened some years ago is history. Of course, its not like one can ignore what happen in the recent years, but its whats happening now and forward that is the most important thing.

That would be true if there weren't seasonal variations and all the planning was done in the short term. We know that Nintendo is planning lots of things (QOL, new hardware, etc), and they won't take into account what happened last quarter only. QOL, for example, seems to be the realization that Nintendo needs something new based on the last few years results. If the last quarter was the only meaningful thing, they could scrape any other project and keep their current strategy.

 

[Pennywise83]

That would be true if there weren't seasonal variations and all the planning was done in the short term. We know that Nintendo is planning lots of things (QOL, new hardware, etc), and they won't take into account what happened last quarter only. QOL, for example, seems to be the realization that Nintendo needs something new based on the last few years results. If the last quarter was the only meaningful thing, they could scrape any other project and keep their current strategy.

But what is your point, exactly? In particular, related to this MC sales thread. Just asking.

 

[test_account]

Tell that to Lighting Returns

Hehe, well, the game might have sold even worse if it wasnt Final Fantasy branded But its just a guess either way. I'm not saying that having a know IP is guaranteed success just to underline that. If a game gets a bad reputation and is tied to a popular IP, i think many people will stay away from it, and maybe only the more hardcore fans will but it regardless.

That would be true if there weren't seasonal variations and all the planning was done in the short term. We know that Nintendo is planning lots of things (QOL, new hardware, etc), and they won't take into account what happened last quarter only. QOL, for example, seems to be the realization that Nintendo needs something new based on the last few years results. If the last quarter was the only meaningful thing, they could scrape any other project and keep their current strategy.

Sure, the latest quarter doesnt necessarily dictate what will happen in the next quarter after that and so on. I just mean that how the state of a company is right now is also important.

 

[Oregano]

The game was clearly positioned as a 4 player coop game. If I'm not mistaken the Wii games didn't have multiplayer, or if they had it, it wasn't the focus.

True but it's not structured like a hunting action game and has very few of the trademarks. It might have been an attempt to woo that audience but it's superficial at best.

Absolutely, i didnt mean to imply that. For example, Toukiden sold about 188k and that was a new IP, so maybe it would be possible for Explorers to do the same, or better, even if it wasnt a Final Fantasy branded game. I just wanted to say that being a FF branded game probably didnt make it less attractive. Yeah, Phantasy Star is also a very well known IP indeed. What i said in the reply to you was just ment as a comment to Final Fantasy Explorer alone.

I agree with that assessment. I just think that there are a number of factors that can be argued to be of equal importance, being the only alternative to MonHun on the system being the obvious one.

 

[Darius]

Can't it be just as likely that FF Explorers has the novelty of being the first FF MH clone and the quality of the game matters very little? + ~Christmas release helping with softer drops.

It has happened in the past
http://garaph.info/softwareindividual.php//gid/3446

Then the sequel tanked badly and only hit those numbers thanks to bomba bins
http://garaph.info/softwareindividual.php//gid/3908

It's not like Explorers is a massive seller. And Phantasy Star Nova underperformed (by a lot) compared to the initial expectations when everyone was expecting the game to be Phantasy Star Portable 3. It happens.

You are talking like Final Fantasy is a niche brand in Japan and miraculously the game is selling by the power of the 3DS.

Was 3DS a bad platform for MH clones because the one with One Piece underperformed compared to other One Piece games? No. It simply didn't click with people at that time.

Phantasy Star has been established as a "Hunting" game since the old Dreamcast days, in fact it is considered to be the spirtual father of Monster Hunter and therefore the very genre Monster Hunter popularized. Final Fantasy Explorer on the other hand is just an "experimental" spin-off, with the disadvantage of not beeing established yet. This is just beeing factual.

About Final Fantasy beeing a niche brand, what are you even talking about? Just slapping the brand on anything doesn´t always work, especially when even the main series has been facing constant decline in past generations. Brand recognition can help but to reduce it to this one factor isn´t honest. Interestingly enough the last Phantasy Star portable game outsold the last entry of the FF13 series in Japan.

About FFEX performance, I simply compared it to PSN and consider it a decent selling game, especially for such a comparably low budget project, so stop exaggerating. No one is making it look like the next million-seller *lol*

I don´t know were your need to deflect any responsibilty of PSVs performance comes from but it´s undeniable that PSNova launched in a period when it slowed down despite approaching the strongest commercial period of the year.

 

[monpiece]

But what is your point, exactly? In particular, related to this MC sales thread. Just asking.

My original point was to say that the numbers in sales charts during holidays doesn't mean that Nintendo is having huge profits, since their sales were comparable or even better in recent years, yet they had losses in some of these years. The number of products sold doesn't translate directly into how much the company will profit or lose.

 

[3Kaze]

If i'm not mistaken, i think both of those games are expansions and not brand new games, so a decline is most likely going to happen based on that alone.

Only GE2RB is. No append disc this time, and they promised they weren't going to do a burst release for GE2 so we'll see quite a drop. It will still sell better than PSN I think and it may have legs later next year when the anime will be airing.

 

[E-phonk]

The number of products sold doesn't translate directly into how much the company will profit or lose.

It does actually. Having several millions sellers will directly add to their profit margin. Software development is a long and expensive process, where you need X amount of sales to recoup the costs.
But once you are there, all further units sold are sold at an almost complete profit margin. So having these (few) huge sellers is very important for their profits.

Also the YW games will earn them a nice amount as platform holder.

 

[Captain Smoker]

Does japanese companies usually cash in (as in currency exchange) much of the money that they make in the west?

It can make quite a large difference, depends how much of your money is generated outside of Japan.

Nintendo generates aroung 70% of it's revenue outside of Japan.


In FY3 2013 they had no loss (net income) because of foreign exchange gains (despite generating around 300 million dollars of operating loss).


But I don't know exactly how this translates into their balance sheets.

 

[Pennywise83]

My original point was to say that the numbers in sales charts during holidays doesn't mean that Nintendo is having huge profits, since their sales were comparable or even better in recent years, yet they had losses in some of these years. The number of products sold doesn't translate directly into how much the company will profit or lose.

Oh, ok. I thought this was pretty much obvious to all of us. It's just still surprising to see Nintendo so strong, and basically having the 3DS carrying the industry on it shoulders alone (i.e. a platform many were already seen replaced by the end of this year).

 

[1st Course]

Curious about Amiibos margins. Probably unlikely we will get specfic figures but hope we get revenue or unit solds figure at least.

 

[monpiece]

Oh, ok. I thought this was pretty much obvious to all of us. It's just still surprising to see Nintendo so strong, and basically having the 3DS carrying the industry on it shoulders alone (i.e. a platform many were already seen replaced by the end of this year).

Sure. People focus too much on hardware sales, but aggregate software sales are terrible all around, except for 3DS.

 

[Kandinsky]

Did it erase the bad results of the last years?

dat goal post.

 

[Darius]

Err... yeah, that's exactly what I just said

I think it would've sold better on the 3DS. And I think that's because of the competition of PSO2 on Vita which isn't there on 3DS.

I'm just not really seeing this comparison. In a very broad strokes, hunting game vs. hunting game on competing platforms then sure. Is that all there is to the situation though? Of course not - there's loads more going on here. So I'm not sure what conclusions you're drawing from this.

This Vita collapse you've been saying is happening ever since an underwhelming TGS - which yes, it very much was - isn't evident on this one game. And I don't see how an average-to-slightly-above-average Final Fantasy performance on 3DS comes into it either.

If we similar God Eater / Sword Art Online implosions next year (one of those games is looking to be quite down on COMG, but there's still plenty of time), then you may have more of a point.

That there was a decline and that PSNova launched during this period of decline is a fact, just take a look at the avaiable informations. This isn´t something that can be retroactively proofen wrong, by a hypothetical recovery in future, unless it also retroactively changes the numbers of the period I´m talking about.

 

[Kresnik258]

Interestingly enough the last Phantasy Star portable game outsold the last entry of the FF13 series in Japan.

28 PSP Phantasy Star Portable 2: Infinity 219,477 / 378,328 SEGA 2011-02-24

33 PS3 Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII 301,181 / 419,532 Square Enix 2013-11-21

If i'm not mistaken, i think both of those games are expansions and not brand new games, so a decline is most likely going to happen based on that alone.

I don't know what to think of Rage Burst. I still consider things like GE -> GEB showing growth, so I always feel like it should do at least as well as the predecessor.

But given that every hunting game is seeing drop-offs from the original release -> expansion these days (even Monster Hunter), maybe that's an unrealistic expectation.

 

[Pennywise83]

28 PSP Phantasy Star Portable 2: Infinity 219,477 / 378,328 SEGA 2011-02-24

33 PS3 Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII 301,181 / 419,532 Square Enix 2013-11-21



I don't know what to think of Rage Burst. I still consider things like GE -> GEB showing growth, so I always feel like it should do at least as well as the predecessor.

But given that every hunting game is seeing drop-offs from the original release -> expansion these days (even Monster Hunter), maybe that's an unrealistic expectation.

GEB sold less than GE.

 

[Darius]

Your data is simply incomplete it´s missing a sku, PSp2 sold more.

 

[Kresnik258]

Your data is simply incomplete, PSp2 sold more.

It's the last up-to-date data from Japanltdrank. You can check it yourself here.

If you can provide me with some other information proving your point better than "you're wrong", feel free to link it.

GEB sold less than GE.

Right you are (feel pretty dozy now for checking that on the website I had literally just used).

Decline was pretty minor (70k) but still. At least they'll be expecting it for Rage Burst then!

 

[Darius]

It's the last up-to-date data from Japanltdrank. You can check it yourself here.

If you can provide me with some other information proving your point better than "you're wrong", feel free to link it.



Right you are (feel pretty dozy now for checking that on the website I had literally just used).

Decline was pretty minor (70k) but still. At least they'll be expecting it for Rage Burst then!

Don´t know why you have chosen the updated version of PSp2, but I was always refering to the main game. In the same link Phantasy Star Portable 2 sold 590k units.

 

[test_account]

I agree with that assessment. I just think that there are a number of factors that can be argued to be of equal importance, being the only alternative to MonHun on the system being the obvious one.

Yeah, there are more factors as well indeed, that is true. In the end, it comes more down to how good the game is, its not enough to simply attach a popular IP to it.

Only GE2RB is. No append disc this time, and they promised they weren't going to do a burst release for GE2 so we'll see quite a drop. It will still sell better than PSN I think and it may have legs later next year when the anime will be airing.

What is append disc? Is the new Sword Art Online game a brand new game?

It can make quite a large difference, depends how much of your money is generated outside of Japan.

Nintendo generates aroung 70% of it's revenue outside of Japan.


In FY3 2013 they had no loss (net income) because of foreign exchange gains (despite generating around 300 million dollars of operating loss).


But I don't know exactly how this translates into their balance sheets.

I understand. It would be interesting to know on how they look at this money. If its acutal money getting in or if its being seen more as an asset (as in "its worth this much if we decide to cash in on it").

I don't know what to think of Rage Burst. I still consider things like GE -> GEB showing growth, so I always feel like it should do at least as well as the predecessor.

But given that every hunting game is seeing drop-offs from the original release -> expansion these days (even Monster Hunter), maybe that's an unrealistic expectation.

I might be wrong, but i think all expansions of those hunting games have actually sold less than the original release.

 

[monpiece]

Absolutely, i didnt mean to imply that. For example, Toukiden sold about 188k and that was a new IP, so maybe it would be possible for Explorers to do the same, or better, even if it wasnt a Final Fantasy branded game. I just wanted to say that being a FF branded game probably didnt make it less attractive. Yeah, Phantasy Star is also a very well known IP indeed. What i said in the reply to you was just ment as a comment to Final Fantasy Explorer alone.

By the way, according to the last MC numbers I have seen (top 1000 2013), Toukiden sold 233k on PSV (plus 160k on PSP).

 

[Vena]

Oh. Interesting. Thought that highest surge in R&D costs happens something like year before the launch but perhaps it makes sense that it actually happens earlier. And yeah probably mostly hw sales will take the hit next year so perhaps with enough software they can keep the company in the profits despite biggish drop in overall revenue once again. I guess it depends on how much of their current profits come from their hw sales (probably not that much).

You're probably confusing production costs/runs with the actual R&D.

 

[3Kaze]

What is append disc? Is the new Sword Art Online game a brand new game?

Append discs were the way to upgrade for those who got the original game, and for a lesser price instead of rebuying a full priced expansion. I think that's why GEB did almost as well as GE. And I have no idea whether it's possible or not with cartridges but seems like it's not.

And yes SAO Lost Song is a brand new game.

 

[vinnygambini]

Did it erase the bad results of the last years?

FY15 should nullify the results incurred from FY14 (-46,425) - they are on the right path.

 

[test_account]

By the way, according to the last MC numbers I have seen (top 1000 2013), Toukiden sold 233k on PSV (plus 160k on PSP).

Oh, sorry, i forgot to mention that i ment first week sales only (because we only have 1st week sales of Final Fantasy Explorers). But it shall be interesting to see how FF: Explorers ends up selling in the compared to the other hunting games. Toukiden did pretty good for a new IP i think.

Append discs were the way to upgrade for those who got the original game, and for a lesser price instead of rebuying a full priced expansion. I think that's why GEB did almost as well as GE. And I have no idea whether it's possible or not with cartridges but seems like it's not.

And yes SAO Lost Song is a brand new game.

Ah ok, i see. I forgot to ask, what do you mean with that they promised not to do a burst release of God Eater 2? Was that before they announced it?

Cool, i didnt know that the next SAO game was a brand new one

 

[test_account]

*Double post*

 

[Oregano]

Oh, sorry, i forgot to mention that i ment first week sales only (because we only have 1st week sales of Final Fantasy Explorers). But it shall be interesting to see how FF: Explorers ends up selling in the compared to the other hunting games. Toukiden did pretty good for a new IP i think.

Toukiden did really well, the issue they will have going forward is whether adding a PS4 SKU will make up for the loss of the PSP SKU. Rage Burst is facing the same question.

In regards to FF Explorers I don't think the game has been received well enough to get that high but it will almost certainly sell its first shipment(250K) and somewhere north of 300K isn't out of the question especially if the holiday's help its legs to a good extent.

 

[3Kaze]

Ah ok, i see. I forgot to ask, what do you mean with that they promised not to do a burst release of God Eater 2? Was that before they announced it?

Cool, i didnt know that the next SAO game was a brand new one

As to when, I don't remember but the devs said they were going to support GE2 post release with free updates each month (which they did for like... 4 months) instead of doing a Burst expansion, then they added online mode and paid story dlc only 2 months before the GE2RB announcement :lol

 

[Vena]

As to when, I don't remember but the devs said they were going to support GE2 post release with free updates each month (which they did for like... 4 months) instead of doing a Burst expansion, then they added online mode and paid story dlc only 2 months before the GE2RB announcement :lol

I wonder if such a thing won't backfire.

 

[Kresnik258]

Don´t know why you have chosen the updated version of PSp2,

Because that is the last Phantasy Star Portable game, as much as Lightning Returns is the last FF XIII game.

As to when, I don't remember but the devs said they were going to support GE2 post release with free updates each month (which they did for like... 4 months) instead of doing a Burst expansion, then they added online mode and paid story dlc only 2 months before the GE2RB announcement :lol

I can't find any articles about it, but I distinctly remember reading that they weren't doing the "Burst" treatment with God Eater 2 as well.

 

[Oregano]

I wonder if such a thing won't backfire.

I'm not sure Vita owners can afford to "punish" the platform's biggest franchise and supporter. It will only lead to a toxic feedback loop ala Wii and Wii U.

 

[monpiece]

I'm not sure Vita owners can afford to "punish" the platform's biggest franchise and supporter. It will only lead to a toxic feedback loop ala Wii and Wii U.

I believe that Japanese Vita owners are not concerned about the toxic feedback loop that not buying Gods Eater 2 Rage Burst could cause. Projects that would be influenced by Rage Burst performance probably wouldn't come out before 2017, when no strong support for Vita is expected anyway.

 

[Darius]

Because that is the last Phantasy Star Portable game, as much as Lightning Returns is the last FF XIII game.



I can't find any articles about it, but I distinctly remember reading that they weren't doing the "Burst" treatment with God Eater 2 as well.

I made it quite obvious what game I was refering to, ignoring the main game in favour of just an update of the same game is just beeing biased.

My point is that PhantasyStarportable games, such as PSp2 (590k) and also PSp1 which sold even more (630k) managed to outsell the third entry of the FF13 series. To make clear that brand alone doesn´t push FF branded titles past Phantasy Star games.

 

[Vena]

I'm not sure Vita owners can afford to "punish" the platform's biggest franchise and supporter. It will only lead to a toxic feedback loop ala Wii and Wii U.

I don't see why not at this point, anyway.

The PSVita is lacking in terms of future potential and games that would get stopped from being made by "punishing" developers/publishers aren't in the process of production right now and... wouldn't be ready before the 4DS likely launches and ushers in the next generation of handhelds.

 

[Oregano]

I believe that Japanese Vita owners are not concerned about the toxic feedback loop that not buying Gods Eater 2 Rage Burst could cause. Projects that would be influenced by Rage Burst performance probably wouldn't come out before 2017, when no strong support for Vita is expected anyway.

Not really, there could easily be games in the pipeline for 2015/2016 that could be canned, change platform or even just rushed and sent out to die. Also on the off chance Sony fancies a go at a successor it would definitely affect the goodwill towards it.

EDIT:

I don't see why not at this point, anyway.

The PSVita is lacking in terms of future potential and games that would get stopped from being made by "punishing" developers/publishers aren't in the process of production right now and... wouldn't be ready before the 4DS likely launches and ushers in the next generation of handhelds.

I wasn't thinking about 4DS but depending on when it is releases they could easily switch development of late 2015/2016 titles.

 

[test_account]

Toukiden did really well, the issue they will have going forward is whether adding a PS4 SKU will make up for the loss of the PSP SKU. Rage Burst is facing the same question.

In regards to FF Explorers I don't think the game has been received well enough to get that high but it will almost certainly sell its first shipment(250K) and somewhere north of 300K isn't out of the question especially if the holiday's help its legs to a good extent.

Yeah. I'm glad that they are trying out a console version too, makes it more interesting to see, in my opinion.

250-300k for Final Fantasy Explorers sound like a good estimate i think.

As to when, I don't remember but the devs said they were going to support GE2 post release with free updates each month (which they did for like... 4 months) instead of doing a Burst expansion, then they added online mode and paid story dlc only 2 months before the GE2RB announcement :lol

Ah ok, i understand. I wonder how this will affect GE2RB. I guess it comes much down to how much new content there is.

Phantasy Star has been established as a "Hunting" game since the old Dreamcast days, in fact it is considered to be the spirtual father of Monster Hunter and therefore the very genre Monster Hunter popularized. Final Fantasy Explorer on the other hand is just an "experimental" spin-off, with the disadvantage of not beeing established yet. This is just beeing factual.

Personally, i dont think it has much disadvantage concidering how popular the hunting-genre have become in the last years. Combine that with a very popular IP and you could have a good recipe for success. In the end, it depends a lot on how good the game itself is though. Being released exclusive on the 3DS also increases the chance to reach more consumers.

 

[Vena]

I wasn't thinking about 4DS but depending on when it is releases they could easily switch development of late 2015/2016 titles.

That's an inevitability anyway, once the 4DS is announced, I foresee plenty of "clincher" titles from the Vita to also suddenly have "4DS" written on their release plans. Possibly even WiiU depending on how literal Iwata was with his plans going forward. And I don't know how many people don't already own a 3DS along with their Vita, and how many won't just pick up the 4DS anyway on launch.

 

[monpiece]

Not really, there could easily be games in the pipeline for 2015/2016 that could be canned, change platform or even just rushed and sent out to die. Also on the off chance Sony fancies a go at a successor it would definitely affect the goodwill towards it.

But on the publisher side, the setback of trying to sell uninteresting versions of games can also be huge. There are much more examples of publishers whose series collapsed because of unappealing installments than of platforms where games stopped selling because of one or two flops.

I am sure Japanese Vita owners are interested in more support from Bandai Namco, but I am not sure they are willing to be blackmailed into buying a game they don't want for that. It wouldn't end well regardless.