NEW SUIKODEN ANNOUNCED BY KONAMI!!! (9-17-2011)

[Rooks]

Nothing is as yet confirmed about the content of the game. In fact, since it was not directed by the director of Tierkreis and it does not have the word Tierkreis in the title, if anything it proves that this is not another Teirkries game. Those that assert this are not the ones being obstinate here. Perhaps you love the series a little too much, as in, your relationship with it has become unhealthy for you.

[tiki]

JiggleBiscuits is probably just extremely worried about the phrase 'Million Worlds' that shows up in the trailer

I mean you have to admit it's a pretty alarming thing to include in the trailer of all things since 'Million Worlds' was the entirely focus of Tierkreis and now the exact same phrase is showing up in the very next game

unless the implication being made here is that someone just tossed 'Million Worlds' into the trailer despite it having nothing to do with the plans for the game, which seems like a pretty weak defense

it would be like coming off the heels of Highlander 2's terrible introduction of the alien planet Zeist, which everyone loathed in it's entirety, the trailer for Higherland 3 namedropped Zeist specifically and while a few people were freaking out everyone else was saying "you don't know if it has anything to do with Zeist"

[Rachael]

I have posted links more than once, to which the reply is "That isn't proof", because people refuse to accept the truth.

Not bothering to do it again.

Well, can you at least post a link to the post where you posted the links? I have been following you pretty loyally and I still don't remember any link posts.

If it's just the phrase "million worlds" you're talking about, then I wouldn't call that proof, but at least I could see where you're coming from.

[Rooks]

So, why did they choose PSP? People here have said that PSP is dead in the west, and I recently looked at some numbers and I can see why they would say that. Here are numbers for MGS Peace Walker:

http://gamrreview.vgchartz.com/sales/35 ... ce-walker/

Peace Walker sold 1.7 million copies. A massive hit by anyone's standards, especially for a handheld system. But, 926,815 of those sales (about half) were in Japan. The US accounted for 400,000 and about the same for other regions. The NA version sold less than half what the Japanese version did. This is very odd, as America has been well-receiving of MGS in the past.

Looking at other numbers from other games, I think that the PSP is moribund, but not dead. Keep in mind, the 3DS is simply not selling enough units to have any market presence for their games. And Vita is still a ways off. Perhaps the answer is much more simple: When Konami began working on this new Suikoden, they decided to not make it a launch title for fear of the 3DS. And decided that PSP was the way to go for maximum sales.

Or, maybe they saw the trouble with the 3DS coming, and decided to sidestep it all and focus on existing consoles in this bad economy. Who knows? On the other hand, I doubt Suikoden has the kind of expectation behind it that MGS does on the corporate level. Meaning that as long as they can pull down sales equal or greater than Tierkreis, it will be considered to have fulfilled it financial obligation. Well, hopfeully this gives us something to chew on.

[daoster]

So, why did they choose PSP? People here have said that PSP is dead in the west, and I recently looked at some numbers and I can see why they would say that. Here are numbers for MGS Peace Walker:

Looking at other numbers from other games, I think that the PSP is moribund, but not dead. Keep in mind, the 3DS is simply not selling enough units to have any market presence for their games. And Vita is still a ways off. Perhaps the answer is much more simple: When Konami began working on this new Suikoden, they decided to not make it a launch title for fear of the 3DS. And decided that PSP was the way to go for maximum sales.

Or, maybe they saw the trouble with the 3DS coming, and decided to sidestep it all and focus on existing consoles in this bad economy. Who knows? On the other hand, I doubt Suikoden has the kind of expectation behind it that MGS does on the corporate level. Meaning that as long as they can pull down sales equal or greater than Tierkreis, it will be considered to have fulfilled it financial obligation. Well, hopfeully this gives us something to chew on.

The 3DS has actually been doing pretty well since Nintendo cut its price. I am indeed surprised that Konami decided to choose PSP for the series, especially so late in its life. Maybe the title has been in production longer than we assume?

Suikoden has traditionally been associated with Sony anyways...only two games have not appeared on the Playstations, so maybe they're just going back to what they're used to.

Maybe they want a clean break from Tierkreis so they're releasing it on a new system that's not associated with the game.

OR, maybe they have their eye set on the future, and thinking about having save transfers for future iterations of the series (like past Suikodens!) The DS games are all cartridge saves right? And I believe the 3DS is the same way. Save transfers are easier to do with the PSP (and VITA), so maybe........that's why they're putting it on the PSP!

And the Vita is not really far off...it comes out in November in Japan, and the rumor is February elsewhere, so the Vita is just around the corner. It's suppose to be near 100% compatible with all PSP games that are able to be d/led on the PSN, and Sony has even said they might be offering a service that will allow players to transfer games from their UMD to an ISO format...(Japan only, of course...). Keeping an eye on the future, maybe that's why they're releasing this next Suikoden game on the PSP.

[Raww Le Klueze]

Anyone doubting that the PSP is all but dead in the west need only glance at the upcoming releases for the west and japan.

North America: 14 from now till end of the year.
Europe: 14 from now till end of the year.
Japan: 130 from now till end of the year. You can slice that in half to remove all limited editions of the same game basically, but you still end up with 65 unique games. In contrast one of the 14 for america has a limited edition.

The pattern here should be obvious to even the most casual observer.

And just for laughs:

Australia: 5

[Darkbeat]

The PSP has been on a downward spiral that is all but impossible to stop at this point. Case in point, many shops actually no longer stock PSP hardware/software in their smaller stores (GAME, HMV, Gamestop etc). This is a trend which is happening in Japan with the Xbox 360, but on a lesser scale as Microsoft only have one console and thusly continue to support it with healthy releases, localizations and money hats.

Somewere around the middle of last year, companies stopped bringing their PSP games over (for example Sega not localizing PSP2i or Valkyria Chronicles 3 when they had localized the prequels). This brought us to the situation we are in today where most PSP games finding their way over are by companies like XSEED who buy the rights to localize them (for example, the wonderful Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky).

It's such a bad situation right now that SquareEnix still haven't decided whether (and how) to bring Final Fantasy Type 0 over. Of course they have their own problems with several gaming dropped balls lately, but it shows the tenuous nature of the PSP market.

There's another issue right now that affects handhelds in general in the West: The rise and rise of iOS and Android gaming. Personally I'm not so sure how much of the marketshare this has eaten into, but if reports are to be believed it's somewhat significant (hence Nintendo being under pressure to bring Mario to iOS/Android).

By the time this game is out, the Vita should also be released worldwide, though it remains to be seen how it's received.

Personally while I love the PSP, I have to be realistic and hope that Konami take a gamble by bringing it over on something else. If they did decide a straight localization on UMD then it would basically be sent to die and that would not bode well for future iterations of the series being seen outside Japan.

[tiki]

so what you're trying to say is Konami doesn't make good business decisions

I am shocked

[Rooks]

Yeah I think the PSP is a great system, though it looks like its time is nearly up. I wonder how much of this is due to the economy at large, and how much is do to with the system's limitations and its age. I mean, if sagging sales for 3DS and PSP are due to an economic downturn, that problem is not going to be solved no matter how many new systems you release.

If this is true, maybe this is the correct decision. I guess we will have to see how well the Vita sells. Where I in charge of the project, I would have almost certainly gone for the Vita platform. But a PSP and PSN release might have been the best choice at the time.

[Darkbeat]

You could be right, I've heard it said that the rise of iOS and Android gaming is partially due to the low cost of their games in the difficult financial climate.

I can see the point as I personally rarely buy any games before seeing several price drops (a new Suikoden would be an exception )

Basically gaming has become a very expensive luxury, which is another good reason they should consider perhaps releasing it via PSN or the like in the West.

Then again, I'd be happy just to see it make it over at all.

[daoster]

Square will be bringing FF Type-0 out...I can't believe it's even something people are worried about at this point. A Final Fantasy game, not coming out in the west? Square games are about the few games that will do well on the PSP out here in the west (Kingdom Hearts BBS, IIRC, was a game that hit the top 10 in the USA the month it came out....a PSP GAME in the Top 10!). They also just announced that Type-0 IS indeed getting a PSN release (despite the game being two UMDs...which apparently is very difficult for downloadable PSP games), and that is almost certainly a guarantee that Type-0 will be coming out in the West (with its eye firmly planted on Vita owners).

But back on topic...

No, it's not due to a sagging global economy that the PSP is dead in the west...the PSP was already having difficulty selling for awhile (and their games are hardly expensive). The system started doing pretty well (talking about the west here) in the first year or two of its release, but then Sony put PSP on the back burner, focusing all its attention on trying to save the PS3, so the PSP kinda fizzled from there on out. The system itself is almost 7 years old...so it's limitations are starting to show (though you wouldn't know it seeing Square's games!).

And I think it's only in the USA that the PSP is particularly dead in the water...PSP is apparently doing well enough in Europe for Sony to release another version of the original PSP just recently!

There is the slimmest of slim possibilities that Suikoden PSP might get its day in the west yet...weirder things have happened. Those possibilities might increase if Konami will also put up a downloadable version of the game on the PSN...as that will be playable for Vita and (at least in the beginning), the western crowd for the Vita should be decent. There is also a decent number of RPGs already announced for the Vita already (more than any system before launch in my memory), and that might mean that the VITA will be the system to go to for JRPG type games, so a downloadable version of Suikoden could hop on that! There really is no reason for Konami to not release this on both UMD and PSN.

The more I think about it though, the more I wonder if releasing it on the PSP means that Konami has its eye set on the future...with save game transfers! Probably not, but I wish.

ALSO, just to scare people some more...Monster Hunter type games are pretty popular in Japan, partly thanks to the PSP. Maybe the Suikoden PSP will be a Monster Hunter type game? Lots of grinding, lots of loot, a focus on online/ad-hoc component (I don't even know how an online Suikoden would work). Probably not, but wouldn't it be a hoot!

EDIT: I would also like to note that....starting a twitter campaign asking Konami to make a sequel to I-V is all good and stuff, but I think a lot of the attention (especially if you can't read Japanese) should be focused on making sure that the game gets it day in the west first. Right now, the chances of the game coming out here isn't that high, and if it doesn't come out in the west, how will poor Tiki get to show his anger by NOT buying the game?

Also that would suck for the other fans who might be disappointed that it's not a main Suikoden game, but wanted to play the game regardless.

[Piisuke]

Ugh, time travel is so cheap. I mean, it can be done correctly, but nothing's more depressing than undoing a happy ending. I just hope it doesn't do that.

Viki will hate you for that

I have posted links more than once, to which the reply is "That isn't proof", because people refuse to accept the truth.

Not bothering to do it again.

You posted nothing. Give us a factual source that states this game is Tierkreis 2. Not a rumour, but factual information quoting the director of the game himself. You have, so far, done nothing of the sort.

[Darkillumina]

So, why did they choose PSP? People here have said that PSP is dead in the west, and I recently looked at some numbers and I can see why they would say that. Here are numbers for MGS Peace Walker:

http://gamrreview.vgchartz.com/sales/35 ... ce-walker/

Peace Walker sold 1.7 million copies. A massive hit by anyone's standards, especially for a handheld system. But, 926,815 of those sales (about half) were in Japan. The US accounted for 400,000 and about the same for other regions. The NA version sold less than half what the Japanese version did. This is very odd, as America has been well-receiving of MGS in the past.

Looking at other numbers from other games, I think that the PSP is moribund, but not dead. Keep in mind, the 3DS is simply not selling enough units to have any market presence for their games. And Vita is still a ways off. Perhaps the answer is much more simple: When Konami began working on this new Suikoden, they decided to not make it a launch title for fear of the 3DS. And decided that PSP was the way to go for maximum sales.

Or, maybe they saw the trouble with the 3DS coming, and decided to sidestep it all and focus on existing consoles in this bad economy. Who knows? On the other hand, I doubt Suikoden has the kind of expectation behind it that MGS does on the corporate level. Meaning that as long as they can pull down sales equal or greater than Tierkreis, it will be considered to have fulfilled it financial obligation. Well, hopfeully this gives us something to chew on.

The answer that most of you have have overlooked is a simple one. Pirating. Pirating is so ridiculously easy to do on the PSP that every game released recently loses an untold number of sales to pirates. This is not the place for a moral discussion on pirating but if Konami really wanted to try and resuscitate the series they would avoid the psp. Yes I have one, yes I love it but it is a dying system with a very deep-rooted home-brew and pirating community.

Honestly if they release it on PsP they are doomed to low sales and a further negative outlook on the series from the corporate big-wigs at Konami.

If Konami really wanted to fix the series and introduce it to a new audience here is what they could do. Are you people ready for wisdom? Read on.

Release a new Suikoden game (reboot, Suikoden VI, whatever) as a digital download for Ps3 and Xbox360 for around 15 bucks. This game would be made using a similar visual style to Suikoden I and II (sprites, though done in HD) and would contain little to no voice acting to save on development costs. Basically it would be almost identical to what Capcom did with their Mega Man franchise a few years back when they released Mega Man 9 and 10 in old school form. They cost Capcom little to make and made them bags of money. This would be beneficial to Konami for these key reasons:

1. Would satiate the fans demanding a new Suikoden game on home consoles and would capture those nostalgic for the style of Suikoden I and II

2. Would cost them little in development costs and they wouldn't have to pay production costs if it was digital only. Less money = less of a risk which = potential for higher profits. As sad as it is, the big game developers do not develop games with their fans in mind nowadays they are interested in profit, increase the chance of profit, you increase the chance of them releasing an obscure game

3. The story could be suitably epic as they could focus on that instead of cutting edge graphics

4. The soundtrack would not have to suffer

5. Would be relatively cheap which would therefore entice people who had never played a Suikoden game to make an impulse buy and play the game

6. Would expand the North American market for Suikoden and perhaps other old school rpgs as well

7. Avoid Pirates (for the most part)

Ever find yourself re-playing Suikoden II and asking yourself, "man I wish they still made games like this?" if so, this is the direction for you.

To wrap up if they continue on their current path with this scheduled for the psp they are doomed for failure and the Suikoden series will more than likely wither away. The game will get little attention in NA outside of us few diehard fans and those casually interested will just pirate it. if you look at it logically you can easily put together that this is going to be disastrous for Konami profit-wise and will kill/permanently cripple the franchise itself. If you are convincing yourself this is a good move on Konami's part I really don't know what to tell you. I love this series but only someone blind to reality can see where the current path is headed.

[Feldoon]

The answer that most of you have have overlooked is a simple one. Pirating. Pirating is so ridiculously easy to do on the PSP that every game released recently loses an untold number of sales to pirates.

Can we, as aficionados of gaming in general, lay off the "pirated copy = lost sale" rhetoric.

It is simply not logically sound to state that every copy pirated is a copy that would have been bought. Furthermore there are cases where people pirate a game because they're unsure of a purchase and there is no available demo. In these cases, pirating will lead to sales. Sometimes, of course, people pirate because there is no legal manner in which they can buy the game. Lastly, there's no actual figures that can back up the claim that pirated copies cause lost sales. So let's drop this rhetoric.

1. Would satiate the fans demanding a new Suikoden game on home consoles and would capture those nostalgic for the style of Suikoden I and II

I felt Suikoden V captured the style of the first two Suikodens rather well and feel no need to go back to clunky sprites.

3. The story could be suitably epic as they could focus on that instead of cutting edge graphics

I highly doubt that the art department and the writing department have that much of a crossover.

7. Avoid Pirates (for the most part)

Please see my earlier paragraph.

Ever find yourself re-playing Suikoden II and asking yourself, "man I wish they still made games like this?" if so, this is the direction for you.

I actually found myself thinking a question along those lines whilst playing Suikoden V, truth be told.

[daoster]

The answer that most of you have have overlooked is a simple one. Pirating. Pirating is so ridiculously easy to do on the PSP that every game released recently loses an untold number of sales to pirates. This is not the place for a moral discussion on pirating but if Konami really wanted to try and resuscitate the series they would avoid the psp. Yes I have one, yes I love it but it is a dying system with a very deep-rooted home-brew and pirating community.

Honestly if they release it on PsP they are doomed to low sales and a further negative outlook on the series from the corporate big-wigs at Konami.

To wrap up if they continue on their current path with this scheduled for the psp they are doomed for failure and the Suikoden series will more than likely wither away. The game will get little attention in NA outside of us few diehard fans and those casually interested will just pirate it. if you look at it logically you can easily put together that this is going to be disastrous for Konami profit-wise and will kill/permanently cripple the franchise itself. If you are convincing yourself this is a good move on Konami's part I really don't know what to tell you. I love this series but only someone blind to reality can see where the current path is headed.

If Konami had no intention of releasing the game outside of Japan, the PSP is a perfectly viable system to release it on. It's still going strong in Japan, PSP games still sell well in Japan, and it's an adequately powerful system (I don't see them having any trouble making Suikoden V-caliber graphics for the PSP if they decided to go that route).

IF, and I say this with in all capitals, IF, they decided to release the game over in the west, they are also plenty mindful about the realities of the system outside of Japan, and the popularity of their series. I doubt they'll expect the game to sell gangbusters IF they decide to release it over here, instead having a certain sales target that they'd like to reach (which hopefully, they realize, will most likely be less than 90k).