JRPGs are alive and kicking

There's been talk over recent months that the JRPG genre is dead, and that developers are turning away from them.  With a new development company established to make specifically JRPGs, and a dozen titles due to come out over the next 12 months, talk of the JRPG being dead is severely misguided.
  

One of the surprising aspect of 2011 is that there have been no titles released on the Xbox360, although Final Fantasy XIII-2 is due for release in Japan in December.  Also, there has been an increase of titles released on the PS3 - more this year than in all the previous years of the PS3's life (putting aside all the ports of Xbox360 exclusives).  Releases of JRPGs on the PSP and DS continue to be a constant.

So, what can fans of JRPGs expect over the next 12 months?  Here's a list of some of what is to come for Home Consoles:

Final Fantasy XIII-2 (Xbox360/PS3)

 Xbox360

Final Fantasy XIII-2 (Dec.15 in Japan, Jan. 31 in Nth.America, Feb.2 in Australia & Feb.3 in Europe)

Star Ocean 5 (in early stages of production, so no release date is forthcoming)

Final Fantasy Versus XIII (not officially confirmed for the 360 as yet, there is no sign of a release date)

Playstation 3

Tales of Graces F (expected release in mid-March, 2012 - possibly Australia, the US and Europe)

Ni no Kuni (PS3/DS)

Ni no Kuni [a Level-5/Studio Gibli co-production] (Nov. 17 in Japan, with plans for an international release)

 Final Fantasy XIII-2 (Dec.15 in Japan, Jan. 31 in Nth.America, Feb.2 in Australia & Feb.3 in Europe)

 Tales of Xilia (Expected September 8 release in Japan, with plans for an international release)

Final Fantasy Versus XIII (so far there is no sign of a release date as yet)

The Last Story (Wii)

Nintendo Wii

Xenoblade Chronicles (just release in Australia and Europe, so far no mention of a US release)

The Last Story (early-2012 in Australia and Europe, no word on a US release)

Dragon Quest X (possibly late-2011/early-2012 in Japan, with a planned international release)

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nov. 18 in Europe, Nov. 20 in the US, Nov./Dec. in Australia)

Pandora's Tower (early-2012 in Australia and Europe, no word on a US release)

There are many more coming out than is actually listed here, but with little or no information about them.  Additionally, there are even more coming out for the PSP, DS and 3DS - including a DS version of Ni no Kuni (already released in Japan), White Knight Chronicles: Origins (PSP - released last month in Australia), Final Fantasy: Type-0 (PSP [2xUMDs] - October 23 release for Japan, with no date yet for international release), The Little Battlers (PSP), a port of PS2 game Tales of the Abyss (3DS - Nov. 25, 2011 for Europe & Feb. 14, 2012 for US), Tales of Innocence R (Vita) and a HD remake of Final Fantasy X (Vita/PS3).

So all you fans and haters out there take notice - the JRPG is going to be around for a very long time to come.

 

Playstation Vita versus Nintendo 3DS: early thoughts

 

Nintendo's 3DS has been out for while now, and while there are some great improvements over its predecessor - the DS/DSi - how does it compare against the PSP and its successor, the Playstation Vita?  Well, firstly the graphics and screen are a significant improvement, and at least bring it on par with the PSP.  And while the 3D screen is larger than the 2D screen (or even the DS screens), it is still smaller than the PSPs. 

The 3D feature is incredible and adds a fantastic new dimension to gameplay, though its difficult to use it for long durations of time - which is a problem for long games like RPGs.  The promised feature of 3D movies has yet to even eventuate, and demand is so less than expected that Nintendo have dropped the price considerably. 

While I've been tempted to get a 3DS, I've held off, preferring my PSP and waiting for the Vita.  From what I've seen of Sony's new handheld, I'm blown away at what it is capable of.  It has a larger and higher quality screen than the PSP (that is touch, similar to quality smartphones), a touchpad on the back, 2 x control sticks (compared to the 3DS' one) and the processing power of a Xbox360/PS3.  So powerful is the Vita, that a PS3 game was ported (yes, ported) to the Vita (and it only took around a week to do so!). 

It will use a new type of flash-card in place of the UMD that the PSP uses ... and while Sony have said it can play PSP games downloaded from the PSN, it still has not addressed the issue that has been raised by PSP owners - being able to play UMD games (since it does not have a disc drive).  There has been talk of an exchange option, where UMD games can be exchanged for the new flash-card format, but if this does go ahead, it looks as if it may only happen in Japan.  Also, there is no feature that allows gamers to play the Vita through the TV ... so no being able to play the big Vita games on a big screen (which, considering the potential for PS3-like Vita games, is rather disappointing).

With both the 3DS and the Vita expected to be about the same price upon the Vita's release, and both backward compatible, it's really going to be a matter of which system has the games us gamers want to play.  Both systems have improved remarkably over the DS and PSP, and while the 3DS has 3D and the ability to be backward compatible with its physical games, the Vita has the power and speed of a high-end home console, not to mention several dozen games already in development and being supported by every major developer on the planet.  And if Sony can sort out the issue with playing physical PSP games on the Vita, and have it able to play through the TV, then I will be getting the Vita over the 3DS.

But as any good gamer would say, you should always go for the system that has the games that you want to play on it.