Future of Falcom and PC Games (There isn't one)

[Kimimi]

I've just had a thought - what's going to happen to all the sales they get from China (mainland and Taiwan/Hong Kong) and South Korea? Both regions have released pretty much the entire Falcom catalogue going as far back as the original Legend of Heroes - on PC. And with those regions being primarily PC playing regions, going the console only route is going to close off revenue from two whole countries instantly.

[Adol.Christin]

I can see why Falcom abandoning PC is bad for the west, but for Japan I don't think it's a big deal. The only retailers I could find (in Japan) that would sell PC games are the retailers that sold 99% ero-games and with one little corner for Falcom and some western FPS games and WoW. I hardly saw any other J-RPG games on PC there.

[Lunar]

Star Trader was very dark and serious

[Kimimi]

The thing is though, at the moment they don't have one or the other - they have both. Now then, I bet finding accurate sales data from China and Korea is nigh-on impossible but going off the fact that they've been around so long in those regions (and properly - not just the odd poorly translated Ys game) and all of the modern Falcom games have had special editions, including region exclusive items, I'd say it's a revenue stream Falcom would be better off trying to keep in some way.

Perhaps the Chinese PC port of Vantage Master Portable was a test?

[Varion]

Aug 6, 2010 9:46:18 GMT -5 Wyrdwad said:

And I would REMOVE the pink from Legend of Heroes VI first and third chapter.

I'm not sure I'd remove it from FC, as the vast majority of that game is very light and happy go lucky. It's meant to be, it's a game about getting to know the characters and world just before the really serious stuff starts happening so you're more attached when it does.

3rd though, definitely. The art style isn't particularly cute to me at all, it's just anime-style, and certainly no more 'cute' than the other Legend of Heroes games. I can't see how a game can really be classed as cutesy when its second half actually had to be censored in the PSP version and involves (mega-spoilers on highlight, be warned) watching a little girl go gradually insane after being sold to a child sex brothel because her parents racked up so much debt, and its entire plot revolves around Kevin's inner guilt over unwittingly killing Ries' sister and being unable to stop his mother killing herself because she was too poor to look after them because he ran away when she tried to kill him too. That's not particularly cute to me.

This is starting to remind me of all those people complaining when Diablo 3 was announced that 'It has too many colours! Blizzard have forgotten their fanbase!'

[SkyeWelse]

I don't know, I think I can relate to both points that Adoru and Wyrdwad are making and in many ways I prefer the side of Falcom that Adoru is talking about, however to me, or at least the way I've always seen it is that I've never really felt that Falcom is abandoning their original style of gaming that many of us grew up with the more stat-driven, darker atmospheres and gameplay, but rather they are doing (and still doing) what they've always done:

Showing that they are good at doing both darker, stat-driven games and lighter, more humorous style games, and then combining them at times. Even Brandish has a bit of humor to it, especially given all the disastrous events that happen to poor Dela Delon which make us laugh.

The fact of the matter is that they ARE good at making two different sides of the same coin and they ARE good at balancing that coin for many of their games. I think that the fact that they included a lot of Xanadu references and bosses in the new Ys Vs. Sora no Kiseki game and recently released Brandish TDR for PSP shows that they have no intention of abandoning their darker genres, but rather waiting for the right time to revive them.

REVIVAL XANADU REVIVAL REMIX anyone? : )

Edit: Oh and I was going to say that even Gurumin gets kinda dark near the end. It starts off light and cutesy, but near the end it does contain elements of revenge, betrayal and more complicated characters/situations and it really does feel like an epic event is about to happen that requires sacrifice.

-Thomas

[Kimimi]

Aug 6, 2010 11:19:37 GMT -5 Wyrdwad said:

To address Kimimi's concern, too (as I neglected to do so above): One thing to consider is that Falcom still licensed out their PC games for release in China and Korea. They didn't self-publish. Which means even if the games were a success, it probably wouldn't really make them THAT much more money than, say, Ark of Napishtim PS2 did. It's not really a port, just a translation, but AFAIK, it's still a case of Falcom just selling the rights to a third-party company, and being done with it. I can't say this for certain, but I do believe ALL of Falcom's foreign PC releases were handled this way.

You're right, I've got no reason to doubt that they aren't just standard licensees - however, going off what has been released in each region, that's three licensees (Mainland China, Taiwan/Hong Kong region, South Korea) lost *per game*, for just about every Falcom game for over a decade. I'm sure that sort of money adds up.

You naturally know more about this than I do and I'm not fishing for company info here, but I doubt when Falcom licensed out the Sora no Kiseki trilogy to Typhoon, Gamebridge and Arugon they did it for $10 each.

All I'm really trying to say is that without the PC market in the future what was once easy additional income from multiple regions will almost certainly dry up overnight.

[Este]

If Falcom is done on the PC and they're presumabley going to the PS3 as console of choice, when will this be confirmed? And on a related note, if Ys VII multiplatform is happening this year, when will we get any info on that? To date, there are only 5 months left for this to happen.

Edit: What does my avatar count as? Moderate?

[HJ]

Maybe they're gonna do a massive LoH-compilation on the PS3. I bet a blu-ray disc could take it.

That's probably very unlikely, but hey, it would be nice. Unless Ys and SnK bombed over here, the partnership fell apart and it stayed in Japan forever. Then it would be a catastrophe.

[sushi]

I thought HJ meant a compilation of the first two, Gagharv AND SnK!

[HJ]

I did. I'd like to see the Gagharv trilogy with the gameplay upgrades of SnK (perhaps even further refined) and a quality translation. SnK's upgrades would probably be mostly visual, if any other than a resolution upgrade. Either way, it would be sweet.

[Lunar]

You're not missing much by not playing the first 2 LoH games but they might be cool if they're upgraded

[Lelouch]

Future of Falcom and PC Games (There isn't one

well, as they say HOPE dies last

we will see what the future brings

[psybuster]

Meh after recalling that Falcom games never pushed PCs all that hard I realize it probably won't make much difference to their graphical quality on consoles anyway.

[Arjak]

Adoru, I understand your viewpoint, even if I don't accept every aspect of it.

I, like you, have a special fondness for a lot of Falcom's early work.

When you talked about (the original) Xanadu in one of your early posts in this topic, I lit up. That is probably my favorite of Falcom's earliest work. I even have a strategy guide for it that I can't read.

IMO, the original Dragon Slayer is a real relic and not very playable today (although I do get a masochistic kick out of it once in a while), but Xanadu is a classic that has withstood the test of time, and is still fun today. I've never thought about it the way you did, however. It kind of is a lonely feeling, especially considering that the only interactions you have in-game are the shops. It even has a bit of a claustrophobic feeling, with you going deeper and deeper into the caves with the constant threat of death looming.

I agree that Falcom had more games with a somber atmosphere in their early days, but as has already been shown, that style is not gone from their minds completely.

You're not a bitter old fart. If anything, you've made me think about things in a different way, and therefore have enhanced my life experience.

Besides, you made me laugh with the very idea of "Dogi's Big Fat Greek Wedding." I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

Now if you'll excuse me, all that talking about Xanadu has made me consider playing it again...

[Ascended Mermaid]

How are the anime OSTs?! I still want to one day be able to watch the anime, but it's not only obscure (can only buy it on VHS), it's untouched by any translators!

[Ascended Mermaid]

... someday, I shall have to indulge in this!

[RyuKisargi]

I'm watching my download of Ancient Books of Ys 1+2, is there any more anime?

[Adol.Christin]

so you're watching the Ys anime and you post it in a topic that talks about the future of Falcom's PC games?

anyhow, the only anime that was produced around the Ys series is from Ys I&II. buy the DVDs here

[RyuKisargi]

I guess I misposted. It happens to everyone. And thanke.


ooo. It's not overtly expensive either. Might buy this.