Great Responsibility: Nintendo's role as a leader in Japanese RPG development [Joysti

[DP ServBot]

This is a column by Kat Bailey dedicated to the analysis of the once beloved Japanese RPG sub-genre. Tune in every Wednesday for thoughts on white-haired villains, giant robots, Infinity+1 swords, and everything else the wonderful world of JRPGs has to offer.


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It's always Nintendo, isn't it? When E3 rolls around, they're the ones who always seem to have me waiting on pins and needles for an RPG announcement, whether it's Dragon Quest, Xenoblade Chronicles (http://www.joystiq.com/game/Xenoblade-Chronicles/), or in this year's case, Fire Emblem (http://www.joystiq.com/tag/fire-emblem-awakening/). Only Nintendo seems to be able to do this to me anymore. More than ever, it's Nintendo of America that holds the keys to the most compelling RPGs on the market today.

There are exceptions, of course. I really enjoyed what I played of Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (http://www.joystiq.com/game/ni-no-kuni) (it looks like the next Dragon Quest VIII to me), and I would love it if Inazuma Eleven were brought over to North America. Square Enix, for all the attention they have been lauding on shooters of late, is another major player. Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts number among the few franchises that still have the power to turn heads at home and abroad.

But Nintendo's influence runs much deeper, to the point that they can have an impact on games that they aren't working on directly. Consider, for example, the Nintendo 3DS is rapidly becoming the de facto platform of choice for JRPG development. The shift began when Capcom threw in their lot with Monster Hunter 4 (http://www.joystiq.com/game/Monster-Hunter-4/), and it's continued apace ever since. That Shin Megami Tensei 4 (http://www.joystiq.com/tag/Shin-Megami-Tensei-4/) - a very rare numbered sequel in the long-running series - will be released on the Nintendo 3DS speaks volumes on how Atlus feels about the platform's long-term prospects.Continue reading Great Responsibility: Nintendo's role as a leader in Japanese RPG development (http://www.joystiq.com/2012/06/20/great-responsibility-nintendos-role-as-a-leader-in-japanese-rp/)
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[kupomogli]

Fun fact. Nintendo created water for us to drink, oxygen for us to breath, and even animals that are used in creating many of the delicious foods you enjoy today. Nintendo is such an amazing company. If it wasn't for Nintendo, the Earth as we know it would be a very different place. We should all praise Nintendo because nothing would be possible without them doing it first.

[Tupin]

The 3DS and PS3 get so many JRPGs. In fact, this generation has had a ton of them released in North America. None of them really stuck out for me, though. I know Japan is obsessed with Monster Hunter and Dragon Quest, but I couldn't get into them. I should try Xenoblade Chronicles.

Nintendo is a highly respected publisher, mainly because they have brand recognition. But hey, they just want to be on the number one console. You don't put a JRPG on the 360.

[Aussie2B]

I've never really considered Nintendo a leader in RPG development. In fact, it wasn't that long ago when most people were claiming that Nintendo hated RPGs. They've published some nice ones and their systems have hosted plenty of greats, but in terms of actually developing them, they don't have a whole lot outside of the Mario RPGs and Fire Emblem. Really, when you count both the Nintendo-developed/published RPGs AND the third-party RPGs on Wii, there's nothing that excites me to a great degree. None that I've bothered to pick up so far, although there are some I'd like to get on markdown eventually. For the current home consoles, I've turned to the 360 for RPGs, which isn't something I would have predicted at all, but I think it has the best assortment of Japanese-developed RPGs. Even when talking multiplatform, the 360 got many long before the PS3. There are no PS3-exclusive RPGs that I can't live without for the time being. I think the DS and PSP are about equally strong in RPGs, but the credit goes to third-parties, not to the meager offerings of Sony and Nintendo.

[Ryudo]

I've never really considered Nintendo a leader in RPG development. In fact, it wasn't that long ago when most people were claiming that Nintendo hated RPGs. They've published some nice ones and their systems have hosted plenty of greats, but in terms of actually developing them, they don't have a whole lot outside of the Mario RPGs and Fire Emblem. Really, when you count both the Nintendo-developed/published RPGs AND the third-party RPGs on Wii, there's nothing that excites me to a great degree. None that I've bothered to pick up so far, although there are some I'd like to get on markdown eventually. For the current home consoles, I've turned to the 360 for RPGs, which isn't something I would have predicted at all, but I think it has the best assortment of Japanese-developed RPGs. Even when talking multiplatform, the 360 got many long before the PS3. There are no PS3-exclusive RPGs that I can't live without for the time being. I think the DS and PSP are about equally strong in RPGs, but the credit goes to third-parties, not to the meager offerings of Sony and Nintendo.

They own Monollith Soft as a first party developer so Xenoblade is Nintendo made. The Last Story is a Nintendo owned IP. Mistwalker does not own any IP's they make much like Treasure.
In Japan they have more publlished/developed RPG's.

[duffmanth]

I've never been a JRPG fan, but it seemed like a new RPG was coming out almost on a monthly basis for the PS1 and PS2 when I was working at a game store at the time. Now it seems there's a FPS coming out every fucking week, oh how the times have changed!

[Aussie2B]

They own Monollith Soft as a first party developer so Xenoblade is Nintendo made. The Last Story is a Nintendo owned IP. Mistwalker does not own any IP's they make much like Treasure.
In Japan they have more publlished/developed RPG's.

Monolith Soft would be more appropriately called a second party, as Rare was to Nintendo. Nintendo doesn't "make" Monolith Soft's games. They own them and publish them, but Monolith Soft still does their own work. They're not an internal R&D team within Nintendo. But besides, since Nintendo acquired them, they've only made, what, around 5 games? Mistwalker is a third party, one that doesn't even fully develop their own games themselves for that matter (they usually farm out the nitty-gritty stuff, saving only the story and music for themselves). It's not unusual for third parties to seek out publishers to fund and publish their titles, which mean said publisher owns the title, but that doesn't mean the publisher deserves any credit in the development of the game outside of that funding and publishing.

No matter how you slice it, the article is wrong. Nintendo is not DEVELOPING many RPGs. It's all the more wrong for implying that games like Dragon Quest were developed by Nintendo.