RPG games and console exclusivity

[Poofta!]

i was reading through the square-enix selling off some of their franchises rumors, and thought about how awesome it would be to have a chrono game on xbox360 as well as ps3, and then it dawned upon me,

unless im forgetting some games, it seems to me that all RPGs have always been exclusive to a single console in a generation (for instance, compilations and remakes for current gen consoles dont count, a la FF chronicles/anthologies etc)

i honestly cant think of any cross platform RPGs. can anyone?

maybe there are some lesser known ones, but definately no big name or highly praised games.

do you guys know any?

discuss =]




EDIT: 6502 mentioned correctly, as other people have also brought up LOTR the third age, this game is the first RPG in the US to be developed cross-platform from the get-go. as in the same game, being developed for competing consoles.

if anyone has any others, speak out.

[MrRoboto19XX]

Hmm, off the top of my head, all I can think of would be Final Fantasy XI, but Im not sure that counts. FFVII was released for pc a few years back (wow, about 10 I guess), but thats all I can think of.

[Poofta!]

Hmm, off the top of my head, all I can think of would be Final Fantasy XI, but Im not sure that counts. FFVII was released for pc a few years back (wow, about 10 I guess), but thats all I can think of.

yeah im not really counting XI as its an MMO... phantasy star online/universe was also multiplatform.

i own FF7 on both the pc and ps, but the pc doesnt really compete with consoles, especially in those days.

[incubus421]

Yea, I can't think of any either. But I do know that some people have considered the Grand Theft Auto games to be somewhat of an RPG.

[kainemaxwell]

Yea, I can't think of any either. But I do know that some people have considered the Grand Theft Auto games to be somewhat of an RPG.

Maybe more of an action RPG...

[tom]

the old ones:

Ultima series from computers (apple ][, A8, C-64, PC) to consoles (NES, GB, SNES)
SSI Gold boxes, again, from Computer to consoles
Wizardry series, from computers to consoles

[drewbrim]

Shadowrun is the first one that comes to mind. Which was an excellent effort by Data East for both the SNES and Genesis.

Others would include the Ys series in some form or another for the SMS, SNES, Genesis, Turbografx-16. Speaking of the Turbografx, both Cadash and Dungeon Explorer were playable on the Turbografx and Sega Genesis/CD.

[carlcarlson]

the x-men legend series, and lord of the rings third age came out for multiple platforms. so did bard's tale. that's all I can think of right now though.

[heybtbm]

This is the exact reason that I still plan on buying a PS3. 95% of Japanese RPG's will be PS3-only. I don't see Atlus or Nippon Ichi (to name a few) branching out to the 360 or Wii anytime soon.

[Trebuken]

Baldurs Gate Dark Allkiance

Final Fantasy games from NES to PS1(Anthology, Chronicles), to GBA/DS

Might and Magic (1+2?) may have been. Not sure if the
Turbo Grafx, Genes, and PC versions are the same game though.

Exile was on Turbo Grafx and Genesis

Ys - was on multiple systems (Ys II?)
Breath of Fire has been on SNES/GBA/PSP/PS1, not sure if they are all differnet games or not.

Diablo.

Lunar, Saturn and Sega CD

Ogre Battle

Summoner

SW: Knights of the Republic

Dungeon Master

Wizardry

Faery Tale

Grandia 2

Shining Force III (is the Saturn and Genesis games the same game?)

[heybtbm]

Baldurs Gate Dark Allkiance

Final Fantasy games from NES to PS1(Anthology, Chronicles), to GBA/DS
Might and Magic (1+2?) may have been. Not sure if the
Turbo Grafx, Genes, and PC versions are the same game though.
Exile was on Turbo Grafx and Genesis
Ys - was on multiple systems (Ys II?)
Breath of Fire has been on SNES/GBA/PSP/PS1, not sure if they are all differnet games or not.
Diablo.
Lunar, Saturn and Sega CD
Ogre Battle
Summoner
SW: Knights of the Republic
Dungeon Master
Wizardry
Faery Tale
Grandia 2
Shining Force III (is the Saturn and Genesis games the same game?)

I think you misunderstood the original post. He wasn't talking about RPG ports. Most (if not all) of the games listed above weren't released simultaneously on another console. Some don't even exist (SFIII for Genesis, BoF for PS1).

[Maxx]

I've always thought of most of the Koei titles being RPG

Gemfire
Nobunaga's Ambition
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Uncharted Waters

I know most were cross platform Nes to Genesis. Gemfire, for instance, is on SNES, Genesis, and Nes.

[6502]

There were actually quite a few multiplatform JRPGs during the 32-bit era. I once made a list for another forum, but I can't find it at the moment. The difference during the 32-bit era was that there was a viable alternative platform to the PS1 (the Saturn). So some PS1 RPGs were released on Saturn, and a lot of Saturn RPGs were released on PS1 later (I guess trying to recoup development costs after the Saturn started to nosedive in Japan). Also, some of the RPGs for the PC-FX got ported to either the Saturn or PS1, again probably because the FX bombed so hard.

Most of those RPGs were from smaller developers/publishers, i.e. not Square or Enix, so there weren't a lot of "big guns" you might recognize. And since Saturn tanked over here, almost none of the RPGs got released outside Japan making it less obvious that multiplatform JRPGs aren't quite that rare. It's just that last generation there wasn't really any alternative to releasing RPGs on the PS2 in Japan. Xbox was DOA in Japan (no, not a pun!) and Gamecube never even reached the level Saturn had.

I'll try to list a few multiplatform RPGs later.

Edit: Well, I can't find the list I was talking about, but here's some I recall:

AnEarth Fantasy Stories (PC Engine, Saturn)
Baroque (Saturn, PSX)
Blue Breaker (PC-FX, Saturn, PSX)
Dragon Knight IV (PC-FX, PSX)
Farland series (Saturn, PC-FX, PSX) - I know a couple of these got ported around
Suikoden (PSX, Saturn)
Vandal Hearts (PSX, Saturn)
Grandia (Saturn, PSX)
Langrisser series (PC Engine, Megadrive, Saturn, PSX, PC-FX) - various games in the series got ported all over the place
Legend of Heroes series (PSX, Saturn)
Linda Cube (PC Engine, Saturn, PSX)
Lunar and Lunar 2 (Saturn and PSX got both remakes)
Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon (Saturn, PSX)
Boundary Gate (PC-FX, PSX)
Angelique: Requiem of Heaven (PC-FX, Saturn, PSX)
Samurai Shodown RPG (Neo Geo CD, Saturn, PSX)
Slayer Royal, Slayers Royal 2 (Saturn, PSX)
Gulliver Boy (PC Engine, Saturn)
FEDA (SFC, Saturn)
Soldnerschild (Saturn, PSX)
Tactics Ogre, Ogre Battle (SFC, Saturn, PSX)
Sword & Sorcery (3DO, Saturn)
Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (Saturn, PSX)

I'm sure there's plenty more, those are some I can remember off the top of my head. Last generation there were a few:

Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (GC, Xbox, PS2)
Summoner 2 (GC, PS2)
Tales of Symphonia (GC, PS2)

This generation, already Enchanted Arms is getting a port from 360 to PS3. I expect most 360 JRPGs are going to get ports to the PS3 unless MS paid for some sort of exclusivity. If 360 continues to do well in NA and PS3 sells as slowly as it seems to be so far, I expect there will be some PS3 to 360 RPG porting as well.

[c0ldb33r]

Hmm, off the top of my head, all I can think of would be Final Fantasy XI, but Im not sure that counts. FFVII was released for pc a few years back (wow, about 10 I guess), but thats all I can think of.
Wasn't FFVIII released on PC too?

I just checked - according to wikipedia, it was released for PC in 2000 (link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_VIII))

[crazyjackcsa]

There were actually quite a few multiplatform JRPGs during the 32-bit era. I once made a list for another forum, but I can't find it at the moment. The difference during the 32-bit era was that there was a viable alternative platform to the PS1 (the Saturn). So some PS1 RPGs were released on Saturn, and a lot of Saturn RPGs were released on PS1 later (I guess trying to recoup development costs after the Saturn started to nosedive in Japan). Also, some of the RPGs for the PC-FX got ported to either the Saturn or PS1, again probably because the FX bombed so hard.

Most of those RPGs were from smaller developers/publishers, i.e. not Square or Enix, so there weren't a lot of "big guns" you might recognize. And since Saturn tanked over here, almost none of the RPGs got released outside Japan making it less obvious that multiplatform JRPGs aren't quite that rare. It's just that last generation there wasn't really any alternative to releasing RPGs on the PS2 in Japan. Xbox was DOA in Japan (no, not a pun!) and Gamecube never even reached the level Saturn had.

I'll try to list a few multiplatform RPGs later.

Edit: Well, I can't find the list I was talking about, but here's some I recall:

AnEarth Fantasy Stories (PC Engine, Saturn)
Baroque (Saturn, PSX)
Blue Breaker (PC-FX, Saturn, PSX)
Dragon Knight IV (PC-FX, PSX)
Farland series (Saturn, PC-FX, PSX) - I know a couple of these got ported around
Suikoden (PSX, Saturn)
Vandal Hearts (PSX, Saturn)
Grandia (Saturn, PSX)
Langrisser series (PC Engine, Megadrive, Saturn, PSX, PC-FX) - various games in the series got ported all over the place
Legend of Heroes series (PSX, Saturn)
Linda Cube (PC Engine, Saturn, PSX)
Lunar and Lunar 2 (Saturn and PSX got both remakes)
Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon (Saturn, PSX)
Boundary Gate (PC-FX, PSX)
Angelique: Requiem of Heaven (PC-FX, Saturn, PSX)
Samurai Shodown RPG (Neo Geo CD, Saturn, PSX)
Slayer Royal, Slayers Royal 2 (Saturn, PSX)
Gulliver Boy (PC Engine, Saturn)
FEDA (SFC, Saturn)
Soldnerschild (Saturn, PSX)
Tactics Ogre, Ogre Battle (SFC, Saturn, PSX)
Sword & Sorcery (3DO, Saturn)
Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (Saturn, PSX)

I'm sure there's plenty more, those are some I can remember off the top of my head. Last generation there were a few:

Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (GC, Xbox, PS2)
Summoner 2 (GC, PS2)
Tales of Symphonia (GC, PS2)

This generation, already Enchanted Arms is getting a port from 360 to PS3. I expect most 360 JRPGs are going to get ports to the PS3 unless MS paid for some sort of exclusivity. If 360 continues to do well in NA and PS3 sells as slowly as it seems to be so far, I expect there will be some PS3 to 360 RPG porting as well.

While are is a "Tales" game on the PS2 it isn't Tales of Symphonia. That was strictly on the cube Aand a lot you mention (Grandia for instance) Didn't make it to the U.S. on the Saturn, and I don't think Grandia was available in Japan on the PSX.

[smork]

Skies of Arcadia -- DC and GC. Not a simultaneous release, but basically the same game.

Not too many of them out there, tho.

[lordnikon]

While are is a "Tales" game on the PS2 it isn't Tales of Symphonia. That was strictly on the cube...
Actually, it was released on the Playstation 2:

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-43-49-en-15-Tales%2Bof%2BSymphonia-70-pa7.html

It saw a regular release, and a Best release.

[6502]

While are is a "Tales" game on the PS2 it isn't Tales of Symphonia. That was strictly on the cube Aand a lot you mention (Grandia for instance) Didn't make it to the U.S. on the Saturn, and I don't think Grandia was available in Japan on the PSX.

Tales of Symphonia was released on PS2 in Japan. It was only GC exclusive outside of Japan. As I stated in my post "And since Saturn tanked over here, almost none of the RPGs got released outside Japan making it less obvious that multiplatform JRPGs aren't quite that rare." Grandia was released for PSX in Japan several months before it made it to the US.

[Poofta!]

i think everyone was too desperate to find games nad totally misunderstood my question. 6502 and heybtbm were the only ones that really got it.

i was looking for RPGs released on competeing platforms during the same generation. and the PC does not count. therefor games lik FF from NES to PSX dont count. neither does lunar (sega cd, psx). or grandia (DC, PS2), skies of arcadia (DC, GC).

6502 gave a great list, almost none of them was i aware of since they are japan only.

seems there are almost none here in US, especially since i dont really count action RPGs (such as the recent bard's tale, the console baulder's gates and that LOTR game though ive never played it).

one interesting one i wanna point out though was shadowrun, while i agree that it follows the criteria i was looking for, the major flaw here is that the SNES and Genesis versions were ENTIRELY different games. they had nothing in common except for being set in the shadowrun universe, both great games though.

xmen legend i guess is the only one so far. if you broaden what you consider 'RPG' though, then i guess LOTR, Bards Tale, and baulders gate are acceptable too.

but wow, yeah i guess only japan saw competition and it was during the early 32 bit era.

[6502]

seems there are almost none here in US, especially since i dont really count action RPGs (such as the recent bard's tale, the console baulder's gates and that LOTR game though ive never played it).

xmen legend i guess is the only one so far. if you broaden what you consider 'RPG' though, then i guess LOTR, Bards Tale, and baulders gate are acceptable too.

but wow, yeah i guess only japan saw competition and it was during the early 32 bit era.

Well, the LOTR: Third Age is a full-blown RPG. It's a clone of FFX, and not really like the console Baldurs Gate games. Interestingly, that seems to be one of the true rarities: an RPG developed from the get-go for multiple platforms rather than being ported around. All 3 versions came out around the same time if I remember right. It's not a bad game although it got some flack from reviewers.

One thing that might not be obvious about some of the games I listed is that they were on systems from different "generations" of consoles, but they came out in the same time frame. For example, there were RPGs for the Super Famicom and PC Engine that got ports to the Saturn/PSX, but the difference in release dates wasn't anything like say a Lunar port on the GBA compared to the Sega CD original. PCE and SFC were still viable around 95-96 and getting RPG releases, some of which got ported over to Saturn and PSX.

[Poofta!]

updated/edited OP.

any other games? does no one find this strange?

[veronica_marsfan]

unless im forgetting some games, it seems to me that all RPGs have always been exclusive to a single console in a generation



The Bard's Tale from the 80s was on multiple consoles and PCs (commodore, atari, ibm pc, mac).