Post by: ShyGuy on April 26, 2007, 06:27:53 PM
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=152789
Not to be confused with Monolith Productions (No one Lives Forever. F.E.A.R.)
Post by: IceCold on April 26, 2007, 06:35:38 PM
This is good because it adds more first-party variety with RPGs.
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on April 26, 2007, 09:09:42 PM
Post by: Kairon on April 26, 2007, 09:20:01 PM
I really hope Disaster turns out awesome now. It has the potential to be so innovative and exciting, I hope that Monolith Soft fulfills some expectations there!
~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: BlackNMild2k1 on April 26, 2007, 09:41:18 PM
Maybe some investment into indie devs too, possibly to get some original content onto the VC or something.
grievous error rectified
and for further rectification (does that sound dirty to anyone else?)
Post by: blackfootsteps on April 26, 2007, 10:45:03 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: BlackNMild2k1
Its about time, the DS has been printing out soooo much money soooo quickly for Nintendo, that they had to start spending it cause they ran out of room to store it all. Hopefully we hear about some more financial endeavours of Nintendo's in the near future. ...
It should be a crime to mention the DS's extraordinary ability to print money without posting the accompanying picture. Don't worry I'll give you time to rectify this grievous error.
In regards to the acquisition news, it should turn out to be a good move. I enjoyed the surreal art style of Baten Kaitos and the variety in their stable of franchises should help broaden Nintendo's library of Wii titles.
Post by: KDR_11k on April 27, 2007, 02:40:30 AM
Also we need a meme GIF that shows Iwata et all using the money printing consoles to cut Harrisson and Hirai to pieces with the money that shoots out.
Post by: Strell on April 27, 2007, 03:20:47 AM
Post by: Bill Aurion on April 27, 2007, 03:25:55 AM
Post by: Caliban on April 27, 2007, 03:49:54 AM
Post by: couchmonkey on April 27, 2007, 05:40:54 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Strell
We all know this means Nintendo will sell them in 4 years. :p
Yeah, after we've had time to love them like a part of the company itself.
Post by: mantidor on April 27, 2007, 06:02:04 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: IceCold
Hmm, this gives me more confidence in Disaster - Nintendo must have been pleased with the progress.
Or maybe it was the opposite, and they bought Monolith a la Retro Studios to redo the whole thing.
Post by: IceCold on April 27, 2007, 06:56:13 AM
Post by: Pittbboi on April 27, 2007, 07:51:13 AM
What's even more exciting is what this means for RPGs on the Wii!!
List of Things to do to Make RPGs a Viable Genre on the Wii
1) Kiss Square-Enix's round, supple ass... *check*
2) Easy to develop for hardware...............*check*
3) Acquire competent RPG developer.........*check*
I'd say we're almost there! Screw Batan Kaitos, I hope Namco allows Monolith to continue the Xeno series on the Wii. Or maybe we'll get something brand new--finally a nice, down-home RPG that doesn't try too hard to be "unique". Come on! Gimme cliché storylines, a group of immature teenagers (and at least one loli) inexplicably charged with saving the country/world/solar system/universe/All Possible Existence, J-Pop haircuts, convoluted battle systems, level-grinding, and a feel-good soundtrack.
I want it baaaaad.
Post by: Kairon on April 27, 2007, 09:36:55 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Pittbboi
Or maybe we'll get something brand new--finally a nice, down-home RPG that doesn't try too hard to be "unique". Come on! Gimme cliché storylines, a group of immature teenagers (and at least one loli) inexplicably charged with saving the country/world/solar system/universe/All Possible Existence, J-Pop haircuts, convoluted battle systems, level-grinding, and a feel-good soundtrack.
*hangs head* I... I... I can't agree with you. *looks away*
~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: KDR_11k on April 27, 2007, 09:45:43 AM
Post by: Smash_Brother on April 27, 2007, 10:02:00 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Pittbboi
I don't care what this means for Disaster (the game has been in development for well over a year now, by the time all the paperwork goes through for the buyout, it'll probably be too late for Nintendo to make any major changes to what's already been done to the game. That is unless, of course, they push it ba......crap).
What's even more exciting is what this means for RPGs on the Wii!!
List of Things to do to Make RPGs a Viable Genre on the Wii
1) Kiss Square-Enix's round, supple ass... *check*
2) Easy to develop for hardware...............*check*
3) Acquire competent RPG developer.........*check*
I'd say we're almost there! Screw Batan Kaitos, I hope Namco allows Monolith to continue the Xeno series on the Wii. Or maybe we'll get something brand new--finally a nice, down-home RPG that doesn't try too hard to be "unique". Come on! Gimme cliché storylines, a group of immature teenagers (and at least one loli) inexplicably charged with saving the country/world/solar system/universe/All Possible Existence, J-Pop haircuts, convoluted battle systems, level-grinding, and a feel-good soundtrack.
Post by: Aretak on April 27, 2007, 01:08:22 PM
QuoteYep, Xenosaga is done and dusted. Namco probably own the IP anyway.
Originally posted by: KDR_11k
Isn't the story for the Xeno games finished?
Post by: capamerica on April 27, 2007, 03:29:27 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: Pittbboi
I don't care what this means for Disaster (the game has been in development for well over a year now, by the time all the paperwork goes through for the buyout, it'll probably be too late for Nintendo to make any major changes to what's already been done to the game. That is unless, of course, they push it ba......crap).
What's even more exciting is what this means for RPGs on the Wii!!
List of Things to do to Make RPGs a Viable Genre on the Wii
1) Kiss Square-Enix's round, supple ass... *check*
2) Easy to develop for hardware...............*check*
3) Acquire competent RPG developer.........*check*
I'd say we're almost there! Screw Batan Kaitos, I hope Namco allows Monolith to continue the Xeno series on the Wii. Or maybe we'll get something brand new--finally a nice, down-home RPG that doesn't try too hard to be "unique". Come on! Gimme cliché storylines, a group of immature teenagers (and at least one loli) inexplicably charged with saving the country/world/solar system/universe/All Possible Existence, J-Pop haircuts, convoluted battle systems, level-grinding, and a feel-good soundtrack.
I'll drink to that!
As for the who Xenosage thing, from what I've been able to find Monolith Soft still owns it along with Baten Katos. Namco was only the publisher. So this give a chance that we could see Xenogear on the VC or DS. And this also gives a chance that Kos-Mos could be in SSBB.
Also as for the Xeno series, they did a sort of rap up in Xenosaga 3 BUT the original plan was for the series to stretch 9 parts so we could see that come back to light OR we could see a true sequel to Xenogear or another spin-off. I am pretty sure the Xeno series is far from dead.
Post by: Kairon on April 27, 2007, 03:42:30 PM
~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: NWR_pap64 on April 27, 2007, 04:14:58 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: capamericaQuote
Originally posted by: Pittbboi
I don't care what this means for Disaster (the game has been in development for well over a year now, by the time all the paperwork goes through for the buyout, it'll probably be too late for Nintendo to make any major changes to what's already been done to the game. That is unless, of course, they push it ba......crap).
What's even more exciting is what this means for RPGs on the Wii!!
List of Things to do to Make RPGs a Viable Genre on the Wii
1) Kiss Square-Enix's round, supple ass... *check*
2) Easy to develop for hardware...............*check*
3) Acquire competent RPG developer.........*check*
I'd say we're almost there! Screw Batan Kaitos, I hope Namco allows Monolith to continue the Xeno series on the Wii. Or maybe we'll get something brand new--finally a nice, down-home RPG that doesn't try too hard to be "unique". Come on! Gimme cliché storylines, a group of immature teenagers (and at least one loli) inexplicably charged with saving the country/world/solar system/universe/All Possible Existence, J-Pop haircuts, convoluted battle systems, level-grinding, and a feel-good soundtrack.
I'll drink to that!
As for the who Xenosage thing, from what I've been able to find Monolith Soft still owns it along with Baten Katos. Namco was only the publisher. So this give a chance that we could see Xenogear on the VC or DS. And this also gives a chance that Kos-Mos could be in SSBB.
Also as for the Xeno series, they did a sort of rap up in Xenosaga 3 BUT the original plan was for the series to stretch 9 parts so we could see that come back to light OR we could see a true sequel to Xenogear or another spin-off. I am pretty sure the Xeno series is far from dead.
I was just about to ask about the rights to Xenosaga. I read your idea about KOS-MOS being in Brawl and wanted to point out that she is still owned by Namco, but if what you read is true then my question has been answered.
However, the third party characters in Brawl rule is that the character must've appeared on a Nintendo console at least once. The Xeno series has always been Sony exclusive, and I doubt Xenosaga DS might be enough to justify the inclusion (unless they remake all three Xeno games for the Wii).
Post by: Adrock on April 27, 2007, 05:05:06 PM
Also, I don't know if this matters, but doesn't Nintendo own stock in Namco-Bandai?
Post by: capamerica on April 27, 2007, 05:31:40 PM
And hey if Snake can get into Brawl with 2 NES games and a GameCube remake, I think a DS game and the fact that they own it could get Kos-Mos in the game. Plus Nintendo needs more female characters in SSB anyway.
Post by: KDR_11k on April 27, 2007, 06:49:50 PM
I don't think so. Few publishers let developers keep their copyrights, the default situation is that the publisher owns everything.
Also I doubt KOSMOS would be in Smash Bros, at least the Wii one (unless they allow downloadable characters and add some later) even if this would give Nintendo the rights to that character. It's not a character anyone would even casually associate with Nintendo. They don't want that many third party characters either so I'd say they should focus more on characters that have been iconic rather than the titillation for a convoluted Playstation RPG. Snake at least had some games on the NES. Though I think third party characters should be at least as iconic as the third party chars in Captain N, meaning Mega Man, Simon Belmont and the like.
Though Megaman has lost a lot of iconism already as Megaman X 8 is labeleed "As known from the TV series!" here... What kind of world do we live in where people know freaking Megaman only as a cartoon character?
Post by: capamerica on April 28, 2007, 03:06:33 AM
If you look at what happen with Rare you can see we can't go by who the copyrights are registered under. If that was the case according to copyrights filed Nintendo would have kept the Banjo-Kazooie series and Killer Instinct.
We're just going to have to wait till May 1st to see what happens.
As for Kos-Mos in SSBB, the only limit that was ever put onto the game for 3rd party characters was they had to appear on a Nintendo system once. Love it or hate it Xenosaga did have a DS game, the story was a retelling of the first 2 games, but everything else was new and built from the ground up for Nintendo, it wasn't a upgraded remake for the GameCube or a downgraded remake for the DS. There is a market that really liked the DS game almost as much of a nitch market that likes some of the forgotten NES games series that fans keep bugging Nintendo about. Sure Kos-Mos would be more recognized as a PS2 character but sadly so will a lot of 3rd party characters. Do you think people are going to look at Snake and remember him from Nintendo games? No, hell people see Snake more as a Sony mascot then Jak and Ratchet.
I say even if the character is more looked upon as a Sony character use them anyway. It sends a message that times are changing and if you want to follow your favorite series its time to come over to Nintendo.
As much as I hate the idea I would support Nintendo putting in Sora from Kingdom Hearts or..... Cloud from FFVII, AS long as we are insured that KH would be going to the Wii and DS or that a FFVII remake was coming to Nintendo.
Post by: Arbok on April 28, 2007, 04:24:51 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: capamerica
If you look at what happen with Rare you can see we can't go by who the copyrights are registered under. If that was the case according to copyrights filed Nintendo would have kept the Banjo-Kazooie series and Killer Instinct.
We're just going to have to wait till May 1st to see what happens.
Rare is a special case. Most often, that would not have happend, but Nintendo allowed them to keep the rights to their work, probably to keep a good relationship, except for Donkey Kong (naturally). Had they known the company would have turned around and walked to Microsoft, I'm sure the situation would have been different.
Anyway, I did some research by looking at the US Copyright Office for their record on Xenosaga, and it reads:
Registration Number: PA-1-261-184
Title: Xenosaga
Description: Videogame.
Claimant: Namco Bandai Games, Inc.
Created: 2006
Published: 8Apr06
Registered: 25Aug06
Previous Related Version: 2 episodes preexisting.
All entries for the series credit Namco. So unless Namco is really nice to the firm, I expect they don't get the series.
Post by: capamerica on April 28, 2007, 04:42:55 AM
If you look at what happen with Rare you can see we can't go by who the copyrights are registered under. If that was the case according to copyrights filed Nintendo would have kept the Banjo-Kazooie series and Killer Instinct.
Hirohide Sugiura made sure that when he left Square he took the Xeno series with him, I don't see how Namco would be any different. Xenogear is still his, Square only hold the rights to publish it. Most likely the same thing will happen with Xenogear, Hirohide Sugiura will keep the series but Namco will be allowed to republish it.
Xenogear is still copyrighted under Square, But Hirohide Sugiura owns the series.
Seriously just because one company has the copyright registered under their name does not mean they own it.
Nintendo still holds the copyrights to Killer Instinct and Banjo-Kazooie, yet we do know for a fact that a new Banjo-Kazooie game is being made for the Xbox360.
We don't have a lot of examples of a 2nd party studio switching companies. So how can you say Rare is a 'special case', do you have any other examples of this happening? Its not like Monolith Soft was a division of Namco, they were their own company that just partnered up with Namco as a publisher.
Post by: Louieturkey on April 28, 2007, 06:47:25 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Arbok
Rare is a special case. Most often, that would not have happend, but Nintendo allowed them to keep the rights to their work, probably to keep a good relationship, except for Donkey Kong (naturally). Had they known the company would have turned around and walked to Microsoft, I'm sure the situation would have been different.
Umm, Nintendo sold Rare to Microsoft for something like 300 million yen. Nintendo did not get caught in suprise by Rare being bought by Microsoft. It was a conscious choice by Nintendo.
That said, I believe that Square originally had the rights to Xenogears. Hirohide Sugiura bought the rights to the series from Square but they did not allow him to take the full name, hence the series was renamed Xenosaga.
Post by: Ceric on April 28, 2007, 07:11:25 AM
Post by: Adrock on April 28, 2007, 08:45:34 AM
If that's the case and Namco doesn't plan on doing anything with the Xenosaga franchise (especially without Monolith), maybe they'd be willing to sell it to Nintendo though Nintendo likes sequels, I wonder if they'd be willing to spend so much on a series that caps at 6, especially when 3 have already been made. Xenosaga isn't even that popular... though I suppose RPG starved Nintendo fans would take anything.
Post by: Ceric on April 28, 2007, 11:55:26 AM
Post by: Arbok on April 28, 2007, 01:41:46 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: Louieturkey
Umm, Nintendo sold Rare to Microsoft for something like 300 million yen.
Incorrect:
Quote
"We sold our position back to Rare and then they sold the entire company to Microsoft," said George Harrison, senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications for Nintendo of America.
Microsoft, which has not announced the deal, refused to comment. Industry analysts estimate the price of the deal was likely between $400 million and $500 million dollars.
http://money.cnn.com/2002/09/20/news/deals/rare/index.htm
Post by: Louieturkey on April 28, 2007, 05:07:08 PM
So you're saying they sold Rare to Rare?
Post by: Arbok on April 28, 2007, 05:34:23 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: Louieturkey
What the heck does position mean in this context?
So you're saying they sold Rare to Rare?
....yes.
It's called owning stock in a company. A firm can choose, if they want, to buy back their own stock (called a "share repurchase"), as Nintendo has in the past. In this case, Nintendo sold back their 49% share of stock to Rare, and then Rare sold it all off to Microsoft.
Post by: Kairon on April 28, 2007, 06:32:11 PM
~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: Arbok on April 28, 2007, 07:06:54 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: Kairon
Well, technically, didn't Rare offer to sell ALL the rest of stock to Nintendo? And Nintendo declined, then sold their stake? Then Rare offered to sell the whole lot to MS?
Yep, that's exactly right. The article I posted earlier mentioned this as well:
Quote
Nintendo, which declined to discuss the sale price of its share of Rare, had an option to purchase the rest of the developer last fall, but decided against it, believing that the price was too high.
Post by: that Baby guy on April 28, 2007, 07:42:28 PM
Looking back, it seemed like Rare had wanted the chance to develop for other systems, especially after that e-Christmas card they sent out, which had an Xbox-like decorated box, along with others I can't specifically recall details about. My guess is that they had been in talks with Nintendo about being bought up entirely for some time, but also in talks with Microsoft at the same time about selling the remaining stake of themselves to MS. My guess is that Nintendo wanted to keep the amount of shares they owned, but Rare, perhaps exclusively under Stamper bros. influence here, probably wanted to be free from company influence or become a second party, seeing either direction as a more profitable path than the one they were on then.
Eventually, Nintendo probably became frustrated with both Rare's work and their attitude, so they just decided to drop the company. The Stamper bros. quickly bought Nintendo's shares back, and odds are, told Microsoft that Rare could be MS's entirely, odds are, leaving MS with a short deadline. Due to this deadline and just time delay issues that seem to be common practice with stock, the act of Nintendo selling Rare its own stock, and Microsoft purchasing all of Rare probably happened so close together that the stories blended together, and between the shock and the two console makers involved, the story didn't get delved into too far.
Up to this point, pretty much everything I've said has been speculation, and pretty much irrelevant to Monolith Soft. Now for the stuff that applies to Xenosaga and Baten Kaitos.
Of course, Nintendo was the publisher of all of Rare's titles while Rare was under the influence of Nintendo. That's why Banjo Kazooie and the rest won't be going to either the Virtual Console nor Xbox Live Arcade anytime soon without some sort of agreement. See, Nintendo is the only company with the right to print new copies of these games. However, the contents of these games belong to Rare, and by extension, Microsoft. It leaves them at a stalemate, as neither company can do anything with the games published by Nintendo without both companies approval. Conker's Bad Fur Day was not published by Nintendo, which is the reason why it could be remade and released on the Xbox.
The same will apply to Xenosaga and Baten Kaitos. With Xenosaga, Episode One was published by Namco, Ep. 2 was published by Namco in North America and Japan, but published by SCEE in Europe, and Ep. 3 was published by Namco Bandai. Now, considering Namco and Nintendo are not enemies, it is possible that Namco will either publish future editions of these three games exclusively for the Wii and/or other Nintendo platforms, or Namco might sell the publishing rights to Nintendo or Monolith soft. Either one is likely to happen, though it seems like Namco isn't too enthusiastic about the series anymore, so odds are they'll sell the rights to publish it to Nintendo. I skipped over mentioning who owns the Xenosaga property, because this is slightly less certain. What I gather from Wikipedia is that Monolith Soft is the sole creator of the IP, though they were owned by Namco at the time. If I understand things correctly, Monolith should retain the rights to the series, because they are identified as their own studio, and it even seems like Tetsuya may own or have owned part of the studio at some time. I don't think the IP could transfer ownership without total Namco's ownership of the studio, which I don't believe ever happened. That means that new entities in the Xenosaga series can still be created by Monolith soft. I also have to question whether or not Europe will be able to see a re-release of the second episode, seeing as who the publisher is, but I imagine, given the circumstances of the game's publishing, SCEE's contract may have been limited.
As for Baten Kaitos, I have to say that this property is alarmingly more complicated. The first game was published by Namco, so the same publishing issues take place as above. However, as Kairon has said, the game is co-developed by tri-Crescendo. Tri-Crescendo is a private studio, and isn't owned by Namco. They're more widely known as the sound designers of Valkyrie Profile, which, FYI, Square Enix published (Just to show you they aren't owned by Namco). Tri-Crescendo did work on both games, and though both games are credited mostly to Monolith Studios, I'd imagine that tri-Crescendo still owns part of the IP involved. A scenario that could occur from this type of effort could be that Baten Kaitos could be reproduced with tri-Crescendo's materials redone differently, using none of the original code. A better scenario is that tri-Crescendo could agree to work with Nintendo and Monolith Soft in all regards of remakes and the like. The second Baten Kaitos game was actually published by Nintendo, so there are no problems in this regard, but still, tri-Crescendo did work on the game, so again, issues with remakes and the like may be subject to their approval. Of course, let me say that tri-Crescendo seems to mostly do sound work, and it's possible that both games would be in fair-use in reproduction if all the music and sound effects were completely redone, which is possible.
Anyways, that's about it, most of my info is from Wikipedia, so you may want to take it with a grain of salt, but it sounds like it makes sense. Tri-Crescendo used to be a part of tri-Ace, but apparently they are their own company now, I'm not too clear on all of the details. Anyways, overall, I have to say that Namco will probably sell all the publishing rights of all four games they the rights of to Nintendo, and we'll probably see remakes of the games at some point in time, though I imagine it will be some time for any Baten Kaitos remake. It seems too soon for that.
Post by: Kenology on April 29, 2007, 05:44:12 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: thatguy
As for Baten Kaitos, I have to say that this property is alarmingly more complicated. The first game was published by Namco, so the same publishing issues take place as above. However, as Kairon has said, the game is co-developed by tri-Crescendo. Tri-Crescendo is a private studio, and isn't owned by Namco. They're more widely known as the sound designers of Valkyrie Profile, which, FYI, Square Enix published (Just to show you they aren't owned by Namco). Tri-Crescendo did work on both games, and though both games are credited mostly to Monolith Studios, I'd imagine that tri-Crescendo still owns part of the IP involved. A scenario that could occur from this type of effort could be that Baten Kaitos could be reproduced with tri-Crescendo's materials redone differently, using none of the original code. A better scenario is that tri-Crescendo could agree to work with Nintendo and Monolith Soft in all regards of remakes and the like. The second Baten Kaitos game was actually published by Nintendo, so there are no problems in this regard, but still, tri-Crescendo did work on the game, so again, issues with remakes and the like may be subject to their approval. Of course, let me say that tri-Crescendo seems to mostly do sound work, and it's possible that both games would be in fair-use in reproduction if all the music and sound effects were completely redone, which is possible.
Anyways, that's about it, most of my info is from Wikipedia, so you may want to take it with a grain of salt, but it sounds like it makes sense. Tri-Crescendo used to be a part of tri-Ace, but apparently they are their own company now, I'm not too clear on all of the details. Anyways, overall, I have to say that Namco will probably sell all the publishing rights of all four games they the rights of to Nintendo, and we'll probably see remakes of the games at some point in time, though I imagine it will be some time for any Baten Kaitos remake. It seems too soon for that.
I think you may be right. I never understood the relationship Tri-Crescendo had with Monolith. If Tri-Crescendo was formerly Tri-Ace, it makes things a bit more clear. I remember seeing the Tri-Ace logo on many Motoi Sakuraba soundtrack releases as well. The connections still aren't all too clear though. So, as you explained it above, if Tri-Crescendo doesn't want to have their part of the code ported, then we'd lose the soundtrack while the rest of the game would remain the same. That would suck, 'cuase Sakuraba is the man. But I don't think they'd mind very much.
Post by: Artimus on April 29, 2007, 08:21:23 AM
Post by: Arbok on April 29, 2007, 08:39:40 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Artimus
Working on a game does not necessarily entitle you to its rights. Just ask TOSE. If Tri-Crescendo owns part of Baiten Kaitos then it would have rights, but working on it does not mean they own any part of it.
Bingo, and glad someone brought it up. Also, rule of thumb: publishers get more of a take at the rights then the developers do. In that sense, the copyright on the official Baten Kaitos page reads:
Quote
TM & © 2003 2006 NAMCO BANDAI GAMES Inc. Baten Kaitos is a trademark of NAMCO BANDAI GAMES Inc.
So I would wager it's most likely in Namco's hands, with Tri-Crescendo not having any stake in it unless it was part of the agreement.
Post by: capamerica on April 29, 2007, 09:04:38 AM
Web copyrights don't mean much. So don't Trademarks. If all trademarks were were accurate as to who owns the game then as I've said before Nintendo would still own Banjo-Kazooie and Killer Instinct.
From Dec 1998 to Jun 2002
http://www.Banjo-Kazooie.com
Banjo-Kazooie.com is an official Nintendo Web site. © 1998 Nintendo / Rare. Game by Rare.
From Jul 2002 to Aug 2004
http://www.Banjo-Kazooie.com (Redirected to a Nintendo.com page, Not Rare's website)
© 1997-2004 Nintendo. Games are property of their respective owners. Nintendo of America Inc. Headquarters are in Redmond, Washington
From Sept 2004 to Today
http://www.Banjo-Kazooie.com (Redirected Rare's website)
© 2006 MICROSOFT CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
As for whats up with Baten Kaitos and Tri-Crescendo I don't think Tri-Crescendo will have any clame over it. Tri-Crescendo was just a hired extra pair of hands. The game was a Monolith creations. I bet Tri-Crescendo was treated no differently then a Freelancer.
Post by: that Baby guy on April 29, 2007, 09:31:55 AM
Post by: Arbok on April 29, 2007, 09:44:36 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: capamerica
I hate to keep bringing Rare up for this, but as I said they are the best example.
Web copyrights don't mean much. So don't Trademarks. If all trademarks were were accurate as to who owns the game then as I've said before Nintendo would still own Banjo-Kazooie and Killer Instinct.
Rare is an exception, not the norm. Nintendo could have easily taken those franchises with them, but decided against it. They wanted to have "good blood" with Rare, possibly hoping that they would continue to develop games for their systems, but they went over to Microsoft instead.
Post by: capamerica on April 29, 2007, 10:41:07 AM
Show me a 2nd Party Studio that had its controlling stock moved from one company to another, and didn't keep their native franchises.
Monolith was its own Development Studio it wasn't some internal division. Monolith is not live Clover Studios or Team Ninja. Monolith is a completely separate company from Namco. Namco just happen to own a a majority share of stock in them, Just like how Nintendo owned a majority hold in Rare.
Post by: Arbok on April 29, 2007, 10:58:13 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: capamerica
I still don't think Rare is an exception.
Show me a 2nd Party Studio that had its controlling stock moved from one company to another, and didn't keep their native franchises.
How many examples are there of this happening? Let's take another "second party" though, in this case Silicon Knights. According to records, Nintendo owns the Eternal Darkness franchise:
"Title: [Eternal darkness : sanity's requiem]
Claimant: Nintendo of America, Inc."
However, the catch is that:
"Author on © Application: audiovisual material & computer program: Silicon Knights"
So they can't port the game, but they do own the series, which would apply to this example as well with Monolith (since they weren't the publisher of their own titles).
Post by: that Baby guy on April 29, 2007, 11:28:50 AM
Apparently, at the end of Eternal Darkness, the line, "ALL rights including the copyrights of Game, Scenario, Music, and Program reserved by NINTENDO" appears. From what I've read here and elsewhere, that does indeed mean Nintendo owns the series. Heck, Nintendo still owns a small portion of Silicon Knights, according to Wikipedia. Wikipedia also says that an Eternal Darkness sequel is in production, citing the SK IGN blog. I checked out the blog briefly, and didn't see anything about it. So there's no telling what's going on with that, in regards to ownership, as far as I can tell.
Post by: Arbok on April 29, 2007, 11:32:52 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: thatguy
Well, I think it is worth noting that Rare did publish some of their games, too. That shows the company did have some independence.
Yep, they published Conker... and later updated and ported that to the Xbox as well.
Post by: capamerica on April 29, 2007, 11:34:32 AM
Nintendo owns all of Eternal Darkness just look at what it says at the end of the credits:
"ALL rights including the copyrights of Game, Scenario, Music, and Program reserved by NINTENDO"
SK was just hired by Nintendo to make the game, You wouldn't say that SK owned the rights to Meta Gear would you?
A publisher only owns the rights to republish a existing game, they don't own the game its self. If publishers owned the games they published then EA would own Final Fantasy VII-IX
Post by: KDR_11k on April 30, 2007, 01:10:32 AM
Post by: Ceric on April 30, 2007, 05:36:34 AM
Post by: vudu on May 02, 2007, 08:12:02 AM
QuoteSo it's May 2; who owns Xeno?
Originally posted by: capamerica
We're not going to find out if Nintendo gets the whole Xenosaga series until May 1st when the transaction goes though.
Post by: capamerica on May 02, 2007, 10:58:58 AM
I keep checking http://www.monolithsoft.co.jp/ every 6 hours to see if its been updated yet. Its driving me crazy!
Post by: Adrock on May 02, 2007, 06:47:47 PM
Post by: that Baby guy on May 02, 2007, 06:54:10 PM
Post by: 18 Days on May 02, 2007, 09:48:40 PM
Post by: capamerica on May 03, 2007, 03:40:51 AM
The company was founded in 1999 by producer Hirohide Sugiura after he left Square Co. and accepted an investment from Namco.
Monolith Soft is usually associated with the Xenosaga series, a series of role-playing games on the PS2 console. Some of MLSI's staff are former employees of Square Co., who transferred to the new company after the creation of Chrono Cross. They were previously involved with the creation of Xenogears, from which the Xenosaga series is derived.
Post by: Arbok on May 03, 2007, 06:34:22 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: thatguy
That's just their speculation, like you said. It holds just as much water (probably less, actually) as most of our speculation in this thread. Did they support it with any reasoning or history?
Quote
Nintendo acquired a majority share of Monolith Soft from Namco, but so far as we know it did not gain any licenses with the deal. Namco owns the Xenosaga brand and I expect that it will continue to publish the series, whether it's with Monolith Soft as the developer (and quite possibly as a Wii exclusive, which would be amazing) or with another company altogether. Nintendo shares a very good relationship with Namco there is always the chance that Xenosaga could continue on Wii. I wouldn't mind a Baten Kaitos sequel, either. The short, direct answer is that Nintendo doesn't own the license, but that doesn't mean Xenosaga won't come to Wii. Relationships have a way of making things happen.
http://wii.ign.com/mail/index.html
Like I said: Publisher > Developer in most of these situations of franchise rights, unless the copyright says otherwise, and it didn't.
Post by: capamerica on May 03, 2007, 07:44:06 AM
Second, As I have stated over and over and OVER again, copyrights mean sh!t. Nintendo held most of Rare's copyrights and Nintendo didn't keep any of their series. And before you say "well Rare was a special case" show me 1, just 1 example of where a developer leaves its publisher and does NOT take their series with them.
Post by: Smash_Brother on May 03, 2007, 07:59:00 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Arbok Nintendo acquired a majority share of Monolith Soft from Namco, but so far as we know it did not gain any licenses with the deal.
I'd take the "wait and see" approach with this.
IGN probably doesn't have much in the way of information about what is transpiring behind closed doors between two Japanese software giants.
If Nintendo didn't get any of the franchises with the purchase of the company, then why did they buy it when they could have simply asked Sugiura-san to come work for them and offered him his own internal Nintendo development studio?
Post by: Plugabugz on May 03, 2007, 08:15:20 AM
Post by: capamerica on May 03, 2007, 08:25:06 AM
You don't buy a company for their staff, You only buy a company for their franchises. If you want person then you hire the person, you make them an offer they can't refuse and they go work for you.
Do you think Microsoft bought Rare or Bungie for the staff, hell no, they bought them for their franchises.
Did Nintendo buy Game Freak for their staff? No they bought them for Pokemon.
Did Namco merge with Bandai for the people who worked there, No it was for their franchises
Did Square merge with Enix to get a hold of their staff, no again it was for their franchises.
Its always about the franchises, its never about the staff.
You can easily hire someone away from a company, all you have to do is give them their own team and the freedom they want to make the games they want and you can have anyone you want without having to buy the whole company.
And even if you do buy a company there is no guarantee what so ever that the staff will even stay, just look a Rare and Bungie, how much of the original staff is still working there after the buy outs
Post by: capamerica on May 03, 2007, 08:26:49 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Plugabugz
If nintendo bought 80%, and namco held the remaining 16... who owns that last 4%?
The last 4% is owned by Monolith Soft, most likely by Hirohide Sugiura.
Post by: Bill Aurion on May 03, 2007, 08:32:31 AM
Why not? You could easily buy a company for the sole reason of being impressed with their former products and wanting similar ones! (Or be really impressed with current products, <3 Disaster!) =)
Post by: Smash_Brother on May 03, 2007, 08:53:23 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Bill Aurion Why not?
Because the staff could (and generally do) leave the moment the announcement is made that the company is being sold.
Bungie's founders are gone, Rare's founders are gone, Blizzard's core programming team is gone, etc., etc.
Why would Nintendo throw away millions of dollars into Banco when they could just as easily have said to Sugiura, "Hand pick the best members of your dev staff and we'll give you your own internal Nintendo studio."?
If they didn't get the franchises, then Nintendo is reverting to their old ways and Ian should be here any second to lambast them for their stupidity.
Post by: Nephilim on May 03, 2007, 08:54:41 AM
Post by: Mikintosh on May 03, 2007, 08:56:09 AM
Post by: Smash_Brother on May 03, 2007, 08:59:52 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: DeadlyD
Nintendo clearly bought Retro for raven blade then, and not because it was producing a game game called metroid prime
WTH is Raven Blade? (yes, that IS a rhetorical question)
Xenosaga and to a lesser extent, Baiten Kaitos, have fanbases and followings of their own, hence why acquiring the licenses to them would sway a LOT of potential RPG players over to the Wii.
Retro was bought more to keep tabs on the company and ensure that MP turned out well (since they don't want a sub-par release of a Nintendo franchise).
Disaster wasn't a Nintendo franchise so there was no reason for Nintendo to buy Monolith to "save" it. They must have had driving reasons beyond just Disaster.
Post by: Bill Aurion on May 03, 2007, 09:18:58 AM
Post by: UltimatePartyBear on May 03, 2007, 09:22:24 AM
Edit: It would also make it easier to cut its ties to Monolith and Sugiura in the future.
Post by: SixthAngel on May 03, 2007, 09:23:54 AM
Post by: Smash_Brother on May 03, 2007, 09:24:11 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Bill Aurion
Disaster has always been a "Nintendo franchise" considering it has been under Ninty's publishing label since it was first announced... =3
True, but this isn't a simple case of Nintendo buying a 2nd party dev because they're doing well with a franchise.
This is an established studio owned by another publisher, one who won't release the studio without proper monetary compensation (does anyone know how much Nintendo paid?).
There's no doubt that they could have managed and published Disaster without having to buy the studio, and since they were publishing it anyway, it's not like Banco would have had their hand in the pie.
Quote
Originally posted by: PartyBear If Nintendo wanted Sugiura, buying a dominating share of his existing studio might have been easier than building him a new one at Nintendo.
The question isn't whether or not it would be "easier". The question is if it'd be "cheaper".
Quote
Originally posted by: SixthAngel
I don't think its easy to walk up to the founder of a company and simply get them to leave their own company to work for you, taking employees with them and disbanding the company they probably own a chunk/most of. The company pretty much has to be bought.
First, he owned 4% of it. 4.
Second, employees leave for greener pastures all the time, even founders, ESPECIALLY when they're not getting much money from their current situation.
With that 4%, how much was Banco paying the poor guy? Nintendo could have offered him 20% and he'd still have ample reason to jump ship.
Do you know that a large chunk of the core Blizzard programming staff was hired right out from under them by NCSoft?
Post by: NWR_pap64 on May 03, 2007, 09:28:46 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Bill Aurion
Disaster has always been a "Nintendo franchise" considering it has been under Ninty's publishing label since it was first announced... =3
I think what he meant was that Disaster wasn't already an existing Nintendo franchise when it went into development.
But your post makes sense too.
Post by: UltimatePartyBear on May 03, 2007, 09:48:21 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Bill Aurion
Disaster has always been a "Nintendo franchise" considering it has been under Ninty's publishing label since it was first announced... =3
Disaster has always been "a brand name under which a series of products is released" for Nintendo? It's amazing that a game that hasn't even been finished yet is already an entire series.
Quote
Originally posted by: Smash_Brother
The question isn't whether or not it would be "easier". The question is if it'd be "cheaper".
Easier often means cheaper in business. Monolith has certain qualities that a hypothetical new Nintendo studio lacks. Existence, for one. Plus, he might have wanted to stay where he was, or he may have been unwilling to be assimilated into a larger company. Perhaps if he really does still own the rights to Xenosaga, he doesn't want to give them up to Nintendo either. Finally, if things don't work out in the long run, it will be a lot easier for Nintendo to sell his studio than it would be to fire him.
Post by: Nephilim on May 03, 2007, 09:53:28 AM
Quote
When we say we do not do M&A, there are always exceptions, so let me explain about it. We have never said that we will never do M&A in any situation. Actually, we are not against M&A if Nintendo can absorb the real value of the company. However, in most cases, the value of software developing companies is attached to its people, not the company, which is merely a vessel for its people. So, when we purchase a company, we can purchase the vessel, but we cannot necessarily purchase the contents. Even if we should compete with others to purchase a software company, although we might be able to increase the sheer number of our developers and to gain a short-term result, we do not think it will do good for us in the long run. We have been repeatedly saying that we will not do that kind of M&A. In the case of Monolith Software, Mr. Sugiura, the president, and Nintendo have a long-term relationship. How Mr. Sugiura thinks is close to how Nintendo thinks. The software Mr. Sugiura would like to create is in line with what Nintendo would like to have for its platform. So, we thought that Nintendo should support this idea, and we decided to take action. If certain conditions are met, we may do the same thing in the future (M&A). However, we will be very careful and selective, so that we will only partner with people with whom Nintendo can create a long-term working relationship.
for the Lazy ppl debating, Iwata Interview
Post by: Smash_Brother on May 03, 2007, 10:06:35 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: PartyBear
Easier often means cheaper in business. Monolith has certain qualities that a hypothetical new Nintendo studio lacks. Existence, for one. Plus, he might have wanted to stay where he was, or he may have been unwilling to be assimilated into a larger company. Perhaps if he really does still own the rights to Xenosaga, he doesn't want to give them up to Nintendo either. Finally, if things don't work out in the long run, it will be a lot easier for Nintendo to sell his studio than it would be to fire him.
That makes the most sense out of anything, but I still want to see the final tally for money spent on the acquisition.
Quote
for the Lazy ppl debating, Iwata Interview
He completely dodges the question of whether or not Nintendo acquired his franchises, though.
It sounds to me, however, that Iwata wanted to make sure Sugi was cool with the purchase beforehand so they could move forward while acquiring both the company AND its franchises. Like I said (without any reference to the interview), you can buy the company for the franchises, but the people will leave if they don't like the new owners.
In this case, I believe Nintendo wanted both.
Also, doesn't anyone read Cap's posts?
Monolith Soft is usually associated with the Xenosaga series, a series of role-playing games on the PS2 console. Some of MLSI's staff are former employees of Square Co., who transferred to the new company after the creation of Chrono Cross. They were previously involved with the creation of Xenogears, from which the Xenosaga series is derived.
They left their parent company once. Why the HELL wouldn't they do it again?
The bottom line:
Nintendo doesn't need to pay millions of dollars to Banco for something they could have gotten for free.
Post by: Spak-Spang on May 03, 2007, 10:31:57 AM
However, Monolith and Nintendo have worked together and their philosophy in games is similar...which means buying the company for the staff and talent is viable because most likely they won't leave the company for becoming a part of a larger company that you already have good relationship with, AND they will probably be happy to have the stronger funding.
Post by: Arbok on May 03, 2007, 10:42:42 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: capamerica
Second, As I have stated over and over and OVER again, copyrights mean sh!t. Nintendo held most of Rare's copyrights and Nintendo didn't keep any of their series. And before you say "well Rare was a special case" show me 1, just 1 example of where a developer leaves its publisher and does NOT take their series with them.
One example? How about Naughty Dog then? Bought by Sony in 2001, they are the people who developed the Crash Bandicoot series. Universal, who published the titles and also owned them in the copyright that "means sh!t" ended up taking the franchise.
Quote
Originally posted by: Smash_Brother
The bottom line:
Nintendo doesn't need to pay millions of dollars to Banco for something they could have gotten for free.
It has happend before in the industry (Retro with Nintendo, Naughty Dog with Sony), so I don't see why it's out the question to have happend again. As previously stated, maybe Disaster is turning out to be something really special and Nintendo just wants to make sure that a lot of the team behind it stays in their camp?
Post by: Ceric on May 03, 2007, 11:33:56 AM
Edit: It seems I'm a little late on this one.
Post by: capamerica on May 03, 2007, 11:37:27 AM
The first 4 Crash titles were published by Sony, Thous are also the only 4 games that Naughty Dog made. When Vivendi got involved Naughty Dog was no longer making Crash games. 3 games later (pretty much during the time the Crash series compleatly tanked. Sony and Naughty Dog reached an agreement to sell the license to Vivendi Games.
So ya, this is no where near the same thing as Monolith Soft.
Post by: Adrock on May 03, 2007, 11:52:54 AM
So really, if Nintendo basically just got a huge chunk of Monolith Soft, sans the franchises, to develop exclusively for Wii and DS, they did it the "right" way. Nintendo gets Monolith Soft, who in turn seems to really want to work with Nintendo and Namco Bandai is well-compensated. Everyone wins.
And even if the purchase didn't come with the franchises, I think Monolith Soft is more than capable of creating a brand new RPG series. There's really no reason to believe otherwise.
Post by: The Traveller on May 03, 2007, 12:10:13 PM
Post by: Kairon on May 03, 2007, 12:31:49 PM
~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: Smash_Brother on May 03, 2007, 04:28:04 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: Adrock
And even if the purchase didn't come with the franchises, I think Monolith Soft is more than capable of creating a brand new RPG series. There's really no reason to believe otherwise.
That's probably the most compelling argument, but like I said, it all boils down to how much Nintendo spent on this transaction.
I could see them spending a certain amount of money if it was worth it under the ideas you said, but there's a limit.
Post by: Adrock on May 03, 2007, 06:12:19 PM
Post by: KDR_11k on May 04, 2007, 02:15:03 AM
Post by: Smash_Brother on May 04, 2007, 06:03:25 PM
We'll still wait and see, but I A) can't see Banco bothering with Xenosaga (they wanted to end the series anyway) and B) I don't see a need for Nintendo to buy the company if he was going to be entering into exclusive publishing deals anyway.
And on the subject, WHAT relationship with Banco? This is the same company which continues to provide ass for Wii support while announcing Time Crisis on the PS3.
I know Nintendo doesn't want that perception, but IMHO, f*ck Banco and their digimon games.
Post by: NWR_pap64 on May 04, 2007, 06:54:22 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: Smash_Brother
I still don't think a buyout would happen without the franchises going with it.
We'll still wait and see, but I A) can't see Banco bothering with Xenosaga (they wanted to end the series anyway) and B) I don't see a need for Nintendo to buy the company if he was going to be entering into exclusive publishing deals anyway.
And on the subject, WHAT relationship with Banco? This is the same company which continues to provide ass for Wii support while announcing Time Crisis on the PS3.
I know Nintendo doesn't want that perception, but IMHO, f*ck Banco and their digimon games.
And Gundam, don't forget Gundam!
Post by: Smash_Brother on May 04, 2007, 07:38:28 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: pap64 And Gundam, don't forget Gundam!
Oh, indeed...
*ahem*
F*ck Gundam. Twice.
Post by: Adrock on May 04, 2007, 08:39:10 PM
Quote
Smash_Brother wrote:
And on the subject, WHAT relationship with Banco? This is the same company which continues to provide ass for Wii support while announcing Time Crisis on the PS3.
While I agree that Namco Bandai is shafting Wii (like many publishers actually), there really is no denying that Nintendo's relationships with 3rd parties is the strongest it's been since probably ever. 3rd party support isn't anywhere near where it needs to be, but I have to give Nintendo for credit for rebuilding those bridges. They have to start somewhere and there's certainly nothing wrong with being on good terms.
Post by: KDR_11k on May 06, 2007, 12:27:01 AM
Let's not forget the merchandising. He who owns Xenosaga gets the money from all the Kosmos hugging pillows they sell.
Also this talk about Wii and Gundam reminds me of the Gundam Wii screenshots still linked from the front page...
Post by: Bill Aurion on May 08, 2007, 05:43:04 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: AdrockQuote
Smash_Brother wrote:
And on the subject, WHAT relationship with Banco? This is the same company which continues to provide ass for Wii support while announcing Time Crisis on the PS3.
While I agree that Namco Bandai is shafting Wii (like many publishers actually), there really is no denying that Nintendo's relationships with 3rd parties is the strongest it's been since probably ever. 3rd party support isn't anywhere near where it needs to be, but I have to give Nintendo for credit for rebuilding those bridges. They have to start somewhere and there's certainly nothing wrong with being on good terms.
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Because of sluggish sales, Namco Bandai plans to release only 23 titles for PS3 in the current fiscal year, compared to 24 games to be sold to Microsoft Corp's Xbox360 and 37 titles to be released for Nintendo Co Ltd's Wii console.
Source: NeoGAF
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on May 08, 2007, 05:47:44 PM
Post by: Adrock on May 08, 2007, 06:44:12 PM
I applaud Nintendo for mending many fractured relationships with 3rd parties. However, I won't break out the champagne until I know that Wii is getting more quality titles from big name publishers like Namco Bandai. From a Nintendo fan's perspective, it's nice to see a Nintendo console get support from 3rd parties, but it isn't enough to just get a lot of games. Maybe I'm asking too much, but who doesn't want quality and quantity, dammit!
Post by: Bill Aurion on May 08, 2007, 06:51:40 PM
(And who's to say that a number of these games couldn't turn out great? Don't be a Negative Nancy!)
Post by: Adrock on May 08, 2007, 09:08:54 PM
Apparently Famitsu just confirmed Soul Calibur Legends for Wii. First, that doesn't mean exclusive. And more importantly, that doesn't make it a good game. We know next to nothing about it except that Taki's boobs will probably jiggle a lot. I'm intrigued by what Namco Bandai has planned, but I'm also hesitant. I remember Sega announcing a Virtua Fighter based action/adventure game announced for Gamecube that eventually went multiplatform... then turned out to be Virtua Quest. Interesting idea, poor execution. So excuse my apprehension.
And yes, PS2 got ass games a-plenty, but it also got the vast majority of AAA games. Most publishers made PS2 their console of choice. PS2 had the most games (many, admittedly, quite terrible) though it had the most good games from those companies. Right now, there's no evidence that this is the case for Wii. We don't know what games they're planning, some or many could be ports of PS2/Xbox games, others could be Japanese only "games" where gameplay consists of, I don't know... buying cabbage at the local market and bringing it home to boil.
So essentially, if you didn't bother to read all that, while I'm glad Nintendo is getting 37 games from Namco Bandai, I simply want some info on those games.
Post by: Kairon on May 08, 2007, 09:50:32 PM
Oh wait. I got Jet Force Gemini.
~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: Mikintosh on May 08, 2007, 10:30:28 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: Adrock
Hey, I never said those games couldn't turn out great. Rather, I want to know what kinds of games Wii is getting before I consider this a good thing because right now, all we have are a bunch of words without any real context. No video, no screenshots, no concrete info... nothing really. I don't think the "wait-and-see" approach is negative.
Apparently Famitsu just confirmed Soul Calibur Legends for Wii. First, that doesn't mean exclusive. And more importantly, that doesn't make it a good game. We know next to nothing about it except that Taki's boobs will probably jiggle a lot. I'm intrigued by what Namco Bandai has planned, but I'm also hesitant. I remember Sega announcing a Virtua Fighter based action/adventure game announced for Gamecube that eventually went multiplatform... then turned out to be Virtua Quest. Interesting idea, poor execution. So excuse my apprehension.
And yes, PS2 got ass games a-plenty, but it also got the vast majority of AAA games. Most publishers made PS2 their console of choice. PS2 had the most games (many, admittedly, quite terrible) though it had the most good games from those companies. Right now, there's no evidence that this is the case for Wii. We don't know what games they're planning, some or many could be ports of PS2/Xbox games, others could be Japanese only "games" where gameplay consists of, I don't know... buying cabbage at the local market and bringing it home to boil.
So essentially, if you didn't bother to read all that, while I'm glad Nintendo is getting 37 games from Namco Bandai, I simply want some info on those games.
Oh bah to that. The PS2 got the high-profile GTA and Metal Gear Solid franchises, but those went into ports-a-plenty on the Xbox, Gamecube, and PC. It had Final Fantasy, but only 3 of them, and only one of them was one of the "regular" games. And Dragon Quest VIII, but they couldn't hold onto it for IX. Everything else was either niche genre games, fun platformers on par with Nintendo's lesser stuff, or multiplatform games. The PS2's library was bloated, and that's it.
The Wii's new control scheme isn't a guarantee of quality, but the fact that it's selling much better than the competition means Namco would look very stupid if it put it's name on a cabbage-buying game (I recognize your hyperbole) and putting its major franchises on systems which weren't selling nearly as well. I'm sure 60% of those games will be forgettable, but that's usually the case. But Namco clearly sees the opportunity, and I think the company's competent enough not to let that go to waste.
And If Soul Calibur Legends is anything like that one mode in III, I'm sold.
Post by: Adrock on May 09, 2007, 03:39:40 AM
I admit PS2 had a lot of crappy titles. However, I wouldn't downplay the big franchises PS2 had. The games did have some affect on its popularity.
Post by: Deguello on May 09, 2007, 04:24:29 AM
Post by: Ceric on May 09, 2007, 04:56:05 AM
Quote
Because of sluggish sales, Namco Bandai plans to release only 23 titles for PS3 in the current fiscal year, compared to 24 games to be sold to Microsoft Corp's Xbox360 and 37 titles to be released for Nintendo Co Ltd's Wii console.
23 Multiplatform Releases
1 Xbox360 Exclusive
1 Wii Exclusive
13 Virtual Console Games
There you go. Thats what I expect.
Post by: Smash_Brother on May 09, 2007, 04:57:47 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Deguello
We probably should not make judgments of the 37 NamCamboDaiRai whatever games until they are revealed.
Correct.
Let us just safely assume that they are all Digimon games.
Post by: Bill Aurion on May 09, 2007, 05:12:24 AM
Post by: Ceric on May 09, 2007, 05:22:39 AM
23 Mulitplatform New Digimon Games
1 360 Exclusive Digimon/Soul Calibur Brawler
1 Wii Exclusive Digimon Cutesy Raising Game and Soul Calibur Legends
12 Virtual Consoles Releases of Past Digimon Games
I corrected it to include the two Soul Caliburs.
Post by: Smash_Brother on May 09, 2007, 07:02:46 AM
Post by: NWR_pap64 on May 09, 2007, 07:18:54 AM
Post by: Ceric on May 09, 2007, 07:42:36 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Ceric
Nah, as I said.
23 Mulitplatform New Digimon/Gundam Games
1 360 Exclusive Digimon/Soul Calibur/Gundam Brawler
1 Wii Exclusive Digimon/SD Gundam Cutesy Raising Game and Soul Calibur Legends
12 Virtual Consoles Releases of Past Digimon/Gundam Games
I corrected it to include the two Soul Caliburs.
Recorrected to Include more Gundam.
Post by: Urkel on May 09, 2007, 07:27:49 PM
The series ended prematurely because Bananaco was unhappy with the sales, correct? If the sales weren't good enough for them, why would profit-minded Nintendo want it?
I understand RPGs have been a weak point (MASSIVE DAMAGE) for Nintendo consoles the past couple of generations, but I don't see Xenosaga being much help since it apparantly wasn't all that popular.
Post by: Adrock on May 09, 2007, 08:30:58 PM
I don't know the sales figures of Xenosaga, but could it have been possible for Xenosaga to have performed better on GCN due to lack of competition? I think it's a possibility.
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on May 09, 2007, 08:41:08 PM
1. Competition
2. Marketing
3. Company/Brand recognition
With NIntendo's name behind Xenosaga, it could perform really well especially since they are supposed to be quality RPGs.
Post by: Ceric on May 10, 2007, 03:31:51 AM
1 360 Exclusive Digimon/Soul Calibur/Gundam Brawler
1 Wii Exclusive Space Station Tycoon
1 Wii Exclusive Soul Calibur Legends (w/ unlockable Digimon/SD Gundam Cutesy Raising Game)
12 Virtual Consoles Releases of Past Digimon/Gundam Games
I corrected it to include the two Soul Caliburs.
Recorrected to Include more Gundam.
RRC to Include Space Station Tycoon
Post by: couchmonkey on May 11, 2007, 06:52:57 AM
But if I were in Nintendo's place I'd either be looking for a top-tier RPG (Final Fantasy) or a cheap, innovative RPG (DQ Swords, maybe?). Be big or be different...
Post by: Adrock on May 11, 2007, 08:52:29 PM
Also, on a related note, Silicon Knights was the 2nd team Nintendo had remake a 3rd party title (Brownie Brown with Sword of Mana being the first). It makes me wonder what Nintendo has planned of Monolith Soft. Given how difficult it is to create a mega-hit RPG and Square-Enix's recent remake frenzy, the implications here seem too obvious to ignore. Nintendo wants RPGs on Wii, going as far as to invest heavily in a known RPG developer, and Square-Enix has been freeing up their in-house teams for original content by employing outside development teams for remakes and ports (Matrix Software co-developed FFIII). I don't think Nintendo would do it (i.e. use their own resources) unless they got something big. So what hasn't Square-Enix remade yet? Chrono series comes to mind. And though my personal favorite is VI, Nintendo couldn't go bigger than scoring FFVII.
I don't mean to speculate. I just think it's something to think about.
Post by: Urkel on May 11, 2007, 09:26:41 PM
Partly because their first collaboration, Disaster: Day of Crisis isn't an RPG (I think). But mainly because the reason Nintendo gave for their acquisition of Monolith was that they "share the same vision". Somehow, I don't think hours of cutscenes is part of Nintendo's vision.
Now, that could have been a bunch of BS, but if it isn't I believe Nintendo wants Monolith to move towards more action-y type games. They would still be story driven games with a fair amount of cutscenes and voice acting and whatnot, but with gameplay having much more of a focus.
I also see the connection with SK, and I believe that's what Nintendo wants from Monolith. I think Monolith has more potential saleswise than SK simply because they're a Japanese dev. Japanese games have a chance of selling well outside of Japan, but SK's western style really only limits potential success to the west.
But isn't all this talk of Xenosaga moot anyway? I haven't played the last game, but I thought the story was supposed to be wrapped up.
If we do get any Xenosaga lovin', it will probably only be ports of the trilogy.
Post by: Kairon on May 13, 2007, 05:26:03 PM
Edit: Old habits die hard
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on May 13, 2007, 07:51:37 PM
Dead to Rights: Card Battle
Pac-Man vs. Crash at the Olympic Games
Tales of Gynophobia
Post by: ShyGuy on May 13, 2007, 08:02:04 PM
