Topic: Why are Western Devs ignoring the 3DS?

The thing is I was in to handheld JRPG's. The ones on the DS are great. (The same also applies to the GBA).

I liked the Dragon Quests IV/V/VI (V being a particular standout).
Radiant Historia
Chrono Trigger
Final Fantasy III (Remake - I had never played the NES version before).
Dragon Quest IX (Even not getting the best out of it using local multiplayer).

GBA had

Final Fantasy IV/V/VI
Tales of Phantasia
Breath of Fire 1 & 2

Trying to say the 3DS JRPG's are the same as the ones I like is like saying if you like Mario you automatically like Sonic.

I don't like anime. Or cutscenes that don't use the Game engine. Or Tutorials. Or grinding. (If I am really engaged with the story I suppose I don't notice the grinding but that never happens).

In the 3D Style I liked Skies of Arcadia (As much) and that is it. (I liked Xenoblade Chronicles but not to the same level).

The 3DS Platformers are generally less well liked than the Wii entries. (Both by critics and by me. If they weren't so similar it would be less of a problem or if they waited a more reasonable amount of time so I can play it without making the comparison. When I played DKCR on the Wii I had basically forgotten most things about Donkey Kong Country.)

There is loads of stuff we have never really had in the West.

Far East of Eden Zero
Romancing SaGa 3
The Final Fantasy Adventure Remakes.
3D Dragon Quest VII
Mother 3
Super Famicom - Dragon Quest III

Then there is the rest of the genres where there is basically nothing. (That were quite well represented on the DS and GBA.)

There is quite a few spoof JRPG's that I have enjoyed recently. Saturday Morning RPG / Evoland.

And I did like an Item Shop Tale as well. (Not interested in another very similar idea though for a long time).

DS Has :

Contra 4
Commando : Steel Disaster
Metal Slug 7
Megaman ZX
Megaman ZX Advent
Megaman Zero Collection
Bowsers Inside Story (Really didn't like the 3DS one or really Partners in Time this one was great though).
Retro Game Challenge
Kirby Super Star Ultra (I had never played it before).
NSMB (The 3DS one is a joke)
Sonic Rush (Stuff like 3DS Generations is ok at its current price but its not at the same level).
Space Invaders Extreme
Nanostray 2
Kensui - Death Label
Bangai-O-Spirits
Two good Warioware games.
5 Bomberman Games.
Metroid Prime Hunters
3 Castlevania Games (the 3DS one is terrible even if I would prefer the PSP Rondo of Blood / Symphony of the Night).
Tetris DS (Best version of Tetris I have tried so far).
Meteos.

I have not even looked that deeply but I have easily found something close to the best the genre has to offer across most genres.

(That is my definition of something for everybody).

Yes it was more simple. You were fighting the same villain with the same motives with the same stakes for most of the game. The entire part of the game after the first Van fight is essentially backtracking the story to before Auldrant was lowered.

And yes it was much more linear. There are a ton of opportunities in ToS where you can either sequence break or you are given an explicit choice of where you can go. Quests like the Linkite Nut could be done at several points in the story, so it wasn't really scripted. TotA has you going straight from plot point to plot point, the only non-linear aspect is the sidequests in cities.

Yet there were still plenty of plot twists. Symphonia started with following Collette on her journey and was about that for half the game, then switched to uniting the two worlds, while protecting Collette was always the main focus. "Stopping Van" was as clear as the story was until things slowly unfolded. The two were actually pretty similar plot-wise, but one was more about the journey while the other had a more serious focus on the events taking place. Heck, as long as Collette was safe they could take their time. Van and the god generals could complete their goal with or without the main cast.

You have a point about being more linear, but it wasn't a very drastic change. Most of the choices were path a or b first, or which party members are grouped together. I don't think it was a bad thing though due to the seriousness of Abyss's plot.

@Unrandomsam
So mostly old-school style JRPGs then? None of the things you listed make a game "boring" though, except maybe grinding, which games like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest have plenty of too. Most of the games you listed are very much anime, especially the Dragon Quest remakes. The others are definitely anime inspired despite the sprite artwork, but lean towards the 90s anime style.

Not to say theres anything wrong with it but you might have to broaden your scope a bit to find something you'll like, most JRPGs check at least of of those boxes of yours.

Yeah but sales show mobile users don't pay for games up front, you'd have to change your games to support microtransactions.

I think Western companies (as mentioned by others) are ignoring handhelds period,with the App craze for mobile both the 3DS and the Vita have been very ignored this generation compared to the past. Which honestly is sad because even with a Galaxy Note 3 not counting Emulation there are only a handful of games i find entertaining such as Modern Combat 4 or Puzzles and Dragons.

Still given the very large 3DS Install base you would think more companies would step forward,The Vita i understand is far more of a risk given it's low install base but the 3DS has a fairly large base for making profit.

I don't understand it myself, I think it is just bad business decisions.

There are 3DS's everywhere you look, on subways and such. Just like people jumped on Bravely Default, they could jump on a great western party game, that wouldn't cost much and be very popular.

Companies make bad decisions all the time and nobody is stepping forward to do something differently, which in this case will mean develop for 3DS. If they did, they'd make more money.

Honestly many of these companies are already making mobile titles, some of which are actually good (maybe). They could port those for a start.

@unrandomsam do you have PES 2013 on 3DS?

Because most western developers care about flexing their big muscles on a console and releasing yearly glorified tech demos with online multiplayer.

But seriously, western gamers are more about consoles and mobile. They either want to play a big expensive game on their TV at home or a free mobile game on the bus. GTAV sold so well because it combined both. It was a huge expensive game with pretty graphics and filled with a ton of pointless minigames. Also, gun violence. Can't have a western blockbuster without loads of gun violence.

Not any more.

@KnightRider666 3DS is a WEAKSAUCE! That thing can't even power Minecraft, let alone some western game...

Child of Light is coming to Vita but not 3DS!

@memoryman3: Screw Vita! That's why the so called "weaker" 3DS is dominating the handheld market?

[quote=kkslider5552000]

Minecraft is deceptively resource intensive. So that's hardly surprising.

I'd like to assume your ADD immediately distracted you from what you actually quoted.

Seriously why the hell is Child of Light coming to Vita but not 3DS? Last time I checked the Vita is selling worse than the Wii U.

it would probably mean a downgrade that they don't consider worthwhile.

Maybe they're terrified it will blow up in their faces or that version on Metacritic will ruin everything, I dunno. I'm just thankful it's on Wii U. I mean, is there anyone saying "oh I wish 3DS had more games on it"? No, not really. It, for the most part anyway, has the games it needs and then some.

But the Vita isn't?
Considering I don't have a Wii U, I certainly wish the 3DS had more games on it. Sure it has lots of games, but that doesn't mean it couldn't use more

Maybe they just don't think theres a big enough market for their games on Nintendo's handhelds for the port to be worth it? While the Vita isn't doing stellar apparently Vita owners buy a lot of games, I think about 10 on average. Its shaping up to be a great niche/indie platform so they probably think the game will fare better without competition from more well known series, its a new IP that'd have to compete with Pokemon, Fire Emblem, and other similar games after all.

While I sympathize with your position, there was simply never a plan to port the game to 3DS.
Sour grapes for some interested parties but I'm sure bringing the game to Vita was a simple cost to benefit decision. I could speculate but I tend to agree with @kkslider5552000 that a port to Vita would be more straightforward; sadly the glorious 3D effect isn't a guaranteed selling point.