Bankai

@Everly and given that between the two consoles Microsoft and Sony have a worldwide instal base about 50 times as large as Nintendo with the Wii U, those consoles SHOULD be the priority for Ubisoft.

Do you people not understand that Ubisoft needs to turn a profit on Rayman or you will never see another Rayman game, or is this just another case of gamer entitlement. I.E "I am throwing a tantrum because I have to wait a few more months for a game, that needs to be multiplatform or the developer is going out of business"

@Ryno_Choryzo No, it's global.

@CrissCross87 Japan is a tiny place?

Google search "population of Japan" buddy

@theblackdragon And the market would get a heck of a lot more difficult if suddenly SE were to take the Wii U business seriously. It's three million units. Worldwide. No major publisher could possibly build a profitable model relying on that console right now.

The 3DS might be a safer bet, but again, that's only in Japan. The support for the 3DS in the west is horrible. And surprise surprise SE has supported the 3DS in Japan, and shows little interest in doing to in the west.

Rather than assume that that's the problem to SE's financials, why not consider why SE has done that? I don't say that to be pithy, but rather it's a genuine question - why assume that supporting platforms that are not selling will reverse SE's fortunes.

For the record SE has a lot more huge-scale console projects on the way. Tomb Raider and Thief 4 for instance. It's also trying to save FFXIV, which is an expensive job though potentially lucrative in the long run.

It's also smart to be investing in mobile gaming. That's just a simple reality of the industry now.

@smashbrawler331 that's the cheapest game Square Enix has produced in years. Are you seriously using that as proof?

Because, you know, Square Enix does have other iOS games... and they're all rather good aside from ATB...

But if we're going to play that game. Nintendo released Pokemon Dream Catcher on the 3DS eShop. Clearly it's a horrible publisher that can't make a single good game.

Final Fantasy XIII wasn't profitable? Do you have some numbers to back that up?

Do you have any data to back up the assumption that giving Nintendo gamers what they want in any way would return Square Enix to being a profitable company?

Nintendo consoles have incredibly low install bases in the west. Conventional business wisdom would tell you that when you're struggling, you stick with low-risk projects - in this case supporting the platforms with high install bases. That means iOS and PS3 for Square Enix. Xbox doesn't have the necessary numbers in Japan to support developing games on that platform in the first place for a Japanese company, and the Vita, 3DS and Wii U quite simply haven't sold enough to generate a high return on investment.

Square Enix goes where the numbers are. It has to.

I'd also like to point out that one of the reasons for this 'poor' result is the simple fact that Square Enix didn't release many of its big-budget console games in the past year.

@Big_Al1 This is a public forum. What you say may well influence what another person thinks.

Spreading misinformation is something that as a journalist I have a very low tolerance threshold. If people actually knew what they were talking about 90 per cent of the world's problems would be solved overnight.

Having now read the comments it's worse than I thought. Some of you want SE to focus on making and localising games for the consoles with two of te lowest instal bases in the western markets (by a long way, too)... Wise business understanding on display there.

Still others want SE to ignore the fact that AAA development necesitates AAA engines. Ooops.

And of course that 'make good games' deal. Never mind how absurdly subjective that is for discussion in a business news story, but it's absurd to think SE is not trying to make high quality, marketable games for a mass audience.

Does anyone with an actual background in business want to take a crack at narrowing this down?

Oh dear. The armchair experts our out in force today.

Oh cool. A pretty clone of a really popular 0.99 iPad app.

A genuine question here for the Americans: in this gun debate (as in the rational one, forget about the NRA and other interest groups): has anyone actually mentioned the fact that outside of America there are dozens of advanced, westernised nations where the citizens live in safety (not perfect safety, but certainly lower rates of homocide than in the US?

That's the thing that bugs me the most about the debate, sitting outside of America looking in: there seems to be an assumption that owning guns is the only way to have a healthy society and for people to be safe. It's a blatantly incorrect assumption to make.

I've been to the US a few times, and I must admit I prefer living in an environment where I don't need to worry that my neighbour might own a gun.

Is there any reason, beyond an incredibly old and irrelevant document to modern society, and an incredibly difficult logistical problem, that America can't go gun free?

@JKCB97 I know hey. Outside of the US where most countries have strict gun laws, if not bans on all guns, why, it's amazing anyone is left alive. We are all completely defenceless and because of that every single person is murdered every single day.

@NImH I am always optimistic.

I don't buy this "economies are shrinking so should the games industry," argument. As we saw with the great recession the games industry held up quite robustly because games are a relatively cheap form of entertainment, and so what little discretionary spend people had tended to go into games rather than overseas holidays, trips to the cinema for the family and so on.

I see no reason to think this trend will not be repeated with the upcoming global recession version 2.

One of the most obvious reasons for the contraction is the lack of new hardware. Yes, Nintendo has started its next generation. Sony and Microsoft have not.

New hardware generates interest and sales and generally leads to a growth market. I suspect once the next Sony and Microsoft consoles are released that the overall market will start to be look healthier.

For Nintendo, too. Competition from Sony and Microsoft will help drum up sales for Nintendo hardware and software.

The market's just a big stagnant right now, is all.

@Sony_70 You pay for quality.

Seriously you seem to be a dude with an interest in the business side of things. Time to subscribe.

As far as I am concerned, Nintendo could not have hoped to have done better.

Moon Knight is the best table.

@YujiPro You do realise that if the rest of the industry collapses, so will Nintendo, right?

@Le_Wario26 "obsession with making money"...

You do realise that is the sole purpose that a company exists, right? I'll never understand why people pretend that companies should be doing more than making money. It would be completely unethical, and likely illegal, for a company to deliberately lose interest in making money.

One game fails. Studio is closed.

My what a healthy industry the games industry is.

@darkgamer001 This is anecdotal, but I don't know anyone who bought Retro Game Studios new and at full price. That was a game that so many people loved, but bought either second hand or out of the bargain bin.

Either way, gamers didn't support XSEED and now you'll never get to play Retro Game Challenge 2 unless you can speak Japanese. Them's the breaks.

Great find, Thomas.

I dunno if it is video games that are helping the revival of pinball, however. There is a definite trend in cafes, waiting rooms and so on to stick retro video games in - part as a way to keep customers happy, and part as a cool old-style decoration. Those PlayTables (coffee table with 60+ old games like Space Invaders) do a brisk business now and the same businesses buying those will be buying pinball tables.

I doubt many consumers are playing the likes of Zen Pinball and thinkin to themselves "I HAVE to spend $1000 for the real deal."

These companies really need to start naming these things right.

This is not Mahjong. It is Mahjong Solitaire. It's like calling a card game "Texas Hold 'Em" only for the game to be Spider Solitaire.

As a fan of Mahjong I rather wish one of these games could be actual Mahjong.

Capcom's done this before - include a real collectible in with the premium packages.

I can only assume they sell since they keep doing them.

Oh thank goodness, I don't have to have English dubs ruin the game.

This is the third time he has asked for us to be patient for information, translation is WE GOT NADA

That us a really weak showing by Nintendo. Nothing ready to show, nothing to announce.

Sony does. Cross play cross saves. Everything. Free to transfer.

We have to REPURCHASE Virtual Console games?

FAIL NINTENDO. FAIL

@CouchPotato What.

@cornishlee it's not a shoot-em-up. It's a multiplayer tag game/ singleplayer time trial racer.

Therein lies my point. What the game fails to do is articulate what it is about. Without that articulation only the most experimental of gamers would bother with it.

Also, if the developers had have got some dummy reviews written up they would have realised quickly that the reception to the game in the media was going to be mixed, further impacting on sales.

tl;dr this was never going to be a hit.

Often indies don't understand (or lack the resources) to do proper sales modelling with their games.

Which translates into a "disappointment" for the game's market performance, when really it performed as expected.

One look at Chasing Aurora was enough to realise that it was far too abstract to have a hope of being high on the list of people's first Wii U purchases.

It's a very pretty game, but in a way that is very alienating. A more experienced publisher would not have expected stellar sales from this game.

@FluttershyGuy So... you want every form of art to be blamed every time someone is inspired to do something evil after experiencing art?

"Unfortunately, no matter how much we try, logic won't always apply."

Based on many of the comments in this story; the unfortunate would be that logic would suggest that we, the consumers, don't assume we know more about the business of localising games than they, the guys with datacentres filled with numbers, research and other such data to help figure out whether a game is financially viable to localise, publish, market, support and distribute or not.

That's logic.

@FluttershyGuy Um. TV, film, books and music have all been blamed at some stage or another for the failings of society.

@theblackdragon Thanks for the clarification TBD. I stand corrected there.

@LZBirdboi people who are mentally ill and then do something evil can be "triggered" by just about anything.

Since child molestation is a theme here: a pedophile will often also have fetishes for school uniforms (a symbol of innocence), or feet (I have NFI how a psychologist explains that one, but I know it it be true). That is not a reason to ban school uniforms or bare feet in public - both of which are perfectly normal, healthy... things.

Games can be a catalyst for a mentally ill person to go kill people, but they are not the cause. It's a difference that the industry has done a terrible job articulating.. mostly because it's so busy trying to pretend no link whatsoever exists.

And I can so blame the publisher. In film the especially dangerous (adults only) films have massive big age classifications shown before the film, during previews, and in the advertising. Perhaps regulation forces the filmmakers to do that, but regardless - they take responsibility and people know exactly what classification the film is.

With games there's a tiny little sticker stuck in the corner of the box. And often with second hand sales the box isn't even present. It's a substantial difference in attitude towards classifications, and I do think the games industry should be more proactive explaining what these ratings mean.

Also, guns are a bad comparison. Guns exist for the sole purpose of causing harm. Games/ other art forms aren't designed to literally kill.

@LZBirdboi The science - in the sense that the games industry uses it like a shield - is legitimate enough. Games genuinely do not make people pick up a gun and shoot other people.

However. Games can generate an emotional response in a person. And, if a person is so inclined, a game can rationalise inspiration for them. If you have ever laughed while playing a game, you've had an emotional response. If you cried when you played Ni No Kuni or Journey (many did), then you've had an emotional response. If a shiver ran down your spine from years of nostalgia when playing Theatrhythm, then you had an emotional response.

It is pure idiocy to suggest that a game cannot inspire a negative emotional response. Like, say, anger.

Just like films, books and so on can. The difference is that the film and literature industries are both accepted as forms of art because the film and literature industries recognise that the material they produce can be dangerous. And so the film and literature industries actively engage with the community to make sure that people understand the risks, pay attention to age classifications and so on.

The games industry just goes "nah bro, you're wrong. We're totally art but only make people happy," and then sell Call of Duty to a 10 year old.

Of course the rest of the world isn't going to take you seriously when you do that.

To be fair, gamers do a horrible job of defending their hobby.

It is so very easy to point out how hypocritical gamers are when they claim that games can make them happy, excited, and even sad. So many gamers try and claim games are art, and therefore able to inspire emotion.

But when it comes to NEGATIVE emotions... Oh no, a game could NEVER do that!

No wonder non-gamers and politicians don't believe you.

I like how the only way Nintendo can get games onto its consoles is if it does the expensive work for the publishers.

@rayword45 None of those publishers have bothered with the eShop at all. Still proves my point.

When Square Enix, EA, Activition, Gameloft, Ubisoft, Namco Bandai - when these companies start bothering with eShop THEN you'll have a point. Right now they're not even that interested in releasing the retail games for download via eShop.

This is one success. How does that in any way demonstrate a success-to-failure ratio higher than iOS?

Gameloft is not supporting the eShop (despite trying with Let's Golf - the very first eShop game and you would assume that meant great sales). Chillingo is not supporting the eShop. The guys that made Zenonia didn't bother supporting the 3DS with ports of the other four games in the series. In fact, none of the really big publishers, aside from Nintendo, is actively supporting the eShop.

That's far more telling about the 'health' of the eShop than one indie's comparative success for a completely forgettable game. The only standout feature of Gunman Clive (from a marketing point of view) is that it is cheap on the eShop.

It's not cheap by iOS standards. That is the only reason for this happening. Not the eShop's health.

I really wouldn't read much into this. Nnooo's Pop game was more successful than its iPad and iPhone releases (WiiWare), but no one in their right
mind would say WiiWare is a superior platform for developers than iOS

@rayword45 There are new iOS hits regularly. Right now Wreck it Ralph is way on the top of the charts.

Developers need to market on iOS, while some marketing services come built in with releasing a game on eShop. The first time I heard of Gunman Clive was its eShop release, and I have been playing games on iOS for years.

That doesn't make eShop healthier. Where's the news story about Cut the Rope DSiWare not coming close to its iOS sales numbers?

One indie has one positive experience with the eShop - almost certainly because of discoverability, does not make eShop healthier than app store.

This news story is a good one. Now we know who actually reads the article/ comments, and who just reads the headline

@Tech101 I expect that would be way down on the priority list since they'll make more money from tables they can release on PlayStation, Vita and iPad than they will ever make from Wii U (well, for the next couple of years anyway)

It's a good price for what you get - assuming the leaderboards etc are as comprehensive in the game as they are on the other platforms.

@Stuffgamer1 value also isn't necessarily a monetary number. It's what it's worth to the person buying it. The basic rule of capitalism is that companies try to figure out the maximum amount that the product they are offering is worth to the maximum number of potential customers.

I do suspect that Disney is better at this basic principle of capitalism than any other company out there, so to be perfectly frank if Disney says this price is a price the market is willing to bear, I am more inclined to believe Disney than someone outside of Disney.

If you want the perfect comparison to what these collectibles model themselves after, don't point to Capcom, look at baseball and basketball cards.

Incidentally now that NFC is a thing in gaming expect to see soccer cards for FIFA, Moogle cards for Final Fantasy and gun cards in Call of Duty. It's the new DLC.

@LavaTwilight you can thank gamers for on disc DLC, actually. If people would stop insisting games should cost $10, and would stop buying second hand, publishers would make enough money that they wouldn't need such aggressive DLC policies.

The reason for DLC has nothing to do with development time or disc space, even when it isn't on-disc DLC. It's simply because there are so many entitled consumers that the publishers need to protect themselves and the thousands of people that work from the cheapskates.