More victims of Japan’s dreaded JRT…

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII and Mario 3D World Are Off to a Sluggish Start in Japan

When Final Fantasy XIII-2‘s release saw a sharp decline in first week sales, one was initially quite interested to see whether the decline signified a one-time drop-off as series fans who rejected the polarising Final Fantasy XIII‘s take on the series formula broke away from the XIII series fanbase, or whether subsequent entries would be met with a compounding accrual of series fatigue. One personally expected to see a similar decline in sales performance for Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, and it appears that one was correct – at least in Japan – and it appears that one is not alone in this regard, as Square Enix shipped far fewer copies of the game to retailers for this week’s Japanese release.

The launch of Lightning Returns has seen the final chapter of the Final Fantasy XIII series secure top place in Japan’s weekly sales chart, yet it only managed to sell 277,082 copies to Final Fantasy XIII-2‘s 524,217 and Final Fantasy XIII‘s 1.5 million in first week sales. Lightning Returns does however appear to have sold to expectations, selling through 71.98% of the 385,000 copies of the game that were shipped to Japanese retailers. By contrast Final Fantasy XIII-2 only managed to sell through 62.06% of the 845,000 copies that were shipped to retailers. It does however appear that Square Enix need not have bothered releasing the Xbox 360 version of the game in Japan, as it only managed to sell a mere 4000 copies in contrast to the 10,000 copies of Final Fantasy XIII-2 that were sold on that platform.

It is anyone’s guess as to what is to blame for Final Fantasy XIII‘s decreasing commerciality, though over-familiarity might be a good bet; then again, perhaps series fans caught wind of the game’s gloriously awful ending. At any rate, it will be interesting to see how the game performs when it is released to Western markets on the eleventh of February, as overexposure is usually a recipe for increased sales in the West, rather than the diminishing returns that Lightning Returns has thus far encountered.

The other eye opening franchise debut on the Japanese charts this week was Super Mario 3D World, a debut that managed to sell a mere 99,588 copies, which is only a shade above the first week numbers for Pikmin 3, a game which months later has still not been able to crack 200,000 units in sales. This marks the lowest first week sales for the series in the Japanese market, dramatically undershooting the 166,572 copies sold that New Super Mario Bros. U saw in its launch week, perhaps indicating that Japanese Wii U owners have begun forgetting about their systems. At any rate, it goes without saying that Super Mario 3D World has done very little to boost the weekly sales of the Wii U in Japan.

“I’ll never allow somebody to buy the win of the game” ~ Phil Spencer

Xbone News Round-Up

This week Microsoft has kindly offered a free digital copy of one of the four Microsoft-published Xbone launch titles to anyone experiencing the Xbone disc-grind failure that has been so widely reported on. The advantage to this that is being touted by Microsoft is that since player accounts and saves can be accessed from any Xbone console, then individuals who are sent a loaner Xbone through Microsoft’s ‘advance exchange program’ while their faulty console is away being repaired will be able to start playing their game immediately. One pertinent detail about Microsoft’s supposed largesse that is not being touted by the company is the fact that in order to receive one of these loaner Xbone units individuals must pay a bond of $500. Still, a free game is at least something.

Microsoft’s launch releases have come under heavy criticism following the release of the console, after it became apparent that they are all packed to the brim with microtransactions – the worst culprit among them has been singled out as Ryse, which takes the liberty of transferring players directly to the Xbone store if they attempt to purchase a skill while lacking sufficient in-game gold to make the transaction. As far as shameless gouging goes, this is clearly a cut above the in-game salesmanship exhibited by Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 3. In response to this negative press Microsoft’s Phil Spencer has spoken out to allay fears, and in true Microsoft fashion has come off as sounding monumentally out of touch, as Spencer is all about crafting better experiences for gamers by locking play options behind paywalls.

“I want to be able to learn from what we put in, so let’s make sure we are crafting the game and the analytics so we can see what the consumers — the gamers — like and don’t — if you assume buying habits are a reflection of what people like. So that we can craft the experience better for the gamer.

It’s easy to say something like, ‘I’ll never allow somebody to buy the win of the game, I won’t let them buy victory,’ but that’s kind of a trite answer. I’d say, ‘Yeah, I guess I have that line, that [we wouldn't have] “Pay five bucks and get 1000 achievements” or something stupid like that.’ I’m always pushing against that. But, in reality, that’s not what the gamers are looking for. They’re usually looking for customization and their gameplay style opening up.”

This week it was also revealed that the materials cost of the Xbone console is $471, which is $90 more expensive than the PS4. This puts the console materials cost at $29 less than its RRP, though it may still end up selling at a slight loss after labour, distribution, advertising, and retail margins are taken into account. Interestingly, the Xbone’s APU costs $110, which is $10 more expensive than the vastly more powerful APU used in the PS4, and is largely attributable to the 32mb of eSRAM that the Xbone uses as a crutch to compensate for its slow DDR3 system RAM. Meanwhile, Kinect 2.0 accounts for $75 of the overall materials expense of the Xbone, saddling Xboners with an unwelcome and expensive albatross.

Xboners who value their ability to Skype [as accessed through the purchase of a Gold account] will want to refrain from saying any naughty words in the videos they upload to Microsoft’s Upload Studio, as any use of profanity will see users stripped of “some or all” of the privileges they have purchased with their XBL Gold account. What this means in practical terms is that invective-prone users have found themselves not only banned form uploading videos, but also from making Skype calls with friends. Thanks, Obama!

Finally, Last week Lusipurr.com reported on the fact that Europe was factored in as an afterthought with respect to the Xbone’s much touted ability to play TV after it became clear that the Xbone’s program guide did not work with Sky, the UKs largest cable TV operator. This week however it has become apparent that Europe is not even an afterthought, as the 60hz Xbone is not able to properly convert the 50hz television signal utilised throughout the PAL territories, which encompasses all of Europe along with New Zealand and Australia. This results in severe judder as the Xbone attempts to display the 50hz signal at a 60hz framerate.

Could iconic Sega imagery find its way into the world of Persona?

Possible Benefits of Sega’s Buy-Out of Atlus

Up until now one has been very down on the possibilities inherent in Sega’s purchase of Atlus, most of which center around Sega’s terrible track record when it comes to localising and marketing their own games, yet this week Sega Sammy’s director of operations, Naoya Tsurumi, has raised the prospect that this union may actually carry some potential benefits as well. Tsurumi has stated that Atlus now has Sega’s blessing to utilise any of Sega’s dormant IPs in the manner of their choosing.

“Everything will remain the same. The people of Index will continue working thoroughly, and Sega have no plans to undertake any of their work. However, we’re at a point where Sega is offering Index to freely make use of any resources they may have, that Index does not. Index will be keeping many of their fine qualities, such as Atlus’ Shin Megami Tensei IP, and many others.

While we have no intention of forcing this, we’d definitely love to have them utilize any of Sega’s dormant IPs.”

Sega has a vast catalog of brilliant IPs, yet in recent years have shown themselves unable to utilise them in a compelling fashion. The mind boggles with the possibilities of what might occur with a JRPG developer of the caliber of Atlus being put in charge of a potential Skies of Arcadia 2, Panzer Dragoon Saga 2, Shenmue 3 [the internets would explode], Shining Force, Valkyria Chronicles 4, or Phantasy Star 5. It is even exciting to think of some of the more mundane possibilities, such as Atlus being able to utilise Sega’s iconic IPs within the context of existing Atlus franchises [provided that Lusipurr's Sonic predictions do not hold true]. That being said, it is far from certain to what degree Atlus was able to survive Index’s insolvency and subsequent purchase by Sega. All the IP in the world will matter little if Atlus is no longer the same solid developer responsible for some of the most consistently good JRPGs in gaming. Fans of both Atlus and Sega would do well to temper their expectations as to what may come from this opportunity, yet it is hard not to be a little excited.

Nothing says Thanksgiving better than a bacon-weave turkey.

Turkey Day is upon us, at least, for those of us that live in God’s country, America. Unfortunately, between a promotion at my other employer (the one that actually pays) and an increasingly sick dog, my time for all things gaming has evaporated over the past week. Instead of writing a cliché Thanksgiving post, I am going to borrow (steal) from Ethos and share some thoughts on the few gaming related items that sneaked into my busy life.

I Finally Beat Pokémon Y

It took me a few weeks longer than the site’s feature allowed, but I finally conquered the Elite 4 to finish the main story of Pokémon Y. My battle with the Elite 4 was harder than it should have been, mainly because I relied on two Pokémon, Blaziken and Reuniclus, rather than developing a balanced team. I enjoyed Pokémon Y more than the previous two entries into the series, but a few issues with the game prevent it from overtaking Heart Gold/Soul Silver as my favorite in the series. The drop in framerate during battles, especially double battles, is my biggest issue. At first, I only noticed slowdown while playing with 3D on, but later battles that involved larger monsters would slowdown even without 3D enabled. I expect that this will be fixed by the time Z gets released, though.

My other issues are pretty minor, but I do hate not being able to catch both legendary mascots in either game. I know that connecting with other players has always been a key part of the series, but most other players are very protective of their Yvetal or Xerneas and will only give them up if they are getting the other in return. This is not the first time this has happened, but it still is pretty annoying. It is a losing proposition for a person like me that enjoys attempting to catch every last monster. A perfect Pokémon game would allow me to find all 718 creatures between a pair of games, but my hopes of that being an actual release are pretty low.

My overdue return to Final Fantasy XIV

My time with FF XIV: ARR should have been unimpeded, but I allowed games like Grand Theft Auto V and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag to steal my time from this excellent MMO. There is not much I can say about A Realm Reborn that would not be an echo of the praise that Lusipurr, Mel, and Blitzmage have heaped on the game. It really is that good. Looking back at the mess that Final Fantasy XIV was makes A Realm Reborn seem like an even greater accomplishment for Square Enix. FF XIV: ARR represents a growing threat to World of Warcraft and, while it may not dethrone the king, it at least gives the genre a healthy competition which has been absent for some time.

A great game that is hampered by a bit of poor programming.

Xbone vs. PlayStation 4 vs. Mario

The new console generation has begun. The hype and anticipation for the new pieces of hardware from Sony and Microsoft is a thing of the past and now it is action time for all three gaming companies. With many titles being delayed for both the PS4 and Xbone, the launch libraries for both consoles were quite lackluster. The graphics for games specifically designed for these current-gen consoles like Killzone: Shadow Fall and Ryse: Son of Rome are quite breath taking, but neither game interests me. I get a yet-another-FPS feeling with Killzone and Ryse was developed by Crytek, a company that makes beautiful graphics and fucks up everything else. As for the microtransactions that are plaguing Xbone games, I will leave it to the brilliant Australian, Julian Taylor, to report on them in his post this weekend.

A new console was not the only thing released on November 22nd though. Nintendo began its plan to sell Wii U’s during the holiday season with a bang, releasing Super Mario 3D World the same day as the Xbone. The release of 3D World finally gives Nintendo the must-have title that the Wii U has needed for a year now. My expectations for 3D World were not very high, partly because of time I recently spent playing the utterly terrible Paper Mario: Sticker Star, but I am happy to see that it is receiving positive reviews by other websites and other gamers. Now I wait patiently for Nintendo of America to make a good decision and bring the Mega Mario Bundle over here.

The Obligatory “Thanks” Section

Well I lied, but it would not be a true Thanksgiving post if I failed to include this section, so tough shit. I must give thanks to Emperor Lusipurr, if it was not for his kindness, I would not be able to infect the minds of the readers of this website. In fact, without Lusipurr, I would have never been introduced to gaming. Please note that the Great Leader forced me to include that in this post, something about all the staff members having to give thanks to him first and foremost on Thanksgiving.

To all the American readers, I hope you have a great Thanksgiving. To all non-Americans, it is about time that you immigrate to our broken country so that we can squeeze tax money out of more people.

From a time when things were Golden.

In Memoriam: A Farewell to Atlus

Goodbye, Atlus.

Western gamers have had a good run with your interesting, oddball games that were often localised in a competent and timely fashion; but all good things must end eventually. One shall endeavour to look away as the last kernel of your being is sorely abused to make browser and smartphone games, and one will not turn back as bloody-minded Atlus fanboys swear until they are blue in the face that Atlus games are just as good as they ever were; because there is something a tad morbid about dwelling upon what might have been – should have been – even as you are spread wide and thrust open like a common Capcom catamite.

You chose Sega – not us – and it would be pointless to fruitlessly fool one’s self into thinking that our relationship is the same now as it was before; pointless and sad. You first allowed yourself to become subsumed by Index Holdings, before being completely devoured by an exploitative Sega Sammy who was just looking for a good time. Now you will fester away like the gravid payload of a defiled Russian doll until there is nothing left of you but your intellectual properties – and what will be left once you trade away those final meager favours? What will be left for us?

Sure, your affairs will appear to be well in hand during the outset of this new union, but when things begin to decline, they will do so swiftly – and everybody will suddenly wonder where you went, but by then it will be too late. One saw your epitaph today, and it read:

“The Company believes that transfer of Index’s operations to Sega will create synergies, on the grounds that the deal will enable the Company to:

(3) maximize the value of acquired IPs by effectively deploying them in the Pachislot and Pachinko Machines segment, Amusement Machine Sales and Amusement Center Operations segments.”

Nowhere in all that does Sega pledge to do right by you, or to help you raise and nurture your content. Sega is only after one thing – the giddy thrills of cheap exploitation; and so you will be gussied up provocatively for the titillation of shallow strangers, while your pachinko slots are filled up with sordid and soiled currency.

One must now take his leave, and so be spared the pain of searching for recognition in heavy-lidded eyes that now stare blankly, uncomprehending and foreign. One will not be there to observe as your once familiar [now swollen and dirty] form waddles to and fro tending to deformed bastard children, swaddled in the garb of Persona and Shin Megami Tensei. Your place is with Sega now. We will always have P4.

Sincerely, Lusipurr.com.

Exciting news – but one cannot properly believe until it is legitimately confirmed.

Sony’s Yoshida seemingly Confirms Type-0 Release

After last week’s announcement of Final Fantasy Agito seemingly put paid to the eventual release of Final Fantasy Type-0 [along with traditional Square Enix console games in general], this week has seen some slightly more promising news on this front. After first announcing that Final Fantasy Agito will definitely be localised for the West, director Hajime Tabata subsequently stated that, as a companion piece to Final Fantasy Agito, he still hopes to see Final Fantasy Type-0 released for Western audiences via PSN. A near complete Western localisation for the game already exists, and while final approval for the game’s release has yet to be given, it is nevertheless “definitely in the final stages of planning“.

All of Tabata’s words would essentially count for nothing by themselves, as false hope is an integral part of the Square Enix disappointment cycle, yet these words in particular were given a great deal of extra weight through the insinuations of Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida over Twitter. Yoshida chose to retweet a Eurogamer tweet stating: “Final Fantasy: Agito “will definitely be localised”. Square Enix wants to bring Type-0 to the West via PSN“. When a Twitter-follower subsequently stated “Shuhei. you are the freaking best.“, Yoshida replied “great news, is not it? :D“. There is an outside possibility that Yoshida is promoting this news because Final Fantasy Agito is coming to Playstation Mobile, yet a significantly more likely explanation is that he highlighted the Eurogamer Tweet because he knows that a PSN release of Final Fantasy Type-0 is all but a done deal.

Interestingly, this is the second Square Enix game this year that has seemingly required one of the console manufacturers to intervene before Square Enix was willing to countenance a Western release – and neither Final Fantasy Type-0 nor Bravely Default are anything approaching niche titles. It would appear that 2013 sees Square Enix in a position not dissimilar to the one that Squaresoft was in at the start of the PS1 era; relying on the largesse of others to see many of their games localised. It is sad but also fitting that Square Enix’s muddled seventh generation efforts have served to wipe out the previous decade of inroads the company made with respect to Western markets.

There is 50% more PS4!

1080p – 900p = 180p

This week Edge Online has been in touch with sources from within multiplatform developers in order to provide a more complete picture as to what the Xbone’s weaker processing and RAM capabilities might mean for the next generation of multiplatform development. The PS4′s memory performance is thought to be 40-50% faster, while its GPU is generally held by developers to be about 50% faster than that of the Xbone, although, to be fair, this figure appears to be taken from a time before the Xbone received a slight overclock a couple of weeks ago. What this performance deficit currently means for multiplatform games is that at present developers are finding that running unoptimised code from either console tends to result in a 1080p resolution and thirty frames-per-second on PS4, and a 900p [1600x900] resolution and twenty-odd frames-per-second on Xbone. One refreshingly undiplomatic developer even bluntly stated that: “Xbox One is weaker and it’s a pain to use its ESRAM“.

Other developers opted to damn Microsoft’s recent console tweaks with faint praise:

“The clock speed update is not significant, it does not change things that much. Of course, something is better than nothing.”

While still other developers have seen their way to outlining scenarios wherein Microsoft’s Xbone may even excel:

“Let’s say you are using procedural generation or raytracing via parametric surfaces – that is, using a lot of memory writes and not much texturing or ALU – Xbox One will be likely be faster.”

That is great news for Xbone games that do not plan on making use of textures!

In a piece of completely unrelated news, it was this week confirmed by Microsoft that Xbone exclusives Ryse and Killer Instinct will run at 900p@30 and 720p@60 respectively. Ryse had been previously confirmed to be a native 1080p game, so this very recent about-face appears to indicate that the scope of the project outstripped the Xbone’s meager capabilities. Meanwhile, it is also thought that Capcom’s Dead Rising 3 runs at a [completely unconfirmed] variable 1080p resolution, meaning that the game runs at 1080p where it can, but drops resolution when the Xbone is unable to keep up. Worry not though, Xbone aficionados, because in the words of Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg: “Xbox One upscales all titles to 1080p & they look amazing!“