Neverland No More

People know Neverland more for their Rune Factory series.  Well it turns out they also made my beloved Diablo clone Record of Lodoss War game, one of the few Dreamcast exclusives I've had the pleasure of playing.

What the hell does the demise of one of the beloved midtier (or AA) Japanese console developers have to do with this blog?

As is pretty much apparent by now, yes I am on hiatus.  I am not making progress nor am I in contact with other creators.  I am sorry but it is not due to some drama but just circumstances in general.

It is times like these that at least I'm glad I didn't make a Kickstarter and that all my contributors have been paid off in full (except the writer, I will make it up to you someday, I promise).  If I tally all my projects together -- including my forays into 3D and what not, all the art/music costs were basically about $20 grand in total over 2-3 years... but that's split into around $5-$7 grand for each project, hoping that at least something will be completed.

Oh well.

On the other hand, the market is really crazy saturated right now.  We're no longer talking about polished casual point and click games on the PC... we're talking about polished casual point and tap games on tablet.  Maybe it is wise to wait it out until all my favorite developers either go bankrupt or make nothing but Free to Play Mobile Browser Card Battle games with In-App Microtransaction Purchases.  Like Capcom (Say hi Breath of Fire VI!)  And thank you for reinvesting the profits from the 3DS Monster Hunter into a new mobile studio!

In fact I am so convinced of this very bright future that I decided I want to cash in on this trend as well.

On a more serious note, the good thing about online-only games is that when they die, they die forever.  Totally unlike console games.  No one will be able to fire up an old ROM and relive the good memories, unlike old SNES, PS1 and PS2 games.  In other words, old ROMs and DRM-free PC games on gog.com will still be the competition of people's mindshare and/or time in general in the future.  I thus do not need to worry about failed Candy Crush clones since they are guaranteed to disappear and remove their own clutter.

So I am just waiting for the bubble to burst, then (my intermittent full backups notwithstanding) I should be able to eventually release my single-player-centric, narrative, offline experiences, and five, ten, fifteen years later some kid would be able to pick it up and it will become a good part of his memories.  It shouldn't be a few more years, and who cares about graphic quality... besides, 2D lasts forever (2.5D looks ok for the most part).  Like I just replayed Legend of Dragoon, this was the game that comforted me when my grandmother died.

I will not be planning on buying a PS4 nor an Xbone anymore since I foresee a future of mostly western AAA releases on those platforms.  The last generation of game machines I have will be the 3DS and the Vita -- while I don't have a Vita unit yet, I am stockpiling all the Japanese games that I can get my hands on, until their developers all succumb to the power of GREE/Mobage and go full mobile-only.  I also no longer plan to learn Japanese either, since by the time I master the language there will be nothing from Japan to play with anymore (I'll be essentially region-locked out since the online payment systems are different).

We're in the downward slope of the Golden Years of translated Japanese games, just like we had the Golden Years of translated anime.  There will be still a few releases that will be worthwhile, but they will be slim pickings as more developers either close shop or go the mobile route.  It's similar to anime nowadays where most shows are just good for one watch, whereas half a decade to a decade ago I tend to rewatch episodes since they were that good (and they were also funded by ADV and/or Geneon).

Thus I predict a year or two more of Japanese game releases... for 3DS there's going to be Bravely Default (Next year for non-Europeans)... and then?  For PS3 thankfully there's Xillia 2, the next Atelier installment, Drakengard, as well as other unexpected offerings.  When there's no more genuinely Japanese games to translate/release that isn't a microtransaction-fest, then that's when it's time for me to step back in.  I will have to quit this hobby eventually.

What about Japanese indies?  Won't they step into the ring?  Well they should.  The problem is:
1.) Will they release DLsite audience only pornfests?
or
2.) Be no different from Western indies, having removed the Japanese aesthetic in favor of "more acceptable" gameplay-based approach?

Actually, I don't really like eroge, it turns out.  I prefer ero-manga since the character progression is much better.  And for games I prefer colorful games, charming games, ecchi games, with lovable characters.  And who makes them?

That's right.  AA / midtier / B-grade Japanese console / handheld console developers.  The ones most at risk of either closing or going full mobile.