Ben-DutkaThe fall season is nigh…which game do you want most?
I have no idea what Final Fantasy XV's sales potential is
I was thinking about this when I read about the 2016 release window and Square Enix acknowledging the concern of fans.
Globally, according to VGChartz, Final Fantasy XIII sold nearly 7.5 million copies (counting both the PS3 and Xbox 360 sales; PS3 sales doubled the 360 sales, of course). Final Fantasy XIII-2 sold less than half that number, coming in at only 3.4 million . Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII sold a measly 1.26 million , a little more than one-third of FFXIII-2's global tally. Obviously, the franchise has been in a nosedive for the better part of a decade and it doesn't help that Final Fantasy XV – originally announced as Final Fantasy Versus XIII back in 2006 – will have been 10 years in the making when it finally comes out. Fans have have every right to be suspicious; me, I've just given up entirely. Nothing about FFXV interests me.
But how will the game fare, sales-wise? Part of the reason Lightning Returns did so poorly is because it was basically trashed by critics. If FFXV gets decent scores, I'm wondering how it will do on the market. Long-time fans of the franchise probably don't like the new direction, but newcomers who love that everything is open-world these days might play it just because it's an open-world fantasy game. It's also arguably the first FF installment that isn't quite so Japanese in its presentation. And there's a ton of action and swordplay so maybe a high-scoring FFXV will sell exceedingly well. …still not sure, though. For the latest info, here are some Gamescom details if you missed 'em.
Dark Souls with a Miyazaki vibe? How would that work, exactly?
I know a lot of downright rabid Dark Souls fans, and I know every last one of them is a little leery of what From Software president Hidetaka Miyazaki said about bringing the "Miyazaki touch" to the esteemed action/RPG franchise. There was some talk about a sci-fi setting with maybe some mechs worked in and quite frankly, that's not what Dark Souls lovers want. Even so, I think they're open to the possibility if it still has the same unique challenge and atmosphere they've always loved in the series.
This is one of those Final Fantasy -like situations where, on the one hand, you know an established franchise has to grow, and on the other hand, you don't want it to change too much. Few developers manage this balancing act well enough to satisfy the ardent fans of any particular IP, and I'm wondering what will happen if From Software gets too far away from their winning formula. Then again, Dark Souls III definitely sports some differences when compared to previous installments, and the fans seem to have no problem with that. And of course, Miyazaki might just make a different sci-fi game (and not call it Dark Souls ); perhaps a brand new IP that Armored Core lovers will appreciate. Who knows?
Personal gaming update
Two games the puzzle fans and adventure aficionados should try: Q.U.B.E: Director's Cut and the first chapter of the re-imagined King's Quest . The former is a unique, challenging puzzler with a surprisingly involving back story, and the latter is just a great old-school adventure game with a boatload of whimsy and charm. Amid a flurry of huge blockbusters on the horizon, it's nice to sit back with such games and enjoy a different sort of interactive entertainment. They're not perfect but they're very special in their own way, and it's impossible not to smile at something like King's Quest . I'm also playing a bit of Driveclub here and there, along with my play-through of the PS4 version of Grand Theft Auto V .
I also can't wait to try Everybody's Gone to the Rapture , which comes out this week. That has a huge amount of promise; The Chinese Room ( Dear Esther ) has put together a hugely atmospheric and touching adventure that, in some ways, reminds me of Journey . After that, it's on to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain , which will undoubtedly be awesome. I'm sure the frame rate and resolution numbers will satisfy the tech heads. 🙂
FFXV will likely sell well being a core numbered entry in the series on a new gen of hardware. It'll get lots of marketing time. It'll need to sell a lot though. A game like that doesn't get made for cheap.
I definitely like what I'm seeing from Dark Souls III. I'll be watching that one develop for sure.
I'm all about him doing something sci-fi, whether that's a part of the DS series or something else remains to be seen. His team is so very talented at artistic direction I have little doubt they'll nail it. I also like the idea of him spawning new franchises. We don't need another rinse and repeat Assassin's Creed franchise. One way or another there's bound to be complainers. That's one constant in gaming anytime anything changes with a well tenured franchise. Seems to usually happen on entry number 3.
PGU: Totally absorbed by Destiny. Got my Hunter to level 31. I also started a Warlock. I really dig the Prison of the Elders stuff. I got the Destiny companion app for my phone and saw that my actual play time was just 82 hours. I thought I invested more time. I'll undoubtedly get to 100+ though. Destiny has literally been my most favored game of the console gen thus far.
Anyway, Destiny has been doing well at fleshing out it's design with it's latest expansions. I look forward to The Taken King.
I'm also itching to play some more Ninja Gaiden. I'm hoping for some sort of sequel announcement. And per the norm, I hope the sequel is preceded by some sort of remastered collection.
I also took the plunge and upgraded to Windows 10. I like it. It actually freed me up HDD space too on my solid state drive.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 8/8/2015 10:27:28 PM
I'd be glad to have a ninja gaiden 4 for ps4
I'm not buyin any Destiny expansion any time soon but I do like to play the game now and then. Especially once I finished The Old Blood, which was awesome.
I'm buying XV day one just because it looks a whole lot better that XIII. My god I can still remember the disappointment I felt when I started playing XIII. Hopefully it doesn't happen again with XV.
Well I beat God Of War 3 about 10 times in a row again. Platinumed it on my fourth play through. That photo mode was addicting. I took like 200 photos or something. Such a gorgeous game. Finished Arkham Knight on new game plus as well. 200% completion. Been messing around with TLOU multiplayer and The Order 1886 again. Probably jump back on Splatoon until MGS5 arrives.
I hope we see a sequel to The Order soon. Dispite its flaws it really is a great game that deserves a follow up so they can improve in certain areas.
Last edited by Jawknee on 8/9/2015 12:01:09 AM
Maybe we will have to do a kickstarter SuperPAC for The Order: 1887.
I really wanted to be positive with XV. Well, kind of. When Tabata removed one of the most iconic things about XV (check out all of the cosplay and fanfictions about the possibilities of Stella's story and stuff) it breaks my 13 year old heart to see Stella get removed the way she did. It would be like FF7 showing off Cloud and Aerith and the game changed directors and suddenly she "didn't make sense" so they completely remove her from the game. If the game sells well, good. If the game sells bad, even more good. Tabata be damned, and Type-o is overrated.
Ben, not every fanbase wants everything to be the same forever. Dark/Demons souls's fanbase loved Bloodborne even though its almost completely different. Giving an entire new setting and a completely new story with its own history and background was awesome. Especially how it went from spooky monsters to the entire deity stuff. The lord Miyazaki touch isn't about twists but its about a game thats difficult where it needs to be, while also placing items in the world that tells a story.
Going the scyfy route with a new series sounds completely interesting. Something difficult and obviously storywise, dreary. At this point the Souls games doesn't have the fanbase, FromSoft has the fanbase. Anything they do will have the following and the potential to easily sell over one million copies of whatever Miyazaki game they make.
I've been having a ton of fun playing Tomb Raiding Osiris's temple with my lady. I've been playing Driveclub again and of course, Bloodborne. I don't think I've ever been stuck on a boss before, like ever in the series. As a self proclaimed "best at souls games" I can't believe how much trouble this stupid boss gives me. The boss is a certain tentacle head down in the chalice dungeons where my attack and hp are halfed, and the vials heal for half as well. Tentacle head still hits as hard though naturally.
I just donwloaded Osiris for the freeness but then I downloaded DMC4 Definitive and I'm kinda on that.
Never said any fan base wants something the same way forever.
I'm convinced FFXV is going to flop bot critically and commercially. When the game is supposedly set to release next year and they're publicly admitting they haven't even made final decisions on fundamental aspects of the game, that tells me whatever disorganization behind the slop that was FFXIII is no better organized today.
I'm predicting a metascore in the high 70s and sales in the 2-3 million range.
Got burned by XIII, XIII-2, XIII-3, Type-0… I dunno if I should even bother getting XV I feel like an abused woman.
I predict it will be a huge monetary waste, there's only a small market for whatever this is and it clearly has dozens or hundreds of millions of dollars in it.
So, given all the lamentations of what will be XV, is there something about the demo or the news about it that's causing most of it, or the mostly unfortunate run of the XIII series? I say mostly because I seem to see a divided camp with Type-O and I personally liked the gameplay of XIII-2 and see that it had a fairly successful string of reviews.
Not sure about FF15 – will wait for reviews.
PGU: Just finished Batman:AK with 100% (no platinium though – I don't like to start 2nd playtrough straight after 1st. Need some time to pass. Totally waiting now for MGSV. I'm killing time with Dota 2 and Starcraft 2 until then.
so first off i can see where you are coming from with FF the sales and popularity has been waining over the years and that they want the popularity to go back up
then with dark souls i'm keen to see some gameplay for DS3 and then decide i think it really is the turning point that Miyazaki is talking about.
and then PGU i have started playing a bit of the AC Unity story up to seuqence 3, since i got it for my birthday and then i been also playing a bit of ANNO 1404 venice on a game i saved a long time ago and i've put about 6-7 hours of work into that save.
and as always have a great week guys and,
happy gaming
so first off i can see where you are coming from with FF the sales and popularity has been waining over the years and that they want the popularity to go back up
then with dark souls i'm keen to see some gameplay for DS3 and then decide i think it really is the turning point that Miyazaki is talking about.
and then PGU i have started playing a bit of the AC Unity story up to seuqence 3, since i got it for my birthday and then i been also playing a bit of ANNO 1404 venice on a game i saved a long time ago and i've put about 6-7 hours of work into that save.
and as always have a great week guys and,
happy gaming
I just donwloaded Osiris for the freeness but then I downloaded DMC4 Definitive and I'm kinda on that.
Maybe we will have to do a kickstarter SuperPAC for The Order: 1887.
I really wanted to be positive with XV. Well, kind of. When Tabata removed one of the most iconic things about XV (check out all of the cosplay and fanfictions about the possibilities of Stella's story and stuff) it breaks my 13 year old heart to see Stella get removed the way she did. It would be like FF7 showing off Cloud and Aerith and the game changed directors and suddenly she "didn't make sense" so they completely remove her from the game. If the game sells well, good. If the game sells bad, even more good. Tabata be damned, and Type-o is overrated.
Ben, not every fanbase wants everything to be the same forever. Dark/Demons souls's fanbase loved Bloodborne even though its almost completely different. Giving an entire new setting and a completely new story with its own history and background was awesome. Especially how it went from spooky monsters to the entire deity stuff. The lord Miyazaki touch isn't about twists but its about a game thats difficult where it needs to be, while also placing items in the world that tells a story.
Going the scyfy route with a new series sounds completely interesting. Something difficult and obviously storywise, dreary. At this point the Souls games doesn't have the fanbase, FromSoft has the fanbase. Anything they do will have the following and the potential to easily sell over one million copies of whatever Miyazaki game they make.
I've been having a ton of fun playing Tomb Raiding Osiris's temple with my lady. I've been playing Driveclub again and of course, Bloodborne. I don't think I've ever been stuck on a boss before, like ever in the series. As a self proclaimed "best at souls games" I can't believe how much trouble this stupid boss gives me. The boss is a certain tentacle head down in the chalice dungeons where my attack and hp are halfed, and the vials heal for half as well. Tentacle head still hits as hard though naturally.
FFXV will likely sell well being a core numbered entry in the series on a new gen of hardware. It'll get lots of marketing time. It'll need to sell a lot though. A game like that doesn't get made for cheap.
I definitely like what I'm seeing from Dark Souls III. I'll be watching that one develop for sure.
I'm all about him doing something sci-fi, whether that's a part of the DS series or something else remains to be seen. His team is so very talented at artistic direction I have little doubt they'll nail it. I also like the idea of him spawning new franchises. We don't need another rinse and repeat Assassin's Creed franchise. One way or another there's bound to be complainers. That's one constant in gaming anytime anything changes with a well tenured franchise. Seems to usually happen on entry number 3.
PGU: Totally absorbed by Destiny. Got my Hunter to level 31. I also started a Warlock. I really dig the Prison of the Elders stuff. I got the Destiny companion app for my phone and saw that my actual play time was just 82 hours. I thought I invested more time. I'll undoubtedly get to 100+ though. Destiny has literally been my most favored game of the console gen thus far.
Anyway, Destiny has been doing well at fleshing out it's design with it's latest expansions. I look forward to The Taken King.
I'm also itching to play some more Ninja Gaiden. I'm hoping for some sort of sequel announcement. And per the norm, I hope the sequel is preceded by some sort of remastered collection.
I also took the plunge and upgraded to Windows 10. I like it. It actually freed me up HDD space too on my solid state drive.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 8/8/2015 10:27:28 PM
I'm not buyin any Destiny expansion any time soon but I do like to play the game now and then. Especially once I finished The Old Blood, which was awesome.
I'd be glad to have a ninja gaiden 4 for ps4
I'm buying XV day one just because it looks a whole lot better that XIII. My god I can still remember the disappointment I felt when I started playing XIII. Hopefully it doesn't happen again with XV.
Well I beat God Of War 3 about 10 times in a row again. Platinumed it on my fourth play through. That photo mode was addicting. I took like 200 photos or something. Such a gorgeous game. Finished Arkham Knight on new game plus as well. 200% completion. Been messing around with TLOU multiplayer and The Order 1886 again. Probably jump back on Splatoon until MGS5 arrives.
I hope we see a sequel to The Order soon. Dispite its flaws it really is a great game that deserves a follow up so they can improve in certain areas.
Last edited by Jawknee on 8/9/2015 12:01:09 AM
Never said any fan base wants something the same way forever.
I'm convinced FFXV is going to flop bot critically and commercially. When the game is supposedly set to release next year and they're publicly admitting they haven't even made final decisions on fundamental aspects of the game, that tells me whatever disorganization behind the slop that was FFXIII is no better organized today.
I'm predicting a metascore in the high 70s and sales in the 2-3 million range.
Got burned by XIII, XIII-2, XIII-3, Type-0… I dunno if I should even bother getting XV I feel like an abused woman.
I predict it will be a huge monetary waste, there's only a small market for whatever this is and it clearly has dozens or hundreds of millions of dollars in it.
Not sure about FF15 – will wait for reviews.
PGU: Just finished Batman:AK with 100% (no platinium though – I don't like to start 2nd playtrough straight after 1st. Need some time to pass. Totally waiting now for MGSV. I'm killing time with Dota 2 and Starcraft 2 until then.
So, given all the lamentations of what will be XV, is there something about the demo or the news about it that's causing most of it, or the mostly unfortunate run of the XIII series? I say mostly because I seem to see a divided camp with Type-O and I personally liked the gameplay of XIII-2 and see that it had a fairly successful string of reviews.