We can only hope so.

It never died, it just went on the quite.

Also damn, the OP made a phoenix down joke before me.

Will it resurrect the Japanese gaming industry? Probably not.

But its a good first step admitting it's DEAD.

I'm really afraid Yoichi Wada may be the Japanese Peter Monolux.

I would love to see Japan's gaming industry come back. But so far it seems like the biggest thing is going to be Mega Man 10.

Also, the lack of "mature games" is not the problem. The whole term "mature games" is a problem in itself.

I doubt that that one game will "resurrect"the industry, we'll most likely see more games with very similar plots and mechanics, branching out across many platforms with very few big hitters.

on another note, you might want to edit: you missed your closing tag.

It never died.
It just made a few poor choices in not appeasing their current fan-base vs. trying to sway newer fans. (I'm looking in your general direction Square).

Things have been better lately though (Demon's Souls springs to mind). And historically, a new FF game always opens the flood gates on JRPGs.

People, it's called "hype". Or "bullshit" depending on your level of cynicism.

It'll only happen if Phoenix is an aeon/eidolon/esper in it.

Well, I like Blazblue, that counts, does it not?

It's probably due to FFXII being such a let down.

Sigh... I take issue with the idea that Japanese gaming is dead in the first place. Guys, it's a different culture, with different values and different entertainment. You know why their stories are kind of melodramatic? Because they like that: it's not bad writing, it's a cultural value! You know why they like turn-based battling? Because not everyone requires constant control without strategy! Why do they not allow the player to control the story? Because the more control they give the player, the less control they have, and they want to tell a good story!

It's not dead, people, American audiences are just deciding their culture's better. Come on now, guys.

My take on it is that FFXIII is going to be a huge success despite (or maybe because of!) being stereotypical JRPG - note the reference specifically to long-ass cutscenes - which would probably be very encouraging for Japanese developers at a time when they're borrowing from western games for fresh ideas to make sales. It means a lot when people can succeed at something on their own terms instead of having to borrow someone else's strategy.

Everyone knows what I mean there, right?

The American equivalent would be something like the Dodge Viper... it's not just a made-in-America knockoff of what the Europeans or Japanese are doing, it's a supercar built the American way and face-meltingly awesome because of it: 1) giant engine, 2) wheels and shit, 3) did we mention the giant engine?

Wait, did I miss something? When and how did it die?

WTf is going one with FF13? What are they hiding that's so amazing? Assholes! Now I want this game even more!(i mean, if Square enix says it's a good game, and put this much hype behind it, then I think I can trust them. they usually make good games with amazing stories and apparently with FF13, good gameplay)

Meh, just cranking the hype machine... As if anything with the words "Final Fantasy" in the title doesn't automatically have a legion of fanboys hyping it already.

They can make all the claims they want... they still need to release the bloody game first.

There's nothing wrong with the Japanese gaming industry.

The Final Fantasy franchise on the other hand...

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'll wait until at least six of my very trusted friends and/or sources tell me the game is good before I buy it. The last bunch of FF games seemed to be working really hard to make me not want to play them.

Linear Fantasy 13 will be a hit like any other title with the words Final and Fantasy in it, although the game has been selling for $20 in Japan for awhile may be an indication that the game may not be much of a reviver.
I don't think the Japanese video game industry is dead, not as long Mr. Miyamoto and Kojima are making games.

gets a horrible feeling....................
i feel a big big wave of suck coming, and it staring with ff13

heres what wrong with the Japanese gaming industry.......
They get games like Night Head Noah, Idolmaster, and Stein Gate, and we don't we don't even get the damn option to buy these games while most of ours make it to their shores we get next to diddly from them besides rpgs.

SMOKEMNHALO2001:
although the game has been selling for $20 in Japan for awhile may be an indication that the game may not be much of a reviver.

Might have something to do with 40% of Japanese PS3 owners having already purchased a copy of FFXIII. Just sayin'

Dammit Funk! I came to this thread specifically to make a Phoenix Down joke!

Haha, I think when Square admits Japanese gaming is dead, you can stop apologizing for it. No, no one is implying that the Japanese have given up and will no longer be making games. It just means that their industry as a whole has consistently failed to produce income or hype commensurate with their past or with their contemporaries. That's inarguable.

And no, it doesn't matter why. It especially doesn't make any difference to blame the whites for killing it. A guy killed with a bat is as dead as a guy who drowned. The difference is that if their material is unmarketable outside their own culture, that's the fault of the craftsman, not the consumer. It's disingenuous to say that the market's fortunes would turn around if a disinterested demographic started buying up software they don't even want, and it would behoove fans of a game or genre not to tell potential market share that they just don't appreciate the subject matter.

They'll come around. They've certainly got enough support in their own borders to survive if not thrive, so it stands to reason it's more a matter of time and careful marketing choices to break back into the American gaming scene. Though, that will probably not be for a few years; even with a new Final Fantasy, Squeenix has gone so long without a meaningful contribution to the market that, with the exception of fans, who don't matter anyway, the Western gaming public has either forgotten Square or just ceased to care, and Square is like the GM of Japanese games; the rest likely won't recover 'til they do.

True but past FF games have never gone down in price as fast as 13 not even 11 for the 360

s69-5:

SMOKEMNHALO2001:
although the game has been selling for $20 in Japan for awhile may be an indication that the game may not be much of a reviver.

Might have something to do with 40% of Japanese PS3 owners having already purchased a copy of FFXIII. Just sayin'

True but past FF games have never gone down in price as fast as 13, not even 11 for the 360

Wow. 300 people working for... what, five years at this point? And it's still going to be the worst, least most engaging Final Fantasy game yet. I'm impressed, Square, it's a new low to have three times the team but half the interactivity of the Uncharted games.

Did it ever die?

DaxStrife:
They can make all the claims they want... they still need to release the bloody game first.

I will agree with this. Let's see how it is first.

Spiner909:

DaxStrife:
They can make all the claims they want... they still need to release the bloody game first.

I will agree with this. Let's see how it is first.

I think this also applies to a lot of the comments in this thread and other threads. So many people knocking this game before it's even come out. If you don't like the FF series, fine! Just stop posting in every single thread to let us know that you hate it.

I personally am looking forward to 13. I didn't really get on with 12 but I didn't think it was the series ender that so many people seem to think it was.

Y'know, Buying Japanese games is really bad for the economy.

I mean, I still bought NMH 2 but I probably should have bought an American game or better yet, A bunch of indy games.

Maybe if all us gamers decided really thinking about where our game purchases are going, Maybe we wouldn't all be so poor.

TIMESWORDSMAN:
Y'know, Buying Japanese games is really bad for the economy.

I mean, I still bought NMH 2 but I probably should have bought an American game or better yet, A bunch of indy games.

Maybe if all us gamers decided really thinking about where our game purchases are going, Maybe we wouldn't all be so poor.

Not really. Sure the original programmers are from japan, but for them to be marketable to western audiences first the license has to be picked up by an english publisher to localize them.

Which gives employment to local programmers, businessmen and translators.

Now straight out imports would have some negative effect on the economy, but of your massive trade deficit, the impact of games is trivial.

The Japanese game industry dead? Most of the best-selling games at the moment are made in Japan, unless you regard "The Japanese game industry" as "Every Japanese game company that is not Nintendo".