Nippon Ichi? More like Nippon Maru.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

http://kotaku.com/5464948/nippon-ichi-software-this-cant-be-good

The developer behind the Disgaea series, announced its financial earnings. You may want to sit down.

In the first nine months of this financial year, the company's operating profit is down 97.5 percent.

During 2009, the company released several titles in Japan, including Makai Senki Disgaea 2 Portable, Disgaea Infinite, A Witch's Tale, Let's Hitchhike and Phantom Brave: We Meet Again.

I guess this is why they stopped QA'ing their games!

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[Great Rumbler]

Their latest game on the PS3 sold just 3,000 copes in its first week.

[Bebpo]

Nothing strange, they haven't released a mainline title (that actually costs money to make) since dis3 in early 2008 and their next one isn't out until march (zettai hero).

Normally they have one 100k seller mainline game per year, but they skipped 2009 for whatever reason.

Of course English sites will spin this like their games don't sell anymore.

Ps. What is wrong with their qa? N1 != NIS

[Bebpo]

Their latest game on the PS3 sold just 3,000 copes in its first week.

not their game; hitmaker game published by n1 like witch tale

[Brehvolution]

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

[demi]

Great Rumbler had a recession last year, something had to be cut

[Great Rumbler]

Their latest game on the PS3 sold just 3,000 copes in its first week.

not their game; hitmaker game published by n1 like witch tale

Last Rebellion seems to have been co-developed with Hit Maker, while A Witch's Tale was just Hit Maker.

[archie4208]

Maybe the trend is dying.

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

still at an operating profit, which, however marginal, is still good.

There's no way to spin this as positive, but its not as bad as it may first look.

[magus]

eh so the videogame industry refuses one of the few good things that still remain while buying yet another iteration of dragon quest/mario/pokemon
color me unsurprised

[Mr. Gundam]

eh so the videogame industry refuses one of the few good things that still remain while buying yet another iteration of dragon quest/mario/pokemon
color me unsurprised

Makai Senki Disgaea 2 Portable

Port

Disgaea Infinite

Visual novel

A Witch's Tale

CRAP

Let's Hitchhike

lol wut

Phantom Brave: Wii Meet Again

Port

Yep, totally awesome developer who churned out a "few good things."

[bork]

Their latest game on the PS3 sold just 3,000 copes in its first week.

Didn't this game get voted as worst game of 2009?

(Clearly they didn't know about Samurai Spirits Sen or Arcana Heart 2.)

[Mr. Gundam]

Last Rebellion looks terrible. I managed to actually find some gameplay footage on Justin.TV

You'd think that it being a turn-based JRPG would get me excited. You'd be wrong. 

[Great Rumbler]

Their latest game on the PS3 sold just 3,000 copes in its first week.

Didn't this game get voted as worst game of 2009?

It's already been nominated for Worst Game of 2010, actually. 

[magus]

eh so the videogame industry refuses one of the few good things that still remain while buying yet another iteration of dragon quest/mario/pokemon
color me unsurprised

Makai Senki Disgaea 2 Portable

Port

Disgaea Infinite

Visual novel

A Witch's Tale

CRAP

Let's Hitchhike

lol wut

Phantom Brave: Wii Meet Again

Port

Yep, totally awesome developer who churned out a "few good things."

ehy ehy let me be butthurt 

[Mr. Gundam]

If you're gonna be butthurt, at least have a good reason. Be butthurt that Nippon Ichi churned out a bunch of ports and crap.

[Joe Molotov]

This is what happens when you support Sony consoles. Developers are going to start switching to the Wii now to make money. /nintendosbooger

[Bebpo]

If you're gonna be butthurt, at least have a good reason. Be butthurt that Nippon Ichi churned out a bunch of ports and crap.

Here is what I think is going on.  N1 main team had a pattern of working really hard on one PS2 game to release in the first few months of each year.  So 1 year development cycle unless the main team was split into 2 groups who alternated with 2 year dev times (possible, considering how different their srpgs are from each other [disgaea aside]).  This took them from:

La Pucelle (Jan 2002)
Disgaea (Jan 2003)
Phantom Brave (Jan 2004)
Phantom Kingdom (March 2005)
Disgaea 2 (Feb 2006)
Soul Cradle (Jan 2007)
Disgaea 3 (Jan 2008)

Note that inbetween these releases they had minor staff throwing out ports and re-releases (La Pucelle DC PS2, Disgaea 1-2 PSP, etc...) and some small budget minor series like Hayagari detective line, The Marl Kingdom line, and Prinny PSP.  In addition they started publishing other small devs stuff like Hitmaker (ugh), some Idea Factory (ugh ugh), and Vanillaware (hmmm).

Now after Dis3 the main team seems to have conentrated for about 6 months on Dis3 DLC including a full expansion storyline.  I think this concentration is what screwed them up on their timeline as they couldn't get anything done for early 2009.  So instead 2009 was left to the minor staff throwing out ports and re-releases (now on the DS! and Wii! as well), while the main team seems to have split into two teams (or maybe they always have been!).

The majority of the main team has been working on Zettai Hero Project (March 2010), the minority has been working on Classic Dungeon (Feb 2010) and the Prinny team has been working on Prinny 2 (March 2010).

So basically because they gave DLC a real shot, the main team missed 2009 and the main team is what brings in profits for N1 so of course 2009 fiscal results will be their lowest since pre-2002.  But Classic Dungeon + Zettai Hero + Prinny 2 should bring 2010 profits back up to usual numbers.  I'd like to think of myself as a hardcore N1 fan, they're my favorite developer and I have the LEs of all their srpgs each year.  The last N1 game I bought was Disgaea 3 in Jan 2008.  This means their fans (aka me.) did not buy ANYTHING by them during the timeframe shown in the fiscal report.  I think this is a good explanation of what happened.  The next N1 game I'm buying is Classic Dungeon, Zettai Hero LE, Prinny 2.  So I think they will be fine.

[magus]

If you're gonna be butthurt, at least have a good reason. Be butthurt that Nippon Ichi churned out a bunch of ports and crap.

can't i just be butthurt?  :'(
i wish i could play disgaea 3,i mean they ported everything to anything but disgaea 3 still remains a ps3 exclusive 

I'd like to think of myself as a hardcore N1 fan

hoga... err bebpo knows better

[Ichirou]

Also, everyone buy Sakura Wars.

[Bebpo]

Also, everyone buy Sakura Wars.

Already have the imports of all 5 + ep0.  So skipping the US release.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

still haven't played them

[close]

[Ichirou]

I have all the imports too, and I'm getting the US release.

Boo to Bebpo!

[Bebpo]

can't i just be butthurt?  :'(
i wish i could play disgaea 3,i mean they ported everything to anything but disgaea 3 still remains a ps3 exclusive 

I think there's a good chance Disgaea 3 will show up on the PSP and include the expansion DLC as well.  You might be good.

but then again I wouldn't be surprised if they did another PS3 game for 2011.

I have all the imports too, and I'm getting the US release.

Boo to Bebpo!

I don't really see a reason to support NIS.  Their localizations have been pretty iffy and this whole dub/sub thing for Sakura 5 is lame.  I don't think of NIS and N1 as the same company, just lie I don't think of Atlus USA and Atlus JPN as the same company.

[Ichirou]

Did Disgaea 3 actually sell well for them?

[Bebpo]

Did Disgaea 3 actually sell well for them?

I think it did the usual 100k+
*edit: Apparently opened at 55k and ended a bit over 100k (not sure if that counts budget re-releases).  Most main srpgs by N1 for PS2 sold between 60-100k with Disgaea 1/2 being the only ones doing 150kish.

Who knows on the DLC though.  The DLC market is pretty small outside stuff like Idolmaster in Japan.  Might not have been worth the effort to make a full DLC expansion (though they eventually sold it on disc)

[Ichirou]

Everyone needs to buy Sakura Wars when it comes out in March.

Save the lolis, save the world.

[Bebpo]

Anyhow I think PSP might be a good home for them.  Graphically they weren't doing anything above PSP level with Disgaea 3 or any of the PS2 games.  So it really should be the same experience for maybe slightly cheaper development costs.  The only question is if their main audience all own psps or will buy psps for their game.  

But then again like Valkyria 2, the one bad aspect of a worldwide developer going psp is that they lose all sales in the west since nobody buys psp games in the west.  So with games that sell equally in the west, they just lost a big chunk of licensing fee/royalities.

But then the Wii/DS ports showed there is no N1 audience on Wii/DS, soooooo maybe they should just stick with PS3 and try to include X360 as well (I don't think their games would be particularly difficult to port from one system to another).  Since Dis3 showed at least 75% of their PS2 audience is already on the PS3 and that was before the slim.  By now it might be higher.

[Mr. Gundam]

This is what happens when you support Sony consoles. Developers are going to start switching to the Wii now to make money. /nintendosbooger

Yeah, cause that Phantom Brave port sure worked out well for them.

[magus]

Anyhow I think PSP might be a good home for them.  Graphically they weren't doing anything above PSP level with Disgaea 3 or any of the PS2 games.  So it really should be the same experience for maybe slightly cheaper development costs.  The only question is if their main audience all own psps or will buy psps for their game.  

But then again like Valkyria 2, the one bad aspect of a worldwide developer going psp is that they lose all sales in the west since nobody buys psp games in the west.  So with games that sell equally in the west, they just lost a big chunk of licensing fee/royalities.

But then the Wii/DS ports showed there is no N1 audience on Wii/DS, soooooo maybe they should just stick with PS3 and try to include X360 as well (I don't think their games would be particularly difficult to port from one system to another).  Since Dis3 showed at least 75% of their PS2 audience is already on the PS3 and that was before the slim.  By now it might be higher.

i don't know are ports of game everybody played really an indicator? a good question would be why they did ports instead of making... you know... a new game!
okay they made a witch tale but it really was a subpar effort

[Bebpo]

True.  I think they just don't want to develop for nintendo systems (and I can't blame them for that).

And they didn't make A Witches' Tale.  That was a Hitmaker game published by them.

[Mr. Gundam]

Who made Trinity Universe on the PS3? I know Nippon Ichi was involved, but I don't know if they're the publisher.

[youtube=560,345][/youtube]

It looks like a traditional turn-based JRPG. No grids, no hexes, nothing tactical involved. Dear God I know it's crap, but I would totally buy this if it were localized.

[Bebpo]

I think it was Gust?  Which would explain why Ar Tonelico 3 has a similar visual style.

[Bebpo]

I think we should talk about how awesome the upcoming N1 output is!

Classic Dungeon (Feb 18th Japan, TBA US; developed by System Prism who seems to be part of N1 because they worked on Disgaea 2 and a bunch of other main N1 sprgs)
[youtube=560,345][/youtube]
-Like shiren but realtime arpg
-10 job classes, make your own character
-build a party of multiple characters so you can switch to characters with jobs that match the area/enemy
-create and equip a support team of 4 who helps you out in battle and changes your skills growth
-something like 300+ abilities/attacks to learn and use
-possibly 4 player coop.  Not sure how the multi works
-can choose between normal soundtrack and 8-bit ost

Zettai Hero Project (March 18th Japan, TBA US; developed by main N1 team who did all their srpgs)
[youtube=560,345][/youtube]
-like Shiren meets Disgaea.  Turnbased, but you just have 1 person party like shiren.
-Umm, a million systems like all their srpgs.  I'm not even going to try to figure them out before I actually play it.  Most normal stuff (throwing, giant attacks) seems in
-But yeah, you can gattai your main character and make him PART-TANK or other weird shit.  Should be badass

Prinny 2 (March 26th Japan, Announced US; developed by Prinny team)

No trailer yet
-It's more Prinny.
-That is good because the first one was a darn good GnG clone
-And since it's unlikely Capcom will give us anymore GnG games
-more Prinny is good.

[Mr. Gundam]

I really want the Zettai Hero Limited Edition, it looks super sweet.

[Damian79]

>.>  Couldnt they atleast try and make a unique game?  I got bored looking at those games trailers.

[Mr. Gundam]

90% of their output are grindfest SRPGS, but Prinny is a 2D sidescrolling action game. Those are pretty rare and unique these days.

[Damian79]

That was an overall complaint about he state of gaming today.  I will check out prinny 1.

[magus]

prinny is like the second/third most awesome psp game evah

[Damian79]

What is the first?

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

Sakura Wars has been in re-development for a long dang time, and while I'm just guessing that the liscense fee for a years old PS2 game would be pretty cheap, deving a Wii version from the ground up would negate that.  Toss in a very large localization project and I'd bet they dropped quite a wad on Sakura Wars.

NIS spent lots of money on getting Sakura Wars to western gamers.

Sakura Wars!

Either they know their audience better then they know their own mothers, or NIS has bigger cojones/money burning acumen then even Sega.

[Bebpo]

Sakura Wars has been in re-development for a long dang time, and while I'm just guessing that the liscense fee for a years old PS2 game would be pretty cheap, deving a Wii version from the ground up would negate that.  Toss in a very large localization project and I'd bet they dropped quite a wad on Sakura Wars.

NIS spent lots of money on getting Sakura Wars to western gamers.

Sakura Wars!

Either they know their audience better then they know their own mothers, or NIS has bigger cojones/money burning acumen then even Sega.

Game is going to bomb insanely hard.

[demi]

That was an overall complaint about he state of gaming today.  I will check out prinny 1.

That wont change your mind. It is pretty poopy.

[Bebpo]

That was an overall complaint about he state of gaming today.  I will check out prinny 1.

That wont change your mind. It is pretty poopy.

Don't tell me I'm actually more skilled at a game than demi?

[demi]

Uh... I dunno where you get that correlation from. Prinny is a crap game.

[Bebpo]

Uh... I dunno where you get that correlation from. Prinny is a crap game.

Why?  The levels are great.  Super hard at first (but you get 999 lives and checkpoints every small section so it's not too frustrating) but when you get the patterns down and use your skillz you can ace through the levels.  The bosses are even better.  Tough as heck until you get all their patterns down but then you destroy them.  The jumping is kinda annoying in a GnG way but the butt stomp makes it easier than GnG.

The only negative I would say about the game is too much reliance on MASHING THE SHIT OUT OF SQUARE for boss fights.  Goddamn the final boss is so ridiculous they had to tone him down for the US version.  I dunno how I ever beat him.  Just many, many, many retries to mash square fast enough before the timer ran out.  Considering they made that easier for the US version meaning they quickly realized it was HORRIBLE, they probably won't have something dumb like that in the sequel.

Otherwise great challenging but ultimately satisfying as you triumph GnG-style action platformer.

[magus]

wait wait wait you mean the boss i beat with 5 seconds remaining on the clock after mashing the square button enough time that i even started to believe i was playing track & field was made easier? where did you read that?

What is the first?

i would say half minute hero

[Bebpo]

In the US release thread before the game was out and when people were finishing up the import and complaining about the final boss, Anihawk (who either works at NIS or has some connections there, recently he gave a lot of insider info about Last Rebellion and Hitmaker's status) said that the team realized the mashing was too overkill on the final boss and were making it easier for the US version.

Hmmm...I haven't played Half Minute Hero besides the demo (which was fun).  I should give it a shot one of these weeks.

[Ichirou]

The real Nippon Maru:

[Howard Alan Treesong]

http://kotaku.com/5466549/nippon-ichi-software-this-cant-be-good-part-ii

The company's closing price on the JASDAQ (Japanese NASDAQ) was ¥36,200 on Friday. When the market opened this morning, and investors began reacting to Nippon Ichi's financial statement, the stock price ultimately dropped ¥7,000 (US$78) as the stock was unloaded. With the stock's value dropping almost 20 percent, the JASDAQ put a freeze on the price so it could not slide any further south.

[Mr. Gundam]

That's not good.

[demi]

This is very good. Bye bye crap games!

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

http://kotaku.com/5466549/nippon-ichi-software-this-cant-be-good-part-ii

(Image removed from quote.)

The company's closing price on the JASDAQ (Japanese NASDAQ) was ¥36,200 on Friday. When the market opened this morning, and investors began reacting to Nippon Ichi's financial statement, the stock price ultimately dropped ¥7,000 (US$78) as the stock was unloaded. With the stock's value dropping almost 20 percent, the JASDAQ put a freeze on the price so it could not slide any further south.

[Bebpo]

How is this even possible?  N1 is this little tiny company that's highest profit consists of selling maybe 150k games total in an entire year.  I'm surprised they're even publicly traded.

[Mr. Gundam]

How is this even possible?  N1 is this little tiny company that's highest profit consists of selling maybe 150k games total in an entire year.  I'm surprised they're even publicly traded.

How the hell is their stock worth ~$78 a share?

[Bebpo]

Wait, they were being traded at $362 a share? wtf!

[Mr. Gundam]

They must have accidentally added an extra 0 on those yen values. THEY HAD TO.

[Jansen]

maybe they will fold. that would be good as the world has little need for their crap games and at the same time it would strike a blow to the weeaboo crowd.

all i can see is a good thing here!

[tiesto]

Hmm, there's a lot of companies I'd rather go under than N1, even though I don't really care for their games too much.

[Mr. Gundam]

21,192 shares! Time to make plans to own a major share in a software firm i think.

When i am the major stock holder, i will fire everyone and then just sit touching myself whilst smashing all the computers and burning all the art they have.

They really weren't worth ¥36,200 a share, were they? WERE THEY?

 

[Bebpo]

This whole thing actually bothers me a lot because I really really like their srpgs.  Their target audience is me (and prole too I guess) but I can't sustain a business model

For non-bebpo people equivalent, this would be like Capcom going into financial crisis and threatning the future of the Street Fighter franchise.