Nintendo’s Future with the ‘Tales’ Series

[Peeko]

Nintendo’s Future with the ‘Tales’ Series

Since Tales of Symphonia landed outside Japan more western fans (including myself) have taken note of Namco’s Tales series. It seems unfortunate that Namco have in the past reserved the majority of the Tales series for the Japanese Sony market. It has been widely noted that in recent times Nintendo has been missing a concrete RPG title and I believe the Tales series could easily fill this gap.

So I was wondering what Nintendo’s chances are of securing the Tales series as a safe bet in the future (outside Japan). While Tales of Symphonia was successful the title still isn’t particularly well known in America and Europe. Since this success Namco have released ‘Tales of Phantasia’ in English for GBA. I have no stats to back this up but I’d guess in comparison to Symphonia the sales were kind of low. But the question is how low? Considering it was a port did Namco find the sales adequate? As any Tales fan knows ‘Tales of the Tempest’ is on the horizon in Japan, will it make its way over here?

If you take into account the surprising success of Symphonia it seems the Tales series is more likely to appear outside Japan, but there’s one big obstacle in the way (for Nintendo owners)-Sony. Within Japan the Tales series is most prevalent on Sony systems so what are the chances of Nintendo snagging more titles? Already Tales of Legendia and soon Tales of the Abyss will appear in English on PS2 only, why not GC? Outside Japan the Tales series is proving much more popular on Nintendo systems that Sony’s, is there a chance we could get more English versions? The answer may seem like “Yes” but if there any fans of the ‘Soul Calibur’ series reading this they’ll understand my doubts.

I am hopeful we will at least see 'Tales of the Tempest' but the chances of current titles appearing on GC are pretty much non-existent. I hope Namco bring the Tales series to Wii and continue to support Nintendo, but the likely hood of his probably hangs on English sales of TotT (if released outside japan).

Any thoughts? Would you like to see more Tales released in the west on Nintendo systems and do you think it's likely?

 

[Moonlight.]

RPG series always tend to lean towards a certain console. A few gens ago, just about all well-known RPGs were on Nintendo consoles, but when the PS1 arrived, RPGs gradually moved towards Sony. ATM Playstation seems to be the console that gets the RPGs, while the GBA seems to be getting most handheld RPGs. Sadly, whenever an RPG is made it tends to go to just these consoles, so if you're into console RPGs you'll find yourself having to buy a ps2. I have no idea why they do this, and it can get really frustrating.

Namco seem to be sharing the Tales titles now though. Lately we've had Tales of Phantasia (GBA) and Tales of Symphonia (GC), and we're soon to get Tales of the Tempest (DS), while Playstation has recently got Tales of Legendia and Tales of Eternia, as well as a few other less significant games.

Actually, I think Tales of Symphonia was a major change to the series, sales and console-wise. Before then, most Tales games were limited to one console, and just the Japanese market, so I bet we can expect to see more Tales games overseas from Japan.

Personally, I don't see why they don't just make the games for both consoles.

 

[Paradox]

In Japan Tales of Symphonia sold more copies over 2 days on it's release than the GC version had since it's launch months before, so there isn't really much incentive from Namco to support Nintendo (or Microsoft) consoles. Although with the almost enevitable growth in market share for the Wii I wouldn't be suprised to see spin offs for the series a la Final Fantasy.

 

[ShiningClefairy]

In Japan Tales of Symphonia sold more copies over 2 days on it's release than the GC version had since it's launch months before

Meaning what? That they didn't profit a single Yen from the Nintendo side? Doubtful.

 

[Paradox]

Meaning what? That they didn't profit a single Yen from the Nintendo side? Doubtful.

Meaning it won't take much persuasion from Sony to make the Tales series exclusive

 

[Peeko]

Meaning it won't take much persuasion from Sony to make the Tales series exclusive

You really think that will happen? I hope not

I think Namco will divide the series, creating different games for Sony and Nintendo, but it still leaves a question mark concerning America and Europe. As you say ToS performed better inside Japan, but it still surprised Namco who (from what I've read) weren't expecting much from ToS abroad.

I've also heard Tales of Legendia sold less copies than the port of Tales of Phantasia in America. This could be inaccurate but I wonder how likely it is that poor sales on a Sony system will put Namco off translating Tales for Nintendo. I believe with enough effort they could solidify the Tales series in Europe and America on Nintendo. The problem with Sony is that it's already saturated with RPGs, including key Final Fantasy titles.

 

[Cless Aileron]

I've also heard Tales of Legendia sold less copies than the port of Tales of Phantasia in America. This could be inaccurate but I wonder how likely it is that poor sales on a Sony system will put Namco off translating Tales for Nintendo. I believe with enough effort they could solidify the Tales series in Europe and America on Nintendo. The problem with Sony is that it's already saturated with RPGs, including key Final Fantasy titles.

I wouldn't even count on seeing Tales on the Gamecube.

Tales of Symphonia on the Gamecube did not do what Namco expected. That's why Tales of Symphonia got ported to the PS2, which did much better than what the Gamecube version did in Japan.

However, there's not much reason to go the reverse. If there's really a market for the series, it's going to have to do it on the majority system (i.e. the PS2). I don't see RPGs going multiplatform. It's big and pretty expensive to produce and having it go multiplatform is going to be very costly too. All I'm saying is...don't get your hopes up.

Also, this is the number that came from NPD during April:

Tales of Legendia - 3,509 Units - Total 41,100
Tales of Phantasia - 8,254 Units - Total 30,284

Tales of Legendia sold more than Tales of Phantasia. I wouldn't blame them for not buying Tales of Phantasia GBA. If I was to use two words for the GBA Tales of Phantasia, I'd just quote Jay Sherman from The Critic..."It stinks!"

 

[Lord of the pants]

I love the series and Nintendo (Nintendo is my top reason for living) sO i HOPE n.... (Dang capslock) ... As I was saying I hope Ninty keeps going with the tales series

 

[Peeko]

I wouldn't even count on seeing Tales on the Gamecube.

Tales of Symphonia on the Gamecube did not do what Namco expected. That's why Tales of Symphonia got ported to the PS2, which did much better than what the Gamecube version did in Japan.

I don’t want to disagree seeing as I know very little about the Tales series as a whole, but are you sure? From what I’ve read ToS did a lot better outside Japan than Namco expected. As for inside Japan I have no idea. This is kind of why I made this thread. If the sales of a tales game are better on different systems in different parts of the world what are Namco going to do about it? For example they didn’t port ToS to PS2 (America and Europe), why not? It seems like they are aiming for a new fan base especially with TotT on the way for DS. However you're probably right, I shouldn't get my hopes up. It seems inside Japan the Tales series has strong customer support from PS2, but elsewhere it’s leaning towards Nintendo, kind of an odd situation.

Also, this is the number that came from NPD during April:

Tales of Legendia - 3,509 Units - Total 41,100
Tales of Phantasia - 8,254 Units - Total 30,284

Tales of Legendia sold more than Tales of Phantasia. I wouldn't blame them for not buying Tales of Phantasia GBA. If I was to use two words for the GBA Tales of Phantasia, I'd just quote Jay Sherman from The Critic..."It stinks!"

Well you can’t argue with facts, but I just bought Tales of Phantasia and it’s great (imo). Although looking at those figures Legendia didn't do much better. Handheld versions of a franchise usually sell less as it is, plus Phantasia is a port so lower figures should be expected. I’m not trying to create an argument for Nintendo to ‘steal’ Tales from Sony, I’m just wondering how (if at all) Namco will deal with the popularity differences, although it’s safe to say the fan base in Japan is far stronger than America and Europe so it’s more likely Sony will benefit.

 

[Omega Pirate]

You say that Phantasia sales were low? It's just that before release the Nintendo website had a few articles about the hype that Phantasia was creating before the release because of how popluar it was in Japan and the polularity of Symphonia. I don't know what the sales records are, but I'd expect, from that sort of stuff, they'd be high.