New Monolithsoft game for Wii U

Xenoblade didn't get much marketing too. When it was still "monado- beginning of world" they shown only gameplay too. One with Shulk, Dumban and Reyn fighting big lizard in Nopon forest. Or I'm mistake and that scenshot from colony 9 lab cutscene, where Fiora don't look like Fiora we know was from that trailer too... O_o. Anyway, full story trailer was shown a lot later.

As for possibility of that game is continuation of older Xeno game, I don't think it would be Xenogears ep1, since Perfect Works said that it was chapter fully in space, more like XS was not like what wee see but if we got contunuation then I have those 3 ideas:

- Continuation of Xenoblade - possible but there is problem, game looks like there are only humans, if it was XB world then where would gone Hight Entia, Nopons and Machina?

- Continuation of XG - Well, after Fei and Co beat Deus etc, XXXX years later with science from Solaris humans rebuild their world, gears and strange animals was part of that world at that time. People no longer experiment on them self so there are no animal-humans anymore.

- Continuation of XS - Lost Yerusalem - XXXX years in future... etc

I may think more for XS but now I need to hurry for bus and get to work XD

I don't mind that. The WiiU is way better than the 3DS.

That's not the issue. I don't have anything against the system itself (aside the fact I'm not interested by a good majority of the WIIU current/upcoming library... for now, I think the 3DS is more attractive when it comes to that). I'm talking about the fact that the console is currently a financial failure and "X" will surely suffer from it (unless the game turns out to be a console seller but I have doubts *that would be cool though*).

Iwata tried to defend Nintendo's "non competitive strategy" long enough until he had to face reality recently and they are NOW working on changing their marketing plans a bit. But we don't know how efficient that will be at this point. I think Nintendo made the huge mistake to get overconfident about their casual Wii audience, thinking they would follow them. The fact is, lots of Wii owners weren't big gamers, probably don't get why they should get a new console and may not even know the WIIU actually IS a new console (my own sister thought it was just an add-on before I told her about it and she's far from being alone thinking that... that's an example of Nintendo's terrible marketing). I remember how my family pretty much pushed me to accept the Wii in the house (the only reason I agreed was because Xenoblade was going to be on it so I was "why the hell not?") and how we all played it (Wii Sports) together ONCE. Then, my parents quickly got bored (as they always were by gaming, they don't get the appeal at all) and my sister only touched Just Dance/Sing Star at times.
I surely touched my WII more than they did but I only cared about a few games on it and none of them rank as my top 10 all time favorite (not to mention how AWFUL the online store actually is... I'm actually interested in some games but I can't buy them). Nowadays, my WII is gathering dust and I'm all over my PS3 (by the way, I just noticed Persona3 FES got released on the PSN *but you may already have it, come to think about it, the european PSN library tend to get a bit neglected compared to the US one*).

I'll speak for myself. I hate, no, I HATE Xenobl..err...Monado, but I will buy the WiiU for X alone if this game will be more story driven and mature than Monado.

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Hey, I'm new on Xeno Underground and my english is not the best.
I just found a interesting thread on gamefaqs: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/701151-x-monolith-soft-wii-u-game/69002055
It says that Mariko Suzuki voices one of the characters in X. There are no sources, but I just trust the Topic Creator.
As we know the characters in Xenosaga, which have the same seiyuus as characters in Xenogears, are spiritually related to each other. If that is so, X is probably a "real" Xeno-game. Xenoblade doesn't share seiyuus with Saga/Gears and so it isn't really related to these games.
If Mariko Suzuki really is a seiyuu in X, then X plays probably in the real Xenoverse. Perhaps X is again a re-imagining of the Xenoverse and goes back in the timeline even further as Xenosaga did. I have the theory, that X plays after the time Lost Jerusalem is sealed away and emigrant fleets are sent into space. X probably shows us the first footsteps on "Neo Jerusalem".
What do you think?

We will see, as for me, most chance, if it would be continuation of XS/XG it would be Xenogears, many, many years in future, but it's only my thoughts.
For now we didn't have any piece of story to see, so there is nothing we can think about for now.

Hello,

I'm new on this forum and gettting more and more interested in all X'related infos.
But what I'm reading from X's fans in this post is a bit annoying...

To sum up what I red :
- Monolith SW is very bad at marketing matters
- "Oh my god there will be an Online experience in the game"
- In one year 2 or 3 trailers with only gameplay visuals and nothing about storyline
- Hypothetical comparison with "western"RPG (Bethesda and co.)
- Sorry if I forgot some one

But what everyone seem to forget that :
- Bigger licence are not treated better (like MK8 or SSB) and will probably sell a lot (more). A triple A game licence must spend around 30% of his budget in marketing materials. This huge budget (several millions $) is not used to enhanced the gaming experience, but allows only a better spread of the licence.
- Online experiences has became a mandatory features for a large next gen console userbase. You've got to see the solo campagn of COD Ghost that last only few hours. 90% of this licence's buyer play online. If it can helps Monolith to sell some additional copy of the game to support the dev and raise the chance for a future development (sequel/prequel in X universe), it's not a pb. I must precise that I Hate online gaming.
- On the contrary I found that the teaser was greatly well designed. The first trailer is more storyline driven even though almost nothing of the scenario is revealed. But they showed several interesting scenes (like the end where you can see a UDO-like giant "robot") or the big count down on one of the tour in the city. The second trailer was more of gameplay demo, and allows us to discover a xenoblade kind of gameplay (which I enjoyed).
- I agree with someone in this post who stated that there is no wester/easter RPG, but more "storyline driven"/other. I simply HATE (like online game) the skyrim, baldur's gate and a lot of famous RPG, which I found boring (uninsteresting story when a story is even present). Japanese have a lot of talent at telling interesting stories and set a good atmosphere.

I, personally don't care if X is a Xeno-blade/Gears/Saga prequel/sequel/other dimensionnal world. The most important is the quality of the game and the experience it gives the players.
If you consider, Xenosaga, it's not a prequel nor a sequel to Xenogears. But, there is some cameos and special appearance (like Jin), but the story is different. Even though they succeed to build an Excellent trilogy with a very coherent world/universe.
The strategy with "Xenogears : origins" or "Xenoworld" or "Xsomethingelse" is, from my point a view, a result of their past failures (xenosaga was ended after ep 3 though 6 episodes were planned in the first place). They are simply doing their game as today's gaming standard, because the userbase is constantly evolving and younger players didn't have the chance to play a psone and xenogears; not to mention xenosaga that hasn't been released in Europe at all...
We'd, all, like to see a prequel or sequel of what we already know (Xenosaga/Gears); but Hey, wouldn't be cool to see something else ? not better or worse than other X game, but just different... New story, new characters, new philosophy, but still with the quality we liked on other X project (story, atmosphere, chara design etc.). And, I don't mind if there is still an "online play" on the launching screen menu.

I'm not sure to be perfectly clear, but It's what is in my mind considering the first trailer and the posts I can read here and there.

All this words to conclude by "wait and see" and do not transform your impatience into anger...
I, among all, know how hard it is to wait (4 really good games in 15 years is not very much...)

OptimusDark wrote:Hello,

I'm new on this forum and gettting more and more interested in all X'related infos.

Hello and welcome, OptimusDark.

OptimusDark wrote:- Monolith SW is very bad at marketing matters

Sorry if it annoys you but Monolith never seemed too brilliant at marketing (maybe because it's not their call though *Namco and Square were responsible for that previously I guess*, idk) but Nintendo is worse. You have to read what Iwata says. It feels like he's a bit out of touch with the market. He's trying but... gosh...

OptimusDark wrote:- "Oh my god there will be an Online experience in the game"

The main worry is that the game would be revealed to be a MMORPG actually. With the few lackluster trailers we got, Takahashi's change of philosophy when it comes to gaming (he's really more interested now in building big worlds that players can get lost into and interact and it would not be surprising at this point to see him go down the MMORPG road actually... if not with this game, with future ones)... it's not hard to have worries. I know that I would not be interested in a MMORPG myself and some other jRPG/Xeno fans feel the same (you too it seems). To be honest, I'm hardly interested in multiplayer mode either... I don't know if it's habit but I never touch the multiplayer mode in PS3 games.

OptimusDark wrote:- Hypothetical comparison with "western" RPG (Bethesda and co.)

You can't escape the comparaison when Takahashi himself is inspired by Bethesda (and wRPG in general) nowadays and would like Monolith to get as popular. I actually love the Elder Scrolls series... but it's mainly for the lore (and Xenoblade was kinda weak for that *the concept of 2 giants mechs as worlds was crazy and original and it helped making up for the weak lore but "X" probably won't have this*... I hope "X" will have tons of stuff to learn about the world). But we all know they're very imperfect (and, thankfully, moddable) open world games.

OptimusDark wrote:Bigger licence are not treated better (like MK8 or SSB) and will probably sell a lot (more). A triple A game licence must spend around 30% of his budget in marketing materials. This huge budget (several millions $) is not used to enhanced the gaming experience, but allows only a better spread of the licence.

Oh, I doubt Mario and Zelda are treated worse than the other licenses Nintendo owns, like Xenoblade/X. Those games represent Nintendo just like FF represents Square. Nintendo will always bet on those more than Takahashi's games. But I get what you mean about the budget used for marketing instead of game quality.

OptimusDark wrote:- Online experiences has became a mandatory features for a large next gen console userbase. You've got to see the solo campagn of COD Ghost that last only few hours. 90% of this licence's buyer play online. If it can helps Monolith to sell some additional copy of the game to support the dev and raise the chance for a future development (sequel/prequel in X universe), it's not a pb. I must precise that I Hate online gaming.

I get that. The worry is more about getting a MMORPG though. Like I said, the fact that Takahashi has changed quite a bit since his Xenosaga/Gears days only make it more worrying. I can stand a multiplayer option only if I'm not required to play online to finish the game. Like you, I can say I don't enjoy online gaming.

OptimusDark wrote:- I agree with someone in this post who stated that there is no wester/easter RPG, but more "storyline driven"/other.

Takahashi said something similar... something about being frustrated with the WRPG/jRPG labels.

OptimusDark wrote:I, personally don't care if X is a Xeno-blade/Gears/Saga prequel/sequel/other dimensionnal world. The most important is the quality of the game and the experience it gives the players.

Agreed.

OptimusDark wrote:The strategy with "Xenogears : origins" or "Xenoworld" or "Xsomethingelse" is, from my point a view, a result of their past failures (xenosaga was ended after ep 3 though 6 episodes were planned in the first place). They are simply doing their game as today's gaming standard, because the userbase is constantly evolving and younger players didn't have the chance to play a psone and xenogears; not to mention xenosaga that hasn't been released in Europe at all...

I think you partly right. But it makes me a bit sad because the "new Xeno" will probably has basically less and less in common with the old Xeno that I fell in love with. If only Monolith/Nintendo didn't use the "Xeno" prefix and Xenogears/Saga iconic stuff to attract the old crowd...
It's annoying because it's not truly sincere (at least Xenosaga was first planned as Xenogears Episode 1 which make the games feel legit more like part of the same series... even if they technically aren't). It's lying about what your games are about. Even since I played Soma Bringer, I felt Monolith had left their old games behind. And yet, they still use Xeno imageries and tropes (partly because I think Takahashi is 1. still nostalgic of his old works even if he feels he can't go back to them, not as his old self anyway and especially 2. he's stuck as a writer and can only reuse old material and simplify them for the masses *because appealing to masses = popularity*... I'm not bashing here, it's what Takahashi wants for his games, he said it... to appeal to more people/be popular). And then, some people will say Xenogears and Saga are dead and no one is interested in them anymore. Then why the gratuitous reuse of old Xeno symbols then ? Because it creates hype apparently, actually proving those people wrong.

OptimusDark wrote:We'd, all, like to see a prequel or sequel of what we already know (Xenosaga/Gears); but Hey, wouldn't be cool to see something else ? not better or worse than other X game, but just different... New story, new characters, new philosophy, but still with the quality we liked on other X project (story, atmosphere, chara design etc.).

Yes, I actually do. Very much. I want different. But Takahashi will have to lose the "Xeno" name/image and old tropes for that to happen.

OptimusDark wrote:All this words to conclude by "wait and see" and do not transform your impatience into anger...

I'm not exactly angry at their new game. Just cautious (and a bit irritated by the Xenogears imagery) but if it's a good game, I'll happily play it. Just like I played Xenoblade, with the simple desire to explore a big world and no real expectation in mind concerning the rest. That's the way I approached Skyrim as well (it's my first wRPG too). It doesn't mean I don't criticize them (au contraire). But it's easier for me not to criticize Bethesda the way I would Monolith because I don't have a gaming love affair with them since their early days. Some people keep whining about Skyrim's overall "casualness"/simplification for the masses and they mostly started with Morrowind. Skyrim is my first so I didn't see or mind that. It's very much like old Gears/Saga fans recognizing Blade's weaker plot/characters (also done for the masses... Shulk himself was basically Takahashi's test subject for "a protagonist everyone would like"... it's nice of him but there is a risk with that... like making your protag kinda boring *and Shulk is one of the most boring party member when you look at it, with Sharla maybe*... but really, at the end of the day, you can't please everybody, you just can't) compared to the old games while people who only know Blade will likely find the plot really great/fantastic (to be fair, it's not a bad plot for a jRPG, but it's less impactful and worth discussing years later than Gears and Saga for sure).

Maybe not soon because I would need to buy a WIIU and I don't want to buy a console for one game only (well 2, okay... The Wonderful 101 seems crazy enough for my tastes... but I don't care for anything Mario, I'm not fond of Bayonetta *I don't like DMC either, it's the juvenile atmosphere, it puts me off*, I'm not interested in anything Zelda on the WIIU either for now... I'll wait I think).

Anyway, fingers crossed for actually meaty news at E3.

RadicalDreamer wrote:
Sorry if it annoys you but Monolith never seemed too brilliant at marketing (maybe because it's not their call though *Namco and Square were responsible for that previously I guess*, idk) but Nintendo is worse. You have to read what Iwata says. It feels like he's a bit out of touch with the market. He's trying but... gosh...

My point was mostly on the R.O.I of a more aggressive marketing activities... Why would Nintendo or Square spend millions on advertising when most of the gamers don't care about storyline, and skip cutscenes  ("God ! please forgive their ignorance").

Zelda, Xenosomething and Final Fantasy are not bought by casual gamers but mostly by the historic players (Mario seems to fit more casual gaming prerequisites). Anyway, they advertise their games (I remember seeing an advertisement of xenosaga ep 1 on US TV when it came out); the problem for this kind of games is that you must enter the universe and taste it to like it. We know because we had the chance to play these masterpieces (talking about Xeno and old FF, not the new ones...). A casual gamers didn't experiment (and will probably never) a deep dive into this kind of scenario.

RadicalDreamer wrote:
The main worry is that the game would be revealed to be a MMORPG actually. With the few lackluster trailers we got, Takahashi's change of philosophy when it comes to gaming (he's really more interested now in building big worlds that players can get lost into and interact and it would not be surprising at this point to see him go down the MMORPG road actually... if not with this game, with future ones)... it's not hard to have worries. I know that I would not be interested in a MMORPG myself and some other jRPG/Xeno fans feel the same (you too it seems). To be honest, I'm hardly interested in multiplayer mode either... I don't know if it's habit but I never touch the multiplayer mode in PS3 games.

Totally agreed ! If it's a MMORPG, it will be a very very very bad deception and a waste of talent...

RadicalDreamer wrote:
You can't escape the comparaison when Takahashi himself is inspired by Bethesda (and wRPG in general) nowadays and would like Monolith to get as popular. I actually love the Elder Scrolls series... but it's mainly for the lore (and Xenoblade was kinda weak for that *the concept of 2 giants mechs as worlds was crazy and original and it helped making up for the weak lore but "X" probably won't have this*... I hope "X" will have tons of stuff to learn about the world). But we all know they're very imperfect (and, thankfully, moddable) open world games.

I don't like WRPG, not because they are bad games, to be honest I found the gameplay quite interesting... but the story is boring to the death. When I play Xeno-games, each time I shutoff the console, I can't wait the next time I would be able to play and discover the 'next episode' of the story.

RadicalDreamer wrote:
I think you partly right. But it makes me a bit sad because the "new Xeno" will probably has basically less and less in common with the old Xeno that I fell in love with. If only Monolith/Nintendo didn't use the "Xeno" prefix and Xenogears/Saga iconic stuff to attract the old crowd...
It's annoying because it's not truly sincere (at least Xenosaga was first planned as Xenogears Episode 1 which make the games feel legit more like part of the same series... even if they technically aren't). It's lying about what your games are about.

Even since I played Soma Bringer, I felt Monolith had left their old games behind. And yet, they still use Xeno imageries and tropes (partly because I think Takahashi is 1. still nostalgic of his old works even if he feels he can't go back to them, not as his old self anyway and especially 2. he's stuck as a writer and can only reuse old material and simplify them for the masses *because appealing to masses = popularity*... I'm not bashing here, it's what Takahashi wants for his games, he said it... to appeal to more people/be popular). And then, some people will say Xenogears and Saga are dead and no one is interested in them anymore. Then why the gratuitous reuse of old Xeno symbols then ? Because it creates hype apparently, actually proving those people wrong.

May be I'm completely wrong, but I don't think the constantly reuse of the xeno prefix is some sort of xeno fanbase call to buy his game. I mean, I think I understood, when playing Takahashi's different games, where he wants to get us to. Xenosaga is a very good example on his attempt to revive his first idea that led to Xenogears. The story line is different but the philosophical ideas are very similar (everything is about god, destiny, superpower etc.). Xenoblade, though a lot more simple, is also a good attempt for the same objective; the only difference is that xenoblade is some sort of DRAFT game to make some proofs for themselves and probably for Nintendo head guys (not to mention a possible special order from Nintendo to get a good RPG for the Wii).

RadicalDreamer wrote:
I'm not exactly angry at their new game. Just cautious (and a bit irritated by the Xenogears imagery) but if it's a good game, I'll happily play it. Just like I played Xenoblade, with the simple desire to explore a big world and no real expectation in mind concerning the rest. That's the way I approached Skyrim as well (it's my first wRPG too). It doesn't mean I don't criticize them (au contraire). But it's easier for me not to criticize Bethesda the way I would Monolith because I don't have a gaming love affair with them since their early days. Some people keep whining about Skyrim's overall "casualness"/simplification for the masses and they mostly started with Morrowind. Skyrim is my first so I didn't see or mind that. It's very much like old Gears/Saga fans recognizing Blade's weaker plot/characters (also done for the masses... Shulk himself was basically Takahashi's test subject for "a protagonist everyone would like"... it's nice of him but there is a risk with that... like making your protag kinda boring *and Shulk is one of the most boring party member when you look at it, with Sharla maybe*... but really, at the end of the day, you can't please everybody, you just can't) compared to the old games while people who only know Blade will likely find the plot really great/fantastic (to be fair, it's not a bad plot for a jRPG, but it's less impactful and worth discussing years later than Gears and Saga for sure).

Maybe not soon because I would need to buy a WIIU and I don't want to buy a console for one game only (well 2, okay... The Wonderful 101 seems crazy enough for my tastes... but I don't care for anything Mario, I'm not fond of Bayonetta *I don't like DMC either, it's the juvenile atmosphere, it puts me off*, I'm not interested in anything Zelda on the WIIU either for now... I'll wait I think).

Anyway, fingers crossed for actually meaty news at E3.

You speak the truth... BUT there are few things that we must keep in mind :
1) the DRAFT thing about Xenoblade.
A good game does not necessarily sell a lot. There is a fragile balance between story, gameplay, concepts and themes (and probably a lot more) and probably luck. All these ingredients are needed to release a success. I truly think about xenoblade as some milestone on a greater path. Developers are human that need a salary and do this for glory (maybe) but also for money... They can't afford spending years building a Huge Genogears games without the guarantee of success. On every creative materials there is a form and a substance. Think about online option, seamless exploration in open world as the form. But what's important is the substance (story line, atmosphere etc.). Monolith will not make a MMORPG i'm sure of it, there is too much elements in the trailer that make me thing a MMORPG is not plausible...
Moreover it would be a very bad move, from a company who has already tasted several bad strategic choices in the past. What drives MMORPG today are WOW (bullshit), guild wars and a torrent of free MMORPG. XenoSomething in this MMORPG market is pointless. my guess is that X WII u will be a mix between xenogears/saga and xenobalde. The first will provide the substance while the second will handle the shell / form. Xenoblade story is not very exciting, but I finished it, so it wasn't bad at all. the word"Boring" is too strong. I would say that the characters in xenoblade are just doing the job nothing more...
2) X wiiu will surely help the wii U (I bought it only for X, though I will also play mario and Zelda). So there is no point at releasing a MMORPG to help selling a system that is firstly design as monoplayer or multi local player.

The forthcoming E3 info will surely give us some light about all this, and I will be very disappointed if it turns out to be a MMO. I hope that the lack of info is a marketing choice help us dreaming about what we would like to have during the dev process. Next trailer will be story line oriented !

Well if you're right about the MMORPG and the wrong use of Xeno prefix without the essence (substance) of the original games, Nintendo will lost my trust and sympathy forever

OptimusDark wrote:Hello...

- Online experiences has became a mandatory features for a large next gen console userbase. You've got to see the solo campagn of COD Ghost that last only few hours. 90% of this licence's buyer play online. If it can helps Monolith to sell some additional copy of the game to support the dev and raise the chance for a future development (sequel/prequel in X universe), it's not a pb. I must precise that I Hate online gaming.

[...]

- I agree with someone in this post who stated that there is no wester/easter RPG, but more "storyline driven"/other. I simply HATE (like online game) the skyrim, baldur's gate and a lot of famous RPG, which I found boring (uninsteresting story when a story is even present). Japanese have a lot of talent at telling interesting stories and set a good atmosphere...

Welcome! Hope you'll like it here!

I am sorry if I am derailing a bit, but there were a couple of things I wanted to say on these points I'm quoting:

- Just because there is some kind of 'mandatory' feature the marketing part of the company is pushing onto both hardware and software development doesn't mean it is not complete and utter sh*t nobody wanted to buy / waste valuable manhours / production costs on.

Single player is single player; match-based multiplayer is match-based multiplayer; MMO is MMO. When someone tries to make a hybrid out of that things like Dark Souls come about and you get weird stuff like the complete lack of the pause feature under pretense of 'design decision' or some bullcrap.

Neither myself, nor any of the people I know personally IRL saw anything but trying to bump up the prices of the product with features no one is interested in buying but the marketing folks still insist on being 'all the rage', 'inevitable progress', etc, etc.

There is gameplay experimintation by the dev team in hopes of throwing out the old junk no one bothered to clean up yet and trying to find something new and interesting, and there is the marketing division being pants on head retarded. Personally, I am worried that the latest X title could fall victim to the latter category.

XXX

EDIT:

In case someone actually works in that business, I meant no personal offence to you, but neither in life in general, nor in gaming industry in particular I have seen any good from placing people from the money side of the world in a position of power within the company yet. I am sorry, but, in my experience, it usually turns out quite a sh*tty practice that lowers the quality of the product and actually results in some inane short term money grab scheme that breeds consumer distrust and ruins any kind of long term perspective.

XXX

Onto the second part:

- Those are some fighting words!

I am, of course, joking here, but the gist of it is stone cold serious. Even if I am currently loading up my copy of the Tactic Ogre PSP remake (which I highly recommend even if you didn't play the original, by the way) that I love to bits, when it comes to game plot, KOTOR II and Planescape: Torment are the best thing that happened to gaming since sliced bread, so your argument is invalid.

XXX

EDIT2:

OptimusDark wrote:
...My point was mostly on the R.O.I of a more aggressive marketing activities... Why would Nintendo or Square spend millions on advertising when most of the gamers don't care about storyline, and skip cutscenes  ("God ! please forgive their ignorance")...

Because out of all the people I know when I've asked if they played Xenogears/Xenosaga every single one of them went "Huh? What kind of sh*t is that? Never heard about it."?

Fresh blood is needed in the fandom. Otherwise it won't sell and we will be left with nothing again.

On the online feature aspect, I agree with your opinion. If I'm right the online feature on X will be insignificant to me. Not necessarily because it won't be done the good way, but simply because I'm repeating myself I do not play online, and I think it will be a dedicated multiplayer mode (aside from the solo campaign).
A lot of players nowadays enjoy playing with their buddies online, to spend some good times "headshoting" themselves together, killing zombies, capturing a flag, a ball or a shiny something... because that's their way of entertaining themselves. They skip cutscenes because that's not what they're seeking...
While I won't refuse a little multi player gaming session sometimes (very few though...), it's not my cup of tea.
I do accept that other people like it. So I'm trying to be objective and not judge these online features, because there is no way I'm gonna like it...
If X is only a MMORPG I won't play it at all...

It's funny that you chose KOTOR and planescape as example. Planescape is an exception; there will be others like diablo or Lands of Lore (we are talking about western masterpieces). Kotor is mostly getting this aura from the universe that has been created thanks to the movies; the rest is only a good adaptation work.
But anyway we're talking about personal feelings, everyone will give a set list of w/j favourite RPG... Except for few universal masterpieces, everyone's list will be different.
I will not judge WOW fans while I still do not understand that someone can spend 20 bucks per month playing the almost same game since a decade !
In my opinion there are far more good RPG from Japan than from Europe/America.  I mean, just look back 15 years ago what we've been through (mostly on snes, psx and in some extent PS2) ! Chrono cross, FF3-4-5-6-7-9-X, vagrant story, secret of mana, Zelda, Shadow of the colossus (intruder ? ), Xenogears etc.

Regarding the financial aspect, I, once again, totally agree...
There is no good at driving a company only from a financial point of view. And I truly think that Nintendo is no exception, like others (sony and M$).
Like you said we need "freshblood in the fandom", and the only way to make it happen is to seduce next generation player. It's sad but people do not want turn by turn battle system anymore. They want a seamless world exploration. They want a god damn useless multi player mode to headshot their buddies.
What I want is substance, good scenario, strong atmosphere.
If Monolith is able to mix all this into one game, they will sell a lot.
We won't get the same game as Xenogears but something new.
Once again, regarding the marketing aspect, I still think that a company will not spend a lot of money if it doesn't insure the ROI.
Xenoblade wasn't advertised at all, and it was a success. Our American buddies send a petition to Nintendo for a NA release.
I'm pointing out the fact that we advertise mostly what people already know... because it allows people to keep in mind the existence of the product.
A product like Xenosomething is not a well known brand, so the additional copy sold won't cover the marketing extra cost.
Developers are marking game (good if possible) firstly for a living. There is a balance to be found between fanbase size and budget amount. Blockbusters like GTA 5 must sell at least 10 millions copy before return on investment... Xenoblade sold less than a million and Nintendo was pleased...
My thought is that they will use the same technique as used for xenoblade : do nothing and let the words be spread by itself....

Hello, welcome OptimusDark, I hope you will have fun here and we all will be glad to hear your opinion.

Myself I don't mind if Project X would be something new. No problem. We were talk about if it's prologue/continuation of any Xeno because of that shape of "X" in trailer since it's similar to one in Xenogears, but it's nothing more then fun before we get more information.
I myself played in all Takahashi/Soraya games. Soma Bringer was really nice and I even made topic about similar things between Xenosaga and Soma Bringer, ending was amazing and it's sad that this game didn't get more attention.
Xenoblade, well, many don't like it, because it's like was said Takahashi (or rather because of money) failed to show complex of Saga and Gears so he decided to go in different way.
I myself liked Xenoblade I played it a lot more times then Xenogears. Gameplay was nice, best no-turn gameplay I played in jrpg, but without story I wouldn't like it so much.

That's why I afraid in Project X, if it will be only MMO then it would be waste... If game has multi-player then it's ok, Soma Bringer has one too, but you could play alone and enjoy story.

About more trailers, it wouldn't hurt to trow one on official nintendo youtube chanel or FB, fans would make rest of work. It wouldn't cost them much but people would start to think about it, talk on forums, creating and getting more people in it before game will come out.

OptimusDark wrote:
...It's funny that you chose KOTOR and planescape as example. Planescape is an exception; there will be others like diablo or Lands of Lore (we are talking about western masterpieces). Kotor is mostly getting this aura from the universe that has been created thanks to the movies; the rest is only a good adaptation work.

Please note that I specified KOTOR II.

In contrast to the first part, themes and atmosphere present there do not mirror the Star Wars films. Not saying that the first game didn't have its interesting moments, but it was very much a 'game of a film' even if it didn't have any of the same characters or supposedly used different setting.

KOTOR II is a deconstruction, if anything (and features a plot and atmosphere heads and shoulders above the first game, even if it was realeased incomplete). Characters like Kreia would've never been allowed into any Star Wars film if George Lucas had anything to say about it, after all.  Please don't mix them up.

Kinda like the Mask of the Betrayer expansion for NWN 2, now that I think about it. (It was even made much by the same people, if I remember right.)

Just doing some admin cleanup! I've moved this topic to the XBX section. :D