Nippon Ichi Software Profit Way Down

[frederec]

Seen over at Kotaku:

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 can't say I'm really surprised. They've always been a small studio, subsisting largely on the reliable releases of their Disgaea-style games. You look at that list, and there are two ports, and a few other games that aren't really that impressive.

It seems to me that Disgaea 3 was their last big game, and that came out a year and a half ago (in the US). And even then it was largely criticized for not really taking advantage of the PS3 hardware. I haven't really heard of a new installment in a while.

Are they floundering? Changing focus? What?

[Gorvi]

NIS has been very disappointing lately. They had Cross Edge come out last year, which by all accounts was absolute garbage. They also have Last Rebellion coming out in 2 weeks and I can't think of anyone who even remotely cares about that game. The quality of their releases just hasn't been all that great.

[frederec]

Originally Posted by Gorvi

NIS has been very disappointing lately. They had Cross Edge come out last year, which by all accounts was absolute garbage. They also have Last Rebellion coming out in 2 weeks and I can't think of anyone who even remotely cares about that game. The quality of their releases just hasn't been all that great.

Yeah, I (or moreso my wife) find myself looking forward more to NISA's localizations of Gust games (like the Atelier games) than core Nippon Ichi games. And those aren't even always consistent in quality.

[Wraith]

They're localizing Sakura Wars: So Long My Love for Wii and PS2, coming next month.

I was going to say they'd be localizing Ar Tonelico III, but Namco Bandai published it in Japan, so maybe they'll be handling the U.S. release. NISA localized the first two, which were published in Japan by Banpresto...

[menage]

Not surprised either. I really loved the 3 main Disgaea games. But their just milking their stables dry. I wouldn't even buy a new Disgaea if it was just more of the same. I haven't even scraped 3's surface.

[Kelegacy]

Let's Hitchhike? Sounds intriguing. Killing families and terrorizing rest areas as sidequests.

[frederec]

Originally Posted by Wraith

They're localizing Sakura Wars: So Long My Love for Wii and PS2, coming next month.

I was going to say they'd be localizing Ar Tonelico III, but Namco Bandai published it in Japan, so maybe they'll be handling the U.S. release. NISA localized the first two, which were published in Japan by Banpresto...

Keep in mind that this news is about Nippon Ichi, the Japanese branch, so it doesn't touch any of the localization stuff that Nippon Ichi America does.

[Heretic Machine]

For every awesome NIS release, there are five titles that are nothing but garbage. Then there is their bullshit "DLC" non-sense. I don't particularly care about what happens to them, to be honest.

[menage]

Originally Posted by Heretic Machine

For every awesome NIS release, there are five titles that are nothing but garbage. Then there is their bullshit "DLC" non-sense. I don't particularly care about what happens to them, to be honest.

Yeah, their DLC scams are horrendous. Paying 60 bucks for all DLC is just criminal.

[Hawkzombie]

Atlus is just a publishing company, right? They should buy out NIS, and just keep Disgaea going. Nothing else. I'd be happy then

[Heretic Machine]

Originally Posted by Hawkzombie

Atlus is just a publishing company, right? They should buy out NIS, and just keep Disgaea going. Nothing else. I'd be happy then

Both Atlus and NIS are developers in Japan. In the US, we have NISA (Nippon Ichi Software of America) and a division of Atlus, both of which are nothing but publishers. They localize niche titles from Japan, mostly from NIS and Atlus (Japan), but also from other developers as well. NISA is relatively new compared to Atlus (USA), I believe they formed sometime after the release of the localized version of La Pucelle. Atlus published the original localized version of Disgaea before NISA formed.

[Hawkzombie]

Ahhh, ok. That's where my confusion about Atlus stemmed from. I knew they did a lot of localizing, but wasn't sure there was an actual Developer in Japan or not.

Ok, Disgaea and La Pucelle. Atlus Japan buys out NISJ and then all is still good in the world

[frederec]

Originally Posted by Hawkzombie

Ok, Disgaea and La Pucelle. Atlus Japan buys out NISJ and then all is still good in the world

Not sure if Atlus is in a position to buy anyone out these days. Last I heard (which was admittedly a while ago), Atlus was in a bit of financial trouble due to the money they sunk into Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine.

[Hawkzombie]

Originally Posted by frederec

Not sure if Atlus is in a position to buy anyone out these days. Last I heard (which was admittedly a while ago), Atlus was in a bit of financial trouble due to the money they sunk into Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine.

Had that of been a REAL MMO (Instead of another one of those stupid Pay to Play POS's) I think it might've done better. It had some promise when I tried the beta, but I hate those kinds of games. They feel cheap and rushed and only out to make money through micro transactions (as in, only way to get anything DONE in the game is through micro transactions...way too many).

Still, I can't imagine they're doing too bad, especially with the success of Demon's Souls recently. They've gotta be experiencing some of that profit even if they simply published it, right?

[frederec]

Originally Posted by Hawkzombie

Still, I can't imagine they're doing too bad, especially with the success of Demon's Souls recently. They've gotta be experiencing some of that profit even if they simply published it, right?

Again, sorry, Atlus Japan has had some issues. I have suspicions that Atlus USA, thanks to Persona and Demon's Souls, is doing relatively well.

And since Persona has been so popular in general lately, it's also possible that Atlus Japan has pulled out of their financial slump. I sure hope so.

[Hawkzombie]

Originally Posted by frederec

Again, sorry, Atlus Japan has had some issues. I have suspicions that Atlus USA, thanks to Persona and Demon's Souls, is doing relatively well.

And since Persona has been so popular in general lately, it's also possible that Atlus Japan has pulled out of their financial slump. I sure hope so.

Oi. The fact both are pretty much the same company, just different branches, but are regarded as two separate entities is confusing, at best. Hopefully they BOTH are doing well enough to continue on. I just hope if NIS goes under, some good company will be able to take up the properties and continue them on.

[Spigot]

Originally Posted by Heretic Machine

For every awesome NIS release, there are five titles that are nothing but garbage. Then there is their bullshit "DLC" non-sense. I don't particularly care about what happens to them, to be honest.

This, this, a thousand times this. NIS basically fell off of my 'give a shit' list after the atrocity that was Prinny. Couple that with the DLC shenanigans and the fact that, unlike Atlus, they seem more interested in squeezing every last cent out of their customers instead of trying to appreciate them and I can't muster up a lot of sympathy for them.

[Gorvi]

It gets worse:

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.

[Spigot]

Yikes. Well, that's what they get for riding one series into the ground.

[Gorvi]

Originally Posted by Spigot

Yikes. Well, that's what they get for riding one series into the ground.

One niche series, at that. Sakura Wars for the Wii/PS2 looks to be far better than everything else they've put out recently, but then they still have potential stinkers like Last Rebellion coming. They still need to vastly improve the average quality of the titles they publish.

They have a couple of PSP games coming up that look good, hopefully they're still looking good once they come out. Hell, at this point, I'm almost thinking if they come out.