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There are so many games in limbo right now. We have those that we just know are coming, but haven't been officially announced. We have games like Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates, and Final Fantasy Tactics A2. Along with those we have recent and upcoming Japanese releases like ASH, Dragon Quest IV, and Final Fantasy IV. But we only have a small handful of officially announced games for North America: Dragon Quest Swords, Lost Odyssey, Wild ARMs XF, and Dungeon Explorer.
Look at that list above. Two console RPGs. Last year marked a major shift in the number of portable RPGs and 2008 doesn't look to be reversing that trend. With the next generation of consoles taking a longer time to ramp up than in the past, portable RPGs are becoming easier to develop and more profitable in the long run for publishers. In 2007, we had at least 40+ portable RPGs between the DS and PSP, but only around 30 console RPGs. If you take out the 17 PS2 RPGs, you are left with only a tiny handful of original RPGs for the big three next-gen systems. Let me break this down even further and look at big name RPGs for the big three systems. There was Folklore, Super Paper Mario, Blue Dragon, Eternal Sonata, Mass Effect, and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. That's it. This year was carried by portable RPGs and the PS2.
I fear to see how next year will play out for console RPGs, but it doesn't look great. Dragon Quest Swords is a nice enough looking title, but it doesn't have groundbreaking written on it. That just leaves Lost Odyssey and whatever else actually makes it to North America. I'm excited about Lost Odyssey, but I don't think that it alone has the power to outweigh the dominance of portable RPGs in the coming year. Looks like RPGamers are going to be gamers on the go for the next year or so.
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