Japanese companies that now make mobile phone games only

It's a sad fate to see old, beloved japanese companies which used to still make great games for consoles, computers and/or arcades until few years ago when they decided to move and focus at the mobile phone games market only. Taito and Cave are two examples for me with the first one's last console game being Bust-a-Move Universe for 3DS which wasn't even developed from them but from Ariko and I have heard it's very disappointing for a retail game (at least Space Bust-a-Move for DS was a great game). Sunsoft is also another example but not so famous since their games are for Japan only and since they have been very inactive at the console market (I don't know about the computer market) for years (their last work was Blaster Master: Overdrive for WiiWare at 2010) it's quite understandable to see them making mobile phone games only. And seeing how SNK Playmore is focusing so much at the mobile phone games market now (and some digital re-releases of older games here and there like in Steam) without any certain plans for new console games (maybe a new KOF but that's all) I'm afraid that they will follow the same road. Kemco is another old, japanese company (not such a great company as the other ones I mentioned but still it's from the old ones) that now they only make RPGs for smartphones made in RPG Maker.

Sorry if there's already a similar thread.

 

Cave

I mourn the loss of Cave

 

In App Purchasing and DLC are going to be the cause of the next video game crash. People tried to predict the "next crash" previously, but IAP has been invented since then and is definitely a catalyst to watch out for.

 

What people seem to forget is the Crash was a North America only thing. In Europe and Japan, the industry was largely unaffected.

 

Sega and Konami are gone.

 

Another crash will never happen. The market is far too strong, and it's a world wide craze now.

 

I mean, games will still get made, but I wouldn't be surprised if the AAA bubble bursts soon enough. Every top publisher has to have a game in their franchise come out each year come hell or high water, so they get released half-finished, and soon enough people won't be buying them.

Remember budget games? Back with the PS1 and the sixth gen, companies could actually make and release a game that sold for only $20? Those were the days man.

 

I don't believe in a crash, but I believe in a downturn.

Everything cannot keep going up forever.

 

A crash? Dunno, but much of the industry has definitely gone downhill if you ask me.

-Shogun.

 

While I don't really care what Cave does, if their business model had been less retarded, they'd probably still be making console games.

 

What is wrong with Cave's business model? I haven't been keeping up lately.

 

Until the end they were desperately trying to sell their dusty old games at full retail price, and it seemed to me that even the most hardcore couldn't really justify buying what was essentially a ten-year-old emulated ROM on a disc. They probably would've reached a much bigger market through XBLA at cheaper prices, and a handful of their games (Guwange and Deathsmiles at least) were released that way.

 

Well, I dunno about the rest of their games, but Bug Princess was indeed on XBLA for 360 (well, all I know is that I did compliance testing on a Japan-only build for a Microsoft partner the day I was canned). Since I haven't kept up, I don't know what all of their games/IP have been.

Are you more interested in seeing fresh IP? If so, I can understand that rather than re-releasing all of their older titles. Although I'm grateful that I can play this on mobile.

Shogun.

 

I bought alot of those 10 year old games at hiked up retail prices.

I've paid insane prices for shmups and I probably will again. Currently trying to find a girl to knock up so I can exchange the child for a copy of Hyper Duel on Saturn.

 

- Most of their games were for Japan only
- Some of them were region locked
- Retail versions only (excluding Guwange)

With 2D shmups being a niche genre and Xbox 360 being less popular than Wii and PS3, only the most hardcore gamers outside Japan would bother to import their games at full retail price. The smartest choice would be to release them worldwide in XBLA and Steam at a more reasonable price. Steam customers love retro-style games and with Cave's name and a small advertising their games would make very good sales.

While it's sad to see Cave making smartphone games only now, I can't say I pity them. If they had a better business model, they wouldn't end up like this.

 

Speaking of companies that screwed themselves over, if SNK hadn't fucked up KoF XII so royally, they'd probably still be making real games.

 

Yeah what is up with SNK lately? They haven't released anything since KOF XIII which DID do well. last I knew they were porting more Neo Geo games to PSN and that was it.

 

Although I see where you are coming from, this is my honest opinion: how many people outside of Japan play shmup/bullet hell games? Correct me of I'm wrong, but I don't see many from Murica or Europe who know much of anything about the genre, let alone know what Cave is. So if that's true, I don't believe that it's going to hurt their sales/marketing much. Since I've never worked on an international title before (at least, not yet), I'm not 100% sure how much work it takes to get games approved for overseas console markets.

I'm sorry, what do you mean by "retail" versions?

Definitely agree with the Steam idea. And full retail price for their old IP is a bit steep (even if it is highly valuable). The last thing I'd do if I were them would focus their target market on highly oversaturated platforms like iOS and Android. I'd much rather be console-only than lump myself exclusively with all the crapware that supersedes the handful of gems like these.

Shogun

 

Maybe shmups aren't as mainstream as FPS but at least they have a decent fanbase, expecially from people that want to play games that reminds them the old, good arcade eras. Heck, even western companies localize popular, japanese indie shmups and release them at Steam. Even SNK Playmore as publisher made a worldwide release for XBLA version of Trouble Witches Neo, a game that started as a japanese indie shmup for PC and got so popular that it even got an arcade port.

And speaking for bullet hell shooter, this genre got (in)famous to the western audience the latest years thanks to Touhou and Cave games.

 

As far as I know, SNK didn't "screw" KOFXII , as KOF XII is basically the alpha version of KOF XIII.