I read on some sites that Otogi and ICO are getting sequels. These two games are great and critically acclaimed but their sales are waaay far from huge. PDO situation is almost the same so maybe the chances of a getting a sequel are better now than before. What do you people think?
I don’t think Sega waits to see if other companies will make sequels to their games in order to go ahead with their own.
If Otogi and Ico had an any-clearer resemlence to PD…
I should have written "huge sales"above, meaning that they are great games but sold only a few thousand copies. (I should’ve used the preview function)
With about 130.000 copies sold and great reviews PDO for Xbox is in the same league as these two games. If these sequels got the green light to be made there is still hope for great underdog games to get sequels.
(But by now I already gave up any hope to see Freespace 3…)
Whatever happened to the award-winning Freespace series? I guess Interplay wasn’t happy with the sales of Freespace 2. In the light of how Freespace 2 ended, I always assumed Interplay would publish a sequel one day.
Don’t worry though, as I’m sure Interplay (which is currently struggling with its own financial problems) will soon sell both its Descent ™ and Freespace ™ liscenses just to keep itself afloat. Whether or not Volition, the developer of both Freespace games, actually wants to finish the series of games it started is another matter entirely.
There was a message on the Magic Box forums not too long ago stating that a PDS remake is officially in the works. So the chances of seeing a PD remake/sequel are much higher than anyone thinks and is not at all surprising. The dragon, will, indeed, fly again.
I highly doubt Sega will remake a game that failed to gain anything other than a cult following. If Panzer Dragoon Saga sold a million copies, then Sega might consider remaking it. It didn’t and Sega won’t. End of story.
In fact, we have a greater chance of seeing a new Panzer Dragoon RPG aimed at reaching a wider western audience than a remake of an obscure RPG that came out 6 years ago. The reason? Because creating an RPG from the ground up with modern tastes in mind would be easier.
I think Geoffrey Duke has said it all really.
ICO is a first party game, so Sony can lose money on it to promote their brand (like Sega used to do before). Plus, my understanding is ICO actually did did well in world wide terms.
USA (09/26/01) - 250,000 units
Japan (12/06/01) - 160,000 units
Asia (01/13/02) - 20,000 units
South Korea (02/22/02) - 20,000 units
Europe (03/20/02) - 200,000 units
total= 650,000
forums.mogusland.com/archive/ind … 15767.html
Otogi might just be a cheap game to make- maybe it only costs a couple of million as opposed to 10 million Panzer costs. The bigger problem is retailers might not carry an Otogi sequel if they don’t think it will make the numbers back.
[quote=“Geoffrey Duke”]
Whatever happened to the award-winning Freespace series? I guess Interplay wasn’t happy with the sales of Freespace 2.
Don’t worry though, as I’m sure Interplay will soon sell both its Descent ™ and Freespace ™ liscenses just to keep itself afloat. Whether Volition, the developer of both Freespace games, actually wants to finish the series of games it started is another matter entirely.[/quote]
I’ll keep my fingers crossed. 
@lagi
So ICO actually sold fairly well, heh? Not a smash hit but not so bad after all. Good, it’s a great game.
I don’t think there is some chance to see a remake of PDS but, who knows? people do crazy things sometimes, but if it is true I’d prefer to see it as a bonus to a new RPG game.
So ICO actually sold fairly well, heh? Not a smash hit but not so bad after all. Good, it’s a great game. <<
I was suprised myself- I saw that news a couple months back. They don’t mention what price it sold that many at, though- Ico got price dropped to 19.99 in the US, and that is when maybe sales picked up.
Actually, I think Derek Smart (the ego-heavy creator of the Battlecruiser series) has picked up the rights and is making a Freespace 3 game which he got when Interplay were selling off a bunch of lisences. So the game may or may not be made, but it’s definatly not being developed by the original creators (Volition).
That’s a shame. Freespace 2 ended on a frustrating cliffhanger which always left me wondering what Volition had planned for the future.
Actually, those Ico numbers are a bit optomistic. But still, not that far off.
However, considering how long it was in development, who knows if it actually made any money?
Nevertheless, other companies creating sequels to their games has nothing to do with Sega and its decisions on its own IP, unfortunately. There are many games that sell only moderately well to not well at all that still get sequels. Doesn’t mean it’s always a good decision.
It is too bad really – PDS, while short, had a unique and brilliant battle system.
I really wish some companies would have pilfered/cloned the battle system and applied it to their own rpg. With so many console rpgs’ that feature airships of some sort, it would have been the perfect system for turned based aerial dogfights. I suppose if Sega was to design a new Panzer Dragoon rpg, they would create a new battle system.
In that case, I have a question for you: if a company planned to make a game that would turn out to be one of the most innovative and seminal games in gaming history, yet was doomed to flop, would you make it even in the full knowledge that it would be a sales disaster?
The problem we often see in the games industry now is that no one is willing to risk developing anything truly creative (even the likes of EA who have money to burn) because there’s no guarantee it will sell.
[quote=“Kakizaki”]
It is too bad really – PDS, while short, had a unique and brilliant battle system.
I really wish some companies would have pilfered/cloned the battle system and applied it to their own rpg. With so many console rpgs’ that feature airships of some sort, it would have been the perfect system for turned based aerial dogfights. I suppose if Sega was to design a new Panzer Dragoon rpg, they would create a new battle system.[/quote]
Knowing Team Andromeda, they’d probably refine the Panzer Dragoon Saga battle system if they were ever given the job of developing a new Panzer Dragoon RPG.
I’m almost certain that if Panzer Dragoon Saga was released on the Playstation in 1998 it would’ve sold more copies outside of Japan. The series may be “poisonous” in Japan but we have no idea how gamers would react to a Panzer RPG outside of Japan if it was launched from a popular console, and neither does Sega. The question is: is Sega willing to take that risk?
The problem is that unless you are a privately owned company, you can’t do that. You have an obligation to your stock holders (not just the major holders… the average joes that have stocks in your company, too) to earn a profit. Anything you do to damage that lowers the value you of your stock… especially if it’s intentional.
Anytime your stock drops in price, people lose faith in your company and sell the stock. Your stock goes down, your company has less capital to fund projects, and other, more lucrative projects then become in danger.
See the problem?
It’s not a problem just with the game industry… it’s in every business.
So you’re saying that games developers cannot afford to be creative? Surely they can do more than simply go with the mainstream flow, or sieze upon predicted or rising trends?
Sega is famous for experimenting with new ideas which has helped it both rise to the top of the industry and fall into relative obscurity just as quickly. Without a desire to innovate Sega would cease to be Sega.
As we know, the rising costs of development mean that games companies aren’t willing to make anything unless it’s guaranteed to sell. However, the games industry needs companies who are willing to risk developing something new and tell new tales, otherwise what’s the point?
Look at it this way: if Cyan didn’t develop Myst because “it wasn’t guarateed to sell”, that would’ve curbed the evolution of action/adventure games for years, and yet not developing it was perfectly within reason according to this money making agenda plaguing the industry (i.e. only developing games that are guaranteed to be an instance success).
Now even Sega is forced to emulate games made by “industry leaders”. Seeing Sega turn Shining Force into Final Fantasy merely because Sega has to pander to mainstream tastes in order to sell its games has crushed my hopes of seeing the series return to its former glory. The irony is games like Fire Emblem do sell well in all territories.
Sony helped bring games to the masses, and now those who love games for what they are have little say in how they evolve. That’s quite tragic really.
It’s called: Make Yer Own Games.