People are mentioning the disapointing sales of Orta, and wheter or not the next game should be an RPG or something else- do you think it was a good idea for them to make a shooter game to relaunch the series?
Considering the original game was a shooter, I’d say it was the logical way to continue the series.
A mixture of RPG’s and shooters are what’s needed, imo.
I think Sega should’ve taken into account the lack of RPGs available for the Xbox at the time and relaunched the series with an RPG. It almost feels as if Sega was testing the market by developing a new shooting game.
I don’t think they did that to remain true to the series, but rather cos shooters aren’t as resource needy to develop and as I don’t believe Sega was in a position to afford a full on RPG that could potentially have bad sales, a shooter seems like the natural choice since it was cheaper and safer and was a nice way to test the X-box waters…
I doubt they expected it to sell really great themselves seeing as it’s only a shooter…
My two cents 
I think that Arc and Geoff both gave good answers, and I’m stuck between the two. Personally, I think that it was logical to release a PD shooter, just to drag new fans into the series “at it’s roots” so to speak than to just get them thinking that PD was simply going to be a series of RPGs from now on.
Saleswise, it may not have been the wisest decision, but still, Orta is a good shooter.
And I agree with Arc when he says that PD needs to have a mix of RPGS and shooters.
I myself have pointed that more than once…
I think a shooter was the wise choice less the pd fans who preferd shooters would get dissappointed…
[quote=“GehnTheBerserker”]I myself have pointed that more than once…
I think a shooter was the wise choice less the pd fans who preferd shooters would get dissappointed…[/quote]
I think there are far more PD fans that would have preferred an RPG though.
I agree with Al3xand3r, creating an RPG would have been a bigger risk for Sega. They knew the fans wanted a new RPG, but that alone is no guarantee that they would get enough sales. They wanted to test the market. Also, creating a worthy sequel to PD Saga is difficult. Maybe it’s better that they started out with a shooter instead of immediately creating an RPG. Now they had a chance to see the reactions to PD Orta and take them into consideration when/if they develop a sequel.
I admit I didn’t express myself correctly…
I forgot to had that RPG fans would be hold by historic logic…
walking up to the soapbox…
What I am thinking is, regardless of history or what fans want, Sega wanted to make a game that would be profitable so they would have a viable Intellectual Property. Sega isn’t a charity that should care about fans or history- they are in the red and almost out of business. If you look at the market- how many games are out there that are rail shooters? What kind of numbers could a rail shooter even sell? Even Nintendo didn’t release a rail shooter with the new StarFox, and StarFox has huge audience with a lot more sales in it’s past than PD. Did Sega think honestly a dead genre like that was going to sell?
The reason this irritates me is I remember there was an interview with a Sega producer, and when they asked him if there would be more Panzer Dragoons after Orta, he said, “We’ll see how this version does before we can decide that”. With that skewed logic, because Orta didn’t sell, that means consumers aren’t interested in Panzer Dragoon, when really it means they aren’t interested in rail shooters.
And as for the decision to not put it on the PS2- at least if you are going to make a fringe product, at least put it on the mostly widely available system so you won’t at least alienate the small amount of players that might buy it. Xbox games (as a rule) don’t sell in Japan, the one place that Panzer Dragoon games were actually somewhat popular. I like my Xbox and the added horsepower, but there have been some great things done with the Ps2 and they certainly could have made Orta with it.
You just add these things up and it is no wonder Sega is floundering, reshuffling teams all the time. “Oh well, a rail shooter didn’t sell well on the Xbox, who could have predicted that…I guess Panzer Dragoon isn’t that viable of an property”
I’ll get off my soapbox if they make another one, but if bone-headed decisions like that are keeping decent titles off the shelves…
Lagi raises some good points. I think the next Panzer game should be released on either Xbox 2 or Playstation 3. Whichever would be the best market for it.
I think the enxt game shoudl eb on the XBox.
Yeah Gehn, I’d like the next PD game to be on the Xbox too, but considering it takes years to make a decent RPG the Xbox would probably be dead by the time it’s finished, so it’s unlikely.
Then again, PDS was released at the end of the Saturn’s lifespan so you never know.
Like Solo said, a PS3/Xbox2 release would seem more likely, preferably as a launch title.
Weel even if I have to face another purchase problem I prefer to get the enxt game in the XBox 2 than in the last days of the XBox…
If PDS2 comes out for XBOX2 then I’m afraid I’m going to have to wait for the price (of the console) to go down before I buy it. I’m sorry, but I really don’t want to spend $300 on a console for one game =/
The ruthlessness of modern games companies seeking to earn a profit today never ceases to amaze me. They are prepared to turn their backs on their fans and sack their employees before adhering to the definition of integrity. Sega should indeed care about its fans. If Sega didn’t care about its fans, then why should consumers buy anything Sega has to offer, or do games developers only care about their fans when it’s convenient (i.e. profitable) for them?
I’m well aware of the fact the Panzer Dragoon series cannot prosper on such a small fanbase; does that necessarily mean a new game is out of the question? Probably. The problem has always been Sega lacking the money and the will to commit to anything. The Dreamcast would’ve lasted longer if that wasn’t the case. Neo Sega has tested the market and won’t invest in anything that isn’t guaranteed to result in huge sales. Let’s face facts: the Sega we once knew is dead. The Shining series, which was once very popular in Japan (fact), is dead. Sega is exploiting the name to develop a series of lame RPGs for children for the GBA. The Shenmue series is dead. The series wasn’t profitable. Panzer Dragoon is dead. Same reason.
I always thought Sega represented creativity. We’re supposed to associate Sega with the wonderful worlds it has created, but how can we when they are all dead and dying? When money comes first, innovation becomes the proverbial sacrificial lamb. What happened to Sega’s love for creating great games?
When I think of Sega I now think of a company that will strive to make money by any and all means. Believe it or not, but there are companies who makes games, not money (like Camelot Software Planning as much as I hate to admit it). Of course they need to earn a profit to fund their efforts but they have never forgotten their original purpose. The spirit of gaming has been lost somewhere in the transition from the game era to the games industry. Sega has always been caught inbetween and has now woken up to the dire reality of the situtation. If money is Sega’s only concern, then Sega will forget everything it once stood for.
I still believe a new Panzer Dragoon RPG launched on the right platform can be profitable for Sega. Discerning gamers would have no excuse to overlook a great RPG then.
The Xbox will last at least another 2 years. Consoles are so powerful now that games rarely have the need to push even the Xbox to its limits. Sony will, of course, support the Playstation 2 for many years to come, perhaps even into the dawn of the Xbox 2.
Most modern games fail to grab my attention for long periods of time. In fact, I plan on tracking down some old Japanese Saturn RPGs we Saturn fans were deprived of by the morons at Sega of America.
still believe a new Panzer Dragoon RPG launched on the right platform can be profitable for Sega. <<
I agree. RPGs are a much safer bet than a rail shooter… KOTOR shows that an RPG can even do well on the Xbox, if the game is that good. Sure, it was a Star Wars game, but there are lots of Star Wars games that don’t sell well…
There are lots of Star Wars games that don’t play well.
When all is said and done, Sega wouldn’t abandon one of its most creative intellectual assets when it has the potential to both perpetuate the image Sega wants to maintain and make money.
A new Panzer Dragoon RPG is not a matter of if, but when.
Ditto.l