Response from: Josh Pollard    (02/14/08 6:08am)

I guess my big question is: why should I choose these rpg's over those on my XBOX360 or my DS (to a lesser extent)?? RPGs are largely targeted at hard-core gamers. I would be willing to bet that most hard-core gamers who have a Wii, also have a 360 or PS3. Since I'm in the MS camp I'll make my argument from that angle. Why would I want to pick any of these games over what is being offered on the 360 like: Mass Effect, Lost Odyssey, or even Blue Dragon and Eternal Sonata? They offer better graphics in every case. Lost Odyssey looks to be right up there with the huge Final Fantasy games in terms of overall quality. Mass Effect did some cool things with the story that made me truly feel like my actions mattered in the game. So what do these Wii titles bring to the table that is so compelling that I shouldn't spend the next 50 hours of game time on Lost Odyssey?

Response from: Rob Howard    (02/14/08 7:09am)

At the risk of cutting into my study time for my latest game studies test, let me try to answer that.

The cop out answer, yet the most true answer, is that these series of articles are written to Wii owners who may not own other systems.

The second answer, if you are a "Wii60" person like we both are, is that the Xbox360 has a handful of nice RPGs (you know I am particularly enjoying Eternal Sonata right now... when I have the time to play anything!), but to say that every color of the rainbow is covered would be wrong. One of the reasons that people own a Wii, at least people who care enough about it to blog professionally every day anyway, is interesting new ideas. That isn't to say those games for the 360 aren't also doing that. But if you like new shiny things, you want more of them! (-:

I like what I see in a game like Opoona. Any RPG that decides to go away from "Spiky Hair guy with huge sword finds the foozle" gets my attention right away. Dragon Quest Swords is also fascinating because it distills the RPG thing down to an 8 hour game with a heavy action element, using just the Wii Remote.

I'm frankly a bit surprised that you are using graphics as a strong part of your argument, though. As important as they are, they take a backseat to gameplay and are a non-issue (in my opinion) in most game genres- the extra processing power of a 360 is more evident to me in a game like Forza where you can tell a ton is going on under the hood physics-wise.

Finally, let me submit that none of these games (except maybe Opoona, as it has a "cult hit" potential the others don't have) are really going to burn down the house for RPG fans. They are a start.

However, what are going to see is a wave of support by big time companies in the future when it comes to Wii RPGs. Nintendo Power already made a huge bombshell announcement in that regard which I'm blogging about very soon. In 3 years time, the Wii will probably get the lionshare of "JRPG" production- the marketshare is just impossible to ignore. But if bloggers like myself don't blog excitedly about these RPGs now, perhaps they don't look at it as a priority. So that's a motivation here, too.