Atlus might be in trouble!

[foxhack]

I know my post sounded a bit anti-Nintendo, but far from it. I loved the company growing up.

But imagine all of Atlus' back catalog being locked away in a vault because they wouldn't re-release any of their PS1 stuff anywhere.

[disgaeniac]

I guess that a more "recent" example would be Persona(s) 3 & 4...sold great on consoles - then sold great on hand-helds = (IMO) win/win 

Too bad Persona 3 sucks balls on PSP compared to the PS2 version. It's so trimmed down and the point and click adventure set up of the day section is crap.

I've only played P3 & P4 on the PS2.

I seem to remember a lot of people preferring (I forget which one) it on the hand-held, though because it added a whole, new (female) playable character, new social links, and, the ability to control party members individually - instead of being stuck w/ just being able to pick/set their AI's...

then again, like I said - if there's a console version...that'll always be the one that I play 

[jobocan]

I don't know, I don't get this whole "Nintendo ruins everything they touch" logic.
People kept saying that about Bayonetta 2, how they'd make it shit because... they're Nintendo. Now that we saw gameplay for that we know that nothing bad happened to the game even though Nintendo funded it.

I really think they'd just let Atlus do whatever they want as they are, except their games wouldn't be on Sony consoles anymore. And I don't see that as a problem.

The incredibly reduced install base isn't a problem? Take 2 estimates that there are more than 120 million  Ps3 / 360 consoles combined as of June 7 (source). Add whatever amount of Vitas have been sold to that, plus add Atlus small but constant PC sales (they've published a number of indie games.)

Now, some places say the Wii U has sold much, much less than that. (Wikipedia says 3 million as of March, though I suspect the number is much higher after the Xbone presentation.). The 3DS? 31 Million.

Which means a lot less revenue. A lot less people to sell games to.

Also, they don't ruin everything they touch - but Megaten has always been a series that is completely different from anything Nintendo's ever produced or funded. Very unlike their "family friendly" style.

I sorta get what you're saying then (especially the "games locked in a vault" thing from your other post, that's definitely a legit grievance).

But I think a large part of the Atlus fanbase would be willing to buy the Nintendo consoles if they don't already have them to play all the Atlus games (I mean, a lot of them probably have a 3DS already for SMT4, and will get a Wii U at some point for Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem). And the Wii U will likely start selling proper numbers by the end of the year now that it's actually getting games.
It's true that it would reach a smaller audience and that could potentially suck for them, but I'm not completely convinced that it would end up being that big a problem. Atlus fans are pretty loyal after all.

[blipcs76]

It would be a brilliant move for Nintendo to snatch up Atlus.  It would serve both to increase the number of exclusives coming to the WiiU as well as bring more core games to the system.

[disgaeniac]

It would be a brilliant move for Nintendo to snatch up Atlus.  It would serve both to increase the number of exclusives coming to the WiiU as well as bring more core games to the system.

Couldn't the same really be said for Sony, M$, AND Nintendo (for their respective consoles & hand-helds, of course)?

[blipcs76]

It would be a brilliant move for Nintendo to snatch up Atlus.  It would serve both to increase the number of exclusives coming to the WiiU as well as bring more core games to the system.

Couldn't the same really be said for Sony, M$, AND Nintendo (for their respective consoles & hand-helds, of course)?

Yes, but Nintendo is far more in need of exclusive core titles than Sony and MS.

[disgaeniac]

It would be a brilliant move for Nintendo to snatch up Atlus.  It would serve both to increase the number of exclusives coming to the WiiU as well as bring more core games to the system.

Couldn't the same really be said for Sony, M$, AND Nintendo (for their respective consoles & hand-helds, of course)?

Yes, but Nintendo is far more in need of exclusive core titles than Sony and MS.

Agreed.

[nintendojuggalo]

Good. That's what they get for releasing dating hentai puzzle simulators.

[sin2beta]

It seems SEGA put their hat in the ring to buy ATLUS with what seem to be the leading bids...

http://segabits.com/blog/2013/08/02/sega-sammy-one-of-the-companies-interested-in-purchasing-atlus-parent-company/

[haloofthesun]

It doesn't seem as though many gaming companies bid on them. Capcom did, but I don't think it was a very large bid in comparison. Hope Sega gets them, they'd be a good fit.

[sin2beta]

Part of me thinks SEGA would be good. Part doesn't. It wasn't long ago that they announced the only western releases they would do would be sonic, football manager, and total war. However, they recently shocked me by bringing Hatsune Miku over. However, they still have no word of Yakuza 5...

[haloofthesun]

Atlus has been a huge localization powerhouse, and more than that they tend to publish a lot of games that wouldn't normally see a Western release. So hopefully, if Sega were to acquire them, that would help with that problem.

[karyann]

Anybody seen anything recently about the bids on Atlus? I can't seem to find anything about it, and I'm really curious to know who will finally get them...

[sin2beta]

So, SEGA bought Atlus, huh?

[disgaeniac]

So, SEGA bought Atlus, huh?

Yep.

I heard that they bought them for 14 million yen (not sure what that converts to in dollars).

I *still* would have loved to have seen Atlus + NISA merge/combine...I think it would have been good chemistry.