PaRappa creator: 'DS software bubble has burst'
by Chris Greenhough 
{ Jan 29th 2008 at 2:15PM }
NanaOn-Sha chief Masaya Matsuura created Vib Ribbon and PaRappa the Rapper, so we kind of have to listen when the man speaks his mind. It's, like, the law. Then again, even we find his opinion on the DS's future in Japan a little hard to swallow. When asked by Gamasutra how long he thought the DS and Wii would remain popular in Japan, Matsuura suggested that "Some people have said already that the DS software's bubble has burst."
Matsuura then discussed how one company sold 200,000 copies of a DS training game, only to make a sequel that shifted 8,000 units. "These kind of things are going to happen," he concluded. Man, tell that to the sales figures, Masaya.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Roto13 @ Jan 29th 2008 2:42PM
That seems pretty unlikely, really.
Sean @ Jan 29th 2008 2:58PM
A sequal to a training game sold less in the basically flooded market of training games? Say it ain't so!
Jacob @ Jan 29th 2008 3:02PM
....He used a knock-off brain training game sequel as his example. If that particular market bursts I don't really care that much. In fact, I'd be delighted.
I don't mind GOOD brain games. I have Brain Age and actually enjoy it a good bit; its the crap ones that developers flood the market with in order to make a quick buck that drive me insane. So I won't be disappointed if casual gamers start to realize what crap they are and stop buying them.
Pawsie @ Jan 29th 2008 3:25PM
I doubt this.. because he only used one example... Yeah.. the brain age game isn't really a game, but a casual thing. I didn't get it, not because the bubble was bursting.. but because I already have the first one.. It's like getting a new TV when you don't need it.
It wasn't a 'game' ...just excercise. But the rest of the games are doing well.
Brello @ Jan 29th 2008 3:37PM
More than three years now of constant nay-saying. "It's just a fad! Things are going to start going downhill any month now! The end is near, really! ...Stop having fun!"
pas @ Jan 29th 2008 3:39PM
I highly doubt this:
"Brain training games popular in Germany and Spain
Posted By: Shrygue
via Games Industry
Nintendo's DS brain training games remain popular in Germany and Spain, with both the original and the follow-up title appearing on the top ten charts.
According to data released by Media-Control GfK International, the second DS title - known as Brain Age 2 in the US and UK - was the most popular game in Germany and Spain for the week ending January 20 .
The original game was number four in both countries, with the Wii's Big Brain Academy charting at number two in Spain.
Nintendo games took up half of the German top ten chart, with four PC games and a single PS2 game. In Spain, Nintendo games accounted for six of the top ten, with the PlayStation 3 managing to place three titles on the chart.
The complete charts for the week ending January 20 are"
SO WHAT ?
Adam Dolph @ Jan 29th 2008 4:07PM
well I think PaRappa the Rapper's bubble has burst
Matdredalia @ Jan 29th 2008 4:11PM
*cough* I never saw PaRappa the Rapper printing money, and I know waaaaay too many DS fanatics who are anxiously awaiting new games to believe the DS has burst.
Yeah, knock-off brain training games, sure. We've got Brain Age, Brain Age 2, Big Brain Academy, Maths Training......I'm sorry but we only need so much brain training.
However, there are endless possibilities for good games in the DS and I don't see their bubble popping any time soon.
Brent @ Jan 29th 2008 5:00PM
It's not the software bubble, it's the talent bubble that's burst. The DS has all the potential in the world, but the lazy game-making I consistently see in DS titles tells me that not enough money is being spent outside Nintendo on quality people with truly brilliant ideas.
The DS is a veritable mystery box of possibilities in the right hands. As a casual gamer, I have never stayed so consistently in love with a game system as I have with my DS. Why? Because there are so many different ways to use it. Playing Geometry Wars is a completely different interactive experience from Phantom Hourglass, Ninja Gaiden, or Hotel Dusk. On any other game system (Wii excluded), you always interact with the machine in the same way, through the same controller. But with touchscreen, button, and voice controls, plus limitless add-on possibilities (tilt, GPS, etc.), the DS is a chameleon.
The problem is not the DS. The problem is mediocre developers approach the DS without really understanding the controls, and produce games that play like they're broken or unfinished. A bad game on the DS quickly turns the controls against you.
In a couple years, the DS will need a facelift, but the interactive possibilities of the device have barely been exhausted as of yet.
That's my $4.62 (adjusted for inflation)
Games that cost upward of
to justify their exorbitant price tags. More money
* For honest folks who buy their games, you have to also be unusually good at product research to not end up paying a lot of money for a game that stinks.
* Minigames are overrated. That's not to say they're not great, but they've been given undue importance by Nintendo and through them, their competitors. Every DS needs a good collection of minigames. No DS needs comp after comp of rehashed minigames.
*
Brent @ Jan 29th 2008 5:02PM
Unfinished sentences and bullet points were from my first draft. Forgot to hit Delete. Sorry for the confusion!
outkastblast @ Jan 29th 2008 6:05PM
That's cute. He thinks he knows things.
Brello @ Jan 29th 2008 9:00PM
That one made me chuckle.
Dave Moore @ Jan 30th 2008 9:09AM
As a grandfather whose grandchildren (5 and 8) both got DSs for Christmas, I must say that I am very disappointed with the selection of educational games for kids on the DS. They love the machine and it is a technical marvel. Why in hell can't someone develop a variety of software that helps them learn to read, add, and more complex tasks? This is an age that kids are excited to learn and they might as well learn something while playing on the DS, right?
If promoted well, it would sell in huge quantities to parents and grandparents.
I work in sales to K12 in the US and would be happy to talk with publishers.
RupeeClock @ Feb 1st 2008 5:27AM
The system is designed priorly for entertaining purposes, that's always been the case, although education software does exist, it's not in the manner you'd expect.
If you want them to learn, go buy them a video game system from leapfrog or something.
Hame @ Jan 29th 2008 10:08PM
A training game flopped? That's the best news I've heard all day. My faith in humanity is restored. Now if only the rest of them would....
Brello @ Jan 30th 2008 2:17AM
There are 13 training games available now on the DS or coming soon (according to gamerankings.com) with the word "brain" in them. I don't see it as a problem, as there are still plenty of great games coming out (including some of these brain games themselves), but it is a little crazy I suppose. Still, what's the alternative if the bubble did burst? PSP? Own that too, so I'm set.
RupeeClock @ Jan 30th 2008 5:25AM
This is the same guy that thought releasing a game on the iPod would be a good idea.
ghettoflower @ Feb 4th 2008 4:45AM
Well I can see how he'd be hurt, personally.. He pioneered possibly the first rhythm game I've heard of... Sure he sold 3 million copies, but that was back in 1998 and every sequel pulled ... less... Um Jammer Lammy was even better than parappa, then there was Parappa the Rapper 2 which was a waste of a dvd .... it was 1/2 the size of Um Jammer Lammy and had no replayability basically.
when ddr came about stealing the idea basically I couldn't help but think he got mad, as i would too. When redoctane, the guy that made pads for the stolen idea stole his other idea, um jammer lammy, I would assume his lid opened up even more..
Now there's all sorts of great rhythm games like Rhythm Tengoku and Oendan/EBA/Ouendan2, Pinky Street: Kira Kira Dance Night/Prequel, and even a taiko no tatsujin ds - touch de dokodon, a drum game we've heard about here with an aspiring sequel. My guess is he has some kinda contract with sony, when Nintendo has become the melting pot for rhythm games great and small.
he emphasises this grief by talking about a market he knows nothing about:
Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! (11.71 million)
Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day! (9.84 million)
Big Brain Academy (4.61 million)
Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree (2 million)
He's right that the sequels are selling less, but i'd expect more from the d00d that brought my hero parappa to life