The Tales Series

Well, I have no idea how I was unaware of this for so long, but read this before reading this before reading the rest of my post:

http://kotaku.com/5861361/was-this-inevitable-the-tales-studio-is-dead?tag=tales

Then, read this one just so to help make my point clear:

http://kotaku.com/5896540/report-namco-bandai-files-us-trademarks-for-rpg-tales-of-xillia

OK, that's enough background information to get started...

Let me begin by saying that I am a huge fan of the Tales series. Though not normally a fanboy, I am when it comes to Tales. I bought a 360 for Vesperia, a 3DS for the Abyss rerelease, and a PS3 for Tales of Graces f. For all 3 of these systems, the Tales series was THE deciding factor in my purchase of the console.

And now, I learn that the studio responsible for my favorite game series is done. Finished. Gone forever. Some of the comments in the Kotaku articles bring up very good points about why this may have happened, the very best point being that the series has had virtually no marketing in North America. Some suggest that a marketing campaign in the vein of FFVII would have saved the studio.

That is definitely something the games needed, but as a fan of the series, as someone who owns all but 3 of the Tales games that have been released in North America, and finally as someone who owns both versions of Tales of the Abyss, I must say that this would not have saved the studio. I'll explain.

Here is a list of the Tales games that have had a North American release, and what platforms they were available on:

Tales of Phantasia (GBA)
Tales of Destiny (PS1)
Tales of Eternia [released in NA as Tales of Destiny II](PS1)
Tales of Symphonia (GCN)
Tales of Legendia (PS2)
Tales of the Abyss (PS2 and 3DS)
Tales of Vesperia (XBox 360)
Tales of Graces f (PS3)
Tales of Xillia (PS3) - Not released yet, but it's the reason I linked to the second Kotaku article
Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology (PSP)
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (Wii)

My point is this: The Tales series jumped between too many systems to be successful in North America. This list is the reason you can't compare Tales to Final Fantasy in terms of success, hands down. How do you follow a series that leapfrogs so much? As someone who makes the attempt, I can tell you that it's difficult at best. It gets worse: Namco actually released the titles in a more sensible fashion in Japan. Here's how that list could look, based on Japanese ports and remakes on other systems:

Tales of Phantasia (PS1 and PSP)
Tales of Destiny (PS1 and PS2)
Tales of Eternia (PS1 and PSP)
Tales of Symphonia (PS2)
Tales of Legendia (PS2)
Tales of the Abyss (PS2)
Tales of Vesperia (PS3)
Tales of Graces f (PS3)
Tales of Xillia (PS3)
Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology (PSP)
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (Wii)

Holy shit! Now there's only one that's out of whack! You could have all of the rest with a PS2, PSP, and PS3. And, while I'm no Sony fanboy, notice that every last one of Tales titles that we got in North America were available on Sony devices in Japan. If you were determined to follow from the beginning, it's 4 systems instead of 8. But even taking the backwards compatibility of PS2 and Wii into account, you need 6 to play them all if you are new to the series.

And that, my friends, is all I'm really trying to say. The series just requires TWICE the number of video game systems than it should.