Article: Why From hasn't released mech games lately.

[Lord_Leperman]

https://in.ign.com/metalwolf-chaos-dx/12...ing-new-me

An interesting article from someone who loved mech games, talked to From Soft, and actually got an answer.

In short, after Armored Core: LR and AC4, From was wondering why AC games were popular in Japan, while struggled to gain traction internationally. Chromehounds was an experiment at attempting to make a game for the western and international market, but didn't work out.

From Soft's Masanori Takeuchi (One of From Soft's leading producers, notably Metal Wolf Chaos) quotes, which I feel are highlights of the interview (on why there hasn't been an Armored Core announcement).

“This is a theme that, as a game creator, I've been thinking about a lot over the years,” Takeuchi explains. “I talked to a lot of people, asked a lot of questions, and my point of view is that, in Japan, in robot anime, the audience perceives the robots themselves as characters, almost the same as the people in the series. So a lot of mech games are created with the concept that [the robot] is a character as well as the pilot or some other human being.

“But in the west, I feel that robots are perceived as a tool, they're an extension of a machine. Therefore, they're not the character, they're just something that you control, or something that you ride on. So, a Japanese-made mech game perhaps feels weird for the western audience to play. Maybe there's some kind of gap in the mentality.”

.......

It’s led to new thinking about how to create mech games that could succeed with overseas players: “Perhaps it's important for us not to cater to the Western audience, but just create a game in totally Japanese mech style. But if it has an original enough experience, if you can only get that experience from that game, perhaps the western audience will catch on and support it.”

.......

From’s been “shocked” by quite how excited people are to play (Metal Wolf Chaos) XD. But going by Takeuchi’s logic, perhaps they shouldn’t be. If not in quite the same way as Dark Souls, Metal Wolf Chaos is, above everything else, unique, and it’s built a captive audience without even being officially available outside of Japan. There’s no doubt this is an extremely Japanese game, but it’s got something others don’t (well, a few things, including a yellow blunderbuss that fires dollar bills and confetti). It could well be proof that Takeuchi’s thinking is on track.

.......

“We didn't intentionally say that we were going to focus on the Souls games. Mech games and dark fantasy games are the two main pillars of From Software, but the game development cycle has become so long. We're trying to readjust all our limited resources. So in an ideal world we'd keep pumping out both games, but that's just the situation.” He pauses for a second. “But you should very strongly say you want another mech game.”

Interesting article to say the least, and it shows From's perspective in making games based on trends, as well as being a trendsetter in games by simply just doing their own thing. Let's hope the next Armored Core game becomes that trendsetter.

[Mjting]

https://in.ign.com/metalwolf-chaos-dx/12...ing-new-me

An interesting article from someone who loved mech games, talked to From Soft, and actually got an answer.

In short, after Armored Core: LR and AC4, From was wondering why AC games were popular in Japan, while struggled to gain traction internationally. Chromehounds was an experiment at attempting to make a game for the western and international market, but didn't work out.

From Soft's Masanori Takeuchi (One of From Soft's leading producers, notably Metal Wolf Chaos) quotes, which I feel are highlights of the interview (on why there hasn't been an Armored Core announcement).

“This is a theme that, as a game creator, I've been thinking about a lot over the years,” Takeuchi explains. “I talked to a lot of people, asked a lot of questions, and my point of view is that, in Japan, in robot anime, the audience perceives the robots themselves as characters, almost the same as the people in the series. So a lot of mech games are created with the concept that [the robot] is a character as well as the pilot or some other human being.

“But in the west, I feel that robots are perceived as a tool, they're an extension of a machine. Therefore, they're not the character, they're just something that you control, or something that you ride on. So, a Japanese-made mech game perhaps feels weird for the western audience to play. Maybe there's some kind of gap in the mentality.”

.......

It’s led to new thinking about how to create mech games that could succeed with overseas players: “Perhaps it's important for us not to cater to the Western audience, but just create a game in totally Japanese mech style. But if it has an original enough experience, if you can only get that experience from that game, perhaps the western audience will catch on and support it.”

.......

From’s been “shocked” by quite how excited people are to play (Metal Wolf Chaos) XD. But going by Takeuchi’s logic, perhaps they shouldn’t be. If not in quite the same way as Dark Souls, Metal Wolf Chaos is, above everything else, unique, and it’s built a captive audience without even being officially available outside of Japan. There’s no doubt this is an extremely Japanese game, but it’s got something others don’t (well, a few things, including a yellow blunderbuss that fires dollar bills and confetti). It could well be proof that Takeuchi’s thinking is on track.

.......

“We didn't intentionally say that we were going to focus on the Souls games. Mech games and dark fantasy games are the two main pillars of From Software, but the game development cycle has become so long. We're trying to readjust all our limited resources. So in an ideal world we'd keep pumping out both games, but that's just the situation.” He pauses for a second. “But you should very strongly say you want another mech game.”

Interesting article to say the least, and it shows From's perspective in making games based on trends, as well as being a trendsetter in games by simply just doing their own thing. Let's hope the next Armored Core game becomes that trendsetter.

Interesting read. However, at this point, I'm not really holding my breath for anything. AC has been, for all intents and purposes, and will always be, a niche title, and will be hard to market to any single demographic outside of the ones that do already appreciate it. Heck, just the controls put people off more often than not.

I would like to see a back to basics approach with some modern flair, though.