Nintendo now has an RPG powerhouse under their wing. Well, that would depend on whether or not you consider Xenosaga and Baten Kaitos to be two very diverse RPGs that Monolith Soft ever developed and conceived. All things considered of course, I personally found Baten Kaitos to be a breath of fresh air in terms of originality in turn-based gameplay. After all, what was the last RPG you could remember that used cards as your primary method of attacking, defending, and using an item? What? Chain of Memories? That works, too.
Platformers reports that Nikkei has issued a press release confirming Nintendo’s purchase of developer Monolith Soft with Nintendo keeping 80% of stocks in Monolith Soft while Namco-Bandai maintains 16% of stocks. The reason behind the purchase isn’t really known; but considering the success Monolith Soft has had among its fans, this could mean that both the Wii and DS will finally get the RPG support that’s really needed…at least for the Wii since the DS is a handheld RPG powerhouse as it is. Could this mean that finally Baten Kaitos DS, assuming Nintendo owns the rights to the BK franchise, can finally come to be? If Namco-Bandai has also given Nintendo the rights to Xenosaga, does this mean there could be a new Xenosaga on the Wii or DS? Even further, could there just be a new Xeno series in general?
Errr let’s not jump to conclusions about this! What do you make of this news? Think it’ll be good for Nintendo? Think it’ll be bad?
Think we should wait until see some progress to determine whether Monolith Soft was a wise purchase?
Published: Apr 26, 2007 11:07 pm