Index, the company which just announced the dissolution of beloved RPG maker Atlus, recently unveiled the latest title in the Persona franchise – Persona 3 Social, a mobile phone game promising the latest in “social” gaming with the advanced graphical capabilities of a mobile phone handset, and with players nickelled and dimed for each item.
An actual screenshot of an exciting boss battle in progress:
The game itself is free, but players will have to pay for items and other elements.
Index Holdings, the parent company into which Atlus is being so ignominiously folded, have stated current development plans will be unaffected and that the Atlus name will continue to be used to publish its games – it is claimed the merger will allow the two companies to make better use of their respective strengths and IPs, a one-sided arrangement if ever there were one.
With the Index conglomerate dwarfing Atlus in size, and with its core business mostly concerned with mobile phone development, including such marvels as Persona 3 Social and “Bowlingual,” an iPhone application for talking to dogs, the scepticism of long time Atlus fans as to the future direction of Atlus is understandable.
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The fuck is this?
Something that will never see the light of day outside of Japan.
I sincerely hope so.
GOD DAM IT!!!
Good! Great! Amazing!!
Make the stupid god damn persona fans suffer! Glad they're making the other game and the unannounced PS3 title still has a chance at being SMT 4.
SMT4 was Strange Journey, n00b.
It's the fucking future of all of fucking Atlus games, AKA, the fucking death of any good jRPGs
It's a Persona game for mobile phones, but that's not important right now.
I am still waiting for that "Persona 5" they're aiming for.
This is nice I guess, but it's still not the full experience Persona fans should expect out of the next big one.
I hope the next Persona is just as filled with good intentions (or bad, depending on choices) and maybe with more endings and more emotionally charged storylines. LOVED P4. IMO the best JRPG of the PS2 library, even if it came out WAY late in June 2008. lol
Atlus + Index = To Atlus no Index...
A new mobile game based on a franchise you like. Gonna cry about it?
Smells like capitalism and telco trouble.
So a moblie-platform of RPG with AP shops to siphon our money? Interesting...
This should get the kiddies hooked to their phones... =_=
IE "My mommy won't let me buy a smartphone because of the data plan!"
" The game itself is free, but players will have to pay for items and other elements. " Typical of MMOs that promises free-to-play yet indulges in cutting out most of the necessary stuff and placed a tag price on them.
The first movement by Index possibly. We still have Catherine, and the promised Persona 5 at the least.
All the old geezer CEOs and producers who don't know anything about games read the news, see how Google is buying Farmville's creator for 100s of millions of dollars and think wow, this is where all the money is at!
So they decide to make a cell phone version of persona which no persona fans will buy and try to create a new market of casual gamers who likely has no interest whatsoever in persona to begin with. Idiot move that alienates persona fans.
Ideally, this title will flop and rather than scrapping atlus altogether, they will go back to making real games.
Or even if they fire all the good developers, at least they might be able to start a new studio or at least put their talent to use somewhere good...
As long as they deliver Catherine and give us Persona 5 that is >= Persona 4, they can make all of the crappy mobile games they want.
P3S... The "S" stands for shit.
And Xbox 360S too...?
Eh...? P3S stands for Persona 3 Social, not Play 3 Station.
Butthurt anon is butthurt
Wow, that's incredibly clever.
Who saw this coming after that earlier announcement?
*timidly raises hand
It's ugly. And I got no phone.
D not fear... because "it" won't leave Japan.
It better not. I don't want some stupid idiot raving into the Persona forums. It's already difficult trying to educate the mainstream audience who just don't get it yet sticks with it since they've been hooked.
I don't want to have to start educating middle class white twelve year olds who just got this new game on their app so that their mother and father can continue ignoring them to keep bringing in the bacon they so desperately need... so that they can buy that new couch he's been whining about.
I know a masterpiece when I see one.
And this isn't one.
Atlus will be sorely missed... with a river of tears if this merger bombs the way I am thinking. I will support the Atlus name even if it means I have to import the Catherine game for an eye or a leg...
@Anonymous 16:28 31/08/2010
6.Genuflect
Worse comes to worse, just ignore the dipshit stuff they'll be forced to make, and focus on the good items.
Support the quality items and dismiss the shitty crap that they might be forced to dish out.
This is more like Pokemon: Facebook version.
More like:
*insert name* has appear! What do you do?
1. Attack
2. Defend
3. Magic
4. Item
5. Run away
6. Add as friend
7. Check his/hers wall
Joey wants to add you to his friends list.
Accept or Ignore?
God saves those that actually accept that...
Icy-nee-san has appear! What do you do?
1. Attack
2. Defend
3. Magic
4. Item
5. Run away
Oh, look, it's the shit game they were already talking about. Pay for each item? They'd have to pay me. lulz
Fuck this
FUCKING SCRUBCUNT GAMES NOWADAYS!
The idea of playing games is to be antisocial and have fun by yourself but NO!! these idiots have to play some "social games". If its possible to dissolve a company that is already dissolved I wouldn't be surprised.
agree...fuck this shit!!!
i wish i'm rich so that i can buy atlus n let them do what they do best -- being awesome...
Atlus deserves to be on the gutter after releasing that piece of shit demons souls, rot in hell!
Guys, the announcement of this game shouldn't be much of a suprise. They've made other games for cell phones too, like Operation Aegis.
Hell, I'm pretty sure there's another Persona game for cell phones, or news of this game has been out for a long time before it was "announced", because I swear I read it somewhere.
Anyway, your beloved SMT games will not be affected. This is just an internal reshuffle, no important people were lost like in the RARE fiasco.
Is Altus following Squaresoft steps? If they name it Persona they are sure to sell.
Sometime from now, all games will be named Final Fantasy, Persona, Street Fighter...
I knew about this thing for some time now, but still.
Yesterday, a part of my sould died. RIP soul.
I have been depressed ever since.
The possible future...mobile fucking cell phone crap..zetsubou.
This news is like a week old (from before the time the merger was announced, for one) and doesn't really mean anything other than Atlus is deciding to branch out. Plenty of game developers release scaled-down spinoff games for mobile phones in addition to their primary franchises because they cost barely anything to make and apparently people keep buying them (who knows why).
In short, this is basically non-news.
This won't make any difference since noone from Atlus will be working on it since it is pretty much a browser based game. They do this with other game series and isn't really anything new and they already have Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine.
I'm taking a page out of those crazy 2chan fags. GO DIE!!!
Look sad...
The fuck, a "social game" persona title?
That's like a confession. Basically admitting it "yes we are not the Atlus you knew, next persona will be facebook farmville style guys don't expect anything else".
This is so sad.
jrpgs are dead
to me they a very much alive and to my friends. if you not interested in j-RPGs by all means go play your shooters or shooters masked for an RPG like mass effect 2 and F3
Aaaaaaaaaand... so much for Atlus releasing any more decent games.
They can make dumbed-down cellphone games for all I care, just let Atlus keep working their magic as normal. Hopefully they have more funding now as well as Madhouse-made animation, something good at least from this merger.
What.
Is this the kind of announcement that you make after a big time merger? Social 'gaming' in Persona? This is everything that Persona is not.
Where are my interesting characters? Psychoanalysis? Funny conversations and down-to-earth environments? More over, when is Catherine coming out? Its usage of sex as some sort of narrative rather than a tack-on for ronery gamers is intriguing.
Probably this is just a cash grab to hopefully fund Persona 5 that's in production.
Now it's clear Atlus in despair.......
Where The Heck P5?!!
Must free Atlus from evil clutches.
Oh my god this make me so so so sad. My Husband and i love playing this series and we love Atlus. This depresses me.
My Persona 5 where? >_<
When i see the new persona after i saw the atlus news, i feel that my sadness ceased.... but now...
I rather see persona dissappear forever!!!
I mean come on!!!!
I could finish that shadow in 3 seconds before!!!!
the new persona games are killing jrpgs
that is all.
DOn't Fuck with ME!!!!!!
Dude, this was announced way before Index absorbed Atlus: http://www.siliconera.com/2010/08/17/persona-3-social-announced-for-mobile-phones/
Pretty much there is a significant fanbase for Persona 3 in Japan and Atlus has no problems taking their money.
Why does it have to be a Social game?! It is the second lowest type of game, right after Casual game.
lol I like how you just mentioned this.. but it's been announced since before Catherine.
While P3 and P4 were fun I don't understand why they are milking those two series. While I did enjoy them, I really enjoyed the first two games more because of it's more engaging story and plot progression even with the poor trans of the first persona.
I just wish they'd announce Persona 5 that was more like the first two rather then focusing on making gaidens for the last two they made.
Persona 3?
Wait, again?!
....persona is starting to go straight way down to hell... sadly but true :/
need more catharine info
How much you wanna bet that Persona 5 is a Facebook game?
WTF Persona 3 AGAIN!?! How many time are they going to rehash the same fucking story! Give us Persona 5 already!!!
Japan has really tall cellphone screens...
Okay, now I think it's safe to say:
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK
hope to see an exclusive Persona 5 and Shin Megami series on the PS3.
the wii needs also a shin megami series. maybe the devil survivors 2? and another Trauma Series :)
Atlus FTW :)
Man we're all screwed...this sucks.
Bitch and moan.
what the hell do you think I'm doing right now?
This news depresses me.
It just adds insult to injury when Index announce that they are using the intellectual property of a branch of the company that dissolved to make a social game.
Maybe you should have bought your copies of Persona instead of burning it.
I'm really tired of repeating this pattern...
- Sees news for anticipated game from cool franchise
*gasps
- "...a mobile phone game promising..."
fffffffffffffffffuuuuuu
NO NO NOOOOo fuck is this? it's no persona it's pure milking wtf rage!
Look at that Exciting I-Phone Gaming, SO Intense!
Yea, looks like Index is just going to stick the Persona name on every shovelware title for the sake of sales.
Like they haven't been doing already?
This is all in all is fine, but I really hope P5 appears at TGS. They've been bleeding P3 to Square Enix Final Fantasy VII.
Next one will be P4 Portable.
I can see a bright future for "Atlus" indeed, I mean the flames coming from all the burning merchandise related to this "game" that angry fans will set on fire will be bright after all.
Boohoo, a company is making more games in the series i like!
Fuuuuuuuuuu!
Only reason I even considered buying a PS3 was the prospect of a Persona 5.
Looks like it ain't happening.
I just hope the next SMT series game won't be in mobile phone.
3DS or PSP is even fine.
Er, haven't we known about the general fail of Persona 3 Social for a while now? I seem to recall similar news and commentary about it from quite a while ago.
It was only just released.
Those screenshots came out at least two weeks ago
Nice job. That kind of recent coverage is why I read Sankaku Complex, you guys publish the news just two weeks after it happens.
That is recent.
Recently released, but announced quite some while ago.
I wonder if they'll be releasing a new persona 3 for the PS3 next...
Why do they keep wasting their time on Persona 3? It's not even that good compared to any other SMT game of the past decade.
What are you talking about? Persona 3 is one of the BEST RPGs of the past decade!
to you maybe. P3 i great game. i enjoyed it immensely and enjoyed PSP version too.
Hmm, I see it as one thing, that if this becomes a hit, at least the extra cash might be used for other more enticing games... Maybe?
"Think positive!"
Or more precisely: "Let's positive thinking!!!"
Looks like a cross between Pokemon and Shin Megami Tensei: IMAGINE.
If you didn't know, Shin Megami Tensei: IMAGINE is an MMORPG for the PC.