Hanging out with NIS America

[OILYWATER]

I ended up inviting a couple NIS America staff over to the video game TV show I work for, Gamer Nation TV. We had them over to obviously talk about Phantom Brave. As with much TV production, schedule ran long so they and I had a lot of time to kill. So it was great chance to talk about things like, NIS, Atlus, this niche market in gaming, etc. If you had any questions about NIS, I might be able to answer them.

FYI, Gamer Nation's currently just on the West Coast on various affiliates including WB in San Francisco. For more info, gamernationtv.com

[janglypangly]

Hey what does NIS stand for?

[OILYWATER]

Nippon Ichi Software, producer for Disgaea, La Pucelle, and Rhapsody, plus others.

[janglypangly]

O ok thanks!

[dafoomie]

NIS America is fairly new if I'm not mistaken, wasn't Phantom Brave their first time self-publishing in the U.S.? Aren't they mostly responsible for localization?

[OILYWATER]

We also ended up getting this sweet poster which I'll post here when I have time.

One interesting bit of trivia I learned, when talking to them about the humble state of Nippon Ichi was that La Pucelle was pretty much made by just three people. According to the VP of NIS, Nippon Ichi in Japan only has about 40 employees.

[OILYWATER]

Incidentally Atlus actually did both the US production and distribution for Phantom Brave.

[AnthonyRoundtree]

Incidentally Atlus actually did both the US production and distribution for Phantom Brave.

wait, what?

explain yourself.

[dafoomie]

One interesting bit of trivia I learned, when talking to them about the humble state of Nippon Ichi was that La Pucelle was pretty much made by just three people. According to the VP of NIS, Nippon Ichi in Japan only has about 40 employees.

Its not inconcievable if they're reusing an engine that they already had, like the one for Disgaea. I don't know if thats the case, but its pretty smart if they did. Why reinvent the wheel.

I hope they continue with the U.S. releases, even if the production numbers are low. I could see them getting scared off if something doesn't do well at all.

[Duo_Maxwell]

Incidentally Atlus actually did both the US production and distribution for Phantom Brave.

wait, what?

explain yourself.

They used Atlus to help produce copies of the game and distruibute them, however, they are still the publisher of the title. NIS holds all the publishing rights I believe.

[OILYWATER]

Atlus was heavily involved because of their resources and experience with Nippon Ichi titles in the past. They have a very good relationship.

NIS definitely have a commitment to satisfy this part of the market, with Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana coming out 2005 Spring. It should be noted that NIS America was already optimistic about publishing posibilities long before the surprising success of Diagaea.

[dafoomie]

Were they plugging Atelier Iris? If not, they should have. They need all the publicity they can get.

Will any of the other 5 Atelier games be coming to the U.S. in any form whatsoever?

[OILYWATER]

Unfortunately we only had enough air time to just talk about Phantom Brave, though this gave us another excuse to have them fly up here again when Iris is close to release. I'll personally do my best to get them to bring a preview build of Iris so the episode airs before release.

Oh, no plans for the other games in the series (on the record).

[dafoomie]

Oh, no plans for the other games in the series (on the record).

Damn... Sounds like a good candidate for some kind of special edition boxset that they can charge out the ass for, like Arc the Lad or Growlanser (both of which I bought... Working Designs goes to 11 on the price scale, thats for sure).

Since Atelier Iris has a standalone storyline I guess its not so bad though. I'll certainly buy it.

[youruglyclone]

NIS America is fairly new if I'm not mistaken, wasn't Phantom Brave their first time self-publishing in the U.S.? Aren't they mostly responsible for localization?

they've been around since the ps1 era, and did a lot mahjong games and what not (I have a jigsaw puzzle game published by them)

interesting tidbit nippon ichi's "meaning" is "Japan Number 1" which is also what mai shiranui screams during her "bouncy" win stance... the more you know.

my question

Any plans to release something that isn't a SRPG(but by all means don't stop releasing SRPGs) or will that be their bread and butter?

[whiteboy]

Nice, I live in San Bruno and got addicted to g4/tech TV over the Summer while I was visiting in San Antonio. I'll definately check this out tommorow morning.

BTW Is it on WB or kron 4?

[The Mana Knight]

I've already heard news that NIS America plans to release Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana(sp) stateside. I was wanting that game since I first saw screenshots to it and can't wait to get it. They are quickly becoming a favorite publisher of mine. I just hope they continue to release niche Japanese RPG games stateside.

[OILYWATER]

This second season will premiere on WB Oct 9 on 4:30 PM with this episode and appearance of NIS. For other West Coast TV stations carrying Gamer Nation, go to the media kit in this link.

http://www.gamernationtv.com/aboutus.asp

[ViolentLee]

One interesting bit of trivia I learned, when talking to them about the humble state of Nippon Ichi was that La Pucelle was pretty much made by just three people. According to the VP of NIS, Nippon Ichi in Japan only has about 40 employees.

Its not inconcievable if they're reusing an engine that they already had, like the one for Disgaea. I don't know if thats the case, but its pretty smart if they did. Why reinvent the wheel.

I hope they continue with the U.S. releases, even if the production numbers are low. I could see them getting scared off if something doesn't do well at all.

Actually, Disgaea is the sequel to La Pucelle, not the other way around. In Japan, La Pucelle came out a few years earlier.

One other point: NIS also developed Rhapsody, the rare, quirky PSone musical RPG.

[dafoomie]

if they're reusing an engine that they already had, like the one for Disgaea.

I know La Pucelle is the prequel. What I'm saying is that having 3 people work on the game is not inconcievable if they're not making the engine from scratch.

[ViolentLee]

I'm just pointing out that the engine for La Pucelle was most likely made from scratch, since nothing too similar preceded it. It sure wasn't lifted from Rhapsody. However, I guess it is a pretty simplistic engine in the grand scheme of things.

[dafoomie]

As simple as it is, it would be fairly amazing if 3 people made the engine and the game themselves. But then what would the rest of the company be busy with? Oh well, not a big deal.

[ViolentLee]

I agree it would be tough. In closing, NIS RULES!!!