Recently, Atlus conducted a survey on their titles that reflect the direction of future titles. First, Etrian Odyssey V was listed as a Nintendo 3DS title. With a strong existing userbase and a long history of producing various Atlus titles (even outside of Etrian Odyssey), it’s understandable to see Etrian Odyssey return to the 3DS. An image of the particular survey question was published in a Gematsu article – view it below.
While it has been some time since the announcement of the fifth Etrian Odyssey title, it was never likely that the game would show up on a successor Nintendo handheld, which the gaming public have yet to see.
Additionally, Atlus was also soliciting thoughts on future platforms for the next mainline Shin Megami Tensei game. The choices included Nintendo 3DS, Mobile, Playstation Vita, and Playstation 4. Dualshockers has an image capture of the survey in question in this article, with the image reproduced below:
If the Nintendo “NX” is rumored to be in development, and with Nintendo 3DS having had a five-year run since the release of its first model, it makes sense that Atlus is weighing their options here. But would also be a significant change if Atlus seriously decided to move forward on developing a mainline SMT title for mobile. The first and second games did receive ports to mobile, and as some of you may know Capcom’s Breath of Fire series was revived when Breath of Fire 6 was announced for mobile platforms (though the resulting reception was markedly negative.) As for the Vita, while the Vita does have a dedicated userbase in Japan the Western base is comparatively smaller. The Playstation 4 represents the opposite situation with regards to Japanese and Western consumers – high Western ownership, comparatively smaller Japanese ownership. More Japanese developers are beginning to develop bigger budget titles for the PS4, and it would suggest a more hospitable environment for the console gaming sphere (which has traditionally struggled against the strength of mobile gaming in Japan) but it’s not obvious that SMT’s fanbase would mostly flock to mobile or move to PS4.
Atlus’ survey has since concluded. However, we’d like to hear from our readers – which platform would you choose for the next Shin Megami Tensei title?