Nintendo Will Buy Shin Megami Tensei Developer; Persona 5 Wii U A Serious Possibility

iDigitalTimes: ''Atlus bankruptcy news time. The famed RPG and quirky game maker is in a tight spot now, through no fault of its own. Its parent company has been implicated in certain shady dealings, best not discussed in polite company, and is on the verge of splitting up THQ style. Atlus, the most interesting part of the excitingly named Index Corporation, is up for sale. And guess what? Nintendo is going to buy it.''

[Kamikaze135]

I would hate to see Atlus be exclusive to one of the big three.

[LOGICWINS]

I'd rather Atlus be exclusive to one of the big three than no Atlus at all.

[RememberThe357]

Touche.

[HammadTheBeast]

I'll be disappointed if future Persona games are exclusives to Wii/3DS.

The end of an era.

[gaffyh]

Sony should buy them because they need a JRPG studio, and if I can get Fire Emblem on PS4, that would be awesome. Nintendo already has quite a few RPG studios.

Microsoft also need a JRPG studio, but I can't see them buying this company because most of their titles are quite niche titles. Although, it would help in Japan, if the Xbone didn't sell enough, they would eventually have to close the studio.

[RFornillos4]

@gaffyh, you do know that Fire Emblem is a Nintendo IP right? so even if Sony buys Atlus, they still wouldn't get Fire Emblem.

[President]

What a stupid sensationalist article. No Nintendo is not going to buy Atlus, I just read the article and there is no source indicating this, just wishful thinking by the author. Please stop passing this as news, you fool N4Gers into visiting your site.

[PeaSFor]

really? the title makes it sound like its a fact. Crummy crummy "journalism", especially if posting as news story and not an opinion.

[Reibooi]

From what I heard(and yes I hear disagrees coming but I don't know alot about the whole bankruptcy stuff so if I'm wrong oh well)

Atlus didn't declare Bankruptcy their parent company Index did. Atlus is one of the only profitable companies under the index umbrella(this is proven by how long atlus was around pre index)

The stuff I don't know is if Index goes down(which I have heard is unlikely but possible) will Atlus go with them? Or will they simply continue to exist after Index crumbles away? Perhaps they would need to buy their independence similar to Bungie in the US.

Like I said I know nothing about law and this is just stuff I have read from a few other sources. But this is very much a sensationalist article because at this point it's to early to know what will happen to Atlus. Even the people working at the company and the parent company probably know nothing at this point.

[gaffyh]

@RFornillos - No I did not know that :(. I thought it was like Dragon Quest, just exclusive, but not owned by them.

[Shinox]

Hey Dickhead , I saw your provocative comment their , Are you trying to bring the same argument from Bayonetta 2 , WELL THAT"S NOT GONNA WORK THIS TIME !

[malol]

Sony should buy them if anything.

[NewMonday]

Big missed opportunity for Sony, MegaTen games have a cult following, I would buy a WiiU just for Persona 5.

[Enemy]

Lol this headline is ridiculous. There is no proof whatsoever that Nintendo is even coming close to a deal. If anything, seeing how Persona made its name on PlayStation, Sony will buy them.

[Xof]

I honestly can't believe this.

Not that I think it's bad news exactly, it just seems so weird.

At the very least, I think we can all agree that it's a good thing, as Nintendo tends to treat its development studios a lot better than most other companies--giving them a lot of autonomy and all that.

[rainslacker]

@Reiboi

If Index is forced to close they would also be compelled to sell off assets much like THQ did. They have an obligation to their shareholders and lenders to repay money owed.

Corporate bankruptcy doesn't work like personal bankruptcy which can often wipe away debt. More often than not a corporate bankruptcy just gives a company time to restructure. Some times sections of the company may be shut down in that restructuring if they are not profitable, but more often than not the profitable divisions within that company are kept in tact, or occasionally sold.

[ajax17]

Logic wins, indeed.

[3-4-5]

Atlus @ either Nintendo or Sony would be a good thing.

Regardless, whoever buys them, can afford to have them, therefore there won't be money problems, and we will actually most likely see more Atlus titles than ever before.

Persona 5 on 3DS....might just happen

I would like a new IP JRPG from them though. Fresh start + Fresh IP

[Murad]

I'd rather have them do the same, but anything BUT MICROSOFT. I have a feeling if they go into their hands, it's the end of true JRPG's, and the start of RPG third person retarded shooters that come out every 2 years, rather than a full fledged RPG that you can spend over 40 hours on and never realize it.

[UltimateMaster]

Either Nintendo or Sony.
Nintendo could really use them especially since the lack of new games..

[badz149]

seriously? this is not even a rumor. just wishful thinking.

[AzureskyZ]

I agree i rather see atlus around than none at all- but after reading the article is sort of seems misleading-- it sounded like nintendo was on the verge of purchase but it really is just a speculation--- I think the specific components fit quite nicely with nintendo, however i would rather see the persona franchise along with the team end up with sony-- not because previous franchise were on sony system but because i would rather see persona 5 in full glory on the most powerful system and not be hampered by wii u legacy system. In no way am i disrespecting wii u, i just would like to see persona 5 in the best shape possible-- sort of how i wished xenoblade was on wii u instead of wii.

[MoveTheGlow]

The Atlus teams function so well when they're not on cutting-edge technology. That's why SMT IV is 3DS; it's why Persona 4 was on the PS2 after the generational switch. They're content, dialogue, and combat system specialists. I'd say Nintendo would be an excellent buyer for Atlus, but this article is guessing. A more boring thing will most likely happen, where a private equity firm liquidates everything but Atlus (the parent company has a lot crappier stuff in their portfolio) and makes Atlus more risk-averse in the name of profits. I hope not. I hope a games industry stronghold snatches them up before that happens, and if it's the big N, I'm thrilled to see even more 3ds RPG's that buck the norm. Not graphical masterpieces. Leave that to Square; how has that been for them recently?

[bakasora]

gg
I guess I won't be able to play P5 then.

[-Mika-]

I disagree. I know MS is not going to buy them so that just leave Sony and nintendo. If I had to choose between the two. I would go with Sony. Im currently playing Shin megami Tensai 4 for the 3ds and it a great game but graphics wise. It lacking. The game has such beautiful artsyle and enviroments but the 3ds hardware makes the game look ugly. When Im playing persona 5. I don't want to be doing it on my 3ds. I want to play P5 with HD graphics or HD like graphics. I want trophies and I want my games to look like It worth $40 bucks. Nintendo would not be a great fit for atlus. Sony would allow them the budget and hardware to create games to their liking and that what matters to me.

[CalamityCB]

Microsoft will definitely be looking into buying atlas, they need help in breaking into the Japanese market, so MS buying Atlas and the rights to the IP's would be a very smart business move.

[LOGICWINS]

Persona 5 or any other game would look FINE on the Wii U, PS3, PS4, or Vita...as would any other Atlus title. Atlus games have never focused on pretty graphics, but on deep experiences and unique art style.

A game like P5 can never be on the 3DS because I doubt that system could handle it properly. The Wii U on the other hand could.

[Locksus]

Seriously, go play on a PC if graphics are all that matter to you.
Graphical fidelity is the least important thing in games.

[Hatsune-Miku]

@ locksus

Visual fidelity is the least important thing in real life also

[Craigatorian]

Nintendo owning Atlus would be a nightmare. Playstation has always been the place to play the Persona games

[jrbeerman11]

i agree with mika....

whats happening to me?

[bass4g]

persona 5 wouldn't be released on the ps4 and I think a lot of people need to stop saying that. Atlus and a lot of other japanese devs tend to release less graphically intensive games (partially as a result of a decrease in interest in the japanese market). Persona 4 came out in 2008 for the ps2. Two years into the lifecycle of the ps3. Then was ported to the vita with from what I understand largely similar graphics. If persona 5 came out for a sony console it would be released for the ps vita most likely and maybe ported up. It would not make a difference if it was instead on the wiiu. Now maybe I could see nintendo potentially nannying atlus and persona might be watered down if they bought it but in general nowadays nintendo seems to be pretty good with allowing studios to maintain their own autonomy. Certainly more than ms and sony.

[ABizzel1]

Good for Nintendo sucks for Sony

Y U wanna take our Persona :(

[LOGICWINS]

No ones "taking" anything from you. No one ever said it was going to be exclusive to any console.

[Ripsta7th]

It most likely will if bought by Nintendo

[ABizzel1]

@Logic

If Nintendo buys Atlus I highly doubt they'll continue making games for other platforms.

[LOGICWINS]

^^"Taking" something suggests that it was owned or previously promised to someone. P5 could have been cross platform all along.

[ABizzel1]

@Logic

Now normally I agree with you, but this is not one of those times.

Considering that Persona 1, 2, 3, and 4 have all been on at least 1 PlayStation platform "LOGIC" would allow one to think Persona 5 would have came to the PS3 or PS4.

"LOGIC" also shows that if Nintendo buys Atlus or pays them to make Persona 5, it will not be coming to any other platform in the near future if ever (excluding emulation).

^^"Taking" something suggests that it was owned or previously promised to someone. P5 could have been cross platform all along.

:D

Let me rephrase then.

Y U wanna possibly prevent us from getting Persona 5 on a PlayStation Platform :D

[Pope_Kaz_Hirai_II]

People pretending to be neutral throwing around disagrees how cute

[BlackWolf]

I know I'd also dislike it if Atlus went exclusive, but if it's the only way... The hard thing is who:

Sony: Persona 5 on PS Vita (logical console choice)

Nintendo: SMT x FE (a big exclusive crossover)

For me, that's the way the scale is working. Choosing one would render the other difficult to happen. Would make me sad if one is lost.

[3-4-5]

SMT on 3DS just happened and FE x SMT is happening and already being worked on.

I would say Nintendo & Sony both have good reasons to be interested.

As long as Atlus still makes JRPGs I'm cool.

[Donnieboi]

Article:

"Sony is the biggest threat; if they decide they're interested, they can certainly outbid Nintendo"

Well thats what i'm hoping for. No offence to Nintendo fans, but I don't see Ninte.do supporting future products like Catherine and other things the SMT games are known for: Such as the demon named "Mara" who is in every SmT game (who's name literally means penis and is a penis monster). And the other amount of things that would make an SMT exclusivity with Nintendo feel very wrong. If your an SMT fan you know what I mean. This is about preserving the uncensored nature of Atlus. But if someone is a massive Wii u fan, they wont even care if they smt series loses it's edge. All they care about is that their system "won". Although I would prefer Sony, not because I do like Sony (which I do), but because they would never interfere in Atlus's work. They would just let them make whatever they want. Like they do for naughty dog, Japan studio, and santa monica. If it does get bought by nintendo, then I wanna hear an official statement from Iwata stating that he will not interfere with the studios edgy nature. But I doubt it that he would even keep that promise, considering how offencive their games can get.

So I vote for a 3rd party, but of all the 3rd parties, I just don't see any of them giving atlus the right to develop as freely as they would want. Namco, Square, Bethesda (who is working with the japanese now) are possible contenders. Hell even ubisoft published for Atlus a few times in Europe. But I can see some of them milking the franchises. Or in Namco's case, not bringing some to America (like the Tales games).

with Nintendo being directly responsible over Atlus, it will lead to censorship. Heck, the last few official SMT games were pretty offencive, but from what I read, SMT 4 is kinda nuetered down. With a full acquisition, SMT games will definately not be the same. I'm getting a Wii U this christmas anyway, so i'd be able to play it anyway. But it would lose it's more controversial topics. It would almost be like Nintendo buying Rockstar or Volition (from Saints Row). Yeah Nintendo had Conkers Bad Fur Day, but that was under a different President.

Remember, this is the company who had the final boss in one of their Shin Megami Games be YHVH (the Abrahamic God of the Christians and Jews (and some Muslims believe he is their God too, but under a different name)). I mean, they literally made a game where you had to fight God. And that is a recurring them in many of their games. If your not fighting "God" (or what I'd like to think are the negative stereotypes of the Old Testament God), then the games theme is about making pacts with demons. Hell, even Trauma Center 1 had been censored in the West due to the topic of terrorism (of all things -_-) just because it was on the Nintendo DS. Pathetic. If Terrrorism is taboo for a [modern] Nintendo product, what will happen if Nintendo directly buys Atlus? Also, the only times Atlus games have ever been censored were when they were on Nintendo consoles/portables (don't believe me? Look it up).

For those who don't know the fundamental nature of the series, and want to believe it will not suffer under the wrong publisher, then check out this special article made by 1up: http://www.1up.com/features...

[Donnieboi]

Also, disagree if you like. But at least state why. I provided MY argument, but if you don't have your own--then your disagrees are probably due to fanboyisms. I just want ATLUS to preserve their style and not be compromised by censorship. I'll be owning a Wii U myself this Christmas, so trust me when I say I am not anti-Nintendo. I'm just anti Atlus-censorship.

Edit: Also here is one (of many out there) articles on the censorhip from Nintendo.

http://www.filibustercartoo...

To take a quote from the above article: "When censorship does occur today, it occurs mostly at the "first party" level; that is to say Nintendo censoring their own games, but not the games produced by other companies."

Nintendo censors FIRST PARTY games more than anything. If ATLUS is bought by them, expect watered-down censored games.

Also, the article I provided is not the best example, so don't try to discredit the merit of my argument based entirely on the lack of merit (if there is a lack) found in that article I provided. The article was merely a quick link to get a small point across. There are plenty of other articles out there that can do an even better job of helping my argument.

[N4g_null]

Please see past treasure games, yes they had a game where you beheaded giants on the wiiu, see pandora tower, see last story... See sin and punishment ... Play a Mario RPGs they are always full of adult jokes, these are also 1st party games, then lets look at ninja gaiden which they only helped fix and left the blood untouched, how about that black and white platinum game? Or the funding of two platinum games as if they where 1st party.

I think you fanboy is showing are you just don't know enough about Nintendo to make a real judgement. Also Altus style works more on nintendos platform since they are not setting their fans up for realism. What Altus needs is a chance to grow their fan base not only just cater. With Nintendo name behind their games they are assured to get more attention from the likes of Zelda, fire emblem, and other cartoony yet adult games and no longer have to compete with the next kill zone or uncharted or halo or even cod.

This is not confirmed to be happening but Nintendo is not censoring any thing any more it seems and actually support jrpgs cross overs and the like while Sony becomes a western haven for western realism games.

Also Nintendo is financially stable and haven't sold any of its buildings off. Remember the developers of ico and shadow of the colossus. Yep Sony just canceled their work. The ps is slowly becoming an elitism machine that the Xbox was. Actually Nintendo just started building a new building and always has a foothold on handheld gaming.

Put simply Nintendo is more about gaming than just raw tech. You can see this in their own software and how they work with Japanese vets that know game play and not just graphics.

Hey but this is not confirmed and from the rumblings I'm hearing Altus would not be touched if the parent company went down.

[Firan]

But SMT main games SMT1,2, SJ, SMTIV are on Nintendo platforms. Also your beloved Mara is in his original form in those games. Ironically Nocturne's Mara is just a retextured slime instead of the original.

Also Devil Survivor 1/2 used the original demon sprites and those games are on DS. They don't have Mara but they still have few of those genital demons.

"but from what I read, SMT 4 is kinda nuetered down."

I'd like to see a source. I'm a massive MegaTen fan and I have read nothing of the like.

[Ol_G]

Sorry but Atlus is making good games for Nintendo the western market doesn't wanna support them if Sony buys them it would be a problem for Nintendo cause they would lose support again Sony has enough western support let them make a rpg for Sony

[TheDivine]

All Atlus games are on Nintendo systems these days anyways, hasn't been a new SMT game on a Sony system since the ps2. Etrian Odyssey is on Nintendo and most other ip's. If they can't stay third party I'd like Nintendo to buy them so things stay the same.

The argument over censorship is dumb, that was 20 years ago. Was Strange Journey censored, Devil Survivor, Devil Survivor 2, Soul Hackers, SMT4 exc.? No. Is Bayanetta 2 toned down? Nope. What about Resident Evil? Nope. Just cause most their first party games are colorful doesn't mean they don't make mature titles like Fatal Frame, The Last Story which had drunken antics and sex aplenty, Fire Emblem which deals with racism and other touchy subjects, and they allow SMT games which have a giant penis in them.

Atlus staying 3rd party would be best for gamers followed by Nintendo owning them. Every studio Sony bought makes one title and half take over five years per game. They would only focus on Persona which is a sliver of Atlus' library. Plus Sony is broke especially after buying their cloud demo company. Nintendo is all money in the bank. Nintendo also is good at multitasking. They have a dev like IS making Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, Wario, Paper Mario, Pushmo, Crashmo, and Other Eshop games all at once. They release a billion handheld titles each year. Atlus has so many games I want to continue like Devil Survivor, Strange Journey (I want it to become a sub series), SMT, Persona, Etrian Odyssey, plus other franchises that they need a company like Nin behind them.

I was hoping for a Nocturne port for vita with a save anywhere feature, difficulty settings, the fusion system from SMT4, and other improvements like a retry for fights or at least bosses. That could be on WiiU or 3ds though. I also wanted a persona collection with the psp version of one and both two's in one vita cart. It could easily be done on the 3ds and it would def sell better. They didnt even bother with the second p2 psp localization because Sony fans didnt buy their games.

Also buy SMT4 if you haven't. Best SMT ever IMO and that includes every sub series and the Persona games. It's not neutered at all. It's still hard as shit, darker than ever, and better than ever. It just gives you options for people who haven't played the series before much like Fire Emblem Awakening did. It also has the best characters and story IMO. It's really taken the best parts of persona and fused them with the best parts of SMT and then leveled them up to infinity.

[wtopez]

Guess what everyone? I'm buying Atlus. Evidence you say? Well I own Persona 3 FES and 4. Just as much evidence here as in on that article...

[nosferatuzodd]

I rather Square Enix buy them than Sony,has to Microsoft I would hate for that to hapen cuz Microsoft would gut them and destroy every humanity in the company..

With Square I think they'll stay true to what they do and before everyone take the holy bible out to disagree and send me the demon back to hell look! I'm a big play station fan and I'm not denying that but i think Square would do well with this company cant be bias about this..
then again maybe Sony would do great too

[josephayal]

oh no the Horror

[yeahokchief]

i'd much rather nintendo buys atlus than someone like activision or EA.

nintendo really needs exclusive games. so i think this is a good match.

[Gimmemorebubblez]

From idigitaltimes article:

"What's more, the other major gaming companies aren't as interested in the Atlus bankruptcy. Sony is the biggest threat; if they decide they're interested, they can certainly outbid Nintendo. Square Enix would make a lot of sense, but wouldn't help them diversify - quite the opposite - and they don't really have the money. Capcom or Konami could pick it up, but there are no obvious synergies. And Microsoft and other Western developers just won't care."

Probably the most interesting paragraph, the rest is about Atlus movement "away" from Sony and more towards Nintendo with the likes of SMT x Fire Emblem.

My opinion is that they should get bought by another "holding" company and not become exclusive to Sony, Nintendo and MS or end up in Konami's or Square Enix's hands.

[bass4g]

From what I gather the holding company also owe a substantial amount of money to nintendo (something that wasn't discussed in the article) it could be that nintendo says "we'll wave the debt if you give us atlus". Also if I remember they owe money to sega and maybe a much smaller amount to sony.

[MasterCornholio]

Dang it and I just fell in love with Persona 4 The Golden on the Vita. If Nintendo buys them then that means no persona games for me.

And I don't want to buy a Wii U to play Persona 5.

Edit: Forgive me if I angered anyone with my comment because I love Persona and I would hate to see it exclusive to Nintendo. I really don't care what platform its on as long a I can play it on a Vita or a PS4.

Motorola RAZR i

[LOGICWINS]

"I really don't care what platform its on as long a I can play it on a Vita or a PS4."

LOL, clearly you do care what platform its on. This is the problem with gamers today, they play consoles not games.

[Omar91]

@logiwins

I normally like reading your posts because there very thought out and have some "logic" in them, but whats the problem if MasterCornholio wants the persona games on his console of choice but still wont affect him if they go to other platforms? how does that make him a "problem"? he could simply have a playstation at the moment and wouldn't mind if the games were on different console as long as he can still play it on the console he purchased.

[LOGICWINS]

He's admitting that if the game isn't on the Vita or a PS4 that he would simply "ignore" the franchise. Thats not something that a TRUE fan of the franchise would do.

When I found out Shenmue 2 was going to be on Xbox, guess what, I bought an Xbox. If you truly enjoy a franchise, you follow it wherever it goes.

[Heisenburger]

I'm so sick of your crap. You are so quick in attempting to 'correct' people.

You seriously need to chill out with your crap.

You aren't even reading comments anymore, it seems.

You are a judgemental troll.

You quoted him. The very quote you posted is evidence that your reading comprehension has faded.

He clearly, and I stress CLEARLY, said that he didn't care what other consoles it was on as long as he can play it on his Vita.

Yet you twist his words and made a fool out of yourself. I shake my head when I read your posts.

All you do is reply to people. You never have anything original or constructive to say.

I pity you.

Ot: I just beat P4G last night.

Ho. Ly. Crap.

No spoilers here, but the final couple of hours really caught me off guard.

Man....

P4G was a very great experience for me.

[MasterCornholio]

@Logicwins

A 3DS or a Wii U for just one game?

I'm sorry but I never buy a system for only one title even if its a franchise that I love.

Motorola RAZR i

[N4g_null]

I'm with logic on this one. Looking at my god of war addition ps3... I buy what I want and only politic about the industry here. Yet if you have a preference due to money constraint then you might want to choose the company who isn't selling buildings. Gamers have made a lot of choices this gen for the worst. Yet it's hard when there is so much misinformation like the above article actually.

Also cornholio is clearly not a Nintendo fan for his own reasons. I've seen him in a number of Nintendo only articles trolling pretty hard. Yet he hates them? That is a little extreme. I rarely have time to visit articles for things I hate...

I don't see logics comment as judging it is easy to see where he is coming from since he is on here a lot and I'm sure he sees all of the formers trolling attempts. If no one says any thing then it gets worst... Example Xbox fans from the beginning of this gen.

[admiralvic]

I wouldn't worry about it too much, since this person is probably fairly bias and is using pure conjecture to sell their idea.

Like most of the Wii Atlus games were either shovel ware titles or things that weren't of note (like Trauma Center). Since then the PORTABLE systems (DS / 3DS) have been getting some good games, but you could easily argue that is nothing more than the Japanese love of portables and the higher sales.

Anyway, SMT X FE is a weird cross over, but that doesn't mean Nintendo is eyeing the company. Just like the Club Nintendo promo is nothing more than a push to get people to try both games, not a hint NIntendo wants them.

[manaxknight1]

well if wii u does price drop and after the unveiling of zelda u, u might change ur mind...

[Ol_G]

@MasterCornholio
Your fucking problem if you want to play certain games you have to buy certain hardware i have a wii u for my Nintendo games a ps3 and after ff15 a ps4 for my Sony games i have a 360 for rpg's lost oddysee tales of vesperia and blue dragon but not gonna buy the One cause there's nothing for me announced my point is if you want to play it do what is necessary don't start bitching cause you don't like something

[Locksus]

What Atlus needs is a company that lets them do what they want to do, which means no Western company should buy them.
And I don't see any of the big 3 buying Atlus. Sony's financial situation is unstable to say the least and Nintendo hardly ever buys companies, with the exception of Monolith Soft.

[shuuwai]

Samsung should buy them, and leave them alone.

I don't want MS, Sony, or Nintendo to buy them at all.
Not all us are going buy 3 AND 1/2 console. No NA or EUR company either. Wait I take it back, Valve Should buy them. -_-;; Altus games on ps3,p4,wii u, x360, X1 pc, mac and linux and lasty vita and 3ds.

[majiebeast]

I think Gungho will buy Atlus before either Nintendo or Sony. They have come into alot of money with Puzzles and Dragons and they have made handheld games like Ragnarok Oddesey and Dokuro for Vita and mmos like Dragonsaga and Ragnarok online.

Nintendo and Sony both dont have any need for the publishing wing of Atlus.

If they sell the assets separetly i can see Sony buy up Dragons Crown plus Persona IP and the Persona studio. Really dont want to see Persona in Nintendo hands i want the games to move forward and better looking.

[fsfsxii]

I would really hate if Nintendo bought them, hey'd lose their freedom, and we'll probably see SMT moving away from its dark tones and serious subjects

[Donnieboi]

^ This

[N4g_null]

Where are all these games that lost their freedom because Nintendo bought them or even funded them. I would love to see this list so I to can pick up my pitchfork and be hip also.

[dark-hollow]

Just like how they toned down the sexual themes and gore with bayonets 2 /s

[Pope_Kaz_Hirai_II]

sorry fsfsxii but people are pretending to be neutral for some reason is why you have so many disagrees.

[CLOUD1983]

Atlus most famous franchise is Persona & those games was always on PlayStation consoles, that's where all the fans is, SONY is the one who must step in & grab them, after all they make quality JRPGs & have a lot of fans, SONY doesn't have not even 1 JRPG first-party studio, if SONY pass that chance & Ninty buy Atlus this will be disastrous for Atlus & for the fans of their games, no1 is going to buy a Wii U just to play their games, & even if some do the sales r going to drop a lot for sure.

[Craigatorian]

the people who play persona aren't on Nintendo's platforms, same with MS

[N4g_null]

Fans jump ship every day. How do you think Xbox got all those fans from buying multiplatform games? Every one jumped from dream cast and Ngc to ps2 back in the day. Hell I even had 4 ps2s and one Ngc. Because ps2 had the sequels I wanted. It's not really a big deal unless you are broke or a kid.

I mean most gamers didn't even want a next gen console till the new fanboy war started. This would be very painful to Sony if this did happen the way the article is suggesting. Which means Sony may want to start putting more diversity in their line up. The realism war is killing them.

[Shok]

Monster Hunter jumped ship to Nintendo, and it's selling quite well on Ninty's platforms.

[CLOUD1983]

We r talking for consoles here not handhelds... every1 knows that Ninty have the upper hand in handhelds I speak always for sales because 3DS is a pile of crap compare to VITA.

[chestnut1122]

It is selling Well But It ain't even at 1/2 of what Monster Hunter Freedom Unite has accomplished in the PSP.

[Shok]

"We r talking for consoles here not handhelds"

In that case my point still stands.

Monster Hunter Tri (Wii) - 2.11 million
Monster Hunter 2 (PS2) - 0.63 million

[MadLad]

Nintendo, out of the big three, is the one I would most like to see buy Atlus.
That said, I would prefer for them to remain on all platforms, bringing their content to as a large an audience as possible.

[MadLad]

Oops.

What I meant to say was "LOL SONY SHOULD BUY IT LOL! THAT WOULD BE SO AWESOME! PS4LIFE!"

[Donnieboi]

What lol?

[andshesays]

@_@"

[fsfsxii]

Sorry, but i'd rather see them multiplatform than get bought by Nintendo. If ninty bought them, SMT will no longer be SMT

[Shok]

Why's that? They got the rights to Bayonetta 2 and she's as sexual as ever. Nintendo didn't tamper with the game at all.

[jcnba28]

If Atus have to be bought out then my bet is Nintendo will buy them. They already have SMT4 exclusive to 3DS and they are also working on a SMT X Fire Emblem game for Wii U.

[Summons75]

Buying the SMT dev would mean buying Atlus as a whole, Atlus is a publisher meaning they are never going to be exclusive....end of story. SMT: Persona 5 on wiiu however would be interesting, Please do this Atlus!

[majiebeast]

Nah they want to put it on consoles that actually sell and arent tracking sales behind even the Dreamcast and Gamecube.

[LOGICWINS]

Then why did they put P4: The Golden on the PS Vita...a struggling console?

[majiebeast]

Probably because they made a deal with Sony plus i doubt Golden was possible on the crappy hardware of the 3DS. Japan is a handheld nation so Vita makes more sense then wiiU.

[Omar91]

This is sad news considering that I just became a Persona fan with Persona 4 golden edition. I would hate to see Atlus be bought out to one company, But at the same time I wouldn't want them to go under like most companies this generation. If I had to choose I would go with Sony buying Atlus, but thats just adding a little bit of fanboy into that decision since I don't own a wii u.

The problem is Atlus from my understanding does not make a large amount of profit for big companies such as nintendo and sony to even consider purchasing Atlus. If I were sony I would be on this ASAP since I know where the fan base is :)

[r21]

It'd be great if Atlus sold SMT to Nintendo and Persona to Sony. In that way, Atlus wins, i hope. Honestly, I rather Atlus still be what they are this day.

[admiralvic]

Atlus is the developer of both titles, so they would need to break up the company / give away people who may or may not have worked on both series and ultimately give us a lesser ****ty product. Also Persona is a spinoff of SMT, soooooo... that would be weird seeing two series that are fairly similar owned by two rival companies, but are still ultimately connected.

[-Gespenst-]

Persona IS an SMT game ya nub.

[Eazy-Eman]

Say that to the people at gamefaqs smt forums and watch them mercilessly tear you apart like a monkey in a river full of crocodiles

[_QQ_]

This would end up being like the Nintendo Saving Bayonetta thing, Some dumb fanboys would get complain that Nintendo saved Atlus.

[quantae06]

Yeah, I'm so sick of people who are saying their not buying this and that game because it's on Wii U. They do the same with other consoles too, don't get me wrong. But with the Wii U, when it has no games they complain, when they do get them they still complain. Some people are not buying Bayonetta 2, Monolith's X, Fire Emblem x Shin Megami all because it's coming on the Wii U. Some want all of those and some Nintendo games but won't buy a Wii U. How dumb do you guys act. If you want to play the games BUY the SYSTEM. I own a PS3, WiiU, and I once owned the XBOX 360. Stop with this if it's not my favorite company BS. Get the games for system. Dang! Nothing wrong with owning multiple consoles. Grow up!

[admiralvic]

I wouldn't say that...

SMT has been with Nintendo for a while and Nintendo has a LOT of exclusive titles in this series anyway. This is completely different than the argument you see with Bayonetta, which is simply the assumed death because Bayonetta (and really Platinum Games) has no presence on the Nintendo platform. They believe that the title would have done better if a third party company did it and perhaps released it for the original two consoles, though I doubt they would complain if ____ publisher pushed for Wii U too.

Now I doubt M$ fans would care, since they've only gotten 1 SMT title (JP only on the Xbox), Catherine (hardly the same) and Persona 4 the Arena (again, very different). Atlus would have to honestly make Persona 5 on the Wii U or 3DS to irk people, since SMT has had random exclusives on various platforms for ages. If ANYTHING I would be happy to see them all centralized on one platform so I wouldn't need to hope / pray I got whatever is needed to play the next one.

[YoungPlex]

Good stuff either way I really don't care who buys them so long as Atlus lives on! I'm currently playing Persona 4 golden on Vita and SMT IV on my 3DS XL and I must say that they're both amazingly different games that are bar none some of the best jrpg's on handhelds. This pleases me, SMT x Fire Emblem is coming to Wii U and based on both of these games and Fire Emblem's new darker story, I'm willing to bet that SMT x Fire Emblem could turn out to be a fantastic console game.

[Inception]

From the article:

"The single most likely bidder for Atlus in the Atlus bankruptcy case is Nintendo. As a matter of fact, I'd like to suggest that a Nintendo-led acquisition of Atlus may actually have been in the works for some time. That's because Nintendo has been working unusually closely with Atlus lately, treating them practically like an in-house studio. That may be because Atlus is about to become one.

Look at the evidence surrounding the Atlus bankruptcy. Atlus traditionally publishes games on every console and platform; for a long time, it had a heavy PlayStation focus thanks to the Persona games. But more recently it has worked very closely with Nintendo. That's not new; the Trauma Center series came from Atlus."

Ok, i thought it's official that Ninty will buy Atlus. But it's only just a speculation from the writer based on a couple exclusive games for 3DS & WiiU.

And if we're lookin Atlus track record with Playstation, it's not only with Persona 1-4, but Shin Megaten Nocturne, Shin Megaten Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2, Raidou Kuzunoha, Growlanser, 3D Dot Game Heroes, Steambot Chronicles, Eternal Poison, Odin Sphere, etc are also exclusive for Sony platform. Even the latest game like Dragon's Crown (Atlus publish it) also exclusive for Sony platform (PS3 & Vita). If i'm using the writer logic, than those tittles are some evidence that Sony also had big potential to buy Atlus. Not only Ninty.

But honestly, i want Atlus to be independent and working with all gaming platforms. So they can entertain all gamers on every platform ^^

[Prime_28]

That's why this article is under "opinion piece" and not "news".

[Inception]

Well, the tittle tricked me a bit though when i read "Nintendo Will Buy Shin Megami Tensei Developer" on the tittle, than the first thing on my mind is "Hey, it's official that Nintendo will buy Atlus!". Until i click on the article and read it's only a speculation from the writer.

[Kamuymintar]

Index Corporation merged with Atlus several years ago.
In other words, Atlus is one division of Index Corporation.
Atlus division itself is healthy, but the rest caused the bankruptcy.
Therefore, if Nintendo or someone want Atlus's IPs, so far, they must buy the whole Index Corp with huge debt.
I doubt whether Nintendo will be so lavish that they will shoulder Index's debt.

Hmm, it's very unclear what it will be.
I hope someone except Nintendo will buy Index Corp.
Or I hope Atlus's IPs will be bought separately.

[Inception]

That's make sense. But what if Atlus bought themself so they can get out from Index and stay independent? Is that possible? I'm not good with this bankruptcy thing and if that possible, i prefer that way.

[Kamuymintar]

@Inception
> But what if Atlus bought themself so they can get out from Index and stay independent? Is that possible?

Unfortunately, it's unlikely.

[bass4g]

Some of that debt is actually apparently owed to nintendo. Plus I'm sure what would happen is that index corp would have to start selling off bits of the company to get out of debt. We'll see. Whatever happens it should be interesting.

[Muffins1223]

Agreed but it wont be multi,either sony or nintendo will have the right to persona....most of us hope its sony and not nintendo,nintendo would ruin it IMO.Would be a step backwards from persona 4 golden if made on 3DS lol

[Inception]

Well, whoever buy Atlus and Shin Megaten / Persona IP, as long as they used the same team behind Shin Megaten and Persona than i don't have a problem. But if they disbanded the team and change it with new people, than i will not tolerate it one bit. In fact, maybe i will quit as SMT / Persona fans :(

[00001]

oh christ,Sony hasnt just spent the money to buy the rights to the persona series already? why the hell would anyone allow the series let alone other atlus series to be confined to nintendo systems.

[admiralvic]

Because Persona is part of SMT and probably has a lot or at least some of the same people working on both titles. For Sony to buy the Persona series and keep it true to the others, they would also need to talk to Atlus to break up their development team and possibly lose or keep people that might negatively affect both Persona and SMT.

[Muffins1223]

Would be a nightmare if persona was exlusive to wiiu lol.....the console would ruin its next gen ambition.

[coolasj]

Just by the way, the article doesn't actually say anything. It's just speculation.

[MrTrololo]

Noooo Sony need to buy the persona franchise. All of the persona game is PS exclusive. I won't buy the game if it exclusive for Nintendo only.

[wishingW3L]

if Nintendo buys the SMT franchise I'd be sooooo mad! Nintendo doesn't allows much freedom to their developers, someone like Sony would be better because they just provide budgets and the developer does whatever the hell they wants.

[_QQ_]

"Nintendo doesn't allow much freedom to their developers" Source?

"Sony would be better because they just provide budgets and the developer does whatever the hell they wants" Source?

[jcnba28]

IKR? These same people said that the violence and sexual references in Bayonetta 2 was going to be toned down because it's going to be on a Nintendo console. Then E3 comes around and the new Bayo 2 trailer starts off with the camera up her crotch! lol

[Muffins1223]

The source is there games...nintendo would buy a great series and just put it on a crappy console that no one wants.Sonys budget for games is MUCH bigger than nintendos,i mean just look at god of war or the last of us,you can tell more money is spent on those games than animal crossing.Plus i want a true next gen expirence not on wiiu or god forbid the 3DS,it would be a step down from persona 4 golden if it was made on 3DS.God persona 5 would look amazing on ps4 and i cant decid if i would want it on vita or ps4...

[-Gespenst-]

I'd only be worried because Nintendo might try and tone down the risque and dark nature of a lot of the stuff in SMT games...

Still, they've left us enough brilliant games to play on our playstations and emulators. If this is what they need to, then so be it. It's better than no Atlus at all. Maybe someday I'll buy a Wii U.

[fsfsxii]

Thats exatly my concern.

[-Gespenst-]

Well, not that they're the darkest games ever, but it's really just that the designs of the demons and personae can be a little bit racy, and the actual occult themes border on the satanic sometimes. Also there's the occasional dark plot point here and there, particularly in Innocent Sin. I don't know, they're pretty niche games, I wouldn't want Nintendo intervening at all. If they didn't, then I'd be perfectly happy with it.

[Firan]

Why would they tone it down? Strange Journey and SMTIV are both on Nintendo handhelds and they're the same good old SMT we love.

[-Gespenst-]

Yeah but it would different if Nintendo actually owned them. Nintendo themselves wouldn't market third party titles as much as they would first party, and if they bought Atlus, it's likely Nintendo would market their stuff more aggressively. Because of Nintendo's reputation for more family friendly games, as publishers, they might force Atlus to tone down the more mature content before they agree to market it for them, or even greenlight it in the first place. It's possible.

[Firan]

Sure it's a possibility but for now I just can't see it happening. If it would happen I would be mad though.

Well anyways let's hope Atlus will stay independent. Who knows maybe Atlus can buy itself from Index Corp or something.

[_QQ_]

Doubt it...

[CaptainSheep]

People who want Atlus to be bought by Nintendo are idiots. I'm sorry if that's rude but think about it. Nintendo doesn't like the mature, dark themes Atlus' games have.
If Nintendo bought it, Persona would move away from all the dark stuff it has.
Sony is the BEST choice. Sony let their developers do whatever the hell they want. Persona's main titles have also been exclusive to PS, so you've got a great market as well.
I am a huge Persona fan. If it got released on Wii U, I'd get one just for it. Wii U being region locked would be hell for me, though.

[RetardedIceCream]

Then what about bayonetta 2, if nintendo forced devs to not make mature games then why does bayonetta 2 feel like the first

[Firan]

"Nintendo doesn't like the mature, dark themes Atlus' games have."

Haven't you played main SMT games? They are much more darker than Persona and 4/5 of the games are on Nintendo systems.

[MegaLagann]

*Nintendo doesn't like the mature, dark themes Atlus' games have.*

Then why is Nintendo having a deal right now promoting Shin Megami Tensei 4 and Fire Emblem Awakening together. Why are they collaborating with Atlus to make a crossover game together if Nintendo hates games with "mature" themes?

[Donnieboi]

@MegaLagann:

I respect your POV, but I doubt the mature themse of SMT will carry ob to a Fire Emblem game. Just because it's a cross over doesn't make it a "take-over" for SMT. If anything, SMT will have to simmer down for a Fire Emblem audience. I doubt you'll see a full SMT experience in Fire Emblem, it just wouldn't really be appropriate.

And I'm saying this from the perspective of a huge Fire Emblem fan. Check my comment history, I love fire Emblem almost as much as I do Advance Wars and SMT games.

[Donnieboi]

You'll get more disagrees than agrees even though you speak from a true Atlus fan's perspective. I can tell by your Avatar that u are a fan. But this article is under a "nintendo" tag, so u know all of the nintendo fans will see it first and swarm on it and down vote what u say.

Some of them may not have ever played an SMT game before. They just want Nintendo to "win", instead of caring about the integrity of ATLUS. More than Nintendo or Sony, this is about ATLUS's integrity. They way Nintendo treats Atlus as a 3rd party is totally different from a 1st party.

But of course I get accused of being anti-Nintendo (again). It's so sad for me to think that I love the past Nintendo under President Yamouchi much more than Iwata. I love Mario, Star Fox, Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, Smash Bros, Animal Crossing, Metroid, F-Zero, etc so much. Yet when I state my fear of Nintendo censoring my favorite 3rd party dev (Atlus) then Nintendo fans turn on me. Whatever though. I'll stand up for what I believe is best for Atlus. Non-Atlus Nintendo opportunists will just want whatever they think is going to make them "win". But if ATLUS is a 1st party company at Nintendo, and chances are high that they lose their darker tone, then nobody wins. All we'll get is a weaker rendition of the SMT games.

Let me ask u guys something: do u really think that if Catherine never existed befire, and ATLUS were to come up to Nintendo and present the game...do u really think Nintendo would put money into making that? Put aside your loyalty. Just think about Nintendo putting actual money into a game about fornication and sex. One with a giant butt monster?

[N4g_null]

That is the problem I've played these saucy games that you claim Nintendo has censored. Then there is the fact that they actually are big supporters of jrpgs. 3 first or 2nd party games.

You only have this imaginary fear to stand on and it really is not warranted. Then you claim you want the old president who really was the censor king. Iwata has let more mature titles on this console than the big y.

I'm still waiting on your censor ship proof. It's not about Nintendo winning you simply don't make sense. Unless I wanted Nintendo to fail I would think you had great points.

[Locksus]

Yeah, Sony sure is the best choice if you want Atlus to be closed a year or two after its acquisition

[_QQ_]

Why would Nintendo Fund,not just allow,but fund Bayonnetta 2 if they don't want mature content. I understand how fans should be concerned if the danger of toning the series down existed if Nintendo picked up Atlus,but it doesn't.

Where do you people even get these claims from,Source please,give me a direct qoute from Platinum or Atlus saying "Nintendo made us tone down Bayonetta2" or "Nintendo made us Tone down the new SMT on 3DS."If anything those 2 games disprove your arguement.Just because you don't want to buy a Wiiu doesn't mean you have to act like the SMT and Persona games would suck if they were on Wiiu.

[dcj0524]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I want persona 5 on my VITA or ps3/4.

[dcj0524]

Why the disagrees? Just stating I really don't want this to happen.

[chestnut1122]

Nintendo fanboys being butthurt drooling over our Lovely and Mighty Persona.
Persona suits SONY the best.

Anyway these is not officially a fact. Just a Mere Speculations by A Nintendo Fanboy on His article.

[feraldrgn]

I wouldn't want Atlus to be bought by any company, it would be a huge loss for others.

There must be some way of giving everyone Atlus experiences =/.

[Unlimax]

NO FREAKING WAY !!!!!!!!???

FATAL FRAME AND NOW THIS .. OMG WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE GAMING INDUSTRY THESE DAYS !!

[Abriael]

It's just a (completely baseless) opinion piece stupidly worded as news. Don't worry.

[Inception]

Fatal Frame still own by Tecmo. If Ninty owns it, than there's no way Tecmo released Fatal Frame 1 as PS2 classic for PSN ^^

[wheresmymonkey]

Have you played either of the Fatal Frame games on the Wii? They're the best in the series, The wiiU gamepad is the perfect fit for the game too.
I wouldn't mind Ninteno buying atlas isgea on the ds was ace so seeing more of it with touh screen controls on the wiiU would be brill.

[ThePsychoGamer]

Disgaea isn't owned by Atlus.

[Unlimax]

I played and beat both of them , there's no point to praise how the Wii U "controls" fit the game while other system can easily do the same thing with their own features .. the whole controller thing is about the Playstation controller that i used to in the before and how easily the analog sticks react to you when you had the camera obscura , besides that the whole argument about Fatal Frame franchise was Nintendo and their lack of Localizations and their high focus on Region-locks , there's no point to defend that if the new FF game get localized outside japan and published only for NA or EU because both sides will be affected by this policy .. FF4 still didn't get localize from Nintendo and what bothers me even more that Nintendo helps developing the game and didn't lay their finger to their audience about the game outside japan .

[fsfsxii]

This has nothing to do with the industry.

[GraveLord]

What else does your crystal ball tell you?

[Tzuno]

the wiiu needs to be the jrpg-rpg console of next gen. They will win gamers back asap. Look at supernintendo rpg's library. wiiu needs to become snes in therms of games.

[wheresmymonkey]

It didn't work for the wii so why would it for the wiiU?

[Mrgolden79]

What jrpgs did the wii have?

[Godmars290]

Sony would seem the better bet. Would let Atlus largely do their own thing. Nintendo? From what I noticed only want established IPs, and only then under a blue moon.

[despair]

Is this a joke a discount and crossover game is the "evidence" they have that nintendo is going to buy Atlus. LMAO. Yea these are the experts on business and financial news.

[gamer42]

One could argue the cross over and recent releases of exclusive SMT games on the 3ds point towards a close relationship with nintendo meaning a high chance that nintendo could decide to buy them out.

[despair]

By that standard one could also argue that the publishing of Sony exclusive titles like Demon Souls, 3D Dot Game Heroes and upcoming dragon's crown, plus bringing the Vita exclusive Persona 4 Golden might also mean sony has a high chance of buying them as well, not to mention Sony's penchant for picking up great quality studios.

Or maybe the 360 and PS3 multiplatform games that never made it to the Nintendo console (Catherine and Persona 4 Arena for example)might be a sign against Nintendo.

Also you might thing that a publisher like Atlus might not be sold to a big game corporation or maybe even buy themselves out, or maybe EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Deep Silver or any number of publishers might be interested in them, or maybe they will not be part of the reported (but not confirmed) asset sell off from Index Corporation.

Point is that to say games are what determines who buys a company is dumb, simple minded and has no basis in reality. Its a business decision not a "you make some games with us so we buy you" kind of moronic thinking.

[gamer42]

Exclusive games sell the platform that's point of exclusives and the whole reason they exist. I'm just trying to say that seeing how Atlus have started to release some exclusive games for nintendo lately and despite being making niche niche games, have a large and devoted fanbase willing to buy a new system to buy an SMT, Cathrine, or anything from atlus.

Also I'm not saying nintendo's chance of acquiring Atlus is any higher than Sony's, and in imo sony will probably buy them out before nintendo could. I just wanted to point out the idea of nintendo being interested in atlus isn't too far fetched.

Personally I hope a third party buys them so as many people can have a chance to play their games on whichever system they prefer. They're already make pretty niche games and I don't think they would want to limit their potential fanbase even further.

[SpideySpeakz]

Why be PC here, and tell it like it really is?
Wii U exclusivity = Dead. And that goes for any game, of any genre.

Oh well, we had a nice run, Persona.

[Master-H]

Sega or Namco Bandai should buy them

[Phil32]

This article is merely speculating, yet it's posted as fact. Awesome games journalism right here, folks.

[Brucis]

It's actually posted as 'opinion piece'.

[Phil32]

Yes, which makes it worse. I'm talking about how the actual piece is written. It's speculation that is baseless and trying to come off as fact. The misleading headline even begins the deceitful article.

[despair]

Yea hiding behind the term "opinion piece" does not make it better, its opinion right, so it should not be held to any factual standards?

Saying its an opinion does not mean it should be an irresponsible and speculative article which claims a lot thing while hiding behind the "opinion" category.

[noxeven]

I have to buy a nintendo system to play persona 5 I gonna be pissed

[SegaSaturn669]

Rate down idigitaltimes for speculation and misleading title. Also, Gekko for posting and who the hell approved? There's gotta be a better article than this drivel.

[pwnsause_returns]

Sony needs an rpg dev. They should buy them

[manaxknight1]

at least nintendo brought soul hackers to the 3ds..i think that game is awesome eventho it came out almost two decades ago...

[KittyEmperor]

When I first saw the title I started cursing god but then I saw that it was only an opinion piece. Almost had a heart attack there.

[MegaLagann]

More than likely another Japanese firm like SoftBank or GunHo online will buy Atlus out. Atlus, while profitable, is still too niche of a company for most game companies. In other words, sure Persona 5 will sell around 500-700k units, but for big companies like Square or whoever, that's not enough to justify paying millions to buy out the company. So like I said, a company like SoftBank or GunHo makes sense.

Oh and a little side not, to the people who are saying they either want Sony or Nintendo to buy them out. Stop. You're sounding like a fanboy. Atlus should be free from the constraints of both companies or any company for that matter and continue to be third party developers and publishers.

Oh and another thing about the article. While I disagree, I do have a feeling we'll see Persona on a Nintendo system, more than likely 3DS, very soon. Call it a hunch.

[Rodney25]

Damnit Sony, don't let this happen. I love Atlas.

[Killzoner99]

Nope , if anyone bought them it would be Sony. They pretty much have first dibs on any company that goes up for sale especially Japanese ones. This is good news, Sony will do wonders with Atlus. Looks like the next Fire Emblem is coming to the Vita exclusively .

[gamer42]

But fire emblem isn't an Atlus IP, it's made by intelligent systems, which is owned by nintendo.

EDIT: also why would Sony have first dibs?

[_QQ_]

Explain your logic,how does Sony have first Dibs? Plus you obviously don't know much about The game industry if you believe that this would somehow make Fire Emblem belong to Sony.

[Brucis]

Fire Emblem is an IS game, not an Atlus game.

[Ol_G]

@Killzoner99
Spoken like a true moron

[-Gespenst-]

Why do Persona 5 articles keep using that image? It's not Persona 5, it's like a light novel by Soejima.

[Goro]

FFS...Nintendo stealing the best Vita game...

[ThaBlackBaron]

I think this WILL happen!! If it does, Nintendo will become even more unstoppable! lol

[Prime_28]

Make a video!

[ASBO-5]

Man, I TRULY hope Sony swoops in and gets Atlus. I'd hate to see them lost to Nintendo. Persona and the like belong on Sony platforms.

[Lockon]

I will cry if I can't play persona on my PS3 or vita...

[Kenshin_BATT0USAI]

Heads up, this is just this guy's theory. No word from Nintendo or Atlus.

[BlaqMagiq24]

Well Microsoft don't like JRPGs so there is no chance in hell they'll buy Atlus. But it'll be a sad day if Atlus gets bought by Nintendo. I mean Persona 5 exclusive on the Wii U? Sorry I can't imagine that. I'd rather see them go multiplat than bought out by Nintendo.

[sarshelyam]

I don't see this happening, and the reasoning to support this opinion piece are hollow, at best. Crossover title being a reason why Nintendo would do it? Hardly. Look at how much support Nintendo gave Dragon Quest and now it's almost completely off the map. Publishing assistance, sure. But there's no way in hell Nintendo is looking nor interested in ATLUS as an acquisition.

Keep the studio and its property 3rd Party. Going exclusive will destroy the company (ATLUS)...that goes for anyone saying it should be Nintendo/Microsoft/Sony.

[McScroggz]

Misleading title = clicks. Good job.

[TruthbeTold]

While Nintendo buying Atlus would be great imo, I don't think that they will be buying anything right now. They have to prove to their shareholders that they can hit their financial targets, and a semi-major acquisition such as this would cause the operating costs for this fiscal year to skyrocket.

[Sithlord-Gamble]

This title is misleading due to the fact that it is purely speculation on the author's part. There has been no official news or public statements to correlate the author's opinions. Crap article.

[erikthegman]

So much hypocrisy and misinformation in the comments. Nintendo won't tone down anything. So many persona 'fans' never played or finished a single Smt game in their lives. Either way I have a vita and a wii u so I'll only be upset if Microsoft buys atlus, unless they bring persona 5 to xbox 360 which is highly improbable. Happy gaming

[Moncole]

I hope it happens so the Sony fanboys will go crazy and end up buying Nintendo systems for the games than they will buy the other exclusives and wont be fanboys anymore. Its also funny when gamers get mad.

[StraightedgeSES]

Like LOGICWINS said the problem with todays gamers is they play consoles not games

[TheMutator]

ohhhh GOD NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OO , NINTENDO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO O

[raiden-49]

Hell if its to save Atlus then fine with me but we will see who buy what when the time comes

[SIRHC13]

Doomed, just like Bayonetta 2 then.

[CouldHaveYelledUiiW]

This would be so great for Nintendo.

With Monolith Soft churning out great RPGs

It would be great for Nintendo to have Strategy based RPGs for Nintendo's own Intelligent System's and then Atlus.

Back in the days in the days, Atlus made some epic jems for Nintendo consoles.

With most of the gaming would focused on Shooters and Open World, Nintendo having great RPGs, JRPGs, and Strategy RPGs will turn more heads their way and set their game-list apart from the competition.

Nintendo already has some of the best Platformers.

[doogiebear]

no, better for it to be independent than under nintendo's publishing. I just shutter at the thought.

[CouldHaveYelledUiiW]

1st
Better it exists than not at all.

2nd
I was not addressing whether autonomy was the best thing for Atlus-
I was merely saying that IF Nintendo bought them it would be a good move FOR NINTENDO- not you- BUT for Nintendo.

3rd
The fact that you want them to be independent is a testament to the strength of their development, which proves Nintendo having exclusive rights to their games, would be a good business move (FOR Nintendo).

4th
Finally
You maybe right-
I like Quantic Dreams but I would find it hard to believe that Quantic Dream would be able to produce the same games that they do without Sony’s Resources.
Since, I feel QD is a key player in the growth of the “Video” Gaming Industry- taking gaming into more mature subjects and more detailed/subtle emotional content- I am glad that QD is with Sony (for the good of the Industry as a whole).

But I do think that Atlus and Nintendo are a good fit. Intelligent Systems and Atlus are great at Strategic RPG’s.

5th
Anyway "Interesting" Bubble-Up vote to you DB

[rextraordinaire]

Atlus has always been an all-over-the-place developer and publisher. Some of their games are exclusive to a console or another, but they'd never give full exclusivity to one of the big three.

Hopefully, Atlus reverts back to a stand alone studio. It has always worked for them.

[CFDTBone]

Is there a button for reporting crap sensationalist stories with false headlines? This story (lie? fiction?) merits one.

[RTheRebel]

Sucks to be a Sony only fanboy. lulz
I will get the best of both worlds Nintendo & Sony =)

[cerpintaxt44]

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooo!!!!! ive been waiting for P5 for years and now i gotta buy a terrible outdated dying console to play it? SOB im pissed...... o wait it will prob be a 3ds game even better!!!!!!!!!!

[gamer42]

This isn't real, it's a speculation piece.

[Kos-Mos]

I simply LOVE the rage here! Please fanboys bring me more joy!

[jairusmonillas]

Misleading tittle.

Nintendo doesn't use their money, they try to be cheap as possible. Wii U is overpriced. 3DS was overpriced when it was launched and now they are charging $10 for a snes game.

Nintendo doesn't like spending, heck instead of offering money to square enix, konami or any of the big guns they decide to spend on a low tier sales game bayonetta lol probably the cheapest option available.

[tubers]

Guess why MH3U handheld retail software sales is leading the pack on the 3DS and not the VITA.

[LordHiggens]

Please...God no. Not Nintendo.

[tubers]

If the 3DS and Wii U gets P5, I hope the VITA gets P5: Golden.

[Eazy-Eman]

Whoa...did not know shin megami was so popular. It warms my heart really :') more people need to experience this awesome franchise!

OT: I really can't imagine myself playing persona on 3ds. I loved P4G and P3P on my vita and I just can't fathom it on the 3ds. I'm currently enjoying SMT IV but sometimes I wish it was on a vita instead.

[goldwyncq]

Oh god, it'll be Bayonetta 2 all over again if it happens.

[Shinox]

Its Simple , Because Nintendo Are Dickheads when it comes to a system seller game for Sony , Nintendo is jealous and its still jealous

[ASBO-5]

#sonysaveatlus

[Dagobert]

Oh please no, I seriously don't wanne be playing the next Persona game on a shitty tablet looking controller or a damn 3DS.

[worldwidegaming]

Yay! Nintendo score one for them!
People stop crying about exclusives and buy a wii u if you want to play future persona games.
Hell, its a great move! End of an era? More like secured release!
I bought a vita just to play persona 4 golden, it was a no brainer.
This is no different! Its sad people are hell bent to hate something so bad.
First they have no games and now its why did they get those games?
People would rather see the world burn than give it to anyone else!
Scorched earth indeed!
And if you say "a,b or c company should have bought it" most likely they
Looked at that game as a game without enough sales (not worth their time)

[JonnyBigBoss]

This article is poorly written...

[Drainage]

hpefully not. if anything, Sony buy them! That way, at least half the gaming community gets to play their games and not only 1/20th

[Craigatorian]

I want someone to comment on why they seriously think it'll be okay if Nintendo bought it. I do not agree at all.

[DVAcme]

There should be a rule here in N4G that any opinion article not have such a misleading title or it gets dumped -_-

As for Nintendo buying Atlus, when has Nintendo EVER bought a studio? Plus, Nintendo is having the hardest time of all the big three right now, they wouldn't attempt such a huge buy when they could be using that money to somehow try to save the Wii-U. Buying a studio in hopes that future software from them saves your console is a stupid move when, by the time the software's finally been developed, the console's already dead in the water.

If any of the big three bought Atlus, it'd DEFINITELY be Sony. Not only do Atlus and Sony have a good history together, specifically through the Persona series and their publishing endeavors(like their collaborations with Nippon Ichi Software and From's Demon's Souls), but being bought by Microsoft would KILL Atlus, since being XBox One-exclusive would severely limit sales in Japan, which is still of Atlus's primary markets. Sony is just the perfect fit to buy Atlus, it'd be the most winning move for everyone involved: Sony, Atlus and gamers.

[gamer42]

nintendo bought monolithsoft 2 years ago and mobiclip (a middleware dev.) about 1.5 years ago, but besides that I agree Atlus would most likely be bought (out of the big 3) sony, because of the Sony's history of purchasing devs and with Atlus' track record with sony I say the chance is high. The only hinderence I see preventing them from buying them is their financial situation. While SCE is doing great Sony's overall financial troubles may prevent them from making big purchases.

[DVAcme]

While it's true about Sony's financial troubles, they evened it out a little this last fiscal year, and if they're going to do investments it's definitely going to be in their games division. Acquiring Atlus could also be the shot in the arm the PS Vita needs, since I'd easily see the handheld as a huge focus of development for Atlus under Sony. Just the immense library of games they could port or remake for Vita would guarantee a pretty sizable library in a relatively short amount of time.

[MilkMan]

If Nintendo did this it would be instant WIN.
Two things Nintendo should do.
Buy Platinum games and buy Atlus. 'nuff said.
Together with their first party titles AND the new IP's coming down the pike. This would be a one, two combo Nintendo is over due for.

[HaVoK308]

If Microsoft were smart, and even remotely still interested in the Japanese market, they would snatch Atlus up with quickness.

But...

[Run_bare]

I want persona on Sony platform, I hope third party buy them and not Nintendo.

[Thepcz]

slowly nintendo is becoming a jrpg powerhouse

[ozstar]

Just glad to see Nintendo finally spend some money on owning something.

But having said that, sharing marketing/distribution has helped too(not enough).

[andshesays]

Is this REALLY happening!!?

I hope not...

Persona / Nocturne = 2 of my favourite RPGS