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Are JRPGs Dead? Imageepoch Doesn't Think So

by Phil Kollar on Nov 17, 2010 at 02:00 PM

Earlier this week, I posted a feature looking back on various Japanese RPG franchises that have seemingly disappeared in our current generation. Though I don't agree, many of our commenters reached the conclusion that the genre itself is outdated and dead. Great timing, then, for Imageepoch, a Japanese developer who has announced that they are going to begin publishing games with the intent of bringing JRPGs back to prominence.

Andriasang brings us this new info on Imageepoch, the developer behind recent RPGs such as Arc Rise Fantasia on the Wii and the Luminous Arc series on the DS. The company will announce further details on their move into publishing one week from now, on November 24. They are planning to put out eight games in 2011, which will include console, PC, mobile, and online titles.

We probably won't find out which of these games (if any) will make their way to North America for some time. For now, though, you can enjoy their English-voiced teaser trailer for the announcement. That first bit of Japanese text is talking about how JRPG is "often used overseas with negative meaning." Hey now, some of us still love 'em.