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This Week in Games - Thanks for 2017, Japan!


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belvadeer





PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 11:23 am Reply with quote
Quote:
In fact, Mario Kart 7—yes, the six-year-old 3DS game—has outperformed Yakuza so far this year.


This is...eyebrow-raising, but maybe not since folks here care more about zany mascot racing than experiencing the mostly fictional antics of Japanese mafia members.

Disney Afternoon Collection: When I first saw this, I thought they were bringing back the actual programming block (I'd say "one can dream", but no, not even in this case). Anyway, this is a really good idea and a good way to experience the nostalgia of when Capcom released memorable games based on Disney licenses, but the reaction to it not being available for Switch has been absolutely hilarious and is the only thing people are focusing on about it. I doubt most Switch owners would actually play this if it was made available for the system, so why is there such a major backlash against it? Yeah, I know these titles were all originally NES titles and therefore the collection should be for the Switch too, but that seems to be the only reason they give. I thought Switch owners wanted the Switch to play brand new games, not old school game collections.
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BadNewsBlues



Joined: 21 Sep 2014
Posts: 5886
PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 11:56 am Reply with quote
Not to nitpick but I find it curious about Yakuza 0 being lauded as one of the best reviewed games of 2017 in spite of the fact that the game is from 2015.


belvadeer wrote:


Disney Afternoon Collection: When I first saw this, I thought they were bringing back the actual programming block (I'd say "one can dream", but no, not even in this case). Anyway, this is a really good idea and a good way to experience the nostalgia of when Capcom released memorable games based on Disney licenses, but the reaction to it not being available for Switch has been absolutely hilarious and is the only thing people are focusing on about it. I doubt most Switch owners would actually play this if it was made available for the system, so why is there such a major backlash against it? Yeah, I know these titles were all originally NES titles and therefore the collection should be for the Switch too, but that seems to be the only reason they give. I thought Switch owners wanted the Switch to play brand new games, not old school game collections.


As you mentioned it's nostalgia driving the butthurt that and Capcom is still one of the top
publishers to hate for things people should've moved on from ages ago. But that being said
they could at the very least had kicked out with a 3DS version even the Megaman Legacy Collection had a 3DS port.
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Hoppy800



Joined: 09 Aug 2013
Posts: 3331
PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 12:05 pm Reply with quote
The mid 90's to early 2000's is when Japan really shined in game releases on consoles. 2017 can't even stand on late 2013 at this moment although EDF5 and Gundam Versus are pretty much are going to be good along with Dragon Quest XI. 8th gen has been the absolute worst when it comes to Japanese releases (the releases came too late in the PS4's lifespan and it took forever to even get this far, heaven forbid you only had a WiiU or an Xbox One instead of a PS4, 3DS, or a Vita and not enough games compared to the PS3).
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belvadeer





PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 12:14 pm Reply with quote
BadNewsBlues wrote:
But that being said they could at the very least had kicked out with a 3DS version even the Megaman Legacy Collection had a 3DS port.


Valid point.

Hoppy800 wrote:
The mid 90's to early 2000's is when Japan really shined in game releases on consoles. 2017 can't even stand on late 2013 at this moment although EDF5 and Gundam Versus are pretty much are going to be good along with Dragon Quest XI. 8th gen has been the absolute worst when it comes to Japanese releases (the releases came too late in the PS4's lifespan and it took forever to even get this far, heaven forbid you only had a WiiU or an Xbox One instead of a PS4, 3DS, or a Vita and not enough games compared to the PS3).


Where do you see this trend going, Hoppy? Any thoughts on future game development trends?
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varmintx



Joined: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 1197
Location: Covington, KY
PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 1:05 pm Reply with quote
Sad, but not the least bit surprised to hear Gravity Rush 2 isn't selling well. It just always felt like the game was going to get ignored by the general gaming community regardless of its quality.
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Themaster20000



Joined: 05 Aug 2014
Posts: 863
PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 3:22 pm Reply with quote
varmintx wrote:
Sad, but not the least bit surprised to hear Gravity Rush 2 isn't selling well. It just always felt like the game was going to get ignored by the general gaming community regardless of its quality.


It didn't have a ton of buzz sadly. Nioh on the other hand,was able to really build interest with those timed demos,which helped the game be better,along with getting people to try it out due to being timed.
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BodaciousSpacePirate
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Joined: 17 Apr 2015
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 3:48 pm Reply with quote
Typically, the last few years of every Nintendo handheld's lifespan is the time we get all the crazy unmarketable JRPGs, so at this point, I'm just waiting for Atlus to finally release Persona 5 and then announce that they have started work localizing Etrian 5. After that, I'm going to hold off console purchases until they announce what platform the new Etrian games will be moving to.

Quote:
Though it's a deeper dive than this paragraph can adequately explore, it's super cool than an American publisher can give some doujin business a bit of localized love.


Especially considering we haven't gotten a wholehearted official English-language release of any of the non-fanmade Touhou games.

Correct me if I'm wrong - all of my Touhou stuff is imported from Japan and then filtered through WineSkin - but wasn't the Western release of Touhou 14 untranslated (not in the "oh, it has Japanese voice acting with subtitles way, but in the "they didn't even bother translating any of the character's dialogue boxes into English" way)?
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DRWii



Joined: 16 May 2007
Posts: 636
PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 7:53 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
You can absolutely pick out terrific Japanese games from the past couple of years, but we're only two-and-a-half months into 2017 and already have a half-dozen major home console games that range from great to excellent. Resident Evil 7. Yakuza 0. Nioh. NieR: Automata. Gravity Rush 2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

I think this is just a coincidence, honestly. "Yakuza 0" came out in Japan 2 years ago, "Nioh," "Automata," and "GR2" were originally supposed to be out last year (and the first of those was announced over a decade ago), and "Zelda" was delayed how many times?

Quote:
But I'm endlessly amused that Atlus is putting out the beach day DLC for free, when most publishers would charge extra for it.

Probably because Atlus is smart enough to realize that charging money for costumes that characters actually wear during story scenes would be a really scummy move.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15279
PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 10:06 pm Reply with quote
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CAPCOM announced this week a release called the Disney Afternoon Collection, which collates a half-dozen licensed NES classics in a single $20 package. Those games are Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers 1 and 2, Darkwing Duck, DuckTales 1 and 2, and TaleSpin.


They should probably throw in Mickey Mousecapade and Magic Kingdom, too. Cool
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Kicksville



Joined: 20 Nov 2010
Posts: 1168
PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 10:37 pm Reply with quote
DRWii wrote:
Quote:
You can absolutely pick out terrific Japanese games from the past couple of years, but we're only two-and-a-half months into 2017 and already have a half-dozen major home console games that range from great to excellent. Resident Evil 7. Yakuza 0. Nioh. NieR: Automata. Gravity Rush 2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

I think this is just a coincidence, honestly. "Yakuza 0" came out in Japan 2 years ago, "Nioh," "Automata," and "GR2" were originally supposed to be out last year (and the first of those was announced over a decade ago), and "Zelda" was delayed how many times?

Yyyyeah, that's the thing - with these things having been in development for so long and finally coming out, the better question is what comes next. Being highly praised and selling well sure didn't save Metal Gear from Konami bean counters going "well you know we can make just as much if not more money on phone games and pilates classes, ssssso..."

I hope, of course, my cynicism is dead wrong and Japanese games flourish again, but it's hard not to be worried. I'd just remind people to put their money where their mouth is if they want more games like this. I've never bought a Nintendo console at launch, but I bought a Switch, cause in these times we really need a Nintendo.
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Enner



Joined: 18 Nov 2006
Posts: 91
PostPosted: Fri Mar 17, 2017 1:18 am Reply with quote
DRWii wrote:

... and "Zelda" was delayed how many times?


Twice, if you only account for the official word from Nintendo. If you ignore the official word and only go on video game enthusiast gut checks, then that number inflates as large as the imagination.

Jesting aside, the better rhetorical questions is "how long was Zelda delayed?"
(The answer to that is ~14-15 months, being generous to Nintendo. The game was first officially talked about in January 2013, the first teaser trailer was shown at E3 2014, the target date was [~Q4] 2015, then the game was delayed to [~Q4] 2016, and then further delayed to 2017. The reason it has felt so long is because Nintendo invoked the specter of "the next Zelda" since the beginning of 2013.)

The rush of great games from Japan in early 2017 can be chalked up to coincidence. There's not much in the visible future outside of Persona 5 and maybe Nintendo's stuff of Splatoon 2 and Super Mario Odyssey. But maybe there will be surprises!
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KH91



Joined: 17 May 2013
Posts: 6176
PostPosted: Fri Mar 17, 2017 5:26 am Reply with quote
Quote:
You can absolutely pick out terrific Japanese games from the past couple of years, but we're only two-and-a-half months into 2017 and already have a half-dozen major home console games that range from great to excellent. Resident Evil 7. Yakuza 0. Nioh. NieR: Automata. Gravity Rush 2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. That's a world class lineup of games,


Of course you leave out Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue (specifically, 0.2 Birth by Sleep).

Quote:
Is this praise translating to sales? In some cases, but not necessarily. At retail, RE7 has done very well, as has Nioh, but games like Yakuza 0 and Gravity Rush 2 have done significantly lower numbers.


Once again you leave out Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue (specifically, 0.2 Birth by Sleep) when it placed #1 on Media Create/Famitsu and placed #6 on NPD and was the #2 best selling PS4 behind RE7 in January. I haven't even gotten started on its NPD February sales, which came out on Thursday. lol Don't worry. If you don't mention it then I will.
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Hoppy800



Joined: 09 Aug 2013
Posts: 3331
PostPosted: Fri Mar 17, 2017 10:39 am Reply with quote
belvadeer wrote:
BadNewsBlues wrote:
But that being said they could at the very least had kicked out with a 3DS version even the Megaman Legacy Collection had a 3DS port.


Valid point.

Hoppy800 wrote:
The mid 90's to early 2000's is when Japan really shined in game releases on consoles. 2017 can't even stand on late 2013 at this moment although EDF5 and Gundam Versus are pretty much are going to be good along with Dragon Quest XI. 8th gen has been the absolute worst when it comes to Japanese releases (the releases came too late in the PS4's lifespan and it took forever to even get this far, heaven forbid you only had a WiiU or an Xbox One instead of a PS4, 3DS, or a Vita and not enough games compared to the PS3).


Where do you see this trend going, Hoppy? Any thoughts on future game development trends?


A lot of Japanese releases are ending up on mobile only and possibly Mobile/Switch in the near future if the Switch sells better (and get it's problems fixed), if the Switch sells at least 20 million halfway through it's lifespan we may get another console generation heck, the PS5 just got announced so there's a good chance we will have an true 9th generation, but I fear that Japanese devs will be slow to develop for it just like the PS4 due to mobile and especially if Sony doesn't offer anything for the fanbase over there at the same time or earlier as the Western fanbase (that delay cost Japanese sales). Microsoft should do XBO and PC launches of games day 1, I don't think going all PC is a good idea right now even though they have the resources to do so, give owners of either platform Microsoft exclusives on day 1.
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thenix



Joined: 18 Apr 2012
Posts: 265
PostPosted: Fri Mar 17, 2017 11:16 am Reply with quote
I've noticed even more that Japan is Americanizing their games more and Americans are praising them more. I don't like this because I like the traditional Japanese type games for what they are/were. I don't want open world sand box zeldas. I don't want god of war hack and slash rip offs. I don't want grand theft auto rip offs.
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Stuart Smith



Joined: 13 Jan 2013
Posts: 1298
PostPosted: Fri Mar 17, 2017 12:10 pm Reply with quote
thenix wrote:
I've noticed even more that Japan is Americanizing their games more and Americans are praising them more. I don't like this because I like the traditional Japanese type games for what they are/were. I don't want open world sand box zeldas. I don't want god of war hack and slash rip offs. I don't want grand theft auto rip offs.


Which games, exactly? Silent Hill and Castlevania have been torn apart by fans since the shift to western studios. DmC was also hated. Star Ocean 5 was called disappointing by most. About the only game that focused on western audiences that did well here was FFXV. BoTW is more of a call back to the first Zelda game on NES which was also open world so I wouldn't say it was 'Americanized'. The track record for Americanized games tends to be pretty bad, if anything. And even FFXV was ill recieved in Japan so that came at a cost.

Japanese games are still Japanese, and I disagree if you are trying to assert that Souls or Nioh are God of War rip offs, or Yakuza is a GTA rip off. You might as well call God of War an Onimusha rip off in that case.

I also disagree there's some drought of them. MonHun XX and Fire Emblem come out soon, although a lot of the Vita's library stays in Japan so you need to be an importer to enjoy that system these days. I'm not sure how many games people need to consider something to not be a drought, but I've had no shortage of games to play, and I generally only play Japanese games.

-Stuart Smith
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