Nintendo: Lost in Translation

[Hero-of-Time]

With the annoucement of the Xenoblade classic controller it seems a storm is brewing in terms of western gamers VS Nintendo.

 

For those who don't know it looks as if Nintendo of America has no interest in bringing over Xenoblade or Last Story. Xenoblade is coming out in a couple of months for us and Last Story and Pandora's Tower have both been hinted at yet none of these are being mentioned by NoA. That being the case many people are flooding Nintendo's facebook and twitter pages with requests for the games release, aswell as asking questions as to why they have heard nothing about these titles.

 

This isn't the first time Nintendo have left gamers out in the cold. In recent years America did not get games such as Another Code R and Disaster while us European folk missed out of games such as Excitebots and Mario Sluggers. These titles could have easily been released especially given the drought we have had in terms of Wii games.

 

You can see why they didn't give us Sluggers, as it's game that's based on a sport we don't embrace over here in Europe. Excitebots is a different kettle of fish though. Mario Kart was a massive success on the Wii so it seemed like a no branier to release another wacky racing game but apparently we weren't good enough to receive the game.

 

Disaster is another mystery. The western market enjoys a good dark and moody game and this fits the bill nicely. The translation to english was complete, hence Europe getting it, yet Nintendo refused to let the US gamers have the game, again even when there was a slot to be filled.

 

Both the US and Europe missed out on a few titles that Japan got. Fatal Frame 4 was long rumoured to be heading west, even an advert was seen in a European gaming magazine yet the game never arrived. Captain Rainbow looked like an enjoyable romp that made way for various Nintendo cameos but again we were left without. Lastly Zangeki no Regenleiv was released as an example of an action game being used with the Motion+ but yet again we were denied that, which is even stranger given that Nintendo could have used the title to push Wii Motion+.

 

If Nintendo don't want to release these titles then how about handing them over to another publisher? XSeed are always looking for the next RPG to give gamers and i'm sure they would love the chance to publish a Nintendo title.

 

Another confusing thing is that certain titles are given the translation treatment, such as Glory of Heracles, a game with no real fanbase yet they pass up on titles like Fire Emblem 2 on the DS. Another example is Tingle on the DS. The game never got released in the US but did in Europe yet Europe didn't get the sequel despite the original getting very favourable reviews from gamers and the press.

 

The lack of games getting translated is not the only problem, the time between each regions releases needs a BIG work over. We live in a world where everyone is connected. It's not like the old days where we didn't know what each region was getting but now we do. The wait Europe had for Smash Bros and Kirby was an absolute joke. Nintendo kept claiming these were taking a long time getting a release due to translating the game and if that was the case then there is something seriously wrong.

 

Lost Odyssey on the 360 was a massive RPG that had a massive amount of text and voice over work, yet the game was released in Japan on Dec 07 and then in both Europe and the US on Feb 08. The same goes for Final Fantasy XIII. Released in Japan Dec 09 and the rest of the world March 10. This shows big respect to all regions and a delay of a month or two is undertandable when it comes to RPGs that are this size but not when it's a beat-em-up or a platformer.

 

Another example of this is Mario Galaxy 2. This was a mssive Nintendo title and as such should have had a worlwide release on the same day, yet we had to wait nearly a month to get it after the US and the poor aussies had to wait even longer.

 

Alot of these problems wouldn't be so bad if Nintendo followed Microsoft and Sony by making their consoles region free. Nintendo seem to be clamping down harder what with the 3DS being region locked, which quite frankly is idiotic as it's a handheld and many people take them on holiday with them. You can understand why people use such things as the Homebrew channel when Nintendo are making these kinds of decisions.

 

Nintendo must be sitting on a MASSIVE amount of cash at this point so how about splashing the cash and sorting this situation out. Sure they have been successful without certain titles getting released but giving gamers something to play during the droughts shows a sign of respect to the people who have supported them all these year, especially when some of them games are already translated. Remember Nintendo, we know what titles are out there...

 

Thoughts?

[The Peeps]

I can't even begin to imagine why they hold back games or fail to release them altogether. It makes no sense.

[Ganepark32]

Obviously, they have to weigh up the cost of translation/releasing the games in each territory with the potential income they'll get from selling the games. After all, they are a business first and a game developer second so on that front, and due to JRPGs having declined sales wise in the US in recent years, it is somewhat understandable that NoA are reluctant to mention the games or even consider translating them.

 

That is probably the excuse they'll be using. However, Xenoblade is set for release here in Europe, a place where we generally see fewer JRPGs than the US and so there's clearly a smaller market for them in comparison, although the market for them is hungry enough to eat them up. Yet NoE still believe in bringing Xenoblade over, potentially at a loss yet their willing to do it. Similarly with Solatorobo (which XSEED have had to pick up for releasing in the US as opposed to NoA). It does look as though we'll be getting The Last Story here in Europe as well next year (and I'm not too sure about Pandora's Tower but who knows).

 

So yes, it does seem strange that Nintendo have an issue in localising games in each territory. Clearly, they'll be using market analysts to see what genres are bringing in the most money or what have you in each specific region and ultimately, it comes down to the specific regional branch of Nintendo to make the move in bringing a game over to that region but it does seem at times NoA, over the course of the Wii's life span, has taken a step away from some of the games Nintendo is making in Japan that aren't big franchises or new IPs.

 

We've seen a move towards NoA favouring their Western development partnerships (Next Level, Monster, Retro, etc.) and perhaps the issue lies with a disconnect between the NoJ and NoA branches of the company (there certainly seems to be some at least in regards to Zelda's 25th anniversary and what is being done), whereas NoE does seem to be a bit closer with NoJ when it comes to bringing the games over for localisation (although this clearly doesn't always prove to be positive with longer delays over here and Excitebots inexplicably not getting a release). I don't think it's an issue with their localisation teams being stretched. As I said, I think it's more that they want to focus on the bigger franchises coming out of Japan or the games from Western devs so as to maximise potential profits. The reality is, however, that in doing so they are leaving a massive gap in the software lineup leaving people with unused consoles when they have titles that they could have and should be releasing regardless of whether their analysis is saying that the market for a specific genre has shrunk or that new IPs won't sell.

 

The delays in localisation are getting smaller but I think we can all admit that there really shouldn't be such long gaps with most of Nintendo's games as they aren't really text heavy. And even if they are, if the likes of Square Enix, Bethesda or Bioware can localise huge games in multiple territories for release on the same day, Nintendo should be able to do it. They should be spending more of their money on getting it done as getting 'shafted' on the release date and having to wait months will probably put off some gamers.

 

Really, at the moment, it seems like Nintendo is a collection multiple companies rather than a single entity and focus too much on the regional boundaries and outdated notions of what gamers want. It's a mentality they'll have to lose with the WiiU if they want to be as successful.

[daftada]

I think the timing difference between SquareEnix and Nintendo's translation times is down to the sheer volume of titles Nintendo puts out. SE may have, what four or five games at any one time to translate into the five main Euro languages, then compare that to the number Nintendo release across Wii, DS, 3DS plus digital channels. They also throw resources into some big third party titles too ( i think im right in thinking they got involved with the EU translations of Monster Hunter and the last few Dragon Quest games?).

 

NoE are SOOOOOooo much better these days than they were in the old days. They actually seem to be able to decide for themselves what to bring to Europe instead of NoJ assuming everything that's a bit niche will never sell here (which to be fair is kinda true - Xenoblade isn't going to hit big numbers if we're being realistic). I just wish they could find the time to go back and translate older titles like Giftpia, Captain Rainbow, Baten Kaitos Origins and Excite Bots.

 

But still, well done NoE for bringing over four very awesome games (inc solartorobo) to help tide me over till Wii U!

[Jamba]

The biggest mystery to me is why a game can translated into EFIGS in Europe for release in the territory and then NOT released in the States. They don't need to do any localisation as it's standard to release in EFS over there.

[Fused King]

Reading the OP just made me realise once again how awesome Rising Star Games is for bringing Little King's Story over here, AND Muramasa: The Demon Blade

[Ganepark32]

Reading the OP just made me realise once again how awesome Rising Star Games is for bringing Little King's Story over here, AND Muramasa: The Demon Blade

 

Indeed. Rising Star Games have been fantastic this generation, especially with regards to bringing content to the Wii. The titles you've mentioned along with Fragile Dreams have been some of the best Wii games/experiences I've gotten out of games on the Wii and it'd have been truly awful if the likes of RSG weren't there to bring these titles over as no one else would.

 

RSG, though, put Nintendo into perspective really (just as the likes of XSEED and Aksys Game (you only need to look at how popular 999 was) do in North America). If a small publisher with a tiny budget compared to Nintendo can make the effort to bring niche titles over and get a fan base, surely Nintendo should be bringing over these RPGs and action titles because they have a bigger fan following.

 

As Jamba mentioned, Xenoblade (and now The Last Story) will have the English, French and Spanish translations necessary for a North American release so they don't need to do anything other than perhaps reading through the dialogue to make sure everything is fine. Similarly, the NTSC code needed for release in NA is already available, a la the Japanese release. Granted, it's not as simple as printing it on a disc and it's ready for release but converting from NTSC-J to NTSC in NA is incredibly simple from what I understand as opposed to converting NTSC into PAL. So really, at this point there is no excuse for not bringing them over, especially after Iwata said they'd begin translating titles that never left Japan for other territories and even more so when the release schedule for the Wii is wafer thin.

[D_prOdigy]

Sorry.

 

 

/too much time on hands

[Hero-of-Time]

I always wondered what they said at the end of that movie and now I know.

 

It's a sad state of affairs when gamers have to beg for releases from the most successful company this gen.

 

This from Ganepark is a fantastic observation.

 

Really, at the moment, it seems like Nintendo is a collection multiple companies rather than a single entity and focus too much on the regional boundaries and outdated notions of what gamers want. It's a mentality they'll have to lose with the WiiU if they want to be as successful.

 

Thei mindset HAS to change come the release of the Wii U, surely?

 

I would like to know who is exactly stopping these translations being done. A guy on Gaf stated that NoJ gives a list of titles that NoA and NoE can release and then it's up to them to decide which ones they want. I haven't a clue if that's true or not but it does seem to be the case.

[Jamba]

Really, at the moment, it seems like Nintendo is a collection multiple companies rather than a single entity and focus too much on the regional boundaries and outdated notions of what gamers want. It's a mentality they'll have to lose with the WiiU if they want to be as successful.

 

I'm pretty sure that all of the multinational companies feel like this though. There is so much of a push and pull between who gets the credit for what happens. For instance, if anyone wants to look at which of the following carefully: Sega of Japan, Sega of America and Sega of Europe. Ask yourself, who is in charge of the profitable franchises? Then ask who do most people perceive as being the heart of the company?

 

It would be very likely that orders come from on high from Japan in Nintendo and I wouldn't be surprised if they get very little explanation as to why they can and can't do things.

[Burny]

Waiting a couple of months for a big game to release? The humility! I don't see this as an issue as long as the game releases. It would be nice if all games released at the same time globally, but most already do. I don't even count a month or two as meaningful difference here. We're flooded with great games these days when all platforms are taken into account. There is always something else to play.

 

And there is no point in crying after obscure stuff. Captain Rainbow and Zangeki no Reginleiv - seriously? You could scare the average western gamer up a tree with Captain Rainbow and Zangeki no Reginleiv could not even be called critically acclaimed in Japan (Famitsu: 8/7/7/6). If someone is this attached to Japanese games and has the time to play them, actually learning Japanese and importing a Japanese system + games should not be out of question.

 

Lost Odyssey? Very bad example. Checking who the publisher was explains instantly why the game was released in all territories within a short timeframe: Microsoft Game Studios. They likely did not do this out of generosity, but because they wanted to conquer the JRPG market and one up Sony. The result: Mistwalker's next project was published (and probably funded) by Nintendo. That should tell a great deal about how successful their cooperation with Microsoft was.

 

The reason why some games are brought over, even if they're ultra-niche at best and some stay in Japan, seems to be caused largely by the desire to please shareholders and by Nintendo Japan mandating some releases due to deals. Reading Neogaf you sometimes find very interesting posts: 1 2. Tingle, Disaster, Excitebots, Sin & Punishment 2 all turned out to be niche games. In the short term, Nintendo likely has more to lose than to win by bringing them over.

 

The things that really irk me are high profile games that are already translated and released for either Europe or the US, but not brought over to the other territory. In this case it's pretty much only Xenoblade and The Last Story, which both seem unlikely to get a US release at this point. JRPGs are more of a niche nowadays, but those two games are still high profile titles.

 

Overall it's a very unfortunate situation where people are unlikely to get all the games they want, if they're interested in more niche things. Removing region locking would remove the issue for gamers entirely. I've yet to hear an explanation for the benefits region locking offers Nintendo, but they're unlikely to do it just in order to spit into their customer's soup. It's time someone started to squeeze the actual reasoning behind it out of Iwata. I don't buy age restriction regulations. US copies of games aren't sold in European shops and vice versa. That only applies for things like the eShop which have to work with parental controls.

 

We shouldn't fool ourselves into thinking that removing region locking and starting to release every niche game globally is going to do Nintendo much good though. If they lose money on such games even the contrary will be the case. And with the WiiU it's going to make even less of a difference. They're after the Assassin's Creeds, the Mass Effects, the Call of Duties and the Battlefields. When they succeed in getting such extremely high profile titles on their system, some obscure Japanese titles are even less likely to see releases in the West.

Edited June 27, 2011 by Burny

[Hero-of-Time]

Waiting a couple of months for a big game to release? The humility! I don't see this as an issue as long as the game releases. It would be nice if all games released at the same time globally, but most already do. I don't even count a month or two as meaningful difference here. We're flooded with great games these days when all platforms are taken into account. There is always something else to play.

 

True, but what about those gamers who only own a Wii? These guys have had to wait a stupid amount of weeks or even months for big game releases like Smash Bros, Mario Galaxy and Kirby. I have the luxury of being able to jump on my 360 but it still annoys the hell out of me that Nntendo does this, especially with games that clearly require very little effort in terms of translating.

 

And there is no point in crying after obscure stuff. Captain Rainbow and Zangeki no Reginleiv - seriously? You could scare the average western gamer up a tree with Captain Rainbow and Zangeki no Reginleiv could not even be called critically acclaimed in Japan.

 

Captain Rainbow looked very quirky and totally my kind of scum, but yes I can see your point with that game, but not with Zangeki. That game looked like a blast and couldn't give a toss about what Famitsu said, they have been going downhill for a long time now and I like to judge games for myself. The game had 4 player online co-op, plenty of action and supported the Wii Motion +. Finally another game that supported this control method had arrived yet Nintendo shelved it for a western release.

 

Lost Odyssey? Very bad example. Checking who the publisher was explains instantly why the game was released in all territories within a short timeframe: Microsoft Game Studios. They likely did not do this out of generosity, but because they wanted to conquer the JRPG market and one up Sony. The result: Mistwalker's next project was published (and probably funded) by Nintendo. That should tell a great deal about how successful their cooperation with Microsoft was.

 

It doesn't matter what the reason was behind Microsoft giving it a near worldwide launch, the fact is they did it and showed that it can be done. As I said earlier, this was a massive game with huge amounts of text and speech yet Microsoft had no problems giving this a near worldwide launch. The games failure had nothing to do with when or how it launched but more to do with the console it was on. Had Sony did the exact same thing with Lost Odyssey it would have done much better as the PS3 has a presence in Japan, whereas the 360 doesn't.

 

Removing region locking would remove the issue for gamers entirely. I've yet to hear an explanation for the benefits region locking offers Nintendo, but they're unlikely to do it just in order to spit into their customer's soup. It's time someone started to squeeze the actual reasoning behind it out of Iwata. I don't buy age restriction regulations. US copies of games aren't sold in European shops and vice versa. That only applies for things like the eShop which have to work with parental controls.

 

We shouldn't fool ourselves into thinking that removing region locking and starting to release every niche game globally is going to do Nintendo much good though.

 

In my opinion Nintendo wants to keep region locking on their consoles for the very reasons we are discussing here. How many of us imported Smash Bros on the Wii when we heard we weren't getting it for months after the US launch? I know quite a few did. Clearly Nintendo don't want this, which in my mind means they have no intention of changing their business model in terms of releasing games worldwide within a decent timeframe.

 

Alot of my DS games were from the US because either they got released alot quicker over there or we didn't get them over here at all. With region locking on the 3DS we are now forced to wait until the game arrives in our own country or buy another machine if we want to play games that never get released. I fear the Wii U will be exactly the same aswell.

[daftada]

Region-locking has a lot to do with licencing issues, as different companies sometimes hold the rights to publish in different territories and removing region locking could negatively affect some of the smaller ones that take a chance on a niche title, or stumble upon a sleeper hit.

 

Take Rising Star Games for example, say the wii wasn't region-locked and everyone in Europe who'd usually get a PAL copy went and imported a Harvest Moon or Rune Factory from the US. When RSG come to release the game in the EU they would have lost their main market, making them lose money, have to close, sack all the hard working, nice people they employ and subsequently make Jesus cry.

 

Price differentials also play a part. If games in the US were half the price of EU games (which isn't far from the truth - and there are many reasons why that is) and they could easily be imported here, the average selling price for the game would decrease, reducing the profit margins and making shareholders unhappy.

 

Games companies are businesses. A business' first priority is it's own profitability, next are the shareholders that invest in them to give them the cash to create more games, last on the list are the consumers. That's a hard reality for all creative industries. A successful company has to walk a fine balance between those three and to be fair to them, Nintendo actually do that pretty well.

 

I would have liked to see them pour some of the Brain Training, Wii Fit and other 'casual' profits into setting up a couple more internal studios dedicated to core games but I'm sure they have good (business) reasons why that hasn't happened.

[Burny]

True, but what about those gamers who only own a Wii?

There is no excuse for that. :p

 

It doesn't matter what the reason was behind Microsoft giving it a near worldwide launch, the fact is they did it and showed that it can be done.

It does matter very much if we're talking about an international release, because MS did not do it again. It's kind of hard to ask Nintendo to do something, that somebody else didn't consider successful enough in order to repeat it.

[Hero-of-Time]

I would have liked to see them pour some of the Brain Training, Wii Fit and other 'casual' profits into setting up a couple more internal studios dedicated to core games but I'm sure they have good (business) reasons why that hasn't happened.

 

[Hero-of-Time]

Here's a great article from wired.

 

The most charitable thing that we could say right now about the lineup of games for Nintendo’s Wii console is that it is not quite a barren wasteland. There’s the epic adventure The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. The Wii debut of the addictive, original music game Rhythm Heaven. And another Kirby game. All these are coming at some indeterminate point in the future.

 

And that’s about it, at least for those of us who are fans of deep, challenging experiences, or the sort of things we used to call “videogames.†Nintendo’s got plenty more on tap for the casual audience, of course: virtual board games like Mario Party and Fortune Street, find-the-object games like Mystery Case Files and Mii mini-game playgrounds like Wii Play Motion.

 

That’s in America. In Japan, where Wii has not been as explosively popular, it’s a different story. Nintendo continues to make grand overtures to the hard-core gaming fans in its home country. Most notably, over the past year it has released two role-playing games called Xenoblade and The Last Story, created by some of Japan’s most famous RPG designers. The games are exactly the sort of thing that Nintendo’s system lacks; full-scale adventures with solid gameplay, high-quality graphics and music and interesting stories.

 

So it came as something of a shock when Nintendo did not take the opportunity at E3 to announce U.S. releases for these two games. Over the years, Nintendo of America has often declined to release many of its more hard-core Japanese games, but these seem to have been the straw that broke the camel’s back for many fans. A group of them has started a social-media letter-writing campaign. Most interestingly, they have mobilized enough fans to pre-order Xenoblade on Amazon (using an outdated entry for the game’s old working title Monado) that it was for a time the #1 selling game on the site.

 

While it is still possible that Nintendo plans to release these games in the U.S. and simply has not announced them yet, given its track record there is good reason to be skeptical bordering on pessimistic. Nintendo, like every other publisher on the planet, has every right and duty to decline to release certain games. What makes Nintendo unique is that it refuses to let other publishers release the games, either. What good does it do anyone to sit on content — especially when there’s barely anything else on your platform?

 

 

As for me, I’m lucky. I speak and read Japanese, and so I was able to buy and play Xenoblade and The Last Story (after buying a Japanese Wii, of course, following Nintendo’s unfortunate decision to region-lock the console). I actually started studying the Japanese language specifically so I could play games that weren’t released in English, the most notorious of which at the time was Final Fantasy V.

 

These days, many more Japanese games are released here, and with much faster turnaround times. Small publishers like Atlus, NIS America and Aksys do a brisk business in releasing many niche role-playing games in small batches for hard-core fans. Today’s gamers don’t need to crack the books and study kanji characters simply to play the games they want.

 

The one maddening exception is Nintendo of America, which for reasons it flatly refuses to discuss has greatly cut down the number and types of games that it releases. The omissions that fans have found to be most egregious are the ones in established game series. Nintendo partnered with Tecmo Koei to release the latest in the Fatal Frame series exclusively for Wii, a survival horror franchise that was quite popular in the PlayStation 2 era. It was never released outside Japan.

 

Early in the life of Nintendo DS, Nintendo released two intriguing puzzle-adventure games called Trace Memory and Hotel Dusk. It produced sequels to both games, which were released in Europe, but not America.

 

Two excellent GameCube games, Pikmin 2 and Chibi-Robo, were re-released on Wii in Japan featuring motion controls. Neither came here.

 

I won’t belabor the point. (Okay, I will: Mother 3.) Yes, every other game publisher routinely decides that it does not have the money or bandwidth to release certain games in all territories. Recently, Capcom’s U.S. branch said that it would not release the latest Nintendo DS Ace Attorney game in the U.S., after five critically acclaimed installments.

 

When asked why, senior vice president Christian Svensson was quite forthcoming: “The costs of localization are higher than the forecasted return,†he said on the company’s official forums.

 

Third parties have abandoned Wii, and Nintendo apparently does not see fit to change its game lineup to make up for that.While it’s unlikely that Capcom would let another publisher handle the game, many large gamemakers do actively seek out other outfits that are all too happy to translate and release the games they pass on. For example, Namco Bandai declined to release the wonderful Retro Game Challenge, which was picked up by XSEED. Sony didn’t want to tackle What Did I Do To Deserve This, My Lord?, and NIS America jumped on it.

 

Nintendo used to allow this; its first-party Japanese games Cubivore and Polarium Advance were released in the U.S. by Atlus. This is a company that I am fairly sure would be positively ecstatic to release any or all of the games that Nintendo passes on.

 

And yet, for some reason unbeknownst to us common folk, Nintendo sees more benefit in sitting on the games and never releasing them at all. Saving them for a rainy day, perhaps? If so, it’s pouring now. The list of upcoming third-party Wii games that Nintendo distributed at E3 tells the rest of the story: There is not a single game coming to the Wii from them that is not either aimed at the casual audience or otherwise based on a kid-friendly movie or TV license. It’s over. Third parties have abandoned Wii as a serious platform, and Nintendo apparently does not see fit to change its game lineup to make up for that.

 

With practically nothing on the Wii that isn’t licensed shovelware or casual mini-games, this would be the perfect time for Nintendo to partner with smaller third parties and have them handle the localization and release of some original games.

 

This is especially true in the case of Tecmo Koei, who produced Fatal Frame and Takt of Magic for Wii. Do you know what Tecmo Koei is releasing on Wii this year? Champion Jockey, a racetrack-betting simulator. Do you think it would rather be releasing Fatal Frame? Why yes, I believe it would.

 

It’s not that these games are all amazing. Xenoblade and The Last Story are very good, but I think many of the others would get middling reviews. But being selective about which games to release makes some sense only if players are otherwise spoiled for choice. If that was ever the case on Wii, it is not anymore.

 

Hey, I get it: Casual gamers are Nintendo’s bread and butter. It sold millions more copies of Wii Sports Resort than it sold of Metroid Prime 3. It makes perfect sense that it would exert more effort there, given that Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 own the hard-core gamer market. But Nintendo always said that it did not intend to abandon the core. And with its emphasis on core games for Wii U and 3DS at E3, one would think it would make at least some token effort to retain those fans through the Wii’s final year and a half.

 

I should probably note at this point that the absence of Xenoblade and The Last Story from E3 does not mean that they have been canned. There is a great chance that fans are organizing a letter-writing campaign over products that Nintendo already has every intention of releasing.

 

Indeed, Nintendo has a history of holding games back from E3. Remember that in 2008 it waited until October to announce Punch-Out!!, Sin & Punishment and the DS version of Rhythm Heaven. Perhaps it did not want the games to be forgotten in the whirlwind of E3.

 

But if gamers find themselves pessimistic about these games’ chances, Nintendo has only its own disastrous track record to blame.

 

[darksnowman]

True, but what about those gamers who only own a Wii?

 

I'm one of these and to be perfectly honest, I've been snowed under with quality games to play on the Wii. The only stuff I really care about having missed out on is the likes of Blue Dragon and the odd other HD RPG that came out. I now hope these will get released on the Wii U.

[Magnus]

I'm one of these and to be perfectly honest, I've been snowed under with quality games to play on the Wii.

I imagine you laughing like a maniac as you posted this.

[darksnowman]

I imagine you laughing like a maniac as you posted this.

 

 

Or like a baron. Mwahahahaha.

 

I haven't updated my Backloggery since last year it seems, but the Wii section on it shows that theres been no lack of gaming on Wii - for me atleast. Getting home console RPGs would have been nice but the DS has been such a haven for them that it hasn't been a big problem. I'd even go as far as to say I think RPGs are better suited to handheld gaming.

[Josh64]

I can see why Nintendo would hold back on releasing some titles but at this moment in time they should be releasing these big games. Even if they risk making a loss I think it would surely be a risk worth taking when the Wii has such little going for it right now.

 

It seems as though not only have third party publishers now given up on Wii but so have Nintendo. Skyward Sword and an unreleased Kirby game from 2004 aren't enough to keep me excited about Nintendo's console and this generation has been the first where I've had to buy another console because of the lack of quality games.

 

It's weird because this time last year the Wii was fantastic with the likes of Galaxy 2, Sonic Colors and Epic Mickey - I wouldn't have thought it would suddenly fall flat on it's face.