The Worldwide Release
It seems that the online gaming community in the West is suffering from a feeling of entitlement. A belief that Japanese developers should be striving for simultaneous worldwide releases of their top tier games (most recently Final Fantasy XIII). This desire is completely self motivated and while it’s a sentiment I understand but one I can no longer sympathise with.
Living out here very quickly you come to realise that the West does little to support the Japanese gamer. Numerous top titles take months before they get an Eastern release, if they ever come here. Grand Theft Auto IV had to wait six months before it got a Japanese release (by Capcom not Take 2,) Gears of War 2 is still waiting for a confirmed release date. Even downloadable titles suffer from the same delays with Pain (on PSN) finally coming out this month.
These are just a few examples to demonstrate that staggered releases go two ways. It can be easy to forget when you are eager to your hands on a big title that every region is guilty of prioritising releases of their titles. Indeed Japanese companies tend to do a far better job pushing their titles through to the West. Back in the PS2 days, Metal Gear Solid 3 and Tekken 4 were both released in the US before Japan because that is traditionally where the game sold best.
Final Fantasy XIII will sell well in other regions but it is in Japan that it will be a national phenomenon. Blizzard announced Star Craft 2 first in Korea because it was where it would have the most impact. It’s the same thing for the FF series in Japan. Square Enix loses nothing by releasing it in Japan first, it make more sense for them to spend their time and resources on getting a game out where it will be a cultural event. They will worry about the world market later, possibly when the exchange rate swings in their favor.
Until they decide they are ready to translate their game for an audience outside Japan, stop feeling so damn self entitled. It’s unbecoming.
Tags: Final Fantasy, GTA4, Localisation
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Staggered region releases is one more reason I wish all game companies would abandon the “region” concept altogether. I tried to buy Mario Galaxy here in Japan and it wouldn’t work on my US Wii. The other systems are better about that but I still have to jump through hoops to play certain “exclusive” demos in other regions.
But it’s certainly getting better. There was a time when even the highest profile releases took years to cross the Pacific. Super Mario 3, Zelda II, even some consoles were held up for an eternity because the older hardware was still selling well in the States.