US Retailers “Don’t Want Anime Games”
- Categories: Games, News
- Date: Aug 9, 2010 07:45 JST
- Tags: Character Design, Falcom, Marketing, Moe, RPG, Translation, USA
A company involved with localising Japanese games for the US has publicly lamented the fact that US retailers refuse to carry games which insist on substituting Chinese cartoons for the sort of manly testosterone dripping beefcakes Americans apparently love so dearly.
Xseed, the localisers for Japanese RPG Zwei, report that “retailers aren’t too crazy about the cutesy graphics, which makes our job a little more difficult.”
In an earlier update they mourn the fact that US retailers apparently refuse to stock insufficiently manly games:
“We do take game requests, but games based on anime are very difficult to do – unless it’s a Dragon Ball or Naruto title, retailers refuse to carry them.”
Japanese publishers and US retailers seem to agree – American gamers simply hate anime.
Obligatory “east vs west” cover comparison:











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don't you think it's time to learn jap? screw the US publishers..
....This makes me think....are they so homophobic that they reject it or is it that they themselves feel inadequate when a fictional character who looks girly than they do is 200 times maniler than they ever could hope to be?
god damn it america
That is because visual novels and games that are mostly like that, take the new FF13 for example, suck. They won't sell.
stupid americans, thisi sprobably the reason why I seee very little anime related stuff over here
release those games exclusively for europe instead. and make sure to region lock them as well as payback for making us wait for almost a year for ToV
wow I didn't have time to read through all of this man stuff here gets a lot of comments quickly. I certainly would buy games with cute characters but then I am odd and I expect people would look at my games and think I was odd...I have enough trouble with people thinking I am some pedophile for having the one or two moe anime I have...(Yeah owning piano makes me a pedophile god people are stupid..its not like I own princess 69...oh wait I do..)
Anyway yes hentai games would sell like hotcakes here and if you want a manly one to start with bring over the rance series...it is hard to get manlier than rance..(of course the controversy would be terrible but then that would just move more product..)
You think having princess 69 would get strange looks try having a retail copy of Harumis bad play or school of masochists(the s&m university anime) Or how bout elfen laid or dark future i own ALL of those retail now imagine the looks i'd get. oh yeah and that's not even half my hentai collection.
You have Kurai Mirai? Bastard, I want!
NICE MUSCLE!!
just start buying directly from japan, even if you don't know japanese and ignore US stores AT ALL TIMES, if you have any kind of skill in learning quickly without even looking at the manual. You'll know how to play in a hour despite the language barrier
and to add, if they lose a chunk of earnings from the loss they might change their mind, if not its a win/win
you get your games and they get their money from those jocks
its still a win/win XD
US Retailers “Don’t Want Anime Games”
Well, screw them, I DO!!
But retail noobs don't play games. How the hell do they know what we like? At this point I'll just say R.I.P High Street Retail Noobs, you never stood a chance because you never understood the problem in the first place...
this is sucks( interesting what is the standing of Europe retailers on this matter?
FUCK!!! I'm a harcore gamer and I love anime style games. Why must they dick over people like me? At least Resonance of Fate and Valkyria Chronicles had the original voices and english subs. I really want the Japanese version Nier tho, or Yakuza 3 with all the content... fuck it I'm learning Japanese, then I won't have to buy shitty made for the US games.
Go translate Zwei II already!
Although i've already played the japanese one.
lol, Zwei 2. German amusement. I'm glad I know languages.
Gee, it couldn't have anything to do with sub par games being made, could it? *Throws dirty look at NIS*
i enjoy their games. Trinity Universe is pretty good game for it's audience.
actually it kinda make sense.
It's kinda like tits or ass.
Which do you prefer?
America is filled with in the closet homophobic bastards
Unfortunately the US prefers muscles and wrinkles..
Legs. T&A are typically found together (ignoring skinny girls with implants), so those guys don't really have to choose between them.
SO FULL OF HATE!!!
Fuck it im learning japanese so i can play jrpgs imported from japan, SCREW YOU AMERICAN RETAILERS SCREW YOU!!!!!!!!!!1
Demands of Japanese language teachers and their wages will increase, if this is going to continue..
I think a new retailer should be created to have the games others won't take.
I never expected a COG warrior to be that scary!
Whatever. Atlus ftw!
Even though i hate the game i have one word for this. WOW, animated sometimes cutsey characters in one of the largest rpgs in the world. Wtf are these ppl talking about, if ppl in america didnt like anime why does anime sell so well in america? Maybe not all anime games would be popular but look at how they are generally made. Most movie, tv, and anime ports rarely turn out to be a good game. Dont blame the people blame the creators of the game
this is not surprising.
wow, I have found a new level of disrespect for my country. why do retailers get to decide what they sell? they are a front for the game market. video games draw people to their otherwise bare electronic section (wal-mart, target, pick one...) and they don't even make any profit on the new games. the only time a retailer can say anything is when the game is controversial to the general public. anime is not, it is IN DEMAND! hell, japan makes most of our electronic accessories anyway
You are kidding me. Why do retailers get to decide what they sell? Every fucking retailer in any business does that with items, it's not just video games. This has been going on forever. It's not a new concept the USA just invented to piss off the Japanese in video games
US retailers not wanting "anime games" has LOOOOOOOOOONNNGGG been a problem. Even as a kid in the 8 and 16 bit days of video gaming, there were a bunch of titles I wanted ported over from Japan. But the chance of it happening was like 1 in a million. And sadly, decades later, the problem still persists and hasn't gotten any better.
Only a very special few lineup get the translation treatment to the USA.
Import gaming may be an answer, but d**n, if you don't understand Japanese, you can be totally screwed with certain gaming genres. RPG & Strategy games would be right out of the question.
Time to learn Japanese. That's gonna be hard u.u
I think it's mostly a case of guilt by association; JRPGs aren't in the best of reputation, so when a person glances that Japanese aesthetic they'll write it off instantly.
This would explain the Dragon ball and Naruto anomaly in that those are fairly well known franchises in the west whereas the torrent of mediocre games are just that: a complete wash devoid of any vestige of taste in the western eye.
Of course the occidental age-old obsession with gigantic, rippling walls of man-flesh mustn't be understated either; there's definitely that bias toward anything 'manly'.
It's perhaps worth noting the same processes apply with to any visual media as well.
I'd like to see a Macho-Rorona sell ANY-at-all. That would be epic!
Hey, the cover art for the second one is simply BETTER.
The first one any student of "How to Draw Manga" books could do. The colors shine garishly. It's just "These are my first Manga characters! I maded my very first Manga!" and the menacing villain in the background looks more goofy than scary.
The second image is Professional level. The whole image is at least "Golden Mean" balanced, both the elements and figures -AND- the colors. And frankly, it's better based on the game, the artist probably played the first level, it reflects the "Constant Pest Deflection" annoyance of fighting through that game. However, that is my fav part, taping down the "Slash" button so your character just slashes endless enemies and then doing something else as you level up. The next day, you are Overman and then you can casually go through about to the end without croaking!
Last, but not least, well the "Western" market is at least not (yet) a market of shut-ins that like effeminate Homosexual appealing "Boys" and pedophile appealing "Women" who look like little girls. Despite the Reptile Overlord's attempts to turn us into just such a culture, we still see our fantasy adventure heroes as "Conan" esque characters and luscious wenches. Strong, adventurous, lusty, macho, MEN. Not wimpy faggoty fantasy boys and lolita girls!
Matter of fact, even the "Gays" tend to like the beefy versus the "Young Boys". (well, I think "high Fashion" is different, but that's a different argument!)
So, really, if some adventurer is carrying a sword that looks like a cutting blade off a 50 foot mecha, he'd better be buffed like the Hulk... Not everyone, including "heroic fantasy" friends have the "Suspension of Disbelief" of a "Fursuit Lifestyler"... Some "Thud and Blunder" or in sci-fi "Bolognium" is OK even awesome, but too much burns a bit.
Likewise, the ladies in these things, esp recently...
Let's have "Conan" (see note) or a similar adventurer type meet up with one of these "Waifs" that somehow we have to think of as strong and capable as "Red Sonjia" if not "Wonder Woman"... Really, let Conan meet up with a "Loli Pirate" or that childish "Alchemist". "Mistah! Mistah! Will you ADVENTURE with me!? Most men my age are such little boys! Want to make love to me?" And he'd be "Excuse me, young girl, I have a putrid boil on one side of mine anus which I must lance forthhaste!" and run, run, RUN.
This is to protect HIM.
He likes women when he's not dumping them in cesspools and they tend to warn him when the city guards are looking for him or even hide him when he's too drunk and a "Loli" is deadly toxic waste to that. Law or no law, women HATE "Loli" - she's a worse 'competition' to them than a barefoot 6 year old girl is to a well paid factory worker. Supposedly (right...) all the sex but less "Please give some of thine loot to fix my family's shack..." manipulation or at least open whoring. It's not true, she'd be just as demanding as a woman AND a child, just as annoying as both and if she's Tween/Teen going through a "Change of life" and just when he gets used to her, she turns worse... But the adult women see her as a reminder of their own clocks ticking away so a man doing her is someone they hate.
So, the Barmaid can cook for and bandage you, the Merchant's daughter you rescue can get you a job, the Princess can give you a "Usurper Card" if you can stand her, the whore gives a good lay and information on the Priest of the Dark Gawdz... The Warrior Woman and Sorceress are wild cards but the "Witches" don't wear underwear and if you don't mind the doing the crone and her daughter at the same time and giving blood for their ritual are powerful allies...
But the "Loli" gets the town "Lynch Mob" running after you faster than punching out the drunk who's the mayor's son. "Protecting her"...right...the women are jealous.
They actually had a neat "Savage Sword of Conan" on this issue. Conan ended up rescuing a young (early tween) girl who instantly developed a crush on him. He was determined to get her to safety, but she made his way there miserable by interfering (intentionally and non) with his womanizing! It was a dumb but funny as h--- story...
I'm not bashing manga, but parts of it's appeal do need to be taken into consideration. Lots of manga I LOVE. "Monster Collection" for example, "Battle Angel", "Vampire Hunter D"...
-----Note: I don't mean the "Detective boy" though IMO if they met, they'd get along. Conan solved problems with his mind too on occasion, he'd like the smart, brave and resourceful boy who he'd "Train" to also use a sword!
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Join my group, join MANarchy!!!
Doesn't matter if it looks so detailed, professional or even Leonardo Da Vinci-ish. They instantly fail the moment they went overboard from the original by injecting steroids on Adol and make the game (visually) taking place 30 years later.
If it's a classic painting in a museum, i'd be hugely amused but seriously not in this kind of case.
and that's yet another reason why america sucks cock.
at this rate everyone will be forced to start learning japanese if they want their jrpg fix.
SO THIS IS WHY WE NEVER GOT THE KANOKON, QUEEN'S BLADE, AND KENICHI GAMES OVER HERE!
*cries sankaku a river* I claim the this river in the name of FAIL.
Actually we never got those games over here because they would have been rated mature and companies are even less likely to release a "mature" anime game. You can blame ESRB and US retailers for the lack of Ikki tousen (which never made it exactly because of the would be mature rating), queen's blade, and others.
Personally I hate FPS or TPS with a passion. So boring a no real character, story, or emotion is involved with the games. Fuck my nation for being more tolerant on violence than the natural act of sex. Not to mention fuck them for also censoring the shit out of everything and for them catering to only one or two groups of video gamers...I'll stick with visual novels from now on. They tend to be more *enjoyable* in the long run anyway.
Good for thief followers. You are happy enough to enjoy pirated anime and games as much as you want. As it were, it's next-generation for web 2.0
Some of us do buy you know. Just when we can't get em legit at least in a manner we can use well other methods are needed.
evidence that the average american male gamer likes buff men ...?
It's more of a how a fat gamer wants to see himself; a buff gun-toting soldier that kick alien, human and monster asses.
>the average american male gamer
Jokes aside, isn't this just a case of narrow-minded people refusing to cater to an existing, and willing, market. Don't those Japanese publishers pull the same shit with anime?
They seem to like them, at least on a screen, better than their girlfriends, if they even have one.
However, as the recipient of some 'gamer girlfriend service' I'm not reeeaaalllyyy complaining, if you know what I mean....
Sell 'em online. Screw the retailers!
I'm good with it. Who needs more final fantasy 13 remakes or strike witches shovelware when we can get American made games with actual gameplay?
Oh snap! That just happened.