PixlBit

Well it's that long overdue period where I post a blog about something I was originally going to post. Time is hardly ever on my side these days now that I have bought a Wii U Wind Waker bundle and my job, but I figured I might as well post this blog I promised. So with that being said...here is a top 10 list of Wii games not released stateside!

10. Toshinden

Toshinden has been a cult hit for some nostalgic enough to remember it as Battle Arena Toshinden for the Sony Playstation. It's had 4 entries including a game boy game which is the version I owned way back in the day. So Takara Tomy sought to bring back the franchise to the ever popular wii and the results were mixed.

So What Happened?: Honestly Toshinden seemed Dead on Arrival. Even with a manga to run side by side with it Toshinden was just far behind and didn't seem to sell well enough. Perhaps if it had been released early in the Wii life span it would have gotten a chance to make an impression. Plus the fighting wasn't the same.

9. Ikeni no Yoru(a.k.a. Night of Survival/Sacrifice)

A little info about Night of Survival or Night of Sacrifice (depending on your translation of it). It's a survival horror game developed by Marvelous Entertainment in which the main aspect of the game is running away from ghosts. You use your wii remote as a flashlight, the nunchuk to pick up calls to listen to on your tv or via wii remote speaker, and the wii balance board to well...run away from ghosts. The game itself though is at number 9 obviously because well despite a few good scares...is rather repetitive. There's a lack of gameplay and the game is incredibly short (You can beat in in under 5 hours). While a unique premise is certainly great to uphold, the overall quality I guess isn't there.

So Why didn't we get it?: Honestly in a world where we have official releases of Calling, Ju-on The Grudge: A Haunted House Simulator, etc...I'm just guessing that it wasn't monetarily feasible to translate and port it over...even to a third party like Xseed who did Ju-on. It's not like your missing out on much...plus prices on this game are ridiculous ranging anywhere from $60-100 online.

8. Wii Chess

Wii Chess is an odd exemption as it's the only "Wii" series title not released stateside. The game is pretty self explanatory. It's chess. The controls are fairly easy and you point and click to move your pieces. Online is the real draw, honestly all this game has going for it is whether or not Chess enthusiasts felt the need to spend $20 for virtual online chess on their Wii systems.

So why didn't we get it?: See above. I mean chess really caters to a certain niche and honestly seeing as to how well Fritz Chess for Wii sold (in a very limited run stateside) I can't blame Nintendo for not wanting to take the chance.

 7. Another Code: R- A Journey Into Lost Memories

Anothe Code (a.k.a.) Trace memory in the U.S. was a cult hit for the Nintendo DS. Developer Cing saw that potential and made a sequel for the incredibly hot selling Wii. It seemed like a perfect candidate for a stateside release. The sequel brought a lengthier game, more intuitive puzzles, and an equally mysterious story for players wanting to continue the story of Ashley Mizuki Robbins. For the most part the sequel does a fine job, but I will say that it gets quite boring storywise as it mostly pads out until the final chapters.

So What Happened?: Cing went bankrupt. While Cing was certainly one of my favorite developers for taking a chance at interactive visual novel video game marketing (Hotel Dusk and Last Window being their best examples and also being incredibly good) It wasn't monetarily successful. While most Cing games were available in Europe, the games were never brought stateside and Cing went under.

6. Disaster: Day of Crisis

Disaster: Day of Crisis is essentially a B movie style video game from Monolith Soft. Yeah you know the people who brought us  practically everything Xeno. Essentially the  B movie style means it's cheeky, over the top, explosive, fun. You play Raymond Bryce who is having the worst day imaginable. On top of his dead best friend's sister getting kidnapped by terrorists, a seemingly cataclysmic apocalpyse is reigning upon poor Ray who is already having a hell of a day. The gameplay is varied between Time Crisis like shooting segments,free roaming adventure, quick time events, and more. It is a decent guilty pleasure, though far from perfect.

So What Happened?: Poor sales in Austrailia, Europe, and Japan...though this is sort of debatable. In it's first month alone in Japan disaster sold 20,000 copies...So even if you take into consideration that it might have done similarly in Austrailia and Europe that is 60,000 copies sold. I'm not saying it has sold that but it brings pause because I know games higher on this list that sold far, far less and could see why they weren't localized. Many people blame Nintendo's unwillingness to localize anything for this one.

5. Zangeki no Reginleiv (a.k.a. Dynamic Blade/The Slashing of Reginleiv)

Zangeki no Regenleiv is a unique game. Developed by Sandlot  of the Earth Defense Force series and utilizing the Wii motion plus. This heavy combat blood bath is wickedly fun both online and off. It's not the most perfect game as it gets insanely difficult 3/4 of the way through and motion controls don't always work right. Still the idea of a Norse mythology bloodbath could have made this a God of War contender for Nintendo.

So What Happened?: Honestly, mature games stumbled on the Wii. And Zangeki no Reginleiv could have just as easily been another stumble block for Nintendo. And by 2010 the Wii motion plus really wasn't being utilized to it's potential and wouldn't be in the Wii's few short years left as Nintendo focused on development of the WII u (Still early in development, but development nonetheless)

4. Captain Rainbow

Captain Rainbow is a unique game developed by Skip Ltd. But aren't all games developed by Skip unique? You play as Captain Rainbow who gets caught on Mimin Island as a hero lost. His powers are failing and so he decides to rejuvenate the island inhabitants by granting their wishes and restoring his power. And just who are these residents? Why they are Nintendo castaways and Skip game mascots of course! Help a foul mouthed  trouble making Birdo! Wonder what happened to Little Mac in his 15 year absence? Well he became a fat has been!

So What Happened?: It's a general rule of thumb that almost all Skip Ltd. games hardly see a stateside release. (The Chibi-Robo series being the lone exception) but on top of that I am sure that the entire characterization of Birdo as a foul mouthed trouble maker caused pause...as well as the quest to retrieve a certain "item" in her room to prove that Birdo is in fact not a man...

3. Takt of Magic

The spiritual successor to LostMagic, Takt of Magic was developed by Taito for the Nintendo Wii and is actually a really fun real time strategy game. It took away the frustrating complexity of it's predecessor, improved upon it's mechanics, and it is really easy to control. The motions are simple and it's one of the few japanese only games I'd recommend playing even if you can't understand the story.

So What Happened?: It sold less than 3,000 copies in its first week in Japan and sales never went up from that. As I said with Disaster it's understandable not releasing a game with probably less than 9,000 sold copies in a month...but unlike Disaster it probably didn't sell 60,000...hell I'd be surprised if it reached Disaster's first month sales of 20,000.

2. Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse

In a brilliant, yet puzzling move Nintendo acquired the rights to publish the Zero series (or Fatal Frame as we know it) for Nintendo systems. So imagine how fan enthusiasm mounted when it was announced that a 4th installment (directed by Goichi suda/Suda51 of all people) would be coming to the Nintendo Wii. The game is pretty fun. It's a bit slow sure, but I put it up with  the 2nd game Crimson Butterfly as one of the best Fatal Frame games.

So What Happened?: Honestly, another Nintendo localization snubbery. The game sold  over 70,000 in just 6 months time. Yes there are bugs present in the game such as not being able to take pictures of all the ghosts and blue objects not appearing. All were simple fixes I am sure, but apparently Nintendo was unwilling to give Tecmo/Koei the money to do so. Therefore, in Japan it remains.

1. Earth Seeker

And finally my number 1 game is Earth Seeker. I put this ahead of Fatal Frame only because I enjoyed the game a little moreso than Fatal Frame... That and Kadokawa seems to have a bad habit releasing stuff I want stateside (Apparently Rodea: The Sky Soldier is very much alive, but I doubt we'll see it) Anyways, Earth Seeker is break through for the Wii.You take on the role of a young heroine and her monster gremlins to seek for things on the Earth as your spaceship has crash landed there. The gameplay as I can best describe it is Monster Hunter lite. You battle in real time and the only difference is you can pause the action to issue commands for your monsters and there is no online .

So What Happened?: Much like Takt of Magic...It sold poorly...4,000 copies in it's first week to be precise. Not only that but Kadokawa has no American branch and while a third party like Xseed expressed interest in localizing it...as well as Aksys...that's all that really happened was expressed interest and that alone doesn't localize a game.

So that concludes my list...and boy did it take me a while to finally write this lol. As always comments are appreciated.  Agree with the list? Disagree? Maybe there is a hidden gem I forgot! Perhaps a Gundam game! Anyways that's all for me. Thanks for reading!