The DS is almost bare of any Nintendo(aka first party) support of late; where oh where has Nintendo of America gone? Sadly I know the answer to that, the Wii. As much as I like the Wii, I wish Nintendo wouldn't play favourites as much as it does. Inevitably this always happens, the console is pampered, while the handheld has to fend for itself. Sure the DS is doing great, and the Wii needs more support, but why has Nintendo of America all but abandoned DS support? Where are all the great Nintendo DS titles from Japan? That is the question! Come on Nintendo of America don't leave us poor handheld owners in the cold yet again.....
1. Where is ASH (Archaic Sealed Heat)?
Yes, ASH sold poorly in Japan and it was never confirmed for North American release. BUT it did show up on the ESRB, so that at least means Nintendo of America had played with the idea of releasing it in the west. So where is the tactical RPG now? nobody knows but Nintendo; maybe it's still on the way, or maybe it was scraped. Either way, there has been no news about it since the sighting of it in May on the ESRB site.
2. Where is Professor Layton 2 & 3?
Another title that has been very hushed; nothing about the second installment has been heard or confirmed, expect for the little statement in the manual of the first Layton game:
"The sequel to this game will give you a password."
The chances for Layton hitting the west are a lot better then ASH, but the silence at Nintendo has been disheartening. There have been a few valid points as to why Nintendo of America is keeping its lips sealed. They include:
the localization of a puzzle and word intensive game takes time and Layton isn't ready just yet, and/or the other regions where Layton was recently released will inevitably hear about it if Nintendo of America announces the sequel, so Nintendo is keeping quiet to increase sales. (But I don't quite understand why sales would decrease if the people in those regions heard about the sequel; if anything they would increase, because the sequel continues the tale and although having played the first game isn't required, it will help with understanding character relations and where the story left off). The other less attractive alternatives are, either Nintendo of America is waiting out the economic storm, or they dropped Layton altogether and are not planning on releasing any more games. That or they just like to irritate us fans by not giving us any confirmations =/
Edit: Level 5 confirmed that Layton 2 is currently being localized for the west, so it's definitely coming. I estimate it will be out late 2009 (most likely during the holidays)
Edit 2: It's official release date is August 24th :D
3.Where is Rhythm Heaven (Rhythm Tengoku Gold)?
So I'm not too fond of the rhythm genre and I'm not really regretting the absence of this game, but there are a lot of others who were genuinely excited about its localization. It's even been featured in Nintendo Power's News Section in issue 232 and the issue following it had the game listed in the Game Watch Forecast as TBA. Sure it hasn't had an official O.K., but the majority of the games featured in Nintendo Powers' News and Preview section get localized. So the question remains, where is it? And unlike ASH and Layton, Rhythm Heaven has very little dialogue; the only reason I can see it taking so long, is if Nintendo of America is changing some of the rhythm mini games to be more "western".
EDIT: Rhythm Heaven is confirmed! It's coming out in March I believe. Rejoice rhythm genre fans.
EDIT 2: Actually according to Amazon, it's coming in November. Well at least it's coming right rhythm fans?
EDIT 3: It was released in April along with the DSi
4.Where is Elite Beat Agents 2?
Japan has already three installments of their equivalent of EBA (i believe it's called Ouenden), but NA hasn't heard anything about another EBA game. The first Elite Beat Agents game was published over 2 years ago, so where is the sequel? Really, it shouldn't be taking them more then 3 years to develop another EBA.
5.Where is Soma Bringer?
Unlike ASH, Layton, or Rhythm Heaven, there has been nothing to suggest that Nintendo of America plans on bringing this little gem of an action RPG to NA. At a time when most companies are bringing over all the RPGs they can, I find Nintendo of America's attitude very odd. Maybe they think there is too much competition, but I just hope and pray that Nintendo of America does not become the next Namco-Bandai, which habitually ignores its awesome handheld RPGs (& related genres) as possible titles for localization. The screenshot to the left doesn't do this game justice, to see the beautiful graphics, it's best to watch a gameplay video.
6.Why is Fire Emblem coming to Europe before it hits North America?
So Europe usually gets the shaft with release dates, but this time North Americans are feeling neglected. Sure, maybe Nintendo of America is playing it safe and waiting for the economy to stablize, but I don't understand why they are not releasing this gem in december here as well as in Europe. Especially since Nintendo has nothing planned for the DS in december and the holiday rush. If they already had something to release during Christmas, then I would understand their logic, but releasing it a month or two later when they don't have anything to release for the DS this Christmas is incomprehensible, and I don't think the economy will improve drastically over two months...I think Nintendo of America needs to hire someone else for scheduling release dates.
Alright, so I may be being a little unfair to Nintendo of America, since Nintendo of Japan isn't spitting out that much lately either. But unlike Nintendo of Japan, our Nintendo has a few games that it could release, but just doesn't seem in any hurry to do so. Why oh why is Nintendo being so lazy? I want these first party gems and I want them in english, so I can actually understand what I am playing. All that is left for me is to hope Nintendo doesn't entirely turn its back on us DS owners and does publish these eventually. Come on Nintendo, don't fail me again!
the localization of a puzzle and word intensive game takes time and Layton isn't ready just yet, and/or the other regions where Layton was recently released will inevitably hear about it if Nintendo of America announces the sequel, so Nintendo is keeping quiet to increase sales. (But I don't quite understand why sales would decrease if the people in those regions heard about the sequel; if anything they would increase, because the sequel continues the tale and although having played the first game isn't required, it will help with understanding character relations and where the story left off). The other less attractive alternatives are, either Nintendo of America is waiting out the economic storm, or they dropped Layton altogether and are not planning on releasing any more games. That or they just like to irritate us fans by not giving us any confirmations =/Edit: Level 5 confirmed that Layton 2 is currently being localized for the west, so it's definitely coming. I estimate it will be out late 2009 (most likely during the holidays)
Edit 2: It's official release date is August 24th :D
3.Where is Rhythm Heaven (Rhythm Tengoku Gold)?
So I'm not too fond of the rhythm genre and I'm not really regretting the absence of this game, but there are a lot of others who were genuinely excited about its localization. It's even been featured in Nintendo Power's News Section in issue 232 and the issue following it had the game listed in the Game Watch Forecast as TBA. Sure it hasn't had an official O.K., but the majority of the games featured in Nintendo Powers' News and Preview section get localized. So the question remains, where is it? And unlike ASH and Layton, Rhythm Heaven has very little dialogue; the only reason I can see it taking so long, is if Nintendo of America is changing some of the rhythm mini games to be more "western".
EDIT: Rhythm Heaven is confirmed! It's coming out in March I believe. Rejoice rhythm genre fans.
EDIT 2: Actually according to Amazon, it's coming in November. Well at least it's coming right rhythm fans?
EDIT 3: It was released in April along with the DSi
4.Where is Elite Beat Agents 2?
Japan has already three installments of their equivalent of EBA (i believe it's called Ouenden), but NA hasn't heard anything about another EBA game. The first Elite Beat Agents game was published over 2 years ago, so where is the sequel? Really, it shouldn't be taking them more then 3 years to develop another EBA.
5.Where is Soma Bringer?
Unlike ASH, Layton, or Rhythm Heaven, there has been nothing to suggest that Nintendo of America plans on bringing this little gem of an action RPG to NA. At a time when most companies are bringing over all the RPGs they can, I find Nintendo of America's attitude very odd. Maybe they think there is too much competition, but I just hope and pray that Nintendo of America does not become the next Namco-Bandai, which habitually ignores its awesome handheld RPGs (& related genres) as possible titles for localization. The screenshot to the left doesn't do this game justice, to see the beautiful graphics, it's best to watch a gameplay video.6.Why is Fire Emblem coming to Europe before it hits North America?
So Europe usually gets the shaft with release dates, but this time North Americans are feeling neglected. Sure, maybe Nintendo of America is playing it safe and waiting for the economy to stablize, but I don't understand why they are not releasing this gem in december here as well as in Europe. Especially since Nintendo has nothing planned for the DS in december and the holiday rush. If they already had something to release during Christmas, then I would understand their logic, but releasing it a month or two later when they don't have anything to release for the DS this Christmas is incomprehensible, and I don't think the economy will improve drastically over two months...I think Nintendo of America needs to hire someone else for scheduling release dates.
Alright, so I may be being a little unfair to Nintendo of America, since Nintendo of Japan isn't spitting out that much lately either. But unlike Nintendo of Japan, our Nintendo has a few games that it could release, but just doesn't seem in any hurry to do so. Why oh why is Nintendo being so lazy? I want these first party gems and I want them in english, so I can actually understand what I am playing. All that is left for me is to hope Nintendo doesn't entirely turn its back on us DS owners and does publish these eventually. Come on Nintendo, don't fail me again!
~Joanna
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