GoNintendo 'End of Day' thoughts - The Nintendo localization screwjob

It’s never a good idea to go to bed angry. After writing this, I got myself pretty steamed! I think I need to relax with a bit of Bonsai Barber before I head to bed. I’ll see you all in just a few, short hours.

I can’t remember a time when I’ve been so angry with Nintendo. All this core and casual stuff…it doesn’t bother me one bit. I was a tad upset with the Big N after last year’s E3, but after I sat down to talk with Denise Kaigler, I really understood what Nintendo was doing. That anger lasted about a day…but my new fit of rage is definitely here to stay.

I have never had an issue with Nintendo not localizing titles. Sure, there were a few here and there that would bug me. Why do we not get the Mother series, how come Starfy took so long to bring over, and other small things. In the case of Mother/Earthbound, I understand where Nintendo is coming from. Sales of the first game tanked, Mother entries take a lot of localization, and that equals big bucks. I don’t like that Nintendo isn’t doing it, but I can see why. That’s how I’ve felt my entire life with Nintendo…I could always count on them to bring over the titles I wanted. Well, their attitude has definitely changed in the past couple of years.

Rather than having a few long-time annoyances, I now have a full list of games that are yet to be localized. Games I thought Nintendo would certainly bring over to the states, but we haven’t heard a peep. As the list builds, so does my anger. Instead of trusting Nintendo, I now wonder what in the hell is going on.

Captain Rainbow is a quirky title, but I thought it would make for a nice filler during the slow periods of the game release calendar. Well…that game is nowhere in site.

Disaster: Day of Crisis seemed like a shoe-in for North America. An action-heavy game that was squarely aimed at the core market. It even comes with English voice acting! Well, instead of getting localized…Reggie laughed at the game. No release at this time…

Fatal Frame IV…the newest entry in a long-running series. North Americans have already shown their love of Fatal Frame, and this newest title seems the best yet. Nintendo out of all companies decided to publish/co-develop the title. Hell, even Suda51 was involved…what more could you want! How about a North American release?! Nintendo is keeping the game back from not just North America, but Europe as well. We are always lead to believe that NCL makes the call for localizations, so I’ll blame them. Why on earth are we not going to get to experience this game when Nintendo actually stepped in to help develop the game?!

Trace Memory 2 is set for European release. At least, that’s what we saw via Nintendo’s outline of games for 2009. Lucky for North America, we haven’t heard a word uttered. I want to hold out hope that the game will be announced at E3, but I just don’t know what to think. It pisses me off beyond belief that I played the first title, and desperately want to continue the story…but may not be able to.

That’s just a few of the titles that I’m shocked to not see localized. I know it’s silly, but in the back of my mind I expect Nintendo to surprise us with a few of these games at E3. I know that it doesn’t make any sense, but that’s how badly I want to play these games. Nintendo is making more money than ever, yet we are seeing less titles come our way. Can someone explain this logic to me?

What are we left to do? Should we import European Wiis to get a few of these games, or perhaps learn Japanese in order to import and play them all? I don’t know about you, but I don’t exactly have spare time to master another language right now. So that leaves me where I am right now…angry and shocked. Nintendo doesn’t often rile me up, but they’ve definitely got my attention right now.