[The Derrit]

Hey, so for those of you who don't already know (probably most of you) I live in Japan right now, teaching small children their abc's. I've been thinking about this for awhile and wanted to make a thread about it, so here goes.

Games in Japan have a lot of quirks that they don't in the States. One of the big things is that games are not released with universal pricing. An example: Mario Tennis Open for 3ds, that just came out recently, is priced at 4080 yen (yes gaming is expensive here) and Kingdom Hearts is somewhere around 5000, depending where you look. Games appear to be priced based on their perceived quality or range of audience, so a game like let's say, Rayman Origins, that tons of people would buy for 40-50 dollars but not the full 60, may be appreciated under the Japanese system of pricing.

Also, since I've been here I've seen a few games that seem to have purely fallen through the cracks in America. One big one that stands out is Final Fantasy Type-0. Apparently that game has been out here for a while now, and if my memory serves me it got mentioned and then never heard of again in the states. There are also some big, triple a budget games here that literally have never been talked about in the states that really surprise me. and of course, there are tons of gundam games, some of which are quite good.

so i guess, discuss? what do you think of the variable pricing model for retail? if you guys have any questions about certain games or anything that i've seen/not seen i can look into that for you too. does anyone else have experience with these differences?

[GeckoYamori]

Variable pricing has existed for the western market in the past, and it always has for PC gaming. It's only in recent years in the retail console market where all publishers feel they have to normalize prices at $60 regardless of budget.

The Japanese market is very different because a lot of publishers focus solely on the domestic market instead of going international.

[Moomba]

The fact is, a lot of Japanese games don't do well in the western market, partially because they're not designed to appeal to it and also because of the ridiculous bias so many western gamers have built up against anything Japanese.

Heck, you need look no further than the Type-0 thread here on OCR to see what I'm talking about.

p.s. Type-0 is actually awesome.

[Mirby]

I think Type-0 was mentioned that it would be localized but we haven't heard anything since.

[Garpocalypse]

Originally Posted by Moomba

The fact is, a lot of Japanese games don't do well in the western market, partially because they're not designed to appeal to it and also because of the ridiculous bias so many western gamers have built up against anything Japanese.

This was very true about 15-20 years ago yet many games that did well in Japan did well in the west too. This had more to do with games appealing more to socially backwards people in both cultures and didn't have as much to do with popular social trends at the time.

I'd say western interest in Japanese media is still pretty good though it seems to be declining quickly because of the Japanese being reluctant to change anything until it's proven to be a complete failure.

The real fact is that the Japanese like what they do and have no need to import art and culture from other countries like we do. If they start to feel like what they like is losing favor in the rest of the world they just won't bother trying to relate it to anything beyond their own borders. Or market it for that matter. ( Still screaming for a Tales of Xilia release here. )

Anyway, What school did you sign with Derrit? I was thinking of going for an eikaiwa like Aeon to live and work there for a year but then I started hearing about all of the smaller schools closing in droves. Would you say it's worth getting into still?

[zircon]

I visited Japan for two weeks in 2011. Some of the things I really appreciated about the gaming culture included:

* Much easier to find older games and consoles. I went to a store that was reminiscent of a Best Buy in Shinjuku and they had Super Famicom games new in box. Crazy! And of course, in Akihabara you can find several stores with tons of classic and rare stuff at *REASONABLE* prices.

* Arcades are more common and quite well-populated. I had a blast playing various versions of Street Fighter there.

[Meteo Xavier]

I recently bought a SFC-modded SNES with some SFC games and I plan to fully indulge in this to complete a bucket list item and I've been curious about something.

Why ARE SFC games so damn cheap? I read something a long time ago that suggested Nintendo actually still manufactures games for classic systems in Japan, which would make sense why I could buy FFIV, SD2, SD3, Puyo Puyo 2, Star Fox, Silva Saga 2 and such in bundles for under $10 (not counting the $10-20 shipping, but anyway). And the games themselves look like they're in quite good condition.

How does that work?

[Dexie]

Type-0 dropped off of the West's radars because the PSP is a dead system here and it unforuntately launched towards the end of the thing's lifespan in Japan.

I'm not sure how the Vita is doing here at all, maybe we'll get lucky and it'll get some kind of Vita release? I hope so, it's the only game in the Fabulous Nova Crystals or whatever they called the FF13 project that I have hopes for.

[The Derrit]

Originally Posted by Meteo Xavier

I recently bought a SFC-modded SNES with some SFC games and I plan to fully indulge in this to complete a bucket list item and I've been curious about something.

Why ARE SFC games so damn cheap? I read something a long time ago that suggested Nintendo actually still manufactures games for classic systems in Japan, which would make sense why I could buy FFIV, SD2, SD3, Puyo Puyo 2, Star Fox, Silva Saga 2 and such in bundles for under $10 (not counting the $10-20 shipping, but anyway). And the games themselves look like they're in quite good condition.

How does that work?

yeah i'm not sure why but there are definitely a lot of copies of old games just about anywhere you look. at a nearby recycle-mart (pretty much a big pawn shop but less shady) they had 8-packs of sfc games. one of the packs had like chrono trigger, breath of fire, final fantasy 4, a dragon quest, and it was TOTAL like 900 yen.

also i found a boxed copy of mother and mario kart 64, and legend of zelda ocarina of time

[The Legendary Zoltan]

I'll tell you a few harsh things about Japanese games.

1. You know the Metal Gear HD collection? The Japanese version doesn't have Peacewalker.

2. You know the ICO and Shadow of the Colossus HD collection? It's not a collection in Japan. They're sold separately and full price.

3. You know Dragon Quest 8? The Japanese version has no voice acting and the music is all keyboards instead of the sweet orchestras we got in America.

4. You know all those Final Fantasy games? With the exception of 12, Japanese fans all have basically the same favorites as American fans.

Fun stuff :D