Sadly, neither Iwata nor anyone else related to Nintendo has followed up that stealth announcement with an actual announcement, so all of us Westerners who desperately want to experience some Tomodachi Collection action in our native languages have been left to wonder if Nintendo's head honcho was just pulling our legs during that late-January tête-à-tête.
Based on a bit of information that came to light yesterday, it appears he wasn't being a troll.What information, you ask? Oh, just a slew of reports from folks in Europe who've received an online survey from Nintendo of Europe that said Tomodachi Collection: New Life is being localized for that region and asked for some input on the title.
Embedded within said survey were a slew of screenshots--one of which can be seen to the right (click on the survey link above or the Tiny Cartridge one below to see more)--and even a video of a (presumably early) English build of the game.
Although I'd like to say that all of this means an honest-to-goodness announcement regarding Tomodachi Collection's Australian, European and North American releases is just around the corner, I have a sinking feeling we're going to have to wait until E3 2014 for that to happen.
(Via tinycartridge.com)
Sounds like Nintendo is sending out surveys asking if it should be brought to North America, so here's hoping.
ReplyDeleteAh, I've been wondering if similar surveys were being sent out in NA. Even if they weren't, though, I think this new news plus the WSJ reveal--which was focused on NA--means the game is being prepped for all three of the big, non-Japanese territories.
ReplyDeleteThis is good news for some. I'm in the camp of WTF. Somehow I don't see this moving enough units to justify it's release outside of Japan. We'll see.
ReplyDeleteOh, you may be right, Chief, but I don't care how many units it moves as long as I get one myself. Also, I personally wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo finds a way to sell it in NA, especially. We've always liked The Sims and Animal Crossing here, and I think this game could be marketed to some of that same audience. Anyway, I guess we'll see!
ReplyDeleteIf they do the marketing right like you said it might be one of those "blue ocean" titles like The Sims, Animal Crossing, Nintendogs, & Brain Age. I'll be picking one up hopefully my niece doesn't take it like all my other sim games. XD
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong, they're got their work cut out for themselves outside of Japan. No question. What I meant here is that it *could* be something that catches on with the Animal Crossing and/or Sims set, especially if it's marketed correctly and priced well enough. (I would think $29.99 would be much better than $39.99 in this case.)
ReplyDeleteWas Tomodachi Collection the game that (briefly) let you have same-sex couples? I seem to recall some discussion about that. Of course, the whiners started kvetching about it and Nintendo back pedaled faster than Lance Armstrong played in reverse.
ReplyDeleteYep, that's the same game. It should be noted--sadly, to be honest--that Nintendo didn't intentionally give players the ability to marry same-sex partners (or have babies with them). It was a glitch or bug that supposedly caused some actual problems with the game, if I remember correctly, which supposedly why it was patched. Of course, if NOJ had actually cared about equality in this case, they could've patched back in the ability to marry same-sex partners, so... :(
ReplyDeleteIt's a complicated issue, no doubt made worse by Nintendo's seemingly random stance on LGBT concerns. On one hand, you have Tomodachi Collection, and on the other, there's the transgender character in Pokemon X (and Birdo from SMB 2, if you're willing to go that far back). Some consistency would be nice.
ReplyDeleteIt would also be nice if just having gay characters wasn't cause for an M rating, but that's not so much Nintendo's fault as the current social climate.
Oh, I completely agree that Nintendo has a rather convoluted--and more than a bit depressing--history when it comes to depicting and even including LGBT characters in its games.
ReplyDeleteI actually pitched an article to a few outlets a number of years ago about "Nintendo's Queer History Regarding the LGBT Community," but no one bit on it (possibly due in part to the working headline, I'm sure!). Maybe I'll work it up for this blog sometime soon.
Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how NOA and NOE localize Tomodachi Collection given all of the above. Although I would love to believe they'll include some sort of option that allows players to marry people of the same gender, and although I have a feeling that failing to do so may earn them some negative press in NA, especially, I have a hard time picturing them actually going through with it.
Here's hoping my feelings are completely off the mark and they surprise all of us when this game finally hits our shores.
I remember something about this game...and wanting it. But I have no clue why or what it's about. I need to do some research before the inevitable announcement.
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of like The Sims, from what I've been told. You import your Mii and any other Miis you'd like to populate your island. After that, they interact in all sorts of crazy ways--with some interaction from the player thrown in, too, although it seems you don't directly control your Mii a la Animal Crossing. Anyway, I'm def. picking it up should it actually be released here.
ReplyDelete