I know that I'm still working on dragons in the cycle of my Chinese Zodiac theme (I still want to be finished by the actual Chinese New Year on February 8); but I thought I might make a post anyway.
I've been quite adamant about my dislike of the Yo-Kai Watch franchise; and I do plan to do more recaps of the anime to illustrate this.
However, there is still one more piece of the puzzle now that the anime and games have performed below expectations. While the toys were initially planned to launch on New Year's day; certain retailers leaking shipments in key markets convinced Hasbro and Level-5 to move the release to December 28; 2015.
Unfortunately; this may have backfired even more than the intended release date might have. In addition to the bulk of the toys being sold to older folk who were already fans rather than any new converts in young children. Basically, the sales have been the polar opposite they have been in Japan.
In fact, the closest Gamestop and Walmart locations in my area are not only just NOW getting shipments in, the bulk of the toys on offer have been major shelfwarmers despite Hasbro's best efforts.
Having just come back from the area to preorder the Pokémon 20th anniversary New 3DS (which will have Red and Blue preloaded onto it) and a download code for Yellow; I even witnessed a young child (who looked to be about 4) glancing at a Jinbanyan toy before ultimately deciding on old reliable favorites like Mario and Star Wars. I also managed to procure a couple DVDs, some Amiibo and Splatoon for my new Wii U; but that's beside the point. My point is; if you can't even entice a 4-year-old, who is full of wonder and a child's fantasies; what chance do you have for anyone else?
What saddens me the most is that despite me having a stated preference for Pokémon; is the fact that this concept genuinely could have worked if it came out at any other time. I am once again pointing out that I am not making this particular post to be mean; I'm doing it to be observant. While it may be an annoyance that this franchise was shotgunned into being a "Pokémon killer" when it could have benefited more from being marketed as a unique IP with its own identity. Instead; the game has sold just 110,000 copies as of its writing, and could struggle to get much higher with many key releases being part of this year; lots of which are on Nintendo consoles. Even if I were to remove the 20th anniversary of Pokémon from the equation; this year also sees the 30th anniversaries of Zelda and Mega Man and the 25th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog, with many things planned for each respective franchise. Tomorrow also sees the release of Mario and Luigi Paper Jam; a crossover between the Mario and Luigi and Paper Mario series (with elements of Super Mario RPG to celebrate the 20th anniversary of that game). Star Fox Zero, Mighty No.9; Yooka-Laylee; Cuphead- the list goes on and on.
This is definitely going to be one of the biggest years in gaming ever. Even though Hino has expressed interest in localizing the sequels; will these plans still be viable even if the series so far has been a bigger flop in the US than Jupiter Ascending? Speaking from my experience today; the aforementioned Gamestop and Walmart locations still have not sold all that many copies of Yo-Kai Watch or the 2DS bundles. I'm still mulling over getting a used copy of the game based on my associate Kohdok's videos on the matter; but I still feel Ni No Kuni from the same developer is a better game with how it took a lot more risks with similar subject matter, essentially being a Studio Ghibli movie in playable form (thanks in no small part to them codeveloping the game alongside Level-5). In fact; it will be getting a sequel that will most likely be a deciding factor in me getting a PS4 (along with The Last Guardian, once Team Ico announces a release date).
For now, though; I'm going to work more on my next recap. You probably won't see my next one on Yo-Kai Watch for a while. See you space cowboy.
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