The truth behind one of gaming’s great cultural clashes.
Youge is a Japanese word that vaguely translates to something else.
Do you know why they ended up releasingFinal Fantasyin the West?
Its because Nintendo helped convince them that the game could be popular here.
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Lets look at the numbers.
In 2016, Nintendo made a series of sales reports publically available via theNintendo of Japan website.
Among them is a detailed breakdown of console sales figures by year and region.
Its telling that the only regions specifically noted on the sheet are Japan, America, and other.
Thats the current population difference between the United States and Japan.
This discrepancy requires you to consider the regional sales differences in terms of percentages.
A little over 15% of America did the same.
Besides, this is Nintendo were talking about.
They evenpurchased a professional baseball team.
How could anyone suggest that Nintendo sees their international success as a secondary benefit?
Well, because its absolutely true.
Hardware is an often inflexible concept.
The history of Nintendo and software tells a different story than the hardware sales figures do.
The gap between software units sold in America and software units sold in Japan is not nearly as wide.
In fact, Japanese gamers bought more SNES and 3DS games over the companys measured time frame.
More important than the number of units sold, however, is which pieces of software were selling.
Otherwise, the difference is significant.
The American version ofMetroid Primeoutsold the Japanese version by 1.8+ million units.
The other twoMetroid Primegames sold at least 800,000 more units in America than in Japan.
Nintendo still hasnt released aMetroidconsole game of significance sinceOther M.
Better yet, look at theF-Zerogames.
While theF-Zerofranchise has never been Nintendos bestseller, its still sold consistently well in America and other Western markets.
What do you want that we havent done before?
None of these examples are more significant than the failed relationship between Rare and Nintendo.
They took turns releasing some of the consoles greatest games and carried that system through some dry months.
Of course, thats ultimately a very Western viewpoint.
Generally speaking, they are not as fondly remembered among Japanese gamers.
The confusion surrounding certain Nintendo decisions continues to this day as the company prepares to launch the Switch.
In some ways, the Switch represents Nintendos willingness to concede to the influence of the Western market.
But even these concessions feel hollow.
(Strangely enough, thats one fan project Nintendo hasnt targeted.)
Our developers are more excited than ever to create software.
That makes it sound like Nintendo is still approaching East and West as us vs. them.
Does this mean that Nintendo hates the West?
Nintendo has made great strides in recent years to close real and cultural borders in the gaming world.
Instead, you should look to the East.
Matt Byrd is a staff writer.
