Whatever happened to “Fresh Games”?

By Spencer . February 19, 2007 . 8:35am

Five years ago Eidos Interactive announced their “Fresh Games” label which was supposed to take risks on “Japan-only” games and bring them to North America. They picked up Mr. Mosquito (aka Ka or simply Mosquito), Mad Maestro (Bravo Music) and Legaia 2: Duel Saga. Even though all three of these games sold enough copies to become part of value priced “Best” selection in Japan, none of these games sold well in the USA. After taking a break with Fresh Games, Eidos took another chance and brought out R-Type Final, which is an underrated shoot ‘em up. Then the label quietly faded from existence. Since Sony’s main focus is the PS3, this is the perfect time for a “Fresh Games” rebirth whether it’s Eidos or another publisher. Sony is going to start relaxing their standards on what is allowed on the PS2 (they let Easter Bunny’s Big Day slip out for the PS1 when the PS2 was in full swing) and development costs have gone down. There are some awesome shoot ‘em ups like Espgaulda that are easy to translate and some quirky D3 Publisher titles like “Origin of Man” that are ripe for localization.

TAGS: Eidos, Localization, Playstation 2, Sony

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4 Responses to “Whatever happened to “Fresh Games”?”

Veilknight Says:
February 19th, 2007 at 11:42 am

Sounds like a sure-fire plan to me. I, for one, would surely welcome if Sega started releasing many of their Sega Ages releases at a cheap budget price, especially if they got around to releasing Gunstar Heroes: Treasure Box or the Monster World Complete Collection.

sabo Says:
February 19th, 2007 at 4:39 pm

I’m in!

Aber Says:
February 19th, 2007 at 6:17 pm

Eidos had a full blitz marketing campaign w/ Fres Games for the first 2 titles, and then seemed to simply give up after Mister Mosquito & Mad Maestro (a sleeper IMO) didn’t sell well. I wish they had focused on bring some shmups (tons of Cave games available that have a loyal cult following here in the US…Dondonpachi DOJ, Ibara, Mushimesama, Espalaguda, Shiki 2, Homura, XII Stag, Raiden III & Double Shienryu would all be nice choices for localization). Also, it would be cool to see some of the Simple 2000 Series released here, as a few have been in Europe.

Would love to see someone start a Simple 2000 like series (Europe has the 505 Gamestreet lable) here in the US with $10-$20 price point…huge customer base available with many PS2 ownershaving no plans to go “Next Gen” for some time due to price…

Andy Brennan Says:
February 20th, 2007 at 1:27 am

Someone had better bring over Espgaluda! If only for the amazing soundtrack and character design.