Retailers Not Keen On Cutesy Games Either

Examples pertaining to Best Buy are kind of an exception, since they are aware that products possessing an anime visual appeal do attract an audience to their store, even it it's a limited one. Compared to Target or Wal-Mart who tried having dedicated anime DVD sections in their store only to completely get rid of them quickly, whereas Best Buy's own dedicated anime DVD shelves still remain to this day, only reduced in size of course.

Based on that history, there's no doubt that certain retailers will adjust their overall game plan to their successes and failures (be it anime styled products or otherwise). Either way it means more outlets are lost to publishers and they find themselves very limited in options to reach an audience.

This is certainly no Xseed excuse, as retailers (especially the “WM” folks) have a long history of being fickle and controlling. From shrinking down box sizes for PC games (remember how huge and stuffed they used to be) to freaking out over something like title logo placement on boxart, there's no doubt that if you were to look at the closest game package near you I could name around 10 aspects of it that the retailer was responsible for deciding. There's signs that Xseed, as well as many other pubs, struggle to appease the retail camp while doing whatever they can to please the people who really matter the most (see the Sky Crawlers boxart and the reversible side for a tiny, yet clearly visible example).

Issues regarding retailers are rarely discussed by publishers for good reason, as it risks harming their relationship with the retailers which is vital to uphold for the sake of staying in business. One unfortunate side effect has occurred which is that people blame either the ESRB or the publishers as being responsible for everything and anything that goes wrong, not to say that all those in the two aforementioned categories don't make their fair share of unlikeable actions from time to time on their own, but more people ought to be aware of how STRONGLY retail influences the products they buy.

I'm tired of the cutesy graphics. Personally I think its just developer laziness. Much like non moving pictures in Visual novels

Most gamers may not care about particle effects and polygon counts, but most gamers definitely do care about art style. They may not actively complain or praise it, but they certainly do pass over box covers/screenshots that have an art style/presentation that doesn't appeal to them. It's very silly to think art/presentation style doesn't affect gamers. We have thoughts. We have our personal tastes. I think you're mistaking technology (which the article doesn't mention at all, and is fleeting) with visual design (which is the factor mentioned, and is timeless in its value when done well).

And yet they are still following that plan, thats what I meant by what I said.

Oh, I'm not saying I don't like that myself as a game player. But technically speaking, I don't think that's how you make money.

For example, I would really like Sting to keep on making the games they do now, but it's easy to see it's not a very profitable method, so perhaps it's best for them if they change a bit and try with something different.

Not sure why this is much of a surprise.

First and foremost, there's the bit about anime based games generally being crappy. Why stock something that won't sell well?

Second, manga / anime culture hasn't translated well to North American culture because it's still seen as an equivalent to Saturday morning cartoons by the general populace, INCLUDING a good majority of people who do read manga / anime. That's a significant reason why anime / manga consumption in NA has dropped off, the generation that grew up with manga / anime in NA now view it as “embarrassing” to be seen reading or watching manga / anime.

In Japan it's part of culture from the young to the old, and manga / anime is tiered for different generations. While there are still some stigma's attached to reading or watching manga / anime, it's no where near the level that you experience in North America. So much like the Comic Book guy from the Simpsons, anime / manga / cutsey based games have a bad reputation.

And that reputation leaves retailers wary of anime / manga based games. Unless social awareness somehow changes toward manga / anime in North America, I really doubt this trend will ever change.

He could just be an Ireland-worshipping Lunar fan. Ireland was trash talking XSEED left and right when the PSP version was coming out. I couldn't believe a grown man, let alone an industry professional, could be that childish.

yeah, I've found myself using online retailers more and more, but I'm still lucky in that the EB Games near my house haven't fully succumb to this and still stock a fair amount of niche titles, or games with cutesy box art and of course they preorder anything I want….but preorder bonuses are really hit or miss (sometimes I get them, sometimes I don't), so I'm basically only preordering stuff without bonuses from them now.

I don't know…most critically acclaimed games aren't successful. Even if you make it known that the game is worth your time, that does not guarantee sales.

As for shovelware, me thinks it have more to do with the price than with the cutesy graphics. Parents tend to be cheapos and buy an Imagine title for 20 (I've even seen them around 10) rather than shell out for another cutesy game going for 30-40.

But yeah, I do hope XSEED doesn't shy away. There are lots of awesome cutesy games.

fair enough, but one could get angry at gamers judging a book by it's cover, you know? I mean, I don't like realism in games, but that won't stop me from considering a game with realistic graphics so long as it's a game genre I like (which usually does not happen, last time it did was Folklore I think…which I did buy).

Because it's their business on the line? I cannot consider them at fault for choosing to protect their interests, though the wisdom of their decisions is another thing completely.

It's a bit of a silly admission – My Japanese skills are very poor or at the very least 'very haphazard' since I tend to get a lot of stuff wrong when I tried learning. If anything, it's not really something to salute as opposed to a reason why I need to be summarily shot for.

(Says the person playing Japanese imports for over 10 years. Yes, I know. I normally go through about 6-12 foreign language imports in a year, and yes, my aptitude is STILL scatter shot on a good day.)

For me, I'm fine being in unknown territory, since it's a challenge. It probably helps since I do journalistic work that I have no qualms in researching, discovery and just flat out asking more knowledgeable people than me, since it's what keeps me going.

I also find that I want to feel a game, instead of just playing it.

For most part, I really do feel that retailers just don't want cutesy (as opposed to kiddy) because of risk of sticking on various stigmas to the store, and consequently in western markets, we see lots of gritty 'ultra realistic' styles of games stocked to the rafters in retailers to avoid it.

It's almost like how some people swing wildly to the opposite to avoid being called something they don't like, like being ridiculously musclebound macho to avoid being called pansy or something.

Far as I know of SCEE pretty much let almost anything through things like Glass Rose (PS2) and Gregory Horror Show (PS2) that were rejected by SCEA were released fine in EU.

Let's face it if Midas Interactive managed to get Battle Contruction Vechicles released on the PS2 virtually anything must be OK.