Garbage Galaxy Nintendo Switch's Secret Sauce: Weeb appeal

[Pineapple]

I legit have this convo about twice a month with a friend of mine, because he really doesn't think he's a weeb. He's play almost everything in the first post. Just baffling to me. lol I have like every game in the first post that's out and want all the upcoming ones.

 

[Violette]

Remember when the N64 was out and Nintendo pivoted to their western development partners for their advanced graphics three dee shooters and sports game and Sony first party+their partnerships had the weebiest games (that actually came out in the US, Saturn is no slouch on weebiness though most of that wasn't first party Sega)

Now Sony is the graphics, sports games, shooter company while Nintendo has finally completely taken over the market that the Vita once shared with the 3DS.

Monster Rancher 1&2 went from PS1 exclusives that utilized its CD-ROM technology to ports releasing for just the Switch and PC.

 

[Hero of Legend]

Glad I could be of service.



That's what happens when you recruit Final Fantasy developers to work on your game.

Final Fantasy folks worked on Origami King? Which ones?

 

[Oregano]

Final Fantasy folks worked on Origami King? Which ones?

Isamu Kamikokuryo, art director of FFXII, XIII and XV was art director for Origami King.

 

[Hero of Legend]

Isamu Kamikokuryo, art director of FFXII, XIII and XV was art director for Origami King.

...huh.

 

[Mazzle]

I like it

 

[Seven]

This is why I love handhelds! The portable crowd having been feasting on JRPG (and Japanese AA) goodness since the GBA days and that's not slowing down now.

 

[AngryAlchemist]

I'm very happy that Japanese devs are finding success with the Switch, and I've enjoyed a number of those titles OP listed. That said, I find it notable that some first party properties that are beloved in the west, like Donkey Kong, Star Fox, F-Zero and Metroid, have gotten little (if any) focus on the Switch. DK got a Wii U port and some DLC in a Ubisoft game. Star Fox got DLC in a Ubisoft game. Metroid has been in flux, but finally got a release just now. F-Zero... lol

Meanwhile, we've had multiple Zeldas, Xenoblades, Fire Emblems, etc., some of these almost annually, and Nintendo consoles tend to usually have one entry per life cycle. It's not like Xenoblade was gangbuster in sales compared to DK or Metroid, yet we've had 3 releases on Switch so far, with a fourth rumored to be coming. I'm not saying Monolithsoft would make a Star Fox or F-Zero if they weren't making Xeno all the time (though that would be interesting to see), but I wonder what they could work on if resources weren't focused on multiple entries of a single IP.

So while I think it's great to see "weeb shit" doing well, it also feels like it's at the exclusion of other things (intentionally or not).

I get where you're coming from, but I think this is a fairly strange outlook altogether.

It's a little hard to talk about the comparisons made in your comment because "first party properties that are beloved in the west" and "weeb shit" are actually not mutually exclusive. Xenoblade sells well in Japan for what it is, but also has a big Western following (proportional to game sales). Fire Emblem is a similar story although I think that game is actually even more popular in the West proportional to its overall game sales. And don't even get me started on non-first party "weeb" games. Stuff like No More Heroes III or Bayonetta 3 is pretty much made exclusively for the West, no matter how "weeb" it is.

And then ... the inclusion of Zelda with the "weeb games" is just, odd? Like, not only is Zelda not really that weeb in and of itself, it's sales history indicates that much like Metroid, it's popularity is much more centralized to the West. It's just a big enough series to still get really good sales in Japan, and even a big comeback with Breath of the Wild, but it appeals to the West much more overall.

If anything, I think that the Switch has been the most neutral console possible when catering to game taste. It leans a bit more to the Japanese side, but that's only because even its biggest games reflect to some small extent the culture of the creators that make them. It's not nearly as Western centric as Xbox or even Playstation. But honestly, I feel like if I was super into "weeb games", I'd be pretty back-and-forth on the Switch. Not exactly lukewarm, because there's really not a lot of other great consoles to go to for that type of experience, but a lot of the RPGs we get on the example kind of seem lacking compared to the games they are taking inspiration from (I'm really not sure I'd think of Bravely Default 2 or Octopath Traveler as more than slightly above average in terms of ambition or quality, Octopath's greatest accomplishment seems to be its artstyle more than anything). Then you have table scraps like the Tokyo RPG Factory games. Then you have Pokemon and Xenoblade, I mean ... Pokemon is a global franchise, not too weeby, but both of those games had divisive entries on Switch. With Pokemon Gen 8 sparking heated debates in the community, and Xenoblade 2 being generally pretty well liked but getting nowhere near the reception as 1. And people into those kind of games, aren't even getting stuff like SMTV until now, or Rune Factory till next year, and who knows when for Etrian Odyssey.

I guess when you look at it this way it's true there's certainly more of an attempt to cater to weeb-specific games more than western-specific games, but a lot of this has to do with developers making games they would have already made, rather than Nintendo having a certain focus on them (none of those developers would have picked up DK or Star Fox, for example). It's also a bit unfair because Nintendo games that sell almost all of their units in the West, never seem Western-specific, because they seem to have such non-exclusionary universal appeal. Because this skew looks over stuff like Mario Odyssey or Breath of the Wild, aside from their global appeal, actually being more western specific. And again, that 'attempt' just seems above average relative to other consoles, not particularly great. I'm not really into these kind of games so maybe I'm speaking out of turn, but that's the kind of reaction I've seen from people who are, honestly. I imagine the story would be quite different if Switch got Nier and Persona as well. Ironically for such a dead genre, "weeb" action games might be one of the more catered to subgenres on the Switch, even if it has been a slow trickle.

 

[Wans]

What can i say, only those weeb friendly, rated E games will satiate my thirst.

And actually, most of the AAA games will be in that uncanny valley for me

 

[Clix]

I swear I'm not a we--

*checks switch playlog
*Cold Steel III and IV: over 150 hours combined
*Dragon Quest XI: over 90 hours
*Fire Emblem Three Houses: over 240 hours
*looks at avatar and username

I... might have a hard time convincing people of that.

Cold Steel is a series I want to give a shot. I have 1 & 2 for the Vita but haven’t played them yet. Should I start there or is there a chance they will come to Switch?

 

[Lucifer]

I don't even know what Weeb means exactly, but I definitely prefer Japanese games over Western stuff.

 

[Brawlz]

As a massive weeb, I agree. And it's great, give me more Japan in games, straight into my veins.

This

 

[Gengar]

Cold Steel is a series I want to give a shot. I have 1 & 2 for the Vita but haven’t played them yet. Should I start there or is there a chance they will come to Switch?

I would go ahead and start them. I don't know the full story but there was a different publisher for I & II that has the rights to english localizations, and I guess Falcom doesn't work with them anymore? Those games are coming to switch in Japan (if they're not out already) but not in the west at this time.

 

[Miraj]

I get where you're coming from, but I think this is a fairly strange outlook altogether.

It's a little hard to talk about the comparisons made in your comment because "first party properties that are beloved in the west" and "weeb shit" are actually not mutually exclusive. Xenoblade sells well in Japan for what it is, but also has a big Western following (proportional to game sales). Fire Emblem is a similar story although I think that game is actually even more popular in the West proportional to its overall game sales. And don't even get me started on non-first party "weeb" games. Stuff like No More Heroes III or Bayonetta 3 is pretty much made exclusively for the West, no matter how "weeb" it is.

And then ... the inclusion of Zelda with the "weeb games" is just, odd? Like, not only is Zelda not really that weeb in and of itself, it's sales history indicates that much like Metroid, it's popularity is much more centralized to the West. It's just a big enough series to still get really good sales in Japan, and even a big comeback with Breath of the Wild, but it appeals to the West much more overall.

If anything, I think that the Switch has been the most neutral console possible when catering to game taste. It leans a bit more to the Japanese side, but that's only because even its biggest games reflect to some small extent the culture of the creators that make them. It's not nearly as Western centric as Xbox or even Playstation. But honestly, I feel like if I was super into "weeb games", I'd be pretty back-and-forth on the Switch. Not exactly lukewarm, because there's really not a lot of other great consoles to go to for that type of experience, but a lot of the RPGs we get on the example kind of seem lacking compared to the games they are taking inspiration from (I'm really not sure I'd think of Bravely Default 2 or Octopath Traveler as more than slightly above average in terms of ambition or quality, Octopath's greatest accomplishment seems to be its artstyle more than anything). Then you have table scraps like the Tokyo RPG Factory games. Then you have Pokemon and Xenoblade, I mean ... Pokemon is a global franchise, not too weeby, but both of those games had divisive entries on Switch. With Pokemon Gen 8 sparking heated debates in the community, and Xenoblade 2 being generally pretty well liked but getting nowhere near the reception as 1. And people into those kind of games, aren't even getting stuff like SMTV until now, or Rune Factory till next year, and who knows when for Etrian Odyssey.

I guess when you look at it this way it's true there's certainly more of an attempt to cater to weeb-specific games more than western-specific games, but a lot of this has to do with developers making games they would have already made, rather than Nintendo having a certain focus on them (none of those developers would have picked up DK or Star Fox, for example). It's also a bit unfair because Nintendo games that sell almost all of their units in the West, never seem Western-specific, because they seem to have such non-exclusionary universal appeal. Because this skew looks over stuff like Mario Odyssey or Breath of the Wild, aside from their global appeal, actually being more western specific. And again, that 'attempt' just seems above average relative to other consoles, not particularly great. I'm not really into these kind of games so maybe I'm speaking out of turn, but that's the kind of reaction I've seen from people who are, honestly. I imagine the story would be quite different if Switch got Nier and Persona as well. Ironically for such a dead genre, "weeb" action games might be one of the more catered to subgenres on the Switch, even if it has been a slow trickle.

My take on it is that Nintendo first party only has so many resources to go around, and only so many studios they can collaborate with. They also historically tend to release one entry per console (sometimes more). With the Switch, they have doubled down on "weeb games" like Xenoblade, Fire Emblem, Hyrule Warriors titles, etc. and they are getting almost annual entries now (including remakes, spinoffs, etc.) while several notable "non-weeb" franchises have had, at best, DLC appearances or cameos in third party stuff.

Now, I'm not at all saying I dislike the "weeb games". Far from it. But I also know there are only so many developers in Japan, and Nintendo doesn't have an array of western studios like Sony and Microsoft, so when I see a "weeb game" get its third entry in 5 years while Star Fox or whatever has nothing so far, it makes me feel like they are investing their limited pool of resources into that "weeb" demographic and don't have enough to dedicate to some IPs that don't share that style, and tend to sell far better in the west.

Again, this is first party. Third party has been far better support and diversity-wise, getting closer to the DS days. But I'm specifically talking about Nintendo first party/collaborative titles.