How the RPG industry worked in America in the age of the NES and SNES:
Nintendo power says 10 words about a kickass RPG from Japan. Every reader becomes instantly infatuated with, and in some cases, rabid over it. The company who made it decides there's zero interest in it and decides to scrap the international release.
Actually, only a small handful of readers gave a crap about the RPG section, which started VERY late in the SNES' life.
There's a reason the section was the first thing bumped if they were running short on space in an issue, and had rather sporadic appearance.
How the RPG market worked in America in the age of the NES and SNES.
A few came out. They didn't sell particularly well.
A lot more didn't come out. No one noticed.
And for contrast...
How the RPG market worked after SCEA pimped the everloving hell out of FF7, up through today:
A lot of RPGs came out. Most of them sucked.
As long as they looked really flashy or carried the Final Fantasy name, they sold pretty well. Beyond that, no one noticed.
This practice has extended to today's most highly desired translation, that of Mother 3, which Nintendo knows full well we all crave and still refuses to even think about.
We ALL crave?
Personally, I could live my entire life without playing another entry in that franchise. Once was more than enough.
Most of the market has never heard of the game.
Don't project your love of Earthbound onto everyone.
Just because fans of the series are loud doesn't mean they're a dominant market force.
IP Logged