Marich123 Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 I always asked myself this question, but how come not that many people in the United States. I have never ever met a person in real life who has played a fire emblem game, but if I asked if they played a super Mario game I have never met anyone who hasn't. I mean sure it used to be a Japan only thing but that was years ago. We're up to the 13th game and really some people have never heard of the franchise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knife Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 It's not a FPS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord of Gabriel Knight Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 I'm going to say something stupid. You: Hey, have you heard about Fire Emblem? Them: Are there guns in it? How do you crouch? Where are the grenades? I thought this was a FPS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samias Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Lack of marketing and the fact that it never emerged during the golden days of the jRPG on the SNES are all solid reasons why Fire Emblem is considered a niche series. It will never be super popular because it doesn't have guns and teabagging or HD graphics but compared to other sRPGs I think Fire Emblem actually does fairly well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anacybele Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 (edited) Uh, I guess I'm the first person to give a real answer in this thread, though it is true that too many Americans like FPSs. I've heard that the type of RPG that FE is just isn't as well liked in the US as other games. But Awakening seems like it's going to boost the popularity by a good bit, if you ask me. EDIT: Well, ninja'd. Sort of. Edited February 5, 2013 by Anacybele Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord of Gabriel Knight Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 The type of game that's bought the most in USA isn't even FPS, it's games for kids, like Cooking Mama, Barbie, and Mickey Mouse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
algae Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Uh, I guess I'm the first person to give a real answer in this thread, though it is true that too many Americans like FPSs. I've heard that the type of RPG that FE is just isn't as well liked in the US as other games. But Awakening seems like it's going to boost the popularity by a good bit, if you ask me. EDIT: Well, ninja'd. Sort of. It probably doesn't help that the games that manage to make it to the US don't really get much attention, and the JRPG is more of a niche genre here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoenix Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 It's popular enough ... at least enough that I can't find a copy of 13 that's not the bundle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comet Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Lack of advertising. It really irritates me that Nintendo can sometimes make 5 or more trailers for one game, but can't make one for another. I'm looking at you sacred stones or I just can't find a trailer on youtube Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anacybele Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 (edited) I always did say Nintendo needed to advertise FE more, and once they did that with Awakening, boom. It's the hottest thing for the 3DS now, even beating out Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon. Maybe now, gamers will see that crap like shooters and kids games aren't the only good games out there, if there are any in those two groups at all. Edited February 5, 2013 by Anacybele Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jyosua Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 It's a combination of reasons. First, because FE failed to be localized during the NES and SNES eras it doesn't have the "classic" label going for it in North America. Secondly, it's an SRPG, which is a less popular genre in North America. Third, it's too anime for some people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tangerine Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 (edited) The genre isn't popular anywhere; FE doesn't sell well in Japan, anyone telling you that is wrong. FE games actually tend to sell more copies in the US than in Japan (and it's still not good, lol). SRPGs don't really sell anywhere unless they have Final Fantasy in their name. And it's ignorant to say westerners only play FPS games, a majority of game sales come from NA for most games, even Japanese ones. If you look at the games that sell best in Japan, they aren't your run of the mill JRPGs or stuff like Fire Emblem, they're the same stuff as here. Pokemon, Animal Crossing, Mario, Final Fantasy, Gran Turismo (GT5 is actually the highest selling non-bundled game of this generation), Resident Evil, Street Fighter, etc. The only big differences are the shooters and action-type games in the US and Dragon Quest in Japan. As far as FE goes, almost every FE game that has made it to the west has sold more or an even amount of copies here than in Japan. I believe the only exception is one of the DS games. Edited February 5, 2013 by Tangerine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fateborn Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Third, it's too anime for some people. WHOA WHOA WHOA. SINCE WHEN IS THAT A REASON? I'm pretty sure major of the players regional wide are anime fans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KitheOfEvrark Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 (edited) I'll add another reason that nobody has mentioned yet: lack of multiplayer. Yeah sure there was the link arena and Shadow Dragon's multiplayer, but you really had to play through the single player game to get much out of it. A lot of my friends who aren't serious gamers will only play games like Call of Duty or Super Smash Bros. where you can pick up the controller with someone else and play against them. It probably isn't a major reason, but I think it could be a contributing factor. Edited February 5, 2013 by KitheOfEvrark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstraLunaSol Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 I know a lot of rl people that have played FE. then again i'm in canada Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunwoo Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 A majority of my close IRL friends are video gamers, but I think only one other person has played FE and he's likely not as into it as I am. At least two of my friends have said that they wanted to try (or have tried) FE, but they were both turned off by the permadeath feature. So there's that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anacybele Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 I think people being turned off by the permadeath feature is stupid. People don't just come back to life when they're killed in a war in real life. The permadeath makes the game feel more realistic and it makes me care more about the characters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunwoo Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 I think people being turned off by the permadeath feature is stupid. People don't just come back to life when they're killed in a war in real life. The permadeath makes the game feel more realistic and it makes me care more about the characters. Some people just don't like their characters being permanently dead. And if they don't like it, that's not "stupid". :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darros Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 I think people being turned off by the permadeath feature is stupid. People don't just come back to life when they're killed in a war in real life. The permadeath makes the game feel more realistic and it makes me care more about the characters. Well, we have casual mode now. It was in the not released FE12 and then stuck through to FE13. I doubt they'll ditch it anytime soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anacybele Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 True, maybe the inclusion of casual mode will convince more gamers to play it. I still think permadeath is better though. As I said, it makes me care more about the characters and it ups the challenge for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jyosua Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 The genre isn't popular anywhere; FE doesn't sell well in Japan, anyone telling you that is wrong. FE games actually tend to sell more copies in the US than in Japan (and it's still not good, lol). SRPGs don't really sell anywhere unless they have Final Fantasy in their name. And it's ignorant to say westerners only play FPS games, a majority of game sales come from NA for most games, even Japanese ones. If you look at the games that sell best in Japan, they aren't your run of the mill JRPGs or stuff like Fire Emblem, they're the same stuff as here. Pokemon, Animal Crossing, Mario, Final Fantasy, Gran Turismo (GT5 is actually the highest selling non-bundled game of this generation), Resident Evil, Street Fighter, etc. The only big differences are the shooters and action-type games in the US and Dragon Quest in Japan. As far as FE goes, almost every FE game that has made it to the west has sold more or an even amount of copies here than in Japan. I believe the only exception is one of the DS games. I'm sorry Tang, but I'm going to have to ask for the numbers to support that. Where are you getting your sales data from? WHOA WHOA WHOA. SINCE WHEN IS THAT A REASON? I'm pretty sure major of the players regional wide are anime fans. Being very animeish is a turnoff for a lot of people. I've met people who refuse to play a JRPG because of that. I think people being turned off by the permadeath feature is stupid. People don't just come back to life when they're killed in a war in real life. The permadeath makes the game feel more realistic and it makes me care more about the characters. Permadeath can be very annoying. Realistic? Yes. Challenging? Definitely. Annoying as shit? Check! Some people don't have the time to dedicate to playing a particular map for another 30 minutes because they had to restart after losing a character [that they liked]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darros Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 WHOA WHOA WHOA. SINCE WHEN IS THAT A REASON? I'm pretty sure major of the players regional wide are anime fans. Not really. I know lots of FE fans who aren't that big on anime, myself included. True, maybe the inclusion of casual mode will convince more gamers to play it. I still think permadeath is better though. As I said, it makes me care more about the characters and it ups the challenge for me. I get what you're saying, permadeath does kind of give you that bond to your characters. Usually. In FE11 it proved to be not the case. The option is nice though, some people don't like their units being permanently dead. I personally never ever would play casual ((FE13 demo you don't count)) while my sister prefers casual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anacybele Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Oh for the love of god, anime hating too? I'm not much of an anime person, but I'm totally obsessed with FE! People shouldn't have to like anime to like FE. Though, I do like some anime art styles, admittedly. I get what you're saying, permadeath does kind of give you that bond to your characters. Usually. In FE11 it proved to be not the case. The option is nice though, some people don't like their units being permanently dead. I personally never ever would play casual ((FE13 demo you don't count)) while my sister prefers casual. I see. Well, what turned me off from Shadow Dragon was actually being FORCED to sacrifice a unit. I don't want any of my playable characters to be forced to die. I feel rather cruel for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Laufeyson Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 A majority of my close IRL friends are video gamers, but I think only one other person has played FE and he's likely not as into it as I am. At least two of my friends have said that they wanted to try (or have tried) FE, but they were both turned off by the permadeath feature. So there's that. Ive tried to get some of my friends who game into FE and its just not their bag. They arent RPG people. One guy i know is strictly Nintendo so i told him to play FE and he does have FE8 from the Ambassador program. He just cant seem to wrap his head around it. Too much micromanaging and numbers for him i suppose. *sigh* So some folks either just dont have the time, or just turn their noses up at RPGs in general. Being very animeish is a turnoff for a lot of people. I've met people who refuse to play a JRPG because of that. Yes. That and the uber fantasy-ish plots really make people go "ugh wheres the spaceships and aliens!?" Most of my IRL friends are into sci-fi games and if they go RPG, its western RPG like Mass Effect, Fallout, etc. I think with the whole Awakening debacle, peeps will see that this series is popular enough to get sales out here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tangerine Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 (edited) Boring NPD/Mediacreate comparisons, with a splash of vgcharts for what they don't cover :P. For example, week 1 for Radiant Dawn in Japan was around 70,000(media), for the US it was around 55,000(NPD). Lifetime estimates have the US ahead, but I'm not really sure if that's the case and it is impossible to tell based on the truly reliable sources, although it does make some sense since Japan stopped buying the Wii a lot sooner than we did, and there are around 3x more Wiis in NA than Japan now. That is very even, and hardly warrants being called unpopular by comparison. Neither was able to get into the list again. Blazing Sword is one of the games that did better in the US by a similar margin, although it was also one of the games that actually got advertisement (although it wasn't very good advertisement as we all know, lol). I think Awakening had the 2nd best launch week for the series according to Media, hopefully it will be a repeat success in NA. Edited February 5, 2013 by Tangerine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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