Yo-Kai Watch arrives on 3DS in North America on 6th November, which is an important launch for both Level-5 and Nintendo. It's a franchise that's become a dominant force in Japan, and both parties will hope that it finds a significant audience in the West.
In addition to the game it's recently been confirmed that shows from the anime series will be uploaded to YouTube after airing on Disney XD, all as part of a continued effort to build awareness and hype around the franchise. In addition one of the IP's most popular toys will shortly go up for pre-order, too.
We're referring to the actual Yo-Kai Watch - pictured above - which will hit North America in January next year. In Japan this toy was incredibly hard to find at a reasonable price for many months, which is recounted rather well in this Kotaku article. It doesn't actually tell the time, but instead you slot in medals representing different Yo-Kai and it makes noises, while there's also a light to 'search' for the spirits. If you're a young child and excited about the franchise it's easy to see why it'd be a must-have accessory.
In North America pre-orders open on 6th November, and orders made before 31st December - with a deposit of $1 to $5 required - will receive an 'exclusive Jibanyan "Paws of Fury" medal'. The retailers offering this deal will be Toys R Us, Target, Walmart, GameStop and HasbroToyShop.com.
Are you going to try and get one of these, or know someone that will? It may be a good idea to get in there early.
Comments 19
I'll just stick with the game lol. That looks stupid.
It's cute, but I'm way to old to be excited about it. It would just be something I never opened and left in the box on my desk.
Hard to want to pre-order something that looks like it came out of a Happy Meal box. And those "medals" look just like the coins for the Pokemon TCG.
Can't they at least try for a little originality?
If it could've told actual time I might've preordered.
My kids are sold on Yo-Kai. They started with the demo and have been watching the cartoon every chance they get. I could see them wanting this toy.
My 5 year old is a huge fan of the show and has the Japanese version of this (I'm assuming it's identical - it looks identical) and he absolutely loves it. Getting a new medal is a big deal for him.
Of course, if your age is in double digits you really aren't the target for this! Hope the game does well in the West. Now I just wish they'd bring forward the EU release!
Might get this if I see it on a Canadian website for my kids of course.
@rjejr They looks similar in that they're a disc with an image on it. You could drop frisbee into that same category.
@Spoony_Tech You know the medals come with QR codes you can scan into the game to get yokai
The kids and I will be getting one each. I imported the watches and a boat-load of medals for cosplay but they will be incompatible with the American watch, so... Time to blow money again
At least you have kids young enough to buy one for! Mine are 20 and 17!
I'll have to buy one online and have it mailed to the house in a nondescript box.
@ShikabaneHime13
At least you have kids young enough to buy one for! Mine are 20 and 17!
I'll have to buy one online and have it mailed to the house in a nondescript box.
@Ogbert Most frisbees are just a tiny bit bigger than that, and don't have pictures of cute little creaturesto capture on them. I understand what you are saying, I thought Apple suing Samsung b/c the edges on it's phones were rounded was crazy, but in this instance it's 2 similar sized discs w/ photos of the characters from the games on them. It's similar enough for a game that keeps claiming to have nothing in common w/ Poekmon. At least that's what people on here tell me.
It's cute, but I'm not a watch person and neither is my daughter. So I have no one to buy it for.
@rdrunner1178 Ha! I imported for myself and will be buying one for myself as well, especiLly since the medals can be scanned into the game
Here's the thing. The show is filled with poop jokes, fart jokes, and generally boyish gross out humour. It doesn't have that same kind of appeal that pokemon has since it's based around Japanese folklore, and the characters don't ever really --- "battle" it's just filled with silly skits, and dialogue. Couple that with the fact that the Youkai are ghosts of dead animals, and people... and you've got a very niche market.
I've been seeing every possible site push to say that this will be bigger than Pokemon and here's why I can't see that happening here in the U.S...
For one despite Pokemon having SOME creepy elements, it's still relatively cute. Pokemon are essentially animals. The entire world is tailored around them, AND it's fairly gender neutral... with some Pokemon being super cute, while others might be cool dragons or martial artists... Pokemon had success because it doesn't limit who can like it. Youkai Watch seems to oriented primarily at boys - and it lacks the "cool" vibe that Pokemon has. Unfortunately I think Youkai Watch will be a miss over here. Some kids might get into it, but it's pretty childish, where Pokemon has this timelessness to it. Teenages are gym leaders, and it has the ability to appeal to more teen demographic as well as kiddos. So yeah...
The hope and articles that state that Youkai Watch will beat Pokemon obviously don't understand what made Pokemon so popular here. Youkai Watch can make butt, fart, poop, and snot jokes all day but collecting old men and women to fight for me is pretty weird and uninteresting even to kids.
I thought the pic is a toilet in your wrist.
I actually have the japanese version of the watch (and im 23, nothing wrong with that) I was wondering if the english medals would work on the japanese watch...?
Hay will the medals come to the UK? I mite like to collet them
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