Yo-kai Watch Makes Its UK Chart Debut as Star Fox Zero Holds Top 40 Place

If my daughter (aged 6) is anything to go by, Yokai Watch could enjoy at least part of the domination that Pokemon has seen over the years. She is totally obsessed with it, as she also is with Pokemon. Good thing the game has 3 save slots so I can play it too.

I think Yo-kai watch is a bit too weird to really catch on outside Japan, in Japan all kids grow up with the concept of Yokai, outside Japan lots of people just see "Pokémon clone"...

Foxes >>> Star Fox Zero (what can I say, I'm a big fan of the underdog)

If NX needs/gets 1 3rd party game, now seems like a good time for FIFA.

Wasn't there an article a while back about some sales rep saying Yo-Kai Watch was going to be a Pokemon beater. He was wrong.

Yo-Kai has all the charm (& weirdness) that one could ask for, it's a really fun game, but there are a few great problems with it that hold it back, and unfortunately due to its poor sales in the west, I'm not sure we'll see 2 let alone 3, so we'll never know how much better it's become.

@RoomB31

Hasbro is preparing to release the second game's watch and new medals later in the year and even more Yo-kai Watch merchandise. I'd say that's actually a potential sign we are getting the 2nd games

@ShikabaneHime13 It could also just me they will continue the anime. It's definitely a good sign, but merch/anime/game are all separate entities. Sure it doesn't make much sense to release more merch without something to support it, but that doesn't guarantee its the game, but here's hoping.

@RoomB31

But they've made it very clear that this is a franchise tied into the toys, anime and games. New Yokai already have localized names and suffice it to say, why bother with the new toys and medals given the medals are used to accquire coins in the game? I have all the Japanese games and plenty of the Japanese medals in addition to the English ones. Newer medals were never compatible with the older games as the yokai weren't coded into the game. Of corse, an update could potentially take care of that, but it has always been that new medals and monsters cannot be used in the previous game. Just like new medals can't be used with the older watch

On another note, yes,Yo-kai Watch is not going to perform on the same levels as it did in Japan, but I have thoroughly seen kids interested in the franchise as a whole, buying medals, playing the games and watching the anime. And remember, in Japan, the games didn't really pick up until the anime aired and the second games (which were a vast improvement overr the first) were released. Suffice it to say, the first games outside of Japan are following the trend with modest success. Only difference is, is that we got the anime at the same time as the first game.

@ShikabaneHime13

The medals don't interact with the 3DS game at all. They are a collectible cash in with the watch and work with some phone app, so this must be a japan only thing. And localizing names could just be for the anime again, but like I said we'll see, I hope they bring 2 and 3 here.

Considering Nintendo hasn't even mentioned Yo-kai's North American sales #s is puzzling for the supposed modest sales.

I've been interested in how Yo-Kai Watch is doing in North America, and couldn't find anything while searching a while back. Hopefully we get an update on how the franchise is doing outside of Japan as a whole now that it's out in Europe.

@RoomB31
Uh, no. There are QR codes on the back which you use the 3DS camera to scan into the game. I do know what I'm talking about

Can't UK just show sales numbers instead of positions?

I'm really sick of the top charts that UK has. You will never know how good the game turned out with this chart thing in mind.

Again, I've been hip to the series well before it came outside of Japan, so I am more than familiar with the workings of the franchise. Just as Level 5 is working on the new franchise, Snack World, in which the collectable toys are used in the game and tied to the show, same goes for Yo-kai Watch. Anime, Toys and Games are all tied together. The medals have use in the watch, moble app and games

Here's a video for the medals being used with the 3DS

http://youtu.be/yvXRL9RhYV8

@ShikabaneHime13 Well this is news, considering no where on the packaging of either the game or the toys does it say they are compatible with each other.

honestly NFC would have been a much better choice than old school QR codes.

@RoomB31

Yeah, you have a point with NFC having been a better choice. But remember, the first game came out in Japan in 2013, well before we cot NFC capabilities on the 3DS. I wouldn't be surprised to see if they do go this route on the 3rd games but I'll find out soon enough when my import copies of 3 arrive in July.

And yes, it is stupid that there is no labeling to let consumers know you can use the medals with the game, but it is definitely a feature. You use passwords at the post office and medals at the bank

@RoomB31

Another note on NFC: Snack World will use it at the very least. The little toy collectables for that series will utilize the New 3DS touch screen nfc reader

I guess kids today are not as fussed about these kinds of franchises then say, when Pokemon or even Yu-Gi-Oh! first came here.

It's have a small following for sure and even most likely have the sequels brought over here but it would probably take a miracle for the franchise to be as huge as it is in Japan, which even now I think is dying down a bit...

Star Fox is not moving much stock at all in my area. Shelves full of untouched stock. ( Dallas, Texas USA)

@Angelic_Lapras_King

It's dying down a little if only because it has been a while since the last mainline game. I have no doubts that upon release, YW3 will reign supreme in Japan for a good while again. A part of the quietness as of late too also stems from I think the new season. The new characters Inaho and USApyon have not been anywhere near as popular as the original characters were

I'm so disappointed with StarFox Zero controls, been a huge StarFox fan for years. I just don't understand why Nintendo has to reinvent the wheel when it come to StarFox games, StarFox Command and StarFox Zero both had needless and unnecessary control layouts. Shifting my sight from Gamepad to TV while using motion controls in SFZ is down right tedious.

Expected this. Yokai Warch doesn't have a very big audience outside of Japan, and I already am sticking with Pokemon (I also find Uokai Watch too weird for my tastes), and with the reviews Star Fox Zero is getting, I don't think it will do well in the long run.

@ShikabaneHime13

While not as blatant as it should be, Nintendo does have an ad showing off the game feature.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjNelNKW1Ig

Also they've just started using NFC medals with YW3 as they're releasing the first set of these soon.
http://www.inside-games.jp/article/2016/04/15/97873.html

@SteamedOddish

Good to know! Thanks! Can't wait to import the new games. Already got waaaaay too many medals from Japan but more never hurt >.<

It is usually the case that Nintendo and its fans speak highly of its first party efforts. That Ratchet and Clank finished 1st 2 weeks in a row speaks volumes of the dollar value that product provides. I fear that for Nintendo, this may be the last of the ' good weeks' in the UK.
And I'm off. I got a beta key for Grand Kingdom, and will be posting my hands-on review elsewhere in the coming days.

I'm in the States and just picked up Yo-Kai today. It was of those games I kept meaning to get since it launched, but never did.

I think they majorly screwed up by waiting this long to release it. Given that the English Internet peaks around the time of the US release, they could have capitalised on that here as they did in Australia. Instead, by unnecessarily delaying the game by such a long time, many of the more casual players will have moved on and forgotten about this, causing a corresponding decrease in sales.

I heard the delay was to line it up with the anime being shown on TV, but that was completely unnecessary. They did this before in the UK with one of the Inazuma Eleven games.

There's no reason to delay a game for the anime! People can still enjoy the anime after buying the game, and it might even create new fans who then go and buy the game; none of this necessitates such a delay.