Japanese Niche Games Deals Thread: Atlus, NISA, Aksys, XSeed and More!

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kndy

kndy

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The following thread are for niche-based Japanese video games by smaller companies such as Atlus, NIS America, AKSYS, XSEED, D3 Publisher, KOEI/TECMO, SNK Playmore, Ignition, Natsume or any sweet deals for those who are passionate and hardcore about Japanese video games even from the bigger companies like SquareEnix, Sega, Bandai Namco, etc.

But to avoid any messiness of links everywhere, we'll focus on games within the last 2-3 years as opposed to the last five-ten. [although, if you do see older titles on sale, please post them regardless].

The theme of these deals are Japanese video games distributed in the US by the smaller niche companies. The thread is literally for those who love Japanese games. There will be a few Korean games that you may see on this list, such as the "DJ Max" games.

If you see a deal, please post!

NOTE: Please check the most recent page for the latest deals.

And I want to thank many of you in advance who submit their deals and their support!!!
 
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shadowysea07 said:
how would you go about price matching the fire emblem at target? because I don't have a best buy near me but there is a target about a half an hour away.

and the same on soul hackers and smt 4. ugh I would of snatched them up for those prices in a second. hell I was even considering ni no kuni for 15 but its sold out too bah.
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I printed out the Best Buy Fire emblem page showing it's $14.99 and they will give you the game to take to Guest Services and from there, they priced matched it.

 
Hi everyone, something I want to mention real quick...for the items received, Tales of Xillia did not come with the CD or booklet as stated on the main page.  The Soul Hackers did come with the CD.  I also ordered a Blu-ray that looks like it was on top of a box that had a cutting knife gouged into the cover and the DVD  (no the Blu-ray end).

Suffice to say, I was disappointed about the "Tales of Xillia" and a little about the Blu-ray...but mostly the Xillia.  So, I called and told them that what I received was not what was mentioned on the site.

I will say Amazon customer service was excellent in how they handled the situation.  I won't go into details as I'm sure each situation will be different with the customer service you deal with, but I will say that if you are disappointed in not receiving the booklet or music CD as it was specified on the Amazon website, make the call and see what you get out of it!

 
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kndy said:
I will say Amazon customer service was excellent in how they handled the situation. I won't go into details as I'm sure each situation will be different with the customer service you deal with, but I will say that if you are disappointed in not receiving the booklet or music CD as it was specified on the Amazon website, make the call and see what you get out of it!
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I ordered Killer is Dead because they still have the LE listed on the site, and I took a screen shot of it, just in case. I will probably return it if it does end up being a stand alone, although I haven't seen any game-only copies around yet.

 
Random but curious. Does everyone avoid imports? I just picked up Super Robot Taisen OG PS3 and like it a lot. No deal there, though you can avoid the usual $100 import costs. $60 was worth it for glorious sprite animations in HD.

Ok that's it. Carry on.
 
DatPanda said:
Random but curious. Does everyone avoid imports? I just picked up Super Robot Taisen OG PS3 and like it a lot. No deal there, though you can avoid the usual $100 import costs. $60 was worth it for glorious sprite animations in HD.

Ok that's it. Carry on.
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I import things fairly often and can understand why people avoid them like the plague.

You figure, Japanese games cost more (their MSRP is typically higher), then there is always mark up that makes them even more expensive. Then, you have to decide between cheap shipping (which isn't that cheap) or expensive shipping, where you got to ask yourself what matters more... time or money (2 week+ wait with no insurance / tracking or 3x more money to ship). By the time you get the game, you have to either understand Japanese or hope the community has someone that is willing to translate things for you. All it takes is a simple "get X and do Y" mission to COMPLETELY stop and baffle anyone that can't read the game. You might laugh, but if you need an item like the poke flute to wake snorlax, then it could take you hours to days to figure it out without aid from the internet. Worst yet, the resale value on these games are pretty low. With the exception of Hatsune Miku and anything anime related, it's quite difficult to sell any game for any amount of money. For instance, I've had Toukiden / Lord of Apoc / Dokuro / God Eater 2 / Tales on my trade list for months and I've gotten maybe 3 offers total (2 of which were for Dokuro).

The other thing that locks people out, is what a localized version actually means. I imported 3D Dot Game Heroes and I believe it cost me $80 dollars. This game came out in the US for $40... needless to say, I wasn't thrilled. I imported Max Anarchy for nearly $100 (because I love PG) and 6 months later the US version gets a MSRP of $30?! These are unappealing concepts that most people simply avoid. Glad to see someone got Super Robot Taisen though. I always love playing as Domon and listening to his little speeches. xD

 
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And one last thing.  Really stretching out on a limb here, but if you guys like good old classic computer role-playing games, like Baldur's Gate, Planescape: Torment, the Realms of Arkania games, and others...

There is one on Kickstarter called Deathfire.  It's not a dungeon crawler.  It is in severe danger of not being funded, despite being Steam Greenlit.  It's being made by Guido Henkel, who produced Torment and worked on the Arkania games.

If you have any interest, check it out.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/g3studios/deathfire-ruins-of-nethermore

 
There are like 20+ "old-school" PC game Kickstarters for the past 2 years, none have them have come out. In fact, not many games from KS have come out yet besides FTL (eh, no thanks) and a failed Space PC game that didn't deliver what it promised. Well, actually there are a few more and here is an extensive list (of mostly not completed ones) with games like Leisure Suit Larry, but the famous games that "started it all" like Double Fine's Broken Age spent all 4mil+ and didn't finish the game. Even though they only asked for 400k. Fail is fail.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/10/18/fully-funded-kickstarter-game-goes-belly-up-haunts-the-manse-macabre-is-out-of-money-as-programmers-call-it-quits/

I also remember a Board game that was fully funded went bankrupt, because the guy used the money to move and bought a new house and/or business location.

 
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Well it takes time to make games, ya know.  Shadowrun came out, and I had a great time with that.  You can't just pledge on something and expect it in your inbox in 6 months or even a year.

 
Kazaganthi said:
There are like 20+ "old-school" PC game Kickstarters for the past 2 years, none have them have come out. In fact, not many games from KS have come out yet besides FTL (eh, no thanks) and a failed Space PC game that didn't deliver what it promised. Well, actually there are a few more and here is an extensive list (of mostly not completed ones) with games like Leisure Suit Larry, but the famous games that "started it all" like Double Fine's Broken Age spent all 4mil+ and didn't finish the game. Even though they only asked for 400k. Fail is fail.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/10/18/fully-funded-kickstarter-game-goes-belly-up-haunts-the-manse-macabre-is-out-of-money-as-programmers-call-it-quits/

I also remember a Board game that was fully funded went bankrupt, because the guy used the money to move and bought a new house and/or business location.
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FTL was fantastic fun. I didn't expect to like it (and the first hour or two was lots of really fast deaths and annoying) but once you get a better handle on things it's great.

 
DatPanda said:
Random but curious. Does everyone avoid imports? I just picked up Super Robot Taisen OG PS3 and like it a lot. No deal there, though you can avoid the usual $100 import costs. $60 was worth it for glorious sprite animations in HD.

Ok that's it. Carry on.
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Quite often....in fact for those who do purchase imports, especially used games...on eBay, the prices of "Kurohyou 2 - Ryo ga Gotoku" (the second "Yakuza" related PSP game) and "Kenka Bancho Bros. - Tokyo Battle Royale" dropped down to the $31 range with free shipping (I know that's a lot but for these two games...anything under $39 is a plus). Picked up those two and "Kamen Rider Heroes" which dropped to $18.99 with free shipping. And now my eyes are on the shmups that were released on PSP.

I haven't picked up the SRT games for PS3 yet. The only game I may consider importing for the PS3 is "Yakuza 5" and actually thinking about "Initial D".

 
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People avoid imports cuz they think Play-Asia/Yes-Asia's horribly inflated prices are the norm. If more people went to reputable online import shops like AmiAmi, Nippon-Yasan, and Nin-Nin Games they'd realize they would be able to get the games for fair prices. Shops that are ACTUALLY based in Japan.

 
kndy said:
Quite often....in fact for those who do purchase imports, especially used games...on eBay, the prices of "Kurohyou 2 - Ryo ga Gotoku" (the second "Yakuza" related PSP game) and "Kenka Bancho Bros. - Tokyo Battle Royale" dropped down to the $31 range with free shipping (I know that's a lot but for these two games...anything under $39 is a plus). Picked up those two and "Kamen Rider Heroes" which dropped to $18.99 with free shipping. And now my eyes are on the shmups that were released on PSP.

I haven't picked up the SRT games for PS3 yet. The only game I may consider importing for the PS3 is "Yakuza 5" and actually thinking about "Initial D".
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If you're referring to Extreme Stage I'd pass. The car handling in EX is completely different (horrible) compared to the previous games due to a different team within Sega developing the game. That said, if you just have to get it be sure it's the Japanese version since the Asian version has no online feature (for whatever reason).

...btw, Yakuza 5 is a must buy.

 
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Banana Peel Assassin said:
People avoid imports cuz they think Play-Asia/Yes-Asia's horribly inflated prices are the norm. If more people went to reputable online import shops like AmiAmi, Nippon-Yasan, and Nin-Nin Games they'd realize they would be able to get the games for fair prices. Shops that are ACTUALLY based in Japan.
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Yeah, proxy services tend to be the worst method for importing items. I think the best and cheapest option for importation is to have a connection or someone you trust in Japan who can hook you up with the best shipping options and the cheapest games, especially from second-hand shops like a Book/Hobby-Off. When I was in Beppu, Oita, I saw games like Tears to Tiara and Tales of Xillia going for 1200 yen. Though I guess most people don't have access to these methods, so they'd have to deal with proxies.

I've also used to order a lot from AmiAmi, but after experiencing the phenomenally cheap prices I can get myself when ordering second-hand via Amazon.jp, and having it stockpiled at a friend's place until shipment, I found it to be more economically efficient.

 
Nice to see some importers. SRW is the only kind of game I can deal with having no translation. The battle mechanics are easy enough to get ahold of and the wiki translates pretty much all the menus and skills so you are only missing out on the story, which you can infer from general anime trends. Gfaqs does have a mini translation in the forums too. Nothing word for word though.

Can't imagine playing Yakuza 5 without a translation though. Still, would recommend SRW OG ps3. The shipping times are long but you may find a US seller on ebay who is reasonable instead. I paid $60 and I don't regret it! Those awesome sprites orgasming colors is worth it.
 
Did 3 and 4 sell well in the US? I would think giving 5 the same treatment then wouldn't be too farfetched. But idk sega. They actually treat their Yakuza IP ok, as opposed to I dunno Valkyria Chronicles. Surprised me actually.
 
DatPanda said:
Did 3 and 4 sell well in the US? I would think giving 5 the same treatment then wouldn't be too farfetched. But idk sega. They actually treat their Yakuza IP ok, as opposed to I dunno Valkyria Chronicles. Surprised me actually.
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what is backstory with Valkyria Chronicles? i see people mentioned it alot of times on this site. did sega axe the ip?

 
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YBX87 said:
what is backstory with Valkyria Chronicles? i see people mentioned it alot of times on this site. did sega axe the ip?
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The original game was for PS3, but then for whatever reason the series went to the PSP with the second and third entries. VC3 never got an English release (despite having an expanded re-release version) and there hasn't been a game in the series since then.

 
I don't know the facts on Yakuza, but I know that all five released in the West sold poorly, and I suspect Sega lost money on each of them.

As for Valkyria Chronicles, it moved to PSP presumably because of the PSP's popularity in the wake of Monster Hunter (just my assumption there); this was the stroke of death for us in the West.  We got Valkyria Chronicles 2, but it sold poorly.  In the West, the PSP never caught on, except with software pirates.  I'd imagine Sega lost money there, too, and there was no way they were going to touch 3.

As far as Atlus doing something with Valkyria Chronicles, it's not a dormant IP (I don't think! but I guess maybe even in Japan they have no more plans for the franchise?), so I don't think Atlus will do anything.

I suppose my dream would be for Atlus to say, "Hey, we're going to localize Yakuza 5, Yakuza Restoration, and Valkyria Chronicles 3 as well!" but I think that's really unlikely.  No one has ever said anything about Atlus getting localization rights for Sega properties.  All Sega said was that Atlus could do what they wanted with dormant Sega role-playing IPs.  (But what that 100% means, I guess we don't know!)

Sad, because maybe Yakuza Restoration might actually sell in the West.  The PS4 needs Japanese games badly, and it's not set in modern Japan, so maybe they'd think us in the West would "get it" better.  We'd accept all its Japanese-ness along with the historical setting.

Just my thoughts on it all.  I wonder what the actual truth is.

 
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YBX87 said:
the funny thing is, from reading this thread. you would expect it in the US from the overwhelming reception towards it.
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Internet popularity does not translate to real world sales. You won't expect Valhalla Knights to be a hit based on internet forums, but it is among Xseed's best selling games.

 
YBX87 said:
the funny thing is, from reading this thread. you would expect it in the US from the overwhelming reception towards it.
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While it's hard to believe, the internet / hardcore community is actually a small part of the gamer demographic. So many games you see mentioned or referenced are things that the average person just never heard of. Not to mention, just because it's popular or unpopular online, doesn't really indicate how it will do in terms of sales.

 
admiralvic said:
While it's hard to believe, the internet / hardcore community is actually a small part of the gamer demographic. So many games you see mentioned or referenced are things that the average person just never heard of. Not to mention, just because it's popular or unpopular online, doesn't really indicate how it will do in terms of sales.
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While the is true with internet community, the thing that frustrate me most with CAG is the often display mentality of "love the game, I soooo want it!............................ I will wait for $20!.

And of course, the obligatory "I purchased the game 2 years later for $10, I love the game, why didn't we get the sequel?" and the interests of this thread, niche japanese game just make it so much worse to bear.

 
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wasabi5858 said:
While the is true with internet community, the thing that frustrate me most with CAG is the often display mentality of "love the game, I soooo want it!............................ I will wait for $20!.

And of course, the obligatory "I purchased the game 2 years later for $10, I love the game, why didn't we get the sequel?"
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Even more frustrating is that people would take 2 mediocre games for $15 instead of paying $30 for a quality game.

 
wasabi5858 said:
While the is true with internet community, the thing that frustrate me most with CAG is the often display mentality of "love the game, I soooo want it!............................ I will wait for $20!.

And of course, the obligatory "I purchased the game 2 years later for $10, I love the game, why didn't we get the sequel?" and the interests of this thread, niche japanese game just make it so much worse to bear.
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62t said:
Even more frustrating is that people would take 2 mediocre games for $15 instead of paying $30 for a quality game.
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Maybe it's just me, but I absolutely despise the people that act like paying MSRP is anti-CAG and a loathsome act that you should be ashamed for doing (unless the CE sells out, then you're a flipper douchebag. Even if you bought it to display for whatever reason).

While it's not a CAG statement, I do love when people bitch that they bought something that went free with Plus. Person "Aw, I bought that game 3 years ago for $4 dollars and now it's free! FML! ><". Those post always crack me up.

 
While I don't like to pay MSRP, If it's a niche game like the ones here, I'll make an exception and definitely pay right away, most of the time. Either buy it now, or regret it later if it happens to be scarce and stupidly expensive.

As for Plus, I rather have the physical game instead of the digital download. 

 
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I pay MSRP for very few games. If there isn't a CE/LE or first print bonus then it is very unlikely I will pay it. The last game I paid MSRP for was SMT IV but then I ended up returning that later and getting it for $35 from NewEgg. If I like a game/developer I always try to buy new though.

 
+12-20+ $ for HD capable cables (HDMI,Component) Since Sony was including COMPOSITE cables with every wonderful 500-600$ PS3.

I bought my First PS3 for 500$, it died in 3 years. I only ever played about two disc games on it. MGS4 and MSG:Crossfire.

Granted I played like 1000+ hours of MGO2...

Still need to get that fucker fixed. (The PS3 I mean)

 
The Dead Texan said:
Who in their right mind wanted a PS3 back then? That was the ONLY thing worth playing at the time. Not to mention paying $500+ for a fucking George Foreman grill.
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Hey! I did! And I got a nice little preorder artbook with it. Why I didn't sell it for $80 at the time is beyond me though... I think Folklore was out by then too so there were 3 games worth owning! Resistance being the other game. VC is the one of few games I knew I had to buy after playing the demo and the only demo I cleared twice. Also had to look it up - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Valkyria-Chronicles-preorder-artbook-On-the-Gallian-Front-/261303842664?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cd6ec3768 go me!

 
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didn't valkyria chronicles 1 sell decently well for itself even if it was over a couple months time? 

also not everyone knows about these games when they come out nor is every game worth rushing out for even with a demo then getting burned. games like eternal sonata ni no kuni ff13 ect drop in price quickly for a reason after all.

 
shadowysea07 said:
didn't valkyria chronicles 1 sell decently well for itself even if it was over a couple months time?

also not everyone knows about these games when they come out nor is every game worth rushing out for even with a demo then getting burned. games like eternal sonata ni no kuni ff13 ect drop in price quickly for a reason after all.
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Could be, but VC2 did not sell well, thus no VC3.

 
From going back to reading some vgcharts commecnt (dont have any other info...)

This is the chart

Week Ending Week Weekly Change Total 08th November 2008 1 20,249 N/A 20,249 15th November 2008 2 8,420 -58.4% 28,669 22nd November 2008 3 4,945 -41.3% 33,614 29th November 2008 4 7,590 53.5% 41,204 06th December 2008 5 5,544 -27.0% 46,748 13th December 2008 6 7,288 31.5% 54,035 20th December 2008 7 9,111 25.0% 63,146 27th December 2008 8 8,080 -11.3% 71,226 03rd January 2009 9 4,203 -48.0% 75,429 10th January 2009 10 2,907 -30.8% 78,336

format didn't make it, but that's less than 80,000 sold in 2 months over the holidays...

Sales picked up in 2009 after it was heavily discounter.  I believe it was in 2009 Walmart had it for $20.  

Valkyria Chronicles 2 came out on PSP in January 2010.

This is why/how we don't get good stuff.   I have no problem with people spending their hard earned money however they want, but, comments like this, from vgcharts is quite laughable to me. where were they/you everyone when it mattered, the first few months of release and during the holidays sale season too... 

Sad really, they reward us for
supporting the franchise by taking it
away to the PSP to make cheaper more
Japanese orientated games. At least
release it digitally and add tropies!

 
Over a million sold and no follow up on
Ps3... that's a damn shame.

 
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vgcharts is notoriously not the most accurate.

And I'm not sure we can really blame a Japanese company for making Japanese games with the Japanese gaming population in mind.

 
Jesse_Dylan said:
vgcharts is notoriously not the most accurate.
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It is, but there are no better data (or one that I can use quickly use ).

However, double that number and it still sucks.

But we can argue the number all we want, but sales were crappy anyway we want to spin it. People just didn't show up despite all the reviews we already had from JP. Going back and claim somehow Sega failed us is simply inaccurate. This game ended up in bargain bin in a year and now we have all these fanboys showing up 2-5 years later wandering what happened.

 
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it sold badly in its first month but then after it discounted it sold extremely well and eclipsed the jpn sales according to neogaf 

arguably vc2 didn't sell bad either since it did 470k world wide with the former having supposedly broke a mil

I agree though that 30k first week sales is pretty bad.

 
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VC2 was announced in July 2009, released in Jan 2010.  Whatever happened = too little too late.

waiting for it to hit bargain bin and then it sell well do little. Yes, this goes like against most CAG's belief, but this is how it works in real life...  

 
I personally get niche games immediately if I want them. Not only are they sometimes hard to find, but every purchase really really counts a lot. I mean you should buy niche games MSRP if you really want them...others wait for them to go cheap...I do it all the time. 

 
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well vc2 only sold 90k in na so I can understand not wanting to support it after that on the psp.  but with sales dropping across the board after moving it to psp you'd think that would of been a sign to move it back >.>

 
wasabi5858 said:
It is, but there are no better data (or one that I can use quickly use ).

However, double that number and it still sucks.

But we can argue the number all we want, but sales were crappy anyway we want to spin it. People just didn't show up despite all the reviews we already had from JP. Going back and claim somehow Sega failed us is simply inaccurate. This game ended up in bargain bin in a year and now we have all these fanboys showing up 2-5 years later wandering what happened.
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Yep, I definitely agree with you there. I suppose in the end, maybe everyone failed: us and Sega both. Really depressing.

:(

I think it is a good lesson for us, though, like was said above--there are times when we can't be cheap and gotta support at full price. I do some of that, though not as much as I'd like. There are a lot of NISA games on PS3 that I want (some that are even really good! :p ), and I have not picked them up yet. Mostly I'm waiting/hoping for Vita releases of D2 and Guided Fate Paradox, but I know I should just grab them. When I have a job, I really am going to just buy stuff full price and support things better.

 
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