Dear Reader:

You are viewing a story from GN Version 5.0. Time may not have been kind to formatting, integrity of links, images, information, etc.

GoNintendo 'End of Day' thought - What's holding Yo-Kai Watch's success back in the states?

by rawmeatcowboy
28 January 2016
GN Version 5.0

Time for me to pack it in for another night. Thanks again for the awesome support that you guys and gals offer up daily. I always appreciate it and will never be able to understand how I became so lucky. You guys are an amazing bunch and I'll never forget that. See you in a few, short hours.

Yo-Kai Watch is currently one of Japan's biggest phenomenons. It really seems like there's no stopping the juggernaut. Toys are flying off the shelves, cross-promotions with retailers are all over the place, the anime is doing fantastically well, the games always bring in millions of consumers and the latest movie topped the debut of Star Wars: The Force Awakens! When it comes to Japan, Yo-Kai Watch is a true force to be reckoned with.

That amount of popularity was enough to make multiple companies quite interested in the title's localization for the states. We're talking about some very big players coming together to really launch the brand here in a big way. Hasbro lined up all the toy rights to flood stores, Nintendo helped Level-5 to localize the game here and Disney picked up the anime for their XD channel. These big players were pretty sure that the brand would be able to replicate the success its seen in Japan.

So far, that doesn't seem to be the case. It's true that we're still early on in the Yo-Kai Watch days, but we've heard a few rumblings that things aren't going anywhere near as well as all parties hoped. We don't have specific figures to tout for viewers or the game's sales, but we did hear one rep say that the response has been rather underwhelming so far. There's still plenty of time for Yo-Kai Watch to catch fire and turn into a smash hit, but that all depends on how long the big players plan to keep throwing their support out.

What we do know is that the series isn't a hit in the states yet, so I'm turning to you guys to find out why. What was it about Yo-Kai Watch that kept you away from picking up the game? Have you also stayed away from checking out the anime? Fill us in on why Yo-Kai Watch hasn't tickled your fancy yet.