"Solatorobo: Red the Hunter" European release date confirmed! (Update: US release confirmed too!)

[Prometheus]

Anyone who's played Tail Concerto for the PSX knows how good it is, and most likely has been anxiously following the many rumours about its long-awaited Nintendo DS follow-up (Solatorobo -Sore Kara CODA e-, or "Solatorobo -And Then to CODA-") coming to the West. It was rated for Australia in June/July of last year, and rated for Europe last August, and at the very end of this March a trademark filing for the name "Solatorobo: Red the Hunter" was made for the European region.


At long last, though, the game's release date has been confirmed: It is out on July 1st, and is being distributed in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa by Nintendo Europe. This latter part is quite a significant development, as it means that the game is going to get a much more high-profile release than had previously been expected (to give an example, previous games that got this treatment in these regions were Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney for the Nintendo DS, and Monster Hunter Tri for the Wii).


Unfortunately there is no date for North America right now, and Namco-BanDai's North American arm has claimed that they currently have no plans for it over there.


I really can't wait for this one - I've been following the game's progress since it was first announced, way before the Japanese release had even occurred, and whilst at times it almost seemed unlikely, I never had any doubt in my mind that it would get here. And now here it is!* Is anyone else looking forward to this one as much as I am?


*(I was the same with Mega Man 9 and Mega Man 10. Perhaps I have the magic touch? :lol: )


EDIT: You know, in all my excitement, I seem to have overlooked saying much about the game (and its predecessor) itself. Tail Concerto was an interesting case of parallel development, and the game and the universe it's set in has an almost-frightening amount in common with MegaMan Legends (as well as having a vastly better control scheme than the Legends games have). Both were released at around the same time, and each could not possibly have influenced the other. In both series, the world as we know it is gone and the surface is mostly covered by water, humans are gone, islands dotted about here and there (islands in the sky in Tail Concerto and Solatorobo's universe) are where civilisation tries to continue (and search for treasure), and getting around using mech-suits and airships is common - and there are sky-pirates, too. Solatorobo is set quite some time later, but still maintains these parallels. Basically, if you like MegaMan Legends and games like it, you'll probably like Solatorobo (and Tail Concerto, as well).

 

[WizardStan]

If I didn't have a huge backlog of games I was playing, I'd definitely look into it (or at least Tail Concerto, looks like it can be picked up second hand for a reasonable amount). Onto the list it goes

 

[Blue Protoman]

I liked the first game. Perhaps I will look at this later.

 

[Prometheus]

We've got some screenshots in English for the first time, along with some promotional artwork, and a lone piece of concept art for the more-powerful shape-shifted form that you can take on in the game. They cover everything from from exploring, to racing, to shape-shifting, to mecha-fighting, and they can be viewed here.

 

[Prometheus]

Sorry for the bump, but: The official website is now live, with an initial trailer (which I assume will be a TV-spot as well) available, and news of four further episodic trailers in the run-up to the game's launch.

 

[second exodous]

Um, so do they just not like the US because we have a black president or are they still pissed off at Bush? I don't get it, released in every single English speaking country except the US, the biggest market for video games?

 

[Prometheus]

^ My understanding is that Tail Concerto's US sales were poor (in Europe, it was only released in France, where it did very well), which may affect the chances of a North American release for Solatorobo. Of course, there's still a chance, I suspect - it just might depend on how it does out here, first.


Moreover, it is a fact that Europe is the biggest market for handhelds (closely followed by Japan).

 

[second exodous]

Still, if it is translated into English wouldn't it be wise to release it in every English speaking country that has a sizable market?


Also, according to Wikipedia the US bought more DSi units than Japan and 'other regions' so I think the US is the biggest market unless I'm missing something. The US is also bigger on game sales and DSi ware sales.

 

[Prometheus]

Still, if it is translated into English wouldn't it be wise to release it in every English speaking country that has a sizable market?

Only if that market will buy it - releasing something that simply won't sell isn't wise at all, after all.


That said, for all we know, they may well have plans to release it there anyway, but it makes much more sense to sell it in the regions where the original game saw success first. After all, that's how it went the first time - Japan and Europe got Tail Concerto an entire year before North America did.

 

[second exodous]

I'm not that upset as I don't like 'furry' games/shows anyway. Although; if the first one was released a year later in the US the 'furry' people probably imported it or pirated it, I bet that was the reason it did poorly. I also know there are lots of 'furries' here in the US, I've been to a game convention before.


To me it just seems like it is for some other reason. I know I shouldn't be complaining because the US has gotten lots Japanese games that Europe didn't, and I feel really sorry for Australians with their governments weird stance on violence in games and Germany and Austria only getting censored WWII games, so I should probably just shut up.

 

[Prometheus]

I'm not that upset as I don't like 'furry' games/shows anyway. Although; if the first one was released a year later in the US the 'furry' people probably imported it or pirated it, I bet that was the reason it did poorly. I also know there are lots of 'furries' here in the US, I've been to a game convention before.

Er, what? :blink: Do pardon me, I have no idea what you're talking about. You're saying there are lots of cartoon animals in America?


You must have missed out on an awful lot of games if you apply strange labels to games featuring cartoon animals, though. (An awful lot of games do, after all. :lol: )

To me it just seems like it is for some other reason. I know I shouldn't be complaining because the US has gotten lots Japanese games that Europe didn't, and I feel really sorry for Australians with their governments weird stance on violence in games and Germany and Austria only getting censored WWII games, so I should probably just shut up.

I'm afraid that it sounds a bit like you're looking for a conspiracy where one clearly does not exist. This is purely due to market forces.

 

[second exodous]

Here in the US a 'furry' is someone who is obsessed with Anime with animals as the main characters and dresses up like these animal people at conventions. Some even go as far to wear a fake tail in public as a daily thing. They go one step beyond just liking media where animals take the place of humans and are willing to pay hundreds of dollars for imports for this type of stuff. These people generally creep me out.


I still think since the first one was late in the US it was imported like crazy by these types of people. The US also has 'Anime Freaks' that will use 90% of their income on anything that comes from Japan, anything, little girl underwear included. The Anime Freaks out number the furries by 10 to one and if there was a Japanese game that was released outside of the US they will import it no matter the cost. If the game is in English they will be a 1,000,000 times more likely to import it. I have a friend that will import Anime box sets for a few $100, that he can not understand btw, that will come out in a year or two in the US for $29.99. These people don't freak me out as much but I do tire of hearing how much better Japan is than the rest of the world so I only have a few Anime Freak friends.


I don't think there is a conspiracy just poor marketing research. This game didn't look that exciting for me anyway so I'm not that upset.


EDIT: In the past I have liked games with animals and even watched Anime with animals, I think it was mapel town I watched on Nick as a kid, I just try to not like media because it has animals as the main characters. This game just does not look exciting to me, has nothing to do with animals, but I know of people that have obsessions that will make them want to get this game just because of animals or because it is from Japan.

 

[Prometheus]

Two bits of new info;


1: UK site updated, in advance of the game's release date next week.


2: North American release confirmed, fans of Tail Concerto can rejoice. It's being published by XSeed, and they have registered the domain http://www.solatorobo.com , although a release date is not yet available for this region.