why the hell isnt Stafy outside of japan yet?

RoninBuddha · Post by **RoninBuddha** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 8:27 am

it's prolly one of the most marketable franchises of recent, not to mention it's appeal is very similar to Kirby and Mario, plus, it plays great... just wondering, does Nintendo/Tose shove this series down or something?

Herr Schatten · Post by **Herr Schatten** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 9:10 am

It's always been a mystery to me. The Stafi games are all excellent, they entertain through originality and diversity, they don't require über-skills. I can't imagine a single reason why Stfi shouldn't be a success outside of Japan.

Maybe the marketing guys at Nintendo are just plain stupid? Just a guess.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 9:24 am

Didn't the first one come out in the US?

Benjamin · Post by **Benjamin** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 11:14 am

GaijinPunch wrote:Didn't the first one come out in the US?

Nope. I can only imagine that Nintendo doesn't want to release it here because it is so similar to Kirby in its appeal, and perhaps it doesn't want to "flood" the market with similar games. Then again, Stafi is also extremely text heavy, requiring a good bit a resources to translate for what is still a simple portable game.

Arznei · Post by **Arznei** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 12:11 pm

Stafi isn't text heavy. It consists of "hey, I need something, go fetch" "thanks, but I need something else, go fetch" "awesome, but I need you to collect something else as well, go fetch" and that's basically it.

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 12:17 pm

Can anyone give some more info on this? Haven`t heard about that yet!

EDIT: Okay, Stafi is Herr Schatten in disguise. I looked at the screenshots and wondered why I know this little yellow star. A Nintendo character completely unknown in the west? Yeah, Nintendo is weird sometimes. I mean, come on, it`s a platformer with a cute character - it`s not that this is completely unusual here in the west. I`d like to hear about the über skills that you need in that game though!

Benjamin · Post by **Benjamin** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 12:47 pm

Arznei wrote:Stafi isn't text heavy. It consists of "hey, I need something, go fetch" "thanks, but I need something else, go fetch" "awesome, but I need you to collect something else as well, go fetch" and that's basically it.

Yes, it doesn't require a high reading level, but there still is plenty of text. Look at Kirby. Mario. Metroid. By and large, Nintendo properties really don't have much dialogue at all, not nearly as much as in Stafi save perhaps Zelda. Stafi has plenty of dialogue, and likely too much to warrant a translation for a portable game that wouldn't likely fly off the shelves.

Arznei · Post by **Arznei** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 2:42 pm

Or they could remove the dialogue entirely. Problem solved.

D · Post by D » Wed Jun 21, 2006 3:00 pm

Include links next time. I didn't have a clue what it was about.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 24&q=stafy
http://www.gametrailers.com/player.php? ... mv&pl=game
Looks cool!, I have to keep this game in mind. What's the best version/system?
Why not in the west?
1 What should they even call it?
2 platform games are not that popular anymore in the west. The west wants FPS's, racing games and FPS's.
3 Nintendo hates the west, so the better this game might be, the more likely they will keep it for themselves
4 maybve it's based on Japanese mango that hasn't been shown in the West yet.
5 Maybe a sea star has a special meaning in Japan and they think the west will make fun of them. they are affraid of magazine reviews like: You're playing a f$%king sea star, what the fuck? I want to control Serious Sam.
Who's gonna complete the list?

Middlemoor · Post by **Middlemoor** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 3:02 pm

What is the game like?

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 4:10 pm

It`s always stunning to see how simplistic "kawaii" is. Kirby: A ball with eyes and mouth. Pikachu: A ball with ears, a tail, eyes and a mouth. And now a star, with eyes and a mouth. I mean, its not that hard to come up with something like this. The game looks neat, even though I have no idea what it is about.

icycalm · Post by **icycalm** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 9:01 pm

D, the first three ones are on GBA, the fourth on DS.

Still haven't played any of them, though I own the first two, I think.

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 9:24 pm

icycalm wrote: Still haven't played any of them, though I own the first two, I think.

How many games do you buy if you THINK you have the first two but haven`t played neither one of them?

Pixel_Outlaw · Post by **Pixel_Outlaw** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 2:48 am

There was a game for genesis that had a star as the main characeter. I think the name was Ristar.
Who knew you could breed a pikachu with a starme....

Benjamin · Post by **Benjamin** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 3:14 am

Arznei wrote:Or they could remove the dialogue entirely. Problem solved.

You're a bad person.

Pixel_Outlaw wrote:There was a game for genesis that had a star as the main characeter. I think the name was Ristar.
Who knew you could breed a pikachu with a starme....

Yeah, but Ristar has "attitude," or at least that 90's video game style trying to replicate Sonic's "attitude." Stafi is more simply drawn and never shown to be angry or determined. Stafi is much cuter than Ristar. The only thing they have in common is being star princes.

Arznei · Post by **Arznei** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 3:21 am

FrederikJurk wrote:It`s always stunning to see how simplistic "kawaii" is. Kirby: A ball with eyes and mouth. Pikachu: A ball with ears, a tail, eyes and a mouth. And now a star, with eyes and a mouth. I mean, its not that hard to come up with something like this. The game looks neat, even though I have no idea what it is about.

God forbid they make a character named Bouncy.

Stormwatch · Post by **Stormwatch** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 3:52 am

Benjamin wrote:Ristar has "attitude," or at least that 90's video game style trying to replicate Sonic's "attitude."

Interesting that you say that... Ristar is based on a concept that SonicTeam tried but dropped during the developement of the first Sonic game. In a way, Ristar is what Sonic could have been!

Herr Schatten · Post by **Herr Schatten** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 6:55 am

Middlemoor wrote:What is the game like?

It's a relatively easy platformer with many many original ideas, great level design, cool puzzles and really lovely graphics. If you like games like Kirby or Super Princess Peach, you'll probably love Stafi. I know I do.

I think I like part 3 best, although part 2 is pretty much equal in quality. But part 3 has Stapy (Stafi's little sister) as a playable character and a cameo of Wario. The first game is bloody excellent too, but not quite as refined as the later ones.

Part 4 on the DS I would rate the best of them all, if its pace wasn't a tad bit slower than that of the previous games. I was also disappointed that the DS game came without any extras: Stafi 2 came with a sheet of stickers, Stafi 3 came with glittering stickers. I expected at least hologram stickers this time, but no.
Stafi 4 has completely redrawn sprites and backgrounds and some of the greatest, cutest animations ever.

Arznei · Post by **Arznei** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 8:16 am

Benjamin wrote: You're a bad person.

Hey, it'll get stateside without dialogue and it'd still be worth buying.

icycalm · Post by **icycalm** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 8:56 am

FrederikJurk wrote:
icycalm wrote: Still haven't played any of them, though I own the first two, I think.
How many games do you buy if you THINK you have the first two but haven`t played neither one of them?

Right now I am not buying any games. But when I am in Japan I buy shitloads. I find games on sale (10 or 20US usually), and I just snap them up, regardless of whether I have the time to play them. Tons and tons of them. Because supplies are eventually exhausted and then the price of the games shoots up two or three times.

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 9:32 am

I guess if I ever came to Japan I would do the exact same thing, Icy. Just grabbing all that stuff, can´t talk, must buy! If I weren`t in some Arcade preparing for some major headache, that is.

In my city I am happy if I ever see a DS game or something the like that remotely interests me. But the discounted stack of Gunstar Super Heroes for 10 euro makes me almost buy another copy.