In other words, it's making it notably harder for the players to get the games than if you just put them up for sale on various Japanese webshops and restock when you sell out.Manualmartin wrote:Getting off-topic, but most physical direct-to-consumer with limited editions now runs "open pre-order" which means they order as many as they get pre-orders of, which minimize scalpers that buy to resell.
I really really want to respect your take, because sure it would be nice to get more M2 releases with menus that don't need to be translated, but when you're criticizing Japan-only releases with one hand, while at the same time championing US-only releases, which are limited to a single retailer and impossible to order once the preorder window is closed, your bias becomes a little too clear.
If I have to pick between placing an order with Amazon JP and having the game 3 days later, or placing an order with LRG within a specific preorder window, and having the game 15 months later, or be forced to pay a massively upmarked secondhand price to scalpers, I'm not hesitating to go with the first approach. I think that's pretty damn sensible, and given those choices the better option for everyone.
I think the best realistic solution we've seen in recent years is what ININ does, and that should be the gold standard for any niche title such as STGs. The game becomes available in Japan early and can be bought by anyone then, but if you want a domestic release you can wait a few months and it'll be available with pretty much any available retailer, much cheaper than most major retail releases, and not be in risk of running out of stock.
And for the collectors who want their stupid limited nonsense, SRG are selling collector's packages along the side, without interfering with the widely available release.