When you think about video games as a whole, what do you picture? That often depends on what you as a gamer like to play, and what kinds of titles you enjoy. Some of you might picture simple and beautiful platformers. Others may picture a deep RPG experience with a grand narrative. Or how about shooters that push you to the limits? Either way, how you perceive them will affect what you buy and enjoy. For publishers and developers of games, that perception applies to them not only when they’re making the games, but when they decide what to put the games on platform-wise. Which brings us to the question–why aren’t the Yakuza games on Nintendo Switch?
We ask this, and plenty of other gamers ask this, because the Switch has been getting a lot of ports of many popular titles from a number of classic series. In fact, the latest Nintendo Direct revealed that the Resident Evil franchise would be bringing four games to the system via the Cloud. So if those games could come over, why not the Yakuza franchise? Well, it has to do with perception. Specifically, the perception of the Nintendo line of systems itself in Japan.
The head of the studio behind the games, Masayoshi Yokoyama, noted that it is he who is hesitant to put the games on the system, and wonders if it would actually be the best thing for the franchise as a whole.
“Do we want to put a title like this where we’re going around and picking a fight with the world and doing all this Yakuza stuff, on a Switch,” Yokoyama explained.
He elaborated and noted that the Switch, especially in Japan, has a family-friendly appeal to it, especially with the ‘pick it up and go’ gimmick that has made the Switch a best-selling console. But for the Yakuza series, the point is to be more of an underground feeling. It’s a bit rougher, a bit dirtier, and that notion kind of conflicts with what the Nintendo Switch is trying to be in the eyes of the company.
Obviously, this is their choice and it’s within their rights to say that they shouldn’t do this port for one reason or another. But those that know video game history know that this question was asked before about another gaming series and it led to one of the biggest Nintendo franchises of all time.
We’re talking, of course, about Super Smash Bros. When the game was being developed, many were afraid that people wouldn’t take to the violent nature of the characters in the game, especially since they were fighting other Nintendo characters. They really didn’t think it would sell well, but they were wrong in the biggest way, and it’s now the best-selling fighting game franchise of all time.
Source: GameSpot
