Help of Advertising

It is incredible what advertising can do for a new IP. This has been illustrated recently in the sudden increase in sales of Professor Layton and the Curious Village. I have been very high on this game since buying it the week it came out (over a year ago now). However, the sales of the game in the U.S. have been lackluster (sales in Europe have been amazing however). About a month ago Nintendo released two commercials featuring Lisa Kudrow being somewhat rude to another lady as they play Professor Layton.



Since the airing of these commercials on cable TV sales for Professor Layton have been increasing each week. Last week the game sold almost an estimated 52,000 copies. This is the largest weekly sales to date for the game (incredible since it has been on the market for 61 weeks). Commercials such as these really help bring new games into the conscience of the more casual audience.

Professor Layton 2?!

The game I am most anxiousely awaiting to be announced is Professor Layton and the Devil's [Demon's][Pandora's] Box, the sequel to Professor Layton and the Curious Village. Devil's Box was released in Japan on November 29, 2007 and has already sold over 860,000 copies. However, no release date has been announced for America.

Last week on IGN's Nintendo Voice Chat podcast, they speculated that this game would not be localized because of the high cost of translating the text and replacing puzzles that are specific to Japan. They stated that it would cost as much to localize the game as many games cost to make. They further cited the fact that Curious Village has only sold around 350,000 copies in America. This figure, they stated, would likely not justify the localization of the game.

However, they ignored the fact that the game has already sold over 620,000 in Europe and Australia (even though the game was released in November of 2008, nine months of the American release). Europe is sold out of the game, and this game may reach 1 million in sales in Europe alone. Thus, bringing the combined sales of America and the other regions above that of the Japanese release. This fact gives me great hope that we will see a release in America.
Recently in the Official Nintendo Magazine (a European magazine) the cover announced that it contained a preview of Devil's box.

This is pretty good evidence to me that the game is in the works. I assumed that the localization is not much different for the U.S. than it is for the U.K. versions. As such, I think this game will reach our shores before the end of 2009. This game was also on a number of year end lists as the hand-held game of the year. I think Nintendo would be foolish not to localize this game.

Professor Layton and the Curious Village Review

We once again were able to score an exclusive interview review with Lugenstien! This time for Professor Layton and the Curious Village.

Wii Bluelight: Lugenstien, thanks for coming back for another review.

Lugenstien: My pleasure. I just completed the last puzzle in Professor Layton and it was an incredible game. The game consists of 135 puzzles for the player to solve (plus more available through download). These puzzles run the gamut from word puzzles to chess puzzles to various story problems.

Wii Bluelight: Sounds like another brain age type game.

Lugenstien: It goes far beyond the standard brain age game. While the puzzles will work your brain what truly sets this game apart is an incredible story line, great art style, and incredible voice acting that connects all of the puzzles together. The diverse puzzles alone are enough to make the game great but it is the presentation of the game that makes this game truly incredible. You explore the village of St. Mystere talking to residents and clicking on items to find puzzles. Solving these puzzles progresses the story line until you are able to solve the overall mystery behind the village.

Wii Bluelight: How hard are the puzzles in the game?

Lugenstien: There is a large variety of difficulty in the puzzles. Some are very easy, others will test even the seasoned puzzle solver, some seem down right impossible at first. However, for the hard puzzles players are able to spend coins that they have found throughout the village to buy hints to assist them in solving the puzzles.

Wii Bluelight: Anything else the players should know about this game?

Lugenstien: This is actually the first game in a planned trilogy. The second one has already been released in Japan. However, there has been no release date yet given for America. Look for it sometime in 2009.

Wii Bluelight: What is your final score for the game?

Lugenstien: Presentation: 10, one of the highest quality presentation on a DS game
Graphics/Sound: 9, very good music, plenty of songs to keep it interesting, very high quality voice acting
Gameplay: 8, great use of the stylus to solve problems, if you miss a puzzle as you search the village it is often hard to find them later in the game, this becomes frustrating
Game Length/Replayability: 8, it will take you a while to finish all of the puzzles, about 26 puzzles available through downloads, once you've beat a puzzle though not much replay value
Overall: 9, the high production values and simple enjoyability of this game makes it a must own. Look for upcoming sequels.