Free toilet paper?

Yet another reason I wanna move to Japan...

What the hell? I bet they would have lined up around the block for another DS Mario Party, but they couldn't be bothered to show up for this. For Goichi Suda, I would have found a way to show up at least 10 times all by myself. :(

It's a real shame that No More Heroes isn't getting the attention it deserves. Suda deserves a hit.

they need more mini games in NMH for it to sell <.<

PS3 might be hard to program for, but Wii owners are impossible to program for.

which entirely new franchises sold well in japan this year other than the so called "casual games"?

this is not a wii problem but a video-gaming-in-japan problem.

"It's different" - Obviously not a good enough reason to to buy a game by itself.

maybe this wasn't publicized enough?

@Truepatriot: It has coconut collecting, lawn mowing, gas pumping, and rival assassin assassinating. How many more mini-games does it need?

@Orangeclover

I doubt it, as the media was there. As well, foot traffic alone (think New York x 10) through the store should be enough.

In either case, if they did this where I live (doubtful) I'd totally be first in line.

That's terribly unfortunate. I'd love the chance to get No More Heroes signed by Suda as well as my Killer 7.

I also don't think No More Heroes will sell much better than Killer 7 did over here. It just has too many things going against it for it to really burst out, I think.

Suda's games make me think of Art House or independant films here in the states. They may be great, they may be awsome, but the best of them will never come close to touching the next Pirates of the Caribbean.

I personally hope I'm wrong :(

Poor Suda. I hope this is just a fluke. :\

Things like this sadden me. Mostly because a lot of favorite games don't get brought and don't get sequels.

If he game to Ohio you can bet I would show up to buy a copy & have it signed ... and I'd ask him to sign my Killer 7 copy as well.

I agree. It's sad to hear of a system that really has a lot of potential to be awesome get neglected by 3rd party publishers because people neglect the 3rd party games. That will make for many sad/angry Nintendo fans who have to argue for another umpteen years why the Wii is great DESPITE not having these games - whoch might be true in principle, but hardly in practice.

Let's hope this is a fluke. That maybe the publicity wasn't enough, or that it was just an off day in Akihabara or something. Who knows? Maybe the game itself is horrible. Either way, I want Nintendo - MY Nintendo, which I love - to be good for more than just first party games and casual software. It's time for things to change... but how?

@Torgen: MOAR!!!
but yeah good point.maybe if they had a mario minigame?

Well that sucks, stupid casual Wii market.

by this point I actively hate japanese gamers. they are a bunch of conservative and innovation hating pricks. remember the first trailer for DQ9? the one that featured real time battles that actually looked fun?

well, japanese gamers didn't like that (waaaaa! change!) so DQ9 is going to have the same 20 year old battle mechanics as DQ1. hooray!

that nobody is buying No More Heroes doesn't really surprise me. it's neither MGS nor FF nor DQ nor a first party Nintendo title. so it just might have game play mechanics that haven't been beaten to death ten years ago..

and we all know, that you'll get cancer from exposition to innovation.

@Truepatriot: Aw man, if it had a part time job at the soup factory where you have to crush turtles by stomping on them, that would be so surreal.

Ouch. That sucks... but as pissed as I'd like to get, I can't. I'm gonna pass on No More Heroes, too. Maybe rent it. Sorry, Suda. Better luck next time?

Wow, this is a tear jerking story. I feel so bad for those guys standing out there with nothing happening, man i would have dragged the whole town down to that place to throw a party for those guys. To have done all that hard work and be the kid left at the punch bar without a date. This is terrible, when it comes out here i'll be sure to pick up a copy (for supportive purposes)

Why was I not told of this event? I would have so gone. D:

POODLEFUCK I SAY!

@K-Squad: Yeah, that photo makes me feel horrible for them. Wada just looks embarrassed and depressed, Suda looks like he's making the best of a bad situation, but close to tears.

This is one game that actually makes me want to buy a Wii so if this fails then not much hope for other games that aren't first party ever reaching my tiny Australian portion of the world.

That really sucks, I think that this whole casual market Nintendo has cornered with the Wii is really discouraging for developers who want to make an honest-to-god actual game for the system, because most of the people that own a Wii are either too conservative to really know what video games are, or too young to know the difference, and those people far outnumber the people that bought the system to play actual games.

Go Suda! I really do hope the sales do pick up. I also do hope that this is a fluke. *sigh* Damn Wii demographics. Nintendo of America better be publicizing the damn all the time!!

Makes me sad. For Suda and the industry. I just hope the man doesn't get discouraged and brings the game to another system or at least translates it to west.

ARGH WHY DID I NOT KNOW OF THIS ONCE AGAIN!!1111111111

Well shoot. If I had known they were going to be down there I would have taken the day off work and dropped in to grab a copy, and maybe a picture or 2. No More Heroes was a reason for me to buy a Wii. I was gonna wait till after new years for things to die down, but if I had known. Doh.

I'll also say he should port this baby to another system, admitedly it'll lose some of it's unique features without a Wiimote, but the beefier systems could probably allow him to push a bit more in other areas. Hell, I'll take a PS2 port, that'd probably sell well and re-coop any loses.

I wish I could give Suda51 a hug, he just looks so cheerful in that pic even as no one is buying his game.

I really don't think this has much to do with the Wii's 'casual' market. I don't think Killer 7 did that well either.

Damn it, this sucks. I think the game looks like sheer awesome, and this is the response it gets?

Usually I love my fellow international gamers, but Japan? You're on notice.

I feel sorry for the guys, but at the same time happy developers are realizing the Wii is not the panacea for gaming it was turned to be: sure, it may have sold loads, but attach rate stinks and "casual gamers" don't make for very good customers for software houses in the long run.
Here's to hoping good developers will focus their efforts on better platforms.

Well if I was there I would have cleaned them out. The game looks awesome and I don't care what the Japanese play now, this game should be on their must have list.

@shiwasu: You are correct there sir.

I feel bad sort of for the fact that they were out there to meet the fans and that none showed up. Guess the Japanese hardcore just aren't so much. :(

I am looking forward to the game coming to the States. They'll have my $50.

Well you know - sell a games machine to non-gamers. You would hardly expect them do buy games, would you? (to state the bleeding obvious).

Poor Suda. He looks like he's about to burst into tears. Don't you just want to hug him? Well, I would, if he demanded blood was put back into No More Heroes.

Mario Galaxy didn't even sell well there. Nothing does but JRPGs and Mario Party. It'll do a lot better in the West.

@johnhummel: You're being charitable calling Japanese Wii owners "gamers".

I suspect that there's a little more to this than meets the eye.

Capcom had a similar problem with this before, for games such as Killer 7 and also with better hits like Devil May Cry.

That problem is a lack of penetrative advertising. Killer 7 had almost no advertising except maybe a few magazine ads, where Devil May Cry had... what, one television spot? Devil May Cry got by because it was balls-to-the-wall fantastic and no other game did what it did. Killer 7? ... Not so much.

I'm willing to bet that there was very little advertising either for this event, or for this game as a whole.

If you're going to cater to the casual market, you had better be sure that they know your product exists. Casual, after all, means that people are not going to stalk news sites for information regarding your game.

I just died a little inside:(

(And yes, I know that Capcom didn't develop this game, but it was the most readily available example of the situation that I could come up with.)

This makes me so sad. There likely will never be a top-selling third-party title for the Wii. If the Japanese market influences development decisions, there may be no third-party games for the hardware. Hell, maybe there won't even be first-party titles outside of Brain Training and Wii Fit. Seriously, Japan, go fuck yourself.

360 port, please. We'll show you some love. Us 360 players in Japan might be few, but we're supportive!

@AlKusanagi:
Amen to that.

Wow, this is really sad. I'm sure it'll sell better in the States, but not so much. It'll probably suffer the same fate Killer 7 did. Wrestling moves just aren't enough to save it from obscurity...now if Travis Touchdown stayed true to his name and was a football player, sales would be through the roof!

*Sigh* And yet another original game that doesn't involve step aerobics or you managing the singing career of prepubescent little girls, while secretly resiting the urge to hit on the above jail bait ones, bites the dust in the land of the rising sun.

I've never seen such a stubborn group of gamers when it came to checking out a new IP. Dragon Quest IV (a remake)sells in droves at launch, while Assassins Creed is practically collecting dust in comparison to it's launch sales in the U.S alone. I honestly feel bad for Wada and Suda, while praising them for at least trying something different in a country that is continuously shying away from new ideas unless it's simlar to something already done before. Then again, Psychonauts was also a hit here in the U.S, now wasn't it?

I don't know, maybe they're just having a slow start and sales will eventually pick up down the line. Then again, people probably saw the lady in the skirt giving them the evil eye and decided to settle for free toilet paper instead.

This makes me sad suda is such a great guy must be a real bumber especially after the great fatmitsu scores and the decent mount of Hype for the game.

Do any commenters in Japan know what the advertising was like for this game?

I wonder if this'll chart.

@Witzbold: Poodlefuck indeed, sir. Poodlefuck indeed.

Free butt-chafing toilet paper?! Chick in Mini-Skirt?! IM SO THERE! wait..... their advertising a game? woah....

Lol now that that is over. Really in concept No More Heroes seems like a good game... *but* honestly the graphic style is just... well... terrible. I would actually consider buying this game if it was done with "normal" style graphics.

but... one question... why was the creator of Harvest Moon there?

@Baff: "PS3 might be hard to program for, but Wii owners are impossible to program for.
You got a good laugh out of me, which, considering my mammoth headache (light... hurts...), is quite a feat.

Anyway. I was pretty enthusiastic about No More Heroes, but now I'm not so sure. The main character looks pretty cocky and obnoxious, and it feels like the game as a whole is trying too hard to be hip and cool. I don't know... Maybe I've seen so many wacky indie Japanese movies that the prospect of playing one doesn't seem all that fresh and exciting.
NMH will probably be an excellent game, just one I won't feel like playing.

Still, that doesn't change the fact that I want to kill myself everytime I look at Japanese charts.

I just don't understand why toilet paper is the new in thing for cross-marketing with games. Is it just cheap to make it or what? Why would you want people wiping with your product pics? Wouldn't people be afraid of colors coming off down there? The best part would be getting the hot chick to sign it. [Butt-head voice] Hey baby, wanna sign my roll? huh-huh-huh-huh. I guess if you're friends came over it would be like advertising. I could see it working in the states if the game were Desert Storm and the paper had Osama on there..

Oh goddamn it, what day was this? I just made my first visit to Akihabara this weekend. I would have snagged a copy even though I don't have a Japanese Wii.

@GOLD5: Three words.. MGS colostomy bag. Remember me at launch, babe.

@TheBoxNinja:
Can you read?

I take it no-one here has played no more heroes. I don't think people didn't turn up because the game isn't mario party. They didn't turn up because the game isn't that good!

Mr Ashcraft you should no better than to advocate people buy a game simply for the sake of buying it. As someone once said, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I would argue that the road to crap games is also paved with them.

@penhalion: So, did you play the game or is that just an educated guess?

For all those who suggested: "Oh, put it on a 'better system'". Really? If, in a hypothetical world, NMH was