Gamertell

Last week Important Importables discussed DS games North Americans have slim to no chance of ever seeing localized and released. It seems only fair that we look at the other major portable console on the market.

With the recent PSP game drought, many people are likely lamenting the lack of titles. A look at Gamefaqs’ release list shows nine NA PSP releases between now and June 24, 2008, compared to 28 NA DS releases in that same time period.

The thing is, there are plenty of viable, Japanese and European PSP games which could be released in North America. For some reason. though, they aren’t. So let’s look at four games that should have received NA releases, but haven’t.

Suikoden I&II
The pure existence of Suikoden I&II warms my heart. A North American release would be proof positive that God exists and is a fan of good, old school RPGs. Suikoden I&II is exactly what it sounds like - a PSP release of both games in a single UMD.

Frankly, I have absolutely no credible idea why Konami isn’t releasing Suikoden I&II outside of Japan. I have a couple of conspiracy theories though, if you’d like to hear them. The first is that Konami knows it would make people happy, and they get kicks at playing god with gamers. The other is that a few Konami executives have a massive hoard of Suikoden I and Suikoden II PS1 games in a secret warehouse, and they are slowly selling them on eBay for insane prices to pay for gas and facials.

Princess Maker 4 Portable
Princess Maker 4 Portable is a fun little twist on virtual pet games. The player is a former, mighty warrior who has been given the task of raising an impressionable little girl. You set her weekly schedules and raise her to the age of 18, at which point she’ll go off into the world and you’ll find out what kind of woman you raised.

I never understood why Princess Maker games weren’t release outside of Japan. They’re really no different than those pet raising simulations you find on the DS/GBA/PS2/Wii. Well, there is the fact that, if players make certain decisions in each game, the little girl can marry her father figure. That could be it.

Tales of Eternia
Tales of Eternia is another entry in the fabulous Tales of series that includes Tales of Phantasia and Tales of Destiny. Like Tales of Destiny, it originally appeared on the PS1, and was briefly released in the US as Tales of Destiny 2.

As with Suikoden I&II, I have absolutely no idea why this game isn’t being released in the US. Maybe Konami and Namco Bandai have some kind of “I’m more sadistic than you” contest going on. Call it off you two - Namco Bandai wins. Tales of Eternia was translated, localized and released in Europe and Australia by Ubisoft. Now Namco Bandai just needs to to let Ubisoft release it in the US as well.

DJ Max Portable 2
DJ Max Portable 2 is a music game where you press buttons in time to the music. It has a huge cult following, 61 songs, can link up with DJ Max Portable and has an English language option. The DJ Max Portable 2 demo, which is available at PSP Fanboy, demonstrates the game better than I could describe it.

There have been internet rumors that a US release is forthcoming shortly after DJ Max Portable 2 was released. Since the game only came out a little over a year ago (March 30, 2007), there still could be a chance of it being localized, but I say it seems unlikely. After all, there are quite a few similar Korean music games, like Audition Portable or Pump It Up Exceed Portable, that could easily have been localized and weren’t.

COMING NEXT WEEK: Speaking of Princess Maker, how about next week we talk about the Princess Maker series? Sounds like a party to me. If you don’t miss a single installment of Important Importables, or want to know right away when the next column is up, then sign up for the Gamertell Newsletter and RSS feed.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last week Important Importables talked about a handful of delightful DS games North Americans will never find in stores.

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