Pet Peeve: Japanese handheld developers.

[Zeta]

They're developing for a Japanese market without thinking of overseas markets. Specifically, most handheld games have features or even an entire half a game of content that can only be accessed via multiplayer features. Kingdom Hearts, Monster Hunter, Pokemon, Dragon Quest.

In Japan, where the population is so thickly packed and everyone is carting around consoles and the most popular games, that's fine.

But if you're an American (or really any non-Japanese), chances are you're living in a more sparsely populated area, where you might never even meet another person who plays the same portable console game as you. Finding a person who plays the same console AND wants to play with you AND has the exact same copies of all the titles is almost impossible outside of one of the US's larger cities.

So we have all these handheld titles coming out that are like 50-60% built around multiplayer features that most American players might not even see. This is even worse if you're an adult, because sometimes you get so desperate you want to run up to the kid in the mall you see playing a DS, but then you get arrested for kidnapping.

Basically, JPN devs need to make nearly all of their content accessible without having to play with someone else. Kingdom Hearts and their 20-something characters that you can only play if you have a bunch of friends who ALSO have Kingdom Hearts, I'm looking straight at you.

This is why Japanese developers don't get why Americans whine about not having online play. Yes, in Japan you'll be in a subway carriage with 10 other people who all have Dragon Quest DS. In the US, you'll be lucky to ever SEE another person playing your console, and you'll probably be hit by lightning before you see someone playing your console AND the particular game you want to play.

I wish someone would bring this to the attention of the Japanese handheld developer community as a whole.

[Green Gibbon!]

Yes, in Japan you'll be in a subway carriage with 10 other people who all have Dragon Quest DS.

This is not even an exaggeration, by the way.

[Radrappy]

n the US, you'll be lucky to ever SEE another person playing your console, and you'll probably be hit by lightning before you see someone playing your console AND the particular game you want to play.

And they actually have to want to play with you too.

[Team Mecha]

& they have to be older than 5 & not have over protective parents around.

Kingdom Hearts DS-no online (or even download play)
Dragon Quest IX-no online
Dissidia: Final Fantasy-No (official) online
Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time-Now that shit is online

Well at least I have 1 person to play KH with. & Japanese handheld support still beats the crap out out of western handheld support.

[Kogen]

Maybe stop buying menu games about homosexual teens fighting squirrels.

[Zeta]

There hasn't been a Final Fantasy Pokemon crossover yet.

[K2J]

Good.

[Arcade]

I Still havent found anyone with FFIII for DS that sends me a mail so I can unlook the damn Onion Kight quest... and the game is like ten bucks now! (Five if used)

[gr4yJ4Y]

I've seen a couple of close-knit groups of gamers where they'll all go out and buy the same multiplayer handheld game the day it launches and play it together. And I've seen people playing together at conventions, but those usually once a year in most areas.

But whenever I buy multiplayer handheld game I have the same problem.