You may think Europe has had it pretty sweet over the last year or so, what with games such as Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story and Pandora’s Tower all being released months before North America. And to tell you the truth, it has been. Us Europeans have felt pretty special with the recent treatment we’ve been getting; yet it hasn’t always been like this. We’ve been known to wait months, years, and in some cases, indefinitely for releases. Heck, even Australia has been known to get some games months before Europe.
Which is why this week’s edition of Scattered Showers is all about the most delayed games in Europe… Interestingly, these games were all on Nintendo systems. I smell a conspiracy.
Whilst it’s understandable that the cause of these delays was due to localisation, because of Europe’s million and one languages, it didn’t make the wait any less painful.
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NAME: Secret of Mana FORMAT: SNES RELEASE DATES: JP – Aug 6, 1993 NA – Oct 13, 1993 EU – Nov 24, 1994
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NAME: Super Mario Bros. FORMAT: NES RELEASE DATES: JP – Sept 13, 1985 NA – Nov 17, 1985 EU – May 15, 1987
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NAME: Ogre Battle 64 FORMAT: N64 RELEASE DATES: JP – July 14, 1999 NA – Oct 7, 2000 EU – Mar 26, 2010
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NAME: Animal Crossing FORMAT: GCN RELEASE DATES: JP – Dec 14, 2001 NA – Sept 15, 2002 AUS – Oct 17, 2003 EU – Sept 24, 2004
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NAME: Super Mario RPG FORMAT: SNES RELEASE DATES: JP – Mar 9, 1996 NA – May 13, 1996 EU – Aug 22, 2008
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NAME: Harvest Moon 64 FORMAT: N64 RELEASE DATES: JP – Feb 5, 1999 NA – Nov 30, 1999 EU – Still waiting.
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NAME: Baten Kaitos Origins FORMAT: GCN RELEASE DATES: JP – Feb 23, 2006 NA – Sept 25, 2006 EU – Still waiting.
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NAME: Excitebots: Trick Racing FORMAT: Wii RELEASE DATES: JP – Aug 30, 2011 NA – April 20, 2009 EU – Still waiting.
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NAME: Arc Rise Fantasia FORMAT: Wii RELEASE DATES: JP – June 4, 2009 NA – July 20, 2010 EU – Still waiting.
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NAME: Earthbound FORMAT: SNES RELEASE DATES: JP – Aug 27, 1994 NA – Jun 5, 1995 EU – Still waiting. |
Yeah, alright North America. Laugh all you want, but us Europeans still got Pandora’s Tower, so there! … wait? … you guys are getting Pandora’s Tower too? …. Bollocks!
I’m sure they’re plenty of other games that got delayed in Europe, and not just on Nintendo systems. Let us know any others you can think of in the comments below.
