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{{
{{Video Game Examples Need Sorting}}
MOD: Partial sorts using different sort criteria make examples difficult to find. Please sort video game examples ''only'' by genre.
== Game Company Specific Examples ==
These examples are sorted by company name. '''MOD: Please either sort them by genre instead, or present a compelling reason why they should be listed by creator.'''
*
* There is no [[Atlus]] Europe,
* Any Bemani series that isn't ''[[Dance Dance Revolution]]'' or ''beatmania''; an American installment of ''[[Beatmania]] IIDX'' didn't sell too well (releasing it shortly after the release of ''[[Guitar Hero]]'' didn't help), and the less said about ''Beat'n Groovy'', the better.
** A Wii version of ''pop'n music'' was produced and even got an American release ... ''but'' it was turned into a [[Adaptation Distillation|motion controlled game]] using just the [[In Name Only|Wii Remote and nunchuck]]. Thankfully, it ''did'' share a similar art style to the actual series. But even worse, it even spawned an arcade version; the American version was only tested as a redemption game (and had a [[American Kirby Is Hardcore|very unfitting logo]]), but a Japanese version was released under the name "HELLO! POP'N MUSIC"
* [[Bethesda]]'s earlier [[Elder Scrolls]] installments ended up becoming this in [[Japan]] after the fact. After Microsoft released the [[Xbox]] in Japan, American Gamers received the third installment, [[Morrowind]]. [[Xbox]] sales tanked in East Asia, and the powers that be had a case of [[And You Thought It Would Fail]]. However, without [[Region Coding]] on the console, Japanese gamers could still play [[Morrowind]] in English via [[Import Gaming]]. Interest in the game spread by word-of-mouth, turning the game into a [[Sleeper Hit]] on both PC and the handfull of [[Xbox]] consoles in Japan. Eventually, the fandom created sites with [https://web.archive.org/web/20120526120837/http://www.hmx-12.net/~virgil7/morrowind/ Instructions, Walkthroughs, Explanations, Resources, and Plot Overviews in Japanese] all the way up to [https://web.archive.org/web/20130917201525/http://www.geocities.jp/meisaku_asobu/KanjiMorrowind.html complete fan translation patches]. [[Bethesda]] eventually noticed the publicity, and made sure to create a Japanese localization of [[Oblivion]] and later [[Fallout 3]]...[[And the Fandom Rejoiced]].
** [[Oblivion]] also follows [[First Installment Wins]] over in Japan, as it is the installment where most Japanese started playing. Westerners usually exercize this trope over [[Morrowind]] or [[The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall|Daggerfall]]. Because of this, [[Oblivion]] was sometimes [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks|less well received]] in the West.
** Of course, after playing the localization of [[Oblivion]], and what will likely happen after the Japanese release of [[Skyrim]], a war broke out among the fandom over [[Subbing Versus Dubbing]] sure to entertain any English-Speaking fan of Japanese video games and-or anime.
** [[Skyrim]] also managed to get a perfect score from Famitsu, THE only western game to do so.
* Every Cave [[Shoot
** And now the worst has come to pass: nobody outside of Japan is getting ''[[Ace Attorney Investigations]] 2'', at least not on DS. Capcom has kept the door open for a release some other way, but it seems more a token gesture than anything else. (However, if they turned out to have intentions to change the system, it wouldn't be the first time a company did so -- Rising Star Games, the European publisher of the ''[[Harvest Moon]]'' series, didn't get around to releasing the [[Nintendo GameCube]] game ''Harvest Moon: Magical Melody'' in its region until its system's successor, the [[Wii]], had already replaced it, resulting in a port to the latter for that region and later in North America by the publisher there, Natsume.)▼
▲* Every Cave [[Shoot Em Ups|shoot-em-up]] after ''DoDonPachi'' has gotten an Asia-only release; if you want, say, ''Mushihime-sama'' or ''Espgaluda'' on the PS2, and live outside of there, expect to shell out at least the equivalent of US$70 (unless you are an extremely good bargain hunter). Then again, shoot-em-ups are a niche genre here in the United States.
** There were plans to bring a couple of the games to XBLA, but Microsoft rejected.
** Cave has recently been trying to avert this, as they've given some of their games some form of English release (''[[Death Smiles]]'', ''Guwange''), or at the very least have made them region-free (''[[Mushihime-sama|Mushihimesama Futari]]'', ''EspGaluda II Black Label''), making importing them much easier. [[And the Fandom Rejoiced|Western fans are much appreciative.]]
*** This continued even in the face of Aksys (who published the US version of ''[[Death Smiles]]'') saying they're not interested in publishing additional shooters for the US. Deathsmiles IIX actually recieved a US release - in the form of the unedited Japanese game (Japanese Achievements left intact) [http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/DeathSmiles2-X/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802435a07d9?noSplash=1 available over Games on Demand].
*** Even when Cave could find no willing publishers for an American release of ''[[Do Don Pachi]] Resurrection'', Rising Star Games made their European release of the game compatible with American consoles, in a bizarre inversion of the usual situation (usually, Europe's the one importing from America).
* Subverted with visual novel producer minori, who
* Monolith Soft
* Nintendo often withholds things both from America and Europe, particularly 3rd-party games that didn't already have a ''huge'' fanbase in those regions beforehand. In particular:
*
**
** Nintendo also chose not to import ''Rhythm Tengoku'', a fun, original [[Rhythm Game]] from from creators of the ''[[Wario Ware]]'' series, seeing as the GBA was dead in the water by the time it came out. The DS version got localized, though, and can be found as Rhythm Heaven, with a few more entries like the 3DS sequel also getting localised.
** ''[[Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan
**
*** This causes a bit of confusion with some of the [[Continuity Nod|nods]] to ''Sword of Seals'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem'' present in ''Blazing Sword'' and ''Shadow Dragon'' respectively. Everyone also wondered what would happen next; because ''Fuuin no Tsurugi'' wasn't ever localized, people thought that the ''next'' [[Fire Emblem]] game would be about Zephiel being the antagonist thanks to the ending showing {{spoiler|Zephiel being approached by Yahn}}.▼
*** It seems to be happening ''again''. ''New Mystery of the Emblem'' has been out in Japan for
▲** What plans to localize ''Fuuin no Tsurugi''? They didn't even plan to let Marth and Roy into the international release of ''Melee''! [http://fireemblem.wikia.com/wiki/Marth According to the Fire Emblem wiki], Nintendo of Japan originally intended the two protagonists to only be playable in the Japanese version (which they were included in to promote ''Fuuin no Tsurugi''), but they were popular enough during the localization process that Nintendo of America decided to leave them in. Had they not, Americans might ''still'' not have ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' over in the United States.
** Nintendo received some backlash over their decision not to localise ''[[Xenoblade]]'', ''[[The Last Story]]'' and ''[[Pandoras Tower]]'' in North America, leading to an [[Internet Counterattack]] known as [http://oprainfall.blogspot.com/ Operation Rainfall.] Americans were particularly annoyed by the Xenoblade situation due to the game not only having come out in Europe and Australia (for once), but with a full translation and dub of ''Xenoblade Chronicles'' available. Eventually the operation bore fruit, with ''Chronicles'' coming to North America April 2012 with a limited print run, and [[Xseed|XSEED Games]] publishing ''The Last Story'' in the same region.
▲** This causes a bit of confusion with some of the [[Continuity Nod|nods]] to ''Sword of Seals'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem'' present in ''Blazing Sword'' and ''Shadow Dragon'' respectively.
▲** It seems to be happening ''again''. ''New Mystery of the Emblem'' has been out in Japan for over a year, yet Nintendo has refused to give even a rough estimate of when the rest of the world might see it. [http://www.heroesofshadow.net/ Fan translators] to the rescue once again...
▲** Part of what makes the ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' example so notable is that much of the plot ''doesn't make any sense'' without having played each game's Final Mix version. For example, {{spoiler|Terra's final battle with Xehanort in ''[[Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep]]'' only makes sense if you've played the Final Mix version of ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'' and fought the Lingering Sentiment}}, while the extra scenes in the Final Mix version of the first game {{spoiler|foreshadows the existence of Xemnas and the Nobodies.}} The Final Mix version of ''Birth By Sleep'' includes an extended final level {{spoiler|that ends with Aqua finding the Castle of Dreams in the world of darkness}}. Since the next game isn't out yet, it's unclear what the significance of the new ending is, but it's pretty much a given that it'll be vital to the plot.
** Worst of all, the superspecial happy-extra-stuff Japan-only versions of ''[[Final Fantasy X-2]]'' and ''[[Final Fantasy XII]]'' are subtitled "International + Final Mission" and "International Zodiac Job System", respectively. Yes, it's ''Japan-only'', and titled '''International'''. The intent is to give Japanese players the American and European versions (with some ''additional'' changes), hence the name; but still, it rankles.
** In an unusual case of Europe getting things that North America doesn't, many of the features of ''[[Final Fantasy X]] International'', such as the [[Bonus Boss|Dark Aeons]], appeared in the European release of the game.
** It should be noted, however, that almost all of these above-listed games were released for the [[PlayStation]] 2. So this may have more to do with [[Executive Meddling|Sony's licensing policy]], which, for an [[Updated Rerelease]], requires a certain amount of new content before it can be given an international release.
▲** And in the era before the mergers, it was very rough to be an Enix fan. Enix of America was their localization firm in the United States that abruptly closed shop in 1995, simply because Enix of Japan had no interest in localizing their titles in the US anymore. One particularly odd case was the Enix game ''[[Terranigma]]'', which got swallowed up in the aftermath. Enix allowed Nintendo of America to publish ''Terranigma'''s predecessor, ''[[Illusion of Gaia]]'', stateside, but when it came time to release ''Terranigma'', they wouldn't allow it. Clearly this took Nintendo by surprise, as they had been running previews of the game in the company-owned ''Nintendo Power'' before the closure. The game was still translated to English for a European release via Nintendo, who localized it for the rest of Europe as well...just not in the United States. Pretty much every American that's played this game did so running a ROM of the PAL English version. Enix left a few more games stranded in Japan until they got a clue and started up another publishing house in America just to get ''[[Dragon Quest VII]]'' out the door.
*** A lesser theory about ''Terranigma'' not being released outside of Japan and PAL was because it would have come at a rather awkward time - it was released in 1995, and by the time it would have been translated and released in America, it would have either been '''a)''' hampered by a short run because the Nintendo 64 would be released in a couple months or '''b)''' had to compete against the Nintendo 64 and probably wouldn't have had as much advertising as previous SNES-titles have. Even when Terranigma was released in PAL territories, the Nintendo 64 was ''right around the corner''.
** On the upside, ''[[Dragon Quest]]'' has gotten a new lease on life in the United States in recent years: not only was ''[[Dragon Quest VIII]]'' released in the U.S. with its original Japanese title (as opposed to [[Market-Based Title|"Dragon Warrior"]], which was really something that was because of trademark issues with a pen-and-paper game named "Dragon Quest"), but the DS remakes of ''[[Dragon Quest IV]], [[Dragon Quest V|V]] and [[Dragon Quest VI|VI]]'' have ''all'' been announced for the U.S., with VI being announced for the U.S. ''before it was even announced for Japan,'' and the best news of all is that ''[[Dragon Quest V]]'' and ''[[Dragon Quest VI]]'' were indeed never before released in English. Considering Enix's previous track record of [[Blind Idiot Translation|crappy localizations]] and generally being incapable of recognizing the United States as a viable market, the merger with Square is probably the best thing that ever happened to them.
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*** Also, certain titles like ''Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2: Professional'' probably won't see release outside of Japan.
** ''Before Crisis Final Fantasy VII'' - it's been almost five years, no word at all about an international release. It's particularly annoying since an ad for this game was included in the North American DVD of ''Advent Children'', and there was promise of it being released sometime in 2006. So even a spin-off to one of the most successful games of all time is not immune to getting the No Export treatment. So as for you Turks fans... sorry about your mistake of not being born Japanese.
** And finally, one of the company's most infamous oversights in this regard: ''[[Seiken Densetsu 3]]''.
** ''[[Romancing SaGa]]'' series aside from the remake
* [[Namco Bandai]], thanks in large parts for their treatment of English-speakers with the massive ''[[Tales (series)]]'' (more details further down) and plenty of their lesser intellectual properties, also has clear shades of this.
* When Telenet Japan's subsidiary Renovation Products was bought out by Sega in 1993, the planned North American releases of several SNES games were canceled: ''Neugier'' (as ''The Journey Home''), ''Psycho Dream'' (as ''Dream Probe''), and a port of ''Arcus Odyssey''.
== Game Series Specific Examples ==
These examples are sorted by series name. '''MOD: Please either sort them by genre instead, or present a compelling reason why they should be listed alphabetically.'''
* Although the ''Ace Attorney'' series is known for its high-quality localisations, some entries still suffer from this:
** ''[[Ace Attorney Investigations]]'' was never released in any language other than Japanese and English, despite getting released in the UK and the other Ace Attorney games getting translations to German, French and other European languages. A German group of fans were in the process of creating a [[Fan Translation]], but the group's latest update was made in 2013 and featured a beta version that did not cover the entire game, so a full translation may very well be [[Vaporware]].
▲**
** The second pair of spinoffs, ''Dai Gyakuten Saiban: Naruhodou Ryuunosuke no Bouken'', have never been published outside of Japan either. Capcom have not given any clear answers for why they wouldn't get translated, although there are theories floating around that it has to do with the game drawing much more from Japanese culture and/or with the games using plot elements and characters from [[Sherlock Holmes]] which haven't entered the public domain in the US.
* ''Another Century's Episode'', a game series that is basically an action-based variation of ''Super Robot Wars'', faces far too many roadblocks for licensing here, not least of which is the whole ''Macross'' thing...
* For over half a decade, the ''[[Atelier]]'' series was completely unable to leave Japan, despite the first two games handily breaking six-figure sales volume and becoming a cult hit in Japan that inspired nearly every JPRG that followed to have some form of [[Item Crafting]]. Reportedly, despite its success in Japan Sony has never had any faith that the series will appeal to American gamers, despite titles such as ''[[Harvest Moon]]'' doing well here. Only when the series made some changes to be more like a standard JPRG with ''Atelier Iris'' did it finally manage to cross the Pacific courtesy of [[Nippon Ichi]] Software of America - in 2005, '''eight years''' after the series debut in Japan. America has gotten (almost) all ''Atelier'' releases since, but even with a PS2 re-issue of the first two games, none of the first five, [[Item Crafting]]-based ''Atelier'' games have ever crossed the Pacific.
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** Additionally, ''My Pokémon Ranch'', while available in the US, is locked out of the Japan-only update which makes it compatible with ''Platinum''. The update also adds a slew of new features, none of which stateside fans will probably ever see.
** The [[Wii Ware]] versions of [[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon]]. Especially irksome because, for once, in these games, ''you can evolve in the middle of a dungeon.'' Yep, you don't have to beat the game (or in Time/Darkness's case, essentially beat the game TWICE and recruit really hard legendaries) to evolve, you can evolve right in the middle of a mission! ...If you live in Japan, that is.
** ''Pokémon Masters'' wasn't released in the Netherlands or Belgium<!--The Dutch speaking Flanders is part of Belgium-->, presumably due to gambling laws and its status as an [[Allegedly Free Game]]. This wouldn't be notable except for the fact that press releases including information on updates get translated to Dutch anyways.
* Rumors of an American release of the ''[[Sakura Taisen]]'' date sim/strategy game series appear about as often as rumors of ''[[Duke Nukem Forever]]''. ''[[Sakura Taisen]]'' came out first, but only the fifth installment made it across.
* A ''[[Shadowrun]]'' game for the [[Sega CD]] was released in Japan only, probably because in 1996 the system was already fading fast.
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** Fans of the ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' series outside North America and Japan (and a large amount ''in'' North America) don't really know who the two characters from the ''Mother'' series are. Mostly because, of the three games, only ''[[EarthBound]]'' ever made it to the US, and no further.
** To the point where [[Nintendo Power]] has joked about it. One preview jokingly refers to the cover game as being ''Mother 3'' (ignoring the fact that the ball on the picture is coloured a lot like [[Sonic]], the glowing sword embedded in it resembles a Dragon Needle), but immediatly says that they're just kidding.
*** The most reasonable hypothesis for why ''Mother 3'' won't be officially localized is because the game is a landmine of licensing issues (see an excerpt of the [http://earthboundcentral.com/2009/02/earthbound-legal-issues/ changes needed to localize ''Earthbound''] for a comparison), particularly in its use of [https://web.archive.org/web/20131005032746/http://cruiseelroy.net/2009/01/mother-3-musical-allusions/ musical excerpts and audio samples] of everything from the Adam West ''Batman'' TV show to ''[[Space Invaders]]''. Since author/producer Shigesato Itoi refuses to alter the game to remove those references and Nintendo refuses to override him due to [[Protection From Editors|Itoi's fame]], they're left with either trying to placate ''dozens'' of license holders... or just block the title from leaving Japan.
** However, the music excuse is a very poor one now because, according to the [[Happy Video Game Nerd]], Nintendo officially released ''Mother 3'''s soundtrack on iTunes. Many viewed it as a slap in the face.
** The long-missing first game in the series was even ''localized'', but never released because it was near the end of the lifespan of the NES. The compilation, ''Mother 1+ 2'', also wasn't localized, because of the unpopularity of the second game in the US and the trouble of rereleasing the third one.
*** It should be noted ''Mother 3'' came out in Japan in 2006 and was one of the very last [[Game Boy Advance]] games. [[Values Dissonance|And it was proven that people outside of Japan tend to declare themselves "done" with systems much sooner than Japanese people do]]. Had it been made in say, 2005 when the DS wasn't initially getting established, it might have been different. But when it comes down to it, it's probably just because Nintendo missed their chance and won't be bothered to port it/remake it themselves; if the game is ever remade the chances of this trope being averted for this third game are higher.
* Fans of [[Wrestling Game|Wrestling Games]] have long lamented the lack of such games that make the transition from Japan to the U.S., which leaves [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]]'s licensed games as very nearly the genre's sole representatives in North America. In particular, Spike Entertainment's ''[[Fire Pro Wrestling]]'' and ''King of Colosseum'' franchises have garnered very vocal cults of [[Import Gaming|Import Gamers]], but the former has only seen very limited North American release of only the most recent games, and the latter has yet to cross the pond at all. To be fair, with those two series in particular, there are a few licensing issues; ''King of Colosseum'' is a [[Massive Multiplayer Crossover]] of several prominent Japanese wrestling federations, while ''Fire Pro Wrestling'' is... the same, with international promotions thrown in too, only [[No Celebrities Were Harmed|with the]] [[Serial Numbers Filed Off]].
** The problem is the vast bulk of the roster is Japanese wrestlers with only a handful of American wrestlers. Since Japanese wrestling has a very small audience in the west, most companies feel it's not worth the effort. Heck, Agetec only managed to port Fire Pro Returns by waiting two years after the game's Japanese release and releasing it in the US and Europe as a budget title. It also should be noted the [[Game Boy Advance|GBA]] games sported a larger number of western wrestlers than usual, and the US version of Final Fire Pro added even more (at the expense of the Manager Mode).
* More proof that Namco utterly hates you: ''[[Xenosaga]] I&II'' for the DS never saw release outside of Japan.
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* ''Kuru Kuru Kururin'', a popular Nintendo franchise in Japan. The only game in the series that made it outside Japan was the first one, but it only got a European release, it was never released in America. However, [[Marth Debuted in Smash Bros|Kururin's stick-like vehicle appears in]] ''[[Super Smash Bros Brawl]]'', thus leading to a lot of confusion from American gamers.
* ''[[Monster World IV]]'' was not released outside of Japan...until May 2012, when it saw release on the [[Wii]] [[Virtual Console]] with an official English translation.
* Every game in the ''[[Wagyan Land]]'' series never got released in America most likely due to its [[Shiritori]] minigames.
== Game Specific Examples ==
These examples are sorted by game name. '''MOD: Please either sort them by genre instead, or present a compelling reason why they should be listed alphabetically.'''
* For most of us, the puzzle game ''Wario's Woods'' was the final NES game. But Japan released another NES game that never saw release outside of Japan: the fourth and final installment of the ''[[Adventure Island]]'' series.
* ''[[Alien Soldier]]'', originally released in 1995, had a limited release in the U.S. as a Sega Channel game before the service was discontinued, turning it into a lost classic until its inclusion on the [[Wii]] Virtual Console in 2007.
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* As the page quote mentions, the ''one'' decent ''[[Back to The Future]]'' game, ''Super Back To The Future II'' was Super Famicom only. Seriously, what? A game based on an American movie doesn't come to ''any'' English-speaking country? Instead, we got the shitstorm of [[The Problem with Licensed Games|LJN]] garbage that so infuriated [[The Angry Video Game Nerd]]. Maybe they thought western audiences wouldn't go for the [[Super-Deformed]] look the game had.
* ''[[Battle City]]'' was never officially released in North America, though it was common on bootleg NES multicarts.
* ''[[Battle Golfer Yui]]'' is a [[Sega Genesis]] game released exclusively in Japan around 1991 because of its poor sales in Japan, but it received a [[Fan Translation]] in 2017 by Supper and filler.
* ''[[Battle Tanx]]'' seems to be a gloriously fun romp around a [[After the End|post-apocalyptic]] wasteland blowing things up. OK, so it was ignored upon release, but it would still make sense to release it outside America to drum up sales, right? If you believe that, you're not a manager to 3DO.
* One version of ''[[Black Matrix]]'' was considered for US release back in '99, but was passed over, for [[Religion of Evil|some reason.]]
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* ''Forbidden Siren 2'' saw Japanese, Australian and European release, but never made it to North America, probably because sales for the first game were, to say the least, abysmal.
* ''[[Americans Hate Tingle|Freshly Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupee Land]]'' in America. [[Americans Hate Tingle|Need you ask why?]]
* Despite being released in Japan, the third ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' game, ''Fullmetal Alchemist 3: The Girl Who Succeeds God''
* Three [[Godzilla]] console fighting games have been made by Atari/Infogrames, and the third one especially, ''Godzilla Unleashed'', is regarded by fans as the best Godzilla game of all time. So it's a bit of a puzzle why only the third game was not released in Japan, Godzilla's ''home.'' The Japanese fans are a bit pissed off about this, especially as it contained several of the films' [[Ensemble Darkhorse|Ensemble Darkhorses]] who have never been playable before.
** On the other side of the pond, the second Super NES Godzilla game and ''[[Street Fighter]]'' clone (''Kaiju Daikessen'') never left Japan, and even worse, it was actually set to be released in North America as ''Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters'', but wasn't mentioned afterwards. Which is unfortunate, since it was the first truly good Godzilla game on a mainstream console.
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* Oddly enough, ''[[Metal Wolf Chaos]]'' was never released in the US -- despite being fully voiced in English, with the game's main character being, you know, ''[[Our Presidents Are Different|The President of the United States]]''. In a [[Humongous Mecha]], no less, fighting armies led by [[Corrupt Politician| his evil Vice President]] with iconic American locales like the Lincoln Memorial and Statue of Liberty as a backdrop. Exactly ''why'' Microsoft wouldn't release this in the States is a mystery.
** Cultural sensitivity might account for that, seeing as how the game is practically an [[Refuge in Audacity|over-the-top]] parody of militant [[Eagle Land]], some Americans might not appreciate it. Of coure, the rest would think it was [[Crazy Awesome]].
** The most prevalent theory, they were [[Screwed by the Network]]; Supposedly [[From Software]] couldn't get an American publisher; [[Sega]] didn't like it, believing it wouldn't sell.
* ''[[Monster Party]]'', a [[Widget Series|characteristically weird]] Japanese "parody" game, was [http://www.chrismcovell.com/secret/FC__1988Q4.html#monsterparty advertised in Japanese magazines] but somehow never released in its home country.
* ''[[Moon Crystal]]'' was advertised for a forthcoming U.S. release that never happened.
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* ''[[Tetris the Grand Master]]''. What makes the series even harder to acquire outside of Japan is that it's arcade-exclusive (unless you count the [[Sequelitis|tragedy]] that is ''Tetris: The Grand Master ACE'' for 360). Furthermore, the demand for it is very low (because [[Public Medium Ignorance|all Tetris games are the same, so why bother with this specific subset of games?]]), so a TGM cabinet in an arcade is very rare--the third TGM game, for instance, is only publically available in two arcades in the entire non-Japan world.
** As of October 2009, one of these arcades is [[Tear Jerker|getting rid of its TGM3 machine]].
* Capcom was having trouble bringing ''[[Capcom vs. Whatever|Tatsunoko vs. Capcom]]'' in the US primarily because of licensing issues with the [[Tatsunoko Production]] characters. That's just the US - imagine if Capcom tried to bring it to Europe, where even more of the characters are licensed differently. [http://forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?p=6722681#post6722681 They finally managed to do it in the US]{{Dead link}}, with Europe [https://web.archive.org/web/20120519052956/http://www.capcom-europe.com/forum/showpost.php?p=189281&postcount=6 coming along the way], making this a succesfully [[Defied Trope]]. Sure, one character is missing, as are the character theme songs, but we get five new ones and online play too!
** They were to include [[Ace Attorney|Phoenix Wright and Franziska von Karma]], but localizing issues with some of their special moves prevented them from appearing in any version. Not entirely sure, but I believe it had to do with the "Objection!" move being impossible to localize. Specifically, in Japanese that "Objection!" is only a few characters long, but in English, at ten characters long, the move became nearly impossible to dodge (since collision with with word itself does the damage). Took Phoenix Wright from being a run of the mill character to being incredibly overpowered. They ultimately found a solution to Phoenix Wright's "Objection!" problem after the game's release, earning him a spot in ''Ultimate [[Marvel vs. Capcom]] 3''.
*** Many fans consider this excuse to be complete bull, suggesting that syllabes could've been used instead of the letters. Ob-jec-ti-on-! Or even something like "Object-it-on!" even if that sounds more like something Viewtiful Joe would say.
** Also, ''Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter'' has a [[Joke Character]] called Norimaro, who is supposed to be a caricature of [[No Celebrities Were Harmed| Japanese comedian Noritake Kinash]]. Capcom figured most Americans would not "get" the joke, so he was not included in the western release.
* ''[[Tenchi Muyo!]]! Ryo-Ohki'' has in-continuity [[All There in the Manual|novels and doujinshi]] that are not available outside Japan. Consequently, many non-Japanese fans disliked the third OVA series for introducing lots of "new" characters (who actually had appeared earlier in those novels/doujinshi), leaving less screentime for the characters from the first two parts of the OVA.
* The [[Tenchu|Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven]] PSP port, featuring many extras, seems to never get out of Japan as well. Which is odd, considering how Wrath of Heaven is one of the most popular Tenchu titles.
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== Genre Specific Examples ==
These examples are sorted by genre name.
* [[Cute'Em Up
** While ''[[Parodius]]'' hasn't made it yet, two other entrants in the genre, ''Fantasy Zone'' and ''[[Twinbee]]'' do have entries available on the Virtual Console. So there's hope yet that the series will leave this page.
* Good luck trying to find any side-scrolling shooters in the US.
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** And the countless doujin shmups, which are nearly impossible to get outside japan [[Keep Circulating the Tapes|unless you pirate]].
** Rockin' Android are trying their best in bringing as many shmups over as possible.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130612035405/http://kotaku.com/5248715/years-later-rapelay-making-waves-in-japanese-press No importing RapeLay for you!] Despite being a rather under-the-radar sandbox-style 3D-ero (a.k.a. "Hentai") game from '''2006''', It was [http://www28.atwiki.jp/erogekisei/ recently imported intentionally] by several American feminist organizations specifically to be offended by it -- groups that are now working with far right protesters in Japan to pressure the Japanese government to ban "Abuse Games". Amazon and other importer-friendly stores have banned the sale of the game, retail markets in Japan are working at pulling it from shelves, and [[Unperson|even the maker has purged their website of all mention of it]].
** The bigger catch? Much like the proposed anti-[[Lolicon]] rules that would plant an automatic R-18 rating (read: no one under 18 admitted) on certain works (thankfully, [[Doraemon]] won't be among them), the preliminary proposed regulations about "abuse games" are vague enough that they would ban about 30-40% of the ero market. [[Xanatos Gambit|A complete accident, of course.]]
** Illusion doesn't release ''any'' of their games outside of Japan -- they even have [http://www.illusion.jp/contact/japanese_only.html an apology] on their website. Many of their more mainstream [[Dating Sim]] games are actually [[Guilty Pleasure|kinda fun]] to play and have ''huge'' modding communities outside of Japan. Even games like RapeLay or Biko (a "stalker game") are interestingly bizarre (bizarrely interesting?) examples of that piece of Japanese culture. They have even released a couple of RPG and Brawler style [[Eroge|H-Games]]. (Not to mention the company's mastery of the art of [[Jiggle Physics]].) Regardless of title, if you want to play them, outside of travelling to Japan to buy them, you have to rely on either ambiguously legal imports or torrents to get them. In fact, you can be charged with a felony for possessing it.
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** J-List and Peach Princess sell the games, JAST and G-Collections translate/port the games. They have to be picky about their selections since neither company could conceivably handle even a fraction of the total number of games out there, having to limit themselves to only a small selection of the most popular titles. Those of us who ''do'' like these games can only cross our fingers that either of those companies has the resources for our favorites and be thankful for the handful we get, sometimes ''years'' after their Japan releases. So far, only a couple of [[Nasuverse|Type-Moon]] or [[Key Visual Arts]] game have seen partial fanlated versions, with no official translations in sight, causing many a tear to be shed.
*** J-List only carries porn it seems. Try this: the next time you see them at a convention, ask them for a title. If they ask you to be more specific, tell them "it's not porn". The answer you will most likely get is "nope, don't have it".
** [[Dating Sim]] fans can rejoice with the rise of [https://web.archive.org/web/20130328032419/http://www.mangagamer.com/allages/ MangaGamer], a company dedicated to doing right by them by releasing not only cheap H-games but also some of the better and more well known titles, ''including [https://web.archive.org/web/20130302025354/http://www.mangagamer.com/r18/Titles/Details/D223E795-FFA5-44EC-861C-3F738CC53513/shuffle SHUFFLE!], [https://web.archive.org/web/20130110225107/http://www.mangagamer.com/r18/Titles/Details/B12AEB7E-B6E4-46CF-B5D6-B6B01AA4AC65/da-capo Da Capo]'' and even ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20130219001741/http://www.mangagamer.com/allages/Titles/Details/DB2324F5-8829-455B-B75B-93C14A560794/higurashi-when-they-cry Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]!'' Still no sign of ''[[Tsukihime]], [[Fate/stay night|Fate]]'' or any Key games yet, but Type-Moon and Key both demand a LOT of money for those licenses and MangaGamer aren't yet big enough to afford properties of that level.
** THE founder of the non-H Dating Sim genre, ''[[Tokimeki Memorial]]'', is a notorious case of this, Konami having always refused to release the series outside of Japan (except for the Chinese market) on the (not that unreasonable, especially in [[The Nineties]]; less so nowadays) grounds that it's too Japanese culture-based and a [[Widget Series]] : case in point, their attempt in 2007 at an American-based adaptation of sorts, ''Brooktown High'', bombed royally ([[Your Mileage May Vary|Although one's could say]] they missed the point by using ugly 3D models [[Animation Age Ghetto|instead of anime graphics]] and uninspired script and characters; the lack of promotion didn't help either).
* Many great Famicom/NES [[Shoot'Em Up
** Over Horizon was also released in Europe through,only not in North America.
** And then there's ''[[Eliminate Down]]'' an awesome [[Shoot'Em Up]] game for the [[Sega Genesis]]. Never released outside Japan, of course.
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== Platform Specific Examples ==
These are sorted by platofrm '''MOD: Please either sort them by genre instead, or present a compelling reason why they should be listed by publisher.'''
* A lot of [[Sega Saturn]] games were only released in Japan due to the poor reception of the console at the time. This is actually due to [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] Bernie Stolar screwing things up with his ''Five Star Policy'' (aka Sports Fanatic Policy). In fact, it's not surprising if all the Sega Saturn games mentioned on this page are [[No Export for You]] because of him.
* Take a look at [[wikipedia:List of PSOne Classics|this list]]. Compare the number of entries for Japan compared to NA or Europe. Hell, some of the stuff on there ''came out in those regions'' the first time! Some are understandable (''[[Samurai Shodown]]'' got a [[Compilation Rerelease]]), but ''[[Xenogears]]'' has already been localized! The [[Virtual Console]] isn't ''quite'' as bad, but it's still got some missed opportunities on there (such as ''[[Fire Emblem]]'').
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** The Wii Shop is still unavailable in a handful of countries. Thankfully, Nintendo turns a blind eye to import gamers by not bothering stores that sell point cards online.
* Because of the [[Virtual Boy]]'s failure and shame in Japan and North America, the console was never released in Europe.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131105095438/http://www.consolecolors.com/nintendo.html Many] different console looks are Japanese only, such as the orange [[Game Cube]] (oddly, the matching controllers were released in the US).
* The ''Super [[Game Boy]] 2'' peripheral was released only in Japan which features link cable connections.
* The ''[[Pocket Station]]'' was a hand-held console produced by Sony which never seen the light of day outside of Japan and was planned to be released overseas. Upon playing it, you can transfer data from the memory card slot to a designated game and receive useful items, features, and [[100% Completion|100% completion]]. One notable game with the PS function is ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'' which has ''Chocobo World''. It was referenced in the localized versions, but was [[Dummied Out]] unless you import a PS from Japan. Fortunately, the PC version included the program.
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* Tie-in materials also tend to frequently get left behind, namely [[Light Novels]], CD dramas, and manga. Canoncity issues aside (e.g. [[Retcon|Retcons]], [[Executive Meddling]]), most tend to either help further flesh out the worlds and character backgrounds or be the artists/writers' takes of the games are set in. Occasionally, some of them do make it out, but not all - ''[[Devil May Cry]]'' had a total of four light novels, two CD dramas for the [[Devil May Cry: The Animated Series|anime]], and two manga volumes, but neither the two-volume novelization for DMC4 that [[All There in the Manual|had details that aren't in the final release]] nor the CD dramas were never released outside Japan.
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