It Feels like 1997(and updates)

The Tokyo Game Show is going on this year, and I am getting a feeling I have not had for a long long time. In the olden days, Nintendo set the standard for what came from Japan and what stayed. Some times their decisions seemed rather arbitrary, with even hugely popular game series for the time getting passed up for localization(Secret of Mana 2 for example). It really took the Sony Playstation to open up Japan to us, suddenly the cost of localizing a game was pretty much the cost of paying for a translation. The hardware aspect was super cheap(Cd-roms), and so the cost of a translation team was justified. We are not quite in the 1995 era, a time where even Chrono Trigger barely got green lit to come to America. It does feel like 1997ish to me though. In 1997 you could get a magazine(websites written on thin pieces of mashed trees) and go through the Tokyo Gameshow pictures and say with confidence "coming to America, not coming to America, coming to America, NEVER coming to America". The cost of translation is starting to even become hard to justify to Japanese developers. If Japan is going to do it, then we need to do it ourselves. We are missing out on some wonderful games. Working Designs was an American company that pioneered translations by AMERICANS. They said "if Japan is not going to do it, then we will". Sadly Working Designs is not around any longer, and whatever new company they have made to soak up investing money does not really do a lot of games. Don't get me wrong, I love me some good American RPG's, but even the best of them are rooted in scifi novels and tv shows I have personally watched. I can pick apart even Mass Effect by revealing what Twilight Zone or Star Trek episode they got their bit of dialogue from. As much as Japan gets crap for having a "status quo" mentality, US rpg's have not evolved since the 80's. I guess I'll have to look to Europe for my Deus Ex's and Witchers. Of course all of this means small release numbers of some rare gems out of Japan.... sometimes the collector in me disgusts me :P Ok, rant off. Updates on. I have only a few PS1 updates to go before I feel like I've said all I can really say of it. Soon I will be adding to my Sega Genesis collection(FINALLY) and so I will have moved to adding info about that system. I know the Sega Genesis is not as well represented on the internet as the SNES was, but there are tons of missed out goodies on that system on par or even better than what the SNES offered. My next updates will include a guide to collecting manuals, as well as a resource for comparing manuals to make sure you have a real one and not a photocopy. Also a final statement on PS1 collecting.