European fans of Ni No Kuni flooded Twitter with excitable hashtags today as news began to filter through of a breakthrough in the campaign for full localization. Determined followers of the Level 5 / Studio Ghibli PS3-bound RPG have discovered that a trademark application has been filed in the EU for a property known as Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch – massively raising hopes the game will see a release outside of Japan and North America.
Ni No Kuni-love has exploded in recent weeks as trailers showcasing lush graphics and tantalising slices of a beautiful Ghibli world have flooded the web and, at last week’s Tokyo Game Show, there was only one title on everyone’s lips as gaming blogs the world over lined up to praise gameplay that seems successfully to fuse the modern and the classic.
Japan’s PS3 owners will get their hands on the game on November 17th and, earlier this month, Level 5 sent their western fans into rapture by announcing that there would be a North American / english-language release sometime in 2012. However, European gamers were left with the frustrating prospect of seeking an import as there was no news of full localization. The gloom was only compounded by the fact that Level 5 have established offices in Japan and, as of this year, in the USA, but no presence or distribution network in the EU. They’ve previously relied on Nintendo and Sony to release their titles – a possibility with Ni No Kuni, but not ideal.
However, today’s news gives firm evidence that Level 5 are considering a wider release. The application – for a Community Trademark – is an essential first step in protecting their IP should they seek to launch over here, and has been submitted by Reddie and Grose, IP specialists with expertise in bringing Japanese products to the EU. Only registered on September 22nd, the file is still under review by the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (the EU’s office for trademarks and design) so a formal announcement may be delayed until it’s confirmed.
In the meantime, get your sweet ass over to the Campaign For Ni No Kuni Localization and make sure Level 5 know how much you want the release – because now, more than ever, it looks like we just might get it!
That glorious application in full:
Awesome, though amazon usually give’s us one of an item on import, and the ps3 GAMES are supposedly region free unless locked to NTSC which i heard is rare, so either way, its mine, though that does mean upgrading the firmware on the ps3, so no more mario kart 🙁 on the plus side i might actually use it. its not even plugged in. Though firefly on blu ray came today so it may get a spin, but as my tv is 720p and my laptop is over 1080p, maybe i should get a blu ray BD – rom drive. hmmmmm
i think most UK gamers will think the same – getting a US import is not really a major deal as they aren’t locked down. poor old french, german, and spanish gamers get nothing though… harsh.
funny thing is, this news about the trademark hasn’t really spread outside of france – where the trademark organisation is based. wouldn’t surprise me if it turns out to be nothing – if you’re releasing a major IP in international markets, you’d be a fool not to protect it in every jurisdiction. doesn’t mean you intend to market your IP in those places… but that would make more sense if they’d registered the trademark application ages ago – it seems odd to leave it to now….
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