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Wii

Japan

Itadaki Street Wii

by Danny Bivens - September 19, 2011, 9:06 am EDT
Total comments: 8

Mario Party + Wii Party + Dragon Quest = a fortune?

Itadaki Street, known in North America as Fortune Street, is going to arrive outside of Japan for the first time in the series’ history this December. What exactly does this mean for the Wii audience?  There are already a number of party games available on the console, but can the charm of of Mario, Slimes, and a hint of Monopoly be enough to pique the interest of gamers on the Wii?



The TGS demo area of Itadaki Street was, expectedly, packed with children and families looking to have some good old-fashioned family fun. To ruin this effect, I jumped ahead of the hour-plus line. In the demo area, I had a chance to play the game for a pretty extended period of time. Although there were multiple units set up in the booth, everything was set to single-player mode, so it was a bit difficult to get the full effect of the game, whose roots, even back to the Famicom version, point toward 2-4 player multiplayer as the definitive way to experience it. The single-player demo had the player choose from one of three pre-made Miis, while the computer controlled Toad and a blue Slime character.

Either I was missing something entirely, or there were simply no mini-games at all in this demo of Itadaki Street. After glancing over to the guy sitting next to me, I noticed that he never encountered any of them either. The demo was strictly focused on going around the very small game board based on the roll of a die and the purchasing of properties (a la Monopoly). Obviously, the more properties you own, the more money you can make. The player with the most money at the end of the game is the winner.

Yeah, none of these in the build that I played.

As Neal Ronaghan reported in his impressions from the E3 build of the title, Itadaki Street is one of those kind of titles that just does not demo well. While the game was very well put together and was extremely polished, I kept getting the feeling that the gameplay experience would be enhanced if I were playing with friends or family. In Japan, Itadaki Street will more than likely be able to reach the same audience that bought Mario Party and Wii Party. With the included brand of Dragon Quest, it will make it all the more appealing to the Japanese audience. However, the general unfamiliarity of Dragon Quest, coupled with the market that this title will likely appeal to (casual gamers and families), will make it a tough sell in North America.

Talkback

ejamerSeptember 19, 2011

Rather excited about this game... but I'm the kind of geek who owns dozens of board games that "average" families have never heard of and who thinks that Dokapon Kingdom is one of the most under-appreciated gems on Wii.  So just because I'm excited doesn't mean that more than a dozen copies will ever be sold.

Mop it upSeptember 19, 2011

I'm looking forward to this too, the game looks interesting and I've recently gotten into Dragon Quest games so it's good timing as well.

I still need to get Dokapon Kingdom... but I don't know if I'll be able to find it now.

twofiftyoneSeptember 19, 2011

I've played the Japanese-only PS2 Itadaki Street with FF and DQ, and I've also played the Itadaki Street in Kingdom Hearts (Birth by Sleep). Both were way more boring than Monopoly (I actually like Monopoly, especially Monopoly Party on GameCube) and neither had mini-games (Itadaki Street is the mini-game in KH:BBS), so I'm really confused by the above screen-shot of a mini-game. Maybe the mini-games are a side game, like in Pokemon Coliseum.

The minigames were not in the E3 version either.

GKSeptember 20, 2011

Quote from: Mop

I still need to get Dokapon Kingdom... but I don't know if I'll be able to find it now.

Saw it in a Game Stop last Friday. It's one of those games I would get if I had people to play it with so I tend to always notice it when I browse.

ejamerSeptember 20, 2011

Quote from: GK

Quote from: Mop

I still need to get Dokapon Kingdom... but I don't know if I'll be able to find it now.

Saw it in a Game Stop last Friday. It's one of those games I would get if I had people to play it with so I tend to always notice it when I browse.

Good point - if you aren't playing with friends (in the same room, as there is no online support) then don't bother. The game is still neat, but not nearly as entertaining without real people to play against.

ejamer, you are absolutely right. Playing this game by yourself if a bit of a letdown. I didn't even get to the end of the demo, and I was playing for something like 20-30 minutes. Demoing only the board game section was an odd choice. It's definitely not bad, but I really don't understand why they didn't throw any of the mini games into this demo (or the E3 one for that matter).

Mop it upSeptember 20, 2011

Quote from: GK

Quote from: Mop

I still need to get Dokapon Kingdom... but I don't know if I'll be able to find it now.

Saw it in a Game Stop last Friday. It's one of those games I would get if I had people to play it with so I tend to always notice it when I browse.

I wasn't keen on paying that much for it, but if I can't find it anywhere else and come to a point where I want it enough, that's what I may end up doing.

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Wii

Game Profile

Boom Street Box Art

Genre Party/Parlor
Developer Square Enix
Players1 - 4

Worldwide Releases

na: Fortune Street
Release Dec 05, 2011
PublisherNintendo
RatingEveryone
jpn: Itadaki Street Wii
Release Dec 01, 2011
PublisherSquare Enix
RatingAll Ages
eu: Boom Street
Release Dec 28, 2011
PublisherNintendo
Rating3+
aus: Boom Street
Release Jan 05, 2012
PublisherNintendo
RatingParental Guidance
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