Nintendo hopes to cash in on its next franchise outside of Japan starting this Fall with the release of Yo-kai Watch.
The game that has your player travel around town searching for, capturing and battling these ghosts/ghouls -- called Yo-kai -- is similar to the beloved Nintendo franchise, Pokémon but plays very differently.
And North Americans will get the first crack at the new franchise as the release date for Yo-kai Watch has been confirmed to be on Nov. 6 by Nintendo.
Commenting on the launch, Akihiro Hino, President of LEVEL-5, Inc., said, “When we first started exploring concepts for the YO-KAI WATCH universe, we immersed ourselves in learning about situations confronting kids in their everyday lives. This world – a child’s complicated, scary, confusing, exciting and very funny world – is the foundation of our IP, and the Nintendo game really captures this essence, along with the colorful and often amusing Yo-kai behind it all!”
And the game for the Nintendo 3DS won’t be the only push for the franchise Nintendo is doing. Viz Media has set a release date for the Yo-kai Watch manga, which is set for Nov. 3.
Written and drawn by Noriyuki Konishi, the Yo-kai Watch manga will be an All Ages story and will be made available in print on a bi-monthly basis.
The Yo-kai Watch animated series will also be launching on Disney XD this Fall. Here’s the synopsis of what the show will be about.
“The show follows the hilarious misadventures of an average human boy and his involvement with the mischievous Yo-kai all around him. Our young hero obtains a special watch, empowering him to discover and summon Yo-kai, befriend them and then work together to solve everyday problems … problems that are often caused by other troublemaking Yo-kai!”
The launch of an animated series alongside the release of a game is very similar to how Nintendo handled Pokémon and the storied video game company looks to strike gold twice and Nintendo believes they have the right franchise on their hands.
“The strength of the Yo-kai franchise demands strong partners,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing. “Our Nintendo 3DS system is the perfect platform to bring this fun, one-of-a-kind video game experience to life.”
So will you be picking up Yo-kai Watch when it releases Nov. 6? Sound off with your thoughts below.
