Prerelease:Yo-kai Watch (Nintendo 3DS)

This page details pre-release information and/or media for Yo-kai Watch (Nintendo 3DS).

To do: Some other stuff: origin interview? Early character designs at 2016 Tokyo Museum Exhibition Get dates of the Famitsu Issues, if possible. Look for: Weekly Famitsu Oct 12 issue (Vol. 1246) containing early Springdale artwork Corocoro Oct 12 containing concept art..? Corocoro Dec 12, and Jan 13? Corocoro Feb 13 issue, Find a scan instead of the terribly-downscaled scan. Famitsu Feb 13 issue, June 13 Late Build Check the Japanese YW strategy guide for any differences, such as the Look at me everyone! Yo-kai Spot erroneously being found at night. A plethora of YW Famitsu articles here: https://www.true-gaming.net/home/?s=youkai+watch Sekai-kan no sakusei hō book by former Level-5 designer Yuri, containing YW concept art Interview about Yo-kai Watch's musical style with the composer. Concept art from the lost Yo-kai Medalland Fortune Battle Unity game, and real-life Yo-kai Watch Land event. Earlier music tracks from the now-defunct Unity Yo-kai Medalland Omikuji Battle game, dating back to 2012-2013? Try and find an archive of it. Interviews [1] https://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/718505.html [entermix december 19 2015 issue https://twitter.com/yoichi_kato/status/678127304053096453?s=20&t=015DfJlf-Sd98U6Q_WqxdA] cover art Localization stuff [2] [3]

Yo-kai Watch was intended to be a monster-catching game focused on mythological youkai, because it hadn't been done fully before. The project would end up running into many different developmental and aesthetical changes, from the early planning stages to when the game began to be developed. Information of the game's earliest concepts have been scarce, but a good chunk of prerelease information shows the many stages it went through during development.

The video game was one of the main pre-planned selling points of the cross-media franchise, along with the manga and eventually the anime series in the following year after its release.

The end result turned out to be surprisingly successful in Japan, where the "Yo-kai Boom" happened some time after the video game's release and paved way for development of the sequel. Reception in overseas and western territories was also positive and gained a cult following, despite the game failing to meet Level-5's overly-high expectations and sales numbers in 2016.

Development Timeline

2010

• Unknown - When thinking of a way to expand their crossmedia strategies, Akihiro Hino suddenly comes up with the idea of a monster-catching RPG idea focusing on youkai because it hadn't really been done before. Yo-kai Watch would start early development and conceptualization by Level-5, where such ideas were written down on a bulleted list.

2011

• Jan? - Pre-planning for Yo-kai Watch begins after the release of the Little Battlers eXperience manga in Japan, in tandem with several other projects.
• May 15 - Earliest date of the chara_skin.cfg.bin file.
• Summer - A Yo-kai Watch manga begins development in Corocoro Comics, which was the first of the Yo-kai Watch crossmedia plans to be developed.
• Aug. 25 - Level-5 Announces that they would not appear at the Tokyo Game Show 2011, so they could hold a new work exhibition in October. Though, a teaser image of the LEVEL-5 VISION 2011 would be posted, depicting Nate silhouetted.
• Sept. 12 - Yo-kai Watch is filed for a trademark in Japan.
• Sept. 27 - The domain name "www.youkaiwatch.jp" is registered, under a month before the franchise's revelation. Despite that, the website wouldn't be accessible until next year.
• Oct. 15 - The game is officially unveiled to the public at the LEVEL-5 WORLD event in October 2011. Though the game was shown on an unspecified system, it showed off the general setting of the franchise, and notably different visuals than in the final, such as a first-person view.
• Nov. 15 - More information of the game was shown off in Famitsu Weekly, confirming the Yo-kai battling, befriending and collecting system.

2012

• Spring-Summer - Development of the game is moved to the Nintendo 3DS.
• Aug. - In a Corocoro Interview, Akihiro Hino expresses interest in developing an open-world video game whilst Fantasy Life was in its final stages before seeing release in Japan until December. He also said that Yo-kai Watch is in it's "final stages" of preparation.
• Oct. 15-18 - After a year without any new information, the game was shown to the public again in the October 2012 issue of Famitsu whilst the website for it officially opened. The game was also confirmed to be released for the Nintendo 3DS.
• Nov. 15 - Some more screenshots were posted, showing off new Yo-kai and more of the setting. The manga was also announced to be serialized.
• Dec. 15 - The Yo-kai Watch manga begins serialization in Corocoro Comics, showing off earlier designs.

2013

• Jan. 13-15 - Yo-kai Watch was announced to be playable at the World Hobby Fair Winter '13.
• Jan. 20-Feb. - A demo version of the game was available at the World Hobby Fair Winter '13 at select locations. No photography was allowed, but prerelease information on the builds surfaced in various media. Such build would be exactly the same in the final, but has over a handful of aesthetic changes.
• Feb. 21 - Yo-kai Watch was shown at the Japanese Nintendo Direct, despite not having a release date yet.
• Mar. 15 - Level-5 announces that Yo-kai Watch will be released "in the summer".
• Apr. 15 - Another trailer was released, showing a release date for July 11 and Katie confirming to be a playable character.
• Jun. 6 - The first official trailer was released, this time with an approved CERO age rating.
• Jul. 3 - A demo for the game was released.
• Jul. 11 - The game is released in Japan.

2014

• Jan. 17 - "YO-KAI WATCH" is officially trademarked internationally. The trademark would be updated with merchandise in May of that year.
• Feb. 18 - The Level-5 International America Twitter account posts a tweet, wanting to know if fans would be interested in having Yo-kai Watch being localized in America and Europe.
• Aug. 19 - Hino said that he could see a western release for Yo-kai Watch "next year"
• Dec. 9 - Trademarks for Jibanyan and Whisper were filed in the United States for merchandising. Due to that, this is the earliest confirmation of western localization names.

2015

• Apr. 8 - Yo-kai Watch's western localization is announced at the Level-5 VISION Event, where the game is confirmed to be released overseas.
• Jun. 10 - The game is showcased at E3 2015, slated for a "winter release"
• Nov. 6 - Yo-kai Watch is officially released in North America.
• Nov. 26 - Yo-kai Watch is officially released in South Korea.

Sub-Pages

2010-2011

Early Development 2010-Mid 2011. Things were a lot more "shadowy" back then.

2011 October-November 2011. Back when everything was first-person!

2012-2013

Later Development Spring-Summer 2012. Into the third dimensional handheld!

2012 August-December 2012. The overlooked-but-resurfaced revelation.

2013 It all comes together now!

2014-2015

English Localization "Yo-kai is why", and other localization shenanigans

Sources

Scans

• [4]

Concept Art

• Sekai-kan no sakusei hō - Yuri - Samples here.