Context: Working Designs was a studio that localized several Japanese games for western markets in the 1990s. Besides translation, they would often increase the difficulty of the games they translated
this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2026
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Also have to take into account that the early 8-bit systems from Japan were often marketed towards children in the US. They would ramp up the difficulty of games - which were usually too expensive for kids to purchase on their own - to bring more longevity and perceived value. Games were viewed as expensive at a time where “Kill your television” was a common mantra, when parents wanted their kids playing outside as much as possible, and the consequences of Reagonomics was coming into full effect.
So Nintendo played it safe for a very long time (even more than they do now) and still got a lot of pushback and flack from conservative parents.