History NoExportForYou / VIDEOGAMES

* ''VideoGame/SpyroYearOfTheDragon'', the final game in the original ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'' trilogy (and often considered the best of the trilogy), was not released in Japan. Neither were any of the new trilogy (''A New Beginning, The Eternal Night,'' and ''Dawn Of The Dragon''), for that matter. In fact, the only Spyro games released in Japan were the first two on UsefulNotes/PlayStation, two of the GBA games (Spyro: Season of Ice and Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy), the first ''Skylanders'' and ''VideoGame/SpyroReignitedTrilogy'' (where ''Year of The Dragon'' [[LateExportForYou finally saw a release in the region]]). [[AmericansHateTingle Spyro never caught on in Japan]] like Crash did.

* ''X'', a UsefulNotes/GameBoy game featuring wireframe 3D graphics (and the first known appearance of the "Totaka's Song" EasterEgg), was only released in Japan because Nintendo of America thought it was too unlike other games for the system. Its SpiritualSuccessor, ''VideoGame/StarFox1'', would have more luck.

* {{Cute em Up}}s in general. Though the occasional one makes it to North America, most of them don't get released outside of Japan, and the ones that do usually only make it to PAL regions. This was especially true in the 1990s, when such games as ''Super VideoGame/FantasyZone'', ''VideoGame/{{Parodius}}'', ''Pop'n VideoGame/{{Twinbee}}'' and ''Keio Flying Squadron 2'' were released in Japan and Europe but not the U.S. (This is probably for the same reason that [[AmericanKirbyIsHardcore American versions of video games don't get the cute packaging the Japanese versions have]].) Hopefully ''VideoGame/{{Parodius}}'' will be released on the US UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole...

* Many great Famicom/NES {{Shoot Em Up}}s, including ''VideoGame/{{Recca}}'', ''VideoGame/CrisisForce'', and ''VideoGame/OverHorizon'' failed to make it out of Japan. ''Recca'' wasn't even commercially released, as it was made exclusively for Naxat's Summer Carnival '92 shmup competition, although [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes pirate cartridges]] of it have been circulated. And then there's ''VideoGame/EliminateDown'' an awesome ShootEmUp game for the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis. Never released outside Japan, of course.

* The dawn of new console generations was for the longest time a major factor in this. Publishers were often reluctant to release new games on soon-to-be-obsolete consoles, out of fears they would be overshadowed and sell poorly compared to newer, more graphically advanced games on those consoles' impending successors. Infamous casualties of this include ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'', ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'', ''VideoGame/Mother3'', the original ''VideoGame/RhythmHeaven'', ''VideoGame/FireEmblemNewMysteryOfTheEmblem'', ''VideoGame/TrialsOfMana'', ''VideoGame/SinAndPunishment'' and the original UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 version of the first ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' game.
* A lot of UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn games were only released in Japan due to the poor reception of the console at the time. This is often blamed to Bernie Stolar screwing things up with his ''Five Star Policy'' (aka Sports Fanatic Policy). Some Saturn games just came out too late to be worth exporting, unless they were ported to the UsefulNotes/PlayStation like ''VideoGame/Grandia1'', ''VideoGame/SilhouetteMirage'' and the remakes of ''VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar'' and ''VideoGame/LunarEternalBlue''.
* Take a look at [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PSOne_Classics this list]]. Compare the number of entries for Japan compared to NA or Europe. Hell, some of the stuff on there ''came out in those regions'' the first time! Some are understandable (''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown'' got a CompilationRerelease), but ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' has already been localized! The UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole isn't ''quite'' as bad, but it's still got some missed opportunities on there (such as ''Franchise/FireEmblem'').

* In addition to the Windows Marketplace example mentioned above, UsefulNotes/{{XBox Live|Arcade}} and Zune are not available outside of the 1/3 of the world they've launched in. Thankfully, Microsoft turns a blind eye to import gamers on Xbox Live by not bothering stores that sell point cards online and not requiring users to set a billing address if paying for content by point cards. However, sadly the same can't be said about Zune, thanks to ExecutiveMeddling by the RIAA and MPAA and their European and Japanese counterparts.
* Owning a [[UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 TurboGrafx-CD]] or Turbo Duo was a great incentive to import games from Japan, since UsefulNotes/PCEngine CD-ROM[[superscript:2]] and Super CD-ROM[[superscript:2]] games (unlike [=HuCards=]) were compatible across regions and many of the titles that were supposed to be released in North America never were. Perhaps the most notorious is ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood'', which finally saw international release in 2007 as ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaTheDraculaXChronicles'' for the PSP, and was also later released in the US and Europe on the Wii Virtual Console (using the dub from the PSP version). The PC Engine Super CD version of ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}} II'' also found belated international distribution on the Virtual Console; ''Gradius Collection'' for the PSP was the first North American release of ''any'' version of that game. Other Turbo CD games whose NA releases were not to be, besides those mentioned above, included ''Far East of Eden 2'', ''Image Fight II'', ''Military Madness 2'' (i.e. ''Neo Nectaris''), ''Rayxanber III'', and the Creator/{{Compile}} shooter ''Spriggan''. There were even plans to bring the Arcade Card to the U.S.

* The best [[UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}} Commodore Amiga]] games and demos were only done in PAL, as the system [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff was more popular in Europe than in North America]]. Fortunately, emulators can use both NTSC and PAL software. On the flipside, many adventure game ports (particularly Creator/{{Sierra}} adventure games) are NTSC-only and do not work properly on PAL Amigas; they usually run too slow if they work at all. This means that they were never officially sold outside of the US. Again, emulators usually can run both.

* The UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 was never released in the PAL regions, save for a small initial production run that was unceremoniously dumped off on mail order outlets. This is mainly due to the poor sales the console was having in the US as well as the fact that Sega was a leading branch in those areas. NEC feared that it would only lead to more losses as the Sega Genesis had some notoriously great advertising and lots of western third-party support.

* The ''UsefulNotes/NeoGeoPocket'' was never released in North America. This was most likely due to the '''UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor''' releasing. However, the Neo Geo Pocket's successor, the ''Neo Geo Pocket Color'', '''was''' released in North America, though 9 games on the Neo Geo Pocket Color were released in Europe but not the former: ''[[VideoGame/CoolBoarders Cool Boarders Pocket]]'', ''Dynamite Slugger'', ''Evolution: Eternal Dungeons'', ''VideoGame/FantasticNightDreamsCotton'', ''Faselei!'', ''VideoGame/TheLastBlade'', ''Neo Baccarat'', ''Picture Puzzle'', and ''Pocket Reversi''.

* Inverted with many UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem games. The Master System didn't do so hot in most parts of the world, but it gained a surprising fanbase with European gamers, causing Japanese developers to produce games exclusively published in Europe.
* For a while between [=1990s and mid-2010s=], many publishers, particularly of the top-flight ones, never bothered to release PC versions of their games into Japanese market, even on digital distribution platforms such as UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}. A few developers and publishers, such as Capcom and sometimes Sega, bothered to make Japanese PC ports of their games, with varying results. This was lessened sometime in late [=2010s=] with e-Sports revitalizing PC gaming scenes, encouraging many publishers to sell PC versions of their games in Japanese markets.

* Japan, while also adopting Western computers like the IBM PC(-compatibles), UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh, and to a much lesser extent the [[Platform/{{Amiga}} Commodore Amiga]] and Platform/AtariST in the 1980s and early 1990s, also developed their own computer platfoms like the UsefulNotes/{{MSX}}, NEC UsefulNotes/{{PC98}}, UsefulNotes/{{Sharp X68000}} and Fujitsu Platform/FMTowns[[note]]Which is, for all intents and purposes, a proprietary extension of the PC platform[[/note]] that never saw international releases. [[note]]While PC-compatibles and Macs did make it to Japan, their market was mostly the Japanese branch of western multinational companies, although Japanese households eventually started warming up to the Mac's stylish design. PC-compatibles in particular had it bad because earlier systems could not natively support Japanese text and input, requiring a third party solution like [=DOS/V=], often in tandem with a proprietary graphics card. However, the abundance of homegrown PC platforms with no cross-platform specification, plus the importing of Apple and IBM [=PCs=] from the west, ultimately led to the complete ''obliteration'' of the Japanese PC market- as of 2021, the Japanese no longer have any homegrown PC platforms and the only surviving platforms are the Macintosh and PC. The multiple incompatible platforms are also why some Japanese developers don’t want to develop for [=PCs=], claiming the multiple incompatible platforms with no standardization too costly to deal with.[[/note]]

* The UsefulNotes/{{MSX}}, while actually having seen release outside of Japan, never caught on in North America. Many MSX games weren't released even in Europe, although there were also many MSX games that were released in Europe.

* The UsefulNotes/WonderSwan and [=WonderSwan Color=] were Japan-only handheld consoles. There were rumors of an American release before the new millennium, but those rumors proved to be false. [=WonderSwan Color=] versions of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'', ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'', ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', and the cancelled ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' might have been an appropriate time to reintroduce the older games, before the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoDS DS]] versions existed. Special edition versions of the [=WonderSwan Color=] came with one of the games included.
* The e-Reader and cards for UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance. The e-Reader itself was released in only Japan and North America, was quickly discontinued in the latter due to bad sales, and therefore many of the cards for it only came out in Japan, including:

** ''Rockman Zero 3'': There is a plethora of special cards enabling changes to Zero's attacks (7 Combo Saber, anyone?) and to other aspects of gameplay. It is translated but DummiedOut on the US GBA copies. It took the UpdatedRerelease for the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS to finally have them properly accessible, from the main menu. The ''Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection'' would also implemented this feature, but unlocking the "ZZ Cards" in this collection are obtained through unlocking achievements. As for Rockman.EXE e-reader content, though...

* Japan had an addon for the [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendo Super Famicom]], the Satellaview. It allowed downloadable content over a decade before this became common. Nothing for it ever got to the States. Notable games that were released for it include:

* Because of the UsefulNotes/VirtualBoy's failure and shame in Japan and North America, the console was never released in Europe.
* [[http://www.consolecolors.com/nintendo.html Many]] different console looks are Japanese only, such as the orange UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube (oddly, the matching controllers were released in the US).
* The UsefulNotes/SuperGameBoy 2 peripheral was an updated version of the original which featured link cable connections and different built-in borders. It was only released in Japan.

* Several limited editions of game consoles are not released elsewhere. The UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 in Charcoal Black, Ceramic White, Satin Silver, Sakura Pink, Ocean Blue, Midnight Blue, Toys R Us Blue edition, and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' edition. The UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 Lightning Edition with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII''. The UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 ''[[VideoGame/DragonQuestHeroesTheWorldTreesWoeAndTheBlightBelow Dragon Quest Heroes]]'' edition. The UsefulNotes/PlayStationVita ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' Metal Slime Edition. The Xbox Kasumi-chan Blue edition. Several Game Boy editions such as UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance in Spice Orange, Game Boy Micro ''VideoGame/Mother3'', ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' and ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' editions, and several ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''-themed Nintendo handhelds.
* An NES themed Game Boy Advance SP was released in tandem with the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance ''Classic NES Series''. In Japan, the Game Boy Advance SP was released with a Famicom theme, along with three different Famicom 20th anniversary game collection boxes.

* UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem:
** The Japanese system got an FM synth card that was never available with Western models, even though most of the same cartridges were released internationally with the FM soundtracks intact. However, some Master System games that supported FM sound weren't even released in Japan, since Sega discontinued the console so soon and abruptly in its native country. ''VideoGame/WonderBoyIIITheDragonsTrap'' was one of these games; while Japanese players did receive a UsefulNotes/GameGear port and the altered UsefulNotes/PCEngine version, they could get the FM synth music only by importing cartridges until the CompilationRerelease came out much later.

** The Master System's paddle controller only came out in Japan, as did the few games requiring it (with the exception of ''Woody Pop'', which saw international release on the UsefulNotes/GameGear).
* The Famicom Data Recorder was only released in Japan, which is why ''VideoGame/{{Excite}}bike'', ''VideoGame/LodeRunner'', ''Mach Rider'' and ''VideoGame/WreckingCrew'' for the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem have nonfunctional "Save" and "Load" features. Manuals hinted that "potential product developments" might enable these features, but they never happened. They were ultimately added into the Virtual Console releases of those games though.[[note]]On the flipside, one can argue that the Data Recorder is basically a trojan horse like The R.O.B, as it is otherwise a bog standard off-the-shelf mono tape recorder with Nintendo branding slapped on, and the real encoding/decoding circuitry is in the Famicom Keyboard[[/note]]

* A number of UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis games supposedly never released in the U.S. were brought there only on the Sega Channel, an early attempt at streaming games on demand. Most of these have since received international UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole releases, thus no longer fitting this category.
* SCEE got console colors for the [=PS3=] (Red, Blue and White like JP and Asia) and PSP. The US? Didn't even have a ''Blue or Red'' [=PS3=] color model! People who wanted color choices were not amused, and there's a high chance it'll repeat again with the UsefulNotes/PlayStationVita... save for the white one that came as a bundle for ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIIILiberation''. The US will be finally having White and Red models (The Red one as part of the ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' legacy bundle)... ''a few years after the Japanese release way back in the 1st slim model.'' (In short: The White and Red models will be available in the US for the ''Super Slim'' model, not the 1st Slim one the Asians and Europeans had). Happens again with the [=PS4=]- The western world won't get the laser-etched versions of the console Japan has for ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'', ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs Remastered'' and... '''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'''?! (Complete with the US logo, not the ''[[MarketBasedTitle Anna and the Snow Queen]]'' one)

* Most second generation consoles, like the Platform/Atari5200 and the UsefulNotes/ColecoVision, were never released in Japan. It's true to say that Japanese had their own second generation consoles, but all of the second generation consoles there (Epoch Cassette Vision and Gakken TV boy for instance) weren't as attractive as their US and EU counterparts.
* [=NESiCAxLive=] is a digital content delivery platform for arcades, allowing arcades to purchase new games digitally, without the pain of having the physical hardware shipped and then installing it. (Think UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, except for arcades.) However, and unsurprisingly due to the status of arcades outside of Asia, it is Japan-only, so don't expect to see [=NESiCAxLive=] titles like ''The Rumble Fish'' and ''VideoGame/CrimzonClover'' to pop up in a Western arcade in the foreseeable future. The only exception is ''Groove Coaster'' (''Rhythmvaders'' outside of Japan), which does get releases in Asia.

* The UsefulNotes/XboxOne isn't being released in Malaysia yet despite already being launched in Singapore. The most likely reason is that Microsoft has not launched Xbox Live Gold in Malaysia, which is compulsory if you're even planning to do anything with the Xbox One. And the reason Xbox Live Gold isn't available? Microsoft gives all sorts of excuses, ranging from poor internet connectivity in the country to ''piracy'', to even pointing the fingers at Singapore and blaming that they're vetoing the HQ in the US from launching the service in Malaysia out of fear that Singaporeans would cut their Singaporean subscriptions to try to get a cheaper subscription from Malaysia, never mind that they could've priced everything at equal value to Singapore, which many Malaysians are still willing to pay.

* Nintendo support in general. Part of the reason why Japanese games always were considered to be superior to Western ones was simply due to unfair design. While Nintendo would often give detailed information about the UsefulNotes/GameBoy and say which engines work well with it sometimes years in advance to Japanese companies such as Konami and Hudson Soft, Western companies such as Acclaim and Rare had sometimes to wait years after the release of the console or handheld in order to have the same detailed information and were lucky if those particular engines got a release in the west. This all forced those companies quite often to rush products in order to make some sort of profit at the expense of general quality, making them look like shovelware developers in the process.

* The UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis had digital games and online multiplayer as early as ''1990'' through the use of the Sega Meganet service. Too bad it it only came out in Japan and Brazil. Similarly, most of its digital games were never released outside of Japan in any form with ''VideoGame/{{Flicky}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Fatal Labyrinth}}'' being notable exceptions.

* Every Creator/{{Cave}} ShootEmUp after ''[[VideoGame/DonPachi DoDonPachi]]'' has gotten an Asia-only release; if you want, say, ''VideoGame/MushihimeSama'' or ''VideoGame/{{Espgaluda}}'' on the [=PS2=], and live outside of there, expect to shell out at least the equivalent of US$70, the same price you'd pay for a [=PlayStation=] 5 or [=XBox=] Series X title nowadays (unless you are an extremely good bargain hunter). Then again, shoot-em-ups, especially the bullet hell kind, are a niche genre here in the United States. There were plans to bring a couple of the games to XBLA, but Microsoft rejected. Cave has been trying to avert this, as they've given some of their games some form of English release (''VideoGame/{{Deathsmiles}}'', ''Guwange''), or at the very least have made them region-free (''Mushihime-sama Futari'', ''[=EspGaluda=] II Black Label''), making importing them much easier. This continued even in the face of Aksys (who published the US version of ''Deathsmiles'') saying they're not interested in publishing additional shooters for the US. ''Deathsmiles IIX'' actually received a US release - in the form of the unedited Japanese game (Japanese Achievements left intact) [[http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/DeathSmiles2-X/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802435a07d9?noSplash=1 available over Games on Demand]]. Even when Cave could find no willing publishers for an American release of ''[=DoDonPachi=] Resurrection'', Rising Star Games made their European release of the game compatible with American consoles, in a bizarre inversion of the usual situation (usually, Europe's the one importing from America). ''Mishihimesama'', ''[=DoDonPachi=] Resurrection'', and ''Deathsmiles'' received a release on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} in 2015-16, but no new ports have been made since then.
* Games developed by C-Lab, ''VideoGame/{{Rusty}}'' and ''Totsugeki! Mix'', never made outside of Japan, thanks to being released on the UsefulNotes/PC98, which was also a Japan-only computer system (although NEC had attempted to market the [=PC98=] outside Japan, they quickly gave up due to incompability with IBM PC compatible software, more on that below). Not even their MS-DOS versions were released elsewhere. ''Rusty'' did however receive an English fan-translation in 2017.

** ''VideoGame/PanzerBandit'', what could be described as the UsefulNotes/PlayStation's answer to the Saturn's ''VideoGame/GuardianHeroes'', stayed in Japan and never got localized in any shape or form. It did, however, got re-released on UsefulNotes/PlayStationNetwork in Japan, so anyone with a Japanese account and the yen to purchase the game can import it this way.

* The works of Max Entertainment never left Japan at all. The most well-known of their creations, [[CultClassic so to speak]], is ''VideoGame/FedaTheEmblemOfJustice'', which got an UpdatedRerelease for the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn, as well as a UsefulNotes/PlayStation sequel, ''Feda 2: White Surge the Platoon''. There also exists ''The Sentou'', another [=PlayStation=] game.

* The very first game in the ''VideoGame/RhythmHeaven'' series for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance did not make it stateside or in Europe for much the same reason as ''Mother 3''; Nintendo's overseas branches saw the GBA as a dead platform by the time the game came out in Japan and simply chose not to localize it. The arcade port would find its way into a small handful of American arcades, though.

** The first six installments were released only in Japan, until MarthDebutedInSmashBros and proved there might be a market for the series overall after all. They still cancelled plans to localize the first UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance title, ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade Fuuin no Tsurugi]]'' (''Sword of Seals'', aka "The One With Roy"), which was still in development when ''Melee'' was released. This caused a bit of confusion with some of the [[ContinuityNod nods]] to ''Sword of Seals'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem'' present in ''Blazing Sword'' and ''Shadow Dragon'' respectively, plus the notorious newbie question [[MemeticMutation "Are Marth and Roy in this game?"]].[[note]]They're not even in the same 'verse due to the series making liberal use of [[NonLinearSequel Non-Linear Sequels]][[/note]]

* Three out of the four ''VideoGame/ClockTower'' games have been exported. The one that wasn't was [[VideoGame/ClockTower1995 the very first game]], which was released on the [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem Super Famicom]].[[note]]This due to [=NoA's=] policies at the time. Up until they relented and allowed mature games to be released in the UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 era, [[MoralGuardians NoA's policy had a strict stance against family-unfriendly content]][[/note]]. However, for reasons unknown, neither the UsefulNotes/PlayStation remake nor the PC Port of said [=PlayStation=] remake has ever been exported either.

* Creator/{{Sunsoft}}'s ''Daze Before Christmas'' was first released for the UsefulNotes/MegaDrive in Australia, while a [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]] version was later released in Australia and Europe. A North American release was planned for both systems, but cancelled.
* When Creator/TelenetJapan's subsidiary Renovation Products was bought out by Sega in 1993, the planned North American releases of several SNES games were canceled: ''Neugier'' (as ''The Journey Home''), ''Psycho Dream'' (as ''Dream Probe''), and a port of ''Arcus Odyssey''. Almost two decades passed before ''Psycho Dream'' finally saw a North American release in UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch Online's SNES library (under its original title).

** Despite the MMORPG ''VideoGame/DragonQuestX'' not being exported, an export for ''VideoGame/DragonQuestXI'' was announced for western release about a year after the Japanese release, except for the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS version.

** ''VideoGame/TrialsOfMana'' was the only main ''VideoGame/WorldOfMana'' game not to be released outside of Japan; unfortunately, many fans of the series who have played it via emulation or importing believe it to be the ''best'' of the series. Subverted with the surprise announcement at E3 2019 that a CompilationRerelease of the first three games was being released internationally on the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch [=eShop=], with a 3D remake coming in 2020 under the English title ''Trials of Mana''.

** ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney '' duology were Japan-exclusive for its initial UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS release and later mobile ports. The only explanation Capcom has given as to why is that there were certain "circumstances" which made an international release unfeasible. One theory as to what these circumstances are is the game drawing more heavily from Japanese culture than other titles in the series, making it less understandable to outsiders. Another theory is that there would be legal issues due to certain ''Franchise/SherlockHolmes'' stories not being in the public domain in the United States until 2023 and these games including characters and plot elements from these stories. The games are finally being released worldwide in 2021, but the names of the Holmes-related elements have been changed.

* A total of thirteen ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' games were released for UsefulNotes/PlayStation, with plans for a fourteenth, and not one of them has been released in the United States. Averted with [[Creator/NipponIchi NIS America's]] planned release of ''[[http://www.nisamerica.com/bleach/ Bleach: Soul Resurrección]]'' for the [=PS3=].
* Two ''VideoGame/{{Bonk}}'' games remain Japan-exclusive: the third UsefulNotes/GameBoy game (which also appeared on a Japan-only CompilationRerelease) and the second SNES game.
* Many of the ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman}}'' games have not been released in America: the original UsefulNotes/{{MSX}} game[[note]]Most likely not released in America because of the failure of the MSX there, though a UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum port was released in the UK under the title ''Eric and the Floaters''[[/note]], ''3-D Bomberman''[[note]]Bomberman, but [[JustForFun/RecycledINSPACE IN FIRST PERSON!]] Most likely didn't get released in America for the same reason as the original game, and this time the game didn't even get released in Europe[[/note]], ''Bomberman '94''[[note]]Not released internationally because the UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 was discontinued in America, although the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis port was not released in Japan[[/note]], the third, fourth, and fifth ''Super Bomberman'' games[[note]]The third one got an English release in Europe, but it wasn't brought to America for some reason[[/note]], the third ''Bomberman GB'' game, the B-Daman crossovers, ''Saturn Bomberman Fight!'', ''Bomberman Wars'', the first three ''Bomberman Land'' games, ''Bomberman Kart''[[note]]Got an English release in Europe, but it wasn't brought to America for some reason[[/note]], the 2001 ''Bomberman 64''[[note]]Not released internationally because the Nintendo 64 was discontinued internationally[[/note]], the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance Anime/BombermanJetters games[[note]]as well as the anime itself[[/note]], both ''Online Bomberman'' games[[note]]as well as the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 port of the first online game[[/note]], ''Bomberman Hardball''[[note]]Got an English release in Europe, but it wasn't brought to America for some reason[[/note]], ''Bomberman Story DS''[[note]]Got an English release in Europe, but it wasn't brought to America for some reason[[/note]], the retail version of ''Bomberman Blast''[[note]]the UsefulNotes/WiiWare version was released internationally, although this release features less content[[/note]], the DS ''Bomberman 2''[[note]]Got an English release in Europe, but it wasn't brought to America for some reason[[/note]], and the arcade game ''Bombergirl''[[note]]because it's a Konami arcade game in 2018[[/note]] have all not been released in America.

** ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireIII'''s re-release for PSP never made it Stateside due to Sony Entertainment USA rules requiring a minimum of 20% new content. Europe got it, though, and fortunately the UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable is NOT region-locked. For identical reasons, the game is not available via UsefulNotes/PlayStationNetwork in North America.

* The UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn port of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' was never released outside of Japan. Enhance improvements and many new features were added in the Saturn version. Unfortunetely, the Saturn version suffered from PortingDisaster since the system couldn't be properly coded which results include long loading times along with other problems which may be why this wasn't exported. Another reason was that the Saturn was nearing its end in Western territories during this time.
* Even though ''VideoGame/ChibiRobo'' for the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]] and the DS sequel Chibi Robo: Park Patrol have been released worldwide, the New Play Control edition for Wii and the other DS game Okaeri Chibi Robo Happy Richie Osouji have never seen the light of day outside Japan. The fourth game in the series, Jissha de Chibi-Robo! for 3DS did come out as ''Chibi-Robo! Photo Finder'' and the latest game in the series ''Go! Go! Chibi-Robo!'' on 3DS did come out in North America as ''Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash''.

* The first two games in the ''VideoGame/CrushPinball'' series (''VideoGame/AlienCrush'' and ''VideoGame/DevilsCrush'') were exported to the United States from Japan to great success; they are fondly remembered by many players, and the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis port (''Dragon's Fury'') even got its own sequel. But the third game in the series, ''VideoGame/JakiCrush'', never left Japan, and is often unheard of by many of those selfsame players.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Eggerland}}'' series (made by HAL Laboratory, of ''VideoGame/{{Kirby}}'' and ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' fame) is mostly Japan-exclusive. The first two MSX games were released in Europe, but the second one wasn't translated, and once the series moved to the Famicom they lost it. Eventually a game called ''VideoGame/AdventuresOfLolo'', a compilation of puzzles from previous games in the ''Eggerland'' series, was released in America and Europe (but not Japan), seemingly as an introduction to the series. ''Adventures of Lolo'' got two similarly international sequels (which were also released in Japan with different puzzles) and a UsefulNotes/GameBoy installment released in Europe ([[RegionalBonus with a lot of extra puzzles over the Japanese version]]), but later PC games were once again Japan-only.

* The UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 versions of ''VideoGame/FIFASoccer 13'' and ''14'' and the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} version of ''FIFA 14'' were not released in North America. This is despite the fact that the Wii still has a large install base in North America. EA realized this and released ''FIFA 15'' on the Wii in North America. The [[UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable PSP]] version of ''FIFA 14'' and the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 and UsefulNotes/Xbox360 versions of ''FIFA 19'' were only released digitally in North America.

** 2 Frogger UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance games, ''VideoGame/FroggersAdventuresTempleOfTheFrog'' and ''Frogger Advance: The Great Quest'' were not released in Japan. ''VideoGame/FroggersJourneyTheForgottenRelic'' was the only Frogger GBA game to be released in Japan.

** The UsefulNotes/NintendoDS games ''Frogger: Helmet Chaos'' and ''My Frogger Toy Trials'' didn't get Japanese releases.
** ''Frogger Returns'': Japan and Europe got the UsefulNotes/WiiWare and UsefulNotes/PlaystationNetwork versions but not the UsefulNotes/DSiWare version.
* The ''Classic NES Series'' on the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance covered twelve NES games. In Japan, the ''Famicom Mini Series'' covered eighteen more games, many of which such as ''VideoGame/KidIcarus'' and ''VideoGame/WreckingCrew'' were released overseas.

* The first ''VideoGame/{{Genocide}}'' for the UsefulNotes/SharpX68000 had ports on the FM Towns (along with its sequel) and the PC Engine CD, none of which got released elsewhere. ''Genocide 2: Master of the Dark Communion'', also developed for the Sharp X68000, had a port for the UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem which ended up being released in Japan only despite being developed by a British studio. There was also a MS-DOS port exclusive to South Korea.

** ''VideoGame/NinjaGaidenIIITheAncientShipOfDoom'' originally did not release in Europe save for the UsefulNotes/AtariLynx. The original NES version finally would come out years later on the 3DS Virtual Console.

* Licensed games based on anime, manga and toy franchises are rarely exported. This includes several games based on ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'', ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa'', ''Manga/CaseClosed'' (out of 24 games, only ''The Mirapolis Investigation'' was released in Europe only), ''Manga/DragonBall'', ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'', ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' (only the first two UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 games and ''Dual Sympathy'' for the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS were exported) ''Franchise/GundamExpandedUniverse'', ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'', ''Manga/InitialD'', ''Manga/LuckyStar'', ''Anime/{{Macross}}'', ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', ''Anime/SailorMoon'', ''Franchise/{{Zoids}}'', etc.

* American gamers probably wouldn't know much of anything about the ''VideoGame/{{Klonoa}}'' series if it weren't for the internet. While the first game ''Door to Phantomile'' received nice reviews and was considered one of the better [=PS1=] games, and its sequel ''Lunatea's Veil'' for the [=PS2=] was also well-received, the games remained cult hits and were largely under-appreciated. Consequently, four handheld spinoffs - ''Empire of Dreams'', ''Dream Champ Tournament'', ''Beach Volleyball'', and ''Klonoa Heroes'' - were released thereafter, but of the four, only ''Empire of Dreams'' and ''Dream Champ Tournament'' saw an American release with ''Dream Champ'' being released '''three years''' after it came out in Japan, meanwhile ''Beach Volleyball'' was exported to Europe only, and ''Heroes'' never made it out of Japan at all. Before ''Lunatea's Veil'', ''Moonlight Museum'' also suffered from this, but instead due to it being on the UsefulNotes/WonderSwan, which itself did not make it to America. Since 2005, the series became {{orphaned|Series}} for some time until a remake of ''Door to Phantomile'' for the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} was announced for 2009, [[AvertedTrope and did indeed come stateside complete with English voice acting for the first time ever in the series]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Langrisser}}'': The original UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis [[VideoGame/LangrisserI game]] was localized by Treco as ''Warsong''. This was the only game in the series to receive an official translation until Creator/AksysGames announced a localization of ''Re:Incarnation Tensei''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Medabots}}'': several games in the series did not leave Japan, and the ones that did were because of the then-current anime boom in the west: ''Medarot 2 Core'' was released as ''Medabots'' for UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, ''Medabots AX'' also for GBA and ''Medabots Infinity'' for [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]], and that's all for the games released outside Japan. Currently, in Japan, the series has more than a dozen games and still lives with ''Medarot 8'' on the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS.

** ''[=RockBoard=]'', or ''Wily and Right's [=RockBoard=]: That's Paradise'', a ''TabletopGame/{{Monopoly}}''-themed board game on the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem Famicom]], featuring various series characters, released only in Japan. An English release, entitled ''Mega Board'', [[http://www.rockman-corner.com/2010/03/rockboard-in-english.html was in the works before it was canned for unknown reasons]].

* The Nintendo 3DS's eShop is a booming service in Japan, but ''VideoGame/MightySwitchForce'' (one of the highest selling and most well-received eShop games in the West) is not available in Japan and there are no plans to release it there. The reason this example's in "Game Series Specific Examples" folder is because its UsefulNotes/DSiWare predecessors (''VideoGame/MightyFlipChamps'' and ''VideoGame/MightyMilkyWay'') were not released in Japan, either.

* Jaleco made two failed attempts at international versions of their ''Ninja Jajamaru-kun'' games: ''Jajamaru Ninpou Chou'' as ''Taro's Quest'', and ''Ninja Jajamaru: Ginga Daisakusen'' as ''Squashed''. Neither made it past prototype stage, and only ''Maru's Mission'' for the UsefulNotes/GameBoy was exported until the original ''Ninja Jajamaru-kun'' was released on the Wii Virtual Console.
* Like its cousin ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'', Intelligent Systems' ''[[VideoGame/NintendoWars Wars]]'' series dates back to the original ''Famicom Wars'' for the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem Family Computer]] in 1988, followed by ''UsefulNotes/GameBoy Wars'' in 1991 and ''[[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem Super Famicom Wars]]'' in 1998, none which saw official English releases. Ironically enough, this was inverted starting with ''Advance Wars'' for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, which marked the series' English debut. The North American version was released in 2001, but the Japanese version, ''Game Boy Wars Advance'', was canceled due to the [[DistancedFromCurrentEvents unfortunate timing of the 9/11 attacks]] and was not released in Japan until 2004, when it was included in a two-in-one bundle with its sequel ''Game Boy Wars Advance 2''. This seems to have ''killed'' the series in its home country - the first DS game, ''Famicom Wars DS'', bombed hard in Japan, so they didn't even bother to release ''Advance Wars: Days of Ruin'' there, even though it [[http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/1003/ contains a complete Japanese translation hardcoded in]].

** ''VideoGame/Mother3'' is one of the most infamous examples of this, at least within Nintendo's library, to the point where the game is specifically well-known for being the sequel to the CultClassic ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound|1994}}'' that never left Japan, despite its protagonist having been a fighter in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series since 2008. The game wasn't localized around its original 2006 release due to it coming out far too late in the Game Boy Advance's lifespan, with the financial failure of ''[=EarthBound=]'' a decade prior also serving as a deterrent. Fans would end up [[http://mother3.fobby.net doing it themselves]] and produced what's considered one of the best {{Fan Translation}}s ever made, but still continue to push for Nintendo to do an official Western release. For their part, ''everyone'' at Nintendo is very much aware of the vocal fanbase's demands for an official Western release, even [[https://youtu.be/4FgzkZC0reE?t=47 joking about it during their E3 2014 press conference]]. While there have been persistent rumors that the continued hesitancy is due to concerns about the game's content ([[https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-02-13-controversial-elements-scuppered-mother-3-western-release-report specifically, the Magypies]]), Nintendo of America has repeatedly claimed that the only reason is financial, as they can't justify translating a lengthy EasternRPG for the GBA years after the fact with no guarantee that it would sell well. They did briefly consider the idea of at least putting the original Japanese version of the game onto the North American and European Wii U UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole, but [[https://www.eurogamer.net/dont-hold-your-breath-for-more-earthbound-reggie-fils-aime-says such plans were scrapped entirely]] when the console flopped.

* If you live outside of Asia and you're a fan of the ''VideoGame/PanelDePon'' {{verse}}, you're out of luck. Installments in the series are fairly rare as it is, but Nintendo's international branches tend to remove all references to the original UsefulNotes/{{Kawaisa}}-heavy character designs when the time comes to export. Lip's unlockable stage was even DummiedOut of non-Japanese versions of ''Planet Puzzle League'' for the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS. The main character Lip's only official Western appearances have been in ''Pokémon Puzzle Challenge'' (via a button code so obscure it wasn't discovered until 2013) and a cameo as an unlockable costume in ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingNewLeaf''. The original Super Famicom ''Panel de Pon'' was released worldwide for the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch Online service in 2020, albeit untranslated.
* If you are a fan of ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'' in any of its iterations and you don't live in Japan, then Sega hates you and feeds on your delicious tears. First, the spinoffs ''Phantasy Star Adventure'' and ''Phantasy Star Gaiden'' for the UsefulNotes/GameGear and the ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarII'' text adventures were never released outside Japan; players wouldn't have to make do with {{Fan Translation}}s of any of these if just one CompilationRerelease had been fully localized. Then came the much improved [=PS2=] remakes of Phantasy Star and Phantasy Star 2 which we missed out on. Then there were the various ways Sega jerked Western players of ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline'' and ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarUniverse'' around by witholding content released for the Japanese servers (before shutting the western servers down entirely as a final screw you). Sega also outright refused to translate ''Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity'' despite being a much improved version of the original that many were interested in. Then, as a final "Screw You" to western fans, Sega announced a North American release of ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline2'' for release in 2013, only to go conspicuously quiet about the game ever since, [[DevelopmentHell never confirming if it was still in development or cancelled outright]] ([[BadExportForYou and the less said about the Southeast Asian version of the game, the better]]).
* The UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 version of Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 was never released in America because the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 was discontinued there. However, the PSP version was released in America.

* Have a UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 and want to download ''[=RayStorm=] HD'' or the [=PlayStation=] versions of ''[=RayStorm=]'' and ''[=RayCrisis=]''? Well that's gonna take few extra steps and some yen as the games were only released in Japan. Creator/{{D3|Publisher}}'s ''Simple 1500 Series'' compilation of ''[=RayStorm=]'' and ''[=RayCrisis=]'' years prior also stayed in Japan.

** The "Sakura Taisen World Project," announced in 2002, was an official effort to bring the games to international audiences. The first part of the plan was to have the original game RemadeForTheExport on the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2, but the remake was only released in Japan. The fifth installment received a very belated localization as ''VideoGame/SakuraWarsSoLongMyLove'', which flopped in the U.S., making it unlikely Westerners would see more of the franchise besides one game and some of the [[TheAnimeOfTheGame tie-in anime]] (which [[AdaptationFirst came out earlier]]) at the time.

* ''VideoGame/{{Seaman}}'' had a sequel for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 in Japan simply called ''Seaman II'' which never made it stateside.
* A ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' game for the UsefulNotes/SegaCD was released in Japan only, probably because in 1996 the system was already fading fast.

* Certain ''Franchise/StrawberryShortcake'' games fall oddly into this category. The UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance game ''Ice Cream Island Riding Camp'' and the PC Port of ''The Sweet Dreams Game'' for the [=PS2=] received Europe-only launches. Also, The [=PS2=] release of ''The Sweet Dreams Game'' never got a NTSC/J release dispite the show's extreme popularity in Asia- Sony assigned the NTSC/J block to the region dispite the fact that much of the population can't speak Japanese. The latest case of the franchise is a set of iPhone games by some company called ''Cupcake Digital''. For some reason those are not sold in Asia while games by ''Budge Studios'' (which are notorious {{Allegedly Free Game}}s) and the Ape Entertainment comic books are.

** Due to general lack of region encoding, games released on Handheld systems (UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, UsefulNotes/NintendoDS, or UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable for example, with a total of 14 games between them (4 each on GBA and DS, 6 on PSP)) can be imported and played on local versions.
** Reportedly, the UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast port of ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha'' almost made it over to America in the early 2000s thanks to the wave of popularity spawned by ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Gundam Wing]]'' airing on Toonami, with every rights-holder for the shows included eager to go along with the idea. However, because the game's cast list included ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'', Harmony Gold stepped in and blocked the release[[note]]it's never been made clear if Harmony Gold said no period, or if they said no to having the names unchanged but would've let the game come stateside if the ''Macross'' names were changed to Robotech ones; since ''Macross 7'' would've also been affected, if the latter was the case, Bandai said no, but couldn't just dummy out the Macross units, given how key the series was to the game's plot[[/note]].

* ''VideoGame/TengaiMakyou: Far East of Eden'', a long-running RPG series by Creator/HudsonSoft which started in 1989, has practically never appeared outside Japan, partly on account of its weirdness, partly because most of the original games were released on the UsefulNotes/PCEngine CD and UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn, which were not so popular outside Japan. The only English release was the UsefulNotes/NeoGeo fighting spinoff ''Tengai Makyou Shinden'' (translated as ''Kabuki Klash''), and even this didn't get an AES release.

* ''VideoGame/TouchDetective'': The first and second games released for the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS got localized, the third title released exclusively for the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS never was released out of Japan due to the relatively low marketing the past two games received. This is no longer the case, however, as in 2024, the third game was finally localized thanks to the 2022 CompilationRerelease being brought outside of Japan.

** On November 3, 2017, ZUN announced that the two most recent entries: ''Hidden Star in Four Seasons'' and ''Antinomy of Common Flowers'' will be released on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}. [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.cc/news/2017-11-03/touhou-16-15.5-games-get-steam-release-in-2018/.123531 Go here for details.]] [[http://store.steampowered.com/app/745880/__Hidden_Star_in_Four_Seasons/ Soon after, the official Steam page for the former was revealed.]]
** Now a full-blown subversion, as more and more of the series has made its way to Steam. As of June 6th, 2020, every game from Mountain of Faith onwards with the exception of Scarlet Weather Rhapsody and Hisoutensoku are now availble on the platform.

* In Japan, all four ''VideoGame/{{Valis}}'' games were released on the UsefulNotes/PCEngine in one form or another. But North America didn't get the original ''Valis IV'' or the superior remake of the first game on the UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16; only the inferior SNES and Genesis versions came over.

** When Sega announced their [=Model2=] Collection series of HD re-releases of [=Model2=] arcade games, they would be re-releasing ''VideoGame/SonicTheFighters'', ''[[VideoGame/VirtuaFighter Virtual Fighter 2]]'', ''VideoGame/FightingVipers'', ''Virtual-ON: Operation Moongate'', and ''Virtua Striker'' via UsefulNotes/XboxLiveArcade and UsefulNotes/PlayStationNetwork. Only three of these games got released world-wide, but then Sega decided to ''Virtual-ON'' and ''Virtua Striker'' only in Japan.

* The ''VideoGame/VibRibbon'' series never made it outside of Japan, though the European countries got a release of the first game. However, in October 7, 2014, the first game was released in North America. The reason for this was that Shawn Layden, the CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, made a mistake that involved mentioning ''Vib-Ribbon'' during an E3 2014 press conference when he did not know that the first game was never released outside of Japan and Europe during that time, thus causing people on Twitter to become upset when no further information of the game was mentioned in the press conference (instead, Layden showed footage of ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX''). When Layden realized what he had done, he asked his team to work on perfecting a North American port for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation Network and the North American release of ''Vib-Ribbon'' finally came. He then apologized for the commotion after the North American release. As a result, North American players got to enjoy the first game's catchy music and its adorable character, Vibri.

* Fans of {{Wrestling Game}}s have long lamented the lack of such games that make the transition from Japan to the U.S., which leaves Wrestling/{{WWE}}'s licensed games as very nearly the genre's sole representatives in North America. In particular, Spike Entertainment's ''VideoGame/FireProWrestling'' and ''King of Colosseum'' franchises have garnered very vocal cults of [[UsefulNotes/ImportGaming Import Gamers]], but the former has only seen very limited North American release of only the later games, and the latter has yet to cross the pond at all. To be fair, with those two series in particular, there are a few licensing issues; ''King of Colosseum'' is a MassiveMultiplayerCrossover of several prominent Japanese wrestling federations, while ''Fire Pro Wrestling'' is... the same, with international promotions thrown in too, only [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed with the]] SerialNumbersFiledOff. The problem is the vast bulk of the roster is Japanese wrestlers with only a handful of American wrestlers. Since Japanese wrestling has a very small audience in the west, most companies feel it's not worth the effort. Heck, Agetec only managed to port Fire Pro Returns by waiting two years after the game's Japanese release and releasing it in the US and Europe as a budget title. It also should be noted the {{UsefulNotes/GBA}} games sported a larger number of western wrestlers than usual, and the US version of Final Fire Pro added even more (at the expense of the Manager Mode).

* Rumors have cropped up about talks that the third installment in the UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable ''[[VideoGame/YuGiOhTagForceSeries Yu-Gi-Oh GX Tag Force]]'' series would ''not'' be released overseas...despite the curious phenomenon of the series to come out in the west several weeks ''before'' it hits Japan. Some speculate that, if true, this decision was made to correspond to other rumors that 4Kids has refused to translate the fourth ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' season, instead jumping straight to the next series ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds''. And there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth from the commoners...
* Falcom's ''VideoGame/{{Ys}}'' RPG series went through a long spell of this. By the time ''VideoGame/YsIVTheDawnOfYs'' was released for the UsefulNotes/PCEngine CD, NEC was no longer supporting the format outside Japan. ''VideoGame/YsIVMaskOfTheSun'' and ''VideoGame/YsVLostKefinKingdomOfSand'' also remained in Japan, even when they were both remade for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2. By the time Konami localized ''VideoGame/YsVITheArkOfNapishtim'' for [=PS2=] and PSP, enough opportunities had been missed that the sequel number was dropped. Fortunately, Atlus and XSEED have localized every subsequent game in the series, including: ''VideoGame/YsTheOathInFelghana'', ''VideoGame/YsSeven'', ''Ys [[VideoGame/YsIAncientYsVanishedOmen I]] and [[VideoGame/YsIIAncientYsVanishedTheFinalChapter II]] Chronicles'', ''VideoGame/YsOrigin'', ''VideoGame/YsMemoriesOfCelceta'', and the original PC version of ''Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim''. ''Ys V'' is now the only entry in the modern canon without at least one version available in English.

* The first and third ''Shubibinman'' games, for the UsefulNotes/PCEngine, were only released in Japan. The middle installment, titled ''Shockman'' in the west, was a subpar ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' clone, in contrast with the hack n' slash gameplay of the other two.

* In 2006 Nintendo released a series of simplistic games for the Gameboy Advance called ''bit Generations'' in two waves with seven games in total. The games had very simplistic graphics with pick-up and play gameplay and came in black boxes which were smaller than normal and lacked instructions. The seven games were ''Dotstream'', a simplistic racer, ''Boundish'', a series of Pong clones, ''Dialhex'' and ''Coloris'', two puzzle games, ''Digidrive'', an arcade style game, ''Orbital'', a different kind of space shooter with gravity based puzzles, and ''Soundvoyager'', a game that included a pair of stereo headphones and could literally be played only by listening. Even though the games never made it outside Japan, they did get ESRB ratings under the name "Digistylish" indicating a potential US release. Notably a few of the games did get enhanced remakes, Dailhex, Orbital, and Dotsream on UsefulNotes/WiiWare as ''Rotohex'', ''Orbient'', and ''light trax'', and ''Digidrive'' on UsefulNotes/DSiWare, all under the name of ''VideoGame/ArtStyle'' and also including new games. Of all these, ''Boundish'', ''Coloris'' and ''Soundvoyager'' have never seen any release in any form outside Japan.

* ''VideoGame/ClockTower: The First Fear'' was never released outside of Japan because the violent content would not pass Nintendo of America's then-draconian "family friendly" policy. However, its sequels all made it over as the developer had jumped to the UsefulNotes/PlayStation for those. This made certain lines in the second game, the only direct sequel, a bit confusing. Nobody knows why [[spoiler:Dan]] is a significant name because the game only [[spoiler:shows him briefly in the opening and doesn't say his name]].

** The series was extremely popular in Japan; being one of the few popular western game series there. However when the characters got a full-on redesign for the seventh gen games, those games did not release there. It's an odd case, since they could have made specific models for them like they did with many of the other games. Crash continues to have games in Japan (mostly on mobile devices), albeit in the style of the UsefulNotes/PlayStation games.
** ''Videogame/CrashBash'' was re-released on the PSN Store... But only in Japan, and for every other country it remains the only ''Crash Bandicoot'' game on the UsefulNotes/PlayStation that hasn't been rereleased. Maybe it was because it wasn't made by Creator/NaughtyDog or that it wasn't as popular or good, but that doesn't explain why it was still released in Japan.

* ''Curse'', a Japan-exclusive ShootEmUp for the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis, almost got a US release from INTV Corporation as part of their plan to become a publisher of games for then-current consoles. INTV's [=non-=]UsefulNotes/{{Intellivision}} releases instead began and ended with the locally developed ''Monster Truck Rally'' for the NES.

** A game called ''Dynasty Warriors VS'' on the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS that features [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link]] and [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Samus]] as playable characters. Sound good? Too bad, it's only available in Japan.

** ''Earth Defense Forces 2 Portable'', the PSP version of ''Chikyuu Boueigun 2'' / ''Global Defense Force'', was only released in Japan but contained more content than its [=PS2=] versions, 4-player co-op and even had some hidden files on the UMD hinting at a US release that never happened. ''Earth Defense Forces 3 Portable'' for the UsefulNotes/PlayStationVita made it over under the moniker ''VideoGame/EarthDefenseForce2017 Portable'' however.

* Despite having four major versions, being massively popular in its home country, and even making a showing as a featured tournament at the Evolution 2010 World Fighting Game Championships in Las Vegas, ''VideoGame/MeltyBlood'' remains a Japan-only item. This was, however, {{averted|Trope}} with ''Actress Again Current Code'' getting a {{UsefulNotes/Steam}} release, courtesy of Creator/ArcSystemWorks.

** ''VideoGame/FatalFrameMaskOfTheLunarEclipse'' was released in Japan with a counterintuitive control scheme (on the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}}, no less) and some game-breaking bugs. The game remains in Japan because Nintendo refuses to release the game worldwide without changes, but Tecmo refuses to make said changes without additional pay. The fact that the previous game reviewed and sold only slightly better than the plague overseas probably isn't helping matters, either.

* ''VideoGame/TheGreatGianaSisters'' is a CultClassic game well-known for both being a blatant ripoff of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' UsefulNotes/Commodore64, and for its SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic. It was eventually remade for the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS, but only released in Australia. It also had a North America release, but so far only limited copies were made.

** ''Kirby's Dream Collection'' for Wii was never released in Europe, Australia or Korea, presumably due to it releasing in Japan and America close to the UsefulNotes/WiiU (2012), and also being a large bundle.

* Namco's ''Legend of Valkyrie'', originally released in Japanese arcades in 1989 and on the UsefulNotes/PCEngine in 1990, finally got a US localization in 1997 on ''Namco Museum Vol. 5''. The franchise also had several other installments that were never exported at all.

* ''Million Arthur'': The mobile game was discontinued in Japan, while the mobile game and its sequel were exported. The handheld versions of ''Kaku-San-Sei Million Arthur'' on the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS and UsefulNotes/PlayStationVita were not.
* ''Minnie & Friends: Yume no Kuni o Sagashite'' is a UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor adventure game which puts WesternAnimation/MinnieMouse in the [[ADayInTheLimelight lead role]], and is only exclusive to Japan.
* ''VideoGame/MizzurnaFalls'': One of the first WideOpenSandbox games, was only released in Japan for the UsefulNotes/{{Playstation}}.

* ''VideoGame/NaughtyBear'' was released only in Europe and North America. If you live in Asia and have a UsefulNotes/XBox360, you are out of luck. To add insult to injury, both the North American and European releases of the game are actually cross-compatible with the other region's consoles... just not with Asian region consoles.

* ''VideoGame/NeonGenesisEvangelion2'', an AdventureGame[=/=]RolePlayingGame hybrid based on the anime TV show ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2, was much hyped, not least because it would contain the so-called "Classified Information", a in-game compendium which was advertised as containing answers to some of the TV show's greater mysteries. But despite great interest from Western ''Evangelion'' fans, the game has remained a Japan-only exclusive.
* The UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 remake of ''VideoGame/NightsIntoDreams'' was only released in Japan. Considering the reception and sales of its sequel, ''Journey of Dreams'', a release in other territories does not look likely. However, it did get an HD version in America and Europe, with some of the bonuses that the [=PS2=] version had.
* ''[[CompilationRerelease Nintendo Puzzle Collection]]'' for the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube was ''intended'' to be given an international release if one circa-2003 Nintendo "upcoming releases" pamphlet and [[https://youtu.be/-NbVv0xHTUQ this E3 trailer]] is to be trusted. The ESRB also rated the game too. While it wasn't a huge loss in the case of ''VideoGame/DrMario'', which was released in America (but ''only'' in America) on the UsefulNotes/{{Nintendo 64}}, a fairly big deal was made of the fact that this would be the first time Western audiences would get to experience ''VideoGame/PanelDePon'' in its unedited form (the Nintendo 64 version had been {{Dolled Up|Installment}} as ''Pokémon Puzzle League'' and stripped of its 4-player mode), and its version of ''Yoshi's Cookie'' isn't available anywhere else.
* ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' is a partial example: Square Enix only published the [=PS4=] version in Japan. The PC version is published by Blizzard themselves and can be bought online from Battle.Net in Japan, complete with Japanese language text and voice support (and the Japanese voice can also be playable in clients of any region). However those wanting to play it on the Xbox will find that the UsefulNotes/XboxOne version got the short end of the stick in the region.

** ''Sonic Gems Collection'' itself is a [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]]-exclusive in the States. Both Japan and Europe got a [=PS2=] version.

** Japan also never got the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3, UsefulNotes/XBox360, and UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} versions of the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogCD'' remake.

* ''VideoGame/PsychoFox'', a Japanese-made game openly based on Japanese mythology, was never released in Japan, owing to the UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem's early discontinuation there.

* ''VisualNovel/{{Policenauts}}'', Creator/HideoKojima's SpiritualSuccessor to ''VisualNovel/{{Snatcher}}'', was announced for the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn in America in 1996, but was ultimately canceled. In one interview, Kojima reveals that his team were working on the American localization, but they were unable to lip-synch the English dialogue with the [[FullMotionVideo FMV cut-scenes]] and gave up on the project ([[http://policenauts.net/nttimages.html you can read the interview here in Japanese]]). Since then, Kojima has teased western players by including footage of the game in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', as well as [[{{expy}} expies]] of the game's cast in the form of Meryl Silverburgh in the first ''Metal Gear Solid'', as well as Jonathan and Ed in ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots Guns of the Patriots]]''. A FanTranslation of ''Policenauts'' was completed in 2009.

* ''VideoGame/PrincessCrown'' is one ugly case. Created by an early Creator/{{Atlus}} team who would evolve to become Vanillaware (of ''VideoGame/OdinSphere'' and ''VideoGame/MuramasaTheDemonBlade'' fame), the game saw two releases (a UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn one and a UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable one), none ever released outside of its home country. The game is also somewhat the spiritual antecedent of the fairly successful ''Odin Sphere'' (having a similar gameplay structure and themes), making the fact that no one localized the PSP version particularly annoying.

* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilCodeVeronica'' rerelease, ''Code Veronica X'' never made it to the Dreamcast outside of Japan. Only the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 and UsefulNotes/NintendoGamecube versions made it overseas.

* Creator/{{Bethesda}}'s earlier ''[[Franchise/TheElderScrolls Elder Scrolls]]'' installments ended up becoming this in Japan after the fact. After Microsoft released the UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} in Japan, American gamers received the third installment, ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]''. Xbox sales tanked in East Asia, and the powers that be had a case of AndYouThoughtItWouldFail. However, without UsefulNotes/RegionCoding on the console, Japanese gamers could still play ''Morrowind'' in English via UsefulNotes/ImportGaming. Interest in the game spread by word-of-mouth, turning the game into a SleeperHit on both PC and the handful of Xbox consoles in Japan. Eventually, the fandom created sites with [[http://www.hmx-12.net/~virgil7/morrowind/ instructions, walkthroughs, explanations, resources, and plot overviews in Japanese]] all the way up to [[http://www.geocities.jp/meisaku_asobu/KanjiMorrowind.html complete fan translation patches]]. Bethesda eventually noticed the publicity, and made sure to create a Japanese localization of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' and later ''VideoGame/Fallout3''. ''Oblivion'' also follows FirstInstallmentWins over in Japan, as it is the installment where most Japanese started playing. Westerners usually exercize this trope over ''Morrowind'' or ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall]]''. Because of this, ''Oblivion'' was sometimes [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks less well received]] in the West. Japan has managed to invert this when it comes to game mods. All ''Elder Scrolls'' games have a strong modding community, however many Japanese modders are notoriously xenophobic and like to flaunt their admittedly brilliant creations to the west then deny any access to them, to the great frustration of many.
* ''VisualNovel/{{Ace Attorney Investigations|MilesEdgeworth}}'' was never released in any language other than Japanese and English. A German group of fans is rebelling against this and currently doing a fantranslation, similar to the English one that was done for ''VideoGame/Mother3''. As of August 2012, the French and Spanish fans have gotten into the mix. The first episode has been fully fan-translated into Spanish. Later on, no one outside of Japan got ''Ace Attorney Investigations 2'', at least not on DS. Capcom has kept the door open for a release some other way, but it seems more a token gesture than anything else (however, if they turned out to have intentions to change the system, it wouldn't be the first time a company did so -- Rising Star Games, the European publisher of the ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon'' series, didn't get around to releasing the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube game ''Harvest Moon: Magical Melody'' in its region until its system's successor, the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}}, had already replaced it, resulting in a port to the latter for that region and later in North America by the publisher there, Natsume). The English fan-translated version of ''Investigations 2'' is now complete, link available on the main ''VisualNovel/{{Ace Attorney Investigations|MilesEdgeworth}}'' page.

* Japan, while also adopting Western computers like the IBM PC(-compatibles), UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh, and to a much lesser extent the [[Platform/{{Amiga}} Commodore Amiga]] and Platform/AtariST in the 1980s and early 1990s, also developed their own computer platfoms like the UsefulNotes/{{MSX}}, NEC UsefulNotes/{{PC98}}, UsefulNotes/{{Sharp X68000}} and Fujitsu UsefulNotes/FMTowns[[note]]Which is, for all intents and purposes, a proprietary extension of the PC platform[[/note]] that never saw international releases. [[note]]While PC-compatibles and Macs did make it to Japan, their market was mostly the Japanese branch of western multinational companies, although Japanese households eventually started warming up to the Mac's stylish design. PC-compatibles in particular had it bad because earlier systems could not natively support Japanese text and input, requiring a third party solution like [=DOS/V=], often in tandem with a proprietary graphics card. However, the abundance of homegrown PC platforms with no cross-platform specification, plus the importing of Apple and IBM [=PCs=] from the west, ultimately led to the complete ''obliteration'' of the Japanese PC market- as of 2021, the Japanese no longer have any homegrown PC platforms and the only surviving platforms are the Macintosh and PC. The multiple incompatible platforms are also why some Japanese developers don’t want to develop for [=PCs=], claiming the multiple incompatible platforms with no standardization too costly to deal with.[[/note]]

* The best UsefulNotes/CommodoreAmiga games and demos were only done in PAL, as the system [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff was more popular in Europe than in North America]]. Fortunately, emulators can use both NTSC and PAL software. On the flipside, many adventure game ports (particularly Creator/{{Sierra}} adventure games) are NTSC-only and do not work properly on PAL Amigas; they usually run too slow if they work at all. This means that they were never officially sold outside of the US. Again, emulators usually can run both.

* Japan, while also adopting Western computers like the IBM PC(-compatibles), UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh, and to a much lesser extent the UsefulNotes/CommodoreAmiga and UsefulNotes/AtariST in the 1980s and early 1990s, also developed their own computer platfoms like the UsefulNotes/{{MSX}}, NEC UsefulNotes/{{PC98}}, UsefulNotes/{{Sharp X68000}} and Fujitsu UsefulNotes/FMTowns[[note]]Which is, for all intents and purposes, a proprietary extension of the PC platform[[/note]] that never saw international releases. [[note]]While PC-compatibles and Macs did make it to Japan, their market was mostly the Japanese branch of western multinational companies, although Japanese households eventually started warming up to the Mac's stylish design. PC-compatibles in particular had it bad because earlier systems could not natively support Japanese text and input, requiring a third party solution like [=DOS/V=], often in tandem with a proprietary graphics card. However, the abundance of homegrown PC platforms with no cross-platform specification, plus the importing of Apple and IBM [=PCs=] from the west, ultimately led to the complete ''obliteration'' of the Japanese PC market- as of 2021, the Japanese no longer have any homegrown PC platforms and the only surviving platforms are the Macintosh and PC. The multiple incompatible platforms are also why some Japanese developers don’t want to develop for [=PCs=], claiming the multiple incompatible platforms with no standardization too costly to deal with.[[/note]]

* ''VideoGame/ForbiddenSiren'' - First game was released in Europe first, then released in America with the british voicework. The second game never made it to America and stopped in Europe.
* ''Forbidden Siren 2'' saw Japanese, Australian and European release, but never made it to North America, probably because sales for the first game were, to say the least, abysmal.

* Most second generation consoles, like the UsefulNotes/Atari5200 and the UsefulNotes/ColecoVision, were never released in Japan. It's true to say that Japanese had their own second generation consoles, but all of the second generation consoles there (Epoch Cassette Vision and Gakken TV boy for instance) weren't as attractive as their US and EU counterparts.

* ''VisualNovel/{{Policenauts}}'', Creator/HideoKojima's SpiritualSuccessor to ''VisualNovel/{{Snatcher}}'', was announced for the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn in America in 1996, but was ultimately canceled. In one interview, Kojima reveals that his team were working on the American localization, but they were unable to lip-synch the English dialogue with the [[FullMotionVideo FMV cut-scenes]] and gave up on the project ([[http://policenauts.net/nttimages.html you can read the interview here in Japanese]]). Since then, Kojima has teased western players by including footage of the game in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', as well as [[{{expy}} expies]] of the game's cast in the form of Meryl Silverburgh in the first ''Metal Gear Solid'', as well as Jonathan and Ed in ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4 Guns of the Patriots]]''. A FanTranslation of ''Policenauts'' was completed in 2009.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'' is a subversion. It got released in Europe through the UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole, but a bit late: ''Twelve years after its original release''.

** ''VideoGame/CrashMindOverMutant'' entered Japan. As a bonus, [[{{Irony}} the DS version was made in Japan]].

** The AlternateUniverse manga of ''Atelier Marie & Elie'' managed to come over in 2008 - seven years after its own release. [[ScrewedByTheNetwork It almost wasn't sold in shops, and ended up having its fifth and final volume canceled.]] ''Atelier'' fans mean it when they say the franchise is cursed in the West. ''Atelier Lise'' was released in Japan and it shows no signs of coming over either. There are, however, [[GameBreakingBug probably rather good reasons for this]] and nobody is complaining ''too'' loudly about this one. And it appears as though the "proper Atelier" curse is [[http://www.nisamerica.com/news/20090709.html at last being broken]]. Whether or not Americans see the earlier games outside of Japan, however, remains an open question. When the first Alterier Iris game left Japan, it caused an interesting case of SeinfeldIsUnfunny - we had already seen the sequels that developed the ItemCrafting stuff more - obviously the ''first game that did that'' would look like "Just another JRPG".

* Stadia. Xbox Game Pass. [=PlayStation=] Now. [=GeForce=] Now. If you live in a third world country or even some second world country, chances are none of these game streaming services are available to you. For what it’s worth tho, you get the best experience with these only if you have high speed, low latency Internet, preferably fiber to the home. Still, it’s really infuriating.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' was not exported until the 3D remake on the Nintendo DS, and only ports of the DS version have been released for other consoles worldwide. Downloadable releases of the original version on the 3DS Virtual Console, Wii Virtual Console, and Wii U Virtual Console were not exported overseas. It was replaced with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' in the US/PAL NES Classic Edition, whereas its Japanese equivalent (the Famicom Mini) does include it.

* Every Creator/{{Cave}} ShootEmUp after ''[[VideoGame/DonPachi DoDonPachi]]'' has gotten an Asia-only release; if you want, say, ''VideoGame/MushihimeSama'' or ''VideoGame/{{Espgaluda}}'' on the [=PS2=], and live outside of there, expect to shell out at least the equivalent of US$70 (unless you are an extremely good bargain hunter). Then again, shoot-em-ups are a niche genre here in the United States. There were plans to bring a couple of the games to XBLA, but Microsoft rejected. Cave has been trying to avert this, as they've given some of their games some form of English release (''VideoGame/{{Deathsmiles}}'', ''Guwange''), or at the very least have made them region-free (''Mushihime-sama Futari'', ''[=EspGaluda=] II Black Label''), making importing them much easier. This continued even in the face of Aksys (who published the US version of ''Deathsmiles'') saying they're not interested in publishing additional shooters for the US. ''Deathsmiles IIX'' actually received a US release - in the form of the unedited Japanese game (Japanese Achievements left intact) [[http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/DeathSmiles2-X/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802435a07d9?noSplash=1 available over Games on Demand]]. Even when Cave could find no willing publishers for an American release of ''[=DoDonPachi=] Resurrection'', Rising Star Games made their European release of the game compatible with American consoles, in a bizarre inversion of the usual situation (usually, Europe's the one importing from America). ''Mishihimesama'', ''[=DoDonPachi=] Resurrection'', and ''Deathsmiles'' received a release on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} in 2015-16, but no new ports have been made since then.
* Games developed by C-Lab, ''VideoGame/{{Rusty}}'' and ''Totsugeki! Mix'', never made outside of Japan, thanks to being released on the UsefulNotes/PC98, which was also a Japan-only computer system (although NEC had attempted to market the [=PC98=] outside Japan, they quickly gave up). Not even their MS-DOS versions were released elsewhere. ''Rusty'' did however receive an English fan-translation in 2017.

* For a long time, it was ''extremely'' unlikely that any of [[Creator/KeyVisualArts Key]]'s works would be licensed outside Japan. Their publisher, Visual Art's, [[http://www.siliconera.com/2011/06/27/visual-arts-president-comments-on-prospect-of-publishing-visual-novels-overseas/ stated in 2011]] that they had no interest in the overseas market and would only reconsider if it seemed profitable. The Visual Art's main page is blocked for foreigners. However, this was eventually reversed. In 2013, ''VisualNovel/{{Planetarian}}'', a kinetic novel, [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-01-09/key-planetarian-visual-novel-translated-into-english-on-ios was officially translated into English and available on iOS devices worldwide]]. The English publisher polled fans in 2014 on whether they wanted to see more, and that same year, ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'', which was already probably their [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff most popular work in the Anglosphere]], was announced for an English release on Steam.

** A Wii version of ''pop'n music'' was produced and even got an American release ... ''but'' it was turned into a [[AdaptationDistillation motion controlled game]] using just the Wii Remote and nunchuck. Thankfully, it ''did'' share a similar art style to the actual series. But even worse, it even spawned an arcade version; the American version was only tested as a redemption game (and had a [[AmericanKirbyIsHardcore very unfitting logo]]), but a Japanese version was released under the name "HELLO! POP'N MUSIC"

* Creator/OGPlanet will ''sometimes'' allow access to their games to other countries, but nine times out of ten, games like ''VideoGame/SDGundamCapsuleFighter'' and ''VideoGame/RumbleFighterOnline'' are left out in the cold outside of North America.

* For some unexplainable reason, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears'' are not released on Steam in Southeast Asia, even though ''it is advertised on Steam itself in the region'' (clicking on the ad results in an error saying that the game isn't available in the region). The game is available in the region on other platforms though. Square will '''not''' be releasing the classic ''Final Fantasy'' titles (''IV'" through ''VI'', along with ''IV After Years'') on Steam in Asia. It's bad enough that the Steam releases of ''XIII'' through Lightning Returns were [[BadExportForYou Japanese-only]] when a lot of players don't speak fluent Japanese.

* In September 2017, it was [[http://gematsu.com/2016/09/final-fantasy-xv-universe-game-kings-knight-wrath-dark-dragon-announced-smartphones further announced]] that another defictionalized FictionalVideoGame for mobile devices, ''King[='=]s Knight: Wrath of the Dark Dragon'' (a {{Remake}} of the [[VideoGame/KingsKnight 1986 Famicom game]]), would be released alongside ''Final Fantasy XV''. Unless you live in Asia but not in Japan. Again, this title is NoExportForYou for those living in Asia outside Japan, which makes it a YankTheDogsChain moment when it was advertised in the ''Pocket Edition'' of '"Final Fantasy XV'', which ''did'' receive a worldwide release, with a mocking footnote saying "Not available in all regions", and clicking on the ad anyway takes you to an App Store or Google Play page that is basically berating you for your bad luck in not being born in Japan or outside Asia.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'' is a subversion. It got released in Europe by [[UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole VC]], but a bit late: ''Twelve years after its original release''.

* Due to being a [[WidgetSeries violently Japanese game series]] having risqué gags ([[AmbiguouslyGay Ebisumaru, anyone?]]) in its Super Famicom entries, almost none of the ''VideoGame/GanbareGoemon'' games were ever brought to America except for the first SNES game, one of the Game Boy games and two of the Nintendo 64 sequels, with another of the GB games appearing in a Game Boy Color collection in Europe. Even though the N64 entries became [[CultClassic cult classics]] thanks to [[{{Woolseyism}} creative changes]] made to the dialogue, an offbeat sense of humor and foreign charm(having [[HumongousMecha Goemon Impact]] certainly helped), the series failed to catch on.

* ''VideoGame/TengaiMakyou: Far East of Eden'', a long-running RPG series by Creator/HudsonSoft which started in 1989, has practically never appeared outside Japan, partly on account of being a WidgetSeries, partly because most of the original games were released on the UsefulNotes/PCEngine CD and UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn, which were not so popular outside Japan. The only English release was the UsefulNotes/NeoGeo fighting spinoff ''Tengai Makyou Shinden'' (translated as ''Kabuki Klash''), and even this didn't get an AES release.

* The Nintendo 64 had a [[WidgetSeries quirky simulation game]] called ''Doubutsu no Mori'' which was never released outside of Japan. It got a [[RemadeForTheExport remake]], ''Doubutsu no Mori+'' for the [=GameCube=], however, which ''did'' get released internationally, under the name ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing''. The remake was then ''re''-exported ''back'' to Japan and [[RecursiveImport re-released with further additions and improvements]] as ''Doubutsu no Mori e+'', which stayed in Japan.

* ''VideoGame/MonsterParty'', a [[WidgetSeries characteristically weird]] Japanese "parody" game, was [[http://www.chrismcovell.com/secret/FC__1988Q4.html#monsterparty advertised in Japanese magazines]] but somehow never released in its home country.

* THE founder of the non-H Dating Sim genre, ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial'', is a notorious case of this. Konami having always refused to release the series outside of Japan (except for the Chinese market) on the (not that unreasonable, especially in TheNineties; less so nowadays) grounds that it's too Japanese culture-based and a WidgetSeries: case in point, their attempt in 2007 at an American-based adaptation of sorts, ''Brooktown High'', bombed royally. (Ironically, ''Brooktown High'' never got released out of the US either.)

* ''VideoGame/AlteredBeast'' got an InNameOnly remake for the [=PS2=], which never got released in North America but did get released in Europe.

** Japan has an exclusive spinoff of the ''World Cup'' subseries for the [=PS2=], called ''Project FIFA World Cup: Sorenara Kimi ga Daihyō Kantoku'' ("Then You Are the National Team Coach"), which was released shortly after the main ''2002 FIFA World Cup''.

* There never was a THQ Japan. Unless there would be someone ready to export that would mean that all of their titles would only get a release in the US and Europe (Australia would only get post-2008 releases). While most of the titles of their WWF series of video games get international releases, thanks to the fact that they are developed by Japanese developers they have no intentions on bringing Western developed titles under their name there. So stuff such as ''VideoGame/SpongeBobSquarePantsBattleForBikiniBottom'', ''VideoGame/RedFaction'', and ''Aidyn Chronicles: The first Mage'' (the last one being an RPG in the vein of ''Quest 64'') will never see a release in those areas.

* The Japan-only versions of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' are subtitled "International + Final Mission" and "International Zodiac Job System", respectively. The intent is to give Japanese players the features of the American and European versions (with some ''additional'' changes), hence the name. In an unusual case of Europe getting things that North America doesn't, many of the features of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX International'', such as the [[BonusBoss Dark Aeons]], appeared in the European release of the game. The ''Final Fantasy X[=/=]X-2 HD Remaster'' remakes the ''International'' versions of both titles.

* ''VideoGame/DevilWorld'' was one of the few early first-party NES titles not to be released in North America. Back in the day, Nintendo of America not only banned the word "devil", but they also had a policy against showing crucifixes, [[note]]though they didn't consistently enforce it: literally every grave in the first two ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]]'' game was marked by a cross-shaped gravestone[[/note]] and this game is practically based around them.

* ''VideoGame/TouchDetective'': The first and second games released for the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS got localized, the third title released exclusively for the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS never was released out of Japan due to the relatively low marketing the past two games received.

* ''VideoGame/TouchDetective'': The first and second games released for the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS got localized, the third title released exclusively for the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS never was released out of Japan due to the relatively low marketing the past two games received.

* For over half a decade, the ''VideoGame/{{Atelier}}'' series was completely unable to leave Japan, despite the first two games handily breaking six-figure sales volume and becoming a cult hit in Japan that inspired nearly every JPRG that followed to have some form of ItemCrafting. Reportedly, despite its success in Japan Sony has never had any faith that the series will appeal to American gamers, despite titles such as ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon'' doing well here. Only when the series made some changes to be more like a standard JPRG with ''Atelier Iris'' did it finally manage to cross the Pacific courtesy of Creator/NipponIchi Software of America - in 2005, '''eight years''' after the series debut in Japan. America has gotten (almost) all ''Atelier'' releases since, but even with a [=PS2=] re-issue of the first two games, none of the first five, ItemCrafting-based ''Atelier'' games have ever crossed the Pacific.

* The UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 was never released in the PAL regions. This is mainly due to the poor sales the console was having in the US as well as the fact that Sega was a leading branch in those areas. NEC feared that it would only lead to more losses as the Sega Genesis had some notoriously great advertising and lots of western third-party support.

** ''Yo-kai Watch 4'' is the most prominent example, being the only main entry in the series with no English translation. It was released in 2019 in Japan for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4, and was released in China in 2023 on the former platform. In 2019, a Western localization of the game was announced, but Level-5 has announced nothing since. The studio shut down their operations in North America in 2020, but appear to be returning to global releases as of 2023, with other games by the studio, including ''Professor Layton and the New World of Steam'', scheduled for global release in 2024. This leaves the status of ''Yo-kai Watch 4'' in the West unknown.

* VideoGame/Rayman:

** The Rayman Raving Rabbids Game Boy Advance game and the Nintendo DS versions of the first two games were never released in Japan.

* The only home console version of ''VideoGame/RaymanOrigins'' to reach Japan was the [=PS3=] version. While there's no proper reasoning for the Wii version not to be released there (considering its popularity in Japan), the 360 version is justified - [[AmericansHateTingle the console was a complete and utter flop there.]]