the game was shown at E3 2003 in English and a North American localization seemed likely, the game remained exclusive to Japan. Nintendo stated that the game was not announced for a North America release. The website IGN thought that the game was not going to be released due to being "too strange" for US audiences, an assumption that was confirmed by Nintendo of America in early 2006. One of the game's planners, Sayoko Yokote, hoped the game would be localized by a company other than Nintendo. The music in GiFTPiA is provided via the in-game radio known as Nanashi-FM. The musical score was co-composed by Hirofumi Taniguchi and Yousuke Obitsumi and features over a dozen musical artists on the radio stations. The soundtrack was released on July 14, 2003, by Enterbrain alongside the Giftpia Book, a 99-page full color guide to the game. Reception Retail sales of Giftpia were unexceptional at best. According to estimates from Media Create and Dengeki, the game sold between 48,000 and 55,000 units during its first three weeks on sale in Japan. By the end of 2003, the game had sold nearly 70,000 units, ranking it 176th among all games in the country for that year. Giftpia was given a total score of 34 out of 40 by Famitsu, earning it a "Gold Award". The reviewers remarked that although game gives the initial impression it is for children, it offers "nice puzzle elements, great characters and a wonderful score". GiFTPiA was awarded a curious review score of ??% by the UK-based NGC Magazine. They felt unable to review it properly, but were sure that there was "...clearly a quite brilliant game lurking beneath the reams of Japanese text". References External links Official webpage 2003 video games Adventure games GameCube games GameCube-only games Japan-exclusive video games Nintendo games Role-playing video games Video games developed in Japan Video games produced by Shigeru Miyamoto Skip Ltd. games Social simulation video games Video games set on fictional islands Video games with cel-shaded animation Single-player video games