It starts off about Advance Wars:  Days of Ruin, but leads into how the translation/localization comes about, including a discussion on how localizing Kirby, Fire Emblem, and Animal Crossing occurred.  This might explain why we get such delays AND why Europe gets extensive delays (btw, I've read that Europe and NA do their own translations even if they share the same language):  http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_i … tory=17079

Like British and American English you mean? I think the difference between those is actually too often understated, resulting in things like the recent Super Paper Mario recall in the UK. Doing different translations from the beginning keeps the result in the correct cultural context.

Wasn't it Mario Party 8, not SPM?

You're right. SPM had a freeze bug forcing the recall...

Interesting, its very fascinating to read about Nintendo's localisations, since I too have always though they were top-of-the-line.  That said though, I've been moving into the purist ('nothing should be changed') crowd over the past few years, which has led me to import more and buy domestic much less.  But, I still have a great deal of respect for the Treehouse!