How were P4 Arena and SMT IV marketed considering their WW/close to WW releases? I don't remember.
Good question, I hadn't actually thought of that. For P4A (which is a bit weird since that was an arcade game first):
1. [Japan] P4A console release announced on August 31, 2011 (for Summer 2012).
2. [NA] P4A console release announced on February 21, 2012 (for Summer 2012).
3. [Japan] P4A console release date announced on April 18, 2012.
4. [NA] P4A console release date announced on June 5, 2012.
Marketing for the console versions for both regions pretty much kicked off when the console release date was set, so April in Japan and at E3 for North America. I suppose that's about a 2-month delay, to then have the games release at around the same time.
I'd have to look into SMT IV; I guess I'll edit this post with a similar timeline.
1. [Japan] Game release announced on May 30, 2012.
2. [Japan] Release date set for May 23, 2012 on February 19, 2013.
3. [NA} Game release announced for Summer 2013 on April 2, 2013.
4. [NA] Release date set for July 16 on April 17, 2013.
Marketing really started in March 2013 in Japan, and in May 2013 for the English version, so a couple of weeks after the release dates were set. The discrepancy between information releases matched the release date difference.