[dakkumauji]

More news from inspchin's twitter (the only source for TecmoKoei news in the west)

“@DarkMasamune87: @inspchin will it be disc or psn download though?” - EU- discs; US- digital download (PS3 version). #DW7Empires #KensRage2

#WO3Hyper (Wii U) and #DW7Empires (PS3) will have Japanese dubs with English subs. #KensRage2 will have Japanese dubs with EN, FR, IT subs.

We're still finalizing the release dates for #KensRage2 and #DW7Empires - one might be at the beginning, another might be at the end of Feb.

So basically, the three upcoming musou games Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper for the WiiU, Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires for the PS3 and Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2 for the PS3, 360 and WiiU will be subbed only.

Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires and Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2 will only be digital downloads on the PS3 while Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2 will get disc releases on the 360 and WiiU.

Of course in Europe, everything gets disc release!

There's also a hint about their release dates in when in February, either at the start or near the end.

[Dragonzord]

Yep. Koei too cheap to ship boxes or add voices anymore

They still haven't said why Yakuza can get away with no dubs and they can't.

[Loudninja]

So yeah I bet DW8 is going to be the same way.

How annoying.

[Mrbob]

Curious it is digital only on PS3 in NA while 360 and Wii U get boxed copies. Does it have to do with minimum copies pressed on PS3?

[Takao]

Yep. Koei too cheap to ship boxes or add voices anymore They still haven't said why Yakuza can get away with no dubs and they can't.

Preferential treatment because Yakuza is an exclusive series?

Curious it is digital only on PS3 while 360 and Wii U get boxed copies. Does it have to do with minimum copies pressed on PS3?

No. Microsoft is the one with minimum print runs demanded.

[jooey]

So yeah I bet DW8 is going to be the same way. How annoying.

Can you blame them?

[Dragonzord]

Preferential treatment because Yakuza is an exclusive series?

One Piece was exclusive. And Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires is exclusive.

Curious it is digital only on PS3 in NA while 360 and Wii U get boxed copies. Does it have to do with minimum copies pressed on PS3?

Koei claims SCEA won't let them release a box if it's not got English dubs. There IS a box for One Piece in Europe and Japan but not the US.

[FrostuTheNinja]

I wonder if the Wii U versions will run better.

Hmmm...

[Gravijah]

not having a dub is stupid as hell.

it's annoying in Yakuza, too, because they're too lazy to sub voices in minigames, some flavor voices around town, etc.

[Takao]

One Piece was exclusive. And Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires is exclusive.

One Piece, and Dynasty Warriors are not exclusive IPs though. There has never been a Yakuza game on non-Sony hardware.

not having a dub is stupid as hell.

If sales are not high enough to justify a dub a sub-only localization is better than no localization.

[Mrbob]

Strange. Maybe Sony is the only one which will let Koei release digital only ?

Also, I have no problem with sub only. The dubs in all musou games are terrible!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFA08BJUtPo

[lunchwithyuzo]

Can you blame them?

I don't blame Koei for getting SCEAed.

[Seraphis Cain]

This is getting pretty infuriating. =/

[Gravijah]

If sales are not high enough to justify a dub a sub-only localization is better than no localization.

does Dynasty Warriors really sell that much less than series like Hyperdimension, Atelier, etc?

[sega4ever]

do the dynasty warriors gundam games still remove the various series background music from versions outside of japan?

[Seraphis Cain]

do the dynasty warriors gundam games still remove the various series background music from versions outside of japan?

Yep.

[geebee]

not having a dub is stupid as hell. it's annoying in Yakuza, too, because they're too lazy to sub voices in minigames, some flavor voices around town, etc.

I prefer playing games and watching movies in the original language rather than suffering through a half-assed dub.

[wienke]

Still buying DW7:E but it is a little disappointing since I already have DW7:XL and DW7 (along with Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3).

[Dragonzord]

I prefer playing games and watching movies in the original language rather than a half-assed dub.

Too bad not all dubs are half-assed.

[Gravijah]

I prefer playing games and watching movies in the original language rather than a half-assed dub.

i would complain less if all voices were translated. which they generally aren't.

[SykoTech]

I really hope this "no dub" trend isn't still going on by the time One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 hits. I want a Funimation dub this time and....oh who am I kidding. :/

[Takao]

does Dynasty Warriors really sell that much less than series like Hyperdimension, Atelier, etc?

That's a question I don't have the answer to.

[Zoe]

Koei claims SCEA won't let them release a box if it's not got English dubs. There IS a box for One Piece in Europe and Japan but not the US.

That must be the reason because I have trouble believing that these would perform stronger on the 360 if all was equal.

[Dragonzord]

That's a question I don't have the answer to.

Considering Koei, as a a publisher, is basically able to stand on its own solely because of DW and to a lesser extent ROTTK, I guarantee you it destroys stuff like that. Musou games are very big in Asia. Not DQ or MH big but there's a reason they make so many.

[Shadow780]

I only want dubs of this quality

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFOeZv4BDVk

Anything better than that donotwant.

[Kagari]

One Piece was exclusive. And Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires is exclusive. Koei claims SCEA won't let them release a box if it's not got English dubs. There IS a box for One Piece in Europe and Japan but not the US.

Which is strange as SCEA has lifted that policy for other publishers such as Sega and Aksys.

[Atolm]

So you guys over there considere yourselves lucky because you're getting disc releases for the Atelier series lol.

I doubt Ken's Rage 2 or DW sell worse than the Atelier games.

[Eusis]

Which is strange as SCEA has lifted that policy for other publishers such as Sega and Aksys.

I wonder if it's because they put forth better arguments? Aksys is smaller and is a bit more geared towards physical goods, and Yakuza's very plausibly an "art" thing, but Koei and Musou don't quite have those defenses, certainly not after the Tecmo merger.

Guess everyone has to have their frustrating policies though. Guess they can balance each other out for a year or two at least, especially with Steam thrown into the mix.

[Esura]

How convenient, this will save me some money. Not buying digital only games that got physical copies in other countries.

[ohlawd]

Here's hoping DW8 comes out here with English voices.

[ezekial45]

Have the DW/Musou games of recent years sold poorly in the west? I always knew they had a niche, but this just seems like they don't want to waste costs on full localization and manufacturing.

[inner-G]

I'm not buying any more of these digital-only 'retail' games.

I'll import when they are on sale, or the publisher can just not get money from me.

[CamHostage]

So yeah I bet DW8 is going to be the same way.

I doubt it. Market saturation with this franchise is an issue, but a mainline Dynasty Warriors is very different from an Empires release or an Orochi release or especially a One-Piece / FotNS release. They COULD be getting there, but DW6 and DW7 have sat in that same sales performance zone and there's no reason to expect DW8 to snip the parachute strings.

If sales are not high enough to justify a dub a sub-only localization is better than no localization.

And preferable even, to some people. When you have games like Yakuza or certain Musou games where the story context suggests a certain language (or in the case of anime-based titles like Fist of the North Star, where its fanbase is accustomed to experiencing the franchise in its original language,) it is not inappropriate to use non-english language tracks. Moreover, the seiyuu business in Japan is a high-quality-oriented operation and some of these performances end up being the best of what's recorded for a role (I'm not going to use the confused weeaboo claim that all Japanese VO actors are better than all American VOs, but it certainly happens a percentage of the time) and since game companies rarely offer the option, better for those who are OK with subtitles to get the best performance rather than the one that is in their language.

And the main thing is, there are some untranslated products that frustrate me (the PSN releases of the Mega Man Archives are foolishly untranslated, meaning I have a hard time recommending these to friends even though they're playable if you're used to imports,) but I'm exponentially more frustrated by the games I NEVER get to play versus the games I get to play in a way that's not 100% the way I'd like. Ken's Rage 2 felt like a lost cause to me, same with Tokyo Jungle and possibly JoJo's ASB. Releasing games digitally and with some acceptable compromises means they're out ... and being a PSP fan, I know I would much rather have games to buy than games I was stuck wishing for forever.

[Takao]

Considering Koei, as a a publisher, is basically able to stand on its own solely because of DW and to a lesser extent ROTTK, I guarantee you it destroys stuff like that. Musou games are very big in Asia. Not DQ or MH big but there's a reason they make so many.

I meant in North America. Koei actually owns one of the companies who made a game in that list by Gravijah.

[The Grim Heaper]

So frustrating. I reluctantly bought One Piece to support it in America and it's the first(and last time) I'll buy a retail game of that size digitally. At least Ken's Rage 2 will have a 360 disc release.

[drkOne]

How convenient, this will save me some money. Not buying digital only games that got physical copies in other countries.

This is none of my business. But unless you mean "not buying digital, because I wanted retail", I don't get why you wouldn't buy the digital copy, just because someone else is getting retail copies.

[A.E Suggs]

Now that I think about it will the Warriors Orochi 3 for the wiiU be dubbed? I think with nintendo at the helm I think they would want the game dubbed.

[Celine]

#KensRage2 will have Japanese dubs with EN, FR, IT subs.

ah ah ah one of the rare case where italian is a priority.

[FallingEdge]

Will scoop 360 HNK. First one was a blast and can't wait to play part two.

[kiryogi]

Now that I think about it will the Warriors Orochi 3 for the wiiU be dubbed? I think with nintendo at the helm I think they would want the game dubbed.

Twitter said it'd sub only

[Samurai_Heart]

Now that I think about it will the Warriors Orochi 3 for the wiiU be dubbed? I think with nintendo at the helm I think they would want the game dubbed.

Twitter said it'd sub only

They did that for Samurai Warriors Chronicles of the 3DS, so I think Nintendo is lax about dub/subs.
Now if only Koei released Samurai Chronicles 2 out of Japan but with Koei and how they are now more then likely not =/.

[Mzo]

Guess I'll keep importing from EU like with One Piece.

I don't care about dubs, stupid SCEA >=[

[CamHostage]

So you guys over there considere yourselves lucky because you're getting disc releases for the Atelier series lol.

You may scoff at those considering themselves lucky to be given these games for purchase at all, but even if you don't have an understanding of the business (and many people do) and feel comfortable factoring market value into how much value to expect out of a game purchase, but some of these people have lots of experience being on the other side of luck. Fans should petition for what they want and vote with their dollars if they have a strong stance on a market trend, but in general, a bird in the hand is worth two in Japan-only...

[Chacranajxy]

I wa shock that people even want dubbed Hokuto no Ken anyway.

[Aostia]

I wa shock that people even want dubbed Hokuto no Ken anyway.

this, I bought the first one in Japanese version :o

Btw, I'll buy Hokuto disc, being in PAL (probably on Wii U, but I still don't know)

[Sqorgar]

Looks like Wii U will be my Musou console of choice now, and I'll be importing DW7E from Europe (as I did One Piece). Since One Piece was actually a little bit cheaper to import from the UK than buying digital in the US, the only real consequence was the month long shipping time.

This is really frustrating. I'm all for sub-only releases because I'm hoping that it will become more acceptable in the West, leading to more niche releases with a shorter localization period. But SCEA just will not support it. If the customers won't support it, that's one thing - but for the most part, the players don't care or even prefer it to be sub-only. I don't like SCEA telling companies what they can't release and customers what they can't own.

[Esura]

This is none of my business. But unless you mean "not buying digital, because I wanted retail", I don't get why you wouldn't buy the digital copy, just because someone else is getting retail copies.

Because I don't like buying digital copies of games as is and it seems worse when a company release a digital only copy of a retail game in another region. Not really hard to understand.

I wa shock that people even want dubbed Hokuto no Ken anyway.

My first exposure to Fist of the North Star years ago was dubbed. I'm used to it dubbed.

[lunchwithyuzo]

Now that I think about it will the Warriors Orochi 3 for the wiiU be dubbed? I think with nintendo at the helm I think they would want the game dubbed.

Nintendo doesn't give a shit. So long as you pass lotcheck and come in under an Adult ESRB/PEGI rating, you can publish whatever you want.

[BlackIronCount]

I prefer sub only rather than dub only on my japanese game, so no dub is a good thing rather than english only release.

but no retail release is shit.

and SCEA also a shit

Tecmo Koei handling Atelier Ayesha release in europe, if they also handle the US release I hope to god this same digital only shit wouldn't happen!

so far most retail release in SCEA territory with japanese only voice are mostly exclusive PS3/PSP game, with the exception of Agarest Zero (assuming they only allow retail release of exclusive game with japan only voice then aksys probably allowed because the next entry (Agarest 2) is PS3 exclusive)

[CamHostage]

Koei claims SCEA won't let them release a box if it's not got English dubs. There IS a box for One Piece in Europe and Japan but not the US.

Which is strange as SCEA has lifted that policy for other publishers such as Sega and Aksys.

That, if true, I have a huge problem with (as I think we all should.) I understand that Sony is trying to regulate its market and "protect" customers from underproduced games or "protect" retailers from overstock supplies, but just as in the "No 2D" days, we need to educate SCEA QA as soon as possible that subtitled releases are a legitimate product approach, same as it is on DVDs and any other media form.

(I'm not sure where the discrepancy comes in, though, where SEGA and Aksys have put out sub-only products but Koei claims they're not allowed? There must be some other SCEA stipulation that's not being communicated to the public... or to Koei, for that matter.)