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Square Enix sends cease and desist letter to FF Type 0 translation group

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Axass

Member
This reminds me of when Sega had ALL SHINING-ANYTHING (and some not even) videos removed from Youtube.

Don't worry, Suare Enix has got you covered. They removed all traces of the Fabula Nova Crystallis lore video from Youtube, the one that explains what the fuck is going on in FFXIII and sequels (EDIT: I checked and it's been back ever since February, though it wasn't there for a long time). You basically have to watch it to understand what's going on behind the scenes of the games, because the games are so bad that they fail at explaining you the basics of the world, yet they didn't put it in the games themselves (as far as I'm aware) and removed it from Youtube for copyright infringment.

They're crazy.
 
Square's not even in the same ballpark of horrible that Konami resides in.

Without Crystal Dynamics propping up their name outside Japan, what are you left with?

Diminishing fan base
Tarnished brands
Confusing messaging to the consumer
Out of touch with reality decision making
Ports of 10+ yr old games (good games mind you)
Mobile trash
One great game every couple years.

Sounds like Konami to me.
 

ArtHands

Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
XSEED buys fan translations, Square gets 'em pulled.

It seems to me that XSEED doesn't have the resources to create a translation from scratch, while Square goes the route of doing it themselves to present the game in the way they intend it to.
 

sublimit

Banned
Without Crystal Dynamics propping up their name outside Japan, what are you left with?

Diminishing fan base
Tarnished brands
Confusing messaging to the consumer
Out of touch with reality decision making
Ports of 10+ yr old games (good games mind you)
Mobile trash
One great game every couple years.

Sounds like Konami to me.

If Crystal Dynamics is supposed to be the "best" they have then they are finished lol
 

_Ryo_

Member
This is stupid. A fan translation gives consumers incentive to import the game, thus putting money in SE Japan's pocket. It saves them money from having to actually go and recode and rerelease the game as another release and avoids all legal responsibility from VA conflicts.

But no, people doing work for them couldn't possibly help.
 
Well because of this I now know there is a next gen port coming.

It started in the PS2 era when their talent started to fall away. I would put them in the same category as Konami in today's world.

Pretty sad, really.
At least Square-Enix release Taito IPs while Konami leaves Hudson stuff in room 101.
 

Goron2000

best junior ever
They have the game coming out on consoles, this patch could lose them customers. I think they have every right to send a cease and desist, even if it is a little late.
 

Perfo

Thirteen flew over the cuckoo's nest
A bit late but I guess just natural with the incoming official translation. I can't wait to play the game.
 
SE gonna SE.

At least there's solace that the fan translation is in the wild already. Imagine if was canceled right before it was finished like Tales of Graces Wii (though that was a conscious decision by the translation team)
 

JoJoSono

Banned
Without Crystal Dynamics propping up their name outside Japan, what are you left with?

Diminishing fan base
Tarnished brands
Confusing messaging to the consumer
Out of touch with reality decision making
Ports of 10+ yr old games (good games mind you)
Mobile trash
One great game every couple years.

Sounds like Konami to me.
Mobile trash? SE actually publishes good original and solid ports on mobile. It's not all trash.

You may not like FFXIII, but you don't speak for everyone. At least the sequels showed they're open to fan feedback. Many of thier choices have shown they actually care about what thier fan base wants.

Games like FFXIV, Lighting Returns, and Bravely Default at least show there's some talent still left.

At least when Square does port things they actually aren't shit.

At least Square seems to have games going on. Lets be honest the only thing people care about for Konami is MGS. People are still going to care about KH3. People will care about 15 and since it's something completely different and new it actually has a chance to even further correct the boat.
 

MagiusNecros

Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
What I'm wondering is why they didn't send one while the translation was being worked on. It kinda defeats the point to send one out after it's completion?
 

Perfo

Thirteen flew over the cuckoo's nest
What I'm wondering is why they didn't send one while the translation was being worked on. It kinda defeats the point to send one out after it's completion?

I would not be surprised if they didn't know at all about its existence <.<'
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Now that I think about it, this probably has as much to do with the fact the fan translation includes a lot of the game's files as anything else. It is basically copyright infringement to a much greater degree than most translation projects. Aeana even said at one point not to link the download on GAF due to this.

So I guess I'm not surprised, and wonder if things would be different if the patch worked differently.

As for why it wasn't done immediately after its release, that is probably due to red tape.
 

Elios83

Member
That's pretty much shameful but honestly it was to be expected that they'd fight against whatever could harm sales of their officially localized games.
In this case they really come out as a terrible company considering they were the ones who didn't care about their own game and their fans for so many years in first place.
Also playing a remastered PS4/XB1 version should be enough reason to play it over a patched PSP version if you have those consoles.
 

wrowa

Member
Well, I can understand that SE would want to take down the patch after the announcement of the new title (even though I think it's a misguided decision, since games like Danganronpa oder Ys Oath didn't seem to be hurt from the availability of a patch - and due to the jump from handheld to console the new Type-0 probably speaks to a different target audience, anyway) and maybe, just maybe, SE have actually taken the friendlier route here.

If SE decided three months ago to port Type-0 to PS4 and Xbox One, would that have been a better time for a C&D? So that the fan translators would have put a lot of work into the project, without ever being able to release it? That it was available for at least a month COULD be interpreted as kind of a subtle nice gesture. "We'll send a C&D but we're making sure that most people interested in the patch had the chance to download it." So, I'm trying to give SE the benefit of a doubt here.

However, this part of Sky's statement worries me deeply:

"I hope you understand, and as always I appreciate your support (that I might need more than ever in the near future). Thank you very much"

He needs our support more than ever? A C&D is normally a pretty clear-cut story, so why would he need support for that? SE isn't actually trying to sue him for damages, right? :/
 

Resilient

Member
Can someone explain to me why it's bad that the company who made the game and is bringing the official English version to stores is evil for not wanting an unofficial English version potentially cutting into the sales of their product? Thanks.
 
Piracy on PSP was as bad as on other piratable systems, so I still don't know why people keep saying this.
Although it would be difficult to prove, I believe that the PSP suffered from piracy far worse than any system before it for a couple of reasons. First, the PSP was pretty easy to jailbreak relatively early on, and it required no purchase of additional hardware to do so. Over time it became so easy to load CFW on a PSP that all you have to do is copy a couple files on your memory stick and run one of them. No other console has ever had such a low barrier to piracy. Also, the hardware continued to sell fairly well in the West after three or four years but the game sales were pretty much abysmal. MGS Peacewalker sold something like 60,000 copies the first few weeks after release in North America, but when I checked Pirate Bay three or four weeks after it came out, the English version ROM torrent had more than 2,000,000 downloads... Anecdotal, admittedly, but I would argue that it is telling as well.

Can someone explain to me why it's bad that the company who made the game and is bringing the official English version to stores is evil for not wanting an unofficial English version potentially cutting into the sales of their product? Thanks.
It's not evil, it's stupid. In a connected world where corporate reputation is so dependant on optics, kicking your hardcore fans in the teeth with no possible benefit to your company is a really myopic decision.
 
It's a bit late for this. But I'm surprised the patch wasn't voluntary pulled after a localization was announced, the classier fan translation groups will often do that.

Can someone explain to me why it's bad that the company who made the game and is bringing the official English version to stores is evil for not wanting an unofficial English version potentially cutting into the sales of their product? Thanks.
It's not wrong, it's just bad timing. They're doing it too late for it to matter.
 

Chunky

Member
Yeah I'm curious as to what percentage of the people who downloaded the patch had legitimately purchased the game. I'm assuming not that much but &#9488;(´&#12540;&#65344;)&#9484;

A lot of people might just pirate the PSP game and download the fan translation patch rather than purchase the upcoming western release. There's some point to the C&D I guess.

It's hardly fair to expect your fans to wait more than three years for a game, wallets at the ready. I'm not condoning piracy, but they needed to get their finger out of their arse far sooner than this.

This doesn't even seem like a good a business decision frankly. Type 0 is a niche product and niche products conduct your most ardent fans. It should've been immediately obvious that cancelling a released fan-translation is going to do fuck all to stop it's availability and is in fact only going to piss off the fans you need the most.

Surely, over the three fucking years they spent doing jack shit about this game, it was someone's job to google "type 0 fan translation". They've certainly lost a sale out of me (whenever it is this game eventually comes out)
 

JoJoSono

Banned
In this case they really come out as a terrible company considering they were the ones who didn't care about their own game and their fans for so many years in first place.
They cared so little about thier fans that they released much of of thier PSP games in the US. Even the extremely niche strategy one that had no business being released here. Not only that, but they actually gave it a stellar localization. The fans cared so much that they did'nt buy the games and then all of sudden cried foul play when they did'nt release the last big PSP game in America, you know the place where the PSP was dead and didn't buy thier other PSP games.
 

Resilient

Member
It's hardly fair to expect your fans to wait more than three years for a game, wallets at the ready. I'm not condoning piracy, but they needed to get their finger out of their arse far sooner than this.

This doesn't even seem like a good a business decision frankly. Type 0 is a niche product and niche products conduct your most ardent fans. It should've been immediately obvious that cancelling a released fan-translation is going to do fuck all to stop it's availability and is in fact only going to piss off the fans you need the most.

Surely, over the three fucking years they spent doing jack shit about this game, it was someone's job to google "type 0 fan translation". They've certainly lost a sale out of me (whenever it is this game eventually comes out)

The hyperbole is real. You're getting upset because a fan project got pulled. SE weren't denying English territories Type 0 for fun. Te fan patch and the legit game can't co-exist. What the hell did you want Square to do? It's seriously bullshit that people are so up in arms about this. They don't make games for the fun of it. It's a business. People's jobs and livelihood depend on these products. You can't just let every fan project fun free when it will compete with your product...
 

Resilient

Member
They cared so little about thier fans that they released much of of thier PSP games in the US. Even the extremely niche strategy one that had no business being released here. Not only that, but they actually gave it a stellar localization. The fans cared so much that they did'nt buy the games and then all of sudden cried foul play when they did'nt release the last big PSP game in America, you know the place where the PSP was dead and didn't buy thier other PSP games.

Come on now, is it too unreasonable to ask SE to release a game that wasn't going to make any money? Think about the hardcore fans man!
 

wrowa

Member
Can someone explain to me why it's bad that the company who made the game and is bringing the official English version to stores is evil for not wanting an unofficial English version potentially cutting into the sales of their product? Thanks.

The people that have created the patch and the people that are using it are your most hardcore fans, you usually don't want to piss in their faces, just because they've shown the ambitions to translate a game you sat on for 3 years on their own. It can be understood as a huge "fuck you".

How much the patch would actually hurt Type-0 HD's sales is another topic altogether, even. The fan-translation was released for a 10 year-old handheld next to no one wants to play games on anymore, the new version is announced for a shiny new generation of consoles. The game's not only jumping from handheld to console, it's also from jumping from one generation to the next. Type-0 HD is going to get significantly more attention due to that alone and it's doubtful that the few people playing a translation would hurt your bottomline all that much (especially so, since - once again - it's your hardcore fans playing that kind of stuff. If they like it, they are likely to also pick up the HD version anyway).

There are quite a few cases where fan-translations and official translations co-exist. There are even cases where a company releases a fan-translation officially - that happened with the Ys games on Steam. And guess what? Despite those fan patches being available for YEARS, the Steam releases are still among XSEED's most successful games.
 

Bluth54

Member
A C&D on a fan translation that's already been released? Silly Square Enix, there are no take backs on the Internet.
 
I guess it's an understandable move by SE, since they're going to be bringing Type-0 to the West and translating it themselves now.
Even so, this translation project has been going on for a very long time and fans have worked really hard on it, and it's only now: years after the JP release of Type-0, that SE decides to acknowledge the existence of the translation project and immediately takes legal action against the people who worked on it.

That's one hell of a dick move. Stay classy, SE.
 

JoJoSono

Banned
Which can't play PS4 and XBONE games, my case stands.

It really doesn't. It's obviously a small scale since there's a barrier to play the translation, but it's pretty silly to think that it can't possibly impact sales.

Do you play games more then once? Maybe, but probably not every one.

Do those HD remakes of titles sell as well as the originals? Nope. Why? Because some people don't want to go back and play/spend money on a game they've already played. No matter if it's enhanced.

There's probably quite a few of those who have played or will play the PSP fan translation who will say "eh I already played it" when the PS4/XBONE version comes out.
 

Resilient

Member
The people that have created the patch and the people that are using it are your most hardcore fans, you usually don't want to piss in their faces, just because they've shown the ambitions to translate a game you sat on for 3 years on their own. It can be understood as a huge "fuck you".

How much the patch would actually hurt Type-0 HD's sales is another topic altogether, even. The fan-translation was released for a 10 year-old handheld next to no one wants to play games on anymore, the new version is announced for a shiny new generation of consoles. The game's not only jumping from handheld to console, it's also from jumping from one generation to the next. Type-0 HD is going to get significantly more attention due to that alone and it's doubtful that the few people playing a translation would hurt your bottomline all that much (especially so, since - once again - it's your hardcore fans playing that kind of stuff. If they like it, they are likely to also pick up the HD version anyway).

There are quite a few cases where fan-translations and official cases co-exist. There are even cases where a company releases a fan-translation officially - that happened with the Ys games on Steam. And guess what? Despite those fan patches being available for YEARS, the Steam releases are still among XSEED's most successful games.

That's good for XSEED. Really. But any potential to cut into sales for THEIR product should be removed. It's their product. I really don't care about the most hardcore of fans because they knew what was potentially going to happen. And then it happened. I mean come on, without these sorts of practices in place all sorts of bullshit is open to happening.

And like the other dude said. Squares PSP offerings sold like shit in the West. Why on Earth would they release an English version realistically?
 

DigitalDevilSummoner

zero cognitive reasoning abilities
The hyperbole is real. You're getting upset because a fan project got pulled. SE weren't denying English territories Type 0 for fun. Te fan patch and the legit game can't co-exist. What the hell did you want Square to do? It's seriously bullshit that people are so up in arms about this. They don't make games for the fun of it. It's a business. People's jobs and livelihood depend on these products. You can't just let every fan project fun free when it will compete with your product...

Even if they considered a western Vita or PSP version to be a lost cause, they could have released it on the PS3. Instead they opted to keep a critically and commercially acclaimed game away from fans for years.
I think the PS4 port is a knee jerk reaction to the fan-translation, considering the timing and how little (nothing) they actually showed us.

Which can't play PS4 and XBONE games, my case stands.

It only stands if they manage to truly dazzle us with the PS4 treatment of a PSP title. Port it on a new engine and then we're talking !
 

MagiusNecros

Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
Well I guess we have to wait for Sky's next blog post. If they go for a remove and delete all data/info in relation to the project move then it should be acceptable but Sky's last statement either means there are more stipulations or he is preparing for the worst.
 
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