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Yakuza 5 |HOPE for Western Release?| Can we make some noise?

V

Videoneon

Member
Atolm said:
Maybe Sony could localise Ishin since after all they could release it as a PS4 exclusive in the West. But 5 doesn't have any sense or usefulness for them.
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Well, consider this. Persona 5 is coming out in Winter 2014 right? Imagine when that's supposed to come West. Spring or Summer 2015, and that's a VERY generous prediction. And of course, Persona 5 is being ddeveloped for PS3, and Atlus is now under Sega.

Aeneas said:
Pleasing fans might be reason enough? I remember reading an interview where they mentioned they were creating a team that could work with publishers to help localise games.. something about pleasing small pockets of fans or something? Maybe it was just a dream I had.
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You're thinking of this interview, you're not mistaken

http://kotaku.com/sonys-giant-list-of-video-games-1463345943
 
D

dubq

Member
Edit: I didn't see there was a thread on this already. I'm subscribed to this thread, though, so I figured it should be updated. :p

http://gematsu.com/2014/02/rumor-atlus-localize-yakuza-5

Rumor: Atlus to localize Yakuza 5

Still hope for Yakuza's fifth in the west?

February 2, 2014 / 10:45 AM EST / Sal Romano (@salromano)


Atlus might be localizing Yakuza 5 for release in North America, according to the latest issue of EGM.

“The House That Demon Schlong Mara Built is far from dead and looks to keep on churning out great localizations,” the magazine’s Q-Mann wrote in its latest rumor mill. “In fact, the Q-Gangzsta even has this exclusive tidbit: Don’t rule out Yakuza 5 coming to America under the Atlus banner. After some high-rollin’ escapades in the Tokyo underworld during my many TGS trips over the years, the Q is ready for the rest of you to relive some of his thuggin’ and buggin’!”

If true, this shouldn’t come as a complete surprise. Sega recently purchased Atlus’ parent company Index, and Atlus generally localizes even the most niche titles.

Yakuza 5 first launched for PlayStation 3 in Japan in December 2012. It is the second latest Yakuza title, with the newest release being this month’s Yakuza: Ishin for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3.
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F

Freddo

Member
Some guys decided they gonna try to send letters to SEGA to convince them there is a western demand for the game.
Our goal is to send at least 1,000 unique letters to SEGA's main office in America on or around the "Day of the Dragon", 8/8/2014.

Taking part in this campaign is EASY. Just have something ready to mail to the following address the week of 8/8/2014:

SEGA of America, Inc.
350 Rhode Island Street
Suite 400
San Francisco, CA 94103
USA

Your letter can be anything you want. Keep it simple or let loose, your choice. The important thing is to send something in to let SEGA know you still want more of this series!

This is an M-Rated, niche title. The Yakuza series really needs YOUR help to continue. Please take a few minutes out of your day and show some meaningful support.

If you'd also like to mail letters to the Japan or London offices, those addresses follow:

Japan:

SEGA Corporate
1-2-12 Haneda
Ohta-ku
Tokyo 144-8531
Japan

London:

SEGA Europe Ltd.
27 Great West Road
Brentford
Middlesex
TW8 9BW
United Kingdom
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S

stump sock

Member
I've said it before in these threads, but even if they're unwilling to put the money into actually localizing the game itself, I'd settle for a printed (or digital) translation. For the Chinese release, they printed the entire script as a supplement in Chinese.

The guides that are out there are pretty good as far as actually playing the game but none of them really properly address the story, which seems like it gets relatively nuanced.

As for the game itself, it can relatively easily and inexpensively be imported, so for the small, but dedicated fanbase, a compromise like a translated script would probably suffice. I mean you're already playing the most japanese-ass japanese game possible, jumping through a few more hoops isn't the end of the world if it has to be done.

Hell, give me a digital version of the Japanese script that I can try to make sense of via crummy translators and JPN101-level knowledge...
 
S

stump sock

Member
Klart said:
SEGA, just put English subtitles on it & fling it on PSN.

Minimum effort.
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1384471756356.jpg
 
S

Saphirax

Member
Klart said:
SEGA, just put English subtitles on it & fling it on PSN.

Minimum effort.

Profits guaranteed.
Click to expand...

Except it's not minimum effort. Yakuza games aren't games that have very little text. It's concerning how a lot of people think translating these games is easy. It's a big and costly undertaking with a lot of risk involved since the previous Yakuza games haven't sold all that well.

I'd like to get a localisation as much as any of you, but people need to be realistic about these things.
 
M

Mr-Joker

Banned
Klart said:
SEGA, just put English subtitles on it & fling it on PSN.

Minimum effort.

Profits guaranteed.
Click to expand...

Localizing game is time consuming and expensive, especially when you factor paying license for Japanese voices for a game that simply doesn't sell well.

It's much cheaper and less risky to fund a crappy Sonic Toon game instead of localizing Yakuza 5.
 
N

Noisepurge

Member
Saphirax said:
Except it's not minimum effort. Yakuza games aren't games that have very little text. It's concerning how a lot of people think translating these games is easy. It's a big and costly undertaking with a lot of risk involved since the previous Yakuza games haven't sold all that well.

I'd like to get a localisation as much as any of you, but people need to be realistic about these things.
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he means it's the minimum effort required to get these games here. Not dubbing it, not doing the retail chain thing, not printing any products... sure it's still going to cost money and take effort. But the minimum of said effort is what we would be very satisfied with.
 
G

gelf

Member
I'd hazard a guess that translation costs are the only reason we haven't got the game and why they where always hesitant with previous versions. The series never sold enough to justify it
:(

Sega's not a charity, people need to stop assuming these things are cheap and easy to do.
 
S

Saphirax

Member
Noisepurge said:
he means it's the minimum effort required to get these games here. Not dubbing it, not doing the retail chain thing, not printing any products... sure it's still going to cost money and take effort. But the minimum of said effort is what we would be very satisfied with.
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Unfortunately even that wouldn't guarantee a profit. Even so, it doesn't stop me from secretly having my fingers crossed that Sega will find a profitable way to bring the games (or even one of them) over.
 
S

ShockingAlberto

Member
Noisepurge said:
he means it's the minimum effort required to get these games here. Not dubbing it, not doing the retail chain thing, not printing any products... sure it's still going to cost money and take effort. But the minimum of said effort is what we would be very satisfied with.
Click to expand...

So let me state for the record I really want Yakuza 5 and think Sega should bring it over.

That said, when people suggest "Just make it digital," the fear in publishers' minds is that digital games don't sell super well. The assumption people are making is that Yakuza 5 would sell the same amount as 4 or 3 if it were available on PSN, but Sega is looking at the industry standard of digital sales being 10 - 15% of retail sales. Give it a bump for the game not being available elsewhere and a fraction of what Yakuza 4 sold is probably not quickly convincing them to bring those titles over.
 
M

Mr-Joker

Banned
Noisepurge said:
he means it's the minimum effort required to get these games here. Not dubbing it, not doing the retail chain thing, not printing any products... sure it's still going to cost money and take effort. But the minimum of said effort is what we would be very satisfied with.
Click to expand...

It would require the development team to make the changes and they seem to be busy making the next game in the series.

We are just going to accepted it that Yakuza 5 isn't getting a western release and that the series died in the west with Yakuza Dead Souls.

If you want to play Yakuza 5 and other games in the series, you better to learn Japanese and just import the game.
 
S

SpikedGunner

Member
Noisepurge said:
he means it's the minimum effort required to get these games here. Not dubbing it, not doing the retail chain thing, not printing any products... sure it's still going to cost money and take effort. But the minimum of said effort is what we would be very satisfied with.
Click to expand...

Besides the translation and localization effort of text alone, they also have to pay fees for any use of licenses which includes actors and products featured in the game. Otherwise, it would take resources to change it, which isn't favorable either.

I really would like Yakuza 5 to be brought over, but yea, it has a lot of hurdles to overcome and considering the past sales of the series, it's easy to see why SEGA isn't willing or at the very least hesitant to bring it to the West.
 
Laws00

Laws00

Member
sega i dont know what youre doing this console generation but can you stop please and put out videogames please
 
H

Hibiki Rush

Neo Member
For every person that says to make something digital, there are 5 more that will bitch about there not being a physical version. Nobody knows what they want.

It won't happen. Sega is done taking risks. Look at their commitment to mobile.
 
G

gelf

Member
gelf said:
I'd hazard a guess that translation costs are the only reason we haven't got the game and why they where always hesitant with previous versions. The series never sold enough to justify it
:(

Sega's not a charity, people need to stop assuming these things are cheap and easy to do.
Click to expand...

Never been happier to be wrong :D

I'm surprised its happening. I still fear it won't sell but at least I'll get to play another installment.
 
Acquiescence

Acquiescence

Member
I feel all warm and fuzzy inside that, after all this time convincing ourselves it wasn't going to happen, it eventually happened. It's inspiring, and it makes me wonder what else is on the horizon for Sony's Third-Party Relations team.
 
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