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[Takao]

SHOCKING NEWS is a truthful, but cruel title so I didn't do that.

In Japan, Capcom recently released an anime-esque spin-off of their Lost Planet series, titled E.X. Troopers, released on the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation 3. A 4-player co-op shooter featuring manga-style cutscenes, E.X. Troopers was clearly aimed at the Japanese market, while Lost Planet itself is targeted primarily at the west.

E.X. Troopers exists because Lost Planet 2 failed to marry the idea of a narrative-focused game with that of a party-like multiplayer game, which is what the game’s development team was attempting to do.

“[The devteam] had kind of struggled with Lost Planet 2 a bit, because they were going in this direction of creating this multiplayer, almost festival atmosphere, including crazy amounts of content and ridiculous scenarios,” Lost Planet executive producer Kenji Ohguro shared with Siliconera earlier this year.

“Sort of Monster Hunter with guns—coming in and defeating huge creatures together—and getting away from some of the narrative strengths that were originally part of the franchise,” is how Ohguro describes Lost Planet.

Unfortunately, that didn’t quite work out as well as Capcom would have liked. Thus, E.X. Troopers was born and created specifically with the Japanese market in mind. Very specifically with the Japanese market in mind, according to Capcom USA’s Senior Vice-President, Christian Svensson.

“[E.X. Troopers] was not planned for Western release…” Svensson recently shared on the Capcom forums, when asked about a potential western release. “You can tell this because all of the text is ‘hard coded’ as actual art. The text isn’t just standard ‘text’ that could be swapped relatively easily.”

“To localize a release, one would have to redo a ton of art in the game, not just do the localization and loc QA.”

Ouch. E.X. Troopers had quite the list of interesting designers working on it, too. Resident Evil 5 director, Yasuhiro Anpo, directed E.X. Troopers. Meanwhile, Shintaro Kojima, one of the producers on the Monster Hunter team acted as producer on the game. Finally, Dai Sato, known for the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Eureka Seven anime series, worked on the story.

Unfortunately, the star-studded lineup of creative staff didn’t do E.X. Troopers much good. The game only sold around 17,400 copies on the 3DS in Japan, and even fewer on the PS3.

Read more at http://www.siliconera.com/2012/12/1...n-release-say-capcom-usa/#RwgbqGtfri91ml66.99

I realize Sven had already said something similar a while back, but this time he provides some additional commentary. You can find his comment on Capcom Unity here: http://www.capcom-unity.com/ask_cap...ions-of-mega-proportion&post_num=11#526771807

 

[ponpo]

Haven't heard much buzz of this in JP so not surprising. Doesn't look that great anyway imo.

 

[MrT-Tar]

With the games' less than great Japanese sales so far, I fail to see Capcom doing a localisation unless NoE/A were to bankroll it

 

[enzo_gt]

So for what particular or logical reason is the art not standard text and images instead?

I can't see any way in that would be beneficial or require more work to do in the process.

 

[Kyoufu]

Haven't heard much buzz of this in JP so not surprising. Doesn't look that great anyway imo.

Well it's an excellent game.

 

[chickdigger802]

how many more years before japan just builds a wall around their island(s)?

 

[ponpo]

Well it's an excellent game.

Which version do you like? Haven't seen any 3DS footage so maybe that's different, but I found it looked a little dull on the PS3.

 

[Canis lupus]

The game only sold around 17,400 copies on the 3DS in Japan, and even fewer on the PS3.

.

 

[CorySchmitz]

Tempted to import.

Demo was mega-fun.

Worried that if I import I will not be able to understand some things, and then it will get released in NA, making the import pointless.

 

[nckillthegrimace]

Oh, I guess this is the title shidoshi was talking about on the last episode of WAHP where a bizarre design decision rendered a localization extremely unlikely. Good to have that mystery solved, but shame about the game.

 

[Snowden's Secret]

I didn't care for what I played of Lost Planet but I would have given this a chance.

On the other hand, we're probably better off because after this sold 80 copies in the U.S. we'd never have a chance getting something localized again.

 

[Kyoufu]

Which version do you like? Haven't seen any 3DS footage so maybe that's different, but I found it looked a little dull on the PS3.

PS3 since it has online multiplayer.

 

[Het_Nkik]

Man, if there's still no word of localization by this time next year, I guess I'll give in and import.

 

[JustAnotherOtaku]

Haven't heard much buzz of this in JP so not surprising. Doesn't look that great anyway imo.

One of the games of the year, for me anyway. Certainly one of the most under rated. Easily playable too without knowing Japanese and Asian version is cheap so anyone who wants it (on PS3 unless they have a JP 3DS) should dive in!

 

[Kagari]

Best import if you want this one, folks.

 

[JustAnotherOtaku]

Tempted to import.

Demo was mega-fun.

Worried that if I import I will not be able to understand some things, and then it will get released in NA, making the import pointless.

You'll miss the story and that's it. It's fairly typical Shonen anime/manga fare anyway, so it's easy to put two and two together most of the time.

 

[Hot Coldman]

Best import if you want this one, folks.

I want it in English... :/

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

“You can tell this because all of the text is ‘hard coded’ as actual art. The text isn’t just standard ‘text’ that could be swapped relatively easily.”

Why would you even do that?

One thing is not planning the western release, another thing is making it several times harder in case you change your mind of there's a demand for it....

 

[lunchwithyuzo]

Smells like bullshit. I'm getting "SCEA can't get UMD games running on PSN" and "Okamiden outsold AAI" vibes here.

 

[SpaceDrake]

“[E.X. Troopers] was not planned for Western release…” Svensson recently shared on the Capcom forums, when asked about a potential western release. “You can tell this because all of the text is ‘hard coded’ as actual art. The text isn’t just standard ‘text’ that could be swapped relatively easily.”

Hahahahahah, why. Why the fuck would you do that. Ever.

Were the developers just trying to be spiteful and ensure that it would never, ever get released outside of Japan? Were they deliberately making it unlocalizable?

Unreal. Yeah, if that's true, don't ever expect this one to leave Japan, kids. Hell, that might be beyond the capabilities of most fan-translators, or it would take them forever, at least.

 

[Heart Attack]

so.. is this game any good? or is the game just overhyped because its a japanese game?

 

[JustAnotherOtaku]

so.. is this game any good? or is the game just overhyped because its a japanese game?

Did you like Lost Planet/Monster Hunter and are you okay with anime cliches? If so, it's great. If not, don't bother.

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

“[E.X. Troopers] was not planned for Western release…” Svensson recently shared on the Capcom forums, when asked about a potential western release. “You can tell this because all of the text is ‘hard coded’ as actual art. The text isn’t just standard ‘text’ that could be swapped relatively easily.”

“To localize a release, one would have to redo a ton of art in the game, not just do the localization and loc QA.”

...

Unfortunately, the star-studded lineup of creative staff didn’t do E.X. Troopers much good. The game only sold around 17,400 copies on the 3DS in Japan, and even fewer on the PS3.

Well, that backfired in a pretty Karmatic way, they locked up the possibility of a Cheap international release just to try their luck elsewhere.

 

[Noi]

Smells like bullshit. I'm getting "SCEA can't get UMD games running on PSN" and "Okamiden outsold AAI" vibes here.

I believe the reasoning for the lack of localization. It's been the reason for games not coming over or having segments cut when they ARE localized. What's mind boggling is how a developer would pretty much sabotage a game's localization chances by doing something like that in 2012. It's not like Capcom doesn't know better.

Hahahahahah, why. Why the fuck would you do that. Ever.

Were the developers just trying to be spiteful and ensure that it would never, ever get released outside of Japan? Were they deliberately making it unlocalizable?

Unreal. Yeah, if that's true, don't ever expect this one to leave Japan, kids. Hell, that might be beyond the capabilities of most fan-translators, or it would take them forever, at least.

This, pretty much.

 

[Kyoufu]

so.. is this game any good? or is the game just overhyped because its a japanese game?

What does this even mean?

 

[Zen]

Legends 3 something something would have sold better.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

“You can tell this because all of the text is ‘hard coded’ as actual art. The text isn’t just standard ‘text’ that could be swapped relatively easily.”

“To localize a release, one would have to redo a ton of art in the game, not just do the localization and loc QA.”

Come the fuck on. Why would you do something as dumb as that?

 

[Shinta]

I'm importing this one pretty soon. I already have the OST and it's fantastic.

 

[18-Volt]

This won't help 3DS' sales... 3rd party for the system is non existent right now.

 

[Berordn]

Legends 3 something something would have sold better.

Any Megaman game would have been guaranteed to sell better.

Even Star Force.

 

[Eusis]

Hahahahahah, why. Why the fuck would you do that. Ever.

Were the developers just trying to be spiteful and ensure that it would never, ever get released outside of Japan? Were they deliberately making it unlocalizable?

Unreal. Yeah, if that's true, don't ever expect this one to leave Japan, kids. Hell, that might be beyond the capabilities of most fan-translators, or it would take them forever, at least.

Yeah, that didn't sound sensible in ANY FUCKING WAY, especially by modern development standards that I'd think would make it relatively trivial to keep localization as an option. This sounds like deliberately salting the Earth at worst, profoundly absent minded at best.

Fuck it, I don't think I can care too much about this coming over if they're going to be absurdly anti-forward thinking about crap like this.

 

[lunchwithyuzo]

I believe the reasoning for the lack of localization. It's been the reason for games not coming over or having segments cut when they ARE localized. What's mind boggling is how a developer would pretty much sabotage a game's localization chances by doing something like that in 2012. It's not like Capcom doesn't know better.

Oh, I believe it happens. The issue is the source, I can't take much Sven says at face value at this point given his track record. We'll find out the truth eventually once 3DS is hacked anyway, I'm sure this'll make the shortlist for fantrans.

 

[Pie and Beans]

Creating the game and deadlocking it to just one region through asset creation is incredibly short sighted, especially since it bomba'd. I just dont understand what the fuck is even going on at Capcom these days. It is a total fucking disaster zone. Kamiya, Inaba, and Mikami must read this sorta thing on the internet and just laugh until tears come out since their titles are normally globally ready from the off.

All through the demo it just felt like "the perfect formula for a kid-friendly 3d MegaMan" if they added jumping and platforming to the mix. It just had a nice and simple feel with some fun fresh artwork.

 

[klee123]

At this point, I don't even care if it gets a US release or not, since the PS3 version exists.

 

[Takao]

This won't help 3DS' sales... 3rd party for the system is non existent right now.

Let's be honest, even if it was localized this wouldn't be helping the 3DS much.

Oh, I believe it happens. The issue is the source, I can't take much Sven says at face value at this point given his track record. We'll find out the truth eventually once 3DS is hacked anyway, I'm sure this'll make the shortlist for fantrans.

Can't someone just go digging through the PS3 ISO and check how the text is stored?

 

[Eusis]

Let's be honest, even if it was localized this wouldn't be helping the 3DS much.

Stuff like this being skipped CAN hurt for hardcore gamers, but missing just a few of these games isn't that big of a deal, especially if they're either very local multiplayer focused (forgot if this had online or not) or they're actually average-at-best in the first place. At any rate, it wouldn't be helping for generating big sales, just good will among those that'd care, and getting Monster Hunter and the Layton 3DS games out here will do more good on that front anyway.

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

Yeah, that didn't sound sensible in ANY FUCKING WAY, especially by modern development standards that I'd think would make it relatively trivial to keep localization as an option. This sounds like deliberately salting the Earth at worst, profoundly absent minded at best.

Fuck it, I don't think I can care too much about this coming over if they're going to be absurdly anti-forward thinking about crap like this.

I agree. Really dumb, insulting and shortsighted move.

 

[Shinta]

Yeah, that didn't sound sensible in ANY FUCKING WAY, especially by modern development standards that I'd think would make it relatively trivial to keep localization as an option. This sounds like deliberately salting the Earth at worst, profoundly absent minded at best.

Fuck it, I don't think I can care too much about this coming over if they're going to be absurdly anti-forward thinking about crap like this.

I think it's kind of silly to be offended. Sounds like the dreaded "E" word. They didn't want to design this for western release, and I honestly am having a hard time blaming them.

Capcom was my favorite studio of 2012, but they got nothing but shit for it from western fans. RE6, Dragon's Dogma, Asura's Wrath, all with less sales than they expected. Everyone just trashes them every step of the way and declares how they won't buy any of their games because of DLC. Then they don't plan for one game to come over, and everyone acts genuinely offended. I don't get it.

 

[Metal B]

Smells like bullshit. I'm getting "SCEA can't get UMD games running on PSN" and "Okamiden outsold AAI" vibes here.

There is more Capcom bullshit: "Resident Evil 4 exclusive for GameCube", "Developing Mega Man Legend 3 for 3DS together with the community" and "We couldn't include Phoenix Wright into Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, since we wanna have him this one attack, where the letters of the word "Objection" attack his opponent, but it would be to hard to localize it. So we simply didn't include him at all."

 

[Eusis]

I think it's kind of silly to be offended. Sounds like the dreaded "E" word. They didn't want to design this for western release, and I honestly am having a hard time blaming them.

Capcom was my favorite studio of 2012, but they got nothing but shit for it from western fans. RE6, Dragon's Dogma, Asura's Wrath, all with less sales than they expected. Everyone just trashes them every step of the way and declares how they won't buy any of their games because of DLC. Then they don't plan for one game to come over, and everyone acts genuinely offended. I don't get it.

Admittedly it's more like offense at sheer stupidity, but it's the kind of thing that's so frustrating it's better to just give up and not care. Yeah, sour grapes and all that, but this isn't the 8-bit or even 32-bit days where there were serious technical limitations that could get in the way of at least an easy localization.

 

[CorySchmitz]

You'll miss the story and that's it. It's fairly typical Shonen anime/manga fare anyway, so it's easy to put two and two together most of the time.

Oh ok, might hop on the import then. Thanks. Did you play through it all?

 

[thetrin]

Haven't heard much buzz of this in JP so not surprising. Doesn't look that great anyway imo.

I've put about 30 hours into the game, and I absolutely love it. Never really got the hate.

If you like the controls in MML (but a lot faster), and like Monster Hunter or PSO, this is a rad game that you'll definitely enjoy.

Oh ok, might hop on the import then. Thanks. Did you play through it all?

I've played through the entire story, and recently hit max level in the multiplayer. It's a blast.

 

[Father_Brain]

And to think that this might have been a shoo-in for localization a few years back. Sigh.

 

[lunchwithyuzo]

Can't someone just go digging through the PS3 ISO and check how the text is stored?

Someone could, how much action in the community is there fir PS3 translations?

 

[atomsk]

will import ps3 version from play-asia when it's dirt cheap

fuck you capcpom

 

[Aquamarine]

Yeah, that didn't sound sensible in ANY FUCKING WAY, especially by modern development standards that I'd think would make it relatively trivial to keep localization as an option. This sounds like deliberately salting the Earth at worst, profoundly absent minded at best.

Fuck it, I don't think I can care too much about this coming over if they're going to be absurdly anti-forward thinking about crap like this.

Who knows, there might have been some minor benefits like a prettier UI or some silly stuff like that.

It is incredibly backwards thinking, but they probably thought to themselves "The game has no chance of ever being localized, so why should we even care?"

Someone could, how much action in the community is there fir PS3 translations?

Not very. We don't even have Tales of Vesperia PS3 done, even though all the text is translated. Not sure of any completed PS3 fan translations out there.

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

I think it's kind of silly to be offended. Sounds like the dreaded "E" word. They didn't want to design this for western release, and I honestly am having a hard time blaming them.

I think I'm tired of how Capcom thinks western game design works.

It is incredibly backwards thinking, but they probably thought to themselves "The game has no chance of ever being localized, so why should we even care?"

"Oh shit!, It bombed here" ... "Now we can't even do a cheap localization for 3DS or... fuck... IOS"

 

[CorySchmitz]

I've put about 30 hours into the game, and I absolutely love it. Never really got the hate.

If you like the controls in MML (but a lot faster), and like Monster Hunter or PSO, this is a rad game that you'll definitely enjoy.



I've played through the entire story, and recently hit max level in the multiplayer. It's a blast.

Wicked. I am assuming you don't speak Japanese. Now I think I will get it.

 

[JustAnotherOtaku]

will import ps3 version from play-asia when it's dirt cheap

fuck you capcpom

Asian version is around £30/$40 if that's cheap enough...

 

[JustAnotherOtaku]

Oh ok, might hop on the import then. Thanks. Did you play through it all?

Yup, single player takes 12-15 hours avoiding most side quests, but the multiplayer has real potential to hook you in.