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Persona 4: Arena Region-Locked on PS3 - Confirmed [PR statement in OP]

Aeana

Member
Someone can think what Atlus did is at least stupid if not completely wrong, and not think the impact is sufficient enough to justify a boycott of the game.
No problem with a person deciding it isn't worth boycotting. Big problem with people telling others what they should or should not do with their own money, or what they should or should not think about the situation.
 
No problem with a person deciding it isn't worth boycotting. Big problem with people telling others what they should or should not do with their own money, or what they should or should not think about the situation.
Exactly. On both sides.

Simply put for me: Considering we've no official date, and Zen's track record, I, as a European Atlus fan, am suffering thanks to Atlus JP's decision.
 
D

Deleted member 13876

Unconfirmed Member
Xenoblade was very much an anomaly though whereas a significant amount of niche titles the US gets never reach our shores.
 
It's become apparent those boycotting it are just going to do it on general principle now, regardless of the best case scenario that it literally won't affect anyone. Atlus have already said it was out of their control and (presumably) won't happen again, but I guess some people are just set in their ways.

Yes, Atlus fucked up, the damage is done and they can't do anything about it anymore. That does not mean I automatically stop being upset about it and just shrug it off and hope for the best in the future.
I am in fact really glad this thread stayed on the front page for as long as it did and people keep discussing it. I'm glad people rightfully think this is a big deal and a really shitty move.
 
Yes, Atlus fucked up, the damage is done and they can't do anything about it anymore. That does not mean I automatically stop being upset about it and just shrug it off and hope for the best in the future.
I am in fact really glad this thread stayed on the front page for as long as it did and people keep discussing it. I'm glad people rightfully think this is a big deal and a really shitty move.

This kind of customer abuse should be neither tolerated nor forgotten. Such blatant disregard for people addressed as "loyal fans" is beyond incredulous.

Atlus no longer gets any benefit of the doubt when it comes to region-locking, and the prospect of that doubt spreading across the future PS3 library is very troubling.
 
I meant in the way that they didn't say "we cannot confirm that yet" or something along those lines.
The problem is for a company that has such a strong base of importers , nobody saw fit to tell them in advance. Someone told the truth when asked but Since the PS3 is region free , why would any of us assume the fact that would be locked ?

A) I didn't say it wasn't Atlus' fault that the game is region-locked, of course it's their decision, I said it's ok for you to boycott. You referred to the entirety of Atlus as Atlus USA, and not all the fault lies with them. Just because the game that you imported doesn't work on your console does not mean it's faulty. It is intended for the region that is released in. Yes region-locking sucks , and no I don't support region-locking.

B) The US Release of Arcana Heart 3 was abysmal in terms of community, there's no reason to make an assumption that "I didn't care", the GAF Community tried to gather players from time to time.

C) You listed AH and BB as examples of terrible localization periods but they aren't related to this particular case, they were inserted for ranting purposes.

D) You're assuming that Atlus (USA) had made the decision from the get go, we don't know if that's true or not but at the very least they came out and said it. And I'm sure you know there are times when importing we sometimes have to wait for another consumer to verify if Game *A is indeed region-free or a distributor like NCSX.

E) I used Xenoblade as my rant material.

As I've stated it's ok to boycott, I respect that decision because it's screws a number of consumers. All I'm saying is don't be hardheaded about the situation. Atlus USA is not necessarily in total control of the situation and it's quite clear they are in a position where they have hands tied behind their backs. I'm not trying to defend region-locking, I'm trying to say be fair in your criticism.

A - I can't put the blame on atlus japan only ....the fact that they weren't able to begociate properly to prevent this mess is also their fault .The fact that they try to pass it up as a necessary evil , since we ask them dual voices is also bad ..

B - I know but the fact that the community is void Atm in europe is also due to the fact that ZU did a poor job ..that's also why i can't trust This P4A localisation when we don't have a release time yet...
The fact that the release dates of the 2 games were too far appart is clearly one of the reason for the fall of such a game.

C - Yes they are because localizing a game late lead to result in B .. you can throw as many goodies as you want and AH is a damn good game ..if your localisation time doesn't allow us to create a community , there is no point ..

D - See first answer.. if not asked when i don't know how long they would have waited to annonce it. A message on their forom followed by a PR when players are angry and are surronded by angry consummers messages isn't what i call a "goodwill" or similar.

E - Bad example as the wii is locked from the start.. There is no precedent here nor the risk of further bad things happening. i want lots of 3ds titles too but can't import but i don't bring them in this discussion since the 3ds is locked from day one ..you're off-topic.

^^ the problem is the fact that it's locked when everything else isn't.. and the fact that the lock prevent me/ an plenty of other people to enjoy the game in a timely manner when it should be the opposite at least for a fighting game.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
You are the same person who flipped out because P2IS PSP had a tiny optional feature removed for the US release, made a thread about it talking about how awful it was, and even wrote an article on HG101 where you continued to berate them while holding up publishers like XSEED. Clearly you were really upset about that, so it's weird that you're having such a hard time with people who feel strongly about this one.

The removal of that content was Atlus USA's doing, and there was little to no communication about it until a week or so before it came out.

This is something that was out of their hands, and they've been incredibly open about it.

I wish they'd been as open about those scenarios we lost.
 

alstein

Member
No problem with a person deciding it isn't worth boycotting. Big problem with people telling others what they should or should not do with their own money, or what they should or should not think about the situation.

I've really tried hard not to do that. I'm trying to keep my opinions on this to what I'd do, and what I think the impact would be, with a healthy dose the crazy bullshit that I spout out sometimes ^_^ I do think the boycotters need to be a headache for Atlus, I'm not joining in, but I'm sympathetic, but I think Atlus won't do this again because it won't make them any money.

I am going to get this game now- because I really don't want to hit a major just playing VF, so I'll need a second game, which will either be Persona or TTT2.
 
D

Deleted member 13876

Unconfirmed Member
this game is a testing ground for their biggest game to come, Persona 5. if Arena is successful, you can be sure that their future releases will always be region locked.

it's unavoidable.

This is about my exact fear. On another note, just ordered Persona 2: IS for a console I don't even own because it was dirt cheap. How's that for engagement, Atlus? Will probably borrow a PSP from a friend so I should be fine.
 
this game is a testing ground for their biggest game to come, Persona 5. if Arena is successful, you can be sure that their future releases will always be region locked.

it's unavoidable.

Can't they be called out by their PR statement for P4A saying how no other game will be region lock or something?


I don't think the FGC crowd cares about that.

Some people of the FGC care, but they would rather support the scene and the community.
 

Infinite

Member
Can't they be called out by their PR statement for P4A saying how no other game will be region lock or something?

Some people of the FGC care, but they would rather support the scene and the community.

From their PR statement they region locked the game purely out of a business decision because of how close the Japanese release is to the North American one. It doesn't really say if they will region lock their games in the future or not.

That's exactly what I mean. the FGC would rather just support the game and the community than boycott it. What's a priority to us is whether or not the game is good and where it can go.
 

Quadratic

Member
So what was the general reaction to this at Evo? Positive?

I played it at EVO. Had a blast. It's a really fun game although I knew very little of the systems in play. God's Beard likened it to JoJo Bizarre Adventure. Most of the people I saw playing it were very up on the game. It has a shot at being a mainstage game next year. It's a niche title in a niche genre so the community will be pretty small. I hope a scene forms in Toronto. I can sympathize with people who want to import it but can't because of the region lock. It's going to hurt the amount of players if people are boycotting it.
 

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
...Can't believe there are people defending region lock on the basis of: "eh, the company cannot do anything about it, so eh, whatever."

Wow.

In fact, can't believe there are people defending region lock in the first place.
 

Solune

Member
The problem is for a company that has such a strong base of importers , nobody saw fit to tell them in advance. Someone told the truth when asked but Since the PS3 is region free , why would any of us assume the fact that would be locked ?

A - I can't put the blame on atlus japan only ....the fact that they weren't able to begociate properly to prevent this mess is also their fault .The fact that they try to pass it up as a necessary evil , since we ask them dual voices is also bad ..

D - See first answer.. if not asked when i don't know how long they would have waited to annonce it. A message on their forom followed by a PR when players are angry and are surronded by angry consummers messages isn't what i call a "goodwill" or similar.
These points are definitely valid and I concede, there's nothing I can say in defense of that nor would I want to because the game shouldn't be region locked in the first place. And the whole dual audio issue is very slippery considering I'm not fond of some of the USA only dubs and when they finally pull through, this happens.
B - I know but the fact that the community is void Atm in europe is also due to the fact that ZU did a poor job ..that's also why i can't trust This P4A localisation when we don't have a release time yet...
The fact that the release dates of the 2 games were too far appart is clearly one of the reason for the fall of such a game.
I definitely feel for you and the other EU players because fighting scenes (as far as I know) are pretty scarce as it is. And I apologize before as I didn't read between the lines as far as EU localization goes.
C - Yes they are because localizing a game late lead to result in B .. you can throw as many goodies as you want and AH is a damn good game ..if your localisation time doesn't allow us to create a community , there is no point ..
Although you have a point in the disparity between releases, especially for games that thrive on competitive scenes the fact that you can bring a copy of AH to a friend is extremely convenient. Trying to convince someone to try a "loli fighter" is hard to sell in the first place, it's even harder when you can't bring a local copy to trial it. For me I would have definitely sacrificed a longer wait time for the physical release.
E - Bad example as the wii is locked from the start.. There is no precedent here nor the risk of further bad things happening. i want lots of 3ds titles too but can't import but i don't bring them in this discussion since the 3ds is locked from day one ..you're off-topic.

^^ the problem is the fact that it's locked when everything else isn't.. and the fact that the lock prevent me/ an plenty of other people to enjoy the game in a timely manner when it should be the opposite at least for a fighting game.

The example I listed was similar to when you brought up BB and AH, those titles could have been obtained legally through importation / accessing foreign stores, but they both had local official releases that came at later date. Xenoblade is the same way in that it was out for 8 months in EU prior to the NA release and could be played through importation and exploits despite the region lock, but people waiting for the official release get screwed. Saying I could've played it by other means and dismissing the fact that the release was much too long is using double standards. Yes Nintendo consoles are region-locked to begin with and we definitely don't want region locking on PS3 or any other consoles for that matter, but the release shouldn't have taken that long in the first place.

In fact that's one of the reasons Operation Rainfall came about, so hopefully while not exactly on the same scale, this boycott will send the same message to Atlus to prevent them from cheating their fanbase.

The only reason I even initiated this argument is because you addressed Atlus USA in a way that they should fix everything immediately. Though I don't know their entire situation I'm willing to gamble that the majority of the staff there would like to lift the region-lock would it be in their power to do so.
 
The only reason I even initiated this argument is because you addressed Atlus USA in a way that they should fix everything immediately

I don't think atlus will correct this mistake now as it is too late .. i do think they got the message and this shouldn't happen in the future..

the fact that you can bring a copy of AH to a friend is extremely convenient

i have to agree and that's why i prefer physical releases ( not locked of course :) )

Saying I could've played it by other means and dismissing the fact that the release was much too long is using double standards. Yes Nintendo consoles are region-locked to begin with and we definitely don't want region locking on PS3 or any other consoles for that matter, but the release shouldn't have taken that long in the first place.
Indeed we import because we have no choice to , not because it's fun ... Good releases dates, reasonnable princing and no lock is all i'm asking...
 
In fact, can't believe there are people defending region lock in the first place.

While it is annoying, living in PAL land it's been the status quo for so long I'm finding it hard to be shocked

Let's just say it was a 360 exclusive; it being region locked would have surprised no one. This being the one occasion where a PS3 game is region locked is a different person bending us over the same barrel

It honestly doesn't bother me that much. I just hope it doesn't get delayed long
 

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
While it is annoying, living in PAL land it's been the status quo for so long I'm finding it hard to be shocked

Let's just say it was a 360 exclusive; it being region locked would have surprised no one. This being the one occasion where a PS3 game is region locked is a different person bending us over the same barrel

It honestly doesn't bother me that much. I just hope it doesn't get delayed long

Well, region lock is a pretty much very anti-consumer thing to do I am just rather surprised that anyone from the consumer side of the equation would actually support/justifying it.

Also, honest to God I think I saw this thread getting locked after my post o_O Just my imagination?
 
So what was the general reaction to this at Evo? Positive?

Very positive, it was by far the most popular game, but it also had the most setups. Probably about 2-3 times the crowd of Dive Kick. Basically plays like Jojo's Bizarre Adventure with Roman Cancels. So far a very fair and balanced game by all accounts, while still remaining relatively flexible and exciting. Pretty low barrier to entry, but a lot to learn and a bunch of mechanics. I didn't meet anyone that was disappointed with the game.
 

Infinite

Member
you're pretty much trolling by now.

Just stop. Everyone who i talk to wants this game to blow up. We want it to be big at summer jam we want it to be big at NEC and we want it in evo2k13. I personally haven't come across anyone that's interested in playing this game competitively speak ill of it due to region locking.
 
Just stop. Everyone who i talk to wants this game to blow up. We want it to be big at summer jam we want it to be big at NEC and we want it in evo2k13. I personally haven't come across anyone that's interested in playing this game competitively speak ill of it due to region locking.
i don't want the game to blow up , i want to send a clear message... that little difference in perspective is important
 

Fersis

It is illegal to Tag Fish in Tag Fishing Sanctuaries by law 38.36 of the GAF Wildlife Act
Is the game $60 bucks? Disc release only?
 

StuBurns

Banned
i don't want the game to blow up , i want to send a clear message... that little difference in perspective is important
There's no way a publisher can gauge a single clear message from sales. If this game bombs there could be hundreds of reasons they derive from it. The only way it'd make it very clear is if the 360 version outsold the PS3 version massively, and if that isn't the typical trend for Atlus games, or fighting games.

The vast majority of people will never even know it's region locked, thousands will and wouldn't ever care. It's never going to make a big enough splash to make any bold indication from sales that people are pissed. But even if it did, it's not like Atlus don't know that from the feedback so far.

If you want this game, and you have a non-Euro PS3, you should buy it, because not doing so will only serve to stop you playing a game you want, Atlus don't give a fuck.
 
D

Deleted member 13876

Unconfirmed Member
The vast majority of people will never even know it's region locked, thousands will and wouldn't ever care. It's never going to make a big enough splash to make any bold indication from sales that people are pissed. But even if it did, it's not like Atlus don't know that from the feedback so far.

I'd say in the case of Atlus a much bigger percentage of people will know about this than if a publisher like Activision did this.
 
There's no way a publisher can gauge a single clear message from sales. If this game bombs there could be hundreds of reasons they derive from it. The only way it'd make it very clear is if the 360 version outsold the PS3 version massively, and if that isn't the typical trend for Atlus games, or fighting games.

The vast majority of people will never even know it's region locked, thousands will and wouldn't ever care. It's never going to make a big enough splash to make any bold indication from sales that people are pissed. But even if it did, it's not like Atlus don't know that from the feedback so far.

If you want this game, and you have a non-Euro PS3, you should buy it, because not doing so will only serve to stop you playing a game you want, Atlus don't give a fuck.

The only meaningfull message Atlus/ZEN can get that would convey that people not want region lock would be if american to EU sales ratio stayed the same as on on region locked game.

And I'm not suprised by lack of reaction from competitive crowd - if they are really ompetitive they will play locally anyway.
 

StuBurns

Banned
I'd say in the case of Atlus a much bigger percentage of people will know about this than if a publisher like Activision did this.
Absolutely.

Actually, even if someone bought on it 360 instead, they'd be hypocrites. Microsoft allow for region-free publishing too, Atlus are choosing to be anti-consumer on both systems.
 

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
Just stop. Everyone who i talk to wants this game to blow up. We want it to be big at summer jam we want it to be big at NEC and we want it in evo2k13. I personally haven't come across anyone that's interested in playing this game competitively speak ill of it due to region locking.

Too bad the PAL FGC is pretty much disadvantaged.
 

vg260

Member
I'm interested in this game, but have a hard time getting into ASW/anime fighters after buying them. $60 is a tough sell knowing ASW's update tendencies. They're on par w/ Capcom in that regard. I kinda feel skeptical the way some people feel about Capcom games.
 

Uthred

Member
Just stop. Everyone who i talk to wants this game to blow up. We want it to be big at summer jam we want it to be big at NEC and we want it in evo2k13. I personally haven't come across anyone that's interested in playing this game competitively speak ill of it due to region locking.

"Everyone you talk to", well that sure is a sizeable and scientifically valid sample size, definitely not anecdotal evidence, no siree
 
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