Support NeoGAF

[Shadow780]

Maybe years ago, but not anymore. Don't propagate nonsense.

Is this true?

I think they still have that rule on PS3 retail discs, not on PS2 anymore.

 

[SecretBonusPoint]

What about this quote?

I mean, I see where it could be misinterpreted as someone talking about general localization, but he goes specifically back to Yakuza 3 later and starts talking voice casts again. Then David asks him specifically if they've got any voice actors for Yakuza 3 - if they weren't dubbing it, he would have clarified that they weren't doing instead of saying just 'no'.

It just seems like he's assuming whats going on with Yakuza 3 without actually knowing, which might be pretty embarassing if he's supposed to be on top of all things Sega. Things out in March supposedly, if theres no knowledge of english VA and so forth around about now, its not happening.

 

[Darkpen]

The Sega person seems to speaking somewhat generically on localization costs from what I'm hearing.


More quotes from the podcast:

Newly-promoted Sega guy who's not working on the Yakuza 3 project:
"I think we had Michael Madsen in Yakuza 2..."

1up guys:
"Yeah, you did."

lolz

Because dual audio games are few and far between on consoles in the US.



The extremely vocal minority is actually the extremely vocal majority when it comes to this franchise. No one else gives a fuck.

VC was dual language

 

[lachesis]

To be honest, I liked US dub on Yakuza1. I beat RG several times, but having it heard in english actually made it pretty fresh for me. And to my ears, it wasn't as bad as some may say. Of course, not being a native English speaker, I guess my years are much more forgiving - but asides having too many f words, I didn't mind the quality of VO on first Yakuza at all.

I'm still struggling to finish Yakuza 2 though. I finished RG2 when it first came out, but although it fleshed out many aspects of the original Yakuza, it just felt little too... same ol' same ol, and I haven't opened the still sealed RG Kenzan and RG3 yet.

RG3 being released in US is a nice thing - as I'll also pick it up. If it's dubbed, it'd be an added bonus for me - but having it subbed with original VO would also be nice. If it was a few years ago, I'd have to say dubbing would be ruining the original for pretty much any game or anime - but I guess I have opened up a little bit more on that issue.

 

[Kintaro]

Sega did state on the PS blog that the original Japanese VA will be in the retail release.

Who knows now? Until this is cleared up, I'm going with the assumption that this is Japanese only with subtitles. No way would Sega risk another expensive dub for a game that will tank with the added expense.

 

[androvsky]

What about this quote?


I mean, I see where it could be misinterpreted as someone talking about general localization, but he goes specifically back to Yakuza 3 later and starts talking voice casts again. Then David asks him specifically if they've got any voice actors for Yakuza 3 - if they weren't dubbing it, he would have clarified that they weren't doing instead of saying just 'no'.

I heard it as Constantine commenting on what he assumed the dub costs to be given the size of the game, forgetting that there isn't actually a dub. I could certainly be wrong; he seems to know his stuff in general and is giving good answers based on what he knows about localization, minus one little detail...

I am wondering why none of the 1up guys noticed the sudden change in localization strategy...

 

[SecretBonusPoint]

Is this true?

I think they still have that rule on PS3 retail discs, not on PS2 anymore.

Its more a case of people using ancient documents and leaked memos as gospel and fact. I still expect Yakuza 3 to be japanese with engish subs now after looking at this guys quotes more (provided Y3 is still enroute for March), and that'll also prove that era is at an end. But if a developer can prove for instance that a foreign language is better for the games atmosphere if left as is, I'm sure the Sony of today is far more receptive. For instance the Team Ico games make up their own god damned language, so theres no cast iron "THEY MUST SPEAK ENGLISH" commandment attached to developing for a Sony platform.

 

[KGKK]

I vote Nolan North for Kazuma's voice.

 

[EXGN]

It just seems like he's assuming whats going on with Yakuza 3 without actually knowing, which might be pretty embarassing if he's supposed to be on top of all things Sega. Things out in March supposedly, if theres no knowledge of english VA and so forth around about now, its not happening.

Don't you think you should give him a bit more credit than that? Assume he, as studio director of Sega, would know whats going on with his job until at least proven otherwise?

Maybe years ago, but not anymore. Don't propagate nonsense.

It's not nonsense, why do you think Agarest War is coming out on the PSN only when the 360 version is coming out on disc? I mean, even in the leaked Sega memo, SCEA was clearly pushing Sega to just release the game on PSN.

Because dual audio games are few and far between on consoles in the US.

Uhhh... there's a ton of PS3 games with multiple voice tracks. Just about every PS3 game published in Europe has Spanish, French, English, etc on the disc.

 

[SecretBonusPoint]

I vote Nolan North for Kazuma's voice.

I will break your lower jaw with a bicycle Heat Move.

Don't you think you should give him a bit more credit than that? Assume he, as studio director of Sega, would know whats going on with his job until at least proven otherwise?

I'm pretty sure Michael Madsen isn't in my copy of Yakuza 2, he was in the first game's english dub. So this would betray him knowing Yakuza 2 had no english dub whatsoever. So he's clearly not on top of everything exactly.

 

[Totobeni]

Maybe years ago, but not anymore. Don't propagate nonsense.

I think SCEA stupid policy is still here , androvsky mentioned Arcana Hearts , and we know Battle Fantasia released on disc in Europe with subs only but only on PSN in US.

also from SEGA leaked meeting with SCEA

Yakuza
Could put Japanese games directly on PSN for download in a special Japanese Import section (pricing $9.99 to $39.99 for full game).
Might need to localize menus at least with subtitles.

so SCEA told SEGA if yakuza Y3 with Subs only = only on PSN and on half price.

I vote Nolan North for Kazuma's voice.

actually Darryl Kurrylo did fantastic as Kazuma in the first game , Mark Hamill was awesome too , but the rest of English the cast sucks my balls.

save Nolan for Yakuza 4 since there are 3 new lead guys.

 

[Darkpen]

I vote Nolan North for Kazuma's voice.

Fuck that shit. No.

Yakuza 1's english dub for Kazuma was perfectly cast.

 

[SecretBonusPoint]

Thats what I'm saying, you can't use a leaked (and in places confusing) memo/meeting minutes to reinforce old policy as fact. We'll see what happens with Y3 I guess, fun that this confusion will get it some headline time at least. Also fun as it will show that a big Sega boss doesn't actually know whats going on with some of his games if Y3 is japanaese only, or that he's crazy wasteful okaying a full dub after Yakuza 2's performance :lol

 

[Kintaro]

Shit, to be honest, I wouldn't mind English sub only releases on PSN. Why the hell wouldn't you take advantage of that?! You have no costs in getting retail packaging together and can use the money for advertising. Plus, you can carve out a quick niche for yourself with the fanbase for the games.

It really blows my mind why more niche RPG/Japanese companies do not do this if the service has been offered to them. Jebus. If the product is successful, then you can always put out a retail disc later.

Then again, it's niche/Japanese companies so...there you go. =/ Battle Fantasia finally made it out to PSN and they didn't tell anyone. You fucking stupid? Why the hell do these companies put out games and don't even advertise on the internet?! RAWRGH.

 

[jett]

So apparently Yakuza 3 WILL indeed have US voice overs, like the first one.
http://www.ps3center.net/news/4221/yakuza-3-to-have-english-voice-acting-afterall/
It better still have the option to choose japanese audio. :/

As long as it's as hilarious as Y1's dub it'll be okay.

 

[bh7812]

I fully plan on buying Yakuza 3 in March and supporting it. I got lucky with all the games I want the first half of the year and my parents offered to pay for those as part of my Christmas presents so I can easily fit this in there now. I was planning to buy and support it regardless.

As for the dubbing issue...I personally prefer games have English dubs..Subtitles too are okay, that helps a lot especially with characters who speak in weird accents and things like that. I had NO problems with any of the English voice acting used in Yakuza 1. In fact I really liked it and was hoping there'd be English voice acting for the 2nd game. It didn't ruin my enjoyment of the game any at all having only English subtitles but I do wish there'd been English voices too.

I can hope for English voice acting for 3 but if it took having the subtitles only in English to get Y3 to the US I'll accept that.

 

[LiveFromKyoto]

Fuck that shit. No.

Yakuza 1's english dub for Kazuma was perfectly cast.

Yeah, that was one of the best VA casts ever. Mark Hamill doing Majima was awesome (how do you pull off lines in English that have you calling guys "Kazuma-chan"?) and that Kurrylo guy nailed Kazuma. Madsen was kind of awesome doing Shimano too, you'd never know it was him unless you were told, but the character was totally badass.

 

[bh7812]

As long as it's as hilarious as Y1's dub it'll be okay.

Well excellent news!! Sorry for the double post!! I'm almost certainly going to play with English voices and English subtitles then!

 

[iceatcs]

What about the voice lip sync? Are they normally change the movement of lip for English too?

 

[jett]

What about the voice lip sync? Are they normally change the movement of lip for English too?

If we get a dub that most certainly will not happen. Now that's extra work that would definitely cost a pretty penny. Besides I believe a bunch of cut-scenes in Yakuza 3 are FMV(which is why it takes up so much space), they'd have to re-render it all.

No problems though, after reading through everything and gathering more information seems this Sega guy isn't well informed on Yakuza 3's localization status.

 

[Darkpen]

Yeah, that was one of the best VA casts ever. Mark Hamill doing Majima was awesome (how do you pull off lines in English that have you calling guys "Kazuma-chan"?) and that Kurrylo guy nailed Kazuma. Madsen was kind of awesome doing Shimano too, you'd never know it was him unless you were told, but the character was totally badass.

wait, Majima was Mark Hamill? :lol :lol :lol You're right, he totally pulls it off. So good <3

 

[Augemitbutter]

eh, i hope it's just a false rumor. i need japanese voice acting in my yakuza films~

 

[SoccerGoaliePro]

My local sushi chef would make a great voice actor in the game.

 

[Thunderbear]

So for most people here, the most important thing in a game are the voices? I can see it as a complaint, but as a reason not to buy an otherwise great game? Talk about overreaction.

Having said that, I do hope they include dual language but I am still going to buy it if it has english only.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

Mmm, I hope if they put an English track in that they keep the Japanese as an option. I tried playing Yakuza 1 again after playing 2, Kenzan, and 3, and it just sounded weird.

 

[Darkpen]

Mmm, I hope if they put an English track in that they keep the Japanese as an option. I tried playing Yakuza 1 again after playing 2, Kenzan, and 3, and it just sounded weird.

the fact that they call that one fat guy "Kage" in the subtitles for 2, even though they call him by something else in the vocals, is a little odd D:

 

[Lostconfused]

the fact that they call that one fat guy "Kage" in the subtitles for 2, even though they call him by something else in the vocals, is a little odd D:

Well that's what happens when something gets subtitled.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

the fact that they call that one fat guy "Kage" in the subtitles for 2, even though they call him by something else in the vocals, is a little odd D:

I had a bigger problem with Kazama -> Fuma, but yeah, Hanaya -> Kage is weird and makes one of the subquests in RGG2 completely fail in its quest for lulz.

 

[FHIZ]

I vote Nolan North for Kazuma's voice.

I vote Nolan North for every voice in every game ever.

No but really... damn that dude gets around. I beat the Saboteur today and saw his name in the credits and all I could think is "Oh come on!"

 

[VibratingDonkey]

I'm taking a doubtful stance towards these news. Doesn't make much sense.

I vote Nolan North for every voice in every game ever.

No but really... damn that dude gets around. I beat the Saboteur today and saw his name in the credits and all I could think is "Oh come on!"

That happened to me with Dragon Age as I was checking on IMDB if that really was colonel scissors 61 I heard. Indeed. So I got curious and checked if there were any other people I recognized.

*scroll scroll scroll* *Nolan North* "Oh god damn it..."

 

[Lostconfused]

I had a bigger problem with Kazama -> Fuma, but yeah, Hanaya -> Kage is weird and makes one of the subquests in RGG2 completely fail in its quest for lulz.

Isn't his last name Kiryu or is it something different that I totally didn't pick up on?

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

Isn't his last name Kiryu or is it something different that I totally didn't pick up on?

Shintaro Kazama became Shintaro Fuma in the English dub, and I suspect it's because "Kazama" is close to "Kazuma", which is the main character's name (Kazuma Kiryu). Most of the other name changes (and there were quite a few) seemed to be trying to shorten names, like "Nishikiyama" becoming just "Nishiki". I think this was the reasoning behind changing "Sai no Hanaya" to "Kage".

 

[Totobeni]

I vote Nolan North for every voice in every game ever.

No but really... damn that dude gets around. I beat the Saboteur today and saw his name in the credits and all I could think is "Oh come on!"

in The Saboteur , Nolan was the french guy with the hook ( you meet him early in the game ) :lol

 

[Dude Abides]

I'm hoping for an Engrish dub myself.

 

[I should be doing hw]

I vote for Brain Cox as Kazuma. Oh and please include a drunk Michael Madsen again Sega, that was brilliant in its crappyness. :lol

Spoiler

Don't dub it you morons

I vote Nolan North for every voice in every game ever.

Sad thing is, he pretty much is at this point. As brilliant as he is at his job I pray he doesn't get overused to the point of annoyance. He hasn't reached that point yet
He will always be Drake, first and foremost for me though. <3

 

[Totobeni]

I vote for Brain Cox as Kazuma. Oh and please include a drunk Michael Madsen again Sega, that was brilliant in its crappyness. :lol

Spoiler

Don't dub it you morons

Sad thing is, he pretty much is at this point. As brilliant as he is at his job I pray he doesn't get overused to the point of annoyance. He hasn't reached that point yet
He will always be Drake, first and foremost for me though. <3

if devs continues to hire him just to do typical " Drake " voice for their games like in PoP 2008 ,Shadow complex and AssCreed 2 ..ect and nothing else he will turn to be the gaming version of Johnny Yong Bosch in no time.

 

[BobTheFork]

What's crazy is that for Yakuza 2 and VC I didn't even know there was an english track until after I had beaten it and I don't want to restart them yet. However, I would really love to hear some awful Madsen right now.

 

[Darkpen]

What's crazy is that for Yakuza 2 and VC I didn't even know there was an english track until after I had beaten it and I don't want to restart them yet. However, I would really love to hear some awful Madsen right now.

Yakuza 2 does not have an english track, and Madsen only dubbed in 1. VC default is English, so you're full of shit on that front too.

 

[BobTheFork]

Yakuza 2 does not have an english track, and Madsen only dubbed in 1. VC default is English, so you're full of shit on that front too.

uh, thanks. I didn't know it was the default but I've never heard it. I thought people were talking about Yakuza 2 and didn't think it had english, so I made the comment.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

uh, thanks. I didn't know it was the default but I've never heard it. I thought people were talking about Yakuza 2 and didn't think it had english, so I made the comment.

It's okay, SEGA of America doesn't know either.

 

[Darkpen]

It's okay, SEGA of America doesn't know either.

:lol :lol

 

[Vard]

Yikes, I hope this dubbing talk isn't true. As long as JP VA is in it I don't really care though. I would be disappointed if they left it out but at this point I'm just happy it's coming over, really.

 

[vocab]

It's gonna have Japanese only or both. People are taking that vague interview out of context.

"Featuring the original all-star Japanese voice cast and subtitled in English"

 

[Kurosaki Ichigo]

Thats what I'm saying, you can't use a leaked (and in places confusing) memo/meeting minutes to reinforce old policy as fact. We'll see what happens with Y3 I guess, fun that this confusion will get it some headline time at least. Also fun as it will show that a big Sega boss doesn't actually know whats going on with some of his games if Y3 is japanaese only, or that he's crazy wasteful okaying a full dub after Yakuza 2's performance :lol

But you're wrong.

There's still a SCEA cockblock policy regarding this. You can't have a game with only japanese VA. You can have it with no voices. You can have it default with english voices and optional japanese voices.

If you want to release a game at retail with only the JP VA, you can't, so you have to do:

A) Put it on the Store with a budget price. Examples:
Battle Fantasia (out in blu-ray in Europe, no such policy here)
Agarest Senki (out in blu-ray in Europe, no such policy here)

B) Remove the VA:
Arcana Heart (PS2)

C) Skip the NA release and release it only in Europe where SCEE doesn't have this policy:
Naruto Ultimate Ninja 5 (PS2)

D) Wait until a console dies, put it on a really budget price and also get an exception:
Yakuza 2

E) Swallow and dub it:
Yakuza 1 and fuckload of titles forced to go this way


About Yakuza 3, sad to hear this news. Not against having english VA but this specific franchise needs to have a tight localization budget, which dubbing fucks up. But I knew there was no way SCEA green-lighted a 60$ retail release for Yakuza 3 with JP VA and English subs. When we only had the rumors, I thought SEGA would never make the same mistake and go with option E, thinking A or even C were better choices. Oh well.

 

[ram]

It's gonna have Japanese only or both. People are taking that vague interview out of context.

"Featuring the original all-star Japanese voice cast and subtitled in English"

japanese dub only with english subtitles. its like yakuza 2 (europe).

here the pr in german:

Yakuza 3 soll vollständig auf Englisch untertitelt werden, wird aber weiterhin die herausragende Sprachausgabe der japanischen Originalversion enthalten, um ein authentisches, intensives Erlebnis zu garantieren. Mit der PLAYSTATION®3-

 

[Lindsay]

If it does have a dub I won't know what to do! I liked it on Yakuza and it took me time to get adjusted the the jp voice cast in the sequel but eventually I did. But now I might be tempted to go with the dub for Y3 >_<? On another note does anyone know when/is gaf doing a lets re-play Y/Y2 anyhow?

 

[Darkpen]

If it does have a dub I won't know what to do! I liked it on Yakuza and it took me time to get adjusted the the jp voice cast in the sequel but eventually I did. But now I might be tempted to go with the dub for Y3 >_<? On another note does anyone know when/is gaf doing a lets re-play Y/Y2 anyhow?

The months leading up to Y3 are filled with too many new games :/

Personally, I can't see myself replaying Y1 with its stiff combat controls.

 

[Kurosaki Ichigo]

http://www.vg247.com/2010/01/04/sega-european-yakuza-3-to-have-japanese-voice-overs/

Sega’s just told VG247 that the European version of Yakuza 3 will contain only Japanese voice-overs with English subtitles.

The news follows a Sega of America rep saying in a 1UP podcast that the game’s US version will include an English VO.

The UK Sega rep told us that the podcast comments were the result of a crossed wires.

“I can confirm that this is a misunderstanding and the game will feature Japanese [voice-over] with English text as with Yakuza 2,” he said.

Asked if this would apply to the US version as well, the spokesperson could only speak for the UK/EU version.

So expect us to follow up with Sega US on this one.

Game’s out in March.

Doesn't make sense. If they are dubbing it for US, why not include it here and/or include both audio tracks on both territories. If they aren't dubbing it, what did that guy smoke before giving that interview.

 

[SecretBonusPoint]

Embarassing for that dude if it turns out he had absolutely no idea what his own company was doing with a big release :lol

Oh well, back to delicious hype! KAZUUUUMAAAAAAA~!

 

[rvy]

http://www.vg247.com/2010/01/04/sega-european-yakuza-3-to-have-japanese-voice-overs/

Doesn't make sense. If they are dubbing it for US, why not include it here and/or include both audio tracks on both territories. If they aren't dubbing it, what did that guy smoke before giving that interview.

Because Europeans don't mind reading subtitles. Yes, I went there. Superior PAL version confirmed.