Hypereides
Gold Member
I feel bad for the people who still havent played RGG3 or any of the others.
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Ryu ga Gotoku 4 Announced
- Thread starter Kagari
- Start date
Basically it's a snowball effect. One dude got a hold of an Xbox, thought the game was awesome, invited friends, friends thought it was awesome and did the same thing. Add media approval to that and you have a successful franchise on your hands. A bunch of 13 year olds with big mouths that like to brag about their new system and games is far more powerful than any advertising campaign. Hell, it's the best kind of advertising you can get. It's free and spreads like wildfire.Zyzyxxz said:
Yakuza is a niche game, always was. Not everyone is interested in Japanese culture and Yakuza. Of course, SEGA marketing failed completely when they tried to market the first game. It wasn't just their fault, SCEA forces them to dub the game, a lot was lost in translation, a lot doesn't make sense and Yakuza was a fuck-fest, that's just... that. I lost count on how many times the word "fuck" was used, for no valid reason either.
Anyway, dubs and marketing the wrong thing made Yakuza fail miserably. It failed to keep the essence of the game, thus, failing to attract the niche gamers that were going to buy it in the first place and it failed to attract the FPS guys and the 13 year olds, mainly, because they don't give a fuck if the game is dubbed or not, they just want to know how many heads they can bash into the concrete.
It sucks to be us.
SolidSnakex
Member
distantmantra
Member
I was saying that I'd wait until my trip to Japan in April before picking it up in the hopes that Sega of America would announce it, but the local import shop had a used copy yesterday, so I picked it up.
Why is there all this talk about a wishful thinking Yakuza 3 in a Ryu ga FUCK AWESOME 4 announcement thread?
Then again, I find it amusing there is all this interest in the game still considering the official thread and threads in general of RGG3 have greatly fallen off the Gaf radar. :lol :lol :lol
Then again, I find it amusing there is all this interest in the game still considering the official thread and threads in general of RGG3 have greatly fallen off the Gaf radar. :lol :lol :lol
Augemitbutter
Member
lupinko said:
i think it's the HD-effect. some people saw the ladies in HD and freaked out.
I AM JOHN!
Banned
Why can't someone competent like Atlus or XSEED step in? These are two companies (Atlus moreso, but then again I'm kind of an Atlus fanboy nowadays) who know how to properly market a niche game to a niche market and still pull a generous profit off of it. I don't think you could ever make something like Yakuza a star franchise here in the states - it's just too foreign for a mass market consumer to be able to relate to it unlike something like GTA - but you can, at the very least, bring it out here in limited fashion, make a bit of green and get the indie and hardcore cred for doing so, which is pretty much how Mirimax managed to be very profitable until Disney cocked it up.
But I have a theory as to why that's not happening. Call me crazy, but I think that the B-tier niche game companies like Atlus, XSEED, Ignition, and hell probably even Agetec too probably have tried to step in and bring Kenzan and 3 out here, but Sega of Japan is so self-centered and conceited that they want way too much of a cut to bring it stateside, as if the fact that it's a megahit in Japan somehow means something across the pond. All of Sega just seems to be so out of touch with reality in everything they do nowadays that this being true wouldn't shock me in the least. :\
But I have a theory as to why that's not happening. Call me crazy, but I think that the B-tier niche game companies like Atlus, XSEED, Ignition, and hell probably even Agetec too probably have tried to step in and bring Kenzan and 3 out here, but Sega of Japan is so self-centered and conceited that they want way too much of a cut to bring it stateside, as if the fact that it's a megahit in Japan somehow means something across the pond. All of Sega just seems to be so out of touch with reality in everything they do nowadays that this being true wouldn't shock me in the least. :\
Nah, there's no hope. The new Sega quote strikes me as double-speak; they just don't want to say never because then the die-hard Sega fans, their only reliable audience outside of thirteen-year-olds whose first introduction to Sonic was Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, will be even more angry with you than they already are. But we all know they have no intention of localizing 3 or Kenzan in any way, shape or form. Not until it becomes ridiculously cheap or not much of a gamble for them to do so, at least.Totobeni said:
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
I bought RGG3 for cheap and spent about 10 hours on it over the last week and I must say I am getting a bit tired of the RGG formula. I am enjoying the game, but it still feels completely stuck in the PS2 era. I hope they try some new stuff for this next game.
Segata Sanshiro
Member
I AM JOHN! said:
I don't think XSEED has any idea how to properly market their titles. They haven't sold more than 10-15k of a title yet. They completely fucked up marketing RGC. Completely. I have no idea how they stay in business.
Atlus knows what they're doing, though, and they have successfully marketed and sold SEGA IPs in the US before. That said, I think they probably looked into it, figured out the dollars and cents, and passed, which is pretty impressive considering they are releasing Shiren 3 in NA.
Ignition strikes me as the most likely party at this point. Pray to your Man God.
On topic, I wouldn't expect Yakuza 4 to deviate much from the formula. The formula is highly successful and SEGA is a very lazy company.
CartridgeBlower
Member
Speaking of games that don't come out in NA, what's up with Afrika? Thought that got picked up for release but haven't heard squat since. Anyone got an update?
PetriP-TNT
Member
I want those damn Kenzan and Yakuza 3s translated, damn you SEGA
Augemitbutter
Member
Zefah said:
i don't think i'll ever get tired of the formula, as long as they keep expanding and refining their games.
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
Augemitbutter said:
The two main things that annoy me is the lack of full voice acting. So far there seems to be even less voiced cut scenes in Ryu Ga Gotoku 3 than there were in Kenzan. The voice acted cutscenes seem to be fairly random as well. More often then not you will begin a conversation with a character and the basic greetings will be voiced but then the game will cut to completely text-based scene which will contain the real meat of the conversation. The presentation is really jarring in my opinion and just really shouldn't exist in a flagship game like this a current generation console.
My other main issue is that combat is still not seamless. This continues to really hurt the flow of the game.
Other than that I think they really need to work on the graphics in the actual adventure sections. The game looks like it is being rendered in a really low resolution and it could really do with some texture filtering. Any texture that is like 5 feet away from the character will be extremely blurry.
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
Zoc said:
I find it strange that voice acting would cost so much. Then again Sega keeps hiring on famous Japanese actors to play the roles of RGG characters. Still I doubt it costs them that much. The text-based conversations weren't that bad in the PS2 games, but it is just weird on the PS3 versions with their more realistic graphics.
Hypereides
Gold Member
RobertM said:
How dare you >:/
Played the Yakuza 3 demo with some pretty casual friends over the weekend. They had a blast with the fighting engine, they love all the 'heat' moves, how stylish/badass they were.
I really think if Sega rebranded the franchise and marketed it A LOT better, they could do pretty well in the US. The fighting is really fun and fun to watch, and if the story is that good, they could have something that does decently.
Side note, how awesome would it be if Nagoshi made a new Streets of Rage game that played similarly to Yakuza? I know Sega execs have said they really wanted to push Nagoshi to make more Western-appealing titles, this could be perfect.
I really think if Sega rebranded the franchise and marketed it A LOT better, they could do pretty well in the US. The fighting is really fun and fun to watch, and if the story is that good, they could have something that does decently.
Side note, how awesome would it be if Nagoshi made a new Streets of Rage game that played similarly to Yakuza? I know Sega execs have said they really wanted to push Nagoshi to make more Western-appealing titles, this could be perfect.
Segata Sanshiro said:
you don't want SEGA to change the formula , and you know why.
but Kenzan was already different than the RGG formula anyway , with two style of gameplay/fighting with mission in very separated and different places , it was more liner and more story focus than the rest of RGG series.
rollingstart
Banned
Segata Sanshiro said:
They should make Yakuza 4 a straight up brawler with online co-op where Kazuma and Majima just beat up people for fun.
BrokenSymmetry
Member
Zefah said:
The current minimum wage mandated by the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) for video game voice acting is $759 for a 4-hour session. So if you're looking at a dialogue-heavy game (thousands of lines), this can get pretty expensive.
SolidusDave
Member
but why no english-subbed international/asia release or PAL-release (I don't think SCEE could have such a rule because of the many different languages in the PAL region).
Is there anyone here, that would NOT import/buy such an english version wherever it would be released?
I just can't imagine, that most of the "give-me-Y3/kenzan"-crowd would only buy it in their own region.
With the proposed version above, SEGA would not have to invest any big budget but still reach most of the western fanbase.
If I'm wrong and not enough would buy it (Sega, ask Sony how it went with Afrika ^^), do it anyway
Is there anyone here, that would NOT import/buy such an english version wherever it would be released?
I just can't imagine, that most of the "give-me-Y3/kenzan"-crowd would only buy it in their own region.
With the proposed version above, SEGA would not have to invest any big budget but still reach most of the western fanbase.
If I'm wrong and not enough would buy it (Sega, ask Sony how it went with Afrika ^^), do it anyway
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
BrokenSymmetry said:
I don't think the SAG applies to Japan. I also have no idea what rates are like in Japan.
Totobeni said:
I don't see how Kenzan was any more linear than RGG3. In fact, so far it seems that RGG3 is following the exact same formula as Kenzan. It is pretty much Kenzan with a RGG2 skin. Is it because there are more mini games in RGG2 that make it less linear?
Zoc said:
I know there are plenty of famous actors lending their personas to the RGG series, but I would assume that the bulk of the money is spent getting the rights to use their likeness in the game. I find it hard to believe that some extra voice acting would be would cost them that much more. It is just really jarring to have a conversation split up into like 5 parts of voiced cutscenes and text-based cutscenes. I think the presentation would be immensely better if they could at least get all of the story scenes fully voiced.
Zefah said:
I agree it's bad when the same cutscene goes back and forth between voiced and non-voiced, but I don't mind when sidequests and minor conversations aren't voiced. It gives more freedom to the writers, for one thing, and for another it allows much more content and variety. It would be terrible if RGG went the route of Oblivion, with hundreds of different characters, all of whom have practically identical faces, voices, and personalities.
Segata Sanshiro
Member
Flat out, RGG has a lot of licensed stuff that games like Afrika and Demons Souls don't have. Character likenesses, products, advertising, things like that. SEGA of Japan isn't going to pay to remove those things even if it were possible (which in many instances it simply is not) and they aren't going to pay to extend the licenses beyond the Japanese border to cater to such a small audience. If they release the game as-is with subtitles thrown in, and they're seen to be catering to importers, they can get in some deep trouble regarding the licensing of, well, virtually everything in the game.SolidusDave said:but why no english-subbed international/asia release or PAL-release (I don't think SCEE could have such a rule because of the many different languages in the PAL region).
Is there anyone here, that would NOT import/buy such an english version wherever it would be released?
I just can't imagine, that most of the "give-me-Y3/kenzan"-crowd would only buy it in their own region.
With the proposed version above, SEGA would not have to invest any big budget but still reach most of the western fanbase.
If I'm wrong and not enough would buy it (Sega, ask Sony how it went with Afrika ^^), do it anyway
There's a massive difference here between this series and Demons Souls or Afrika, for however much it might seem cut 'n' dry at first glance.
SolidusDave
Member
Segata Sanshiro said:
In principle you are right (though I don't think Sega payed anything to have i.e. rl products in the game).
But if this would be the big problem, why are there already asian versions of Yakuza 3?
Augemitbutter
Member
Zefah said:
looks like you're not happy with the technical aspects. i think they'd go way over their budget with full voice acting. remember, yakuza has a lot of story driven sidequests with rich character interaction. it would take them lots of time/money to voice every happening in this game, especially with the hired talent.
i think the next game should have better animation, thats top priority. everything else should come after that.
Segata Sanshiro said:
i dont believe it matters if you release your game with english subtitles in japan, or the rest of asia. the jp and asia versions are dedicated to their region and not meant to be sold outside respectively.
Segata Sanshiro
Member
Well, then I submit my secondary explanation: SEGA of Japan does give enough of a fuck about the English speaking audience to spend extra money on English subs. Which would make sense, given a full-blown English release on store shelves with marketing resulted in sub-30k sales. The potential import market is probably less than 3000 people, and really, no one in Japan is going to care about having the game subbed in English.
Augemitbutter
Member
i'm not saying i believe in such a feat. but if they cared, they could've done it.
the game is just too expansive for a quick subtitle-job.
the game is just too expansive for a quick subtitle-job.