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[HyperZone<3]

A 2nd disc with the Takashi Miike directed live-action promo shorts would rule over all else.
I will pay a premium Sega, if you include these as part of a collectors edition.
And yeah, JPN dubs would be awfully nice, and yes, I can tell the diffrence between good and bad acting without understanding the language.

 

[jetpacks was yes]

Unlikely. Without knowledge of the language, you have no clue as to the proper stresses of certain words and syllables, the appropriateness of the intensity of the delivery, or numerous other things that only someone fluent in the language would know. It sounds good in your head because when you read the subtitle, you don't read it as a bad English voice actor would read it. You absorb it as part of the scene and use the inflection of the unintelligible audio as a guide to how the line is intended. However, you have no idea if the acting job is any good or not.

The primary reason subs tend to be superior to dubs in anime and games is that ridiculous situations and shitty writing is easier to accept in that sort of second-hand form rather than listening to an English voice actor struggle with the material. I, too, would prefer to play Yakuza subbed, but it's not a make-or-break issue for me.

Barring any odd grammatical or pronunciation errors, it's really not that difficult to judge foreign actors if you do not understand their language. Us humans, we're really not so different. Just because I know Croatian doesn't mean that I'm a better judge of Croatian acting than anyone else. I can recognize the terrific acting of Toshiro Mifune just as easily as I can with Jack Nicholson. I can appreciate the subtlety of the acting of Francis Ng, yet I do not speak Cantonese. Just as easily I recognized Jackie Chan's over-acting in New Police Story, and funnily enough HK critics seemed to agree.

Maybe having great exposure to foreign cinema helps one to better appreciate acting from these countries, but really, suggesting that you have to understand the language to appreciate the performance is rather silly. Certain aspects, maybe, but not to such a degree as you are suggesting.

 

[bishoptl]

praise Jebus

 

[jetpacks was yes]

I saw a WWII flick produced in the UK recently and was appalled that the German characters had British accents when speaking in English. How lame is that? The Nazis and the Allied characters sounded EXACTLY the same!

I saw this one movie where Charlton Heston played Moses.

 

[thetrin]

Rock on. This is awesome news. It's going to be really funny to import the US version to Japan, but I can't read kanji.

 

[Oblivion]

I'm not surprised they're bringing it over here. Didn't it cost a fuckton to develop? I believe they are only halfway toward breaking even at this point (feel free to correct me).

In any case, awesome job, Sega. Can't wait to try this out.

 

[Juice]

Fucking A! I only have an unmodded US PS2, I just really hope they leave the Japanese dub in (even if english is added).

PLEASE

I'll buy it either way, but even good English voiceovers would kill this game for me based on my reading of other's impressions.

Edit:

To Oblivion: Yeah, I would've been shocked if they hadn't brought it over either, as it must have cost at least 1.5 Shenmues to make this game. Still, GAF was all like "No way will it come out in the states" and I fell for it. Have to remember that people who have something that they feel special for having aren't going to want to believe that pretty soon everyone else will be able to get it too.

 

[Porridge]

With GAF peeing its pants, I smell bomb.

 

[meltpotato]

I'm not surprised they're bringing it over here. Didn't it cost a fuckton to develop? I believe they are only halfway toward breaking even at this point (feel free to correct me).

In any case, awesome job, Sega. Can't wait to try this out.

If you accounting is correct, i think Japanese VA intact may be a little more likely. The re-recording of the entire vocal track would really increase the localization cost; something i doubt they want to do with a game being released during the transition to a new gen.

 

[evilromero]

Awesome. But can someone tell me briefly just what is so awesome about this game and why I should be wetting my pants upon hearing this piece of news?

I wet my pants when I look at your avatar. Seriously.

 

[GeoramA]

Thank you Sega!

 

[Remk]

Awesome news

I know all odds are on this bombing saleswise, but hopefully it will prove a succesful venture for SEGA and we get more games of this caliber.

 

[drohne]

any review of a foreign language movie will discuss its performances, and i doubt whether many film critics are massively multilingual. your friends will probably do the same as they walk out of a movie, and they probably won't hesitate. it's assumed that acting substantially consists of things that span languages. that foreign language performances are to some degree intelligible.

i only encounter this hand-wringing about the total impenetrability of foreign language dialogue on videogame message boards (on the internet). it seems false if you think back to the last subtitled movie you've watched, but it also seems vaguely malicious: "you may think you like japanese voice acting, but..."

 

[meltpotato]

Awesome news

I know all odds are on this bombing saleswise, but hopefully it will prove a succesful venture for SEGA and we get more games of this caliber.

I dont see this bombing.. i see this, as i stated previously, having an audio track made very thug-genre friendly and being this summers GTA stand-in for a lot of people. certainly wont do GTA numbers, but if they put a few bucks toward proper advertising they will probably pull in enough people to have a respectable showing.

 

[Shinobi]

I don't even know the Japanese language well enough to know whether a Japanese VA appropriately delivered the lines well enough.

Neither do most of the wannabe otaku, though of course they'll pretend otherwise.

I reckon if this game had English and Japanese audio tracks, people would still find something to bitch about with this game. So whatever...I'll get to play and enjoy it and that's all that matters to me.

Besides, it's been stated in numerous Ryu Gotoku/Yakuza threads that SCEA's licensing rules make English dubbing mandatory. Unless it's a SCEA game, in which case they can do whatever the fuck they want (hey, it's their yard).

It'd be nice if more people actually read one of the 75 instances this was previously mentioned so people can finally quit blabbering about this tired topic.

Shout all you want people but Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic Heroes are far beter decisions Sega made then Ryu ga Gotoku will ever be.

Cheap and crap million sellers, ROI on em will be far better then what Ryu ga Gotoku can ever achieve.

RGG is the sort of game we love Sega for but lets not kid ourselves, its not the sort of stuff that keeps Sega profiteable.

But that's how Sega was during the Genesis era...making shitty ass games like Home Alone 2 and Power Rangers which were cheaply made and sold to the masses, to fund the real games that the true Sega fan loved. That's why the bitching about Shadow the Hedgehog was just absurd to me...the game is selling and making Sega bread, and gives them more ability to fund stuff like Yakuza. Who cares that it's shit? We don't need to buy every game that's released you know.

Hell, that's what all publishers are like...Konami's current TMNT series might be utter shit, but as long as that shit continues to sell (and with three games out there I assume it's doing just that) it can help to fund the Konami games the people on this board actually care about.

you know, the latest Game Informer pretty much gave it away that this was coming out in the US/Europe.

Anyone who thought this game wasn't coming over here from the beginning is a fucking moron. Which means there are a lot of fucking morons on this board. The only news here is that SOA and SOE made it official, and it's coming out in the summer instead of the fall. Yippie.

genji only has a japanese voice track, and it's sony published.

Well, yeah...it's a Sony-published game. They can break their own rules if they want to. Welcome to the real world.

 

[DCharlie]

welcome to the world of being a Japanese badass balls pimp.

it's a "young yamauchi" sim...

Kiryu = the baddest meat head character ever. Every other game character _ever_ looks like a pussy in comparison.

 

[Fishie flop oog]

I'm pretty sure I speak for most everyone here in saying that games like Shadow the Hedgehog make me want to see Sega go bankrupt. And quickly.

If they truly cared only of profitability, they could leverage a shitton of their Saturn and DC properties on the PSP, which would provide amazing returns, especially the lesser available classics like Panzer Dragoon Saga and NiGHTS.

No they couldnt.
Most people dont care about those, GAF is not representative of the general market.
The market wants more Sonic milking, not a deep and meaningfull game like Panzer Dragoon Saga.

 

[Shinobi]

It doesn't even make sense anyway...nobody wanted them on the Saturn (or the Saturn itself for that matter), but the mass market wants the same games on PSP? :lol What's the evidence to support this?

 

[Reilly]

someone spice this thread up with some pics of the game and whatnot.

 

[DCharlie]

I'm pretty sure I speak for most everyone here in saying that games like Shadow the Hedgehog make me want to see Sega go bankrupt. And quickly.

you speak for yourself.

If they truly cared only of profitability, they could leverage a shitton of their Saturn and DC properties on the PSP, which would provide amazing returns, especially the lesser available classics like Panzer Dragoon Saga and NiGHTS.

Merril Lynch are hiring! RUN!

someone spice this thread up with some pics of the game and whatnot.

here are some terrible shots i took from the projector :

Hey bitches, where are your magazines about sailors? Whose skull do i have to crack open to get that info?

No your honour, as you can see, the floor was slippy and i fell into both men, and i'm sad to say, we accidentally ended up in a position known as , i believe, "the spit roast"

hello there sweet thing, .... your brother isn't a sailor is he? Do you watch him in the shower? .... do you like Roman Gladiators?

seriously, you either let me use your make up and wear your dress, or i smash you over the head with this table, then put your face through the counter... i don't think i can be any more 'nice' than that Hiromi....

 

[Fishie flop oog]

Hahahahahaha, good stuff DC

 

[u_neek]

I can already imagine the fugly western boxart!

But fuck that!!! This news story makes me cum!

 

[Flynn]

I saw this one movie where Charlton Heston played Moses.

I can do you one better. Same actor: Tijuana cop.

 

[Kuro Madoushi]

Why the hell did you sell your PS2 in the first place?

On another note, why the hell are people wanting to keep the Japanese dub? Just import the damn thing. It's an American game, 97% of people want it to be in English.

I mean having both would be nice, but most games don't do that. So just import.

Because American VA usually suck. And I wouldn't go so far as to say 97% want it in English. I just hope it doesn't turn into another Siren debacle...fuckign Japanese game, based in a Japnese town, with Japanese people...voiced by...hackneyed accented dupes.

 

[Kuro Madoushi]

Neither do most of the wannabe otaku, though of course they'll pretend otherwise.

I reckon if this game had English and Japanese audio tracks, people would still find something to bitch about with this game. So whatever...I'll get to play and enjoy it and that's all that matters to me.

Besides, it's been stated in numerous Ryu Gotoku/Yakuza threads that SCEA's licensing rules make English dubbing mandatory. Unless it's a SCEA game, in which case they can do whatever the fuck they want (hey, it's their yard).

It'd be nice if more people actually read one of the 75 instances this was previously mentioned so people can finally quit blabbering about this tired topic.

Exactly, Otaku's don't know bad Japanese VA, but they can definitely tell the difference with bad English VA...REALLY bad English Va.

And while I didn't know that SCEA reqiures mandatory dubbing, they can certainly leave Japanese voices intact in the game and let the players decide, like Disgaea.

I agree with you though, people are going to bitch regardless.

 

[Beowvlf]

No they couldnt.
Most people dont care about those, GAF is not representative of the general market.
The market wants more Sonic milking, not a deep and meaningfull game like Panzer Dragoon Saga.

You misunderstand. Not every game has to sell a million copies to be considered successful. Bringing those properties to the PSP would be ridiculously cheap (I'd bet under half a million is a definite) and I think you underestimate the hardcore Sega fanbase and the power of word-of-mouth combined with the Sega name. At a slightly lower MSRP of $30 selling a mere 50k in each major region, one would still bring in about ~$3 million in revenue after retailer profits and royalties/manufacturing (estimated at 35% of total).

There are at least 10-20 various properties Sega could leverage in this sense, and that right there is ~$30-60 million in revenue on ~$5-10 million in development and marketing costs. Sure these are ridiculously rough estimates, but I think they're reasonable enough to illustrate my point that a company like Sega, with such an expansive back catalog at it's disposal, could very easily leverage those properties for solid, low risk and low cost profits.

And while we bitch about Shadow selling any units whatsoever, it's still underperforming for a Sonic game, and shows that Sega has slowly begun to dilute the license. Falling sales combined with much higher dev costs than any PSP port equates to a much higher risk of ROI.

It doesn't even make sense anyway...nobody wanted them on the Saturn (or the Saturn itself for that matter), but the mass market wants the same games on PSP? :lol What's the evidence to support this?

As I said in response to Hajiki, I don't expect those titles to sell millions; but millions aren't required to make good profits -- not even close in fact. And while I could be wrong, I'm confident there is enough demand amongst Sega fans to, along with some word-of-mouth hype from those same individuals, bring in respectable unit sales numbers.

 

[Fishie flop oog]

You ARE wrong.
Lets just keep it at that.

 

[Polari]

EDIT: Nevermind. It's been well covered. Otaku nerds LOSE. :lol

Yay. It might not be Shenmue III, but it's the next best thing.

 

[Oblivion]

But that's how Sega was during the Genesis era...making shitty ass games like Home Alone 2 and Power Rangers which were cheaply made and sold to the masses, to fund the real games that the true Sega fan loved. That's why the bitching about Shadow the Hedgehog was just absurd to me...the game is selling and making Sega bread, and gives them more ability to fund stuff like Yakuza. Who cares that it's shit? We don't need to buy every game that's released you know.

Hell, that's what all publishers are like...Konami's current TMNT series might be utter shit, but as long as that shit continues to sell (and with three games out there I assume it's doing just that) it can help to fund the Konami games the people on this board actually care about.

I agree, but aside from this one, what was Sega's last AAA console game?

 

[chinmonster]

Yes. I just might be playing my PS2 more than my 360 this summer. Thank you, Sega.

Edit: Since everyone is talking about how similar it is to Shenmue, does it have any classic Sega games or whatever in it too?

 

[duckroll]

I agree, but aside from this one, what was Sega's last AAA console game?

Probably Panzer Dragoon Orta...... oh hey it's SMILEBIT AGAIN!

 

[DCharlie]

Yay. It might not be Shenmue III, but it's the next best thing.

fellow Shenmue whores, take a deep breath because this is going to hurt you badly...

You need to accept that Ryu Ga Gotoku doesn't just _shit_ on Shenmue , it does it from a top a 200 mile high tower in the sky , wearing a tutu whilst 15 of the worlds hottest women dance by - kissing ever droplet that splats out of the Ryubutt.

I lusted for Shenmue 3, now i don't care - i want Ryu 2..

 

[Shinobi]

here are some terrible shots i took from the projector :

Hey bitches, where are your magazines about sailors? Whose skull do i have to crack open to get that info?

No your honour, as you can see, the floor was slippy and i fell into both men, and i'm sad to say, we accidentally ended up in a position known as , i believe, "the spit roast"

hello there sweet thing, .... your brother isn't a sailor is he? Do you watch him in the shower? .... do you like Roman Gladiators?

seriously, you either let me use your make up and wear your dress, or i smash you over the head with this table, then put your face through the counter... i don't think i can be any more 'nice' than that Hiromi....

:lol Nicely done...

And while we bitch about Shadow selling any units whatsoever, it's still underperforming for a Sonic game, and shows that Sega has slowly begun to dilute the license. Falling sales combined with much higher dev costs than any PSP port equates to a much higher risk of ROI.

Shadow hasn't been proven to dilute shit. Furthermore, it's a spinoff anyway...it isn't gonna sell as well as the main game. It's like saying Knuckles Chaotix diluted the Sonic brand, or Luigi's Mansion diluted the Mario brand.

If the new Sonic game comes out and gets marginal numbers, then you'll have a point. But until that day comes, it's a pretty baseless theory in my view.

I agree, but aside from this one, what was Sega's last AAA console game?

We've been yapping about it in this very thread for the last 12 hours you twit. :lol

OutRun 2006 should be another one. VF5 speaks for itself. Afterburner Climax seems to have people buzzing, much to my surprise. And who knows what else Sega's got in store.

The last couple years didn't see much in the way of AAA material, simply because Sega's been gearing up for the new machines during that time.

 

[Polari]

fellow Shenmue whores, take a deep breath because this is going to hurt you badly...

You need to accept that Ryu Ga Gotoku doesn't just _shit_ on Shenmue , it does it from a top a 200 mile high tower in the sky , wearing a tutu whilst 15 of the worlds hottest women dance by - kissing ever droplet that splats out of the Ryubutt.

I lusted for Shenmue 3, now i don't care - i want Ryu 2..

Damn.

 

[DCharlie]

Damn.

Seriously , perhaps the combats not quite as deep, but the story is better, the characters are better etc etc...

but the translation is going to be crucial... they have to really concentrate on this and nail the attitude of someone this bad ass...

 

[Pedigree Chum]

Seriously , perhaps the combats not quite as deep, but the story is better, the characters are better etc etc...

but the translation is going to be crucial... they have to really concentrate on this and nail the attitude of someone this bad ass...

Is this a legitimately good story, or a good "game story" (ie. can't hold a candle to other mediums).

 

[Senretsu]

The combat looked pretty lame from the videos someone posted in the other thread, compared to Shenmue's. Hopefully this is one area they can improve upon before its released here (if they are able to make such a change).

 

[Count Chocula]

I'll be buying 2 Sega games this year. Yakuza and Outrun 2

 

[HomerSimpson-Man]

The combat looked pretty lame from the videos someone posted in the other thread, compared to Shenmue's. Hopefully this is one area they can improve upon before its released here (if they are able to make such a change).

Video of someone playing crappy versus praise of the combat impressions in the old thread.

 

[Bebpo]

Is this a legitimately good story, or a good "game story" (ie. can't hold a candle to other mediums).

No this is a good story that would be nominated in the oscars for screenplay if adapted word for word in a live-action film.

 

[duckroll]

Is this a legitimately good story, or a good "game story" (ie. can't hold a candle to other mediums).

It's a legitimate awesome movie/novel story. The writer is a real writer too, not a "game" writer.

 

[SuperPac]

If this game does not have an English voiceover option it will sell like a space heater in summer (i.e. WON'T). Bank it.

 

[DCharlie]

No this is a good story that would be nominated in the oscars for screenplay if adapted word for word in a live-action film

... lets not get carried away here.

It's a good screenplay by gaming standards, but we still have a LONG way to go.

 

[Aruarian Reflection]

Sega, this has been one rocky relationship, but I love you!!!

 

[Matlock]

No this is a good story that would be nominated in the oscars for screenplay if adapted word for word in a live-action film.

:lol

 

[Fishie flop oog]

EDIT: Nevermind. It's been well covered. Otaku nerds LOSE. :lol

Yay. It might not be Shenmue III, but it's the next best thing.

Its better then Shen Mue ever was in every fucking way.
Shen Mue by its fans is the most over rated game EVAH, good ideas with crappy execution do not a good game make(also see Blinx)

 

[Fishie flop oog]

I agree, but aside from this one, what was Sega's last AAA console game?

They have had a bunch the Monkeyball games for instance, or the two console ports of VF4 is another example.

 

[Fishie flop oog]

fellow Shenmue whores, take a deep breath because this is going to hurt you badly...

You need to accept that Ryu Ga Gotoku doesn't just _shit_ on Shenmue , it does it from a top a 200 mile high tower in the sky , wearing a tutu whilst 15 of the worlds hottest women dance by - kissing ever droplet that splats out of the Ryubutt.

I lusted for Shenmue 3, now i don't care - i want Ryu 2..

Quoted for mother effing truth.
Suzuki´s pupil has shown his old master how it is done and has spanked his teacher from here till kingdom come.

 

[Community Forum]

I'll be buying 2 Sega games this year. Yakuza and Outrun 2

Wait until E3.

 

[DCharlie]

Suzuki´s pupil has shown his old master how it is done and has spanked his teacher from here till kingdom come.

for me, it's ON right away when you have your first training battle with the old insurance guy and his mob who are holding out on you.

The way the slightly cheesy but instantly SEGA style music kicks in and the VS. screen splashes , then it's just so much fun. Beating old men with golf clubs, smashing thier heads into walls, just being a MEAN f*cker...

it's the Sega magic of old - you can feel it... you can smell it like whiskey on a _proper_ drunk bumbs breath...

Ryo - "i see. I have 500 yen in my pocket, i should feed my cat... after i play Space harrier and get some gatchapon ... and another can of ocha..... .... i wish i were dead. I'm the only gay in the village. "