Yeah. End of an era.
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SingaporeGAF |OT| Home to Olympic gold
- Thread starter ElyrionX
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Yeah. End of an era.
Welp. I guess arcades really -are- dead now.
Sad isn't it. Still remember going to the Funland at Shaw Towers almost every day post exams when I was in primary school (mid 90s) to play X-men Children of the Atom.
Even the arcade rooms at social clubs are being left to rot. Remember rushing down to the arcade room after my swims at SICC, which used to be updated with the latest machines.
Timezone is still alive...... LOLWelp. I guess arcades really -are- dead now.
poipoipoi9
Member
How strict are the laws regarding Food and Drink on the MRT here? Is drinking water even allowed on the trains?
As long as it's not smelly and you don't drop it everywhere no one but nosey aunties will care.
clay_ghost
Member
Water should be fine actually.
No one really cares as long as you don't make a mess.
By that I mean you can probably eat small tidbit of snacks or drinks without anyone complaining.
Of course you can drink water!
Chaos2Frozen
Member
Dont do anything you wouldn't do in your own car.
....don't do anything you wouldn't do in your dad's car.
poipoipoi9
Member
Thanks for the replies! The $500 fine plastered all over the train stations gave me a fright!
I can't guarantee that your face won't be posted on the cesspool that is STOMP though
Chaos2Frozen
Member
Nobody would be petty enough to stop you from drinking water or taking a bite out of a bread.
It's mostly to deter people from having a small pinic and leaving a mess everywhere from spills and crumbs.
No one cares. Just dont do it in front of an mrt staff.
SolidusDave
Member
Which means someone cares though.
I'm still new here but so far I have the feeling a lot of these rules (jaywalking near traffic lights as well) are not enforced until someone wants to enforce them (either because you are bold or some kind of issue happened due to your actions, or well, someone who doesn't like you sees you doing it)...
That's the case in pretty much all countries but the fines are so high here so that it makes me just not wanna risk it at all (also the possibility of getting your picture taken for the internet to see, same when being a bit too hands-on with your date/partner apparently).
Templar Wizard
Member
People were fined before $20-30 dollars before when they ate in front of mrt staff and never $500. that's just a scare tactic, but I guess if you are not a singaporean you will never know that. But if you want to be safe, then just don't eat and drink on trains and buses. Singaporeans will appreciate that in general. Water is fine though.
There are still arcades. Just that more and more of them are closing. Just a sign of the times.The only people who miss arcades are 80s and 90s kids anyways, and most of us don't have time to go arcades anymore.
SolidusDave
Member
Oh so the 500$/1000$ etc. are just the maximum fines? I was already wondering how that would be ethical to implement regarding poor people.
And yeah I can understand that people want to keep the place clean. Or don't wanna smell Durian, Templar Wizard
gustave154
Member
Really saddened by this news. Have a lot of good memories there..
SolidusDave
Member
I flew back to Germany for Christmas.
Singapore Airlines;I watched The Handmaiden during the flight.
Did not know about the very prolonged, explicit lesbian sex scenes haha My ears turned red, having an aisle seat.
Reason I'm writing this here is because I checked now online and the theatrical release in Singapore was heavily censored (of course). So SA goes by their own guidelines and doesn't have to adhere to SG standards?
Weirdly enough, on the same flight I stopped watching Bad Moms because it was hard to follow due to very obvious censorship.
Singapore Airlines;I watched The Handmaiden during the flight.
Did not know about the very prolonged, explicit lesbian sex scenes haha My ears turned red, having an aisle seat.
Reason I'm writing this here is because I checked now online and the theatrical release in Singapore was heavily censored (of course). So SA goes by their own guidelines and doesn't have to adhere to SG standards?
Weirdly enough, on the same flight I stopped watching Bad Moms because it was hard to follow due to very obvious censorship.
This reminds me of a story.
I was born near the midpoint of 80s and 90s. During the early 00s, I once saw a working adult playing street fighter II in an acrade located at basement of Bugis Junction. He was using Ken and the Com was using Blankai.
He lost, the Blankai was merely standing still most of the times using Electric Thunder.
Welp. This truly has been a frustrating experience to try and get Nier:Automata CE locally.
Our release dates are all over the place. Is it Feb? Mar? Qisahn opened pre-orders for it, without 1) a price, placeholder being $999 2) any info on what the hell is in it, although they use the black box pic 3) a solid date. Worst thing is they require a deposit. I couldn't bring myself to jump in without knowing the price so all I could do was watch as it sold out online.
Meanwhile, Gamewerks tells me they won't be bringing the CE in and Play-Asia removed their listing for the Eng CE and replaced it with a Chi CE and a release date of 28 Mar instead.
God dammit Asia fucking sucks.
Our release dates are all over the place. Is it Feb? Mar? Qisahn opened pre-orders for it, without 1) a price, placeholder being $999 2) any info on what the hell is in it, although they use the black box pic 3) a solid date. Worst thing is they require a deposit. I couldn't bring myself to jump in without knowing the price so all I could do was watch as it sold out online.
Meanwhile, Gamewerks tells me they won't be bringing the CE in and Play-Asia removed their listing for the Eng CE and replaced it with a Chi CE and a release date of 28 Mar instead.
God dammit Asia fucking sucks.
clay_ghost
Member
Dude, it's a sign that it's time to brush up on your Chinese =P
Ya, I am surprised at how there are (or seems to be) always more CE of Chinese version of the games than English CE, I guess they sell more?
Chaos2Frozen
Member
It's highly likely someone might have just slipped up somewhere lol.
Five days sounds about the right amount of time though ^^; it's a small place.
Reminds me that Myammar also said the same thing recently, they want to have our economy in 20 years.
SolidusDave
Member
I'm getting a free ticket for the Sentosa beach party today from someone who can't go.
It says tickets are not transferable, does anyone here know if they actually are bound to your ID or if they just check ID on site for age reasons and don't care about actual identify?
It says tickets are not transferable, does anyone here know if they actually are bound to your ID or if they just check ID on site for age reasons and don't care about actual identify?
700 hundred? Why not just buy a cheaper ticket and free youself of guilt.
But what the heck, if you love them just buy it. One time wont hurt.
Life is short.
Then again, it's just Coldplay. And the accoustics at the National Stadium are almost certainly going to be horrible.
I don't love them that much except for nostalgia and regrets acting up.
Aye, I'm convinced now.
Thanks.
vonStirlitz
Unconfirmed Member
Anyone know why the Singapore PS Store is so bad?
In terms of PS4 games, no rock band despite being out for over a year. In terms of PSVR, no Eve, Lethal VR, Fruit Ninja and countless others, despite being released in loads of other regions.
Why does SGP have less software? Licensing issues or lazy Sony?
In terms of PS4 games, no rock band despite being out for over a year. In terms of PSVR, no Eve, Lethal VR, Fruit Ninja and countless others, despite being released in loads of other regions.
Why does SGP have less software? Licensing issues or lazy Sony?
I own a PS4 but have not played much since getting it. But it's been like this since the PS3 days. Sony doesn't give a shit about our market. Too small. Just look at the number of PSVR units brought in. Meanwhile, anyone in the US who wants one can get one. It's stupid.
MS does a much better job in this area.
vonStirlitz
Unconfirmed Member
True. Except I still can't find Elite on the Xbox store!
Chaos2Frozen
Member
It's not just Singapore, it's also the Hong Kong store, and I get the feeling all of SEA.
It's fine for the big AAA releases but you are fucked out of luck for smaller titles. I spoke to a PSN Asia rep once for why Trails of Cold Steel 2 has not been released for PSN when it's all over PlayE. That person suggested that it could be something to do with our localisation process... more specifically the process of approving these stuff because we're getting the same localizations as the west so you know we're not doing it ourselves from scratch.
It's fine for the big AAA releases but you are fucked out of luck for smaller titles. I spoke to a PSN Asia rep once for why Trails of Cold Steel 2 has not been released for PSN when it's all over PlayE. That person suggested that it could be something to do with our localisation process... more specifically the process of approving these stuff because we're getting the same localizations as the west so you know we're not doing it ourselves from scratch.
Sony has always been lazy and incompetent in this region.
Back in the PS1 and PS2 days, the console and games that Sony officially brought into Singapore/SEA were straight out of Japan. EVERYTHING was in Japanese. Packaging. Manuals. Software. Sorry Sony but nobody wants your stupid overpriced moon language games.
Then MS launched its OG Xbox in Singapore with official "Asian" versions which were essentially US versions with Chinese language on the packaging and manuals. And the games were 2/3 the price of the parallel imported US versions. Not sure if this lit a fire under Sony's ass but it took them a whole generation (only in PS3 era) to respond with their own Asian version of games.
Back in the PS1 and PS2 days, the console and games that Sony officially brought into Singapore/SEA were straight out of Japan. EVERYTHING was in Japanese. Packaging. Manuals. Software. Sorry Sony but nobody wants your stupid overpriced moon language games.
Then MS launched its OG Xbox in Singapore with official "Asian" versions which were essentially US versions with Chinese language on the packaging and manuals. And the games were 2/3 the price of the parallel imported US versions. Not sure if this lit a fire under Sony's ass but it took them a whole generation (only in PS3 era) to respond with their own Asian version of games.
The reason behind it has to do with red tape, licensing, and other complications. The biggest hurdle is that the Asian stores are distinct from the US store for example, and handled by a different division in Sony. This means that American publishers releasing stuff digitally might not even be aware that we exist as an English speaking market. This is complicated by the fact that Taiwan and Hong Kong are seen as Chinese language markets with their own localizations, the same with South Korea and Japan. Non-English territories.
English only games released in the US with no Chinese, Korean, or Japanese localizations tend to fall into a void. Sometimes if the publisher is aware, they get published here pretty quickly because they bother to do the extra paperwork. There might or might not be additional cost in the process as well. For indie developers, if they are published by Sony, this usually isn't a problem because it pops up everywhere. If they are publishing on their own, this is a constant issue. I asked on Twitter before why Shovel Knight isn't on the Singapore store for example, and the developers replied that they've been actively looking into Asian publishing but it sounds like something they can't just push a button on and have it work.
We can also see a difference in how some US publishers operate when they localize Japanese titles. When Aksys released Exist Archive, it was released in the Asian store immediately as well. The DLC release has also been on time. On the other hand, XSEED drags their feet like they do with European releases. Despite stores here selling Cold Steel 2 at the same time as the US release, the digital store front lagged behind considerably. I wasn't able to buy any of the DLC for over a month since release because they were just taking their time. I don't think they do this for shits and giggles, so it's probably just a slow process as they approach each region differently. Why? I have no idea.
This isn't entirely a Sony issue. It's an industry wide publisher issue. On Sony's end, I would say their fault lies in not having more streamlined approval processes and not informing their partners more carefully in what regions they should publish in by default if they have English rights.
English only games released in the US with no Chinese, Korean, or Japanese localizations tend to fall into a void. Sometimes if the publisher is aware, they get published here pretty quickly because they bother to do the extra paperwork. There might or might not be additional cost in the process as well. For indie developers, if they are published by Sony, this usually isn't a problem because it pops up everywhere. If they are publishing on their own, this is a constant issue. I asked on Twitter before why Shovel Knight isn't on the Singapore store for example, and the developers replied that they've been actively looking into Asian publishing but it sounds like something they can't just push a button on and have it work.
We can also see a difference in how some US publishers operate when they localize Japanese titles. When Aksys released Exist Archive, it was released in the Asian store immediately as well. The DLC release has also been on time. On the other hand, XSEED drags their feet like they do with European releases. Despite stores here selling Cold Steel 2 at the same time as the US release, the digital store front lagged behind considerably. I wasn't able to buy any of the DLC for over a month since release because they were just taking their time. I don't think they do this for shits and giggles, so it's probably just a slow process as they approach each region differently. Why? I have no idea.
This isn't entirely a Sony issue. It's an industry wide publisher issue. On Sony's end, I would say their fault lies in not having more streamlined approval processes and not informing their partners more carefully in what regions they should publish in by default if they have English rights.
vonStirlitz
Unconfirmed Member
That makes a lot of sense. Still. You would hope that Sony would recognise Singapore as a predominantly English speaking market and have streamlined release mechanisms for SGP. Seems like a no brainier. Increased profits for Sony and the devs. With little extra work (I would assume).
Chaos2Frozen
Member
But see this is only an issue for smaller titles.
We have games like Nioh and Horizon up for preorder two months in advance.... English version.
We have games like Nioh and Horizon up for preorder two months in advance.... English version.
vonStirlitz
Unconfirmed Member
It would be less of an issue if we got all the Japanese releases. But we don't have Summer Lesson for PSVR either. At least, that is what my friend said...
Sony does recognize Singapore as an English speaking region. The issue is making sure publishers who mostly do business in US and Europe (like your Rock Band example) understanding that there is a market in Asia for English games. Also keep in mind that the SEA region is not just Singapore. Think of it as Europe, where each country has their own store, but the content is handled on a region basis with consideration for all countries as far as possible.
The situation isn't ideal, but I don't think anyone is trying to screw us on purpose here. Way better situation than Nintendo anyway, where Maxsoft distributes for Nintendo, but Nintendo doesn't even care about the region at all to have a storefront here. Gotta love paying Canadian tax just to buy off the eShop. Yay!
The situation isn't ideal, but I don't think anyone is trying to screw us on purpose here. Way better situation than Nintendo anyway, where Maxsoft distributes for Nintendo, but Nintendo doesn't even care about the region at all to have a storefront here. Gotta love paying Canadian tax just to buy off the eShop. Yay!
We also get Chinese versions instead of Japanese versions for some games. Sega is starting to do this more. Falcom does this for everything now. It's annoying for people who want to buy the Japanese games and not the Chinese ones. Oh and I love how Square Enix dragged their feet on releasing Scarlet Grace on the Asian stores, only for it to finally arrive way later for 80 SGD. Lol! That's the exact price I paid for getting the retail game off Amazon Japan and it arriving on the day of release via DHL. Awesome digital pricing! Meanwhile FFXV is 84 SGD... I'm not sure how they decide these things.
It's not hard. Microsoft has been doing this since the 360 days and Sony still hasn't got its shit together now, it seems like. Microsoft has a streamlined global digital publishing process for all digital titles and this was always very clear. Even big AAA releases are released on the Xbox One store one or two days ahead of PS4.
You can't compare this to Nintendo. Sony has a significant presence here due to its consumer electronics business. It should have its shit together.
vonStirlitz
Unconfirmed Member
Problem with the Chinese releases are they are all in fanti. Hard enough reading simplified as an angmoh, but complex characters renders me illiterate. Sigh.
It's actually pretty hard. I'm not saying this in a "it can't be done" way, but if you claim we can't compare them with Nintendo, then we can't compare them with Microsoft either. Microsoft's biggest advantage going into gaming is that they are first and foremost a multinational software company that is not only fully aware of all international markets and needs, but they also have very strong infrastructural to implement strong standards across all markets based on their experience and existing support in all these regions.
Sony is a fragmented company with interests in hardware electronics, gaming software and hardware, the film industry, etc. It might seem like they have a strong presence all over the world, but their actual business infrastructure doesn't remotely give them the advantage Microsoft has. It's unfortunate, but that's how it is. It doesn't help that the way Sony's leadership and business culture works, the Asian region is under the purview of Japanese business management rather than a local head office for the region which is better positioned to make big decisions.
It's not "hard" for Nintendo to give a shit about more regions and take an active stance in attracting as large an international audience as possible either. They just have to do it. They don't do it because it doesn't seem to be something they are aware of or interested in. In the same way, the sort of company Sony is holds them back. What is easy for Microsoft is hard for everyone else, because you don't build this sort of international business overnight. Microsoft was way ahead of everyone's game in this regard before they even stepped into gaming.
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