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[Danny Dudekisser]

Sounds rough... but thinking about it, I don't really want to wait for the sequel. I guess I'll play through Xenoblade first, and then play Cold Steel anyway. It helps knowing it won't be an indefinite wait for the sequel.

 

[Dio]

Sounds rough... but thinking about it, I don't really want to wait for the sequel. I guess I'll play through Xenoblade first, and then play Cold Steel anyway. It helps knowing it won't be an indefinite wait for the sequel.

Yeah, the fact that it's coming next year (and they've already proved that they were able to announce and then release Cold Steel in the same year) is good peace of mind.

I really, really, REALLY want to play the Crossbell games (Trails of Zero and Trails of Azure) but it's totally understandable why Falcom wants them to hurry the fuck up and catch up with the Japanese releases. Maybe we'll be able to get CSIII the year after it comes out? Maybe even the same year if they work with Falcom pre-release.

 

[chaosblade]

Yeah, the fact that it's coming next year (and they've already proved that they were able to announce and then release Cold Steel in the same year) is good peace of mind.

I really, really, REALLY want to play the Crossbell games (Trails of Zero and Trails of Azure) but it's totally understandable why Falcom wants them to hurry the fuck up and catch up with the Japanese releases. Maybe we'll be able to get CSIII the year it comes out? Maybe even the same year if they work with Falcom pre-release.

Falcom is apparently extremely secretive, it doesn't seem like they would be willing to do anything pre-release.

Best case scenario seems like a year to a year and a half from start to finish, I think that's about what CS2 is looking to be. Assuming XSEED is interested in picking it up after CS1/CS2.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Yeah, the fact that it's coming next year (and they've already proved that they were able to announce and then release Cold Steel in the same year) is good peace of mind.

I really, really, REALLY want to play the Crossbell games (Trails of Zero and Trails of Azure) but it's totally understandable why Falcom wants them to hurry the fuck up and catch up with the Japanese releases. Maybe we'll be able to get CSIII the year it comes out? Maybe even the same year if they work with Falcom pre-release.

They got really lucky with the way the Crossbell and Erebonia games take place concurrently to one another. I definitely hear you on Crossbell. I'd do anything to raise awareness of this series so that its success might make an English Zero and Azure become a reality.

On that note, we got really lucky that they announced Cold Steel I and II at the same time, especially when the future of the series was looking grim.

 

[Aeana]

Falcom is apparently extremely secretive, it doesn't seem like they would be willing to do anything pre-release.

Best case scenario seems like a year to a year and a half from start to finish, I think that's about what CS2 is looking to be. Assuming XSEED is interested in picking it up after CS1/CS2.

But they have. Cold Steel 2 released simultaneously in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. I don't see why XSEED couldn't also do the same for an English release.

 

[chaosblade]

But they have. Cold Steel 2 released simultaneously in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. I don't see why XSEED couldn't also do the same for an English release.

Tom has basically said it's out of the question and that they won't tell XSEED anything until the games come out in Japan. I wonder if that's old info, especially considering a few months ago Falcom said they were going to continue to push international releases.

 

[Dio]

They got really lucky with the way the Crossbell and Erebonia games take place concurrently to one another. I definitely hear you on Crossbell. I'd do anything to raise awareness of this series so that its success might make an English Zero and Azure become a reality.

On that note, we got really lucky that they announced Cold Steel I and II at the same time, especially when the future of the series was looking grim.

Well, here's the thing - Zero/Azure are PSP titles. We aren't getting the Vita versions (Evolution remakes) thanks to the ridiculous rights fuckery that is the Evolution titles

(1. Chara-Ani does voice acting for those, and are notoriously protective of their VAs. It's why Cold Steel is dub only.

2. Pyramid/Kadokawa made the Evolution titles, not Falcom. That's a third company you'd need to negotiate localization with)

Next off, SC is XSEED's last PSP title, as they've said publicly.

What does this mean?

It means our only chance is on PC. However, only Zero got an 'official PC release' in Japan, but Azure got a shitty Chinese PC port that would need to be completely overhauled to be worth releasing.

There are a lot of hurdles here.

 

[Burning Justice]

Mine still says on track for today, but the last update was an arrival scan at 6 AM this morning a couple cities away and it hasn't been updated since then.

Yeah, this is pretty much where it's at for me too. It's now three hours after when it said it was going to arrive.

Oh well. Wish they wouldn't have gotten my hopes up!

 

[chaosblade]

Well, here's the thing - Zero/Azure are PSP titles. We aren't getting the Vita versions (Evolution remakes) thanks to the ridiculous rights fuckery that is the Evolution titles

(1. Chara-Ani does voice acting for those, and are protective of their VAs. It's why Cold Steel is dub only.

2. Pyramid/Kadokawa made the remakes, not Falcom. That's a third company you'd need to negotiate localization with)

Next off, SC is XSEED's last PSP title.

What does this mean?

It means our only chance is on PC. However, only Zero got an 'official PC release' in Japan, but Azure got a shitty Chinese PC port that would need to be completely overhauled to be worth releasing.

There are a lot of hurdles here.

Isn't Zero's PC version just the Chinese version with Japanese text and the intrusive DRM stripped out? I don't think Azure is any more of a hurdle in that regard, both would likely need extensive reworking to meet the standards XSEED/Sara have for their Steam releases.

 

[Dio]

Isn't Zero's PC version just the Chinese version with Japanese text and the intrusive DRM stripped out? I don't think Azure is any less of a hurdle in that regard, both would likely need extensive reworking to meet the standards XSEED/Sara have for their Steam releases.

Yes, it is. I wasn't meaning to downplay it as 'oh it would be SO EASY,' I just mean it's less work than Azure would be because it's already had the DRM stripped out. Both would be an undertaking.

Hell, even Trails in the Sky FC/SC needed crazy hacking to get things done and those were native PC games. I mean sure, they modded in improvements from the PSP versions of the games, and added widescreen among other things, but still, Sara's work was ridiculous for that stuff. I can't imagine what would need to happen for Zero/Azure to get working at XSEED PC standards.

 

[hawk2025]

Yeah, this is pretty much where it's at for me too. It's now three hours after when it said it was going to arrive.

Oh well. Wish they wouldn't have gotten my hopes up!

Exact same thing, in California.

Damn it.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Yes. A bigger cliffhanger than FC, honestly.
But you don't really have to worry about the sequel, it's underway and it won't suffer the same fate as SC.

Thirst...thirst never changes.

Hey, that's not a bad OT tagline, actually!

 

[chaosblade]

But they have. Cold Steel 2 released simultaneously in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. I don't see why XSEED couldn't also do the same for an English release.

Asked about this on XSEED's forum. Got a thin response.

On GAF some discussion is going on and it was brought up that Falcom has been working with external companies for simultaneous Asian language releases. Tom has said before that that Falcom isn't willing to talk about anything before games come out in Japan though. So there is some inconsistency here - is that old info, might Falcom be more willing to work with XSEED pre-release now that they are more heavily focusing on international releases? Or is the treatment of the Asian language market different than that of the English market (that is, they just aren't willing to work with XSEED, but are willing to work with Sony or whoever else)?

Probably the latter. We know very little about the Asian Falcom releases.

-Tom

 

[CrovaxPSO]

Exact same thing, in California.

Damn it.

Yeah, also California here. Oh well.

 

[hawk2025]

Yeah, also California here. Oh well.

Drivers are not used to rain anymore around these parts

 

[Dio]

Asked about this on XSEED's forum. Got a thin response.

Well, yeah, that's the basic gist of things. China and the surrounding Asian territories historically have a good relationship with Falcom releases - there's a reason the games get ported to PC specifically for the Chinese market.

I have a feeling (and this is speculation) that Falcom has been fucked over a lot when trying to break into the West and judges accordingly. Whether it be the PSP version of Trails bombing (not really XSEED's fault there, since the PSP was dead already in the West when it was released) or SC taking way longer than expected to get out the door, or the myriad problems over the years (see: the localization of the Gagharv trilogy having an ass translation and the localization changed the battle system for the worse, although that was on Bandai Namco) that they prioritize Asian regions.

Falcom is a very conservative company and doesn't take many risks when it comes to business decisions. I can see exactly why they are so hesitant to really jump into the West. There's a good reason why Falcom was so surprised when XSEED's PC releases of Oath in Felghana and Origin blew the cap off of sales expectations.

 

[hawk2025]

Memories of Celceta did pretty well on the Vita though, no?

I seem to recall reading something along those lines.

It also still holds the trophy for best Vita limited edition ever with the amazing and refreshing 3-disc soundtrack (no samplers! who would've thought!). So good.

 

[Aeana]

Well, yeah, that's the basic gist of things. China and the surrounding Asian territories historically have a good relationship with Falcom releases - there's a reason the games get ported to PC specifically for the Chinese market.

I have a feeling (and this is speculation) that Falcom has been fucked over a lot when trying to break into the West and judges accordingly. Whether it be the PSP version of Trails bombing (not really XSEED's fault there, since the PSP was dead already in the West when it was released) or SC taking way longer than expected to get out the door, or the myriad problems over the years (see: the localization of the Gagharv trilogy having an ass translation and the localization changed the battle system for the worse, although that was on Bandai Namco) that they prioritize Asian regions.

Falcom is a very conservative company and doesn't take many risks when it comes to business decisions. I can see exactly why they are so hesitant to really jump into the West. There's a good reason why Falcom was so surprised when XSEED's PC releases of Oath in Felghana and Origin blew the cap off of sales expectations.

Falcom has a long history of licensing out its properties to whomever is willing to pay, and the result is a long line of questionable port jobs. The primary difference with XSEED is that they need Falcom to do programming for them. However, that is definitely the case with the Chinese/Korean releases of Cold Steel as well, so unless XSEED's legacy with SC has damaged their relationship that badly, I find it strange that Falcom wouldn't be willing to work with them ahead of release in the same way.

 

[StereoVsn]

Frankly I shudder at the thought of Cold Steel 2 sales when the game is going to release late 2016 as a Vita/PS3 sequel of a December 2015 Vita/PS3 release. That's going into horrible sales territory.

Hell, Cold Steel 1 is going to do pretty terribly due to release timing and the platforms. Neither is Xseed's fault but just unfortunate circumstances.

Question is with the results (or possibly lack there of) will Xseed and Falcom even attempt Cold Steel 3 release.

 

[hawk2025]

You guys are making me worry about Ys 8.


Please don't make me worry about Ys 8.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Falcom has a long history of licensing out its properties to whomever is willing to pay, and the result is a long line of questionable port jobs. The primary difference with XSEED is that they need Falcom to do programming for them. However, that is definitely the case with the Chinese/Korean releases of Cold Steel as well, so unless XSEED's legacy with SC has damaged their relationship that badly, I find it strange that Falcom wouldn't be willing to work with them ahead of release in the same way.

Does this mean Falcom would hypothetically be willing to help XSeed with an Ao PC port?

 

[Dandy Crocodile]

The OT is up!

 

[t26]

The difference between English and Chinese release of Falcom games is that Falcom is the publisher for Chinese version with Sony Taiwan handling the localization. (It also appeared Sony Taiwan does some of the advertising/promotion). Either way the relationship between Falcom and Sony Taiwan is different from Falcom and Xseed

Does this mean Falcom would hypothetically be willing to help XSeed with an Ao PC port?

No, as Falcom had nothing to do with PC version.

 

[Nightengale]

What t26 said.

Falcom/Kondo is front and center when promoting Chinese versions of Cold Steel as the publisher, with Sony Taiwan supporting on the localisation front.

It's clearly not a licensing-model relationship with the Chinese releases of Cold Steel, unlike everything else Falcom does with XSEED, Chinese PC ports or the Kadokawa EVO ports.

 

[Pellegri Testament]

Frankly I shudder at the thought of Cold Steel 2 sales when the game is going to release late 2016 as a Vita/PS3 sequel of a December 2015 Vita/PS3 release. That's going into horrible sales territory.

Hell, Cold Steel 1 is going to do pretty terribly due to release timing and the platforms. Neither is Xseed's fault but just unfortunate circumstances.

Question is with the results (or possibly lack there of) will Xseed and Falcom even attempt Cold Steel 3 release.

If Xseed bringing out Cold Steel 2 next year would pose an issue, then I would question why there's more than just a handful of other games being released as well for those same platforms. If there was really a problem with releasing something on Vita in 2016 then I highly doubt we'd see all the announcements that have been made in the last several months. Neither system is doing poorly enough that releases can't still be profitable, especially considering the majority of them are ones that didn't have huge development costs or marketing.

 

[Basileus777]

If Xseed bringing out Cold Steel 2 next year would pose an issue, then I would question why there's more than just a handful of other games being released as well for those same platforms. If there was really a problem with releasing something on Vita or PS3 in 2016 then I highly doubt we'd see all the announcements that have been made in the last several months. Neither system is doing poorly enough that releases can't still be profitable, especially considering the majority of them are ones that didn't have huge development costs or marketing.

That applies to the Vita which is still getting plenty of games localized, but the PS3? The PS3 is barely getting anything anymore, the 2nd half of 2015 was already a desert for releases.

 

[Pellegri Testament]

That applies to the Vita which is still getting plenty of games localized, but the PS3? The PS3 is barely getting anything anymore, 2014 was its last hurrah.

Ya probably shouldn't have mentioned that looking at the games again lol. Either way, surely the PS3 version of CS 2 can't do too terribly next year if enough people like CS 1 on it, just if there's a PS3 version of CS 3 then that one may be debatable here.

 

[StereoVsn]

If Xseed bringing out Cold Steel 2 next year would pose an issue, then I would question why there's more than just a handful of other games being released as well for those same platforms. If there was really a problem with releasing something on Vita in 2016 then I highly doubt we'd see all the announcements that have been made in the last several months. Neither system is doing poorly enough that releases can't still be profitable, especially considering the majority of them are ones that didn't have huge development costs or marketing.

That heavily depends on IP and publisher. For example, Namco did pretty good job with SAO (both games) plus it's an IP that a lot of people know. So one can expect decent sales in the West and the 3rd game which is coming for 2016 is PS4/Vita. Lost Song was also on PS4.

If you look at majority of releases its mostly PS4/Vita with very few Vita only titles (like Gundam VS which just came out of nowhere and is going to pretty much not sell) and really no PS3/Vita titles in 2016.

Trails has an issue with the IP in the West (witness SC sales, compounded by terrible marketing, release window and delays). PS3 is dead in software sales unless you are Call of Duty, EA Sports Game or something like that. It's bad enough right now, but in a year, it's going to be completely dead.

Vita is getting some games next year (surprisingly quite a few) but most are PS4/Vita combo again so YMMV on that. Cold Steel 2 does not have the luxury and most times sequel sales are worse (again, witness SC vs FC sales). We shall see, but I remain very pessimistic. Frankly I think Falcom and Xseed missed their opportunity plus Falcom being conservative and refusing to port to PS4 ala Bandai Namco.

Mind you, personally, I am excited for a lot of these old platform games and will be buying a lot of the Japanese output no matter what the system is like (heck, bought Summon Nights 5 for PSP ), but Neogaf is not enough for decent support and even here response to Cold Steel is low.

 

[Ranmo]

Uh oh seems that I'm going to end up caving and buy it digitally on ps3. My amazon pre-order isn't going to arrive until Monday apparently. Yet a game I bought on sale yesterday is going to arrive tomorrow...

Though I was going to use it as a starting point. Maybe this is a sign to play FC on my days off from work this week...

 

[Neoweee]

Uh oh seems that I'm going to end up caving and buy it digitally on ps3. My amazon pre-order isn't going to arrive until Monday apparently. Yet a game I bought on sale yesterday is going to arrive tomorrow...

Though I was going to use it as a starting point. Maybe this is a sign to play FC on my days off from work this week...

"Want it Tuesday, Dec. 29? Order within 99 hrs 9 mins and choose One-Day Shipping at checkout"

Thanks, Amazon.

I cancelled my preorder and will just hope to swing by a Gamestop. Or just grab it digitally.

 

[Ranmo]

"Want it Tuesday, Dec. 29? Order within 99 hrs 9 mins and choose One-Day Shipping at checkout"

Thanks, Amazon.

I cancelled my preorder and will just hope to swing by a Gamestop. Or just grab it digitally.

You know. I really like Amazon and I have so many things pre-ordered. But this sucks. Also Xenoblade X straight got lost in the mail. I ended up having to get a refund and bought it at Toys R Us. At least this time they aren't lying to me about an arrival date.

I'll just blame the holidays...though if this keeps up in January...oh boy. Doubt it though.

 

[TomcatTheLion]

My copy was delivered today even though the original delivery date was Dec 24.

 

[Mr.Jeff]

We shall see, but I remain very pessimistic. Frankly I think Falcom and Xseed missed their opportunity plus Falcom being conservative and refusing to port to PS4 ala Bandai Namco.

Ehh, I don't think Falcom were being conservative per se. Considering they've yet to release anything on PS4 as yet, I can't imagine a port being a simple job of copy paste onto a new format.
Even then, putting a small team onto that task for (primarily) a western release when they've yet to see such a mad return from western audiences especially for the Trails series seems counter-productive for those staff when they can be working on newer stuff.

You could argue that they should also be looking to move (perhaps) back into PC co-development like so many other companies are but I seem to recall reading somewhere that Falcom no longer has the same number of PC devs as before.

 

[Neoweee]

You know. I really like Amazon and I have so many things pre-ordered. But this sucks. Also Xenoblade X straight got lost in the mail. I ended up having to get a refund and bought it at Toys R Us. At least this time they aren't lying to me about an arrival date.

I'll just blame the holidays...though if this keeps up in January...oh boy. Doubt it though.

It isn't them taking time off for holidays. It is them dealing with the giant backlog of shipping that they have to make sure is delivered before Christmas. Games that come out Christmas week are just completely SOL, I guess.

Looks like my first time going digital on the PS3 I've had packed away for over a year. Plenty of room on that hard drive!

 

[aravuus]

Didn't get the game, thank god lmao. Maybe now I'll get some work done over the next couple of days.

Spoiler

 

[atomsk]

no manual in the lionheart edition vita version.

you'd think even if Sony doesn't want a manual in the Vita box, they could have snuck one inside the LE box, oh well.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

So I added that to my Christmas wishlist a while ago, just because, not really expecting anything due to the release date.

And lo and behold, from my in-laws, I unwrap this:

Whoaaaaa.

Spoiler

Gotta play SC first, right? xD