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[Blam]

http://atlus.com/atlus-and-emulation/

You might have heard earlier today that we issued a DMCA takedown notice involving emulation developer group RPCS3 and their Patreon page. Yes, it's true. We settled upon this action for two reasons:

1. We believe that our fans best experience our titles (like Persona 5) on the actual platforms for which they are developed. We don't want their first experiences to be framerate drops, or crashes, or other issues that can crop up in emulation that we have not personally overseen. We understand that many Persona fans would love to see a PC version. And while we don't have anything to announce today, we are listening! For now, the best way to experience Persona 5 is on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3.

2. We appreciate the awareness generated by the emulation community for Persona 5 and know that it is a fantastic example of how much people are loving our game. We want to keep bringing you titles like Persona 5. Unfortunately, when our content is illegally circumvented and potentially made available for free, in a format we do not think delivers the experience and quality we intend, it undermines our ability to do so by diverting potential support from new audiences.
We want to continue having a dialogue about where and how you would like to play our games. Please let us know what you think.

Turn me into an emulator if old.

 

[Deft Beck]

This is a very even-handed statement. Though it won't stop people from emulating (their legally obtained rips).

I'm sure this will make Atlus US talk more seriously to Atlus JP about PC ports. I think that fans have had enough of the runaround by now.

 

[Mcdohl]

Dat PC ACK.

It's better than nothing I guess.

 

[Plasma]

Please let us know what you think.

You are out of touch.

 

[kulapik]

Of course they went the emulation = piracy route. Fuck off

 

[Soulflarz]

Still doesn't let them legally block an emulator

 

[Lemstar]

doesn't mention that dmca takedown failed
doesn't mention that it wasn't even a legal takedown in the first place
implies that emulation is illegal

sasuga

 

[KZXcellent]

Still a terrible move.

 

[BiggNife]

I wouldn't be surprised if this is an Atlus Japan decision and Atlus US is just trying to do damage control on something they have no say over, just like the streaming thing.

 

[The Pet of the Month]

I think these statements are flimsy, but at least it got ATLUS talking about PC ports.

 

[Eolz]

And while we don’t have anything to announce today, we are listening!

Sounds like their past statements about treating european players better, or localizing some game in the future.
Persona 1 PC confirmed for 2030!

 

[alr1ght]

Ahh, the old emulation = piracy argument.

Unfortunately, when our content is illegally circumvented and potentially made available for free

best not release on PS3 since that can be pirated.

 

[xemumanic]

doesn't mention that dmca takedown failed
doesn't mention that it wasn't even a legal takedown in the first place
implies that emulation is illegal

sasuga

And here is where the thread should end. This is pretty much all that needs to be said on the situation.

 

[NinjaCoachZ]

Do they have literally no idea what the Streisand effect is.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is an Atlus Japan decision and Atlus US is just trying to do damage control on something they have no say over, just like the streaming thing.

Yeah, you can tell by the wording both in that post and this one that Atlus US are not entirely happy about this. Still a bummer and it puts into perspective that something is seriously wrong with the dynamic between Atlus Japan and US.

It'd be nicer if they were able to just take the "we're taking your feedback" part of the statement speak for itself. The rest only makes things look worse.

 

[kulapik]

I wouldn't be surprised if this is an Atlus Japan decision and Atlus US is just trying to do damage control on something they have no say over, just like the streaming thing.

Pretty much.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I think this is all reasonable. Let's not pretend like emulation, while obviously not piracy, doesn't make piracy a hell of a lot easier.

But, it would be cool to see a real PC port, obviously.

 

[Hektor]

I wouldn't be surprised if this is an Atlus Japan decision and Atlus US is just trying to do damage control on something they have no say over, just like the streaming thing.

That's most likely it

 

[BrettHeazy]

P5 PC Port 2024

 

[artsi]

Please let us know what you think.

As someone who bought Persona 5 two times, both JP and EU collector's editions, I think that this is bullshit and you should be ashamed of yourselves.

 

[Linkark07]

Big daddy Atlus knows best how we should play their games.

If somebody wants to emulate the game to see if they can have a better experience, let them be. Stop posting bullshit excuses Atlus.

Ahh, the old emulation = piracy argument.


best not release on PS3 since that can be pirated.

Or 3DS. You know, I have some acquaintances who believe since I'm dumping the cart to my SD card I'm pirating the game. I only roll my eyes in disbelief.

 

[Iva Demilcol]

I'll just say I agree with their statement and will now hide in a corner and won't return to this thread for a while.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Both arguments are true for every game ever made on every system ever made, so unless there's a part 2 blog post that explains why unique among the tens of thousands of commercially published games ever made, only Persona 5 needs its own rules. Only Persona 5 needs takedown notices for Twitch. Only Atlus games need to use the region locking functionality. Only Persona 5 needs emulator takedowns.

The best part about this is that Atlus USA benefitted immensely from all the things they tried to stop. Persona 5 Twitch takedown notices? One of the things that made the series gain such a huge following was long-play streams of the earlier games in the series. Region locking? The whole reason Atlus USA had one of their biggest hits ever, Demon's Souls, was because of high import demand for the game. Emulator takedowns? The culture of fan translations is why anyone has ever heard of half of Atlus' shit.

Absolutely fucking embarrassing. You reap what you sow, dumbasses.

 

[Mozendo]

Don't care about the situation, but they could have kept their mouths shut.

 

[Blam]

doesn't mention that dmca takedown failed
doesn't mention that it wasn't even a legal takedown in the first place
implies that emulation is illegal

sasuga

Sounds very much like it came from Legal, and not from the people at the company.

Both arguments are true for every game ever made on every system ever made, so unless there's a part 2 blog post that explains why unique among the tens of thousands of commercially published games ever made, only Persona 5 needs its own rules. Only Persona 5 needs takedown notices for Twitch. Only Atlus games need to use the region locking functionality. Only Persona 5 needs emulator takedowns.

The best part about this is that Atlus USA benefitted immensely from all the things they tried to stop. Persona 5 Twitch takedown notices? One of the things that made the series gain such a huge following was long-play streams of the earlier games in the series. Region locking? The whole reason Atlus USA had one of their biggest hits ever, Demon's Souls, was because of high import demand for the game. Emulator takedowns? The culture of fan translations is why anyone has ever heard of half of Atlus' shit.

Absolutely fucking embarrassing. You reap what you sow, dumbasses.

This is absolutely fucking true to the fullest. I couldn't have said it better.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Nocturne PC Port 2024

Let's be realistic

 

[PshycoNinja]

Wow... Just wow.

Edit: I love they take a moment in the second point to tout their own horn about how "amazing a game they made" while talking about why they want to send out DMCA notices with anything Persona 5 related.

"Oh the best way to play is on PS4." Even though you won't let people use the features on the PS4 like screenshots and live streaming? Yeah okay...

 

[Deft Beck]

This makes me think that PC gamers should make a lot more noise about wanting Persona 5, and possibly other entries, on PC.

We need a Project Rainfall, of sorts. Perhaps even license out the PS3 emulator to sell a PC version? That way, all of the dev effort isn't wasted.

 

[BronsonLee]

wtf makes P5 so special that it should be immune and hidden from all streaming/emulation things

Like I've played the game, it's great, but what's the deal

 

[twentytwo22]

Wait

They filed a DMCA takedown over a software emulator? The software emulator itself?

And people are okay with this?

 

[Dio Brando]

Both arguments are true for every game ever made on every system ever made, so unless there's a part 2 blog post that explains why unique among the tens of thousands of commercially published games ever made, only Persona 5 needs its own rules. Only Persona 5 needs takedown notices for Twitch. Only Atlus games need to use the region locking functionality. Only Persona 5 needs emulator takedowns.

The best part about this is that Atlus USA benefitted immensely from all the things they tried to stop. Persona 5 Twitch takedown notices? One of the things that made the series gain such a huge following was long-play streams of the earlier games in the series. Region locking? The whole reason Atlus USA had one of their biggest hits ever, Demon's Souls, was because of high import demand for the game. Emulator takedowns? The culture of fan translations is why anyone has ever heard of half of Atlus' shit.

Absolutely fucking embarrassing. You reap what you sow, dumbasses.

exactly. so incredibly embarrassing.

 

[koutoru]

Sounds like they were given marching orders from on high and now they have to damage control.

 

[Interface23]

From what I've seen, the vast majority of folks that emulate are downloading ROMs illegally, so yea. While not especially cool of Atlus to DMCA I kinda understand

 

[nded]

Weird thing to make a fuss over considering the emu devs will simply keep trucking and there's not much else Atlus can do about it. Whatever makes them feel better, I guess.

 

[Anth0ny]

Holy fuck they're actually serious with this shit

 

[Seik]

Please let us know what you think.

Well, if your games were on PC for starters maybe people would feel less enticed to play those through emulators?

Hell, you could even make money by porting those!

 

[dhlt25]

lol fuck off Atlus. Seriously thinking about canceling my EOV and strange journey pre-order now

 

[Nibel]

Isn't it possible to pirate the game on PS3 as well

 

[Unison]

Both arguments are true for every game ever made on every system ever made, so unless there's a part 2 blog post that explains why unique among the tens of thousands of commercially published games ever made, only Persona 5 needs its own rules. Only Persona 5 needs takedown notices for Twitch. Only Atlus games need to use the region locking functionality. Only Persona 5 needs emulator takedowns.

The best part about this is that Atlus USA benefitted immensely from all the things they tried to stop. Persona 5 Twitch takedown notices? One of the things that made the series gain such a huge following was long-play streams of the earlier games in the series. Region locking? The whole reason Atlus USA had one of their biggest hits ever, Demon's Souls, was because of high import demand for the game. Emulator takedowns? The culture of fan translations is why anyone has ever heard of half of Atlus' shit.

Absolutely fucking embarrassing. You reap what you sow, dumbasses.

Nothing more needs to be said, really.

 

[BHK3]

They said the emulator by name? Looooooollll that patreon is about to explode.

 

[charlequin]

I wouldn't be surprised if this is an Atlus Japan decision and Atlus US is just trying to do damage control on something they have no say over, just like the streaming thing.

Almost certainly this is the case, yeah. This would also explain why Atlus USA's statement on it is an opportunistic effort to nail Atlus JP to the wall on PC support instead of actually addressing the topic at hand in any way.

 

[Ascheroth]

Ah yes, the good old emulation = piracy.
So I guess Atlus is banned on GAF now? Welp.

 

[Steve Youngblood]

From what I've seen, the vast majority of folks that emulate are downloading ROMs illegally, so yea. While not especially cool of Atlus to DMCA I kinda understand

I feel like this is a quasi-reasonable conclusion to arrive at provided that you've only given a cursory glance to the big picture here.

 

[Linkark07]

This makes me think that PC gamers should make a lot more noise about wanting Persona 5, and possibly other entries, on PC.

We need a Project Rainfall, of sorts. Perhaps even license out the PS3 emulator to sell a PC version? That way, all of the dev effort isn't wasted.

Better send a calling card and see if we can change those Atlus executives rotten hearts; they will never allow PC ports of their games.

 

[Deft Beck]

wtf makes P5 so special that it should be immune and hidden from all streaming/emulation things

Like I've played the game, it's great, but what's the deal

Atlus' Japan headquarters is apparently allergic to the modern gaming environment.

Which, as has been demonstrated, is an incredibly backwards policy in such a globalized market.

 

[sweenster]

We understand that many Persona fans would love to see a PC version. And while we don’t have anything to announce today, we are listening!

This kinda language, as opposed to the typical,"we don't have any plans for that at this time", kinda makes it seem like they might actually port it. Or at the very least they don't want people to get it on PC and ruin the value of a potential port.

Still kinda shitty tho

 

[mullet2000]

Both arguments are true for every game ever made on every system ever made, so unless there's a part 2 blog post that explains why unique among the tens of thousands of commercially published games ever made, only Persona 5 needs its own rules. Only Persona 5 needs takedown notices for Twitch. Only Atlus games need to use the region locking functionality. Only Persona 5 needs emulator takedowns.

The best part about this is that Atlus USA benefitted immensely from all the things they tried to stop. Persona 5 Twitch takedown notices? One of the things that made the series gain such a huge following was long-play streams of the earlier games in the series. Region locking? The whole reason Atlus USA had one of their biggest hits ever, Demon's Souls, was because of high import demand for the game. Emulator takedowns? The culture of fan translations is why anyone has ever heard of half of Atlus' shit.

Absolutely fucking embarrassing. You reap what you sow, dumbasses.

Bingo. The response is nonsense.

 

[Eolz]

Ahh, the old emulation = piracy argument.

The "potentially made available for free" part is completely true though.
Read the whole sentence.

Of course their DMCA against the emulator itself had no legal basis though.

edit:

This kinda language, as opposed to the typical,"we don't have any plans for that at this time", kinda makes it seem like they might actually port it. Or at the very least they don't want people to get it on PC and ruin the value of a potential port.

Still kinda shitty tho

Sounds like you're not used to Atlus' PR statements

 

[fireflame]

If only atlus forums were still on we could forward feedbacks.

 

[mrchad]

We believe that our fans best experience our titles (like Persona 5) on the actual platforms for which they are developed. We don’t want their first experiences to be framerate drops, or crashes, or other issues that can crop up in emulation that we have not personally overseen.

This rationale doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. I've never heard of emulator users blaming the game manufacturer for poor emulation performance. The emulation community is usually tech-savvy enough to recognize that the differences between the emulated experience and the original "intended" experience stem from the emulation software itself.

 

[Truner]

Emulation is not illegal.
Pirating the game is. But you can also pirate the game on a modded PS3, so I don't see how pirating the game on PC is any different.

Whether or not I choose to play the game with frame drops, crashes and the like is a choice I am allowed to make myself as long as I legally own the game and have a way to dump it myself.

Try again, Atlus.