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Several Tales games revealed in Jump
- Thread starter Aeana
- Start date
Dedication Through Light
Member
Firestorm said:
Ah, I love your avatar and your posts, but this statement just doesnt compute. Sonic games have always been spectacularly amazing, to see otherwise is like saying that there will never be a Tales game localized again.
Reading this thread is both hilarious and depressing. You never see this kind of sort of foreboding acceptance of a company not living up to expectations in any other thread. It's not, "Oh man, I am so excited, PLEASE NAMCO BANDAI RELEASE THIS I DON'T WANT TO JUST READ JGAF'S IMPRESSIONS!", it's, "Oh okay, well that's great for JGaf I guess, sucks for the rest of us."
Way to go Namco.
Way to go Namco.
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
MechaX said:
I can explain it, but it's stupid, petty politics.
It's what plagued Sakura Wars from coming to America for years. Working Designs tried to bring the series to America and the biggest obstacle in their way was Sega of America. See, Sega published the game in Japan so in America for anyone else to publish it SoA had to first pass on it. Now the problem becomes that if they then let someone else publish the game in America and it ends up successful, the person who works at SoA who made the decision to pass on it suddenly looks like a complete idiot, as that success should have belonged to them, not the other company. The only reason they let NISA bring the 5th game to America this year is because they probably knew it was WAY too late for a PS2 game to be successful in the States and said "Sure, have at it!".
Probably the exact same situation for Scamco.
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
Synless said:
Make, yes. Publish, not a chance in hell.
ShockingAlberto
Member
Grin wasn't publishing it.Synless said:
The difference here is that Square Enix tends to localize most of the games their fans demand, even going so far as to porting them (FFIV After Years) or remaking them for a more suitable platform (Re Coded). Just about every single Final Fantasy title has been released in the states.
So it's not an issue. With Namco, it is.
ShockingAlberto
Member
Well, yeah. Final Fantasy games sell.Jeels said:
Square-Enix is absolutely terrible with everything else.
Jeels said:
Do you think they'd let another company bring out Blood of Bahamut? Or Sigma Harmonics? Or Saga 2 DS?
Look at DQ until now. I'm sure back in the day other publishers would have loved to release DQIV/V/VI in the west, but Enix wouldn't bring them over or license them out.
Drkirby said:
The only one I can think of, and it's a hell of a stretch, is Ar Tonelico 3 being localized by NISA. It's a collaboration between Gust and Banpresto, which is now owned by Bamco. Part of what helped is NISA releasing the first two games before Bamco bought Banpresto.
ShockingAlberto
Member
Fragile was Namco-made.Drkirby said:
Retro Game Challenge, as well.
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
ShockingAlberto said:
Oh really? I didn't know Fragile was Namco. That game was really fun! Loved the atmosphere and story! Thanks XSEED! ^_^
manzo
Member
icecream said:
Indeed. What makes this even more disturbing in a way is that none of the JP publishers will ever trust any of their franchises on the next Xbox unless they're looking to make a quick buck in the west. They didn't try the first console, tried and got burned with the next - if MS wouldn't have screwed up the small chance they had, the JP publishers might give them one more chance with the next gen Xbox.
Er, what did Microsoft screw up exactly that would have let those Japanese titles sell better? I never found out if it was true, but didn't one of the Tales of Star Ocean guys say Microsoft offered development money and help for a one year timed exclusive on the games? That's why we got all those games?
manzo
Member
Firestorm said:
I'd say one of the reasons for the screw ups was MS Japan's insanely shitty marketing. Doing marketing blasts with boy bands (Do!Do!Do! campaign) that are loved by teenage girls and older ladies for a "hardcore" console? It's like campaigning the Xbox with Hannah Montana in the states.
I think the common census is that MS helped the development of JRPGS monetarily.
If MS wants to even try Japan next season, they have to rebrand the console and ditch the Xbox name. Start fresh.
Einbroch said:
The reason they're not doing it is that it's not profitable to localize. I can't remember where I read this (could be my mind, someone please verify) that Tales Studio is in financial trouble. The whole Graces PS3 sounds like a quick port-up for getting cash to fund the new Tales PS3 project.
DarknessTear said:
Or it could be that. We'll never know.
DarknessTear
Banned
I remember talking to the pres of XSEED and he said that they approached Namco about the Tales PS2 games that didn't come to the US, and Namco is really protective of Tales so they couldn't touch it. Makes no sense to me that they're so protective if they won't even try to do anything with the series in the US.
Black-Wind
Member
Ok . . . I'm gonna have to find a good ARPG series to get into because I'm tired of how Namco runs this series.
My heart, it aches. Do you see this thread? Look at it! Look what Namco has done to GAF. We can't even BELIEVE anymore, Namco. This is almost as way more depressing than Japanese cellphone exclusives were a few years ago.
I'm hoping that Graces PS3 will finally break the endless cycle of sorrow and loathing regarding Tales of localizations because my agitation has reached critical mass. The cognitive dissonance I experience when anything Tales of related is announced is bad for my health. :lol
I really had fun with Tales of Vesperia for the 360, because Action RPG is my favorite genre and it was very, very good. For the love of god, please let me experience joy once again, Namco.
I'm hoping that Graces PS3 will finally break the endless cycle of sorrow and loathing regarding Tales of localizations because my agitation has reached critical mass. The cognitive dissonance I experience when anything Tales of related is announced is bad for my health. :lol
I really had fun with Tales of Vesperia for the 360, because Action RPG is my favorite genre and it was very, very good. For the love of god, please let me experience joy once again, Namco.
Nuclear Muffin
Banned
Drkirby said:
Symphonia and Phantasia were published by Nintendo in the US and EU.
So were the two Baten Kaitos games (though Origins never came out in Europe)
Also, Nintendo funded the localisations of all of these games (except for the original Baten Kaitos I think, though I may be wrong on that one)
lucablight
Member
Why is it that Square Enix was able to localise Star Ocean 4 for the 360 and PS3 without any problems but Namco Bandai can't do Tales games?
In terms of popularity and userbase these two series would be quite similar wouldn't they?
In terms of popularity and userbase these two series would be quite similar wouldn't they?
lucablight said:
In Star Ocean 4 360's case, SE was expecting a decent enough hit (supported by the amount of commercials they played on TV) and it didn't quite work out for them. Star Ocean 4 International required absolutely no effort to release and they could have easily turned in a small profit by doing a very much smaller print run.
I guess Namco Bandai just couldn't find a way to make money of Tales localizations, whether that be cutting corners in localization (cutting out voiced skits in Legendia and Abyss) or even when pushing for a big effort with decent marketing (Vesperia). Symphonia was a combination of NoA's magic touch and "right place at the right time" more than anything else and who knows why Symphonia 2 sold the way it did in the West (better than Vesperia at any rate, I think).
Dedication Through Light
Member
MechaX said:
Did we even get sales numbers for Star Ocean...oh wait, I guess Square Enix hasnt made their earnings report yet. I think Star Ocean is just different in general, all its games came over here, to my knowledge.
I'd also blame Graces not coming over on the recession. With profits diving and business going bad everywhere, the last thing a company like Namco would want to do is take any unnecessary risks.
I find it hard to believe that the profit from 50k-100k sales of a Tales game in the west is not enough money to cover localization of said game. Either they're overpaying on the localization or something fishy is going on. You'd think if the profit from 50k+ sales was greater than the costs for localization, they'd localize the games since it's non-risky money.
I find it hard to believe that the profit from 50k-100k sales of a Tales game in the west is not enough money to cover localization of said game. Either they're overpaying on the localization or something fishy is going on. You'd think if the profit from 50k+ sales was greater than the costs for localization, they'd localize the games since it's non-risky money.
ULTROS!
People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
For the record, SO4 in Japan sold about 200k, which is the best selling Xbox 360 game in Japan (or was it Blue Dragon? I know they're close). SO4I sold about 150k, which is far from the best selling game for the PS3 in Japan.
US/PAL numbers I'm not sure, probably higher in the 360 since it was first launched on the 360 with a year's worth of exclusivity... That and no one knew what kind of game it was (people didn't like it in general I guess).
US/PAL numbers I'm not sure, probably higher in the 360 since it was first launched on the 360 with a year's worth of exclusivity... That and no one knew what kind of game it was (people didn't like it in general I guess).
Dedication Through Light said:
Star Ocean 4's first month numbers was leaked in the NPD thread a month or two after its release, putting it around 70k. I think there was some update on Vesperia's west numbers a few months after its release (don't quote me on that one, I think it was somewhere around 75k-100k). Star Ocean 4 International, who knows (but based on how NPD does its top 20 list, we know for certain that it sold below 50-70k in its first month debut).
Star Ocean is in a bit of a different case than Tales, since SO2 did decently and SO3 did very well in the west, so there would be more incentive to plunge on the PSP remakes and SO4.
cress2000 said:
Hm.. I actually didn't even know that it was close. Either way, I just find it odd that a low budget spin-off could sell on par with Vesperia anyway.
Hitlersaurus Christ
Banned
Tales of the Abyss the Animation was GOOD DAMN IT.
Though I'd still rather they bring over First Strike.
Though I'd still rather they bring over First Strike.
MidnightScott
Banned
K.Sabot said:
Translation patch for Tales of Graces is coming.
Nuclear Muffin
Banned
cress2000 said:
Symphonia Wii was $50 (full price for a Wii game). It was never a budget release.