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[Valdfellgar]

And because of that we never did get the Zero Suit Samus Amiibo.
Backlash is real.

Backlash is real, however Nintendo's Samus issue was a much smaller affair, and ultimately Nintendo chose to ignore whatever criticism appeared from Sakurai's comments and Samus' design.

Heck, we wouldn't be having this discussion if Koei Tecmo had chosen to ignore potential backlash like Nintendo did with Samus.

And Nintendo has also preemptively struck down backlash with the Xenoblade Chronicles X censoring. So Nintendo hasn't been entirely unaffected by the way the West has been reacting to fan service in Japanese games.

It's super dumb that I can't mention that I don't like fanservice without being attacked with those arguments when I myself don't call people perverts or anything, though. People tell me I'm offended, attack my English, tell me I have issues with sex, I need companies to "leash" me, I'm the "real pervert", and all kinds of stupid attacks. I have literally never received such unwarranted backlash while criticizing any other aspect of games. People get irrationally defensive about virtual boobs.

Yep and that's not fair either. I'm really sorry people have been so verbally abusive towards you for your opinion. =( Both "sides" of this issue have people who feel better slamming people for their opinions. Sex is a really hot topic compared to any other aspect of games, heck, Sex is a hot topic in any medium.

All you can do though is keep being moderate and respectful.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

I went to bed when this thread was two pages and when I woke up it was fifteen. Trying to catch up is futile.

As someone who complains about almost everything involving female characters (I get flak for not liking anything), after the DOAX3 trailer went online, I said in a discussion that I am frankly okay with DOAX3, as it is a game that is incredibly honest about exactly what it is and doesn't try to hide under the veneer of art (Blade and Soul) or in-game lore (Star Ocean 5, FF15) or character development (Fatal Frame). I don't particularly like DOAX, but I think that there will be games like it and they will sell like shit. It matters little because I'm already not a consumer of the product, will never be, and otherwise won't be able to influence it like anything else that I am a customer or a potential customer for.

The coverage of DOAX3 has been so scant that I hadn't even been aware that it's Japan/Asia only, I just assumed it was coming over. Criticism of DOA and DOAX is nothing new and didn't stop Tecmo from releasing the previous games.

"The climate has changed?" Yes, but that didn't stop Koei-Tecmo from releasing Deception or Yoru no Nai Kuni (or whatever), etc. There's no extreme social media backlash to those games.

"But the DOA brand is more popular and well-known, and therefore more likely to invite criticism?" Has there been any 'more inflammatory' coverage of the game compared to its predecessors in this post-GG environment?
Polygon has one article with no derogatory statements about the content of the game, reporting the release of a trailer.
Kotaku has one article talking about the announcement of the game and one single-line report about VR for the game.
IGN.com has a whopping 3 articles about DOAX3, reporting the announcement, the release date, and one from today about the confirmation of no western release.
Giantbomb has no news articles about DOAX3 at all. Content there is largely in the form of a fan-edited wiki.
Gamespot has...one article from today, discussing the Facebook post and reporting that KT fears backlash, hence no western release. Largely reporting, no extraneous comments about the contents of the game.
GameInformer has one article about the announcement.

Aside from perhaps one paragraph in the Kotaku announcement article, I didn't see much of anything that criticized the content of the game. Most of the coverage entailed detailing the announcement, the release date, the platforms, and its restriction to Japan and Asia. In comparison to the coverage of the older games, I'd actually say that the biggest difference is in the severe decline of coverage for DOAX altogether. Which is problematic for the brand.

Where is the purported "SJW outrage and criticism"?

This should absolutely and positively be edited into the OP. This is crucial and meaningful.

 

[Mael]

Backlash is real, however Nintendo's Samus issue was a much smaller affair, and ultimately Nintendo chose to ignore whatever criticism appeared from Sakurai's comments and Samus' design.

Heck, we wouldn't be having this discussion if Koei Tecmo had chosen to ignore potential backlash like Nintendo did with Samus.

And Nintendo has also preemptively struck down backlash with the Xenoblade Chronicles X censoring. So Nintendo hasn't been entirely unaffected by the way the West has been reacting to fan service in Japanese games.

Woah I wonder what you would find to say about the localization choices we got between the 80's and now.

 

[axisofweevils]

Tecmo Koei is aware of the demand. (At least, the euro division is.)

https://twitter.com/koeitecmoeurope/status/669451694107947008

 

[ghostjoke]

Wow, I now fully grasp the last ep of South Park looking at this "story" play across several platforms. You are aware you are all ads? Every comment, for or against, every thread, every tweet, blog, rant, sarcastic remark, outrage, hate, personal attack, claims of "SJW" or "misogyny", censorship or localisation, pandering, fanservice etc is just advertising Play-Asia. I can see it so clearly now. Damn.

 

[Deleted member 126221]

This does not mean any future games from the franchise is immune to intense criticism. A new DOA game is just asking for trouble here.

It sounds like you are saying they should release the game?

I don't get why it'be "asking for trouble" when dozens of games like this are localized each year. Because some people on the internet might say the game is exploitative?

And I don't give a shit whether they release it here or not. It's Tecmo's business decision.

 

[prag16]

This should absolutely and positively be edited into the OP. This is crucial and meaningful.

I don't know why everyone is blowing their loads over this post to this extent. It's a good post, but as has been noted by many other people in the topic, there WAS a lot of western criticism of past entries in the series, and there is always criticism whenever someone is offended by how some group or another is depicted in games.

So no, there was no mushroom cloud of rage with regard to DOAX3 prior to this, but to dismiss the entire concept as a totally manufactured boogeyman is disingenuous.

 

[lights]

Dude please, half the when someone says "I personally don't like fanservice" it is almost always followed by "and people who did like it are gross,perverts, 14 year old boys etc...."

e.g.

 

[Anton Sugar]

I don't think it's the outrage directed at this game in particular that has made the devs wary to bring it overseas. Games in general has been a super hot issue in feminism over at least the past year and a half. If they are paying any amount of attention to current happenings and criticisms for games like the Mario series, they probably see their product as a magnet for criticism, and probably not worth the headache for the meager amount of sales.

I think everyone saying that the sales being low contributing to the choice to not bring it over are partly correct, but you have to be foolish to not assume that the outcry from outspoken detractors isn't a huge part as well, and are a huge factor in the combined decision to not bring it overseas.

Also, the post above you reads like one of those "it's ok because I have a black friend" sentiments, so even though I can appreciate that person's opinion, I don't think it holds any particular weight outside of being just that; one person's opinion.

It's like the post said--they have released similar games in the recent past without any significant, sales-impacting backlash. Yes, of course the game may be criticized, just like any game. If they don't want to expose the game to that criticism, well, that's just cowardly on their part.

I really don't understand your "I have a black friend" analogy in relation to that post, either? "I have a black friend" is used typically used to validate racist or otherwise troubling stances, simply because someone has checked the "black friend" checkbox.

I don't know why everyone is blowing their loads over this post to this extent. It's a good post, but as has been noted by many other people in the topic, there WAS a lot of western criticism of past entries in the series, and there is always criticism whenever someone is offended by how some group or another is depicted in games.

So no, there was no mushroom cloud of rage with regard to DOAX3 prior to this, but to dismiss the entire concept as a totally manufactured boogeyman is disingenuous.

...but he says as much in that same post:

The coverage of DOAX3 has been so scant that I hadn't even been aware that it's Japan/Asia only, I just assumed it was coming over. Criticism of DOA and DOAX is nothing new and didn't stop Tecmo from releasing the previous games.

"The climate has changed?" Yes, but that didn't stop Koei-Tecmo from releasing Deception or Yoru no Nai Kuni (or whatever), etc. There's no extreme social media backlash to those games.

 

[Steve Youngblood]

I don't think it's the outrage directed at this game in particular that has made the devs wary to bring it overseas. Games in general has been a super hot issue in feminism over at least the past year and a half. If they are paying any amount of attention to current happenings and criticisms for games like the Mario series, they probably see their product as a magnet for criticism, and probably not worth the headache for the meager amount of sales.

I think everyone saying that the sales being low contributing to the choice to not bring it over are partly correct, but you have to be foolish to not assume that the outcry from outspoken detractors isn't a huge part as well, and are a huge factor in the combined decision to not bring it overseas.

Again though, why would it be a huge factor? Your number one goal as a publisher is to make profits selling video games. Why would concern over a little negative publicity stand in the way of that? Now I get that some companies do have to worry about brand perception. But this is the Dead or Alive series we are talking about. This isn't their first rodeo. There's always been some of this kind of talk surrounding the series, notably the two previous Xtreme games that were already released.

Yes, the conversation has about objectification of women has become more of a hot-button topic as of late, but it's still not clear to me why fear of backlash would be even remotely important to them, and certainly not anywhere near as important as the question of "will we make money releasing this game in that region?"

 

[Silexx]

also what fucking forum do you think you're on where the bolded doesn't apply to every god damn topic on gaming side lmao

How much do you want to wager that the people crying about creators bowing to public outcry are also people who were demanding that Bioware fix the ME3 ending?

 

[MHWilliams]

Games can receive criticism from those outside the group that know what "GG" is, or the more recent usages of the term "SJW".

It seems reasonable to me that some amount of controversy could be created if this cover:

Was on the shelf at a Target or Walmart or whatever large retail establishment.

So usage of "SJW" and fear of backlash from that group I agree is ridiculous, but not everyone in the real world knows what that is.

Doesn't explain why they can't just release digitally (as other similar things have done in the past) but maybe that didn't justify the business case.

About the same as any of these covers? (Yes, there were retail releases.)

If they're worried about those two characters in particular, a Helena/Kasumi cover could be done up. DoA isn't out there alone, blazing trails.

And as you note, again... sales are the real key. There's a bunch of waffling trying to get around the fact that the real point is sales.

Right, everything boils down to sales, no question. But you add in the fact that maybe there's an additional potential headache, real or imagined, and suddenly that bar for return on investment gets a little higher. What did those other games sell? I'm genuinely curious.

Not much. Most of Koei Tecmo's titles don't do a ton of business in North America. XSEED and NIS are smaller and pretty much survive on being scrappy niche publishers.

Tecmo Koei is aware of the demand. (At least, the euro division is.)

https://twitter.com/koeitecmoeurope/status/669451694107947008

Further evidence that Keoi Tecmo isn't really jazzed about the sales potential of a full Western release. They're likely expecting the limited userbase to buy the import.

 

[Steve Youngblood]

Tecmo Koei is aware of the demand. (At least, the euro division is.)

https://twitter.com/koeitecmoeurope/status/669451694107947008

I'm not going to suggest that sales haven't picked up for Play-Asia, but I just want to note here that someone following Play-Asia on Twitter because of the developments in this story isn't necessarily indicative of any real consumer interest in the actual product that is Dead or Alive Xtreme 3.

 

[Crash Station]

What a misguided post. Rapelay predates this whole internet tribal warfare and no one is criticising Play-Asia for not carrying DOAX3, because they specifically do have it on sale and have been the primary source for preorders here on NeoGAF. Nor is comparing DOAX3 to Rapelay in any way reasonable seeing as the localisation of the latter for the West would likely violate various obscenity regulations, whereas DOAX3 is just an innocuous fanservice game about girls frolicking about in bikinis.

I don't think RapeLay would violate obscenity regulations considering MangaGamer has never been hit with legal trouble.

 

[inoperativ]

I went to bed when this thread was two pages and when I woke up it was fifteen. Trying to catch up is futile.

As someone who complains about almost everything involving female characters (I get flak for not liking anything), after the DOAX3 trailer went online, I said in a discussion that I am frankly okay with DOAX3, as it is a game that is incredibly honest about exactly what it is and doesn't try to hide under the veneer of art (Blade and Soul) or in-game lore (Star Ocean 5, FF15) or character development (Fatal Frame). I don't particularly like DOAX, but I think that there will be games like it and they will sell like shit. It matters little because I'm already not a consumer of the product, will never be, and otherwise won't be able to influence it like anything else that I am a customer or a potential customer for.

The coverage of DOAX3 has been so scant that I hadn't even been aware that it's Japan/Asia only, I just assumed it was coming over. Criticism of DOA and DOAX is nothing new and didn't stop Tecmo from releasing the previous games.

"The climate has changed?" Yes, but that didn't stop Koei-Tecmo from releasing Deception or Yoru no Nai Kuni (or whatever), etc. There's no extreme social media backlash to those games.

"But the DOA brand is more popular and well-known, and therefore more likely to invite criticism?" Has there been any 'more inflammatory' coverage of the game compared to its predecessors in this post-GG environment?
Polygon has one article with no derogatory statements about the content of the game, reporting the release of a trailer.
Kotaku has one article talking about the announcement of the game and one single-line report about VR for the game.
IGN.com has a whopping 3 articles about DOAX3, reporting the announcement, the release date, and one from today about the confirmation of no western release.
Giantbomb has no news articles about DOAX3 at all. Content there is largely in the form of a fan-edited wiki.
Gamespot has...one article from today, discussing the Facebook post and reporting that KT fears backlash, hence no western release. Largely reporting, no extraneous comments about the contents of the game.
GameInformer has one article about the announcement.

Aside from perhaps one paragraph in the Kotaku announcement article, I didn't see much of anything that criticized the content of the game. Most of the coverage entailed detailing the announcement, the release date, the platforms, and its restriction to Japan and Asia. In comparison to the coverage of the older games, I'd actually say that the biggest difference is in the severe decline of coverage for DOAX altogether. Which is problematic for the brand.

Where is the purported "SJW outrage and criticism"?

Thank you for writing this up. I'm surprised by how many people here seem to genuinely believe in the GG narrative.

 

[kuroneko0509]

I'm not going to suggest that sales haven't picked up for Play-Asia, but I just want to note here that someone following Play-Asia on Twitter because of the developments in this story isn't necessarily indicative of any real consumer interest in the actual product that is Dead or Alive Xtreme 3.

I think the disturbing thing here is that it's from Koei Tecmo's European Community Manager.

 

[aeolist]

Wow, I now fully grasp the last ep of South Park looking at this "story" play across several platforms. You are aware you are all ads? Every comment, for or against, every thread, every tweet, blog, rant, sarcastic remark, outrage, hate, personal attack, claims of "skeleton" or "misogyny", censorship or localisation, pandering, fanservice etc is just advertising Play-Asia. I can see it so clearly now. Damn.

wake up sheeple, parker and stone are telling you how it REALLY is

 

[NoblesseOblige]

This should absolutely and positively be edited into the OP. This is crucial and meaningful.

This, and I think the title should be changed so new people don't come in, skip straight to the last page to whine about 'the SJW' and start a whole cycle again every couple pages.

 

[Silexx]

No, but the discussion we're having, and the form it's taking, isn't really happening over there, not to any significant degree.

And why do you suppose (if we assume that you're assertion is true) that is?

 

[Jangowuzhere]

Tecmo Koei is aware of the demand. (At least, the euro division is.)

https://twitter.com/koeitecmoeurope/status/669451694107947008

They are scum of the earth

Can't believe people are seriously buying into their bullshit.

 

[Valdfellgar]

Woah I wonder what you would find to say about the localization choices we got between the 80's and now.

I assume you're referring to westernizing Japanese properties? There's no backlash that companies feared back then concerning Westernizing games. Instead they wanted to ensure their product was marketable to the American market. They feared that the Japanese aesthetic would be too foreign for the market. (They were ultimately wrong as it turned out, but they didn't know that.)

That ties into Xenoblade Chronicles X's changes, which stemmed from a fear that the game would receive backlash, and thus would be more difficult to sell to an American Market that's struggling to find a happy middle ground with sexualization in games.

 

[Mik317]

BTW, off topic maybe, but this is something I find super annoying:

- "I personally don't like cinematic games": That's okay, it's your opinion.
- "I personally don't like fanservice": Oh gawd stop being offended, SJW, feminazi, what's wrong with sex? I have female friends who like Senran Kagura, etc.

Some people get insanely triggered about this, criticizing fanservice is off limits (even if you can make hyperbolic statements about a game being the worst thing ever because of a framerate drop or whatever).

Come on man. You know the difference between the two. I don't like cinematic games is generally not followed up with "oh yeah well you must be some uncultured swine". like the latter one often is. Hell not liking cinematic games is actually a positive thing around some parts.

Also those who think games are the worst ever because of framerate drops are also generally criticized. Especially if said game has a lot of hype around it.

And? Games get bashed on forums. For frame rate, resolution, design, narrative, and aesthetics. All games.

Once again, fear of (mostly non-existent) criticism isn't a reason not to release a game if you think it will sell. It is, if you think a game won't sell enough to cover costs.

and why do you think a company who's whole output toes the line is suddenly worried that their game (the third in a series might I add) won't sell well in the US? Its not that hard to figure out what has changed over the years...

 

[AtomskEater]

How much do you want to wager that the people crying about creators bowing to public outcry are also people who were demanding that Bioware fix the ME3 ending?

Sort of related, occasionally when I see posts with people saying "stop trying to change the creator's vision!" "this is art (which somehow means it's above criticism and inspection)" "SJWs are trying to force developers to make games only the way they want them to be made" and other related arguments, I like to click on their post history and see what kinds of comments they've made about other games. Everyone has something about (a) game(s) they'd like to see changed and they have no problem saying so on forums.

 

[Takeru]

Isn't the game going to be available digitally? If so, the Hong Kong PSN is always another alternative for those who don't care about going digital.

 

[The Mad Draklor]

Wow, I now fully grasp the last ep of South Park looking at this "story" play across several platforms. You are aware you are all ads? Every comment, for or against, every thread, every tweet, blog, rant, sarcastic remark, outrage, hate, personal attack, claims of "SJW" or "misogyny", censorship or localisation, pandering, fanservice etc is just advertising Play-Asia. I can see it so clearly now. Damn.

Play-Asia's Twitter has been gaining a lot of followers in such a short time (>5K in ~12 hours), so you have a point here.

 

[muteki]

About the same as any of these covers? (Yes, there were retail releases.)

If they're worried about those two characters in particular, a Helena/Kasumi cover could be done up. DoA isn't out there alone, blazing trails.

And as you note, again... sales are the real key. There's a bunch of waffling trying to get around the fact that the real point is sales.

Out of those 3 and the DOAX3 cover, at a glance, which comes closest to depicting a 12 year old?

And I'll agree that this comes down to business, but what would make them consider changing the cover, or swapping Marie or others out entirely, or not being on as many retail shelves as they want?

 

[aeolist]

Its not that hard to figure out what has changed over the years...

sure, they added an "18-year-old" who looks 12 and put her on the cover

 

[sturgboski]

They are scum of the earth

Can't believe people are seriously buying into their bullshit.

Play Asia or TK? Also why? If PA is it for stating the SJW thing as a reason this gave won't come west of something else?

 

[FHIZ]

Isn't the game going to be available digitally? If so, the Hong Kong PSN is always another alternative for those who don't care about going digital.

Well, if you're against buying it at Play-Asia because of this or whatever reason, I'm going to have to ask where do you plan on buying the PSN codes for the HK store?

 

[Valdfellgar]

And why do you suppose (if we assume that you're assertion is true) that is?

If I had to guess it stems from Japan's naturally more conservative culture. I mean, I'm not saying they should or shouldn't be having the discussion we're having, just that it isn't really a major priority for them.

If I had to take an even bigger guess, maybe it's because otaku culture (and by proxy sexy games) is already a heavily shunned part of the culture and it's been left to do as it will, ignored by the masses. But I'm talking out my ass at this point.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

Play-Asia's Twitter has been gaining a lot of followers in such a short time (>5K in ~12 hours), so you have a point here.

It's not particularly hard to get the followers when you're a distributor pandering to a group roughly 25k in size. The real question is how much of that will translate to sales? My guess, very little.

 

[Head.spawn]

i'm fine with it's existence, i just don't think it's particularly interesting, engaging, challenging, or titillating in any way.

it's pedestrian to me honestly.

My bad for the over-simplification then, I guess I did take it wrong.

I'm not opposed to a game like you said existing, I like progress but taking something that already exists and changing it in that way, based on pressure from a crowd is what I have a problem with. I'm of the opinion that everything doesn't need to be for everyone and even more, if you want things to cater towards your tastes, advocate their creation from people who might WANT to create that, not changing what already exists or molding an idea to hit some forced PC/censorship board/Equality check list.

Clearly that isn't what you were getting at, but that was my misinterpretation.

 

[magnetic]

Wow, I now fully grasp the last ep of South Park looking at this "story" play across several platforms. You are aware you are all ads? Every comment, for or against, every thread, every tweet, blog, rant, sarcastic remark, outrage, hate, personal attack, claims of "SJW" or "misogyny", censorship or localisation, pandering, fanservice etc is just advertising Play-Asia. I can see it so clearly now. Damn.

Whoa dude

Mind = blown

 

[Dice//]

That's...some interesting way of drawing breasts. x)

 

[Snkfanatic]

Wow, I now fully grasp the last ep of South Park looking at this "story" play across several platforms. You are aware you are all ads? Every comment, for or against, every thread, every tweet, blog, rant, sarcastic remark, outrage, hate, personal attack, claims of "SJW" or "misogyny", censorship or localisation, pandering, fanservice etc is just advertising Play-Asia. I can see it so clearly now. Damn.

This is a joke post right?

 

[LudicrousSpeed]

Assuming you actually buy the line that TK isn't bringing the game over because of potential backlash (and I don't), that's actually a really sad state of affairs at TK.

"Western audiences won't be happy with the gross and demeaning ways we treat women characters, so let's just stick to Japan where basically no one is troubled by this."

 

[Faustek]

The Justin Bailey amiibo.

Nah seriously. Didn't it release state side.
I actually ha do double check and I have it.
Or am I closing in on lala land and should just go to bed? Since I detect zero sarcasm.

 

[Red Devil]

It's ironic that Playasia don't understand that 'SJW 'is probably helping the almost non-existent of Asian representation in Western media and is also one of those rare retail outlet that benefit from stocking the DOAX3 english edition.

Not sure if they care about that at all.

BTW, off topic maybe, but this is something I find super annoying:

- "I personally don't like cinematic games": That's okay, it's your opinion.
- "I personally don't like fanservice": Oh gawd stop being offended, SJW, feminazi, what's wrong with sex? I have female friends who like Senran Kagura, etc.

Some people get insanely triggered about this, criticizing fanservice is off limits (even if you can make hyperbolic statements about a game being the worst thing ever because of a framerate drop or whatever).

To be fair there're people that gets triggered by others not liking cinematic games too, even if outrage over criticism towards fanservice is more prevalent.

 

[MHWilliams]

and why do you think a company who's whole output toes the line is suddenly worried that their game (the third in a series might I add) won't sell well in the US? Its not that hard to figure out what has changed over the years...

You mean the same company that just announced it is releasing this in the West?

They're absolutely terrified.

And I'll agree that this comes down to business, but what would make them consider changing the cover, or swapping Marie or others out entirely, or not being on as many retail shelves as they want?

The same thing that would've made them consider changing the cover this year, last year, five years ago, ten years ago... pretty much always? Change the cover. Rock a digital release.

Koei Tecmo is currently not even planning to do that. Do you honestly believe criticism is the reason?

 

[Gattsu25]

Wow, I now fully grasp the last ep of South Park looking at this "story" play across several platforms. You are aware you are all ads? Every comment, for or against, every thread, every tweet, blog, rant, sarcastic remark, outrage, hate, personal attack, claims of "SJW" or "misogyny", censorship or localisation, pandering, fanservice etc is just advertising Play-Asia. I can see it so clearly now. Damn.

I'm glad to see that you have had this epiphany.

 

[Valdfellgar]

It's not particularly hard to get the followers when you're a distributor pandering to a group roughly 25k in size. The real question is how much of that will translate to sales? My guess, very little.

In the immediate timeframe I think they'll get quite a few additional sales, more so than they'll lose. I think the group they're pandering to is decidedly larger than 25K, going off the DOAX series sales, or Senran Kagura or whatever.

In the long term however, I think word of mouth, from this incident, and Play-Asia's response, will ultimately damage their ability to generate additional customers in the future, especially since people who do move away from Play-Asia will be vocal about it, and, as in this thread, link better alternatives that are more wallet friendly.

 

[RM8]

Its not that hard to figure out what has changed over the years...

Mostly that nowadays DOAX should suddenly be shielded from criticism, when like 10 years ago everyone was mocking it and ridiculing it. There wasn't a time when DOAX was a respected game, lol.

 

[Deleted member 126221]

My bad for the over-simplification then, I guess I did take it wrong.

I'm not opposed to a game like you said existing, I like progress but taking something that already exists and changing it in that way, based on pressure from a crowd is what I have a problem with. I'm of the opinion that everything doesn't need to be for everyone and even more, if you want things to cater towards your tastes, advocate their creation from people who might WANT to create that, not changing what already exists or molding an idea to hit some forced PC/censorship board/Equality check list.

Clearly that isn't what you were getting at, but that was my misinterpretation.

What are you talking about? Who's forcing who to do what?

 

[NotLiquid]

e.g.

Incidentally Marvelous took the time to promote the coming release of Estival Versus a little while ago because of the DoAX3 news. A lot more tasteful of a jab.

I do enjoy the Senran Kagura series at the very least. It's not a game developed by people who are eager to shift blame against others or necessarily even justifying what it is. It's a series which is lead by a guy who's just honest and super positive.

 

[Mael]

I assume you're referring to westernizing Japanese properties? There's no backlash that companies feared back then concerning Westernizing games. Instead they wanted to ensure their product was marketable to the American market. They feared that the Japanese aesthetic would be too foreign for the market. (They were ultimately wrong as it turned out, but they didn't know that.)

That ties into Xenoblade Chronicles X's changes, which stemmed from a fear that the game would receive backlash, and thus would be more difficult to sell to an American Market that's struggling to find a happy middle ground with sexualization in games.

So they covered boobs to make their product more marketable and avoid having Japanese aesthetic clash with the American market (let's even forget Europe existed as a market because why not).
And now they're doing it because SJWs would backlash the game so hard it wouldn't sell?

...

It's easy to spot who wasn't there at the time at least.
Even in France at the time there was (and there still is) an association that made a big stink over product marketed to "children" containing unsavory material.
You could call them SJWs (while we would call them Famille de France) and they had a very public influence and actually managed to get stuffs censored and shows canceled.
In the US, Nintendo didn't censor stuffs to try to market shit, they did so to prevent controversy.
Because clearly religious symbols like crosses and churches were too Japanese for the American market!

 

[Valdfellgar]

You mean the same company that just announced it is releasing this in the West?



They're absolutely terrified.

I'd point out that the difference is one is easily a niche product that will garner almost zero mainstream attention, and DOA Extreme is an off-shoot of a popular franchise that could, maybe, at this juncture, receive backlash that would damage already struggling sales of the mainline series. (I do want to point out that I don't believe DOA Extreme 3 would have actually received damaging criticism, just that I think that's the thought process they worked with. And who knows, maybe the game you linked above was already locked in for release and further such games will become less likely for localization? I do doubt that though.)

 

[kuroneko0509]

You mean the same company that just announced it is releasing this in the West?



They're absolutely terrified.



The same thing that would've made them consider changing the cover this year, last year, five years ago, ten years ago... pretty much always? Change the cover. Rock a digital release.

Koei Tecmo is currently not even planning to do that. Do you honestly believe criticism is the reason?

I am curious. Have you played Nights of Azure yet? Because to be quite frank, Nights of Azure doesn't really compare to any of the other titles you've posted nor is it actually of any super blatant fanservice like DOAX, or Senran Kagura.

 

[rjcc]

I use the term SJW all the time to be honest. Outside GAF it's a pretty common term to refer to the extreme criticism to some products made by some groups or individuals;

yeah, like on Stormfront. Those are the people who say SJW all the time.

It's not a common term at all unless you hang out with a certain group of people.

 

[Dio]

In the immediate timeframe I think they'll get quite a few additional sales, more so than they'll lose. I think the group they're pandering to is decidedly larger than 25K, going off the DOAX series sales, or Senran Kagura or whatever.

In the long term however, I think word of mouth, from this incident, and Play-Asia's response, will ultimately damage their ability to generate additional customers in the future, especially since people who do move away from Play-Asia will be vocal about it, and, as in this thread, link better alternatives that are more wallet friendly.

Yeah, an interesting thing I've noticed is how many people are equivocating 'avoiding Play-Asia' with not liking the game. Hell, I'm probably going to import DOAX3 myself via Amiami because Play-Asia has been an overpriced trap for many years that any importer worth their salt already avoids.

I can still import DOAX3 and not wanna deal with Play-Asia, and if they actually come out in full support of Gamergate that wouldn't really change anything (for me at least) because they were for plebs in the first place and it just adds an extra reason to not care about them.

 

[Valdfellgar]

So they covered boobs to make their product more marketable and avoid having Japanese aesthetic clash with the American market (let's even forget Europe existed as a market because why not).
And now they're doing it because SJWs would backlash the game so hard it wouldn't sell?

...

It's easy to spot who wasn't there at the time at least.
Even in France at the time there was (and there still is) an association that made a big stink over product marketed to "children" containing unsavory material.
You could call them SJWs (while we would call them Famille de France) and they had a very public influence and actually managed to get stuffs censored and shows canceled.
In the US, Nintendo didn't censor stuffs to try to market shit, they did so to prevent controversy.
Because clearly religious symbols like crosses and churches were too Japanese for the American market!

Okay, moving forward, can we not play the "Gotcha!" game and can you discuss specifics rather than being vague? I was referring to westernization of things like removing Japanese imagery or terminology. But if we're talking about religious symbols I agree about controversy.

However, controversy can damage sales/public perception and that's part of what Nintendo wanted to avoid in that era and here now.