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[SpaceDrake]

I can maybe see them going for Q1 2017 if they think launching too close to FFXV might hurt them, but that's unlikely. I don't see the localization taking them that long- considering they were saying it was going to make 2015 in the US in mid-late 2015, I'd imagine they had some (maybe most?) of the localization work done back then.

I absolutely would not take that bet, for what it's worth. Localization often doesn't begin until the script is set in stone, and based on previous SMT/Persona development projects, it's very likely the script and scenario for P5 has seen some revision during its extra development time.

SO guys. Hype meter in check and all that. What we realistically expecting? A bit of new footage along with a release date? Maybe CE info?

Release date for Japan is virtually guaranteed. Probably some new footage and starting to explain some of the gritty mechanics as well.

 

[Boke1879]

JPN release date, new trailer, and probably CE info.



This is an event for Japan and had to have been planned for awhile due to them "taking over" Tokyo tower. I doubt they give a damn or even know about the Uncharted embargo.

Yea. I imagine we won't get a Western release date until probably E3.

 

[koutoru]

SO guys. Hype meter in check and all that. What we realistically expecting? A bit of new footage along with a release date? Maybe CE info?

A new trailer and a release date. Anything else is extra at this point.

 

[Squire]

Not a dialogue-heavy game. Not going to go into the "not an RPG" argument, but there are always exceptions with games that were localized in production, like Tales of Vesperia and Star Ocean 4. Hell, even Star Ocean 5 will only be 3 months.

That's not the norm, not from Atlus or Bamco.

Eh, P4A, Ultimax, and SMTIV were all separated by weeks. Squsre Enix hasn't done it much more often than Atlus, from what I can recall. FFXIII-2 was only a month-long gap. Lightning Returns was pretty close too, I think. SO5 is three months and FFXV is the same week, but neither is out yet. Not really much more of regular thing for them than Atlus.

They should not have chosen the day the review embargo for uncharted ends. To spot on gaming sites will be taken. Would have been main news any other day.
Maybe it's bad news so they want to get overshadowed...

I mean, aside from the facts that any site worth reading has multiple slots for top stories and Reviews and News are seperate streams of content/coverage anyway, really no one outside of GAF (and presumably GameFAQs) gives this much of a shit about Uncharted reviews, if they even care at all to begin with.

 

[kuroshiki]

last year I was hyped as fuck for this game.

This year, not so much. My excitement is all died out and probably won't get it day one either. >.>

 

[Neonep]

Not a Persona fan but I do want to say something about localization. There is no reason why localization should take long these days. How come they can't translate it while the game is being made? Everybody including Atlus knew this game would be coming out in the west for a long time now, why not do it at the same time. If that makes any sense. This whole "localization taking months" is pretty much what killed my enthusiasm and eventually caused me to not buy Xenoblade Chronicles X. It came out in Japan April 2015 and didn't come out in the states until December 2015, that's 8 months.

 

[Aaronrules380]

Not a Persona fan but I do want to say something about localization. There is no reason why localization should take long these days. How come they can't translate it while the game is being made? Everybody including Atlus knew this game would be coming out in the west for a long time now, why not do it at the same time. If that makes any sense. This whole "localization taking months" is pretty much what killed my enthusiasm and eventually caused me to not buy Xenoblade Chronicles X. It came out in Japan April 2015 and didn't come out in the states until December 2015, that's 8 months.

Translating as the game is being made is a tremendous endeavor and also incredibly inefficient, since most of the stuff that's written won't make it to the final game. So by translating as it's being created, a company spends a LOT more money on translators than they otherwise would

 

[Boke1879]

Not a Persona fan but I do want to say something about localization. There is no reason why localization should take long these days. How come they can't translate it while the game is being made? Everybody including Atlus knew this game would be coming out in the west for a long time now, why not do it at the same time. If that makes any sense. This whole "localization taking months" is pretty much what killed my enthusiasm and eventually caused me to not buy Xenoblade Chronicles X. It came out in Japan April 2015 and didn't come out in the states until December 2015, that's 8 months.

I gotta agree with you. No reason why localization should take months. If anything ideally it should be happening side by side. This game was formally announced for the West at the first PSX event right? Like you said. They it was coming to the West.

 

[Soulstar]

This my jam, fam.

Man that is so good. Ever since I heard that the soundtrack would be using acid jazz as its genre I knew I would love it.

Would be nice to get a release date for the soundtrack also.

 

[Zophar]

If this is getting a summer JP release I see very little reason why it can't be out in NA before the end of the year.

 

[eyeball_kid]

Translating as the game is being made is a tremendous endeavor and also incredibly inefficient, since most of the stuff that's written won't make it to the final game. So by translating as it's being created, a company spends a LOT more money on translators than they otherwise would

So does Atlus not have a permanent localization team? They just use contractors?

 

[sora87]

SO guys. Hype meter in check and all that. What we realistically expecting? A bit of new footage along with a release date? Maybe CE info?

JP release date slipped to early 2017.
No mention of a NA date. Nothing at E3 either.
Atlus staff sips alcohol from cups with "fuck europe" crudely written across them.

 

[Aaronrules380]

I gotta agree with you. No reason why localization should take months. If anything ideally it should be happening side by side. This game was formally announced for the West at the first PSX event right? Like you said. They it was coming to the West.

Again the issue isn't just whether or not it's coming west. The bigger issue is that you'll be doing a lot more work (and thus spending a lot more money) by localizing as it happens, since you don't know what is and is not going to be in the final game

 

[Squire]

Glad to see the armchair localization experts join us!

 

[Aaronrules380]

So does Atlus not have a permanent localization team? They just use contractors?

Pretty sure they do. But that team isn't going to be working on games that aren't largely finished. Atlus makes more than just persona you know

 

[Boke1879]

Again the issue isn't just whether or not it's coming west. The bigger issue is that you'll be doing a lot more work (and thus spending a lot more money) by localizing as it happens, since you don't know what is and is not going to be in the final game

Fair enough. Lets say this is coming out in JP in the Summer. I don't see why NA won't get this by years end.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

They have had ample ample time to prepare for localization.

The game was originally a 2014 scheduled game, they could have even started localizing back then if they wanted.

Anything longer than 6 months would be a joke.

 

[Rosur]

Kinda hoping its July/ June time this year (global release) so have time for it before FFXV. That said it being this week I doubt it and be more nov/ dec.

 

[Aaronrules380]

They have had ample ample time to prepare for localization.

The game was originally a 2014 scheduled game, they could have even started localizing back then if they wanted....

Sure, if they wanted to throw away a ton of money. Localizing as a game is being developed carries a lot of complications

 

[MudoSkills]

Only speculating, but isn't the assumption that localisation will take a long time based on the fact Atlus HQ barely communicate with Atlus USA? I'd assume that sending script over for translation/recording isn't a particularly high priority.

 

[Strimei]

This my jam, fam.

God, this and the other music...straight into my veins!

Meguro the best. Makes me laugh how I initially didn't like P3's music. And then just today I'm driving and up comes "BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY"

I'm very much ready for some new earworms.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

Sure, if they wanted to throw away a ton of money. Localizing as a game is being developed carries a lot of complications

Tell that to the dozens of publishers who release hundreds of games that have been simultaneously localized alongside development, some even across like 5-6 languages.In this case you can argue sheer text volume, in those games cases you can argue the multiple levels of mocapping and still a lot of text.

The game would originally have had a script in place for a 2014 release, they could have started back then even with the delays.

Here we want 1, an English dub (since us Europeans give up on Atlus localisation from the start anyway).

 

[EekumBokum]

So the preshow is an hour long right, but how long is the actual event? Probably an hour too right?

 

[wispsmoke]

last year I was hyped as fuck for this game.

This year, not so much. My excitement is all died out and probably won't get it day one either. >.>

Yeah, I really enjoyed P4G and even did NG+ to get that golden ending. Can't say that I'm a series-long fan, but I put in some hours and was really excited to play P5 last fall. Felt like I got a PS4 just in time for that and the Old Hunters expansion.

Well, From delivered, but Atlus hasn't. And at this point, I can wait longer for P5. Whenever it releases, count me down for a sale that's steeper than the opening Amazon Prime 20%-off.

 

[Pancake Mix]

Eh, P4A, Ultimax, and SMTIV were all separated by weeks. Squsre Enix hasn't done it much more often than Atlus, from what I can recall. FFXIII-2 was only a month-long gap. Lightning Returns was pretty close too, I think. SO5 is three months and FFXV is the same week, but neither is out yet. Not really much more of regular thing for them than Atlus.



I mean, aside from the facts that any site worth reading has multiple slots for top stories and Reviews and News are seperate streams of content/coverage anyway, really no one outside of GAF (and presumably GameFAQs) gives this much of a shit about Uncharted reviews, if they even care at all to begin with.

Square Enix can vary, with some larger games being localized at the same time as the Japanese game is being made. Lightning Returns was 4 months, though that was probably due to finding a release date that they desired (not December or January) than anything else. Nintendo can vary too, as can all of these companies. Localization takes time if it's not done during development, which we have no time of knowing about this game right now. There are a lot of factors we don't know, but if Persona 5 takes 6+ months that wouldn't be unusual or suddenly a great tragedy only now. It's not easy to localize a game and they'll release it when they think it's a good time.

P4A/Ultimax is not an RPG, so not a good example.

 

[DNAbro]

So the preshow is an hour long right, but how long is the actual event? Probably an hour too right?

I think 30 minutes? Pretty sure there is a Persona Stalker Club episode right after.

EDIT: Hour long

 

[family_guy]

SO guys. Hype meter in check and all that. What we realistically expecting? A bit of new footage along with a release date? Maybe CE info?

Clothing line, anime, manga, and spin offs announced. No release date. They need time to get the online component working.

 

[Aaronrules380]

Tell that to the dozens of publishers who release hundreds of games that have been simultaneously localized alongside development, some even across like 5-6 languages.

Here we want 1, an English dub (since us Europeans give up on Atlus localisation from the start anyway).

Because for them the extra money is usually worth it and the scripts aren't anywhere near as huge. Persona is still an incredibly niche game in the west. And it's a very dense game scriptwise. But please, give me examples of games that sell like Persona and are released simultaneously worldwide. Because as a JRPG fan, I find that almost never fucking happens

 

[The Mad Draklor]

Tell that to the dozens of publishers who release hundreds of games that have been simultaneously localized alongside development, some even across like 5-6 languages.

Here we want 1, an English dub (since us Europeans give up on Atlus localisation from the start anyway).

What publishers, in particular? If they're huge publishers with lots of money like Square Enix, well... that explains why they're able to make simultaneous releases.

 

[Ostinatto]

This my jam, fam.

Great tune.

 

[Aaronrules380]

Square Enix can vary, with some larger games being localized at the same time as the Japanese game is being made. Lightning Returns was 4 months, though that was probably due to finding a release date that they desired (not December or January) than anything else.

P4A/Ultimax is not an RPG, so not a good example.

Yep, comparing Square (and specifically Final Fantasy) with other Japanese games is ludicrous. Final Fantasy sells multiple times as much as Persona. And Square doesn't even localize many of their other games themselves. Titles like Bravely Default and Dragon Quest are pretty much all localized by Nintendo instead nowadays

 

[Movalpolos]

Persona tacos and cerveza, por favor.

 

[Neonep]

Translating as the game is being made is a tremendous endeavor and also incredibly inefficient, since most of the stuff that's written won't make it to the final game. So by translating as it's being created, a company spends a LOT more money on translators than they otherwise would

There most certainly has to be a way to speed up the localization process. It's like the PSN name change situation, I know theres logistics involved but just fix it. This is also for all parties not just Atlus. Project X Zone 2 took 3 months and that is not even a big budget title with a lot behind in compared to something like Persona. A more accurate comparison would be MGSV. Worldwide release and that game was released on PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC. If they can do it then it shouldn't be a problem for Atlus. Also FFXV is having a worldwide release.

 

[Aaronrules380]

There most certainly has to be a way to speed up the localization process. It's like the PSN name change situation, I know theres logistics involved but just fix it. This is also for all parties not just Atlus. Project X Zone 2 took 3 months and that is not even a big budget title with a lot behind in compared to something like Persona. A more accurate comparison would be MGSV. Worldwide release and that game was released on PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC. If they can do it then it shouldn't be a problem for Atlus. Also FFXV is having a worldwide release.

Again, you're comparing games expected to sell many millions of copies in the west to one that will sell around 1-2 million at best over here

 

[Boke1879]

There most certainly has to be a way to speed up the localization process. It's like the PSN name change situation, I know theres logistics involved but just fix it. This is also for all parties not just Atlus. Project X Zone 2 took 3 months and that is not even a big budget title with a lot behind in compared to something like Persona. A more accurate comparison would be MGSV. Worldwide release and that game was released on PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC. If they can do it then it shouldn't be a problem for Atlus. Also FFXV is having a worldwide release.

I will say the games you mentioned are bigger budget games and their publisher probably has more money to throw around in regards to those things.

That said this isn't the first rodeo for Atlus. If we do get a release date for JP a NA date shouldn't be anything longer than a few months.

 

[Pancake Mix]

Yep, comparing Square (and specifically Final Fantasy) with other Japanese games is ludicrous. Final Fantasy sells multiple times as much as Persona. And Square doesn't even localize many of their other games themselves. Titles like Bravely Default and Dragon Quest are pretty much all localized by Nintendo instead nowadays

Indeed. It is the exception to the norm, as are the other few huge JRPGs that were localized almost day and date with Japan.

Nintendo almost certainly helps fund the localization and publishes, but IIRC Square Enix contracts an Italian(?) company for those titles.

Binari Sonori

 

[eyeball_kid]

Pretty sure they do. But that team isn't going to be working on games that aren't largely finished. Atlus makes more than just persona you know

Of course, though it's arguably their biggest (in terms of content) upcoming release. Based on my own experience with localization, it is not efficient to wait until all content is finalized before kicking it to the translators. Unless you have a huge team, you don't want to drop a whole RPG's worth of content on them at once. If certain segments are approved, you get that going in the pipeline.

 

[Zophar]

There most certainly has to be a way to speed up the localization process. It's like the PSN name change situation, I know theres logistics involved but just fix it. This is also for all parties not just Atlus. Project X Zone 2 took 3 months and that is not even a big budget title with a lot behind in compared to something like Persona. A more accurate comparison would be MGSV. Worldwide release and that game was released on PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC. If they can do it then it shouldn't be a problem for Atlus. Also FFXV is having a worldwide release.

Konami and Square-Enix are massive companies compared to Atlus and those games have budgets likely equal to the sum of money Atlus has put into developing games total, over its lifetime.

 

[Squire]

Tell that to the dozens of publishers who release hundreds of games that have been simultaneously localized alongside development, some even across like 5-6 languages.In this case you can argue sheer text volume, in those games cases you can argue the multiple levels of mocapping and still a lot of text.

The game would originally have had a script in place for a 2014 release, they could have started back then even with the delays.

Here we want 1, an English dub (since us Europeans give up on Atlus localisation from the start anyway).

Right, it's not like schedules, budgets, priorities and project parameters are different from game to game, let alone publisher to publisher. If two companies do one thing, how can the third not?

Square Enix can vary, with some larger games being localized at the same time as the Japanese game is being made. Lightning Returns was 4 months, though that was probably due to finding a release date that they desired (not December or January) than anything else. Nintendo can vary too, as can all of these companies. Localization takes time if it's not done during development, which we have no time of knowing about this game right now. There are a lot of factors we don't know, but if Persona 5 takes 6+ months that wouldn't be unusual or suddenly a great tragedy only now. It's not easy to localize a game and they'll release it when they think it's a good time.

P4A/Ultimax is not an RPG, so not a good example.

Nah, both Arena games have their own story modes that are VERY text heavy and about 30 hours long. They're basically full visual novels with some fights in between. They very much count.

 

[BRSxIgnition]

one that will sell around 1-2 million at best over here

You seem to be underestimating the impact of current P5 trailers and the growth of the fandom since their release.

Persona has grown by leaps and bounds lately, and P5 is Atlus' biggest project of all time.

 

[Lunar15]

So many assumptions about localization going on.

It's going to be what it is, no use worrying about it now. It's going to take them amount of time it should take.

You seem to be underestimating the impact of current P5 trailers and the growth of the fandom since their release.

Persona has grown by leaps and bounds lately, and P5 is Atlus' biggest project of all time.

Bloodborne sold 2 million in the US and was considered a pretty pleasant surprise for Sony, even with a fairly sizeable ad campaign from one of the largest game publishers on earth. If P5 manages to sell 1 Million+ in the US, I'm sure Atlus USA will be beside themselves.

 

[Philippo]

SO guys. Hype meter in check and all that. What we realistically expecting? A bit of new footage along with a release date? Maybe CE info?

-Trailer with JP Release date (July/August)
-Maybe some live gameplay
-Anime OVA clip
-Limited Edition (Artbook + Game + OVA)
-Collector's Edition (LE + Arsene figure)
-Live music

 

[DNAbro]

I would say expect early September for release date.

 

[Aaronrules380]

You seem to be underestimating the impact of current P5 trailers and the growth of the fandom since their release.

Persona has grown by leaps and bounds lately, and P5 is Atlus' biggest project of all time.

The entire Persona series, as of last year, has only sold 6 million copies total. I don't think any Persona game has ever sold 1 million copies in the west. 1-2 million is a pretty generous off for western sales tbh

 

[Pancake Mix]

Nah, both Arena games have their own story modes that are VERY text heavy and about 30 hours long. They're basically full visual novels with some fights in between. They very much count.

At any rate, you seem to be comparing the most successful JRPG franchise of all-time internationally (FFXIII sold over 6 million units and that was considered a disappointment) to Persona.

 

[Inuhanyou]

This is Atlus's biggest and most likely most ambitious game they have ever created full stop. At this point, they are not going to take their Persona fanbase in either the east or the west lightly.

I expect a US release date at E3, to release before the end of the year...Atlus USA had probably been working on it concurrently, but held up by Atlus Japan...that's my feeling just based on how they have acted.

They would not have been so firm about a 2015 release date if they had not already had code in their hands themselves at the time.

I also expect, after the youtube let's players get their hands on the game, after the reviews come out and after the hype comes to a fever pitch for existing fans, 1 million+ to 2 million+ sales metric in the west. Hell, maybe even 2.5 5 or even 3 if we're being the most optimistic we can be.

If Vita Golden, which is a re-release of a previous game on a platform like Vita can get 1 million, theres no doubt in my mind that P5 on both PS3 and PS4 will fully surpass that by a decent margin if all goes well.

 

[Boke1879]

This is Atlus's biggest and most likely most ambitious game they have ever created full stop. At this point, they are not going to take their Persona fanbase in either the east or the west lightly.

I expect a US release date at E3, to release before the end of the year...Atlus USA had probably been working on it concurrently, but held up by Atlus Japan...that's my feeling just based on how they have acted.

They would not have been so firm about a 2015 release date if they had not already had code in their hands themselves at the time.

I'm all in day 1. At this point just give me a NA release date at E3 and a Collectors Edition.

 

[Nachos]

Atlus has maybe a tenth of the size of the biggest companies, and that's before subtracting the staff members who are part of other development teams or those who aren't even developers. Atlus Japan is working with a small team, and Atlus USA is working with one that's even smaller, on top of using said team to localize multiple titles. Look at the credits for their games. Beyond some people swapping roles project-to-project and some different QA people, it's largely the same core each time on the US side.

People are conflating their hype for P5 with it being high-budget, leading to expectations that can be unrealistic for even bigger companies. There might be factors that make the turnaround time shorter, but on its face, there's nothing to suggest that.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

Because for them the extra money is usually worth it and the scripts aren't anywhere near as huge. Persona is still an incredibly niche game in the west. And it's a very dense game scriptwise. But please, give me examples of games that sell like Persona and are released simultaneously worldwide. Because as a JRPG fan, I find that almost never fucking happens

What publishers, in particular? If they're huge publishers with lots of money like Square Enix, well... that explains why they're able to make simultaneous releases.

Atlus make there return of investment on there big titles in the US market and then some, especially on the Persona series and HD games like Catherine. If they make games for Japan first and then the US market as a secondary focus then that implies the cost of development is budgeted to be recouped on Japanese sales alone. Considering how well Persona 4 sold in the US then any sort of notable delay for financial reasoning would be bizarre. I struggle to accept that their cash flow would be so bad they couldn't afford to localize one game in either a simultaneous manner or close to the Japanese release (espcially a project they anticipate to sell very well in the US and bring in much revenue).

Considering all that, any sort of notable gap between Japan and the US (like 3 months plus) is a matter of planning and priority, not cost imo.

 

[BRSxIgnition]

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