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[novery]

So the latest Sakura Taisen is hitting Japan in two weeks and it begs the question: Why don't game makers try marketing these titles in the West?

I think there are plenty of good reasons to keep them in Japan, but anime appears to be getting more and more popular in North America. Personally, I have never played a "love adventure" game, but from what I've seen of Sakura Taisen 5 with its nice graphics and varied gameplay, I think it could be a moderate success if localized for western audiences.

Alright GAF, go ahead and insert random hentai jokes, broad overstatements about Japan and avoid the question. Or surprise me with some intelligent discussion like I know you're all capable of.

-rp

 

[dog$]

Techncially the upcoming Ep0 isn't the actual ST5. The actual ST5 was just was revealed recently and won't be out until next year.

Either way, I have no idea what the actual concrete reasons are for not trying to release some ST5-related titles in the US. It did look like they were going to release one of 'em at some point but that seems to have faded away (as well as a sizeable chunk of ST's fandom in Japan). As of now, it looks like Sega has no interest in releasing any ST property stateside but this is Sega we're talking about so nothing is forever certain.

 

[Tsubaki]

That's not STV. It's some hack 'n slash spinoff, STV Episode 0. Not that it matters. Sega destroyed the franchise with STIV, and with each new release, they tarnish it even more.

Edit: Darn your fast fingers, dog.

 

[ferricide]

Alright GAF, go ahead and insert random hentai jokes, broad overstatements about Japan and avoid the question. Or surprise me with some intelligent discussion like I know you're all capable of.

probably because it would cost a SHITLOAD of money to localize them, given how voice-intensive they are. meanwhile the otaku fanbase would probably blow a gasket if the original voices weren't included, but there would be no way to do that without upping the disc count. also, given the popularity of the series in japan, licensing it can't be cheap.

fortunately i stopped caring about this series quite some time ago. man, do the character designs for V suck, incidentally. yowza.

 

[Shouta]

Not to mention the games frankly suck in terms of gameplay. It's more wanking material than anything

 

[BobbyRobby]

Thousand Arms was pretty fun. I'd definitely give these games a chance if released here.

 

[belgurdo]

Thousand Arms was pretty fun

no

 

[ferricide]

Not to mention the games frankly suck in terms of gameplay. It's more wanking material than anything

enh, i think that's an overstatement. the battles, as much as i've ever played them, aren't highly strategic but they're solid. the game story can be pretty amusing/endearing, too, and mitigates the galgame bullshit with an actual story as you'd find in a regular RPG.

i'd definitely play an ST game if it came out here, but at the same time i don't miss 'em much. if for no other reason than i already got into and over this whole shebang back when the saturn was out.

 

[Mr_Furious]

Quite a while back (end of DC or so), Sega actually mentioned interest in bringing Sakura Taisen to the U.S. but nothing's materialized thus far. Oh well.

 

[Shouta]

I wouldn't say it's an overstatement. The game's battles are flat-out boring and lack any sort decent gameplay ideas on the level of Onimusha Tactics =P. The story isn't anything hot either. Honestly, if I wanted a RPG to play that had anime written all over it I'll play Growlanser which is an infinitely better series.

 

[Pellham]

it's a game series for hardcore otaku. people play them for the girls, not for the gameplay. that's not the kind of game that does well over here.

 

[Tsubaki]

Thousand Arms is the worst game Red has ever collaborated on. I found many who support my stance. It was a horrible RPG. It was a horrible ren'ai. And somehow when it was combined, it gained a small following in the US. Go figure.

Sakura Taisen, OTOH, is a great strategy game hampered only by a low difficulty level. The hissatsu and semi-random double/extra-attacks make it more than the regular SRPG engine, and Sakura Taisen 3 with its ARMS system created a new type of strategy game. I wish that Sega didn't cater to the weaker gamers by making the game a walk in the park, but the engines are great.

And it is a great adventure game, with so many differing conversation paths, events, and character plots, playable minigames, etc etc. ST3 is the pinnacle of their adventure game efforts too, with all kinds of LIPS (a ST exclusive), fun -replayable- minigames, tons of secondary and tertiary characters, an immersive environment, tons of trigger events, and the most polish of any ST game.

So I really disagree that the ST series is all wanker material and no gameplay. As a strategy game, it's excellent.. but the balance is skewed toward it being too easy. That's a drawback, as strategy games are all about strategy. But with the ST innovations to the standard formula, it still ends up being fun. As an adventure game, it's the best the genre has to offer.

Hardly supbar or mediocre.

 

[kiryogi]

Quite a while back (end of DC or so), Sega actually mentioned interest in bringing Sakura Taisen to the U.S. but nothing's materialized thus far. Oh well.

I think Sammy shot down whatever was planned, and ignore Shouta's thoughts on ST.

 

[Tsubaki]

I wouldn't say it's an overstatement. The game's battles are flat-out boring and lack any sort decent gameplay ideas on the level of Onimusha Tactics =P. The story isn't anything hot either. Honestly, if I wanted a RPG to play that had anime written all over it I'll play Growlanser which is an infinitely better series.

Oh ... well... if you're comparing Sakura Taisen pure gameplay to Growlanser, of course it would lose. It's also comparing apples to oranges, as ST is an adventure game with strategy game battles, and Growlanser is an RPG with strategic battles and a sprinkle of ren'ai elements. Growlanser is a way better strategy game, but ST has a certain charm to it that other games lack.

 

[Miburou]

I enjoyed the first 3 ST games on DC (and ST3 was my favorite), and it also made for good practice material for my Japanese. ST4 was kind of disappointing, and I can't bring myself to continue playing ST1 remake on PS2.

There seems to be little progress in terms of gameplay, story, etc. And Iris is the most annoying character, ever. You have to be nice to all the girls, though, as it helps you later in battle.

I really can't be enthusiastic towards the series anymore, but it was a unique experience while it lasted, so if you can check it out, do so. (then again I've played 0 Story, and got 100%, so maybe you shouldn't take me too seriously ).

 

[Bizarro Sun Yat-sen]

Wait, I thought ST5 WAS going to be marketed in America? I remember reading that they figured the cowboy motif would appeal to Western tastes.

 

[Buffy4ever]

probably because it would cost a SHITLOAD of money to localize them, given how voice-intensive they are. meanwhile the otaku fanbase would probably blow a gasket if the original voices weren't included, but there would be no way to do that without upping the disc count. also, given the popularity of the series in japan, licensing it can't be cheap.

fortunately i stopped caring about this series quite some time ago. man, do the character designs for V suck, incidentally. yowza.

why would it cost any oney to License the game? it is Sega's game, they own it, so they don't need to pay any money to License it. The animie was made after the game became a hit. Now I agree that iwould cost alot to do the voices, but Sega did do Shenmue, so why not Sakura Taisen?

 

[ferricide]

why would it cost any oney to License the game? it is Sega's game, they own it, so they don't need to pay any money to License it. The animie was made after the game became a hit. Now I agree that iwould cost alot to do the voices, but Sega did do Shenmue, so why not Sakura Taisen?

well, first off, i don't know how sega works -- but many (most?) japanese publishers don't typically just give their US branches the games. they're seperate companies, even if one owns (or has a majority share in) the other. i can think of at least two good examples where the US branch has to pay the same amount of money anyone else would to grab games published by the japanese division -- even though they share the same name.

moreover, if sega of america isn't interested, as i assure you they're almost 100% likely not, given their big push for "more mainstream / western games" that the PR is currently hawking, then it would certainly cost another publisher a fuckton of money. and who that would actually be interested would bother spending a fuckton of money on this game when it's not going to do much better than a regular, no-name RPG, and present way more risk?

besides, the IP is at least partially owned by red. even sega of america would probably have to pay red some cashfor the use of it.

the only way i could see this coming over is if ADV or funimation, who are both relasing ST anime in the US, decide they want to increase the brand penetration and work with a publisher to bring it over. then the bill would be shared and the localization would be consistent with a known product.

 

[shuri]

So from what I learned to this thread, you are wondering why a softcore dating sim series mixed with subpar gameplay on its FIFTH installement never made it outside of Japan?

Seriously -- think about it for a moment.

 

[Miburou]

It's not really a dating sim, though.

 

[Senretsu]

Wasn't Working Designs considering this at one point? I could have sworn that Vic guy saying something about this series.

I've always been curious about ST I'd like to try it, I don't care if its dubbed or whatever. Now that the new SMT and DDS is coming over, perhaps we'll at least get ST8 or ST9 on PS3 to come here, at least.

 

[Pellham]

It's not really a dating sim, though.

...have you played Sakura Taisen? Officially it's an SRPG series, but those dialogue choices to satisfy those girls.. come on now...

And sure Sakura Taisen never came out here. There's also another big popular SRPG series that never came out here. Super Robot Wars. What do they have in common? They have elements that will only appeal to Japanese gamers (and select westerners, I guess not enough westerners to warrant bringing them over here).

I mean, if you like Sakura Taisen, you like it, but you have to accept the fact that it'd sell less than 50,000 copies over here, making it not worth the investment (unless you were Atlus).

 

[ferricide]

Wasn't Working Designs considering this at one point? I could have sworn that Vic guy saying something about this series.

i would not put a lot of faith in WD's working capital these days.

keep hope alive, though!

There's also another big popular SRPG series that never came out here. Super Robot Wars.

if ST would be a licensing pain, SRW would be a licensing SCREAMING BLOODY NIGHTMARE. untangling all of the japanese original and US sub-licensee rights ... the stipulations .. augh. enough to give a team of lawyers night sweats for two years.

 

[Tsubaki]

So from what I learned to this thread, you are wondering why a softcore dating sim series mixed with subpar gameplay on its FIFTH installement never made it outside of Japan?

Seriously -- think about it for a moment.

Wait... wait... did you play the series, or a game from the series? No? Then what weight does your post in this thread have?

Wasn't Working Designs considering this at one point? I could have sworn that Vic guy saying something about this series.

Vic loves the series and has stated numerous times that he would love to transl...er... localize it. But Sega of Japan won't let him. Thankfully.

 

[novery]

So from what I learned to this thread, you are wondering why a softcore dating sim series mixed with subpar gameplay on its FIFTH installement never made it outside of Japan?

Seriously -- think about it for a moment.

Nice try. I don't know about the gameplay, but the Japanese sure seem to like it. Sakura Taisen 3 sold 314,000 copies in 2001, on Dreamcast.

This topic is not as stupid as you think.

-rp

 

[Sho Nuff]

The games aren't very good.

And I think that whoever said that Episode 0 would appeal to Westerners was smoking crack. OH YEAH, LET'S PUT A SAMURAI GIRL IN THE OLD WEST. OH, AND LET'S HAVE HER RIDE A HORSE THAT CAN DO BACKFLIPS.

Think about it. A horse that does backflips.

 

[JackFrost2012]

Think about it. A horse that does backflips.

I'm thinking about it, and I'm thinking it's awesome.

 

[ferricide]

I'm thinking about it, and I'm thinking it's awesome.

no shit. i saw that on the big screen above sega's booth out of the corner of my eye at TGS last year and i was like "i dunno what the fuck that game is, but that horse is doing backflips. i need it." fortunately, it comes out the week of TGS this year, making a purchase easy. if the rest of the game doesn't live up to the backflipping horse, well... i'll just have to suck it up, i guess.

 

[Brandon F]

Not to mention the games frankly suck in terms of gameplay. It's more wanking material than anything

Totally.

I will admit to being really into the first two games on Saturn eons ago...I was also 17 and eager to learn the language of Japanese. I successfully beat both titles in their native language with a good bit of understanding and very little faq abuse. (Not that there really were that many good resources online then)

Then when ST3 hit and I sort of stopped my little hobby, it really dawned on me how little I actually cared for the franchise at all. The games were neat learning tools with the large kana fonts, and goofball girl antics rewarding my attentive efforts; but when it came time to play it as a 'game', it really lacks substance.

Amazing that the franchise is still alive and kicking though in some form. Thought the fanbase would have moved completely onto Love Hina or something equally as frightening by now.

Oh and Sumire always ended up my choice babe for the curious...

 

[dog$]

Love Hina? Let me turn my head to the side so that I can vomit...

The way I think the whole ST series has worked is because it's another game (series) where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, especially in terms of presentation. Specifically for ST1-3, the games all have an environment which I always thought was really well done, and is completely visible and audible from the moment the game boots up (all the way through the closing credits).

The battles lack challenge, and the characters might come from a well-worn template, but it wouldn't have gotten any sort of fan base in the first place had it not managed to at least present itself well. Even the cash run that was ST4 at least had an ending to (somewhat) justify the game's existence.

Hell, even the ST Columns games were a shitload more than just "Columns with a ST skin"; they actually added gameplay improvements and managed to integrate the ST elements with the game itself. Again, these ST games have a real level of polish which I don't see very often in many games today; sadly it can be argued that ST4 marked the beginning of the environment's deterioration but I will try to reserve condemnation until after Ep0 and ST5 are released.

 

[jarrod]

Wasn't Working Designs considering this at one point? I could have sworn that Vic guy saying something about this series.

They were considering bringing the first one over on Saturn before they dropped the platform. Imagine if WD had stayed on with Saturn releases, we'd have gotten Sakura Taisen 1-2, Lunar 1-2, Silhouette Mirage, ThunderForce Collection, ThunderForce V, Dragon Force 2 and likely Grandia and Radiant Silvergun too.

 

[dog$]

I'm usually not a big stickler when it comes to translated voicework (not as much in that I have preferences as much as the fact that I really don't give a damn), but I really do fear what would have happened had Vic&Co. got their hands on ST. Moreover, even after seeing the ADV anime spots some time ago, I can't help but just to consider the ST people as how they are in the J games, voices and all.

But now that you mention that last sentence, boy do I wish RS would have shown up here. Then maybe the game wouldn't command stupid eBay premiums and people would have been able to play it for theirselves and realize what a thoroughly average game it is, instead of gleaning opinions from Treasure cokeheads everywhere.

Anyway, less about how much Radiant Silvergun sucks and more about how no ST games will ever come out in the US.

 

[drohne]

They were considering bringing the first one over on Saturn before they dropped the platform. Imagine if WD had stayed on with Saturn releases, we'd have gotten Sakura Taisen 1-2, Lunar 1-2, Silhouette Mirage, ThunderForce Collection, ThunderForce V, Dragon Force 2 and likely Grandia and Radiant Silvergun too.

also soukyugurentai, sengoku blade, hyper duel, and blast wind if vic ireland is quoted accurately here: http://www.stickycarpet.com/dam/souky.htm

"The Saturn version [of soukugurentai] was licensed and ready to be announced (along with 6 other Saturn shooters - Thunderforce 5 ,Thunderforce Gold Pack 1&2 , Hyper Duel , Blast Wind and Sengoku Blade) when it became obvious that Mr. (Bernie) Stolar and Co. were out to trash the Saturn...fast. We canned all deals, and Soukyugurentai was one of them.."

all besides blast wind are top-notch shooters. and even that's pretty decent. i've got all the imports, but it's a shame they never came over. well, assuming that wd wouldn't have pulled any questionable, irreversible "improvements" as they did with silhouette mirage.

 

[Miburou]

...have you played Sakura Taisen?

Have you read all the replies in the thread (including my previous one)? I've played all of them.

Officially it's an SRPG series, but those dialogue choices to satisfy those girls.. come on now...

But it's not a dating sim. By definition, a dating sim is one that simulates dating a girl, where the majority of the game's time is spent trying to win over the girl, and you end the game successfully by scoring with the girl.

In ST, half your time is spent in battles, and the rest walking around your theater/base, and talking to everyone, and not just the girls. Sure, whoever girl likes you the best in the end, and you go out and have a date with, but that's just one aspect of the game.

 

[Tsubaki]

In ST, half your time is spent in battles, and the rest walking around your theater/base, and talking to everyone, and not just the girls. Sure, whoever girl likes you the best in the end, and you go out and have a date with, but that's just one aspect of the game.

Yep. I also compare this aspect to how you can go out on a date with a girl in FFVII. FF7 IS TEH DATING SIM!!!!!!

No one can deny that Sakura Taisen has elements of ren'ai in it, but I like ST3 the most because all the secondary characters give you chimes - not just the females. It made it more of an all-around adventure game where what you say to anyone affects the game.

 

[radios shipping overview]

also soukyugurentai, sengoku blade, hyper duel, and blast wind if vic ireland is quoted accurately here: http://www.stickycarpet.com/dam/souky.htm

Usenet doesn't lie: http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=MPG.ff583eda6dfb53c989732@news.mindspring.com&output=gplain