Vic Ireland on translating im@s

[Setsuna]

... *Sigh* Can we keep him far away from Imas, then? (Seriously, though, would an English-text version of the game be so difficult...?)

To do it with the projected costs (The cost of licensing and, well doing it to NBGI's satisfaction), the projected market (Just how many people you think im@s will sell to, depending what you do to it?) and the underlying market (namely, preventing their Japanese market from flocking to a significantly cheaper one that would HAVE to be presented in the US, unless of course, you don't mind paying for 120 for im@s 2 and 100 a month in DLC), yes, it IS.

See: http://forum.project-imas.com/index.php/topic,1523.msg33348.html#msg33348

Change business reality to make that all fit, then let me know.

Translating the game is the easy part (although as any translator will tell you, it's bloody hard due to lack of context, how you see the text and other odds and ends.) because it's such a minor part of the whole process.

[JNiles]

<snip>

Thanks for the breakdown.  I agree that a producing franchise independent of Idolmaster is doable.  The public is okay with motion-controlled dance games, auto-tuned voices, and creepy mocap/facial expressions (at least if the response to Mass Effect is any indication).  I think it would take a massive push from a giant publisher, like Activision... if they hadn't run their rhythm franchises into the ground and given up.

I probably wouldn't play it though.  I loathe the state of American pop, and with foreign music I can at least remain blissfully ignorant of bad lyrics.


Your comments about the state of the industry have me a little worried.  The big(?) four localizers here are reaching pretty much everyone they can via gaming blogs, direct email, and their own sites, and while new people are getting on board, I imagine there's some attrition too.  I'm not a big fan of digital-only distribution either.  Call me old-fashioned. :/

[animagic4u]

Better get that vocal training after all.
I wanna be first in line for the role of Haruka.

I still don't imagine this going overwell. Kickstarters have bad vibes in the industry...and especially for what I would call a slightly controversial game like iDOLM@STER.

[satty]

Huh...with regards to Vic's words about Idolmaster, the cynical side of me is saying "Hah, hell has to freeze before that happens." Then again, it's assuming that he won't change much, which, as Setsuna pointed out, won't happen unless he does do a Roboteching of the whole series.

As for his work in Class of Heroes and Kickstarting, it's sad to say it, but I think we're at a point where if there has to be any variety in the industry, all the smaller companies have to go digital distribution. Kickstarting for physical copies, to me, is a pretty desperate move, but in an industry where the public is only comfortable with FPS's and sports games and whatnot, it seems to be the only way.

[Roswell]

... *Sigh* Can we keep him far away from Imas, then? (Seriously, though, would an English-text version of the game be so difficult...?)

As far as I know, it's impossible. The only reason that certain games fly through with only Japanese audio and no English (Arcana Heart, Atelier Annie, etc.) was because it had minimal voice acting. In Arcana Heart's case, Atlus removed the voices in story mode so there were only voices during battle. I think they had to do that because it wouldn't have gotten through the ESRB otherwise, but I could be wrong.

[Neko-P]

... ESRB won't let Japanese-audio-English-text games go through?


Meanwhile, I actually was only talking about translation. An English Text option in the Japanese game would be about as far as I would want any translation effort to go, even though that's impossible.

[Byuusan]

As far as I know, it's impossible. The only reason that certain games fly through with only Japanese audio and no English (Arcana Heart, Atelier Annie, etc.) was because it had minimal voice acting. In Arcana Heart's case, Atlus removed the voices in story mode so there were only voices during battle. I think they had to do that because it wouldn't have gotten through the ESRB otherwise, but I could be wrong.

Doesn't quite explain Agarest War Series. They're heavy in voice acting but they got through ok wit only JPN voices.

[SakuraMaxX]

... ESRB won't let Japanese-audio-English-text games go through?


Meanwhile, I actually was only talking about translation. An English Text option in the Japanese game would be about as far as I would want any translation effort to go, even though that's impossible.

Sony Computer Entertainment of America does not allow a game to have a retail copy if it does not get an English dub (if Japanese voices were present), forcing PS3iM@S 2 to be sold only on the PSN/SEN Marketplace if it were to ever receive a translated version.

[Roswell]

Sony Computer Entertainment of America does not allow a game to have a retail copy if it does not get an English dub (if Japanese voices were present), forcing PS3iM@S 2 to be sold only on the PSN/SEN Marketplace if it were to ever receive a translated version.

You posted just as I was writing up my reply. xD
It was SCEA, not ESRB, my mistake.

As for Agarest War, it was PSN only. However, the 360 version was sold on discs.

[Setsuna]

Bear in mind that it's only SECA (the American branch) Which is completely opposed to a general physical release of games without an English dub if voicing at all is present. There are few exceptions (namely if you're Sega and can threaten them hard.) to this rule, which DOES NOT apply to a European release.

This was most recently demonstrated with Warriors Orochi 3 for the PS3 - the US saw a digital only release, as it does not contain an English soundtrack.

In Europe, Koei released a physical disc, as Sony's European branch does not mind (Mostly because of the fact the requirement would be ludricious, and would get them in trouble with the European Commission for discrimination unless they dubbed it in at least 3 or 4 different languages if they forced it as a requirement. Europe's a diverse place, to say the least)

It'd also be only be applicable to the US market - as I've noted before, there are several reasons (and the above is one of them) why a European release is far more viable as a business case than a US release. The other big one being pricing of course.

It doesn't hurt that Europe has had tour groups none of which can sing English, and there's been proof that you can market a band/group in a country without EVER singing in a language the country understands either.

[zeda12123]

I dunno maybe we should give him a chance?
I mean on one hand we will actually get a Idolm@ster release here but on the other we'll never get a localization which wasn't happening anyway so I'd say we don't really have much to lose...
besides I feel Idolm@ster could appeal to a wider audience than it could when it was first introduced. You cant deny that western interest in Jpop, eastern culture, etc has expand greatly over time.
hey look at corpse party, it was extremely successful without English audio or Americanizing. If idolm@ster does make it over in top form it probably won't be disc based but hey I'll take what I can get.

[satty]

I dunno maybe we should give him a chance?
I mean on one hand we will actually get a Idolm@ster release here but on the other we'll never get a localization which wasn't happening anyway so I'd say we don't really have much to lose...
besides I feel Idolm@ster could appeal to a wider audience than it could when it was first introduced. You cant deny that western interest in Jpop, eastern culture, etc has expand greatly over time.
hey look at corpse party, it was extremely successful without English audio or Americanizing. If idolm@ster does make it over in top form it probably won't be disc based but hey I'll take what I can get.

Then again, Corpse Party wasn't that big, so it was easier to get through. Localization, to my brother at least, is fine for him. In his words...

"I'm okay with producing Hannah, Christina, and Maggie. I'm fine taking on Mr. Blackthorne and Henry, Thomas, and Shane."

[redhairedking]

You posted just as I was writing up my reply. xD
It was SCEA, not ESRB, my mistake.

As for Agarest War, it was PSN only. However, the 360 version was sold on discs.

But Agarest War Zero had JPN voices only and it was sold on discs for PS3.

[satty]

But Agarest War Zero had JPN voices only and it was sold on discs for PS3.

That and the Yakuza series are exceptions, though.

[blake307]

I personally think that Sony America's no dub no retail policy is stupid and pointless. I also find it pretty strange that they allow the Yakuza games to be released and retailed without dubs but not games like Arcana Heart 3 or Warriors Orochi 3. Plus if there is a chance that im@s 2 did get translated it would probably be released as digital download only here in America since Sony from my perspective is a closed minded company when it comes to that kind of stuff.

But that is just my opinion anyway.