120°

Sega's commitment to better localization brings more Western players to popular Japanese franchises

Sega of America's Jon Riesenbach talks to GameDaily on localizing the Yakuza Collection and the internal localization processes between Sega and Atlus.

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gamedaily.biz
Wasabi1638d ago (Edited 1638d ago )

Great to see SEGA still in the industry and doing well after all these years.

It saddened me to see them leave the hardware market after the ill fated Dreamcast, a shame as DC was a superb console with amazing features and tech that were way ahead of its time.

More than happy that the Yakuza series has found a market in the West and is able to reach a larger player base through the efforts of the localisation teams.

MrSwankSinatra1638d ago

I mean its really SEGA's own fault for them leaving the hardware business, specifically SEGA Japan.

Segata1638d ago

Yup. They managed money as well as Paul Heyman.

Wasabi1638d ago (Edited 1638d ago )

@MrSwank

***"I mean its really SEGA's own fault for them leaving the hardware business"***

They made a superb product that unfortunately (for SEGA) didn't resonate as well with consumers as its competitors did. This happens.

***"specifically SEGA Japan"***

I don't agree, SEGA Japan set a sales target and cut off date to ensure the company's survival because the Dreamcast was hemorrhaging money and putting the company at risk, it was not SEGA Japan's fault. Peter Moore made the final call, because despite his best efforts the Dreamcast never found the market it deserved.

rainslacker1637d ago (Edited 1637d ago )

Sega's problem wasn't lack of resonating with the customers, it was because they didn't manage their money well before they released that console, and released a lot of hardware which didn't do enough to catch consumer interest, and they barely supported them. It's their own fault that the consumer lost faith in them, and what hurt them more was that the gaming industry lost faith in them after the way they handled various add ons, and the Saturn launch which Sega moved up by months, and they weren't ready for.

Dreamcast itself wasn't hemorrhaging money, Sega as a whole was. They had no choice but to leave the hardware market because they just couldn't afford to be in it anymore without going bankrupt.

I love the dreamcast, and even the Saturn and SegaCD. But Sega just screwed up a lot, and it was Sega Japan which got them in the situation that they were in which led to having to pull the plug to make sure that Sega itself survived. But the reality of the situation was that it probably would have happened even if Dreamcast was wildly successful, because Sega Japan had a problem managing it's productions, and couldn't comprehend that Sony wasn't going to just hand the market over to them.

Muzikguy1638d ago

I'm waiting for the physical release of the collection so I can have all the Yakuza games. I'm glad for the localization of them.

MadLad1638d ago

Keep bringing the Yakuza releases to the PC, and you'll have a customer in me. They do well on the PC in general. Got '0' for rather cheap, and ended up loving it. Now there's another on Humble Monthly I'm excited to play. After that, I am happy to support the series and buy the games outright, when I can.

Not that I don't enjoy taking advantage of the good deals thus far.

neutralgamer19921638d ago

Yakuza Ishin and other side entries to the west

King_Noctis1638d ago

Bring all the Yakuza spinoffs to the west then. I dare you, Sega.

Melankolis1638d ago

Yeah. We, fans of Yakuza had a hard time convincing you Sega. And now listen this, you still owe us Isshin & Kenzan.

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290°

Square Enix Declares $140m Loss Amid Game Pipeline Shakeup

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth publisher Square Enix has declared a $140m loss based on a shakeup of its internal development pipeline.

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techraptor.net
Furesis8h ago

What are they doing over there? Sounds like they canceled something big. I read a rumor a while back about ff9 remake . Here "Final Fantasy IX has gone through a very challenging development, the game is still in progress but may undergo changes drastic enough that we won't hear about it for a couple of years."
This could be one of the reasons if the rumor is true. That was Silknight i don't know how credible he is but it's something and it would make sense.

-Foxtrot7h ago

I hope IX is still on the cards

Just a straight up remake which they expand a little bit nothing over ambitious

If IX dosent happen then VI and VIII will never be thought of.

TiredGamer5h ago

What are they doing? Sales are falling and the costs are out of control. Big releases need to be absolute sales home runs now, and Final Fantasy sales have stagnated.

Now we know why Square didn’t fall over themselves to remake the original FF7 all these years ago. It certainly wasn’t a license to print money, at least not with what the expectations were. Each of these full on remakes drains an enormous amount of company resources for a razor thin profit margin.

TwoPicklesGood5h ago

Breaking the game up into multiple parts was a mistake IMO.

blackblades4h ago

The loses came from cancelling games nothing else.

shadowT7h ago

Do not miss Final Fantasy 16. Great game!

raWfodog7h ago

I'm waiting for them to release the complete edition bundle, but it's definitely on my list.

PhillyDonJawn6h ago

Wth is going on with the gaming industry?

mandf6h ago

Corporate investors taking everything

TiredGamer5h ago

Not rocket science. Compare sales numbers, development cycles, and budgets to the previous gens. We are all collectively burning up the industry from the inside out. Expectations are ludicrously high now for every release and sales are dropping for even the most prestigious of series.

We used to be satisfied paying $50-60 for a game that took 1/100th the budget and staff to make. Now gamers feel cheated if they have to pay the same for a game that took 100x the budget. We may be reaching the end of the line for this model of gaming.

wiz71912h ago

@tiredgamer I think your point is one that ppl don’t understand and you hit it on the nose .. some gamers don’t want to take accountability but it’s some of the gamers fault the industry is where it’s at .. we as gamers set the standards for the industry not the shareholders , ppl forget that the shareholders and the industry want and need OUR Money. Both the Xbox and PlayStation are seeing a drop in hardware , the industry is very stagnant right now.

Tacoboto3h ago

Speaking to Square:

Turns out their mismanagement wasn't related to the western studios they dumped to Embracer, but their own fault.

With regards to Xbox - a good way to kill your brand is to pull support on high quality titles and only dump B and C-tier titles to it

With regards to PC - Epic Games Story exclusivity for any duration and piss-poor optimization will hurt you.

With regards to FF Pixel Remasters - y'all messed up by barely releasing them on physical, like wtf that was free money!

And lastly, you don't help a franchise by releasing a mainline title that undermines every title that came before it. FFXVI was a DMC-like with bottom-of-the-barrel side quests and I can't imagine that helping Rebirth at all considering its marketing is directly tied to how big that game is.

Tacoboto2h ago

Sony is getting their best titles and with the most polish, so what about it? Nintendo gets their top properties too, for titles that can run on Switch hardware.

It's the other fanbases that get the second- and third-class treatment from Square. If that's due to agreements with Sony, that's not a Sony issue but a Square one for accepting those terms. Sony is doing its best to look out for Sony.

TiredGamer6h ago

The industry implosion is continuing. Sky high budgets, prolonged development windows, stagnant sales numbers, and falling currency values (inflation) are wreaking havoc on the legacy industry. AAA games will slowly become the rarity.

CS76h ago

Sad. Rebirth was one of my favorite games in a long time. Should have sold more.

CrimsonWing695h ago

Oh I’m with you. What’s worse is they can say, “Well we tried to make this amazing game and spend all this money on, but not enough people showed an interest. So no more of these since we can’t take a hit like that.”

The industry is going to take a dramatic shift. Mark my words on this.

rpvenom4h ago(Edited 4h ago)

I think there is quite a large portion of individuals like myself who held out on buying it on PS5 because I can get it on PC eventually. To be able to mod the game and also have custom graphical settings to my liking

Show all comments (25)
260°

Xbox Games Showcase Followed by [REDACTED] Direct Airs June 9

- Xbox Wire - Mark your calendars! The Xbox Games Showcase followed by [REDACTED] Direct airs June 9. More info inside.

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news.xbox.com
bionicstar7h ago

Will they show Fable 4, Stalker 2, GoW 6 & Perfect Dark?

PhillyDonJawn6h ago

Crossing fingers for Fable and perfect dark. And State of Decay 3

RaidenBlack2h ago(Edited 2h ago)

And maybe Clockwork Revolution, South of Midnight, Contraband, Project 007 & OD? lol
and whatever happened to Everwild ?
+ that rumored Wu Tang RPG

Sonic188146m ago(Edited 45m ago)

Will they have official release dates and gameplay?

anast6h ago

Another game pass event with their plans to go all streaming.

6h ago
Lightning775h ago

It's an Xbox showcase that they have every year.

Make smarter comments for once.

anast2h ago(Edited 2h ago)

Tell me what a smarter comment is.

If they don't sell game pass the entire time, then I will be wrong. All of this can be proven once the show gets underway. Let's wait and see.

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Lightning772h ago(Edited 2h ago)

Wow too easy.

You went from MS going all streaming to selling gamepass content in which we all know they are.

Which one is it?

Pretty clear you don't know what a smart comment is at least you admit you don't know.

1h ago
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darthv726h ago

Wonder if they will address the handheld rumors....?

jimb0j0nes6h ago

For a brief moment I thought we might get a whole Direct for Gears 6 - seems like it's COD though!

Show all comments (32)
130°

Square & Bandai Namco Being Honest About Quality Is A Step In The Right Direction

Saad from eXputer: "After suffering from massive financial hits, Square Enix & Bandai Namco appear to be turning over a new leaf but I'm still unconvinced."

Nerdmaster22h ago(Edited 22h ago)

I was talking about games with some Japanese guys here in Japan, and it seems like around here Bandai Namco has a fame of making low-quality games, with the occasional gem.

About Square Enix, I believe they lack the capacity to improve. They should learn with Capcom (although even Capcom still makes some bad mistakes), but I don't think they ever will. They keep chasing whatever is new at the time (blockchain, AI...) to say "we innovate", without considering the public perception and if these things actually improve the games or not. Them releasing too many small games with no advertising also shows a lack of trust in its own products. Even with their biggest games, like turning FF into an action game with XVI and the very divisive plot changes regarding whispers and timelines in VII Remake, shows them trying to attract a new generation of gamers without understanding what made the series so big in the first place.

shinoff218322h ago

I want a true ff7 remake. With thatcsaid I'm way happier with 7 remake then I was with ff16. I'd still prefer turn based but square keep chasing these Lil kids

Snookies1218h ago

Man, it is perfectly fine to prefer turn based. Turn based is amazing. But there's zero reason to call anyone who likes action games "lil kids". Liking one gameplay system over another does not make you more mature in any way.

VersusDMC21h ago

People love the new FF's overall...the problem is the abundance of 7's they release that lose money or make very little like diofield, star ocean divine force, Valkyrie asylum, harvestella, foam stars, etc. Advertising wouldn't have saved those games. Apparently Forespoken had a big Advertising budget but we saw how that went.

shinoff218320h ago(Edited 20h ago)

Star ocean divine force actually sold well from what I've read not ff type numbers but well enough. Was a dope game to.

FinalFantasyFanatic20h ago

Bandai Namco is going to Bandai Namco, I do believe that Square Enix can't change without changing the entire management, they've had these issues for more than a decade and haven't learnt, I have very little faith they can course correct. I'll still buy their better remasters/remakes like Star Ocean 2 though (not FF7R).

Asterphoenix17h ago

Namco is just milking the same Sword Art Online with lack of budget as well as anime IPs that don't go to decent developers like Jujutsu Kaisen and My Hero Academia. Namco deserves their losses and no future Dot Hack or Xenosaga remaster :(.

Square allocated lot of their budget on Forspoken was a mistake. Square always had management issues. Star Ocean 2 was a great remake and I found their recent entries of FF(16 and Rebirth) better than 13 and 15.
I think they were better than 360/PS3 generation where Square went really downhill.

CrimsonWing6921h ago

I don’t know why NOW they decide on this, but I guess later is better than never.