Atlus Pulls Catherine Demo From PSN in Japan

[Logan Westbrook]

Atlus Pulls Catherine Demo From PSN in Japan

Atlus says that it has essentially "run out of stock" of the demo for the PS3.

Anyone hoping to sneakily snag the demo for Atlus' upcoming erotic thriller, Catherine, for the PS3 has missed his or her chance, as the Japan-only demo is no longer available on PSN.

The official Catherine Twitter feed announced [http://twitter.com/#!/CATHY__ATLUS/statuses/34512366129385472] that Atlus had only planned to allow a certain number of downloads of the demo. Once PS3 owners hit the pre-determined download limit, Atlus pulled the content. The demo is reportedly still available on Xbox Live, but as there are far fewer Xbox 360's in Japan, it's going to be a lot hard for the platform to hit a download limit - assuming that Atlus set it at a similar level to the PS3.

The decision to pull the demo seems like an odd one, especially when you consider that part of the reason it even existed was to answer [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/106539-Atlus-to-Clear-Up-Confusion-Over-Catherine-With-Demo] some of the questions of confused Japanese gamers. It's possible, however, that there's no download limit at all, and it's simply the case that the demo was proving too costly on the PS3.

Sony charges [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.100388-Sony-Charges-Third-Parties-for-Selling-DLC] publishers a fee for every gigabyte of content that users download, and if the demo was proving popular, Atlus may have been faced with a bill it didn't really want to pay. It doesn't help that it's a relatively simple matter for gamers outside of Japan to grab the demo, also adding to the fees. It's also possible that both of these reasons are true, and that Atlus imposed a download limit because of the fees. This might also explain why the demo is still up on Xbox Live, as Microsoft covers bandwidth costs in other ways.

Catherine comes out in Japan for PS3 and Xbox 360 on February 17th. There's no word of a Western release just yet, unfortunately, but hopefully it's just a matter of time.

Source: Siliconera [http://www.siliconera.com/2011/02/07/sorry-ps3-owners-atlus-pulled-the-catherine-demo-from-psn/]


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[manythings]

Really looking forward to this one, I can't think of a game that has been like it. Atlus are good at crazy imagery.

OT: Do we actually know what the limit was? It seems like an odd policy for Sony since demos sell products... then again maybe they have numbers that say the opposite.

 

[MercurySteam]

Never played an Atlus game but this one looks to be worth sinking my teeth into (hehe, get it?).

Never the less, if it comes out on XBL in my country I'll take a look at it.

 

[GeneticallyModifiedDucks]

Phew, good thing I got it before they pulled it down! That barely lasted two weeks.

Still, the demo only modestly succeeds to show people what the game is all about, since (as hinted by many of the trailers) there is also going to be a social aspect of the game, which wasn't available on the demo. Not that I need any kind of convincing to get this game, but considering there's no word on an American release yet (let alone a European one), but still

I could be wrong about the social aspect of the game, but I hope I'm not, because if it's just the puzzles during the night, it could get boring very fast.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

Is this going to be something you can only buy off XBL or PSN?

No, that was just the demo. They already have the boxart for the game out.
OP: The fact that it was too popular too keep up is a good sign we may get it and it will sell well (by Atlus standards).

 

[Brad Shepard]

Atlus games= popular

Boobs= Popular

No brainer guys.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

Escapist ate my post.

 

[Macgyvercas]

Why, why, WHY IS THERE NO WESTERN RELEASE DATE!?!

 

[FieryTrainwreck]

So do we have much in the way of actual gameplay yet? Or is it just a compellingly bizarre concept wrapped around a mind-numbingly mediocre game?

 

[ANImaniac89]

So glad I downloaded it last week.
I was the soul reason I opened a Japanese PSN account.

the Demo itself is awesomely weird and I would gladly pay $60 for a full version.

 

[Jaqen Hghar]

If anyone was unable to try the demo, you can see the guys at Giant Bomb do a quicklook at it [http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-catherine/17-3730/]
I have no interest in the game, so doesn't bother me that the demo is gone. But a Giant Bomb quicklook is always worth watching.

 

[Tireseas_v1legacy]

Why, why, WHY IS THERE NO WESTERN RELEASE DATE!?!

If I had to guess, probably because the western games industry (or rather, the US) is still hurting from the ME1 sex scene "scandal" trumped up by Fox News and Christian Fundamentalist groups. In case you missed it, there have been a number of games killed in development because the material was controversial (6 Days in Fallugah being the most noted one) and as a result, publishers are being extra cautious about controversial releases.

 

[droppingpenny]

If I had to guess, probably because the western games industry (or rather, the US) is still hurting from the ME1 sex scene "scandal" trumped up by Fox News and Christian Fundamentalist groups. In case you missed it, there have been a number of games killed in development because the material was controversial (6 Days in Fallugah being the most noted one) and as a result, publishers are being extra cautious about controversial releases.

That's a lame reason, especially since nobody cared for God of War sex scenes and Persona 4's homosexual themes.

 

[Tireseas_v1legacy]

If I had to guess, probably because the western games industry (or rather, the US) is still hurting from the ME1 sex scene "scandal" trumped up by Fox News and Christian Fundamentalist groups. In case you missed it, there have been a number of games killed in development because the material was controversial (6 Days in Fallugah being the most noted one) and as a result, publishers are being extra cautious about controversial releases.

That's a lame reason, especially since nobody cared for God of War sex scenes and Persona 4's homosexual themes.

I didn't say it was a good reason, just that it was a reason. Controversy, more often than not, brings more problems than benefits in the world of gaming.

Another reason? Probably the fact that Japanese games generally don't sell well in the US unless they are major titles. For every FFXII and Demon Souls, there's about 20 games that got localized and had terrible sales.

 

[Sakurazaki1023]

Why, why, WHY IS THERE NO WESTERN RELEASE DATE!?!

If I had to guess, probably because the western games industry (or rather, the US) is still hurting from the ME1 sex scene "scandal" trumped up by Fox News and Christian Fundamentalist groups. In case you missed it, there have been a number of games killed in development because the material was controversial (6 Days in Fallugah being the most noted one) and as a result, publishers are being extra cautious about controversial releases.

That being said, Atlus is far more niche than Bioware. Atlus has made no effort to censor any of their games in the past and given their recent success with the western release of Persona 4, I doubt they'd let this one stay in Japan. If I had to guess, they will probably wait until shortly after the Japanese release date before quietly making the announcement. Since Atlus relies so much on word of mouth, I doubt their sales would be affected by the lack of a ad campaign.

 

[droppingpenny]

Another reason? Probably the fact that Japanese games generally don't sell well in the US unless they are major titles. For every FFXII and Demon Souls, there's about 20 games that got localized and had terrible sales.

That maybe true for some games, but Atlus is the developer behind the very successfull Shin Megami Tensei and Persona series, not counting Etrian Odyssey, Trauma Center. So right there the argument of Japanese games not selling well in the US falls flat on it's ass. And since they released all of their Titles here so far I doubt they won't do this with this one.

 

[tautologico]

Sometime ago Catherine was the top-selling item in the japanese Amazon store (amazon.co.jp). And this in pre-sales, without people knowing much about the game (this was before the demo). I don't think Amazon is as popular in Japan as it is in the US, but this is an indication of how well it should sell. Hence, the demo probably proved too popular.

 

[GeneticallyModifiedDucks]

If I had to guess, probably because the western games industry (or rather, the US) is still hurting from the ME1 sex scene "scandal" trumped up by Fox News and Christian Fundamentalist groups. In case you missed it, there have been a number of games killed in development because the material was controversial (6 Days in Fallugah being the most noted one) and as a result, publishers are being extra cautious about controversial releases.

That's a lame reason, especially since nobody cared for God of War sex scenes and Persona 4's homosexual themes.

I didn't say it was a good reason, just that it was a reason. Controversy, more often than not, brings more problems than benefits in the world of gaming.

Another reason? Probably the fact that Japanese games generally don't sell well in the US unless they are major titles. For every FFXII and Demon Souls, there's about 20 games that got localized and had terrible sales.

I don't think it can even be considered a reason. Mass Effect brought so much controversy because it was a successful mainstream title. You think ANYONE from the news is going to bat an eye for weird japanese anime game? Hardly.

Also, this game has been generating a lot of hype since it was first unveiled and it has a lot of people interested. Atlus would be foolish not to localise it.

It will come to the West eventually. It's just a question of when.