DOAX3 officially not being localized for the west

[Inglorious891]

Alright, I'm going to stop ignoring the elephant in the room and just say it: hardly anyone cares about your babyface softcore porn simulator not getting localized. I guarantee that a majority of people who have seem this thread/controversy are rolling their eyes and moving on with their day. It's completely ridiculous that this "issue" is trying to be blown up to be some giant attack on free speech and gaming as we know it even though all its done is cause a minor inconvenience to those who actually want to buy this... "game". If you really want it, you can easily import it. KT gave links to allow people to do so; the only thing you've lost is a few more days in shipping time. How all of this is a big deal to anyone is beyond me.

It's the precedent it sets. Censorship is insidious like that. First they come for the boobs and ass simulator and nobody gives a damn but by the time things "mainstream westerners" tend to like are getting disallowed it'd be already too late. You can't say "this one thing, this one is just vile enough that it's ok to censor it" because who is to say what is "vile enough". You may draw the line at this game but someone could draw it at something like GTA, someone could draw it at God of War. The only 100% surefire way to ensure that we can keep having the games we actually like is not allowing anything to be censored.

Exceeeeeept it's not being censored. No part of it is being changed to meet with the demands of a group of people, nor it is impossible for any Westerner to actually buy the game. If you really want it, you can just import it (as I said in my first post).

And let's not compare God of War or GTA to a softcore porn game. God of War or GTA actually have some artistic merit where, by their disappearance, gaming would be lesser. Gaming isn't losing any artistic merit from DOA babyface volleyball being a bit harder for Westerners to get.

Ooooh. Buddy, let's not open the 'artistic merit' can of worms. That's a long and dusty road that goes nowhere good.

You do have a point with not opening that can of worms as it is something that people on this site would be petty enough to drag out, but I digress.

 

[NiPah]

Alright, I'm going to stop ignoring the elephant in the room and just say it: hardly anyone cares about your babyface softcore porn simulator not getting localized. I guarantee that a majority of people who have seem this thread/controversy are rolling their eyes and moving on with their day. It's completely ridiculous that this "issue" is trying to be blown up to be some giant attack on free speech and gaming as we know it even though all its done is cause a minor inconvenience to those who actually want to buy this... "game". If you really want it, you can easily import it. KT gave links to allow people to do so; the only thing you've lost is a few more days in shipping time. How all of this is a big deal to anyone is beyond me.

You'll always find people over reacting, it's the Internet.
At least it's not a murder simulator like call of duty being held up, then people would really be pissed.

 

[Tsun Tzu]

This thread reads like a microcosm of the last year and a half of "discussions" hereabouts.

Same people on either side.

Like clockwork.

And here I am to fit snugly into my usual place...GG PlayAsia. Asian English Subtitles for the fucking win and to the fucking rescue! Now I just need Omega Labyrinth and Estival Versus then I'll be set for the next several months of fappery.

Ooh, and Criminal Girls too-

I tell ya, this import with subtitles thing is glorious. Bypass all the bullshit censorship and get the original dub too?

Win win.

 

[thepyrethatburns]

Alright, I'm going to stop ignoring the elephant in the room and just say it: hardly anyone cares about your babyface softcore porn simulator not getting localized. I guarantee that a majority of people who have seem this thread/controversy are rolling their eyes and moving on with their day. It's completely ridiculous that this "issue" is trying to be blown up to be some giant attack on free speech and gaming as we know it even though all its done is cause a minor inconvenience to those who actually want to buy this... "game". If you really want it, you can easily import it. KT gave links to allow people to do so; the only thing you've lost is a few more days in shipping time. How all of this is a big deal to anyone is beyond me.

This pretty much sums up half of it with the SJW issue being the rest of it. Having looked at the sales figures (Sidenote: DOA doesn't sell as many copies as I thought. Given how recognizable the name is, I would have thought it would have sold more.), KT probably said "Okay, Bouncing Titty Simulator sells about a third of the games that DOA sells and DOA hardly breaks any sales records. Given the low monetary gains we'll get for BTS3, it simply isn't worth all the grief that SJWs will sling at us to localize it."

Despite how it seems, bad publicity does cost companies. The military shooters are moving away from shooting brown people. The God of War team ....made noises about moving away from violence against women ..... before they did it anyway with Ascension. KT just decided that it wasn't worth it.

As for the notion of this happening to GTA or the aforementioned God of War, the answer is simple:

"It's all about the Benjamins."

Money Talks. The companies listen to money and nothing else. They don't listen to forum or petitions, just money. If the number of people who would buy DOAX3 were worth more than the bad publicity, this game would be getting localized. As such, if you feel a company is "bowing to political correctness", then let them know that you will not buy any of their games as a result AND FOLLOW THROUGH ON THAT THREAT. A video game company that starts seeing it's profits decline because of their direction will either change direction or perish. If the company perishes, the other companies will use that as an object lesson and continue to make all the soft porn volleyball games that you want.

 

[Paradoxrifts]

I cannot think of a single instance wherein the localisation of a Japanese game improved the product for the consumer purchasing it. The vast majority of titles would've been objectively better gaming experiences had the unaltered game been available to purchase from Japan, but with English menus, interfaces and subtitles included for non-Japanese consumers who wanted the authentic experience.

 

[Defective_Detective]

I cannot think of a single instance wherein the localisation of a Japanese game improved the product for the consumer purchasing it. The vast majority of titles would've been objectively better gaming experiences had the unaltered game been available to purchase from Japan, but with English menus, interfaces and subtitles included for non-Japanese consumers who wanted the authentic experience.

What about games like Phoenix Wright? That's a series with an excellent english release localization team behind most of its releases.

(Still waiting for Edgeworth Investigations 2 AAAARGH)

Without localization there'd be a ton of weird Japanese cultural references that would go over many persons heads (especially younger teens), and the series wouldn't have the excellent reputation it has for humor and compelling storytelling if the text was just google-translated subtitles.

I can understand why some folks would like an authentic experience too, but I don't think it's correct to broadly say non-localization results in objectively better games. Not everyone wants that Authentic Made In Japan experience. Many people want the language to be in properly written english text, edited for a westernized context, with english voice acting.

To bring this back on topic, if the creators behind DOAX3 had the confidence in their product, they'd be releasing a localized version too. And that decision is (or at least should be) influenced by projected sales figures, not feminist critique (which is a cowardly excuse).

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Alright, I'm going to stop ignoring the elephant in the room and just say it: hardly anyone cares about your babyface softcore porn simulator not getting localized. I guarantee that a majority of people who have seem this thread/controversy are rolling their eyes and moving on with their day. It's completely ridiculous that this "issue" is trying to be blown up to be some giant attack on free speech and gaming as we know it even though all its done is cause a minor inconvenience to those who actually want to buy this... "game". If you really want it, you can easily import it. KT gave links to allow people to do so; the only thing you've lost is a few more days in shipping time. How all of this is a big deal to anyone is beyond me.

It's the precedent it sets. Censorship is insidious like that. First they come for the boobs and ass simulator and nobody gives a damn but by the time things "mainstream westerners" tend to like are getting disallowed it'd be already too late. You can't say "this one thing, this one is just vile enough that it's ok to censor it" because who is to say what is "vile enough". You may draw the line at this game but someone could draw it at something like GTA, someone could draw it at God of War. The only 100% surefire way to ensure that we can keep having the games we actually like is not allowing anything to be censored.

Exceeeeeept it's not being censored. No part of it is being changed to meet with the demands of a group of people, nor it is impossible for any Westerner to actually buy the game. If you really want it, you can just import it (as I said in my first post).

And let's not compare God of War or GTA to a softcore porn game. God of War or GTA actually have some artistic merit where, by their disappearance, gaming would be lesser. Gaming isn't losing any artistic merit from DOA babyface volleyball being a bit harder for Westerners to get.

Actually, you're not entirely correct here. Prior to this turn of events, if you visited the websites that discussed this game you would find a mention from Koei that indicated they were contemplating censoring the game's hypothetical western version. On playasia they specified that only the Japanese version would be what the devs called "without additional censorship". It is not unthinkable to extrapolate from this that koei was contemplating censoring the game due to not wanting to deal with people decrying them but ended up just giving up on the west instead.

It's not as much the actual censorship at this point but more about the climate that would incentivize companies to think about self-censoring out of fear, this is the issue at this, early stage of censorship.


God of War and GTA both have full-frontal nudity, this game does not. This is why I picked these two as examples. If you think there's not "someone" out there who'd want to censor these two games were they allowed to you have another thing coming.

 

[Erttheking]

Snip

You do know that it turns out that this had nothing to do with SJWs right?

https://twitter.com/koeitecmoeurope/status/669507094584950784

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Snip

You do know that it turns out that this had nothing to do with SJWs right?

https://twitter.com/koeitecmoeurope/status/669507094584950784

This says they don't approve that the blame was put on anyone, not that putting it there was a mistake, just that they shouldn't have revealed the reason. It still is the reason even if you don't publicly reveal it. Think about it, the company wants to make SJW type issues not be talked about in their page enough to not bring the game over. It stands to reason they'd not want to poke the hornet's nest and that in their eyes it'd be a bad pr move to put the blame where it belongs.

 

[Erttheking]

Snip

You do know that it turns out that this had nothing to do with SJWs right?

https://twitter.com/koeitecmoeurope/status/669507094584950784

This says they don't approve that the blame was put on anyone, not that putting it there was a mistake, just that they shouldn't have revealed the reason. It still is the reason even if you don't publicly reveal it. Think about it, the company wants to make SJW type issues not be talked about in their page enough to not bring the game over. It stands to reason they'd not want to poke the hornet's nest and that in their eyes it'd be a bad pr move to put the blame where it belongs.

So in other words because they didn't word it in an exact way you're insisting that it WAS the fault of SJWs? The company wants SJW issues to not be talked about, based on the comment made that they are now condemning. It really does feel like you've already made up your mind that it was SJWs based on that one comment, even though the company is now denying it.

As for not poking the hornet's nest, it's already been poked.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

Snip

You do know that it turns out that this had nothing to do with SJWs right?

https://twitter.com/koeitecmoeurope/status/669507094584950784

This says they don't approve that the blame was put on anyone, not that putting it there was a mistake, just that they shouldn't have revealed the reason. It still is the reason even if you don't publicly reveal it. Think about it, the company wants to make SJW type issues not be talked about in their page enough to not bring the game over. It stands to reason they'd not want to poke the hornet's nest and that in their eyes it'd be a bad pr move to put the blame where it belongs.

So in other words because they didn't word it in an exact way you're insisting that it WAS the fault of SJWs? The company wants SJW issues to not be talked about, based on the comment made that they are now condemning. It really does feel like you've already made up your mind that it was SJWs based on that one comment, even though the company is now denying it.

As for not poking the hornet's nest, it's already been poked.

Well this company branch is also supportive of [https://twitter.com/koeitecmoeurope/status/669451694107947008] Play-Asia [https://twitter.com/koeitecmoeurope/status/669156347213127681] and, as Dreiko said, haven't really denied that it's true. [https://twitter.com/koeitecmoeurope/status/669161772906061825]

 

[Ogoid]

This says they don't approve that the blame was put on anyone, not that putting it there was a mistake, just that they shouldn't have revealed the reason. It still is the reason even if you don't publicly reveal it. Think about it, the company wants to make SJW type issues not be talked about in their page enough to not bring the game over. It stands to reason they'd not want to poke the hornet's nest and that in their eyes it'd be a bad pr move to put the blame where it belongs.

Aye, seems pretty consistent to me that a company whose stated reason not to bring a game to the West was fear of a possible controversy would distance themselves from an actual controversy.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Snip

You do know that it turns out that this had nothing to do with SJWs right?

https://twitter.com/koeitecmoeurope/status/669507094584950784

This says they don't approve that the blame was put on anyone, not that putting it there was a mistake, just that they shouldn't have revealed the reason. It still is the reason even if you don't publicly reveal it. Think about it, the company wants to make SJW type issues not be talked about in their page enough to not bring the game over. It stands to reason they'd not want to poke the hornet's nest and that in their eyes it'd be a bad pr move to put the blame where it belongs.

So in other words because they didn't word it in an exact way you're insisting that it WAS the fault of SJWs? The company wants SJW issues to not be talked about, based on the comment made that they are now condemning. It really does feel like you've already made up your mind that it was SJWs based on that one comment, even though the company is now denying it.

As for not poking the hornet's nest, it's already been poked.

When one statement is not exact and the prior one is exact, one ought to put more weight on the exact one. They're still not condemning the comment, just the part of it where it reveals more than they wish to reveal, they still describe it as "honest".

I didn't "already" make up my mind in a sense that I did so without any information due to bias. There's no "already", they made a clear statement so I made my mind based on it. In the subsequent one they didn't clarify that the prior one is untrue, just that it's not something they'd wish to have said. It's like calling a fat person fat and saying "I shouldn't have said that" afterwards, this just means that it was impolite to say whatever it is that you said, not that the thing you said is actually untrue.

 

[TheTygre]

I have to wonder how much of this hypothetical avoided controversy is based on certain characters in DoA and now DoAX.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

That's a good point. I mean, why localize for Europe if you didn't want to deal with Sweden again or whatever. Makes much more sense than being scared of hypothetical game reviews they didn't give half a shit about before.

Dealing with some grumpy governments or ratings boards for a game that's probably not going to sell very well? Ehh, we'll just let folks import.

 

[K12]

I think the fact that this thread has been full of people saying "this is terrible, damn those SJWS" and barely anyone saying "this is terrible, I really wanted to play this" might say something about why this isn't getting localised.

I hadn't even heard that this game was being made until now and this now people are talking about... and of course if they now change their mind and localise the game down the line they can probably get a lot of the "screw the SJWs" dollars that games like "Hatred" managed to rake in. The alternative to making an engaging game is to wrap a dull game up in an engaging controversy.

Having said that maybe I'm overestimated the subtle intelligence of a group of people capable of making the first few Dead of Alive Beach Volleyball games.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

I think the fact that this thread has been full of people saying "this is terrible, damn those SJWS" and barely anyone saying "this is terrible, I really wanted to play this" might say something about why this isn't getting localised.

I hadn't even heard that this game was being made until now and this now people are talking about... and of course if they now change their mind and localise the game down the line they can probably get a lot of the "screw the SJWs" dollars that games like "Hatred" managed to rake in. The alternative to making an engaging game is to wrap a dull game up in an engaging controversy.

Having said that maybe I'm overestimated the subtle intelligence of a group of people capable of making the first few Dead of Alive Beach Volleyball games.

I was with you until the last part... Seems needlessly arsey.

It's a niche game to start with, even in Japan really. According to: http://www.vgchartz.com/game/482/dead-or-alive-xtreme-beach-volleyball/ http://www.vgchartz.com/game/481/dead-or-alive-xtreme-2/ North America is actually where they got the most sales on the predecessors.

Seems like NA is actually the key territory, so maybe their reluctance is due to social pressure and fear of their brand-name being forever associated with the accusations levied at them by Western media.

 

[nomotog_v1legacy]

I think the fact that this thread has been full of people saying "this is terrible, damn those SJWS" and barely anyone saying "this is terrible, I really wanted to play this" might say something about why this isn't getting localised.

I hadn't even heard that this game was being made until now and this now people are talking about... and of course if they now change their mind and localise the game down the line they can probably get a lot of the "screw the SJWs" dollars that games like "Hatred" managed to rake in. The alternative to making an engaging game is to wrap a dull game up in an engaging controversy.

Having said that maybe I'm overestimated the subtle intelligence of a group of people capable of making the first few Dead of Alive Beach Volleyball games.

I was with you until the last part... Seems needlessly arsey.

It's a niche game to start with, even in Japan really. According to: http://www.vgchartz.com/game/482/dead-or-alive-xtreme-beach-volleyball/ http://www.vgchartz.com/game/481/dead-or-alive-xtreme-2/ North America is actually where they got the most sales on the predecessors.

Seems like NA is actually the key territory, so maybe their reluctance is due to social pressure and fear of their brand-name being forever associated with the accusations levied at them by Western media.

I the fact that they get more sales in NA brought out as an excuse that the game will sell in NA, but I don't know if that is the case. You have to keep in mind NA is much much bigger then japan. Any game would sell more units in NA, but your capturing a much much smaller % then it looks. Though the real bugbear is distribution. Because NA is so big, the cost to get the game in stores is a lot higher. The density might not be enough. (Then you know localization is a thing.)

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

I think the fact that this thread has been full of people saying "this is terrible, damn those SJWS" and barely anyone saying "this is terrible, I really wanted to play this" might say something about why this isn't getting localised.

I hadn't even heard that this game was being made until now and this now people are talking about... and of course if they now change their mind and localise the game down the line they can probably get a lot of the "screw the SJWs" dollars that games like "Hatred" managed to rake in. The alternative to making an engaging game is to wrap a dull game up in an engaging controversy.

Having said that maybe I'm overestimated the subtle intelligence of a group of people capable of making the first few Dead of Alive Beach Volleyball games.

I was with you until the last part... Seems needlessly arsey.

It's a niche game to start with, even in Japan really. According to: http://www.vgchartz.com/game/482/dead-or-alive-xtreme-beach-volleyball/ http://www.vgchartz.com/game/481/dead-or-alive-xtreme-2/ North America is actually where they got the most sales on the predecessors.

Seems like NA is actually the key territory, so maybe their reluctance is due to social pressure and fear of their brand-name being forever associated with the accusations levied at them by Western media.

I the fact that they get more sales in NA brought out as an excuse that the game will sell in NA, but I don't know if that is the case. You have to keep in mind NA is much much bigger then japan. Any game would sell more units in NA, but your capturing a much much smaller % then it looks. Though the real bugbear is distribution. Because NA is so big, the cost to get the game in stores is a lot higher. The density might not be enough. (Then you know localization is a thing.)

They could just release it digital-only if the distribution really is such an issue, then.


Honestly, I find this reason quite ridiculous if you wish to justify not bringing the game over at all with it.

 

[nomotog_v1legacy]

I think the fact that this thread has been full of people saying "this is terrible, damn those SJWS" and barely anyone saying "this is terrible, I really wanted to play this" might say something about why this isn't getting localised.

I hadn't even heard that this game was being made until now and this now people are talking about... and of course if they now change their mind and localise the game down the line they can probably get a lot of the "screw the SJWs" dollars that games like "Hatred" managed to rake in. The alternative to making an engaging game is to wrap a dull game up in an engaging controversy.

Having said that maybe I'm overestimated the subtle intelligence of a group of people capable of making the first few Dead of Alive Beach Volleyball games.

I was with you until the last part... Seems needlessly arsey.

It's a niche game to start with, even in Japan really. According to: http://www.vgchartz.com/game/482/dead-or-alive-xtreme-beach-volleyball/ http://www.vgchartz.com/game/481/dead-or-alive-xtreme-2/ North America is actually where they got the most sales on the predecessors.

Seems like NA is actually the key territory, so maybe their reluctance is due to social pressure and fear of their brand-name being forever associated with the accusations levied at them by Western media.

I the fact that they get more sales in NA brought out as an excuse that the game will sell in NA, but I don't know if that is the case. You have to keep in mind NA is much much bigger then japan. Any game would sell more units in NA, but your capturing a much much smaller % then it looks. Though the real bugbear is distribution. Because NA is so big, the cost to get the game in stores is a lot higher. The density might not be enough. (Then you know localization is a thing.)

They could just release it digital-only if the distribution really is such an issue, then.


Honestly, I find this reason quite ridiculous if you wish to justify not bringing the game over at all with it.

If they have that infrastructure, then ya they can do that. I kind of wonder why that isn't more of an option with Japanese games. I mean there are a lot of games that they aren't shipping here not simply one.