Umineko no Naku Koro ni PS3 Version

[Brosuke]

You would have to ask them that yourself, but they've said they have no plans to translate the PS3 version of the game.

[magusgs]

Umineko with 90% less hideousness? I'd buy this.

[Evelas]

Just another Umineko fan adding in that I would love to see this receive an official English release, in any form! Heck, I don't own a PS3 but I would buy one just to be able to own this game.

[Shizuka]

Visual Novel, Trophies, Magic, 7 Stakes, Beatrice, Ange, Mariaaaaa uuuuuuuuuuuuuu~ Gotta love it!

[Daverost]

Trophies

I neglected to consider this.

...I am intrigued the by prospect.

[magusgs]

What would be the point in trophies with a visual novel (proper term is "sound novel" or "kinetic novel") that doesn't even have any choices? From what I understand, it's completely linear--it's literally a novel with pictures and sound. Trophies would only mark the player's progress in the game, with everyone at 100% at the game's end.

[Shizuka]

Trophies are mandatory for retail games.

[lordryo]

Well there are games with virtually free trophies that you get just by beating the game. Of course you actually "play" those games, but trophies to show progress isn't bad--I mean it isn't our rule to demand trophies for a game anyways.

I'd rather the game be a digital download and only provide like 10 bronze trophies or something, I also just don't know if I'd pay full price for the game on Blu-Ray since it is only a novel, seems like a waste of disc space.

[Shizuka]

^Hannah Montana and Terminator.

[magusgs]

I also just don't know if I'd pay full price for the game on Blu-Ray since it is only a novel, seems like a waste of disc space.

The game is like 50+ hours of reading though. If anything, that's why it WON'T be translated. Too much work, too little return. Mangagamer translated Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (PC version). I bet they regret doing it too. They've since announced they have no plans to work on Umineko.

[lordryo]

50 hours of reading on my Tv doesn't sound too thrilling... But if by some freak chance it was released as digital download I might get it anyways. I'd hate to be the one working on the translation for a game like this...

[Shizuka]

Umineko can actually be more boring then Higurashi, but both are VN's that are entertaining.

[SergeantBooduce]

From what I understand, it's completely linear--it's literally a novel with pictures and sound.

The game is like 50+ hours of reading though. If anything, that's why it WON'T be translated. Too much work, too little return.

I'd like to continue this vein of discussion, if I may. If you think about Umineko no Naku Koro ni as more of a book and less as a game, the idea of it being translated is actually really interesting. If I were part of a company like NIS or Atlus or whoever, I'd be potentially interested in bravely taking a chance and localizing this VN. I mean, think about it: tons of people love to read, right? The idea of being able to put a book on a PS3 is pretty unheard of as far as America is concerned, and I think it sounds pretty frickin' awesome. Revolutionary, even, I dunno. But if any company, be it NIS America or anyone else, decided to introduce a line of visual novels to the states, then I think Sony of America would have no choice but to get off their high horse and let people change the way they think of novels and game systems alike. I know for a fact that my mom would love playing Umineko, were the PS3 port released stateside, as she loves mystery novels and things of that sort. So wouldn't introducing a line of visual novels to the states literally revolutionize the game industry? Or am I just being overly dramatic here? *hops off soap box*

And as for the "too much work, too little return" thing, wouldn't translating Umineko be about the same as translating a book? Like Brave Story, an amazing book by Miyuki Miyabe. That book was released in English by Viz despite the whopping 824 page count. Not only that, but the book was translated all by one guy. Is the possibility of Umineko being localized really that hard to believe? C'mon everyone, let's stay positive here! :3

Yeah, sorry for the dramatic response. >w> Hope I didn't embarrass anyone too badly.

[magusgs]

While I agree with you fundamentally (being a fan of visual novels myself), I feel a twisted compulsion to crush idealstic dreams under the bootheel of reality. The stronger the idealistic earnestness, the greater the compulsion.

I mean, think about it: tons of people love to read, right?

Right, but the more applicable question is: do tons of gamers love to read? In Japan, yes--visual novels do sell, on PC as well as consoles. In the US? Not really. While visual novel-like games have had some penetrance on handhelds (notably the DS), this has not extended to the big consoles. NISA made a statement that SCEA does not consider visual novels games, and therefore won't allow them on their systems.

A few months ago, NIS America released Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love on PlayStation 2 and Wii. How did that do? Did it exceed, perform to or was it not as good as your expectations?



Not as good as our expectations.



Uh-oh. What’s the fate of Sakura Wars in North America then? I see a lot of my readers are hoping for Sakura 1+2 for PSP.



Another publisher tried to get approval from Sony for Sakura Wars 1+2 for PSP, but it was rejected. Once a title is rejected by SCEA there is almost no chance to release the title.



What about as a digital download?



That’s Sony’s decision. Sony said this is not a game. They said it’s a text novel. They judged it as that, so it’s really difficult to get the license again. It’s also tough to localize Sakura Wars because of the huge amount of text. It took more than two years to complete the localization. That’s more than the development time of the Japanese version.

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/06/29/ni ... velopment/

But if any company, be it NIS America or anyone else, decided to introduce a line of visual novels to the states, then I think Sony of America would have no choice but to get off their high horse and let people change the way they think of novels and game systems alike.

See above. If SCEA blocked Sakura Wars games, they'd almost surely block something with no gameplay at all. While it's a bit puzzling that they allowed Disgaea Infinite, note that it still has gameplay, despite being a visual novel.

And as for the "too much work, too little return" thing, wouldn't translating Umineko be about the same as translating a book? Like Brave Story, an amazing book by Miyuki Miyabe. That book was released in English by Viz despite the whopping 824 page count. Not only that, but the book was translated all by one guy. Is the possibility of Umineko being localized really that hard to believe?

Books and games exist in different industries with different modes of operation and different customer expectations. They're not directly comparable. That visual novels simply don't exist on home consoles right now in English is not mere coincidence--a strong convergence of market forces has prevented it (consumers, retailers, console makers, and the nature of localization itself). Before visual novels can move to home consoles, they'll have to conquer portables, the more permissive market. That has yet to happen.

Despite this, nothing will change without people doing exactly what you're doing. But I expect little to come of it.

[vampko]

I agree with most of what magusgs said. Plus, if it's just something you read, without even branching paths, then it almost seems like it should just be...i don't know, a book?