Monday, November 05, 2012

I'm baaaaaaaaack

Those of you who follow me on Twitter already know this, and some of the rest of you likely figured it out for other reasons, but for everyone else: I just returned from a two-week vacation that took me and my husband from Seattle to Aruba, Colombia, Costa Rica, Grand Cayman, Panama and back again (via the "Island Princess" cruise ship).

Don't worry, I'm not trying to brag. I'm only bringing it up because I'm guessing a portion of you guys and gals noticed that things were a bit "off" around here during the last two weeks (I rarely Tweeted, I didn't comment on any recent announcements, etc.) and I wanted to make sure you know things will get back to normal as of today.

I also wanted to touch on a few of the aforementioned announcements that I typically would have talked about had I not been sleeping in, stuffing my face and otherwise chillaxing aboard the Internet-challenged Island Princess. Speaking of which, here are the gaming-related announcements that have caught my eye since we returned home on Friday evening:

* Animal Crossing's 3DS sequel finally gets a North American subtitle: "New Leaf"--Well, it's certainly better than "Jump Out," isn't it? Still, it sounds a bit odd. Not that I really care; I would have pre-ordered it even if Nintendo had decided to call it Animal Crossing 3DS.


Daigasso! Band Brothers to make a triumphant return in 2013--During the latest Japanese Nintendo Direct broadcast, Satoru Iwata (with a little help from Barbara the Bat) revealed that another entry in this series of portable music games is being prepped for the 3DS and will see the light of day (in Japan) sometime next year. Which means I have to get off my butt and buy a Japanese 3DS pronto.

* The Denpa Men 2 is coming to North America, too--Unfortunately, the folks at Genius Sonority have yet to say when me and my countrymen (and countrywomen) will be getting our grubby little hands on this follow-up to the 3DS eShop title that has attracted more than 40 hours of my attention so far, but that's OK. After all, they haven't even released the original in Europe yet. Still, I hope The Denpa Men 2 earns a spot in our region's eShop sooner rather than later.


* Dragon Quest VII remake 3DS-bound--And not only that, but it'll be released in February. In Japan only for the moment, of course. Not much information has been released about this effort thus far, but what has been released suggests it will be a full, polygonal remake of Square Enix's two-disc PlayStation RPG. Anyway, here's hoping this Dragon Quest title doesn't get stuck in Japan like Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry's Wonderland 3D and Slime MoriMori Dragon Quest 3 did.

* The pink-and-white 3DS XL will see a stateside release in a few weeks--Can you believe it? I honestly thought Nintendo of America would wait until February (you know, for Valentine's Day) to bring this beauty of a system to our shores. Does this mean I'm getting one? I guess you'll have to wait and see. (Gilt.com seems to be the only place you can purchase this system right now, by the way.)

So, did I miss anything? If so, please let me know. Also, let me know what you think of any or all of the tidbits discussed above.

18 comments:

warp said...

Have you heard much about Denpa Men 2? Since I haven't played the first one yet, I'm wondering if it would be smart to skip it and wait for the second one.

Bryan Ochalla said...

I don't know a ton about it, warp, but I do know that it's supposed to be bigger, better, etc. There's some sort of overworld in part 2, although I have no idea how big it is. Also, there's at least one town. Oh, and I think you can customize the look of your Denpa Men more than you can in the first game?

I believe you can transfer your Denpa Men from the first game into the second, BTW, so that's something to consider.

Really, I'd suggest picking up the first if you have any interest in it. If you're only partially interested in it, though, waiting for the sequel may not be a bad idea.

Melody (Lizzi) said...

Awwww! I want to know the european subtitle of Animal Crossing 3DS too!!!
What? You'll get the second part of Denpa Men and Europe hasn't even got the first part?! D:
That's not nice :(
Too sad the yellow Pikachu-3DS LL is still not out here...
I'm waiting for it.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hello Melody! I have a feeling the Euro subtitle for Animal Crossing 3DS will be the same as the NA one, but what do I know? Also, you got a different one for the Wii release, didn't you? "Let's Go to the City" versus "City Folk," or something like that...

As for Denpa Men 2: You guys/gals in Euroland will be getting the first game sometime next month, according to the folks at Genius Sonority. I have a feeling we won't get Denpa Men 2 here in NA until sometime next spring. So, don't feel too bad!

I keep forgetting that the yellow LL/XL will be released there shortly. Will you be picking it up? I'd love to see it released here, but I won't be picking it up if it is. The pink and white one is the one I want!

Viewtiful_Justin said...

I'd heard all that news EXCEPT that you were on vacation! Hope it was swell!

BTW, my favorite part of this news was about DQVII! It was on my wish list of games from way back, but I never got to it. Time to wait and hope again!

Bryan Ochalla said...

All *is* swell, Justin. Thanks :)

Also, I'm also pretty pumped about the DQ VII remake news. I have to imagine either SE or Nintendo will bring the game to our shores, but of course that's not a given. As such, I'm hoping along with you!

Unknown said...

I really hope DQVII comes PAL-side. We never got it way back when... :(

Bryan Ochalla said...

Wasn't DQ VIII the first one to reach Europe, Alois? Or did you get the very first one, too?

Regardless, I hope you get the DQ VII remake -- along with us North Americans, of course :)

diaglyph said...

Welcome back!!
I'm sure you had a great time on the cruise :)

I think Denpamen was set for December release in Euro regions? Can't remember now LOL but I'm sure it's very soon.
Did you see the euro cover for Paper Mario? So jealous you guys are getting that in a few days :(

DQ7 - was that original PS1 game a grind fest like the others seem to be?

We also got bad news (for euro regions): Devil Survivor Overclocked and Devil Survivor 2 have been delayed to next year :(

This coming sunday I'll be going to a Wii U experience thingy set up in the city here. I'll be getting my greasy fingers onto a Wii U GamePad ;) so I won't be a Wii U virgin anymore LOL

Bryan Ochalla said...

Thanks, Igor! I definitely had a great time on the cruise. You can only spend so much time on the water, though, you know?

As for The 'Denpa' Men and it's Euroland release: Yes, it's supposed to be released there in December. No exact date has been given yet, though, as far as I'm aware.

Also, yes, I've seen the Euro cover for Paper Mario. I actually prefer it to the Japanese cover, I think -- as it seems a bit zoomed-in. I may be wrong, though. Anyway, yes, I should have my copy sometime next week. Squeeeeee!

Although I've never played DQ VII, I've read that it's definitely a grind-fest. In fact, I think it may be the grindiest of all DQs, if you can believe it. Still, I'm interested in it. Of course, I've always loved a good grind ;)

I'm sorry to hear about the Euro delays for Devil Survivor 2 and Overclocked. Yikes! I guess you guys and gals really with the 3DS was region-free, eh? :(

Finally, I hope you enjoy your Wii U Experience experience. Let me know what you think of it, will you??

diaglyph said...

DQ7 - ugh! then i'll definitely skip it. The other games that I've tried I haven't finished (5, 6, and last one being #9) because the grind just got to me in the end and killed it.

Yea I'm quite disappointed about Devil Survivor, I was hoping to get that before xmas (as I was assuming that's when it would be out). But I'm still hopefuly, maybe they'll be able to get whatever the problem is fixed and it will come early. We'll see.
And yeah - region locking is stupid and I fail to see how it benefits consumers. It only benefits publishers. Tho I don't understand why its so difficult for Atlus to release in euro regions. They have plenty of SMT fans. A similar dev/publisher like NIS doesn't seem to have any problems releasing their games in euro regions (I've come up with cynical view that Atlus's world view only includes Japan and the US and that the euro regions don't exist for them).
As you can see I'm quite irritated over this. I just don't understand why Atlas, if they can't be bothered doing it themselves, have some sort of partnership with a euro publishers, like Ghostlight, and help them put the game out not long after its US release. For example, I'm sure Etrian Odyssey 4 will probably come out in euro regions 6-12 months after its US release, but if Atlus had a partnership they could've started the ball rolling months ago so that the game would get released in euro regions with a narrower gap than what it is now (either 6-12 months or not at all).
Anyways, enough ranting :p LOL sorry about that!!

Looking forward to trying out the Wii U! I'll try to take photos too if I can. Will be going with a group people from a Nintendo fb group based in Sydney :)
And of course I'll be jealous of you since you'll be getting Paper Mario on that day too LOL oh well

Bryan Ochalla said...

That's understandable, Igor. Me, I like the grind. In fact, DQ9 is one of my fave DS games. So, I'll jump aboard the DQ7 train should it ever reach our shores.

Yeah, Atlus' view of Europe is quite strange. If they don't want to release their games there (in a timely manner, especially), why not partner with others to do so?

No need to apologize for your supposed rant, BTW. I don't mind at all!

Don't be jealous of me and my copy of Paper Mario 3DS. You'll be getting hands-on time with the Wii U and its launch line-up, which is every bit as intriguing, if you ask me :)

Matt Sainsbury said...

Welcome back - sounds like a really awesome holiday :D

In regards to the Atlus conversation - Atlas doesn't actually publish in Europe (or, if it does, it doesn't publish much). Third parties typically do.

So for instance Dark Souls was published by Atlas in the US. In Europe/ Australia, Namco Bandai did.

The Cursed Crusade was another Atlus game that was published by dtp Entertainment in Europe/ Australia.

Ghostlight is a regular partner for Atlus, looking after the Shin Megami Tensei games.

As for why it takes so long for the games to be released out this way, it's fairly simple - localising into multiple languages (European English, Spanish, French etc etc), takes significant resourcing to do quickly. Most of these games are such small scale releases that the resourcing simply isn't there to expediate it.

But on the bigger games (Dark Souls) we get the EU/ AU release fairly close to the US.

Hope this helps clarify for you! :)

Also, you need to install disqus so I can easily track discussions on your blog :)

diaglyph said...

I understand with relation to euro relase they need to create multi languages and that takes time, but I should mention, Ghostlight only announced obtaining Devil Survivor in April this year. Why wasn't the process started say in June or July last year? Then the game could've come out at the beginning of this year - that would've been enough time for them for the multi language translations. Since they only got Devil Survivor in April, that means the process didn't start until around 8 months AFTER the US release date - that is just stupid.
I just think if they actually cared about releasing Devil Survivor or Persona or future SMT games, they'd start the euro process in tandem with their english translation process, so that the games can come out with a smaller gap, instead of this idiotic 15 month gap (and I doubt it would take that long to translate into multiple languages).

Sorry to come across ranty, but I think in this day and age, this sort of thing should not be happening. Its 2012, not the 90s!

Matt Sainsbury said...

Diaglyph - have you ever run a small localisation operation? Have you ever tried to negotiate business arrangements with major publishers?

The negotiation process for a game release would start months before the deal is arranged, and a company like Ghostlight can only afford to distribute and market a certain number of games per year - if it has a full year of game releases organised then it will need at least 12 months before it things to release the next game.

It's not a lack of care at all. Gamers are always so quick to say companies don't "care" about this game or that game. They care about the games a whole lot more than you do. That's why they spend tens of thousands of money and take the risk to release them. No. They care. That care is just tempered by business necessity that most gamers don't understand (but comment on anyway).

It's called "being an armchair expert." Unless you've actually been involved in game localisation, you're not really in any position to comment on the business practices of those that do. There's just too much stuff going on behind closed doors for you to have enough data to do that.

diaglyph said...

Thinking about I would say the root of my rant is region locking. If there was no region locking, people would be able to get the game (and Atlus would still be getting their money). It's interesting how Atlus's decision to region lock Persona 4 Arena (with no localization) has caused it to delay the release in europe to 2013.
I still don't understand how region locking is a good idea.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hey there, Matt! Thanks for the comment. I actually can't believe I didn't think about the need to localize into multiple languages when I replied to Igor (diaglyph) earlier. And of course other aspects come into play as well. Believe me, I understand and respect that bringing a game to different markets is a difficult proposition. That said, I can understand where Igor's annoyance is coming from -- and why he wishes the 3DS, etc., were "region-free." Of course, that's not Atlus' problem, it's Nintendo's problem, but still :)

Oh, and as for Disqus -- I'll be adding it to this blog this weekend. I don't want to do it mid-week, just in case I have problems with it. So, look for improved comments this weekend :)

Bryan Ochalla said...

Igor: I don't understand region-locking either, but I'm sure there's a reason Nintendo did it in regards to the 3DS. Of course, that reason likely benefits Nintendo and not the consumer, but there isn't much I can say or do about that, is there? :|