Umineko no Naku Koro ni PS3 Version

[Shizuka]

As far as I know, it branches... A lot.

[magusgs]

In short, NISA would have to buy the translation off Witch-Hunt, Ryukishi07 would have to approve of the localization as well, since... well, he created the games. Apparently Alchemist have no English division for their releases, so they wouldn't be a problem.

Note that this game isn't made by Ryukishi--it's being developed by Alchemist. While I imagine Ryukishi would hold a license to the story and setting, the game itself would be an Alchemist property. A localization would require permission from and royalties paid to both parties (but Alchemist would be the major player here--the coding for a localization would fall to them). The more parties involved, the more difficult the negotiations, because everyone involved has to be satisfied or it's no deal.

[magusgs]

As far as I know, it branches... A lot.

The game has 0 choices, and therefore no "branches" in the typical sense of the word (as used in the visual novel community).

Most Visual Novels have much less gameplay than that, only giving the player/reader a choice every now and then. Umineko has even less than that; the game reads like a book, with no choices or gameplay period.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/971618-umine ... iew-136401

[vampko]

As far as I know, it branches... A lot.

The game has 0 choices, and therefore no "branches" in the typical sense of the word (as used in the visual novel community).

Most Visual Novels have much less gameplay than that, only giving the player/reader a choice every now and then. Umineko has even less than that; the game reads like a book, with no choices or gameplay period.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/971618-umine ... iew-136401

which means it's the VN type that I really don't care for much. The PC version is translated yes? Might as well just read the PC version. I do like a good mystery novel, but I really don't see a big deal for this to come out for the PS3.

[Derid]

I think there is a huge potential market for this.

The fundamental problem, as asked by magusgs is "but how many gamers love to read".

Well, though the answer I think is " a pretty good amount" , it is true that the "core gamer" crowd in the USA
is not as receptive as a whole to VNs and such.

Wha people are missing, is the HUGE female reading community that is into urban fantasy, paranormal romance, sci-fi/sci-fi romance etc. From what I have observed this same demographic plays lots of casual games, and some significant degree of MMO. If you have paid attention to the anime/fansub community over the past few years, you should not but helped have noticed some overlap there as well.

While galges as such certainly would not have much appeal to this demographic, the well written mystery/paranormal mystery/urban fantasy ( F/SN is actually an archtypical urban fantasy btw) with limited or tasteful eroge components ( eroge would likely be OK be fine in many cases, as long as it is not misogynistic/derogatory toward women ) and priced at or less than the cost of a hardback book could do amazing things in this market.

As long as you sought out the proper market. In the USA, the "big money" for these types of works is not in the "core gamer" like in JPN. The money will be in finding the story oriented, game but more casual platstyle oriented crowd, and positioning the works as the real story they are - and moving away from the stereotype of exotic hentai for undersexed nerds. ( even though thats all 80%+ of VNs made in JPN seem to be)

[vampko]

I think there is a huge potential market for this.

The fundamental problem, as asked by magusgs is "but how many gamers love to read".

Well, though the answer I think is " a pretty good amount" , it is true that the "core gamer" crowd in the USA
is not as receptive as a whole to VNs and such.

Wha people are missing, is the HUGE female reading community that is into urban fantasy, paranormal romance, sci-fi/sci-fi romance etc. From what I have observed this same demographic plays lots of casual games, and some significant degree of MMO. If you have paid attention to the anime/fansub community over the past few years, you should not but helped have noticed some overlap there as well.

While galges as such certainly would not have much appeal to this demographic, the well written mystery/paranormal mystery/urban fantasy ( F/SN is actually an archtypical urban fantasy btw) with limited or tasteful eroge components ( eroge would likely be OK be fine in many cases, as long as it is not misogynistic/derogatory toward women ) and priced at or less than the cost of a hardback book could do amazing things in this market.

As long as you sought out the proper market. In the USA, the "big money" for these types of works is not in the "core gamer" like in JPN. The money will be in finding the story oriented, game but more casual platstyle oriented crowd, and positioning the works as the real story they are - and moving away from the stereotype of exotic hentai for undersexed nerds. ( even though thats all 80%+ of VNs made in JPN seem to be)

So, you're basically saying this should cost less than $10? If it was $5 I might pay for it. Maybe even a little more. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE reading, but I don't really want to pay for this when it's already out on PC. Unless they add enough content. Then I might want to.

[vampko]

Seeing as it's four volumes..$15 for the whole thing seems fair enough. I can't believe you have to pay almost $40 to buy the PC version...

[Shizuka]

As far as I know, it branches... A lot.

The game has 0 choices, and therefore no "branches" in the typical sense of the word (as used in the visual novel community).

Most Visual Novels have much less gameplay than that, only giving the player/reader a choice every now and then. Umineko has even less than that; the game reads like a book, with no choices or gameplay period.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/971618-umine ... iew-136401

So the game doesn't branch as Higurashi does. Good to know.

[Derid]

Hardback book, not paperback

Not sure what those are going for these days, I haven't bought one since the last GRRM installment several ice ages ago.

As far as regarding this game specifically, and the PC version... well, I wonder how many people are even aware of PC version and any translation patches etc. I was speaking more about the medium in general I suppose, but I can definitely see where people who already obtained a copy and got a T/L patch would be less inclined to pay much for a PS3 version.

My point was simply that the reading market has skewed heavily towards female readers, and the casual gameplay market heavily toward female gamers. As both groups seem to have a reasonable degree of overlap with anime/manga fandom, it seems a very simple leap of logic regarding where you will find the largest potential market for this type of work.

Despite this, in every discussion I have yet to read on the subject - people are still regarding the market, especially markets that are currently niche, in terms of 20-30 something male "core gamers". And I agree, the prospects there are pretty low except among a very niche group that either is really into the "galge" hentai style or the other extremely niche group of people like myself who remember the promise and fun of the aborted genre of western VN/Adventure games like Mean Streets, Martian Memorandum , or Sherlock Holmes for the TG-16 CD-ROM.

[magusgs]

So the game doesn't branch as Higurashi does. Good to know.

Higurashi doesn't either.

An important point to note here is the absence of what is commonly called choices and forks.
This means that you are freed from the tedious saving and loading, the searching for events and routes, and can instead enjoy the story from the beginning to the end.

http://www.mangagamer.com/allages/Title ... n-they-cry

[vampko]

Hardback book, not paperback

Not sure what those are going for these days, I haven't bought one since the last GRRM installment several ice ages ago.

As far as regarding this game specifically, and the PC version... well, I wonder how many people are even aware of PC version and any translation patches etc. I was speaking more about the medium in general I suppose, but I can definitely see where people who downloaded a "free" copy and got a T/L patch would be less inclined to pay much for a PS3 version.

My point was simply that the reading market has skewed heavily towards female readers, and the casual gameplay market heavily toward female gamers. As both groups seem to have a reasonable degree of overlap with anime/manga fandom, it seems a very simple leap of logic regarding where you will find the largest potential market for this type of work.

Despite this, in every discussion I have yet to read on the subject - people are still regarding the market, especially markets that are currently niche, in terms of 20-30 something male "core gamers". And I agree, the prospects there are pretty low except among a very niche group that either is really into the "galge" hentai style or the other extremely niche group of people like myself who remember the promise and fun of the aborted genre of western VN/Adventure games like Mean Streets, Martian Memorandum , or Sherlock Holmes for the TG-16 CD-ROM.

I understand, but I just want branching paths or some sort of interactivity. Plus, I just can't see paying $35 for this. I guess it would really depend on how long they were, but still.

Regardless of all this, this is NOT the right VN to try and introduce America to. They need one that's more interactive, I don't care if it's ecchi or not, I just want interactivity. If they just released it as a DD book, then I guess that would be okay as well. But it's gotta be at the most half of what Agarest cost. considering that's a VN AND an interactive game.

[Shizuka]

Are you saying that Agarest is a VN?

[Derid]

Well, you may have a point there vampko regarding the interactivity.

In the Nasu games I have played, being able to see the characters and story unfold in different ways and from different angles and perspectives was certainly an enormously compelling argument for the medium to me.

Maybe White Album would do better?

[magusgs]

Wha people are missing, is the HUGE female reading community that is into urban fantasy, paranormal romance, sci-fi/sci-fi romance etc. From what I have observed this same demographic plays lots of casual games, and some significant degree of MMO. If you have paid attention to the anime/fansub community over the past few years, you should not but helped have noticed some overlap there as well.

While galges as such certainly would not have much appeal to this demographic, the well written mystery/paranormal mystery/urban fantasy ( F/SN is actually an archtypical urban fantasy btw) with limited or tasteful eroge components ( eroge would likely be OK be fine in many cases, as long as it is not misogynistic/derogatory toward women ) and priced at or less than the cost of a hardback book could do amazing things in this market.

A correction on terminology first: "galge" is equivalent to "bishoujo game". They're games for guys about girls. The words you're searching for are "otome game".

What you're ignoring here, however, is that many Americans view Japanese culture, as depicted through the window of anime, as misogynistic on a very fundamental level--down to even the character archetypes. The entire concept of "moe" is supposedly misogynistic. Seen from that light, the medium innately repels the audience you suggest it should appeal to. If you take a good look at anime culture in the US, it mostly attracts guys. Sure, females gather in certain fringes, but it's dominated by guys. Marketing appropriate games to females would require a 180 turn in the current market--a very specific set of games (otome games are rare in Japan), willing localization companies, and a new way of marketing. This is even less likely to happen than the current male-oriented visual novels spontaneously catching on.

[magusgs]

Maybe White Album would do better?

A game like Fate/Stay Night would be ideal--if it could make any sales after everyone who's remotely interested has already pirated it. A lot of Nitro+'s console games would probably be a good bet as well, as far as pure VNs go.

But really, I just don't see pure VNs catching on in America. It's not what gamers want. At best, VN hybrids with gameplay are the games that can stake out a viable niche.