Fund-Raising Idea: Assuming Yakuza 5 West plans are on hold/cancelled

[heyitsdeven]

Nothing is going to stop Yakuza 5's development, people. Sega of Japan is responsible for its development, and the only real financial problem lies with Sega of America, which is primarily just a publishing arm for the company. Yakuza 5 has already been given a multi-million-dollar budget along with nationwide marketing campaigns and product tie-ins. Sega generally uses in-game merchandising and real product usage licenses to pay for Ryu Ga Gotoku's hefty development bill, and that means getting real storefronts, real citizens and celebrities, and real name brands to contribute to what is one of Japan's most respected and critically acclaimed franchises. So, in reality, Sega's development division already has ingenious "fund-raising" in place for the franchise, which only grows to new extremes with each release.

If you're worried about localization, don't be. Yakuza sells plenty of copies in America and Europe to offset the minimal cost of translation, packaging, and distribution. Despite being astronomically expensive to develop, localization is ridiculously inexpensive. With the outrage that surrounded Yakuza 3's delay and subsequent removal of Japanese cultural content from the Western release, Sega now fully understands what the American audience expects with future Yakuza localization. That's why 4 came so quickly after 3's initial release here and also why the hostess clubs, mahjong, shogi, etc. were all back in place. You can count on Yakuza 5 coming to America within 6 months of its Japanese release, and since this is the biggest and most expensive Ryu Ga Gotoku game yet produced, I can guarantee you that Sega of America will see it as an opportunity to make up some of the ground it's lost.

Yakuza 5 will probably get dated for mid-2013, it will include 5 cities (Tokyo/Kamurocho, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, and uoka) along with multiple playable characters (Kiryu and Akiyama likely included). Nagoshi has also promised seemless cinematics and combat that will no longer take the player in and out of inconsistent modes, which led to a choppy presentation in 3 & 4. The whole thing is getting a serious overhaul, with a new graphics engine and tons of new minigame content. Rest assured, no release territory will miss out on this chapter of the series, and since Sega has gambled on it by breaking its once-per-year development cycle and increasing its budget, it will probably get far more attention and marketing in the US than previous entries.

Hear hear! I highly doubt that Sega's going to have any trouble with releasing this game internationally, especially if it has a big budget.

[The Captain097]

Even if the unthinkable happens and there is no western release. You can still import it

[thurnishaley]

Question. Not regarding Y5 but more KENZAN and BP and BP2. Since SEGA doesn't want to, or some other reason which most likely involves money, is it possible to start a Kickstarter FOR them WITHOUT them? They still get all the money of course, the only tricky thing about it is the donation bonuses. What more could you list besides pre-orders without their consent. That's why this is so complicated, because SEGA has too much pride to ask for our money besides games and merchandise... I hope for the best, but I'm still iffy about Y5, and highly doubt KENZAN, BP and BP2. Sorry for the negativity, but S.O.A doesn't seem to like making the right decisions. They keep it up and they'll have to go head to head with CAPCOM for the title of stupidest company in America (would've said worst, but EA will NEVER give that title up. Ever)

[izanagi_the_creator]

I doubt the fundraising idea will work at all. How much money will the fund-raising get? Hundred thousands of dollars USD? I don't think so.. If the game isn't getting localized, I will just have to stick to the JP version hoping its not region-locked..

[Captain Epic]

I doubt the fundraising idea will work at all. How much money will the fund-raising get? Hundred thousands of dollars USD? I don't think so.. If the game isn't getting localized, I will just have to stick to the JP version hoping its not region-locked..

Playstation 3 and Playstation Portable games are NOT region-locked, so you can play any PS3/PSP game on any PS3/PSP console

[izanagi_the_creator]

Playstation 3 and Playstation Portable games are NOT region-locked, so you can play any PS3/PSP game on any PS3/PSP console

Actually, PS3 games can be region-locked. ATLUS just region-locked Persona 4 Arena both in Japan and North America.. I used to think that its region-free but I was wrong..

[Captain Epic]

Are you sure? I've never heard of a region-locked PS3 game. Sony themselves said all PS3 games are region free, after all.

[izanagi_the_creator]

Are you sure? I've never heard of a region-locked PS3 game. Sony themselves said all PS3 games are region free, after all.

I am totally certain..

http://www.atlus.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10303

[Captain Epic]

That's the first and ONLY locked game, you know? PS3 has been out for years and there's only one game that is locked, despite the fact it has always been possible to region-lock PS3 games I highly doubt every developer will copy them and lock their games as well. This is obviously a one-off thing, so you don't need to worry.

EDIT: This explains why the game is region locked:

a region lock was put in place by one of the higher ups in Japan in order to prevent reverse importation (as the price of games in the United States is cheaper than the price in Japan)

Which is a fair enough reason.

[kingeo]

Nothing is going to stop Yakuza 5's development, people. Sega of Japan is responsible for its development, and the only real financial problem lies with Sega of America, which is primarily just a publishing arm for the company. Yakuza 5 has already been given a multi-million-dollar budget along with nationwide marketing campaigns and product tie-ins. Sega generally uses in-game merchandising and real product usage licenses to pay for Ryu Ga Gotoku's hefty development bill, and that means getting real storefronts, real citizens and celebrities, and real name brands to contribute to what is one of Japan's most respected and critically acclaimed franchises. So, in reality, Sega's development division already has ingenious "fund-raising" in place for the franchise, which only grows to new extremes with each release.

If you're worried about localization, don't be. Yakuza sells plenty of copies in America and Europe to offset the minimal cost of translation, packaging, and distribution. Despite being astronomically expensive to develop, localization is ridiculously inexpensive. With the outrage that surrounded Yakuza 3's delay and subsequent removal of Japanese cultural content from the Western release, Sega now fully understands what the American audience expects with future Yakuza localization. That's why 4 came so quickly after 3's initial release here and also why the hostess clubs, mahjong, shogi, etc. were all back in place. You can count on Yakuza 5 coming to America within 6 months of its Japanese release, and since this is the biggest and most expensive Ryu Ga Gotoku game yet produced, I can guarantee you that Sega of America will see it as an opportunity to make up some of the ground it's lost.

Yakuza 5 will probably get dated for mid-2013, it will include 5 cities (Tokyo/Kamurocho, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, and uoka) along with multiple playable characters (Kiryu and Akiyama likely included). Nagoshi has also promised seemless cinematics and combat that will no longer take the player in and out of inconsistent modes, which led to a choppy presentation in 3 & 4. The whole thing is getting a serious overhaul, with a new graphics engine and tons of new minigame content. Rest assured, no release territory will miss out on this chapter of the series, and since Sega has gambled on it by breaking its once-per-year development cycle and increasing its budget, it will probably get far more attention and marketing in the US than previous entries.

You are right and I believe that too but I doubt it will be mid-2013 with all the huge content the game will have and we still want Kenzan to be released here.Yakuza 5 is still far away for us so they should give us Kenzan in the meantime