But in the case of Cave games, there's a fairly small userbase and little to no language barrier to deal with - making imports easy for these titles would kill any interest a foreign publisher has of picking it up. And while it seems like Cave would do well to just take the extra 500 or so sales (I'm pulling numbers out of my ass sorry) they'd get from a region-free release, if they can get a publisher to pay even $20k for the rights they'd make a similar amount of money with almost no additional cost. The $20k is just an example - I'm sure Cave is asking for a lot more, but it gives you the idea of how a small licensing fee can offset a few additional sales pretty quick.
How many Cave games (arcade/console) have been brought to the western market officially?
I mean seriously, if Cave really believes that ANYBODY is mad enough to bring their shooter to the western market at full price they should really quit smoking the funny stuff...whatever it is.
A western fanbase (with a 360!) is there, without a doubt, but I have serious doubts that it is actually big enough to justify any kind of release outside of xbla.
In this case, region coding the game means telling your western fans "sorry but we just don't care" which would be a pretty shitty move imho.
dmzach wrote:I think I would be more willing to import a japanese 36 if they were so prone to breaking.
If you had a japanese console and had to get it repaired by microsoft would they send you a japanese region console?
well they repair the console. so yeah. not a new console (on rare ocasions)
I had aways assumed they send you a compleatly different coneole when you send it in.
No, it's random. The first time I had to send one for repair, I got a completely different machine back. The second time, they fixed the problem areas - motherboard and DVD drive - and sent me the same machine back.
Well, it might not be random. It might be that they've simply changed tack in the meantime and are now fixing then returning the same machine as a matter of course. It's definitely not a different console every time, though.
Necronom wrote:
In this case, region coding the game means telling your western fans "sorry but we just don't care" which would be a pretty shitty move imho.
But... it's Cave. Isn't the evidence of the past years pretty solid proof that they *don't* care?
Necronom wrote:
In this case, region coding the game means telling your western fans "sorry but we just don't care" which would be a pretty shitty move imho.
But... it's Cave. Isn't the evidence of the past years pretty solid proof that they *don't* care?
Yes, but there's a difference between saying "we do arcade games and don't care about console ports" and the situation here where the chances of a western release are basically ZERO. Maybe they plan to sell the rights after 2 years or something for a budget release...
I remember reading an interview with Cave and they basically said that their games are made for japanese players and they don't think western gamers are good enough to play them. Also they don't want western gamers to play their games.
Maybe they didn't say it that radical or maybe it was just bad translated, but this was the message as far as I remember.
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Necronom wrote:How many Cave games (arcade/console) have been brought to the western market officially?
I mean seriously, if Cave really believes that ANYBODY is mad enough to bring their shooter to the western market at full price they should really quit smoking the funny stuff...whatever it is.
A western fanbase (with a 360!) is there, without a doubt, but I have serious doubts that it is actually big enough to justify any kind of release outside of xbla.
In this case, region coding the game means telling your western fans "sorry but we just don't care" which would be a pretty shitty move imho.
From the email bloodflowers got, they sound at least open to the idea that a foreign publisher will pick it up. As I said before, it wouldn't take much of a royalty check to offset the sales lost to a region lock.
It's a new generation; services like XBLA and WiiWare have given a fair amount of attention to the genre, and I'd like to think that the advent of sites like youtube have helped increase awareness and interest in shmups. Cave might consider it worth the gamble to hold out for a foreign company to express interest in bringing it outside of Japan if all they'll lose are a handful of importers.
I remember reading an interview with Cave and they basically said that their games are made for japanese players and they don't think western gamers are good enough to play them. Also they don't want western gamers to play their games.
We are extremely grateful that we have fans even in countries far away from Japan.
antares wrote:I remember reading an interview with Cave and they basically said that their games are made for japanese players and they don't think western gamers are good enough to play them. Also they don't want western gamers to play their games.
Maybe they didn't say it that radical or maybe it was just bad translated, but this was the message as far as I remember.
Either you read it wrong, or it was a shit translation. As someone that's at least read (if not translated) every type of Cave interview, I can guarantee you they've never officially taken that stance.
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GaijinPunch wrote:Either you read it wrong, or it was a shit translation. As someone that's at least read (if not translated) every type of Cave interview, I can guarantee you they've never officially taken that stance.
Your wording of that last sentence is interesting. Have the ever "unofficially" taken that stance? Has it been implied, or stated by a random Cave employee who doesn't speak for the company?
The problem: people are unable to play games of a foreign region on their domestic systems. Importing consoles from Japan is not a solution; it's a workaround, because people are still unable to play games of a foreign region on their domestic systems.
region locking is dumb and should go to hell, but it's nothing new. if you want to import alot of the time you are gonna have to bite the bullet and mod or import the japanese one. all I'm saying is getting a japanese system pretty much rids region locking for you and is the smarter way to go if you want to play both.
I think the real problem you are tackling along with others is, how can I get away with not having to buy a japanese 360 since I all ready own a US console and don't want to rebuy it or sell off my old one. I agree it sucks but I sold off mine and put that cash towards a new japanese one, I had to pay 50.00 extra for the swap when all was said and done.
I'm just offering some advise for those that haven't made the mistake of buying a US console yet.
I played star wars unleashed today and again could do so on my japanese console. Really there is next to nothing locked that's worthwhile in the states.
Strider77 wrote:region locking is dumb and should go to hell, but it's nothing new. if you want to import alot of the time you are gonna have to bite the bullet and mod or import the japanese one. all I'm saying is getting a japanese system pretty much rids region locking for you and is the smarter way to go if you want to play both.
Look, the whole point of this thread is that, once in a while, we may have a chance to change the situation. Which isn't good or right, even if it's not new. Importing a foreign region console isn't new either.
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