Inferrence From An Interview

[OdinTyler]

This is an excerpt from a Sept 16, 2005 interview with Takao Miyoshi, manager of development at Sega. I understand its an older article, but, in reading it, I discovered a very INTERESTING bit of info:


GameSpy: It's become very important for games to be targeted to a worldwide market. I was wondering if there are any features of PSU that are targeted towards a worldwide audience?

Miyoshi: We have tried to implement as many inputs as possible from other regions, both U.S. and Europe. Sega of America and Sega of Europe would give us feedback about what they needed to customize the game for their markets, so it's tailored to their markets. This includes anything from character designs to packaging, to those elements, as well as voice over. The team flew to America to record the voice over in America using native voice actors to make it sound more real and natural.


The development manager admits that the voice recordings were already completed. This being the case, would editing take all these months? I think not. Just why is there such a delay between versions. That is what I ask of ST & it would be nice, if they explained the delay instead of just stating that there is one.

[ajenteks]

On 2006-02-02 14:08, OdinTyler wrote:
This is an excerpt from a Sept 16, 2005 interview with Takao Miyoshi, manager of development at Sega. I understand its an older article, but, in reading it, I discovered a very INTERESTING bit of info:


GameSpy: It's become very important for games to be targeted to a worldwide market. I was wondering if there are any features of PSU that are targeted towards a worldwide audience?

Miyoshi: We have tried to implement as many inputs as possible from other regions, both U.S. and Europe. Sega of America and Sega of Europe would give us feedback about what they needed to customize the game for their markets, so it's tailored to their markets. This includes anything from character designs to packaging, to those elements, as well as voice over. The team flew to America to record the voice over in America using native voice actors to make it sound more real and natural.


The development manager admits that the voice recordings were already completed. This being the case, would editing take all these months? I think not. Just why is there such a delay between versions. That is what I ask of ST & it would be nice, if they explained the delay instead of just stating that there is one.



Infrastructure and/or upgrades to anything existing, probably. Whatever software they're using to monitor the server activity will probably have to be translated to English as well.

Nice find though. Unless they had to really change the story around for gameplay restrictions/limitations, the VA debate is pretty much dead.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ajenteks on 2006-02-02 14:15 ]</font>

[OdinTyler]

Well, thats why people bring it up. Here are the common reasons people believe PSU was delayed everywhere but Japan:

1. Voiceovers
2. Written translations
3. Extra stuff (no, there WONT be extra stuff at this point when the game is basically done)

Now, server-related issues I can believe. However, end of March to Sept-Nov is a huge gap. It wouldnt be as such if the server work was worked on in tandem with the game itself, testing its online abilities & capabilities. Thats why I had to post what I found. Something just isnt right. No reason was given. Thats highly suspicious.

[Dre_o]

Hmmm.....*tapping fingers*....an interesting find you got there.....leaves 1 question answered and 50 more opened up....

[ajenteks]

On 2006-02-02 14:27, OdinTyler wrote:

Now, server-related issues I can believe. However, end of March to Sept-Nov is a huge gap. It wouldnt be as such if the server work was worked on in tandem with the game itself, testing its online abilities & capabilities. Thats why I had to post what I found. Something just isnt right. No reason was given. Thats highly suspicious.



There's all kinds of legal stuff involved too. I'm sure that some government agency has to verify that the service works as advertised, and then there's all kinds of taxes and sorting out how the government will tax various subscriptions and SoA and whatnot depending on which state the datacenters have offices and where SoA has offices.

Of course, it could very easily just be Japanese nationalism too, and that the US and EU PS(O) fans aren't worthy or deserving of a worldwide launch http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

[OdinTyler]

The last part there sounds like racism on their part. I hope thats not the case. Otherwise, theyd alienate most of the people that still play PS. PS is popular cause other countries play it. It has fans more willing to play than in its native country. Thats rather sad.

[ajenteks]

On 2006-02-02 14:49, OdinTyler wrote:

The last part there sounds like racism on their part.



Not really, it's just that Sega is a Japanese company. Look at how long it takes for US games generally to get overseas. Not that I want to debate international relations philosophy or anything, but nationalism is usually healthy and normal.

[OdinTyler]

To a point, yes, its good to be proud of your country & such. To flat out exclude others because theyre different or make them wait excessively is wrong no matter where its coming from. Youd think the industry would grow from such childish antics in past years. Apparently not.

[ajenteks]

On 2006-02-02 15:42, OdinTyler wrote:

To flat out exclude others because theyre different or make them wait excessively is wrong no matter where its coming from. Youd think the industry would grow from such childish antics in past years. Apparently not.



They're still going to get their money because we're still going to give it to them. They're not going to feel bad on the way to the bank http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

[OdinTyler]

I know. It just goes to show that you can respect a person for their ability or talent, yet still not respect the person.

[SirAri]

YOu have to also consider how long it takes too mass produce the game disk, the packaging, the shrink wrap, and the leetle players manual that comes with the game.

That could take quite some time...

As could shipping thousands upon thousands of copies of a game overseas, so they end up in various stores across the united states.

With all of the in mind, one can look past the american voice actor problem, and see that it would still take awhile. :/

[OdinTyler]

Shipping doesnt take 6+ months. Theyre not going over the seas on a large wooden ship. They dont do that anymore. LOL Seriously, over 6 months for shipping? No way. They just cant give us a reason for the delay & thats shady, plain & simple.

[Tystys]

It's like no one listens to me. I keep on saying that maybe Sega made some sort of mistake. It's a long shot, but maybe they've just made a small error in fixing the site.
Think about it. There has been no big announcement about it's delay. The only thing we have to go on is that one site thing. I'm thinking that most of these game sites are just making these "pushed back" articles based on the website. They all say the same thing. That there's been nothing said. They didn't say how they got the news, so I can only assume that they got it off of the site. Hell, I just checked 1up.com, and searched for PSU.
Know what came up first? A purchase for PSU scheduled FOR MAY, 6, 2006!

Maybe this is just all one big mistake.


EDIT: We can only hope I'm right. Watch, I bet you that come May, the release of PSU will just come right up and bite us on the ass...in a metaphorical term of course.


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Tystys on 2006-02-02 17:22 ]</font>

[OdinTyler]

I posted the excerpt with good reason. Info was revealed & apparently overlooked. This is most likely cause what I put up doesnt apply til just recently when the delay occurred. Its not just a few ppl upset on 1 site like PSOW. Its completely warranted. Sites everywhere, magazines...everyone is wondering why Sega is so tight lipped about a reason behind the delay. The only ones not trying to pry Sega open dont even realize the game's been delayed til Fall. Trust me, Ive seen dates stemming from April to August, all completely off-base according to ST's Fall 2006 deadline.

[Yummi]

There's all kinds of legal stuff involved too. I'm sure that some government agency has to verify that the service works as advertised, and then there's all kinds of taxes and sorting out how the government will tax various subscriptions and SoA and whatnot depending on which state the datacenters have offices and where SoA has offices.



YOu have to also consider how long it takes too mass produce the game disk, the packaging, the shrink wrap, and the leetle players manual that comes with the game.

As could shipping thousands upon thousands of copies of a game overseas, so they end up in various stores across the united states.


Bingo. The combination of both of these quotes are probably right on the money. The fact that they have two different divisions to handle the intercontinental releases, packing and distribution in another country, not to mention the review board for game ratings and probably alot of US legalities that have to be cleared.

Also for a quality product to be released here, they are likely going to play it out in japan to scout for bugs and glitches first as a "post beta test run" type of thing.. then release it here and EU with the fixes. It's easier to do a recall in japan than a world-wide recall. It's also what they did with PSO for DC.

[Brus]

But PSO DC US was out within 2 months of PSO DC JP. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_frown.gif

[ajenteks]

On 2006-02-02 21:20, Brus wrote:
But PSO DC US was out within 2 months of PSO DC JP. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_frown.gif



And we all oh'd and awe'd as the Japanese players wowed us with their knowledge of bugs and "walked through closed doors" and "hit" us with their weapons. V2 ended up being released much later in the US after being released in Japan and was a less bugier experience because of it. More hack-ridden, yes, but it had fewer inherent bugs.

[kazuma56]

wasn't V2 3 months off the original JP date? (not too sure but I remeber people saying that GC PSO followed the same release pattern as V2 did on DC).

And maybe PSOBB is holding it back, remeber that there are still quite afew events/quests that need to be seen before PSOBB is "done", so maybe Sega hopes that we will continue to play PSOBB until fall so they can leak it for all it worth till PSU....because they KNOW everyone will jump ship once it arrives.

[Atayin]

Thanks for posting the find, Odin. Nice going.
Anything that gives me reason to doubt such a late release date is music to my ears. I wonder what could possibly take them so long..

[Tystys]

On 2006-02-03 07:59, Atayin wrote:
Thanks for posting the find, Odin. Nice going.
Anything that gives me reason to doubt such a late release date is music to my ears. I wonder what could possibly take them so long..



Don't wonder! It only makes the pain hurt even more! lol

[Alisha]

On 2006-02-02 14:08, OdinTyler wrote:
This is an excerpt from a Sept 16, 2005 interview with Takao Miyoshi, manager of development at Sega. I understand its an older article, but, in reading it, I discovered a very INTERESTING bit of info:


GameSpy: It's become very important for games to be targeted to a worldwide market. I was wondering if there are any features of PSU that are targeted towards a worldwide audience?

Miyoshi: We have tried to implement as many inputs as possible from other regions, both U.S. and Europe. Sega of America and Sega of Europe would give us feedback about what they needed to customize the game for their markets, so it's tailored to their markets. This includes anything from character designs to packaging, to those elements, as well as voice over. The team flew to America to record the voice over in America using native voice actors to make it sound more real and natural.


The development manager admits that the voice recordings were already completed. This being the case, would editing take all these months? I think not. Just why is there such a delay between versions. That is what I ask of ST & it would be nice, if they explained the delay instead of just stating that there is one.



i suspect the delay is realted to 2 things
world of warcraft the burining crusade
final fantasy xi treasures of aht uhrgan
both expansion packs are due in the spring or early summer

[OdinTyler]

Other games coming out are not a reason to delay another game, especially when its not from the same company. Movies do that, not games. It just doesnt make sense. This speculation will continue until ST grows some balls & decides to give a real reason as to why there are so many release dates out there & what is the ACTUAL one.

[ajenteks]

On 2006-02-03 12:26, OdinTyler wrote:
Other games coming out are not a reason to delay another game, especially when its not from the same company.



Parents, Students, and people with other financial priorities can't always be so liberal with spending their money or their time. I play WoW, and I'll probably play the expansion too until I get engrossed with PSU. The thought of fall tuition AND having to get two games potentially on the same day, and spending $110 instead of $55 at the game store is a little intimidating. That's not couting how hard it would be to get any homework done while trying to play two different RPGs at the same time, either.

Lesser-popular games always slip through the cracks when they launch at the same time that the Final Fantasys and Halos do.

[Tystys]

Lesser known? This game has been given tons of E3 awards, and there is a huge population of PSO fans from America. In fact, it's almost as big as FF. They basically have the same name(Fantasy and Phantasy, O_O)

[ajenteks]

On 2006-02-03 12:54, Tystys wrote:
Lesser known? This game has been given tons of E3 awards, and there is a huge population of PSO fans from America. In fact, it's almost as big as FF. They basically have the same name(Fantasy and Phantasy, O_O)



Purely anecdotal, but Google has some interesting results. It finds about 2,480,000 results for "Phantasy Star", which is respectable, but is laughable compared to the about 13,700,000 results "Final Fantasy" brings up.

http://www.google.com/search?hs=LX7&hl=en&lr=&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial_s&q=%22Phantasy+Star%22&btnG=Search

http://www.google.com/search?hs=rCS&hl=en&lr=&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial_s&q=%22Final+Fantasy%22&btnG=Search

[Parn]

On 2006-02-03 12:54, Tystys wrote:
Lesser known? This game has been given tons of E3 awards, and there is a huge population of PSO fans from America. In fact, it's almost as big as FF. They basically have the same name(Fantasy and Phantasy, O_O)
Is this guy for real.

The average American gamer has never played Phantasy Star, much less know what it is. Sorry, but that's just the way it is. Phantasy Star Online sold well on Dreamcast, but its numbers don't even come to half of what a Final Fantasy title will sell.

[Blackwaltz-R]

Odin your posts reak of impatience and not as much substance substance lol

[OdinTyler]

On 2006-02-03 15:25, Blackwaltz-R wrote:
Odin your posts reak of impatience and not as much substance substance lol



As yours are of immaturity & ill-temperedness. I wasnt commenting to anyone here. Keep your rude comments to yourself, thanks.

[Tystys]

OK, I was proven wrong.
GAH! What is that, -2000 by now? lol

[NightHour13]

Hmm, to me is seems all too suspicious. I know things don't take 6+ months, for I have an uncul in a gaming manufacturing company. When bugs happen, sure the recall is lengthy - but 1 month to 2 month MAX (of course depending on the bug). I certainly hope it isnt because they want to play it out to see the bugs, hell im sure they found any major bugs already that could cause something as big as a callback. Small bugs and such can be found even more with more people. To me I think it was a exageration - Sonic Team has alot going into this game- this is next generation material if you ask me. One medium scale problem could scare the pants off of everyone when release date was so close. Perhaps they exagerated and if were lucky - it'll hit summer time.

Then again I just said it might; now commences the cosmic forces that condemn me to be wrong in every and all situations.

[OdinTyler]

Much as we would love an earlier release date, why would they then add the Fall date to their webpage? I could understand if they picked a particular day or month & it came out slightly earlier. However, mentioning a season leads you to believe it can only be a set possible time. Why would Sega say Fall if they didnt mean it for Fall?

[Tystys]

Because they like screwing with our heads?

[DeathMachine]

Noooo...Not SEGA... :Extreme Sarcasm:

[OdinTyler]

On 2006-02-03 18:06, DeathMachine wrote:
Noooo...Not SEGA... :Extreme Sarcasm:



LMAO But...Sega respects what Americans have to say! (rolls eyes)

[Kent]

On 2006-02-02 21:20, Brus wrote:
But PSO DC US was out within 2 months of PSO DC JP. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_frown.gif


Don't forget, that PSO was already fully translated when it was released in Japan. There's a lot more game to translate this time around, so I don't doubt it'll take longer to do that.

[PrinceBrightstar]

The weird thing is SEGA EU still has it listed as summer... I wonder if SEGA has accidently over-delayed and will remove some of the delay later on (maybe a month or two up)

[Atayin]

On 2006-02-03 10:54, Alisha wrote:

i suspect the delay is realted to 2 things
world of warcraft the burining crusade
final fantasy xi treasures of aht uhrgan
both expansion packs are due in the spring or early summer




Excellent point. I didn't stop to think about this at all. Maybe SEGA is really trying to play it smart and give this game a fighting chance.

I'm of the microscopic amount of people that have actually boycotted every Final Fantasy after FF8 out of pure disgust. Not that it's made a difference or anything. Your average, mainstream gamer will hear "Phantasy Star" and say "wow. That sounds weak! They're just copying off of Final Fantasy how lame."

If SoA decides to take their heads outta their butts for long enough to launch a halfway decent marketing campaign for Phantasy Star, it could really gain some recognition and seniority this time around. But, I'm not getting my hopes up.

[Blackwaltz-R]

On 2006-02-03 15:35, OdinTyler wrote:


On 2006-02-03 15:25, Blackwaltz-R wrote:
Odin your posts reak of impatience and not as much substance substance lol



As yours are of immaturity & ill-temperedness. I wasnt commenting to anyone here. Keep your rude comments to yourself, thanks.



I was just pointing this out because I have never seen something like that before in forum, hiding your impatience in the guise of a subjective topic lol I just found that too unique to ignore, most people are blatant about how impatient they are when they have to wait for something and feel they have to express it, don't take it as rude. Think of it as.. observant.

[Atayin]

On 2006-02-04 03:33, Blackwaltz-R wrote:

I was just pointing this out because I have never seen something like that before in forum, hiding your impatience in the guise of a subjective topic lol I just found that too unique to ignore, most people are blatant about how impatient they are when they have to wait for something and feel they have to express it, don't take it as rude. Think of it as.. observant.



Uh oh. This can only lead to bloodshed, but I think I need to speak up as well. OdinTyler, you're obviously a cool guy and all, but sometimes your posts CAN be a little too vindictive. I've even been tempted to strike back a few (maybe more then a few) times.. The fact that I'm even posting this is going against my better judgement, but I had to say something. Sorry for not restricting this to a PM, as I AM trying to be civil. I always try to be, but there have been too many times I've wanted to retaliate. I had to say something this time.

Blackwaltz-R was retaliating like I considered doing. Even if the way he did it was a tad bit insulting. I'd hate to see this get out of hand, because I think we can all get along (seriously). And, I hope nobody interprets this as an attack, because it's definately not. I don't dislike anyone here at all, so.. -insert cheesy 'lets all be friends and have fun' comment here-

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Atayin on 2006-02-04 04:19 ]</font>

[Tystys]

Stop it stop it stop it! Can't you see this IS TEARING US APARTTT!!!!!
....
Stupid PSU release date drama, lol

[Russ2576]

Well that's certainly adds fuel to the release date debate fire. I don't know what to think anymore. Online game stores like EBGames and Gamestop still have a May release date, even though it's been a couple weeks since the date was changed to Fall 2006 at the official PSU site. You'd think they would've changed that by now. They're usually right on top of things.

Something's just not right. The voice acting is apparently already done. All that's left do is translating it(if it isn't already). It just doesn't seem like a 6+ month delay is at all nessecary. I wouldn't be surprised if they put the Fall 2006 thing as a safety net becaue they're unsure when exactly they're gonna release it.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Russ2576 on 2006-02-05 20:03 ]</font>

[OdinTyler]

Well, if its a safety net as you say, lets hope that by some miracle, it wont come to that & we do get an early release. I guess the next few months of updates will tell the story.