what i think ST should do that they havent in there prevoius phantasy star games.

[Kazzi]

Kazzi:
They did/do have a facebook for PSO2 right now. It is at:

http://www.facebook.com/sega.pso2

and it occaisionally has started posting in Eng due to abundance of nonjp country 'likes'. So, if you have a FB going and getting everyone you can think of to like at it would really help the USA/EU/SouthAmerican cause for getting this game & showing support directly to them that people here ARE interested and maybe some ads would be worth it.

I basically bought PSO because it was a Sonicteam game & I love Sonic games (before some of those 'meh' ones they did of course) and then PSO just turned out to be my all time favorite game.

Well I meant a dedicated english one, I'm aware of the JP one

[pikachief]

I'm sure PSO2 can still interest many people if they just showed commercials here. There are plenty of people that would love the game but there are just too many people who have no idea what it is because there is no advertising!

But regardless, every MMO is going to be compared to WoW.

I have met many people on PSU that played the game basically because it wasn't like WoW. They found an MMO type game that wasn't, "find monster -> click monster -> click attacks -> collect loot -> find monster" but instead it was in the format of an action game where you also level up and collect loot.

Devil May Cry, Lost Planet, Elder Scrolls are all things you can compare this game's Hunter, Ranger, and Force to. Sure they aren't the same at all but its the same idea of magic, guns, and swords. I'm sure if they advertised it as an MMO then showed the combat and a boss in a 12-player area most people would be at least interested.

[RemiusTA]

Good idea. I bet they'd get a lot of people by highlighting the boob customization and loli HUnewearls.

Heh, Loli spam is one of the main reasons japanese games dont happen over here anymore. It's far more likely to disturb or scare people away. In fact, it disturbs even me.



It's a thing from japan that is only really shared with pedophiles here. Nowhere in western culture does "4'5" girl with no clothing" translate to attractive.



Describe a loli to anyone on the street without mentioning the actual word or japan. Watch people look at you insane.

[kyuuketsuki]

Heh, Loli spam is one of the main reasons japanese games dont happen over here anymore.

Uh, what?

It's a thing from japan that is only really shared with pedophiles here. Nowhere in western culture does "4'5" girl with no clothing" translate to attractive.

Please, show me a girl with a child-like figure of early pubescence (since that's what generally defines a lolita, not simply being short) with no clothing being advertised in PSO or PSO2.

The default HUnewearl look does not constitute a lolita. The FOnewearl might, but she is far, far from unclothed.

I don't think the lolita thing has anything at all to do with Japanese games not being successful (as though there aren't quite a lot of Japanese franchises that are successful in the Western markets), let alone PSO.

[Tetsaru]

I think it would be in Sega's best interest to advertise PSO2 at least a little bit outside of Japan, whether it's TV, magazines, or internet banners. They'd just have to localize it a bit, that's all.

I was happy to see that Sega advertised Sonic Generations on TV, at least. I can't help but think it was at least somewhat more successful because of it.

[maxx69]

Uh, what?

Please, show me a girl with a child-like figure of early pubescence (since that's what generally defines a lolita, not simply being short) with no clothing being advertised in PSO or PSO2.

The default HUnewearl look does not constitute a lolita. The FOnewearl might, but she is far, far from unclothed.

I don't think the lolita thing has anything at all to do with Japanese games not being successful (as though there aren't quite a lot of Japanese franchises that are successful in the Western markets), let alone PSO.

He's talking about Japanese games in general. Many of them do have anime art and loli characters, because that's what gamers like over there.

As for PSO2, 71.5% of players in the alpha played female characters. So "those people" might be the core audience over there.

[NoiseHERO]

No amount of advertising will make PS a notable franchise in the US. It's not a game that's ever really been designed with western ideals in mind, and I hope that never changes. I play PS games because they are distinctly eastern.

If people can eat up that final fantasy and star ocean shit.

Then I think PSO2 maybe PSU screwed up on that but DEFINITELY PSO2 could do well if people just knew it existed.

Sounds like you guys WANT this game to be hipster underground unpopular with all this black sheep uniqueness glorification. @_@

But it's just a sci-fi anime action rpg/dungeon crawler mmo these days plus the cult following it got from PSO. SEGA just has to NOT suck.

[Poubelle]

i hope they do advertise it.

the problem with PSU was that nobody knew what the fuck it was . people just looked at it and it looked like a shitty single player RPG starring ethan waber in his belly shirt.

PSO2 is just a straight MMO thank god so hopefully they can advertise it as being an awesome new online game.

but yeah if its good at least it will get recognition on popular gaming sites which will encourage people to try/buy it.

[amtalx]

If people can eat up that final fantasy and star ocean shit.

Then I think PSO2 maybe PSU screwed up on that but DEFINITELY PSO2 could do well if people just knew it existed.

Sounds like you guys WANT this game to be hipster underground unpopular with all this black sheep uniqueness glorification. @_@

But it's just a sci-fi anime action rpg/dungeon crawler mmo these days plus the cult following it got from PSO. SEGA just has to NOT suck.

Final Fantasy has achieved a pedigree that PS never will, or Star Ocean for that matter. Star Ocean is successful enough, but still receives tepid reactions in NA. I'd say it's on par with the Tales series -- rabid fans, but not in huge numbers.

It's irrelevant to me how popular PSO2 gets, as long as it can maintain a viable player base. I don't think there are very many gamer hipsters here, scratching their neck beards and worrying that the CoD crowd will infest their beloved game. It's simply that there is a uniquely hospitable feel to a game where there are enough players to meet new people, but few enough that you'll see familiar faces.

[RemiusTA]

I don't think the lolita thing has anything at all to do with Japanese games not being successful (as though there aren't quite a lot of Japanese franchises that are successful in the Western markets), let alone PSO.

I do.


In fact, i 60% believe this is the very reason. Of course, this is only my opinion.


Not so much lolita in general, but everything that has come along with it. What is popular with male japanese anime fans has fallen completely out of whack with what used to be somewhat shared with the same audience in the west. No longer spikey hair, giant swords, big weapons, interesting outfits or crazy fighting abilities. Now it's all about REAAALLLLYYY spikey hair, REALLLLYYY giant swords, REEAALLLLY big weapons, AS CRAZY AS YOU CAN THINK OF fighting abilities, RIDICULOUS outfits....and beautiful j/kpop idols. Not to mention Moe, which is where i begin to disconnect from anime completely. Now, im not saying the fad of pretty boys and ridiculously colorful females didn't exist 15 years ago, but it never saturated japanese crap like it has today in my opinion. Evangelion vs Rebuild of Evangelion is a wonderful example of a series i originally really admired becoming saturated with a bunch of completely unnecessary shit, when it already had its own dose to begin with that worked.


To me? Everything just looks the same now.

For example, i saw people talking about Star Ocean and Final Fantasy recently. Do me a favor. Do a Google Image search for Star Ocean 1. Now, do the same for Star Ocean 2. Now, do the same for Star Ocean 3. When you get to 4, you're going to notice a change in the character designs that's obviously different than the other 3, ASIDE from the fact that they're pre-rendered. They look shockingly similar to a game we're all very used to. Oh, and speaking of Phantasy Star, you can go ahead and do the same for that series as well. Around the time of the current generation, the art style slowly shifts from "unique" (PSO, some of PSU) to "ive seen this somewhere before". (AotI, PSP2). You could do the same with Final Fantasy, but they have exclusive artists, who for the most part can switch it up very well; but to say Final Fantasy hasn't fallen victim to this same dieline that other japanese things have would be a stretch. SO much focus has been put on CHARACTERS and ACTION that the series has almost become completely disconnected from itself, with Final Fantasy XIII only consisting of...well, a cast of characters and a bunch of action. And that's it.

But you can do it with any long running japanese franchise with a recent entry, and you can tell me whether or not somewhere down the line, the overall feel of the game just completely shifts.



This isn't to say about 15 years ago, japan didn't have its own prominent tropey art elements to draw from, because they most definitely did, and it's obvious. All im saying is that there were alot more of them to see, and omitting art styles, they wern't so easy to disconnect from western stuff.



I think someone said it best when they said "it isn't that japanese games suck now. It's just that they aren't for us anymore." The evolution of Phantasy Star alone supports this statement more than anything i can try to use.

Spoiler!

In fact I can't remember the LAST time i saw a beast-kin race in a Japanese something that wasn't either 1) exclusively female or 2) extremely cute, where in the past they didn't seem to be that uncommon. The last time i PERSONALLY can remember seeing any in a big title was Final Fantasy XII, although the only race in your actual party that wasn't human was Fran, the Viera...an exclusively female (and somewhat revealing) race. Hmmmmm.....


Phantasy Star had them prominent, but they've all magically disappeared, with the clostest to them becoming Beasts in PSU which are damn near indistinguishable from humans. Shining Force thrived off them, but recent entries destroyed them. Breath of Fire also had nearly every character in your entire party belong different race of some sort, but for SOME REASON Capcom over the years decided such a wonderful franchise (my favorite honestly) would no longer appeal in Japan, let alone the US. Gee, I wonder why?