Yakuza and Judgment series localization producer Scott Strichart steps down

For all the wonderful writing that is in the Yakuza and Judgment franchise, it isn’t hard to notice that it comes straight from a Japanese company, mainly for a Japanese audience. And sometimes the transition is rocky when providing it for different languages. The team of RGG’s English localization team doesn’t give enough credit for the way they provide and translate the stories, characters, and events of the games and Scott Strichart (senior localization producer) has stepped down.

SEGA confirms Yakuza 0 Western release will be uncensored

It seems that online gaming fans have lost some trust with SEGA when it comes to them releasing uncensored Yakuza games due to them censoring Yakuza 3 when it came out. Should you be worried about Yakuza 0? Well, no because SEGA has gone on the record to state that Yakuza 0 will be 100% uncensored when it hits PlayStation 4 in January 2017. Not surprising considering that SEGA knew censoring Yakuza 3 was a mistake after its release and released the uncensored Yakuza 5 last year.

SEGA confirmed that all gameplay modes will be intact in Yakuza 0, that means those shady girly video parlors will be accessible to your Western eyeballs. Make sure to pre-order Yakuza 0 if you wan the day one ‘The Business Edition’ featuring extra Yakuza swag for free. I would ask you if censoring Japanese games for the West is a good idea, but I already know the answer is no. Right?

#TakeMyMoneySoE – a campaign to get Sega Europe to localise games

TAKEMYMONEYSOE

This is Sega Europe: https://twitter.com/SEGA_Europe. They do things like localise games from Japanese and release them in the UK, Germany, France, Australia, etc.

Oh, did I say localise games? Old hat. Their current job is to say “no information at this time” to any questions on Twitter. Over and over and over again. This is a shame, because SoE used to be the best Sega division, and SoA has rather cheekily stolen this title in the last couple of years.

The only reason I can think of for them doing this (other than just tormenting the audience, and I can’t see this as a logical business decision), is that they don’t think they’ll make any money on a release. That the translation won’t get them sales, and that they need some incentive or something.

Right. They want some incentive? Let’s bloody GIVE them an incentive! If the only thing they’re going to listen to is cold hard cash, I think we can do that.

Attention Westerners: Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax is coming to PS3 & Vita Summer 2015

Another localization from SEGA is hitting Western consoles this year! Announced on the official Playstation blog, the light novel 2D fighter Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax is set for a Western release exclusively to PS3 and PS Vita in Summer 2015, both digitally and at retail for the US and digital only for Europe. If you want to know what the game is all about, we’d advise you check out Kori-Maru’s 2014 SEGA Game of the Year pick and read SEGA’s announcement at the Playstation blog.

Between this, the SEGA 3D Classics, and Yakuza 5 – it’s a great time for localizations from SEGA West!

SEGA Networks and gumi is bringing Chain Chronicle and other Japanese mobile titles to the West

Chain Chronicles
SEGA Networks and gumi had recently made an announcement today to form a partnership by bringing SEGA Networks’ Japanese game titles in North America, Europe, South Asia and other territories. Gamers can expect the first batch later this year starting with the launch of the popular Japanese RPG mobile game, Chain Chronicle.

For those who are unfamiliar with Chain Chronicle, Chain Chronicle is a popular Japanese mobile game that allows players to become a soldier who builds an army and fights to protect the imaginary land of “Yugdo” from the menacing Black Army. As the game advances, players begin to unravel each member’s story to create a long chain of chronicles where all are connected.

Both companies are collaborating in order to provide localized support for player preferences, languages and gameplay environments. Hit the jump to view the press release of the game and footage.

Hatsune Miku Project DIVA F 2nd coming to western countries this fall

After the successful release of Hatsune Miku Project Diva F in the west last year, SEGA has announced that the sequel will be released here as well. Unlike it’s predecessor, Project Diva F 2nd will be getting a physical release for both PS3 and Vita at the same time in both the US and Europe.

The game will have 40 songs, including both new songs and classic songs that were playable in Project Diva games only released in Japan. The Edit Mode, which allows you to make your own videos and rhythm games with in-game assets and put them online for all to download, will also be back.

You can expect the game to be released this Fall in western territories. Japan will be getting the game in just a couple of days from now, on March 27th.

Project X Zone coming West this summer!

Via IGN comes a bit of awesome news. The very-Japanese-there-is-no-way-it-is-coming-West game Project X Zone is in fact slated to release in North America, Latin America, Europe and Australia this summer! For those not in the know, Project X Zone is a SEGA, Namco-Bandai, Capcom crossover tactical RPG game featuring 200 characters from over 29 different franchises. SEGA fans who have been following the Japanese release of the game have spotted a number of SEGA all-stars including Ulala from Space Channel 5, Sakura Shinguji from Sakura Taisen and Bruno Delinger from Dynamite Deka (the full roster can be seen here). No other information, such as publisher or a possible title change, has been given, but once we learn more we’ll be sure to share it!

Thanks to SEGAbits forum member CrazyTails for the heads up!

Phantasy Star Online 2 alpha version hints at English localization

You know SEGA, if you just leave hints in the code, we SEGA nerds are going to end up finding it. Remember all the stuff found out from the Sonic Generations demo? You know your fans are going to be checking every single line of code for hints of exclusive information. Well, here is some that might make you smile.

Here’s some localization info:

Between Alpha 1 to Alpha 2 they added the Title screen in different language directories, here is a list:
language/ch/ui_title_logo.ice
language/de/ui_title_logo.ice
language/en/ui_title_logo.ice
language/es/ui_title_logo.ice
language/fr/ui_title_logo.ice
language/it/ui_title_logo.ice
language/jp/ui_title_logo.ice
language/ko/ui_title_logo.ice
language/tw/ui_title_logo.ice

Take a wild guess on what those stand for.