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Have you noticed how sloppy release dates have been for console games lately? Could this be a tactic employed by the game manufacturers (to sell games better) or just failure to meet dead lines by rushed games? Of course a lot of games nowadays are made by Japan, and so they are released there first, and we Europeans are always the last ones to get our hands on them, not only that but we are tortured by exclusive trailers and import reviews.
For example Metal Gear Solid 2, I saw the first trailer almost 2 years ago, I was completely gob smacked, it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen, ever since I have waited and waited for the game, the wait is almost unbearable, and on top of that the game has been released in Japan and in the USA. The story of the game is all over the place (what a spoiler for us and everyone in Japan and the USA get to experience the twists first hand, while they have been spoiled for us). So then I heard it was coming out in February, so I held myself from exploding with frustration, and then to rub it in even further the game gets delayed again to march for no apparent reason (or a very unjustifiable reason)? This makes everyone suffer (in Europe, who are waiting for it) especially the people who have pre ordered it and poor companies like special reserve (who have to change release dates on the site and have to suffer from customers getting angry).
Then comes along another offender again from (yes you guessed it) Japan the Game cube, who have promptly released there console in the USA and in Japan and again we Europeans are messed around with the release date which was ranging for February to September (and rumours of next year) and we still, till this very moment have not received a solid release date.
There are countless examples of this type of torture.
Then comes the part where games are converted to pal, we in the UK have to wait for games to be translated into French, German, Swedish, Dutch, etc before they come out, WHY?
When an American game is already finished, complete and selling also we here in the UK speak the same language, every thing is done all you have to do is convert it and sell it, which can’t take more then a month (or a week, its less than a days work to convert it), but we have to wait until it is converted to all the other languages in Europe, like final fantasy 10, is complete and it is selling in USA, its ready to come out in Europe but NO! we have to wait another 6 months, why does Europe have to suffer from the language barrier. Why can’t games be split up into different language regions, instead of different continents?
Also another problem is we here in Europe use PAL TV’s and everyone else in the world uses NTSC, it’s a fact that PAL is better! But when the games are converted we here in Europe are often left with huge borders which spoil the game, an example of this would be Tekken 3, the UK version ran 17% slower then the NTSC version. Why can’t Europe get proper converted game like metal gear solid 1(which was a quality conversion), just shows that developers are lazy when it comes to Europe.
Then comes the internet, we get all the latest information on all the gaming news, and by the time it reaches Europe its old news, it just shows how behind Europe is in terms of technology. Similar rules also apply with films which are released in other places before Europe but the film industry doesn’t have delays as long as the gaming industry.
For example Metal Gear Solid 2, I saw the first trailer almost 2 years ago, I was completely gob smacked, it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen, ever since I have waited and waited for the game, the wait is almost unbearable, and on top of that the game has been released in Japan and in the USA. The story of the game is all over the place (what a spoiler for us and everyone in Japan and the USA get to experience the twists first hand, while they have been spoiled for us). So then I heard it was coming out in February, so I held myself from exploding with frustration, and then to rub it in even further the game gets delayed again to march for no apparent reason (or a very unjustifiable reason)? This makes everyone suffer (in Europe, who are waiting for it) especially the people who have pre ordered it and poor companies like special reserve (who have to change release dates on the site and have to suffer from customers getting angry).
Then comes along another offender again from (yes you guessed it) Japan the Game cube, who have promptly released there console in the USA and in Japan and again we Europeans are messed around with the release date which was ranging for February to September (and rumours of next year) and we still, till this very moment have not received a solid release date.
There are countless examples of this type of torture.
Then comes the part where games are converted to pal, we in the UK have to wait for games to be translated into French, German, Swedish, Dutch, etc before they come out, WHY?
When an American game is already finished, complete and selling also we here in the UK speak the same language, every thing is done all you have to do is convert it and sell it, which can’t take more then a month (or a week, its less than a days work to convert it), but we have to wait until it is converted to all the other languages in Europe, like final fantasy 10, is complete and it is selling in USA, its ready to come out in Europe but NO! we have to wait another 6 months, why does Europe have to suffer from the language barrier. Why can’t games be split up into different language regions, instead of different continents?
Also another problem is we here in Europe use PAL TV’s and everyone else in the world uses NTSC, it’s a fact that PAL is better! But when the games are converted we here in Europe are often left with huge borders which spoil the game, an example of this would be Tekken 3, the UK version ran 17% slower then the NTSC version. Why can’t Europe get proper converted game like metal gear solid 1(which was a quality conversion), just shows that developers are lazy when it comes to Europe.
Then comes the internet, we get all the latest information on all the gaming news, and by the time it reaches Europe its old news, it just shows how behind Europe is in terms of technology. Similar rules also apply with films which are released in other places before Europe but the film industry doesn’t have delays as long as the gaming industry.
sorry guys but this is ment to be in the other fog, so i transfered it there. (sorry again my fault)
True we do get games later than everywhere else but the bugs are sorted so get a fuller experience. So it's ok then.
Sherman, tanks very much.
Unfortunately, it's not just a question of languages for us, but the European trade directives that have to be obeyed in order to sell a game and the many tests and paperwork the company has to go through before even thinking about publishing.
Nowadays a game has to get checked for levels of content (such as violence) and rated if neccessary. The company has to go through tax and marketing laws that would probably take a forest's worth of paper to fill in and then they have the advertising and distribution (sometimes done by another firm such as a games group, sometimes by themselves)
In the end it's easier to do all of Europe in one go and that means, you guessed it, doing the different languages first. Sad but true.
Anyway, good post, even though the content has been mentioned many times before, GAD worthy I reckon. Sorry about the pun too!
Unfortunately, it's not just a question of languages for us, but the European trade directives that have to be obeyed in order to sell a game and the many tests and paperwork the company has to go through before even thinking about publishing.
Nowadays a game has to get checked for levels of content (such as violence) and rated if neccessary. The company has to go through tax and marketing laws that would probably take a forest's worth of paper to fill in and then they have the advertising and distribution (sometimes done by another firm such as a games group, sometimes by themselves)
In the end it's easier to do all of Europe in one go and that means, you guessed it, doing the different languages first. Sad but true.
Anyway, good post, even though the content has been mentioned many times before, GAD worthy I reckon. Sorry about the pun too!
cookie monster wrote:
> sherman wrote:
> game has been released in Japan and in the USA. The story
> of the game is all
> over the place
Funnily enough i know nothinag about
> the story.
Great scot, my spelling is quite literally atrocious.
> sherman wrote:
> game has been released in Japan and in the USA. The story
> of the game is all
> over the place
Funnily enough i know nothinag about
> the story.
Great scot, my spelling is quite literally atrocious.
sherman wrote:
> game has been released in Japan and in the USA. The story of the game is all
> over the place
Funnily enough i know nothinag about the story.
> game has been released in Japan and in the USA. The story of the game is all
> over the place
Funnily enough i know nothinag about the story.
Have you noticed how sloppy release dates have been for console games lately? Could this be a tactic employed by the game manufacturers (to sell games better) or just failure to meet dead lines by rushed games? Of course a lot of games nowadays are made by Japan, and so they are released there first, and we Europeans are always the last ones to get our hands on them, not only that but we are tortured by exclusive trailers and import reviews.
For example Metal Gear Solid 2, I saw the first trailer almost 2 years ago, I was completely gob smacked, it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen, ever since I have waited and waited for the game, the wait is almost unbearable, and on top of that the game has been released in Japan and in the USA. The story of the game is all over the place (what a spoiler for us and everyone in Japan and the USA get to experience the twists first hand, while they have been spoiled for us). So then I heard it was coming out in February, so I held myself from exploding with frustration, and then to rub it in even further the game gets delayed again to march for no apparent reason (or a very unjustifiable reason)? This makes everyone suffer (in Europe, who are waiting for it) especially the people who have pre ordered it and poor companies like special reserve (who have to change release dates on the site and have to suffer from customers getting angry).
Then comes along another offender again from (yes you guessed it) Japan the Game cube, who have promptly released there console in the USA and in Japan and again we Europeans are messed around with the release date which was ranging for February to September (and rumours of next year) and we still, till this very moment have not received a solid release date.
There are countless examples of this type of torture.
Then comes the part where games are converted to pal, we in the UK have to wait for games to be translated into French, German, Swedish, Dutch, etc before they come out, WHY?
When an American game is already finished, complete and selling also we here in the UK speak the same language, every thing is done all you have to do is convert it and sell it, which can’t take more then a month (or a week, its less than a days work to convert it), but we have to wait until it is converted to all the other languages in Europe, like final fantasy 10, is complete and it is selling in USA, its ready to come out in Europe but NO! we have to wait another 6 months, why does Europe have to suffer from the language barrier. Why can’t games be split up into different language regions, instead of different continents?
Also another problem is we here in Europe use PAL TV’s and everyone else in the world uses NTSC, it’s a fact that PAL is better! But when the games are converted we here in Europe are often left with huge borders which spoil the game, an example of this would be Tekken 3, the UK version ran 17% slower then the NTSC version. Why can’t Europe get proper converted game like metal gear solid 1(which was a quality conversion), just shows that developers are lazy when it comes to Europe.
Then comes the internet, we get all the latest information on all the gaming news, and by the time it reaches Europe its old news, it just shows how behind Europe is in terms of technology. Similar rules also apply with films which are released in other places before Europe but the film industry doesn’t have delays as long as the gaming industry.
For example Metal Gear Solid 2, I saw the first trailer almost 2 years ago, I was completely gob smacked, it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen, ever since I have waited and waited for the game, the wait is almost unbearable, and on top of that the game has been released in Japan and in the USA. The story of the game is all over the place (what a spoiler for us and everyone in Japan and the USA get to experience the twists first hand, while they have been spoiled for us). So then I heard it was coming out in February, so I held myself from exploding with frustration, and then to rub it in even further the game gets delayed again to march for no apparent reason (or a very unjustifiable reason)? This makes everyone suffer (in Europe, who are waiting for it) especially the people who have pre ordered it and poor companies like special reserve (who have to change release dates on the site and have to suffer from customers getting angry).
Then comes along another offender again from (yes you guessed it) Japan the Game cube, who have promptly released there console in the USA and in Japan and again we Europeans are messed around with the release date which was ranging for February to September (and rumours of next year) and we still, till this very moment have not received a solid release date.
There are countless examples of this type of torture.
Then comes the part where games are converted to pal, we in the UK have to wait for games to be translated into French, German, Swedish, Dutch, etc before they come out, WHY?
When an American game is already finished, complete and selling also we here in the UK speak the same language, every thing is done all you have to do is convert it and sell it, which can’t take more then a month (or a week, its less than a days work to convert it), but we have to wait until it is converted to all the other languages in Europe, like final fantasy 10, is complete and it is selling in USA, its ready to come out in Europe but NO! we have to wait another 6 months, why does Europe have to suffer from the language barrier. Why can’t games be split up into different language regions, instead of different continents?
Also another problem is we here in Europe use PAL TV’s and everyone else in the world uses NTSC, it’s a fact that PAL is better! But when the games are converted we here in Europe are often left with huge borders which spoil the game, an example of this would be Tekken 3, the UK version ran 17% slower then the NTSC version. Why can’t Europe get proper converted game like metal gear solid 1(which was a quality conversion), just shows that developers are lazy when it comes to Europe.
Then comes the internet, we get all the latest information on all the gaming news, and by the time it reaches Europe its old news, it just shows how behind Europe is in terms of technology. Similar rules also apply with films which are released in other places before Europe but the film industry doesn’t have delays as long as the gaming industry.