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"Punish the Europeans"

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Mon 14/01/02 at 19:48
Regular
Posts: 787
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.
Mon 14/01/02 at 19:48
Regular
"!"£$%^&*()_+"
Posts: 2,148
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.
Mon 14/01/02 at 19:52
Regular
"Eff, you see, kay?"
Posts: 14,156
Firstly, as you say, there's the PAL/NTSC thing which has to be done.

However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. The American MGS2 is littered with American colloquialims that we just don't understand. It's exactly the same with English games. So, they've got to re-record that.

ALSO, the British MGS2 is bigger and possibly better than the Yanky version, so that's another up point.

Patience, good sir. Companies don't purposefully delay games, because that's stupid. There's always a reason and whatever it is you'll be glad they did it.
Mon 14/01/02 at 20:12
Regular
"Nasty Fat Hobbit!"
Posts: 1,193
Turbonutter wrote:

ALSO, the
> British MGS2 is bigger and possibly better than the Yanky version, so that's
> another up point.

Not better(Leave out the DVD) ....but bigger yes, if you class the 'extremely difficult' option as something that lengthens its lifespan. But thats all.
Mon 14/01/02 at 20:25
Moderator
"possibly impossible"
Posts: 24,985
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!
Mon 14/01/02 at 23:31
Regular
Posts: 370
good post, i seriosly think the europeans are treated badly when it comes to game releases.
Wed 16/01/02 at 22:59
Regular
Posts: 1,037
BearPaw wrote:
> good post, i seriosly think the europeans are treated badly when it comes to
> game releases.

Not only in games but in also anything that has an International market and the country most affected with high prices in Europe is the United Kingdom.
Thu 17/01/02 at 01:51
Regular
"Top Gun"
Posts: 104
Sméagol wrote:
> Turbonutter wrote:

ALSO, the
> British MGS2 is bigger and possibly better
> than the Yanky version, so that's
> another up point.

Not better(Leave
> out the DVD) ....but bigger yes, if you class the 'extremely difficult' option
> as something that lengthens its lifespan. But thats all.

we get more than that, we get a boss survival mode, some model editor thing, aswell as being able to play as ninja
Thu 17/01/02 at 02:18
Regular
"That's right!"
Posts: 10,645
I'm sure Nintendo hates us

Why else would it behave like this towards us?

It's not just Nintendo, but they are a great example
Thu 17/01/02 at 10:36
Regular
Posts: 1,037
MoJoJoJo wrote:
> I'm sure Nintendo hates us

Why else would it behave like this towards
> us?

It's not just Nintendo, but they are a great example

They dont give a >>>>put word here<<<< about Europe. Plus they know there people who'll pay £60 for a sloppy conversion that has come two years after the Japanes release, I hate Nintendo and you wont see me with anything with Nintendo on, damn!!!! my sister has got Game Boy colour + a few games also a Game Boy Advance but they treat us well in handheld gaming thats because we dont take ite seriously and dont care whether tekken advance takes 5 years before it gets converted for the Uk GBA.

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