For Advent Children? There better be an american release. I've bought every version of it. I bought the PSP one on day one, the DVD on day one...The DVD hat came with all the extras on day 1 also.

Amazon_Chris

@Witzbold:
The Japanese Blu-ray with new or redone scenes has been bumped back to this year, but was planned for '07.

No idea about an English release, but I'd imagine it would follow...

fuchikoma

I'm still waiting on Tactics A2. It hasn't been terribly long compared to a typical localization wait time, but it's nearing the 6 month mark, and I'd feel better if there was an official date for its release. "Quarter 4 2008" is not very reassuring.

Also, I am aware FF4 DS was released in December or so, so I'm not expecting miracles since the game had plenty of voice acting, but I'd like to see it at least before next October.

xybur

@Aprocalypse: "PS3 games really confuse me, because, well, Europe has the most console sales. Yet we pay the most, go figure." - Forgot to put here, that lack of region encoding is why it really confuses me.

Aprocalypse

@DELICIOUS BUNNY: It's $110 (US) for recent release PS3 titles here. I can't imagine it ever technically being worth buying a new PS3 game here, ever.... just because importing it is basically guarantee'd to be cheaper. (Comparison = US$110 for Heavenly Sword vs $55 + shipping. Not even close). PS3 games really confuse me, because, well, Europe has the most console sales. Yet we pay the most, go figure.

Also sad that buying a freeloader and SSBB from the US will be cheaper than buying it when it comes out here, and you'll get it way faster. We don't even know how much because of not even having a release date.

It's a really good way to encourage piracy, by charging one region twice as much and taking twice as long to get it there... if it gets there. (Still waiting for .hack//GU 1/2/3, and plenty of other PS2 games. ._. I mean, I've played them, but you know, I can't actually buy them. Thank god that region encoding never took off on handhelds.)

I'll also believe this new when I see it happen, considering how often it is promised.

Aprocalypse

I need Advent Children on Blu-ray, and it comes with all the stuff from the $50 DVD Edition (script, book, other stuff)

Amazon_Chris

@fuchikoma: I wonder if they are working on that. Would be nice to see though.

If that release that spirts within or whatever movie first on blu-ray I will know that there infact is no god.

Witzbold

About stuff like International Versions:

I'm PO'd that Kingdom Heart's final mix editions won't come here sine they are WAY better than the American edition.

Amazon_Chris

The delay fot DQM killed me. Serious, I had to resurrect my corpse just to be here right now. It was annoying.

Localization delays annoy me. Makes me want to learn Moon...

rubiximus

That's it, I'm moving to Japan just soley because of getting video games first thing and nothing else. Oh shit, I don't understand anything they're saying!

"desu desu desu desu desu"

In serious mode, I take it for granted that Canada/US gets rather decent game release times, but its only been recently that I'd pick up games on the first day of release. And yeah, my feelings for the European/Aussie gamers that usually get shafted quite a bit (by god, $80-$100 Australian dollars for shit we get here for $40-$60, if not cheaper on special sale days - in reference to the Aussie kid with M video game entry).

DELICIOUS BUNNY

We got FFVII to FFXI (5 games) in 6 years, then we had to wait 4 years for the next one. If FFXIII is out in the next 2 years, i'll be happy enough.

valleyshrew

I'm not big on Squenix, but I wish they'd release Advent Children on Blu-Ray already... that movie could be for Blu-Ray what The Matrix was for DVD - a standard benchmark show-off disc.

I watched a fansub of it almost two YEARS ago. I'd happily buy it if it were actually for sale.

fuchikoma

Squeenix suck for slow localisation. It is really crap that a rich company can't release simultaneuously. If they can translate it from japanese to english (for the American release) then why can't they do the others at the same time? Quite gay.

-Sigil-

I know you hate Sega, Luke, but you could at least give them credit for their short localisation times. Seriously, they're one of the best in the buisness for it.

Overlord44

What I really find insulting is the 8-12 months delay between the US and European releases, and it's not like they throw in additional extras to sweeten the deal.
Seriously, why can't they just release the English version first and then follow up with the other ones when they're ready?
I'd wager most non UK European gamers prefer playing in English anyways as translation and dubbing tend not to be handled as well in the other versions.

lollercoaster

Long as they translate things fine this shouldnt be a problem. With the international market the (much) bigger piece of the pie that should no longer be a problem, lest Japanese makers decide to stay in the confines of the '300,000 sales' PS3 market in Japan.

Funny thing happening now is that the overseas titles coming into Japan are having trouble being translated properly -- CoD4 is supposed to be a complete fucking mess, with glaring errors even in perk names (stopping power being translated as "stop the power of movement," steady aim being translated as "climbing ranks steadily," complete lack of new voiceovers, etc). Once the Japanese gaming community wakes up to the sound of online gaming there's a potentially good-sized market, so hopefully this reversal ends well too -- too many people see non-Japanese games as being the same crap that was shoved in the SNES-early PS era.

muu

Squanix speeding up localisation?
First CAstro gives up his power, then this!
What's gonna happen next?
The world is coming to an end!

Prinnygeddon!

Square Enix should be able to do this. If Mistwalker can put out a nearly simultaneous release for LO which had tons of dialog and text, they should be able to do so with FF as well. Unless their programming sucks and they aren't handling/planning their placeholder hooks and resources well.

Soldrak

@Witzbold: You are wrong. The "International" version of Final Fantasy is the US/Euro version with additional content.

[en.wikipedia.org]

The above link details additional content in FFXII. Though not as much as 12, FFVII, FFX and FFX-2 all received additional content in Japan.

Grave of the Fireflies

I don't know, a year to get FF12 out to Europe seems very good indeed compared to the 13 years it hasn't taken them to get Chrono Trigger out.

Retropants regrets nothing

Pretty sure they've said this about 3 times in the last 4 years or so. There has been very little change.

As for FFXII taking a year....so did FFX. Nothing new there.

Ryu Kazama

Hahahaha!

As a long suffering European, I'll believe this when I see Chocobos fly!

Teeif

Faster is good, IF there's no reduction in quality.

PsycheDiver

I rather games come out late (although I live between US and JP so I am in heaven and often go down to Akihabara with a budget - or else I'd spend all the money I had and would have to go to the US Emissary) than not at all.

I have seen so many games I know would have done great in US/EU if translated properly... as well as a lot of games that have come from Japan (and the US) that had no business being made, neverless infect other countries.

DeeBG

I'll believe it when I actually see them do it.

@Sobe318: They WANT you to import and pirate their games obviously. That's the only reason I can figure for not announcing dates or plans for those games yet.

Ajh

@tenken: I WANT IT ALL AND I WANT IT NOW!

*unlocks everything in Rollcage Stage II*

Sabre_Justice: Okay, no more long name.

@Sabre_Justice: Okay, no more long name.: Be strong, my fellow compatriot! Surely the worldly desire of GAMING NAOOOOOO may knock upon the door of thy fretted conscience, but withstand that desire in order to one day realize a greater good; a shining future we can only grasp with these hands!

tenken

Nintendo is still worse than Squeenix based on past experience. Square at least tended to improve the games as some commenters have mentioned. Another example is the PAL Final Fantasy X release which had masses of extra content including all the dark aeons. Nintendo on the other hand don't seem to do anything other than translate their games.

MattB

@tenken: We don't care. WE WANT IT NAAOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sabre_Justice: Okay, no more long name.

As someone interested in becoming a game localizer myself (and getting there, actually), I always pay close attention to news about how localizations work. It seems that more and more often, the NA branches of the companies are getting the game scripts to work on as soon as possible, to minimize the delay between the Japanese and NA versions (I feel for you, European peeps; I really do).

But stop and consider for a moment: is this really a good thing? Sure seems like it, from just a basic glance at the issue. But let us dig deeper, fellow commandos of over-analysis!

Localizing a game well is tricky business, and it becomes much, much more tricky if you have only the script to go to without much in the way of visual reference. Optimally, a localizer should be able to see, at minimum, the environment in which a scene will take place. At best, they should be able to watch the cutscene in the original language - though I don't know how often that's even able to happen. You can get good results from just working with a script, then tweaking it when you get a test-build of the NA version of the game, but the more time you have access to the game for, the better the chance that the localization will be context-appropriate.

The other thing to note is that there's actually a significant amount of cases where a game's localization time "gap" resulted in the NA version being a superior product. FFVII, famously, had the Emerald and Ruby Weapons put in. Dirge of Cerberus had some notable control issues fixed up for the NA release. Rogue Galaxy got a whole extra freakin' planet and associated story.

When localizations take their time, sure, we have to wait a bit longer. But it gives the team extra time to make sure the story and dialogue reads well, and it gives the team time to (ideally) address any technical issues the JP version may have had. To me, that's time well spent. I'm a rather patient sort; I can wait a few months. My massive backlog makes it easy. :)

tenken

@Witzbold: They translate it into a bunch of different European languages, and Nintendo only has ONE PERSON for each language.

Most companies do this during development. Nintendo and apparently Squeenix do it after release.

Sabre_Justice: Okay, no more long name.

Yeah.. I know this is a tangent, but I dont understand what you could like about FFXII International over the original. Its just a new grid with way more limitation. If you want to customize your characters with "jobs" then just unluck the relevant spots on the grid. WOW!

All the SE "International" versions are just the US version. Thats it! You're upset that they liked the version you got so much they decided to give it to the Japanese market as well. Thats silly. The only reason why the trend ever started was because Kingdom Hearts had an All-Star cast of real Disney voice talent that SE felt the Japanese market deserved a chance to experience. They were right. Move on.

Korbei

@ban_hammer: Actually thats where you are wrong, since all the "international" version is is the US version basically.

Its what its been most of the time.

How else do you expect to get folks to buy the same goddamned game over again?

Witzbold

! I hate having to do this.

Witzbold

so, no more "piss off the Americans and laugh at the Europeans" tactics? I mean they use to slap us twice, first with the initial release in Japan and then with an International version for Japan only. And FFXII International, looked really good compared to the evils of the US version.

ban_hammer

Square-Enix didnt promise anything. Quit manipulating the words of developers!

Korbei

Never. gunna. Happen.

Connoisseur

I think it'll take a while for them to keep their promise.

Trowble (XBL/PSN)

Then after Oblivion you can play Mass Effect, after that you can play...

Hm. Well, you could play Lost Odyssey-- Oh wait.

jynxycat

To be fair, it seems that translating and re-dubbing all the text and speech in a game like FF would be time intensive compared to something like Lost Planet, DMC4 or MGS. I was pleasantly surprised on how fast Mistwalker got their English stuff out.

AlKusanagi

Hey> I got the best of both types. wRPGs and jRPGs. I still have a TON of PS2 jRPGs that I haven't even gotten to open yet.

Amazon_Chris

Wow, it only took them what, years to learn what Nintendo and Capcom already knew.

Hey SE! It's too late. Your long delays caused me to look elsewhere for my gaming fix. I'm quite happy with Western RPGs like Oblivion now, which I never would have discovered if not for your 6-24 month delays leaving me gameless for so long I started looking elsewhere.

Who knows, I might reacquire a taste for JRPGs again. But, I'll likely wait 8-12 months after their release to buy them at discount. I figure you weren't in a rush to sell them to me, why should I be in a rush to buy them?

Lixie

Ah, playAsia, make my importing dreams come true. Thank god for non-region PS3 games, at least I can get the US versions of things.
Now, just need to learn Japanese, and I'll be playing FFXIII in only 2 years, not 3!

TheJeanGenie

@Witzbold:

Adding 'u's is thirsty work =/

Byakko

@Afore Notation: *begin with
Whoops, time for bed.

Afore Notation

Fantastic news. Square has some seemingly stellar titles in the works right now; the best of all publishers if I may be so bold, though this is just conjecture.

Since it seems people like to prophetize what kind of comments are going to flood into an article, I guess I'll go with something about "emo" characters, or the characters being girly (aka, not being a marine or some derivative thereof.)

Actually, when I think about it, "emo" has to be the absolute worst insult in the age of Internet. I don't really even understand why people use it or how it came to be associated with with half the things it is associated with. I firmly believe at least 90% of people who use the term do not really understand what emo is to being with; its basically just country music sans the redneck, so shouldn't we be calling things country? Just rambling, feel free to continue ignoring.

Afore Notation

Didn't that come out a while ago for them? When it was first announced, I was all hyped up for it, but...Where's the love for NA and beyond? I want KH II FM+...

Amazon_Chris

I'll believe it when I see a release date for the Wii Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon.

Torgen thinks AAA means “Costs $60”

I still never understood why it takes so long for the Kings English version of games to come out. When its only a few minor changes that would be able to be done via mass search / replace commands. :x

Granted NTSC / PAL is having even less of an impact as before since more and more folks are upgrading their TVs and all.

Its one thing I always wondered about during my time within the industry.

Witzbold

Please!!! Release SO1 psp Remake in north America!

AceClover Justice

Eh. I can't wait for August for...DISGAEA 3!!! Even though I imported, I still want the English version.

Amazon_Chris

The DS remake of DQ4 had a rough english script in it to begin with. You'd think they'd be quick about getting that over but it doesn't seem like it. Either way, Squenix isn't that bad when it comes to localization time, for the most part. They maybe don't churn it out as fast as NIS or Atlus but in general their localizations tend to be less rushed and better quality. Maybe it's just a sign of age, a "back in my day" thing but I think seeing an RPG released here less than 12 months after the Japanese release is still pretty exceptional.

Nobuyuki

THat's dumb. I wanted to get FFTA2, but no release date yet? What are they doing over there? Smoking crack! DANG! There's a FFIV DS? I want it. When did it come out there?

Amazon_Chris

I hope they follow this promise by actually announcing NA/EU versions of FFIV DS and some of the DQ remakes... :/

Sobe318

If this ends up being true it will be really welcome news. I mean, even their portable games are taking forever. FFTA2 launched on October 25th, 2007 in Japan but it doesn't even have an official North American release date yet much less one for Europe and Australia.

Nirolak

@Luke Plunkett: I know. Can't hurt to dream though. Within two months, and I'm okay. When it comes out in Japan though, I'm cutting off my internet connections and I'll become Amish for a few months so no one spoils anything about it for me.

Amazon_Chris

Shit, that's mighty kind of them, especially to the aussies.

Hell, if MGS4 can go simultaneous, why not FF XIII? its not like we're gonna see the game this year anyway.

TheIrishNinja

@Amazon_Chris: You won't get it first day. But hopefully you won't get it 6 months later, either.

Luke Plunkett

@Dr.Chocobo: if you shop at the right places, you usually can pick up US games for around 30-40% less even with shipping costs factored in.

Can someone send Squenix a memo and point out that now they have stupidly huge capacities to play with they can probably ditch the 'not enough space' excuse and start giving us dual language options? Not that I'm that worried if the localisation is as good as FFXII was, but it would be nice to see them do it.

atomicstrawberry

A year after japan? Holy smokes, man. I don't think any Europeans are going to wait for Brawl in that case...Import your games immediately now that there's a Free Loader for the Wii!

By the way European/Australian Kotaku users, is shipping outrageous when yall import?

Dr.Chocobo

Good. I want FXIII on the same day Japan gets it so I don't have to endure those internet spoilers. I mean, I stayed away from the internet till I beat XII so I wouldn't spoil it.

Amazon_Chris