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/jp/ - Otaku Culture

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8413041 No.8413041 [Reply] [Original]

>Recently, JAST USA published an all-ages version of visual novel RPG, Aselia the Eternal, following which we got in touch with the company to learn a little more about what makes them tick. Naturally, the question of piracy and profitability came up, and Payne gave us his thoughts on the former.

>According to Payne, while JAST USA don’t allow piracy to deter them from their goal of publishing more games in the visual novel space, it does make negotiations with Japanese companies far more difficult.

>“A word on piracy. Obviously we’re against it, being a tiny publisher of very specialized “indie” PC games as we are,” Payne said to Siliconera. “Piracy will obviously exist for every kind of “soft” media and we make sure we don’t let fear of it stop us from moving forward, but it is a huge frustration all the same.”

>“People who are passionate about something, as I know many eroge fans to be, should be purchasing the games they want to see more of so we can make more and better games in the future. When I see extremely knowledgeable fans who follow artists, voice actresses and scenario writers of visual novels posting on pirate sites, it really gives us pause.”

>“Bottom line, companies like Nitroplus are very focused on the raw number of copies sold as a bellwether to success, so fans who fail to cast their “dollar votes” for titles they want to see more of in the future will be sorry later.”

>This shouldn’t come as a surprise to fans that keep up with visual novel news. The difficulties of working with Japanese visual novel publishers have been documented before, even by MangaGamer’s president, Hiroshi Takeuchi, who has pointed to companies such as Innocent Grey and Visual Art’s being skeptical of actual sales opportunities in the west.

http://www.siliconera.com/2012/01/13/the-effect-of-piracy-on-english-visual-novels/

>> No.8413058

where is the drama

>> No.8413063

>>8413041
There is no market for vns in the West.
Companies are not needed.
JAST and MG should just disappear.

>> No.8413064

this says literally nothing new

>> No.8413095

>>8413063
there is market and its profitable. quit being stupid

>> No.8413329
File: 88 KB, 800x600, 820.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
8413329

>> No.8413377

JAST is a fucking joke. All they do these days is buy out existing fan projects and sit on them for years while leaving the shitty editing intact. Remind me why we should care if they die?

>> No.8413386

>published an all-ages version
Gets me every time.

>> No.8413387

I'm not going to buy Aselia because I already fucking played it two years ago.

>> No.8413388

If they released something that we haven;t read already and quit hijacking projects I imagine that they would be doing better on the sold copies front. I am not buying Aselia, Osadai, or Saya because I already read those. I actually bought Demonbane and Kara no Shoujo, being the idiot I am.

>> No.8413397

>>8413329
censored > uncensored

>> No.8413399

Hmm. The pro side of buying is that a hard copy will be far more resistant to damage, and can even be repaired, while copies made on burnable cds or storage disks might be damaged and cannot be salvaged if something bad really happens.

That does not stop anyone though. Still, if a company like JAST wants to really attract buyers, the software must come with physical extras something that cannot be obtained easily otherwise, in the case of popular titles.

>> No.8413400

>>8413329
So not only does Kurou have a dick that he might as well hang from Demonbane and use as a weapon (his penis was effective against Nyarlathotep after all), he also has a nipple just on the edge of his chest, can dislocate his shoulders at will and boasts what appears to be a whopping 24-pack. He's scarier than most of the Lovecraftian horrors out there.

>> No.8413406

>>8413386
^This

It's not like they are releasing games for consoles. PC eroge should have ero scenes readily accessible with the option to turn them off or on to your taste (I realise some will get mad at me for even saying that, but there we go).

They just don't understand their target audience, so it's little wonder no one buys anything they publish.

>> No.8413425

I think it's time they accept that publishing eroge in the west is simply unprofitable and maybe start a ice cream stand. But I doubt Peter Payne knows how to make ice cream. Then again he doesn't knows how to market eroge.

>> No.8413426

>>8413406
people buy their stuff though

>> No.8413441

>>8413426
True, but it's hardly worth mentioning if they don't seem to profit from it.

>> No.8413463

>>8413406
The all ages version was redone, and vastly improved upon over the original and ero versions.

>> No.8413455

I think if they release Muramasa and Sumaga they would be rolling in dosh as those are the two most anticipated games that are licensed.

>> No.8413462

>>8413441
They are just lying. They'll never say that they earned a lot of money.

>> No.8413460

>>8413406
I think it's just an experiment to try and gather the "visual novel people" that are scared off by the porn, ie. your average nerd who likes Ever17 and Umineko and played Tsukihime with the no sex options.

>> No.8413468

>>8413441
they do profit. if you think peter does all this because he likes vns youre crazy

>> No.8413474

>>8413455
Steins;Gate.
Don't forget Steins;Gate.

The MAL-level troglodytes will be buying that like crazy.

>> No.8413476
File: 31 KB, 852x480, 1282082932678.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
8413476

>complains about JAST and MG releasing shitty games
>says there is no market for VNs in the west
>continues pirating visual novels

How typical. Stay classy, /jp/.

>> No.8413478

More bawwwing about piracy?

Get a life, eroge devs.

>> No.8413495

>>8413468
You're right, he does it because he likes pocky.

>> No.8413491

>>8413478
They're pubs, not devs.

>> No.8413501

>>8413474
JAST licensed Steins;Gate? Did I miss something?

>> No.8413511

>>8413474
Except that's not licensed.
Being a primarily 5pb title, and all.

>> No.8413505

what drama?

sounds more like OP is being a pompous asshat

>> No.8413508

>>8413501
The project had no progress for months now, and the people behind it are silent.

You figure out the rest.

>> No.8413518

It still always gets to me how everyone, everywhere naturally assumes that the act of "piracy", is the same as having them take a loss.

I use my money when I have it, so companies gains as much of me as they can. I still pirate as much as I can though, even if I spend my money on my most favorite titles when I can.
Every "normal" bloke is still all "boo! You pirated! Why aren't you supporting the companies!", you know, even if you are. Beause somehow, people assume that one can't do both, or something.

>> No.8413524

>>8413474
I am positive that Muramasa will sell thousands. S;G is licensed or is this more tinfoil hat theories?

>> No.8413552

JAST can fuck off until they actually start a translation project themselves, rather than leeching off of fan projects.

>> No.8413562

>>8413552
>JAST can fuck off for giving fan translators money for work they would have done for free.
I agree!

>> No.8413579

>>8413552
yumina, starless

>> No.8413587

>>8413524
Theory with lots of basis.

Give me one other reason why Blick would fade away and leave a "I'm always with you." message, while the other guys in the team say nothing about it or are being very vague.

You can't. The only possible explanation is that they sold out to JAST and have been told to shut up about it while Payne goes for a simultaneous month-long suck of 5pb and Nitro+ cocks, begging them that they would let him publish it.

>> No.8413595

>>8413562
> fan translators
So, they sell their amateurish shit? How pathetic.

>> No.8413608

>>8413595
Pathetic? Sounds pretty great to me.

>> No.8413604

>>8413562
That part would be fine if they didn't add months to years to the wait time with everything they touch. And if they actually did any quality control on the translations.

>>8413579
Because those have been released.

>> No.8413611

They are already admitting they are a failure of a company by blaming the consumers.
How about some incentives to actually buy their games, like a physical copy with goodies inside?
Japanese are very good at this, they could learn a few things.

>> No.8413641

>>8413611
As if you guys would buy a VN just because of a fig, a poster, or a dakimakura that would be with it.

>> No.8413654

>>8413641
I wouldn't, but others might.

>> No.8413660

>>8413399
I don't understand why a burned DVD is more susceptible to damage than a hard copy?

>> No.8413662

>>8413641
It wouldn't sell me on a VN I wouldn't have bought anyway, but if JAST was offering a VN I wanted bundled with a fig or a nice artbook or something, I'd be much more likely to buy. Alternatively, I'd be willing to pay a higher price for a game I would have bought anyway if it came with extras.

>> No.8413665
File: 80 KB, 640x480, 20050812_1.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
8413665

>>8413641
Actually...

>> No.8413673

>>8413604
>Because those have been released.
（　´_ゝ`）
http://vndb.org/p102 http://vndb.org/p3 http://vndb.org/p41

>> No.8413680

>>8413654
Or what I should have said was: I wouldn't buy it from JAST or MG because of that...

>> No.8413702

Blaming your incredibly small customer base and then pissing them off by hijacking fan projects is not a great business plan. My money says that if they antagonized their consumers less they would be doing better.

>> No.8413739

I support the devs by buying products I can't actually read when I can afford to.

Fan translations and piracy are what keep my interest in the medium. I have zero love for western publishers who censor everything to hell and back for the soccer moms. This is eroge, take out the ero, and all that's left is a somewhat shitty story.

If anything people like JAST are a blight, becuase it stops a real translation from happening. I'd very much like to see them close shop.

>> No.8413749

>>8413739
>becuase it stops a real translation from happening
Yeah. I hate having uncensored CGs.

>> No.8413756

While I fully understand JAST, I don't know why Japanese companies have the illusion of "all foreigners are pirates".

Just take a look at PD, Share, or even torrents of japanese material. It's full of Japanese pirates. It's just that the demand for VNs in Japan is a lot higher, so while they have more pirates, they also have more buyers.

Pirating is a lot easier. It's free, you have to wait at most some hours for it to download, and you don't have to move from your chair. In that kind of era, most people will pirate. It's dumb to be "afraid" of pirates.

>> No.8413768

>>8413673
It's funny because I'm looking through those lists, and seeing mostly shitty nukige, with a few interesting titles like Princess Waltz and YMK, their censored KazoKei, and the fan projects they bought out.

>> No.8413774

>>8413768
Of the stuff that's been released, that is.

>> No.8413791

>>8413768
>JAST can fuck off until they actually start a translation project themselves

>> No.8413789

>>8413756
Whenever I am seeding a VN torrent that has no english patch or active project I see a sea of japanese IPs. Not to mention only they use share and PD.

I think it is okay to make all age versions, if the manage to break into the MAL/gaia/Animesuki crowd they will be rolling in cash. In my perfect world JastUSA survives and starts releasing great VNs with in house translators instead of killing the fan translation scene.

>> No.8413793

I'm willing to bet more Japanese pirate visual novels than westerners.

>> No.8413812

>>8413793
As one guy said there is more of a market there so piracy, although a problem, is much less of one because they have enough people who buy the games to support the industry. The main problem isn't the pirates, it is the lack of a customer base they aren't pissing off that is sizable.

>> No.8413808

>>8413793
I bet more westerners pirate FPS games than Japanese.

>> No.8413828

>>8413808
I'm willing to bet more pirates Japanese FPS westerners than visual novel games.

>> No.8413835

>>8413812
The only people they are pissing off are the self-entitled /jp/ base. This is the same base that wants all translators to be nameless machines who simply release things without saying a word and have it be perfect quality. Nothing you do short of showing up out of nowhere with a full, perfect translation will be good enough for them.

>> No.8413856

Nitroplus games are awesome


Aselia is as crappy as SnS

>> No.8413865

>>8413835
Quality isn't so important. Censoring and pushing releasedate times back by years is what bothers me.

>> No.8413874

>>8413865
So you still fall into the self-entitled category. Thanks for proving me right.

>> No.8413881

the awesome thing about learning japanese is that you don't have to give a fuck about these idiot parasite companies and their attempt to leech a few neo-shekels from our puny sub-sub-sub-niche market without doing any actual translation themselves

>> No.8413893

>>8413874
No problem bro, maybe if your suck their cocks hard enough JAST might just give you the time of day.

Also
>calling them out on ruining things with censoring somehow equals being self entitled.

I laughed harder than I should have.

>> No.8413906

>>8413835
JAST wants me to pay for games with subpar editing that they did none of the actual work on, years later than they could have been released (or were released, in some cases), and I'M somehow the entitled one? Fascinating.

>> No.8413910

>>8413835
Sup peter?

You work part time on the JIDF too?

>> No.8413932

>>8413893
>>8413906
The self-entitled part is that you are expecting perfect quality (I'm not talking just translation quality) no later than the exact moment you say "now". /jp/ is quick to call anyone who does things for them "attention whores" then bitch hard when things don't go their way. It's no wonder why /jp/ isn't taken into consideration at all.

As for the censoring stuff: make a list of censored vs uncensored official translations. Especially where fan translations are concerned since that's a large part of the topic here. I'll wait.

>> No.8413949

>>8413932
I don't think you understand your own argument here, peter.

>> No.8413967

>>8413906
YOU dont give a shit about opinions of translators, YOU think that games should be given to you for free, YOU demand translations to be released when you want them.
yes you are self entitled faggot

>> No.8413970

>>8413932
>Reading JAST's release of OsaDai
>Grammatical errors everywhere
>Translating the same term differently in different parts of the script
>Untranslated lines (not important ones, but still)
JAST QUALITY

I wouldn't mind if it were a fan translation, but if they expect me to pay for their shit, I do expect some semblance of professionalism. Especially given how long it took them to release it. I really don't think a proof-reading pass is too much to ask for.

>> No.8413978

>>8413967
Calm down, peter. We're all friends here, no need to get so angry.

Though I will continue to decline using your service, there are higher quality alternatives, you see. I also find fault in some of your business practices, peter.

>> No.8415179

>>8413978

'Sup Gip.
I don't know how you have the face to talk like that now.

>>
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