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NEWS: Persona 4 Arena Discs Region-Locked, But Not Online Servers


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superdry



Joined: 07 Jan 2012
Posts: 1309
PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 11:38 pm Reply with quote
Chagen46 wrote:
Not sure why this matters, but we're still getting a dual-audtioo release and can play anyone else online. Then again, I don't import, so...


The matter and worry that people are spouting is that this sets a dangerous precedent in that other Japanese publishers can go ahead and region-lock their titles if they want.

The problem is that the region-lock feature has always existed on the PS3 since it the system debuted. If publishers didn't do then, why would they do it now? Region-locking a Japanese only title does not increase profits and makes it slightly more annoying for importers. The only thing I can see another game get region-locked is near or simultaneous release that a Japanese person can easily purchase the overseas version and play like P4A.

Also, if you're not a casual importer, region-locking should mean nothing to you.
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Brass2TheMax



Joined: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 65
PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 11:39 pm Reply with quote
In this particular case it isn't a big deal, and big Persona 4 fans like me can look past it. The majority of gamers in their given region own consoles specific to their region anyway, anyone different is a statistical outlier. And even for those very people, hey, buy the region version that works for you. Problem solved. Sure, if you live in North America and own a Japanese PS3, it's going to cost you more, but you chose to have a Japanese PS3 and live in North America. Them's the brakes.
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Juno016



Joined: 09 Jan 2012
Posts: 2377
PostPosted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 12:23 am Reply with quote
This is how game companies SHOULD respond to the fans. Give the facts in as much detail as possible. It all makes sense. They have a good reason to region lock the games, and they are aware of and concerned about the response of the fans.

Webbmaster62 wrote:
Money, all about the money.


You try working with video game development and see how much you make. They certainly aren't doing it to get rich. Every penny counts. Seriously.
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ConanSan



Joined: 13 Jun 2007
Posts: 1818
PostPosted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 2:06 am Reply with quote
Translation: the japanese made us do it. Sucks for you, Europe.
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Lupica



Joined: 19 Apr 2010
Posts: 88
PostPosted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 2:51 am Reply with quote
If they choose to give their non-American, non-Japanese fans the finger like this, I choose not to buy Atlus games any more. It's a shame that everything is going this way - acceptable releases for the two major regions, while everyone else gets screwed. I don't think any company is going to change their behaviour unless their sales figures take a hit.

They could at least leave the more expensive (Japanese) edition completely unlocked, so people who aren't lucky enough to live in the right countries can import something at some price instead of buying an entirely new PS3. Disgraceful.
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Sunday Silence



Joined: 22 Jun 2010
Posts: 2047
PostPosted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 4:24 am Reply with quote
DFBTG wrote:
This is why I like Atlus so much. They actually listen to their fans and interactive with/respond to them. Honestly, the whole region locking thing I don't care about. Doesn't affect me, given I don't import. I can see people's fears though, and I'm glad that Atlus does as well.


Yeah, just ignore the fact that Atlus has not only not listened to the fans, they've pretty much shoved the boot up the ass and began fisting-like actions with said boot.
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DiGiKerot



Joined: 03 Apr 2011
Posts: 20
PostPosted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 5:44 am Reply with quote
superdry wrote:

Aethix0 wrote:
Of course, none of this would be an issue if Japanese companies would just release their products at more competitive prices.


The MSRP for the PS3 version of the game is 7329 yen. Stuff is always more expensive in Japan. Considering how strong the yen is to the dollar, yea, the fears of reverse importation rears its ugly head. If it were back to at least 1USD:100yen, the game costs ~$73 which what 18% more expensive than a US title, but still not absurd.


Well, yeah, the problem is that at the start of this console generation (and for years before that), game prices were more or less in parity between Japan, the US and... well, Europe has always been a smidgen more expensive.

Of course, when the value of the Dollar/Pound/Euro comparatively collapsed, the prices in Japan started to look ludicrously expensive in comparison to other territories. Internally to just Japan? The prices have stayed the same. In terms of average Japanese salaries, the game is still approximately the around the same level of cost as they would be making a similar comparison in other countries. How this factors when you start to compare the living expenses of living in Japan, I don't know.

The problem is that this is a Japanese game, developed in Japan, paying people Japanese wages and expected to sell primarily in Japan, as opposed to something developed in the US or Europe primarily for those markets. Prices should be taken in consideration to what they were in Japan, in comparison to what they are in US, and as a result it's less that it's ludicrously expensive in Japan, more that it's ludicrously cheap in the US.

(This is opposed to anime, which is just plain expensive a luxury in Japan whichever metric you apply).

Of course, no-one outside Japan would pay $90 for a game like this, so they can't release it at that price outside Japan. The alternatives - well, they could hobble the foreign releases (no Japanese language track or by the removal of other content), or delay it until well outside the primary Japanese sales period (say, for six months). They could just not release it outside Japan at all, but I'd imagine they'd factored at least some US sales into their profit analysis. I doubt many people would be particularly happy with any of those happening, anyway.

As much as I don't particularly like region-coding (as a European who is currently stuck with a rough, unconfirmed release date, as well as from a consumer point of view), this is a game in a niche genre based upon another game from a niche genre coming from a small, niche publisher. The options here is that they either protect their local market by doing such things, or they simply write the exercise off as unprofitable and just don't make the game in the first place.

In the end, it's a personal moral issue as to whether you consider what looks to be an anti-consumer practice as being an acceptable cost for this kind of game to exist. As someone who misses the PS2 era where this kind of game was way cheaper to develop, hence rather more common, I'm afraid my personal scales are on the side of Atlus on this one.
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Ryu Shoji



Joined: 15 Jul 2009
Posts: 671
Location: Cambridge, United Kingdom
PostPosted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 6:10 am Reply with quote
Would it have killed them to region block it to America AND Europe?

Yes game companies, Europe exists too.
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 25 Oct 2003
Posts: 7578
Location: Wales
PostPosted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 6:16 am Reply with quote
superdry wrote:
The matter and worry that people are spouting is that this sets a dangerous precedent in that other Japanese publishers can go ahead and region-lock their titles if they want.

The problem is that the region-lock feature has always existed on the PS3 since it the system debuted. If publishers didn't do then, why would they do it now? Region-locking a Japanese only title does not increase profits and makes it slightly more annoying for importers. The only thing I can see another game get region-locked is near or simultaneous release that a Japanese person can easily purchase the overseas version and play like P4A.

I think you're missing the point. It is the American version of the game that is locked. Like how the majority of Japanese BDs are region free, what they are worried about is imports (into Japan), not exports.
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superdry



Joined: 07 Jan 2012
Posts: 1309
PostPosted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 8:29 am Reply with quote
Shiroi Hane wrote:
superdry wrote:
The matter and worry that people are spouting is that this sets a dangerous precedent in that other Japanese publishers can go ahead and region-lock their titles if they want.

The problem is that the region-lock feature has always existed on the PS3 since it the system debuted. If publishers didn't do then, why would they do it now? Region-locking a Japanese only title does not increase profits and makes it slightly more annoying for importers. The only thing I can see another game get region-locked is near or simultaneous release that a Japanese person can easily purchase the overseas version and play like P4A.

I think you're missing the point. It is the American version of the game that is locked. Like how the majority of Japanese BDs are region free, what they are worried about is imports (into Japan), not exports.


The game is region-locked to its respective region - that's what the letter from Atlus says.
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formerroadie1



Joined: 31 Oct 2010
Posts: 126
Location: Fort Worth, TX
PostPosted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 10:23 am Reply with quote
I hope this leads to people region locking BD's as well. It will stop the Japanese from freaking about reverse importation. We would get more BD releases. What were they thinking when they created the regions? Honestly, it's a simple software issue. Not sure why they have region locked anime as well.
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DiGiKerot



Joined: 03 Apr 2011
Posts: 20
PostPosted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 12:20 pm Reply with quote
formerroadie1 wrote:
I hope this leads to people region locking BD's as well. It will stop the Japanese from freaking about reverse importation. We would get more BD releases. What were they thinking when they created the regions? Honestly, it's a simple software issue. Not sure why they have region locked anime as well.


That's not technically possible because someone thought it'd be a good idea to make Japan and the US the same region for BD.
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ConanSan



Joined: 13 Jun 2007
Posts: 1818
PostPosted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 4:48 pm Reply with quote
Ryu Shoji wrote:
Would it have killed them to region block it to America AND Europe?

Yes game companies, Europe exists too.

Indeed, to be subjugated that is!
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kunino-sagiri



Joined: 11 May 2011
Posts: 15
PostPosted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 6:10 pm Reply with quote
Aethix0 wrote:
Of course, none of this would be an issue if Japanese companies would just release their products at more competitive prices.

Japanese are priced competitively for a Japanese market. Just becuase the prices seem a lot in US$, doesn't mean that they are actually that expensive in real terms.
The average wage in Japan is appreciably higher than that in the US, so in real terms (that is, the price of the goods relative to how much somebody actually earns and how much disposable income they have) the Japanese prices are actually more-or-less just as reasonable as American prices.

HitokiriShadow wrote:
Chagen46 wrote:
Not sure why this matters,


This is why:

Quote:
Atlus USA's version of the game will work in North and South American regions.


There are many English speakers that do not live in those regions.

It is being released in PAL regions (i.e. Europe and Australia) just a bit later in August, so that will cover most of the rest of the English speakers. Indeed, with both the US and EU releases combined, that covers all console regions but Japan and East Asia. So the only English speakers missing out would be those who live in Japan or East Asia (and of those living in Japan, only those not fluent enough in Japanese to just enjoy that version).
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Sunday Silence



Joined: 22 Jun 2010
Posts: 2047
PostPosted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 10:18 pm Reply with quote
DFBTG wrote:
This is why I like Atlus so much. They actually listen to their fans and interactive with/respond to them. Honestly, the whole region locking thing I don't care about. Doesn't affect me, given I don't import. I can see people's fears though, and I'm glad that Atlus does as well.


So, in essence, your giving the EU folks a Big, fat F*** YOU? Cause they have no firm date for release given the studio that does localization is notoriously slow.......and a logical option would be to import a JP or USA version.....
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