People Will Like You If You're Too Stingy, Steve (Game Deals thread)

[JWiley_12]

Well, this is the game deals thread, so I'll post it here even though it's hardly a "deal".

Europe will finally get SMT IV at a discounted price (roughly US$28). I still feel like it's a bit of a too-little-too-late situation though:

Irvine, Calif. -- July 30, 2014 -- ATLUS' renowned RPG for the Nintendo 3DS™, Shin Megami Tensei IV, is making its way to Europe later this year as a digital download title for just €19.99/£17.99. And by later this year, we mean sometime in September; all the DLC will be available as well, except for the North America retailer-exclusive pre-order bonus armor.

Maybe I should just get a North American 3DS instead...

[Gypsy]

Wow that's been out for over a year here...

Europe has been mostly getting stuff around the same time and pretty consistently.

[JWiley_12]

Wow that's been out for over a year here...

Europe has been mostly getting stuff around the same time and pretty consistently.

Not so with Atlus. They're pretty horrible in that department.

Just a pick of their release policy in recent years:

Trademark Atlus Europe delays:
Etrian Odyssey IV: Feb '13 in US, August '13 in Europe.
Soul Hackers: April '13 in US, Sep '13 in Europe
Devil Survivor Overclocked: Aug '11 in US, March '13 in Europe. Also the EU release was broken, it needed a patch to be playable.
SMT: Devil Survivor 2: Feb '12 in US, Oct '13 in Europe. In Europe only available through Ghostlight webshop (and Amazon UK later on).
Code of Princess: Jan '12 in US, March '12 in Europe. Digital only in Europe.
Etrian Odyssey Untold: Oct '13 in US, May '14 in Europe
Catherine: July '11 in US, Feb '12 in Europe
Dragon's Crown: August '13 in US, Oct '13 in Europe
Persona 4 Arena: Aug '12 in US, May '13 in Europe. The infamous region locked game case!
SMT: Persona for PSP: Sep '09 in US, Aug '10 in Europe. Digital only in Europe
Persona 4 Golden: Nov '12 in US, Feb '13 in Europe
SMT: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army: Oct '06 in US, April '07 in Europe

US only releases:
SMT: Devil Survivor, SMT: Strange Journey, Radiant Historia, Etrian Odyssey 2, Etrian Odyssey 3, The Dark Spire, Aquapazza, Yggdra Union, Class of Heroes, SteamBot Chronicles, Crimson Gem Saga, Hexyz Force, Knights in the Knightmare, SMT: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon

US only releases "for now":
Persona 5
Persona 4 Ultimax

The normal "cases":
Conception 2 just had a 1-month delay in Europe, compared to US.
3D Dot Game Heroes: same week release

[banditwolf]

I think it has more to do with Europes rating system. Vic's still waiting on Coh2 to be cleared.

[JWiley_12]

I think it has more to do with Europes rating system. Vic's still waiting on Coh2 to be cleared.

Yeah, that is why so many other publishers succeed in getting a same week release and Atlus doesn't. Europe's rating system must be specifically bullying Atlus with every single one of their releases. ;-)

In Vic's case I'm thinking it might have something to do with him underestimating the red tape in Europe too, since it's probably still all fairly new to him. Remember how he had some trouble with the US rating system too, so that the game ended up with two different ratings.

But being inexperienced is not a valid reason for Atlus' continuous f*ck ups.

[Gypsy]

Does Atlus even release their own stuff in Europe all of the time? Also are all of those first party Atlus games? I know some of those had other companies put them out in Japan but maybe they are Atlus subsidiaries, I don't really follow too deeply. Point being if Atlus USA brings over a game to the US they aren't always handling the European release.

[JWiley_12]

Does Atlus even release their own stuff in Europe all of the time? Also are all of those first party Atlus games? I know some of those had other companies put them out in Japan but maybe they are Atlus subsidiaries, I don't really follow too deeply. Point being if Atlus USA brings over a game to the US they aren't always handling the European release.

All of those games are published by Atlus USA, a US subsidiary specialised in publishing, in the US, I think.
Atlus doesn't have a European publishing branch, so they work with companies such as NIS America and Ghostlight to release their games in Europe.

But what is the difference between Atlus Japan working with Atlus US to localize something in the States or Atlus Japan working with a Euro publisher to get something out in the market here?

Strange Journey or SMT IV are games developed by Atlus Japan, so they could just strike a deal with a Euro publisher to release those here. Only for Strange Journey they didn't and for SMT IV they apparently have been in talks with Nintendo (who will now publish the eShop release).

[Gypsy]

Atlus USA is a US localisation company so when they bring over non-Atlus games to the US it's not their responsibility to get it to Europe. So whoever owns those games in Japan has to make a deal with someone in Europe right? Atlus USA probably has nothing to do with it if they don't want to. A company would have to get the rights to release it in Europe separately anyway? I assume this is why companies such as the ones you mentioned release games in Europe that Atlus USA released state side and they just use Atlus USA's translation work probably because that's easier.

[JWiley_12]

Atlus USA is a US localisation company so when they bring over non-Atlus games to the US it's not their responsibility to get it to Europe. So whoever owns those games in Japan has to make a deal with someone in Europe right? Atlus USA probably has nothing to do with it if they don't want to. A company would have to get the rights to release it in Europe separately anyway? I assume this is why companies such as the ones you mentioned release games in Europe that Atlus USA released state side and they just use Atlus USA's translation work probably because that's easier.

Atlus Japan owns most of those games in Japan. :-)

It's obvious they're not very interested in releasing anything in Europe, and the only reason they actually do something once in a while in the US is probably because they once founded that localisation company. It's there so why not use it. :-)

[TempestOne]

JWiley_12, You're gonna get reprimanded for that cussing, lol.....
Hey, once a company gets through their initial first wave of delays, it's pretty clean sweep from then on! I've noticed this about the videogame trend. It'd be kewl if* Prince William and them are playing Persona or something, lol.