Voting with your wallet - Localization

[Jessweeee♪]

I remember importing being a problem for Capcom when it came to localizing some entries in the Ace Attorney series. The fans wanted the games so bad that they paid extra to import the game, resulting in fewer sales in their own region when it was localized. Of course it's not really a problem when it's pretty clear that your region isn't ever getting the game.

I will probably end up importing Last Window, because I adored Hotel Dusk and neither of the two games will run on an emulator. And probably the Trace Memory sequel if I ever get around to getting my Wii back.

[Clo]

I justify piracy the same way I justify driving a car or not voting. It may be harmful en mass, but no individual act of piracy has any apparent consequences. Therefore, I pirate without a guilty conscience.

That... doesn't seem like good justification.

But I'm with the "if they don't offer it in your region, pirate it" crew.

[Roto13]

Nintendo has been pretty stupid about localization this generation. Especially with Cing. Localize Trace Memory and Hotel Dusk but leave their sequels to Europe, meaning their stories are incomplete in North America? Gee, thanks.

As for importing The Last Window, Elite Beat Agents pretty much only exists because people imported Ouendan so much. (But, then, Elite Beat Agents is a new game in the same style and Nintendo might rightly assume that the people importing The Last Window won't buy it a second time.) I'm considering importing it, but I'm not sure if I really want to play it without the great Treehouse script. Those guys do a stellar job.

If I was interested in Mother 3, I wouldn't buy a Japanese copy, though. I draw the line at buying games I can't even play.

The way I see it, piracy when, there's no option to legitimately support something in the first place, can't really be considered piracy.

You... see it wrong, then. Whether it's morally ok in your opinion is one thing, but it is unquestionably piracy.

Where my particular situation specifically departs from this is that I don't think the cost of importing on top of the game's retail price is worth it for me to grab Last Window legitimately. Simultaneously, I feel that I'm punishing a publisher for not putting the game out in my region. I don't want to reward them with my cash if they don't want to release in my region. As someone noted, this is a little more borderline considering the company went under and that's probably largely to blame for the lack of NA localization.

I don't think so. The game is done except for the North American script, which would be handled by Nintendo and not Cing. Plus, I'm fairly certain Nintendo owns the IP, considering Hotel Dusk was in Smash Bros. Brawl.

By the way, the last time I checked, it wasn't really clear what happened to Cing. They definitely went bankrupt but whether they simply closed up shop or stopped production on whatever the were working on or were secretly bought by someone isn't really known. The obvious idea would be for Nintendo to buy them but I don't know if they're really good enough to be a Nintendo-owned studio. Again was pretty frigging awful.

Imagine if Super Mario Bros 2 were never translated and imported from Japan to be playable in the SNES - what would you do? The only way is to buy a famicom and the game cartridge nowadays, or download a rom which takes a few minutes.

Well, these days, you can buy it for $6 on the Virtual Console. One of the great things about digital distribution of old games. I totally own legit copies of two Cho Aniki games. Woo!

[Slothy]

The way I see it, piracy when, there's no option to legitimately support something in the first place, can't really be considered piracy.

You... see it wrong, then. Whether it's morally ok in your opinion is one thing, but it is unquestionably piracy.

Didn't really intend that the way it sounded. I did mean that I see nothing morally wrong with it. It's what I get for posting within ten minutes of crawling out of bed I guess. I'm not really a morning person.

[Yeargdribble]

I will probably end up importing Last Window, because I adored Hotel Dusk and neither of the two games will run on an emulator. And probably the Trace Memory sequel if I ever get around to getting my Wii back.

I'm not sure I'm technically allowed to say this, but I'm playing Last Window now and it certainly works on an Acekard 2i (and I assume it would on an R4). I personally would save the money on the import and get something that will give you more options (NES/SNES/GB/Genesis/NDS).


Also, I'm gonna throw in with Roto in that I won't sanitize this. It's piracy period. Even the Mother 3 thing... even old NES games that are largely unavailable. Still, I justify some of these on a personal level.

You know what? Nintendo will get buckets and buckets of money from me when they set up a more Steam-like system. When I can use a centralized account to purchase VC titles and have them available on my Wii, DS, DSiXL and coming 3DS I will retroactively purchase every NES/SNES game that I've ever played through a ROM. Knowing that I can likely never transfer purchases is what has stopped me buying things on DSiWare, WiiWare and VC. PSN has got it a lot more right. I feel very comfortable buying from the PS Store.

I can't count the number of games that I've bought a second time on Steam (already owning a boxed copy) or bought knowing that I'd likely never play just because I enjoy owning it and enjoy having free access to it on any of my computers.

[Roto13]

DSiWare is confirmed to be transferrable to the 3DS.

[ljkkjlcm9]

If they don't release it in my country, its their own fault.

THE JACKEL

[Yeargdribble]

DSiWare is confirmed to be transferrable to the 3DS.

This is good to hear. I hope they do the same for future consoles as well. I've put a stop to buying anything on my Wii due to the fact that I don't necessarily want those games being tied to the console for all time. That's a huge step backward from a disc/cart system where you can buy a new system and you still own all of your games. Same with Steam. I can buy a new computer or twelve new computers and my games will work on all of them.

Perhaps I'll be more lenient about DSiWare purchases, BUT they are (allegedly) be region locking 3DSs. F**k everything about that. If you ever did want to import you can GFY anyway.

Of course I feel like that type of decision is likely to goad more people toward piracy. Obviously there are people who are willing to import. What is Nintendo's logic on region locking? If people are willing to import make them buy a second, region specific 3DS? Unless that's a financial strategy (which is flawed) I can see no other good reason to do it.

They can pretend their 3DS will be iron-clad and piracy proof but they are silly and shortsighted if they believe that. Has there been a single device that hasn't been circumvented? PS3s have been hacked. Consoles can be modded. Every handheld of note has been used to play pirated games despite endless iterations of new software and firmware updates.


EDIT: Also, if the DSiWare is strictly transfer I already have a red flag up. That's like iTunes. Your house burned down? You had lots of backups on several HDDs and other computers but they were all lost in the fire? You had hundreds of dollars worth of purchases? Well, maybe we can help you... Oh wait... you used your one time redownload already. GFY!

This won't happen within Steam's business model. If my house burns down and I lose everything else the things I can recover are my Steam games and PSN titles (so far as I know).

[Roto13]

Well by that logic you should only buy downloads since you'd lose all of your physical copies of games in the same fire.

[Yeargdribble]

I welcome that potentiality.

[Peegee]

I justify piracy the same way I justify driving a car or not voting. It may be harmful en mass, but no individual act of piracy has any apparent consequences. Therefore, I pirate without a guilty conscience.

Wait wait wait, you know as well as I do that many many people drive cars and even more people vote. So observation already disproves your justification. Unless I don't know, you argue that you alone are justified in driving and not voting and others aren't.

[VeloZer0]

He isn't using logic, he is justifying being selfish. Don't bother trying to follow it.

I view every game purchase I make as voting with my wallet. Since piracy is so easy there is really no reason I would even need to pay for a game legitimately. However, I know the sting of a sequel not bing made because the first didn't sell well enough and it isn't something I want to contribute to. To that end I have also sworn off of buying used games, as I to me it isn't much different from piracy (except more expensive).

For me the importing isn't a big deal, but there are many other reasons I would pirate games. As others have mentioned I often use pirated games as demos for the real thing. I've actually played the ROM, done 100% of the optional content, then bought the original and just put it on my shelf unopened.

And in all honesty, gaming is a really cheap hobby.

[Jiro]

And in all honesty, gaming is a really cheap hobby.

Perhaps compared with some others, or perhaps where you are, but not everywhere.

[Yeargdribble]

I've actually played the ROM, done 100% of the optional content, then bought the original and just put it on my shelf unopened.

I've done this many times.

And in all honesty, gaming is a really cheap hobby.

It seriously is. I hear Cheapy D say all the time that gaming is an expensive hobby. Why? Does he believe that? Is it an angle for his site? Is he just trying to make those who can't afford games feel better?

Compared to almost any other hobby you can't get any cheaper. Games have the best cost::enjoyment ratio out there almost without exception.

If you're a smart consumer the hobby gets even cheaper. That's what I like Cheapy's site (cheapassgamer.com). I shop for amazing deals on games I plan to buy or on games I'd like to own. I rarely buy on release day. The only times I do is when Amazon is giving a big credit for pre-order and then I'm essentially getting a day-one release on my door for $40. Most games I buy for consoles are in the $20-30 range because I'm patient. Hell, I've got dozens of other games to play. There's no reason I need to pay the early bird tax.

Then talk about Steam... I never buy a game that's not on sale. Sales are inevitable. If I just bide my time a little I'll save a bundle. Steam is a hop, skip and a jump away from literally paying me to take their games as ridiculous as their sales are.


EDIT: To Jiro's point, I could understand that in some places prices are less reasonable (hi2u Australia), but I think for most areas it's not that bad. Also, the rules of knowing how to shop smart apply everywhere so almost anyone can shop on a budget if they shop carefully.

[NeoCracker]

Gaming can be cheap or expensive considering how you go about it.

For me, I get a lot of games on release day, for purposes of avoiding spoilers and any kind of enjoyable pre order bonus.

I don't like the Idea of renting, but there are a lot of games out there I want to play.

I've also payed for all 3 of the current gen systems, a DS, a DS light, and a slim PSP.

I almost never have less then 10 games on pre-order, and I pick up games I still need to play that have been out for a while fairly often, ModNation Racers most recently.

It may not be the most expensive hobby, and there may be cheaper ways to go about it, but it can add up in price fairly fast depending on the circumstances.