I'm not sure why you seem to think that his being a shitty writer (or not) is even germane to the discussion. Part of the problem with cases like this is that even people who are sympathetic to the alleged victim's feelings all too often insist on bringing it back to the alleged abuser's creative work. Like who gives…

It's their cultural content that makes them niche. I've played 3 and 4, and they're truly excellent games, but the fact of the matter is that, unlike JRPGs (which have a built-in fanbase in the West), the Yakuza games get immediately compared to Western open-world action offerings like GTA by the players who are most…

They perform poorly because they're niche titles in the West. No amount of advertising is going to guarantee sales, and Sega doesn't make enough off the games, even in Japan, to splash out for much in the way of marketing. The goal is to make, not lose, money after all.

So true. If you compare this to Introversion's situation with Prison Architect, they release big game updates every month like clockwork, and publicize them via in-depth, entertaining Youtube videos. Tim Schafer claims he was inspired by this game in particular, and yet that appears to be a major lesson he didn't walk…

Sure. We have to "vote with our wallets." But the problem is, when most of the coolest, most unique and interesting game ideas are now operating on the Early Access model, the choice not to buy in amounts to severely limiting your gaming horizons. I think Double Fine's problem is that, while they may once have needed…

I'm not exactly tired of the articles (I'll decline to read them if I'm not interested in them), but I must say, the fact that about half of them are about grinding for loot sure does make the game look pretty bad.

The fact that half the stories to come out about Destiny are about how to efficiently grind for loot tells me everything I need to know about what I'm not missing by skipping this game. I had been intrigued at one point, but that whole element of the game just kills it for me.

But the point isn't just to keep profits from Japanese sales from disappearing, but to actually make additional profit from releasing in foreign markets. You have to remember, their time is worth something, too. This is why breaking even on localization isn't good enough. They have to consider whether the money and…

They actually have to modify the game itself in order to create a localized version. It's not as simple as "just add subtitles." The whole point of releasing a localized version, by the way, is to make money. If they're just covering their nut, then they're risking losses for no potential gain whatsoever. Again, maybe…

Well, first of all, they're probably getting less than $30 on a physical, retail copy of the game. Based on the rough breakdowns I've seen online, it's anywhere between $18-27, largely depending on how much they spend on marketing. And it's still only a revenue figure, because it doesn't factor in the cost of…

I find it unappealing (in the sense that I'm not persuaded to buy either of those things), but I don't really find it absurd, no.

What do these endorsements matter to you? Are they forcing you to buy Armani suits and cologne?

Well do you think that they're somehow going to skip giving us that info before it comes out? I'm not really understanding your gripe. It's not like they're asking you to commit to a purchase just based on this video.

I'm pretty sure they already showed gameplay like a year ago or something. But a lot of people thought that it must have been pre-rendered. Turns out it's pretty much exactly like this, which is obviously live gameplay.

Umm ... wow. I think the critics of how long it's taking to make this game can officially shut their traps and get over it now. This looks incredible.

I'm pretty sure this is what "Anaconda" is about.

Yakuza games are far bigger productions than most of what Atlus releases.

It's a respectable figure for Japan, though certainly no blockbuster. But 250k combined in the EU and NA is the part that makes it hard to justify releasing in foreign markets. If the sales scaled to the sizes of the markets, that would be one thing, but they actually end up selling fewer copies outside Japan, in far…

The upside to adding English voice acting is huge, because it will automatically open you up to any potential player who otherwise would have skipped it on the basis of only having subtitles. The alternative is to shut all of those potential customers out entirely. It's basically an insurance policy, money they're…

In order for it to be worth the risk, they have to do everything they can to adapt the game to foreign audiences. Fanboys can't sustain a foreign release all on their own. If you look at sales figures for Yakuza 4, they only sold just over 600k domestically in Japan. In the EU and NA they sold roughly 250k combined.…