[FB] To the Gundam VS community, I want to have a simple discussion

[RoboP]

Ok so here is the deal.

I am curious what your thoughts are on the VS series and if simply it deserves a chance or not again?

I find at least on gamefaqs the community is somewhat negative, MAHQ/Mechatalk are more open to it and some members a little mixed.

Finally there is Dustloop and also Shoryuken(I don't go there so no comment)

So I want to hear from all of you who come here.

Like I want to hear a civilised discussion as opposed to blinding negativity.

Not to mention a few of you I know from either the Fuwa Cast or playing online in streams.

So yeah, just be reasonable is all I ask.

Because I've posted my thoughts many times elsewhere.

I just want to promote a little discussion.

Like do you want the VS series to come out of Japan again?

And I just want to see better attitudes then other places have.

Edited January 29, 2014 by RoboP

[Mightfo]

I am not sure what the question here is. "Deserves a chance"? Why wouldnt it? What do you mean by "come out of japan"? Do you mean more sequels, or do you mean localization?

It is an extremely solid game. Very fun, good learning curve, lots of depth, lots of content. I dont know what there would even be to debate. Gamefaqs is full of idiots who whine about the dumbest things("wah wah these leaked units like AGE never actually ended up as console exclusives so my hype is dead regardless of everything else") and don't even seem to actually play it.

Edited January 29, 2014 by Mightfo

[gmsephiroth]

I think that the negativity will exist in every community, especially as it grows larger and gets more exposure. It's the unfortunate truth of human communication. Different views inevitably lead to friction, usually of the negative kind. But it's a hurdle we have to overcome as a community.

Getting back on topic, this game is definitely worth a shot. I've already converted several folks who don't know jack about Gundam into fans of the games. I'd love to see some kind of localization effort, but I doubt it'll happen anytime soon, if at all. Time will tell.

[HDKirin]

I believe he's talking about localization. I told him on Skype to clarify, but he probably went to bed before getting to it. So yea, issue here is localization.

[IonD]

I think he means the VS Series thus far localized.

Federation VS Zeon and Gundam VS Zeta Gundam were both pretty good games, but the localization was half-baked. Voices from 2 totally different sets of actors meshing at random, music licensing issues, etc.

The series definitely deserves localization, but what with all the licensing issues and jumping through hoops just to get the assets would be more trouble than it's worth to Bamco. ExVS would lose alot of content if they had to cut out the music anyway, so I'd assume that the VS Series will remain Asia only for now (considering ExVS is their new face of the franchise). However, I still think they should at least provide some way for International fans to buy their niche products without getting utterly screwed (Unicorn Blu-Rays)

[imDraxx]

If you mean by "Come out of Japan" as in localization, then by all means yes. The game has come a long way since Federation vs Zeon back when I played it by my lonesome, and this game deserves more exposure. On top of that, I would love to see the community grow with Gundam fans as I always see new people popping into our chat rooms during casual games and asking about it.

But the possibility for such a thing is improbable due to some certain issues at hand. For one, Bandai has ceased distribution and production of the Gundam franchise overseas, and anything being localized would require a license (Koei has a license to create the Gundam Musou games). There's probably more into this that I'm missing on why it's hard for GvG to get overseas again, but so far Bandai has made the game pretty accesible for those who have to import. With EXVSFB now downloadable on PSN, English text on major menu options, Bandai has done a fairly good job so far but can easily do more to lessen the stress for some people.

[RoboP]

To clarify, yeah, I should have said localisation as opposed to out of Japan probably haha.

But yeah, because I discussed with Brett and Kirin last night how some places are rather open to the idea(even if they admit it may or may not be possible)

To others just being outright negative.

Also when I posted it, I kind of looked at the VS series as a whole.

It's been 9 years since a game was released at least in the US.

But at same time, I meant in reference to Full Boost's chances considering Bandai-Namco have been putting some things out there that people thought would not get localised.

I mean we get DW Gundam Games(I know because it's Koei), so I don't think the licensing is all that bad.

Edited January 30, 2014 by RoboP

[IonD]

However Extreme VS loses a HUGE draw of the music. The DW games have their own tracks to suffice, but ExVS most likely won't even get instrumentals or covers.

[RoboP]

This may be true, but what if they simply stripped the music and left the custom BGM option in and then left it up to everyone else to put in whatever music they wanted to?

[theglorystar]

Disregarding whether it's possible or likely or whatever for a moment, localization is always good. I think, as players of the game and as a community, we should definitely be hoping for such a thing since it allows other people to get into the game. While there isn't really much of a language barrier for these games, there are lots of people who may not be keen on the idea of importing a title like this with no real way to try it out beforehand. I didn't get vanilla until the The Best edition was around, and I bought it second hand. I also didn't even know it existed until I started watching Brett's streams, honestly.

So, I think that if it came out of Japan, it'd only be good for the game and the community. It means more people are aware of its existence, more people are probably willing to give it a shot, and so we'd have more people playing. The more the merrier, really. Even if it is only digital, and they cut out the music (but probably still leave in the custom BGM feature), I think that would be better than nothing.

Will it happen, though? I don't know. We're getting JoJo surprisingly, and Bandai Namco seems a little more willing to localize stuff recently. But I don't know how confident they are in the Gundam brand right now. It seems to me like it is slowly resurfacing with things like Unicorn and The Origin manga, as well as being able to stream most recent Gundam shows legally on youtube. So, the potential is there, at least. Whether they'll tap into it remains to be seen.

[magz]

Considering the fact that we had to use a JP proxy to even watch the most recent Premium Dogfight, I have a sinking feeling that Bamco doesn't like the prospect of spreading their EXVS series outside of Japan/Asia. Add to that the number of EXVS videos I've had taken down from YouTube makes me doubt that they would ever entertain the idea of bringing the game to the states.

That being said, I also think they are making the wrong decision for not bringing the game to a market which basically has no alternative right now (does Armored Core count?).

Either way, I believe there to be enough Gundam fans in the states to make a decent sized profit unless they have already done the math and decided that it is just not feasible budget-wise.

Stripping the music would probably be a bad idea as that would leave the option to have people go out of their way to get the import versions as I believe the music to be an important aspect of the game as a whole and it would be a big draw for players who get it specifically for the single player aspect.

[sosoishero]

One of the most important thing is those songs licensing issue. Even Bamco themselves couldn't manage to get all the original songs for the series. Also, there is clearly not enough player base to support localization, you know Bamco is very lazy and likes to milk games as much as they could, there is a very low chance of it getting localize.

Here's what Bamco thinking: Why bother localizing it if we can straight port the arcade version with minimal effort?

[Dre2Dee2]

Considering the fact that we had to use a JP proxy to even watch the most recent Premium Dogfight, I have a sinking feeling that Bamco doesn't like the prospect of spreading their EXVS series outside of Japan/Asia. Add to that the number of EXVS videos I've had taken down from YouTube makes me doubt that they would ever entertain the idea of bringing the game to the states.

That being said, I also think they are making the wrong decision for not bringing the game to a market which basically has no alternative right now (does Armored Core count?).

Either way, I believe there to be enough Gundam fans in the states to make a decent sized profit unless they have already done the math and decided that it is just not feasible budget-wise.

Stripping the music would probably be a bad idea as that would leave the option to have people go out of their way to get the import versions as I believe the music to be an important aspect of the game as a whole and it would be a big draw for players who get it specifically for the single player aspect.

Totally agree with you. I think Bamco is thinking "Gundam games don't sell in the US!" based on the sales of Gundam games that SUCKED back in the PS2 era. They really just completely mismanaged Gundam back then in almost every aspect, so yeah, no surprise sales weren't up to par.

Gundam deserves a mulligan, and a game like Extreme VS would definitely bring a lot of people back to the franchise.

[TAI-X]

A Gundam game getting localized by Bandai is never, ever, ever going to happen again. Enjoy the game and be glad it's region-free.