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Forums - Sony - Atlus Brings Region-Lockout to PS3 - What YOU Should Do

outlawauron on 09 July 2012
adriane23 said:
outlawauron said:
adriane23 said:
Geez, ATLUS can't win for losing. They listened to their audience and provided Dual audio for this game, while still releasing the Japanese and U.S. versions a week apart, and they still catch hell. They knew that their Japanese audience could just buy the U.S. version of the game for $30 less, and from a business perspective, region-locking was the solution that made the most sense.

Region locking sucks and EU has been getting the short end of the stick for quite some time now (Mostly with PS Store offerings), but they've already explained that this will not be a common practice for them.

I'm not getting this game because there are only 13 characters, but it's silly to me to boycott a company (a small one at that) for making an intelligent business move.

Honestly, that's a piss poor argument. I understand for other reasons, but dual audio is not a premium feature. It's a standard that every other publisher has been including for years and it's quite silly that this Atlus' reaction to some 'service' they're providing by including features they should never have been in the talk of exclusion.

It would be a bad argument if that was their sole reason. They provided dual audio in conjunction with a short gap in-between the Japanese and U.S. release dates. With the Yen to U.S. dollar ratio being as it is, their Japanese consumers are paying $90.00 for games while Americans pay $60.00. If they didn't region lock this game, nothing would really stop Japanese gamers from just buying the U.S. version of the game.

Had they not implemented dual audio or the currencies were closer in value, they wouldn't have even bothered to do a region lock, but dual audio is apparently what's been requested of them by enough of their fan base and the economy is out of their control.

It's all irrelevant really. You have other companies who do the same with even closer releases despite a much worse ratio than it is now. Those are larger companies than Atlus, but doesn't change the fact that it's done all the time and a big deal isn't made about it.

You could think about the reverse whenever Japanese games were much cheaper (130+ yen = 1 dollar). No complaints about reverse importing there.



"We'll toss the dice however they fall,
And snuggle the girls be they short or tall,
Then follow young Mat whenever he calls,
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arcelonious on 09 July 2012

Does anyone know how well Atlus is doing financially nowadays? It's been a while, but I seem to recall them forecasting some losses in recent years, and I also remember their parent company dissolving Atlus a while back, to restructure the organization or something.

If Atlus isn't doing well, then I can certainly understand their need to region-lock this specific title. I dislike region-locking just as much as the next guy, but I'm personally more worried about Atlus struggling to break even, which in turn could cause them to scale back on their future projects.



NintendoPie on 09 July 2012

Buy the game people. It's stupid to not do it because of this.

Look at me! All my games are Region-Locked. I'm not complaining. Afterall, it'll be the businesses fault to not give a certain region the game because then they get less sales! 

Buy the game if you want it. Don't if you don't.



Christhor on 09 July 2012

Wow, are you serious? I was not going to buy this game, as fighters are not something for me, but after this response I think I'll pre-order it. I've got the money for it, so why not?



kain_kusanagi on 09 July 2012

It's just business. Region locking is all about friendly partnerships with local distributors. Company A makes a game in Japan and sells the US distribution rights to Company B. Company B doesn't want to compete with imports from Company A so they make a deal so both companies can make a profit without stepping on anyone's toes.

I have no problem with region locking. I've imported games going back to the 32 bit era and there is always an aftermarket work around. If you want to play a region locked game there are ways to do that, Hackers and mods do the job just fine.

You have to understand that companies are in the business of making money, even if it hurts your feelings.



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arcane_chaos on 09 July 2012

I really don't see how this becoming such a big deal...the people are going about this is as if Atlus has become some money grubbing company that put profits over it fans...It's one game that isn't even a AAA title that will probably only sell I'd say 200-250k LTD in the west and I think I'm being generous, I'm a huge fan of Atlus and even a bigger persona fan and I'm only slightly interested in the game(probably won't get it until it's $20.

sorry for Atlus trying to save some money for their very first region-locked on the PS3



room414 on 10 July 2012
Damnyouall said:
Mad55 said:
Lol its not even a big deal. Just buy the game.

As explained at length, it is quite a big deal. You don't go rewarding people who slap you in the face and take away your freedom. So no, don't buy it.


You only play games on pc and sony consoles?



                                
outlawauron on 10 July 2012
arcane_chaos said:
I really don't see how this becoming such a big deal...the people are going about this is as if Atlus has become some money grubbing company that put profits over it fans...It's one game that isn't even a AAA title that will probably only sell I'd say 200-250k LTD in the west and I think I'm being generous, I'm a huge fan of Atlus and even a bigger persona fan and I'm only slightly interested in the game(probably won't get it until it's $20.

sorry for Atlus trying to save some money for their very first region-locked on the PS3

Does not compute. The direct sequel to Persona 4 as a fighter with a great line up of characters developed by one of the best fighting game developers ever. I don't see how any Atlus or remote Persona fan can't be jizzing their pants over this. It's the perfect fanservice title for all Persona fans.



"We'll toss the dice however they fall,
And snuggle the girls be they short or tall,
Then follow young Mat whenever he calls,
To dance with Jak o' the Shadows."

Check out MyAnimeList and my Game Collection. Owner of the 5 millionth post.

Lafiel on 10 July 2012

I already imported 6 japanese games this gen, so I'd be affected if this was a new trend.
Luckily a fighting game like this doesn't appeal to me at all, but I think even if this was a new Persona RPG I wouldn't have bought a new copy out of disappointment.



Farsala on 10 July 2012

Although region locking is not a good thing in my opinion. I can see where a company would want to do this to try and make more money. But if the people only bought it because it was cheaper from america then what is stopping them for waiting til the price goes down and is a used game. (same argument for used games)