AH3 Localisation Thread - US Apr 2011 (PSN) and UK/EU Aug 2011 (PS3/X360)

[Ketsumi]

Omagosh...
Please be what I think it is...

[bellreisa]

It's official: http://www.aksysgames.com/2011/02/14/arcana-heart-3-is-coming-to-north-america/

[kozu]

TRAILER TIME
http://www.aksysgames.com/2011/02/14/arcana-heart-3-north-american-debut-trailer/

[Tu101uk]

Updated first post...

...but I am reading the press release correctly, right? Only PSN...? o_O;;; That... erm... kinda blows for you guys... :x And are they really not releasing it on XBox 360? Even through LIVE? >.<

Sony of America strike again methinks... o_o;;;

O-O~

[K]

Based on the arcana select screen they showed in the trailer, some of the arcana names got changed.
Sacred is now Holy, Dark is now Darkness, Tone is now Sound, Plant is now Nature, Halo is now Light, Space-Time is simply Time now, Flower is Blossoms, and Punishment is Retribution.

Blossoms, okay.

[Tu101uk]

Based on the arcana select screen they showed in the trailer, some of the arcana names got changed.
Sacred is now Holy, Dark is now Darkness, Tone is now Sound, Plant is now Nature, Halo is now Light, Space-Time is simply Time now, Flower is Blossoms, and Punishment is Retribution.

Blossoms, okay.

Heh, hurrah for localisation trying not to offend the masses... >.<

I play a few TCGs (Yu-Gi-Oh! especially) and I'm very used to them changing card names from Japanese to English once they hit the West, just to avoid any potential controversy regarding things to do with religion, the occult, mythology, copyright, etc.

O-O~

[7thfonon]

But how is Flower any more offensive than blossoms?   xD

[Hiroshi]

How was any Arcana name offensive in the first place...?

[Tu101uk]

How was any Arcana name offensive in the first place...?

Unfortunately, people are sensitive and can get offended with things like "sacred", "punishment", "dark", etc., especially if it's in a game about seemingly-teenage girls beating the hell out of each other with supernatural powers and fisticuffs...

It could also be a localisation issue, to put things in better context to the market they are translating for. One man's potato crisps is another man's potato chips, no?

O-O~

[Dipstick]

Siliconera's story on the announced release also includes a price point of $29.99, which is way cheaper than importing. They also state that everything that was in the JP release will be in the US release (and this was an open question with Aksys' original announcement).

About there being no X360 release in the US, I suspect that it's a combination of Aksys making a business decision to only do a digital release and Microsoft having no appropriate service for it. XBLA is out as you can't charge more than $15 for a game (that and a couple of things would have to be reworked, like achievements). XBL Games on Demand is also out, as MS requires a corresponding retail release.

As for plant/flower being renamed... honestly, I can see people getting the two confused -- but the new names aren't much better. Nature and Blossom? WTF?

[SolarMisae]

Yeah I can totally see where names like Sacred and Punishment could be offensive. Same with changing Halo to Light. I have to agree though that Plant and Flower didn't need to be changed. Nature and Blossom...huh. >>

[Azure Wanderings]

Took them long enough to announce this. But no 360 release? derp I think Plant arcana was called "The Nature" in AH2 so I can kinda see that working. But Blossom? uhhhhhhh..... Also, no more Halo arcana? Now I can't make Halo jokes about 720 no-scopes and stuff.

[Xie]

Trailers aren't indicative of what's final in the game.

Just sayin'. 

[Unable to Connect]

Siliconera's story on the announced release also includes a price point of $29.99, which is way cheaper than importing. They also state that everything that was in the JP release will be in the US release (and this was an open question with Aksys' original announcement).


...As for plant/flower being renamed... honestly, I can see people getting the two confused -- but the new names aren't much better. Nature and Blossom? WTF?

That's a nice price point.  30 dollars should be an easier pill to swallow to try and get new people on the fence into the game.  Not too surprising at the PSN release given AH's rather niche market and this is a good way for them to make a better profit on this.  I'm guessing there will be no dub and just a translation of Japanese into English. 

The renaming of the Arcana isn't much of a deal to me.  Characters and even plot essential stuff have been getting renamed since the NES days for little to no reason, but I do find the renaming of plant/flower/punishment to be odd.

[Iie-Kyo]

First of all, yay!  And hello I'm new!

Second of all, Aksys is known to do strange localizations like that.  I don't know why the heck you would need to localize the Arcana select screen, the game text for most of the Arcana are ALREADY IN ENGLISH EVEN IN THE JP VERSION.

Regardless, I'm glad we're getting a release here.  Definitely will pop up the 30 bones for the PSN dl.  Here's hoping they make an X360 version later on.  It would only benefit Aksys, Examu, and Arcsys to do so.