About the Catherine Decision...

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

Just thought I'd make a thread about this.

This was sent to people subscribed to Atlus's newsletter. This tells me two things.
1. They are hurt and/or shocked about the amount of fan backlash from their decision.
2. They aren't releasing Catherine outside of Japan. Why else would they send a timid response like this? Otherwise, they probably would have stated a NA release of Catherine is undecided, not a never.
I still like them, I just feel a little jilted. I'll continue to buy their games, but hope they will reconsider their decision.
Discussion: Thoughts on the message? On Catherine? On Atlus as a whole?
[sub]Thanks to mireko for informing me of it.[/sub]

 

[Defense]

Wait, when did they say they weren't releasing Catherine outside of Japan?

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

Wait, when did they say they weren't releasing Catherine outside of Japan?

A statement to a site yesterday. The Escapist has an article on it.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108030-Atlus-No-Plans-to-Bring-Catherine-West

 

[Kevlar Eater]

Do I like them? Nope, as this is the first I've heard about them. And to answer the question, nope.

 

[Magnatek]

With this, I have to say...

Atlus is by far one of the most sensitive game developers/publishers out there (almost to a fault). I mean, even Square-Enix had to go through two MMOs before sending an apology or something like this. As for Catherine, sure, I'm miffed that it's likely not being released here, but it doesn't mean that I'd boycott them. I like their other stuff too much for that. As for the message itself, I know it's shallow, but I'd have suggested a different color for the image. Kinda grates on my eyes.

 

[Arkley]

It makes sense to not release it in the USA. Not only is the market for that kind of thing much smaller in the first place, but it'd almost certainly be slapped with an AO rating, meaning virtually no retailers would carry it. Translating and localising a game costs a lot of money. They would, not see a return of investment if they brought the game to the USA - so who can fault them for deciding against it? What would you do if someone asked you to hurl a ton of money in the trash because a relatively small number of people would really enjoy seeing you do it?

 

[Defense]

Wait, when did they say they weren't releasing Catherine outside of Japan?

A statement to a site yesterday. The Escapist has an article on it.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108030-Atlus-No-Plans-to-Bring-Catherine-West

It just got released a little more than a week ago. And Atlus is a pretty small company too, it's not exactly illogical of them to say that they won't be releasing Catherine outside of Japan(which they didn't say, they just didn't have any plans to release it yet). Maybe I'm just being optimistic.

And the really vague message doesn't seem to help either.

 

[VaudevillianVeteran]

I must say, I really was a bit annoyed that Catherine wasn't being released outside of Japan. I was looking forward to getting into a real story, but I suppose I wouldn't boycott Atlus. I mean,I've only heard of them a few times and I suppose they did it for a reason.

 

[lacktheknack]

What did they expect to come from this decision? "Catherine" was getting a TON of good coverage over here!

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

Wait, when did they say they weren't releasing Catherine outside of Japan?

A statement to a site yesterday. The Escapist has an article on it.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108030-Atlus-No-Plans-to-Bring-Catherine-West

It just got released a little more than a week ago. And Atlus is a pretty small company too, it's not exactly illogical of them to say that they won't be releasing Catherine outside of Japan(which they didn't say, they just didn't have any plans to release it yet). Maybe I'm just being optimistic.

And the really vague message doesn't seem to help either.

It is making me consider "beefjack". I've never heard of them. It could be a lie that Atlus was going to correct them on until they saw the uproar and went with the above message. Ugh, too much speculation, not enough solid evidence.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

It makes sense to not release it in the USA. Not only is the market for that kind of thing much smaller in the first place, but it'd almost certainly be slapped with an AO rating, meaning virtually no retailers would carry it. Translating and localising a game costs a lot of money. They would, not see a return of investment if they brought the game to the USA - so who can fault them for deciding against it? What would you do if someone asked you to hurl a ton of money in the trash because a relatively small number of people would really enjoy seeing you do it?

If I had the money I'd do it, cause here's the thing, either they do it, or someone is gonna pirate it, translate and release it for free, then hundreds of thousands of people are gonna download it and they'll see what they could have turned a profit on, Atlus is a small company, and most of their games are pretty damn niche to begin with.

If this holds then I was planning on importing a copy if someone did make that patch.

 

[RowdyRodimus]

Wait, when did they say they weren't releasing Catherine outside of Japan?

A statement to a site yesterday. The Escapist has an article on it.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108030-Atlus-No-Plans-to-Bring-Catherine-West

It just got released a little more than a week ago. And Atlus is a pretty small company too, it's not exactly illogical of them to say that they won't be releasing Catherine outside of Japan(which they didn't say, they just didn't have any plans to release it yet). Maybe I'm just being optimistic.

And the really vague message doesn't seem to help either.

Nope, you're right, we in the SMT fan group have been back and forth-ing it since I posted the news late last night, we've basically decided that it was a bit too carefully worded and the odds are still pretty good that (with the incredible amount of praise the game has been getting here in the west along with the atlus faithful) it will still see a release here, let's also not forget the difficulty patch they just put out, point is it may take time but a Catherine release is still plausible.

I know it's a different company and completely different games, but I remember that Nintendo said at the time of releasing the Mario All-Stars Anniversary Collection that they had no plans for a NA release at the time. A LOT of people complained and before you knew it they had a release date set.
Maybe if people let Atlus know that they want it (without resorting to "You suck! I never buy you games again RAGE!!!1111") they might change their minds or decide to take the chance on it (depending on what their reasons are).

 

[mireko]

I'm wondering if maybe the letter is a way of hinting something to the fans without breaching any agreements, and that some of us (especially me, embarrassingly) may have jumped the gun on that beefhack announcement.

Okay, not wondering, hoping.

With this, I have to say...

Atlus is by far one of the most sensitive game developers/publishers out there (almost to a fault). I mean, even Square-Enix had to go through two MMOs before sending an apology or something like this. As for Catherine, sure, I'm miffed that it's likely not being released here, but it doesn't mean that I'd boycott them. I like their other stuff too much for that. As for the message itself, I know it's shallow, but I'd have suggested a different color for the image. Kinda grates on my eyes.

Two points here:

1. Atlus USA still isn't a developer, they publish games. They do, however, publish a lot of games developed by Atlus.

2. The color could perhaps be a reference to a certain game.

It makes sense to not release it in the USA. Not only is the market for that kind of thing much smaller in the first place, but it'd almost certainly be slapped with an AO rating, meaning virtually no retailers would carry it. Translating and localising a game costs a lot of money. They would, not see a return of investment if they brought the game to the USA - so who can fault them for deciding against it? What would you do if someone asked you to hurl a ton of money in the trash because a relatively small number of people would really enjoy seeing you do it?

I don't see why people assume this game would get an AO, it's certainly got more sexual elements than most mainstream titles, but it's not like it's actually porn. CERO gave it a C rating, which is the equivalent of a high T or a low M rating from the ESRB. This puts it on the level of Uncharted or MvC3.

By comparison, Killzone 3 and Bayonetta are rated D, which is a step higher.

 

[Tony2077]

i still like them there atlus i just wish they'd hurry up and make a persona 5

 

[Ca3zar416]

I'm going to honestly say that while I still like them I am slightly disappointed. I can understand their position completely but I would still love to see this game here. Knowing Atlus it is amazingly well done and extremely mature. It is something we could use as an example to show that this medium is something more than just for children. There's a lot of opportunity and potential is in danger of being limited. This is something I really think we could have rallied behind.

 

[Arkley]

It makes sense to not release it in the USA. Not only is the market for that kind of thing much smaller in the first place, but it'd almost certainly be slapped with an AO rating, meaning virtually no retailers would carry it. Translating and localising a game costs a lot of money. They would, not see a return of investment if they brought the game to the USA - so who can fault them for deciding against it? What would you do if someone asked you to hurl a ton of money in the trash because a relatively small number of people would really enjoy seeing you do it?

If I had the money I'd do it, cause here's the thing, either they do it, or someone is gonna pirate it, translate and release it for free, then hundreds of thousands of people are gonna download it and they'll see what they could have turned a profit on, Atlus is a small company, and most of their games are pretty damn niche to begin with.

You don't seem to understand how this works.
See, if they don't release it, Atlas makes no money and lose no money. If they don't release it and someone pirates, translates and releases it, Atlas makes no money and loses no money.

If Atlas does translate and localise it, they will lose money, because not enough people will buy it to justify the translation and localisation costs, due to an undoubtable AO rating & niche appeal. And don't forget, piracy will only be much easier if they do translate/localise it, because now nobody has to make a patch for it.

 

[emeraldrafael]

Oh Atlus, I could never hate you. Surely you'll see your folly and release it here, and your fans will love you. We'll put this whole thing behind us and embrace you with open arms.

oka, maybe thats a bit much. But Atlus is a good company. I mean, they just treat their fans so well it seems. Now, obviously, this is something thats... not so fan friendly. BUt I'm sure they'll release it, or something.

I dont know, Atlus is by far my favorite company that deals in gaming. I mean, they make SMT games (of which my favorite are their persona series) and when I sent them a letter saying how much I enjoyed their prodcuts, they sent me back a rather large box with a personal letter thanking me, concept art of some of the more well known Atlus characters as well as the lesser known, Persona and Nocturne pins, and a bunch of other swag that I just havent been able to seperate myself from.

SO yeah, I cant hate atlus. I wont boycott, I'll still buy. I'm slightly po-d by the decision but meh. I'll live or just import. So yeah. Though they're probably getting tired of me cause I send them 3-4 letters a week with signed letters expressing our joy for atlus gaming and the wish to have Catherine come to the states.

I usually average about 50-60 signatures, and we get more each time.

 

[Osaka117]

I don't really have a choice but to still like them, they're the only ones to have made not just one, but four JRPGs that I actually liked. So yeah, I feel that I can't just abandon them after what they did for me. I guess I'm just disappointed that Cathrine isn't coming to the west, not angry. Okay, I'm angry too, but my statement still stands.