Inside Raw Danger's 'Aryan Utopia'
Over at Namakoteam, Trevor 'Jiji' Wilson has been pointing out much weirdness regarding the Western release of a new Irem PS2 title, as follows: "Just as with Agetec's previous release of Disaster Report (aka Zettai Zetsumei Toshi), the publisher is attempting to make Raw Danger more palatable to US audiences."
How so? "They've done this by changing location and character names to be non-Japanese, and have made both of the main characters blonde. But it seems that their fiddling has caused some possibly unexpected results [YouTube link]." Hah! As he notes: "It looks to me like they've modified one or two hair textures that are actually used for most of the characters onscreen as a memory-saving measure. So by making the main character blonde, they've made... everybody else blonde."
But on the other hand, Jiji says: "I'm of the opinion that measures like the ones Agetec has taken with localizing this series amount to going a little too far, but this is just hilarious. But then again, the above video is from last February, so there's a possibility things have been tweaked since this build." He's also been monitoring the changing ESRB rating, shifted down from a M to a T. Wow, and the cover is all kinds of wacky too.
Anyhow, the first Disaster Report was pretty interesting in its puzzle-y passivity, if not an amazing game - we'll see how this one (which is apparently based around the aftermath of a tsunami, as opposed to an earthquake in the first title) fares when it comes out.
[UPDATE: Game Of The Blog has been doing some extra research, revealing a possible $19.99 price point at EB, but: "Release date is today but you can't actually order it yet. A call to local stores says that it's in the computer as being out, but no one has any copies. I would have pre-ordered this and have been trying to for months, but they never had it listed."]
Comments
Interesting that they dropped 'sexual themes' and 'mild language' but apparently added 'Use of Alcohol and Tobacco' to get the T rating.
But at that price, I'm definitely picking it up.
Posted by: TJ2000 | June 12, 2007 9:12 AM
EB/Gamestop actually have it displayed on the second page of their weekly ad and it says the release date is 6/19. I was a bit surprised by the fact that it was being advertised at all, let alone with such a dorky name as "raw danger". Granted not every game can be called Bonestorm, but would have Disaster Report 2: Xtreme Wetness probably would be better choice than Raw Danger.
Posted by: TJ2000 | June 12, 2007 5:47 PM
EB slow ships budget titles that no one will buy. Takes about 2 weeks from when its "released" for it to get there. Chulip and most of the recent snk 2d fighting games have been that way for me. Its like that even if you preorder.
I wish I knew a better place to buy this sort of thing.
Posted by: Corey Holcomb-Hockin | June 12, 2007 5:58 PM
I think games localisers don't know what the heck they are doing. The few people that plan to buy this probably don't want wierd changes like this. I doubt stores are going to buy more copies either. Some games just won't sell no matter what.
Changing the name is also very confusing. I didn't know Haunting Ground was Demento until after it was released. Didn't even notice until I read a review.
I'll be glad when everything is just downloaded off the internet. I won't have to deal with as much marketing zanyness. Thats a nice thing about indie PC games.
Posted by: Corey Holcomb-Hockin | June 12, 2007 6:07 PM
Actually, Chulip was exclusive to EB/GS, so you don't have much choice. Same with the recently released Taito legends 2. While I'm not thrilled by this (nor do I ever giving money to EB/GS) exclusive retail outlet stuff, I understand this may be a necessary trade off for some niche market games. So I'm happy that they are being released in the US at all even if I have to give cash to the likes of EB/GS. I doubt Best Buy or Circuit City would ever touch something like Chulip.
Posted by: TJ2000 | June 12, 2007 10:16 PM