Suikoden 3 - Why did it never make UK Release?

Benjiman · Post by **Benjiman** » Thu Aug 26, 2004 6:08 pm

Firstly, apologies to admin/mods if this is the incorrect place to put this, but i didnt see a particular section for which this could go. If there was, please tell me, and put it there, if you want

I have to ask, seen as i was kinda narked at the cancelling of Suikoden 3 in UK (In fact it was worse, its my favorite series, and it was set for release on my birthday at the time. The pain of walkin in on my bday and not getting a fave game XS).

Did Konami ever give a reason as to why it was never released here? Im sorry if this has been answered elsewhere aswell, but i didnt notice if it had. I notice not many copies were released in PAL of the other first two installments (justifying a low sales count, but can you say that when there werent many to start with?) Needless to say i struggled to get my own copy of the first two, especially after misplacing my copy of Suikoden 1 XD.

Either way, was there ever a reason given by Konami as to why they decided to stop the release of Suikoden 3 in the UK?

Shirofan · Post by **Shirofan** » Thu Aug 26, 2004 6:22 pm

There was no public statement issued, but people have received replies from Konami-Europe about why the game was not released.

The replies are not consistent, and include:

There is too much text to be feasible to translate.
English only games do not sell well enough to warrant a release, and multilanguage would take too long to do.
The format of the text in the game code does not allow for multiple langauages to be easily implemented.
Konami-Europe are a distribution company and believe that the license to release the game would cost more than would be made from its release.

I believe there were others, but that is all I can think of off the top of my head.

Soul Eater · Post by **Soul Eater** » Fri Aug 27, 2004 3:28 am

I don't understand the launguage/translation excuses...

They translated it into American-English, so they don't need to do it again, they just need to convert it to PAL.

We almost always get the American-English translations of RPGs, (e.g. Suikoden 2 uses a lot of Americanisms in the speech) so I'm sure nobody would mind, any just be glad to have the game.

I think their last excuse is probably the only feasible one.

Goldmember · Post by **Goldmember** » Fri Aug 27, 2004 3:47 am

I heard is was because of localisation issues.

Fliktor · Post by **Fliktor** » Sat Aug 28, 2004 5:03 am

I don't think we'll ever really know. It could none of the reasons they gave. And right up to the final moment, Suikoden IV could be up for release in the UK and then it could get canceled.

Sesshomaru · Post by **Sesshomaru** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 11:38 am

I say they are just all lazy and don't want to do extra work when the majoity of players are in North Americia.

And it would get them some buyings in UK but theres always a chance that they will lose some profit money and you know how every Busness guy lieks their money..

Benjiman · Post by **Benjiman** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 2:55 pm

oooooo It makes me mad just thinking about it!
Jeez PLEASE dont say that Fliktor! I dont want to believe they would do seomthing like that twice!!!

Also, it is a very good point that we did get "Americanised" text in Suikoden 1 and 2. I dont see what they would have to translate, I mean, most people dont even recognise differences anymore, its only little spelling things like color/colour, which I for one could more than live with.

Also, I personally dont see how the coding of game text should be too different as to cause problems. If they had stuck to the usual C++ method of programming, and simply used that for text code, it would have been simple. Obviously, Konami must have their own, more monotonous form of programming, if it takes sooooo much to multi lang.

As for their last excuse in that list, A whole continental division as but a distributions center? Stupid, stupid people. They should be using the people working in Konami Europe to make games as much as they would be using those of american and japanese origins. I for one intend to become a games programmer. Would that mean I would have to move to Japan just to effectively work on games in Konami, or other big companies? If so, I sure better get started in learning the language. XD

Well, i guess i wont be playing suiko 3

Shame considering how much time i have in my s2 save (and how long it took me to get it after "the unfortunate accident")

Thank you for answering my question nontheless, Shirofan. (Was this the right place to post, out of curiosity?)

Heheh when i get my degree in Games Programming, Ill make sure this wont happen again, or at least try.......

XD

If anyone heas anything new or different from what is described here, can you post those points too? Id like to see as many points given as possible, there maybe some connection as to the actual reason.

Thanks again, everyone

Pyro · Post by **Pyro** » Tue Aug 31, 2004 3:42 pm

i guess if you want it bad enough you can buy it iff some sort of ebay site,shipping will suck though

p.s-or stop by america to get a copy

Soul Eater · Post by **Soul Eater** » Tue Aug 31, 2004 5:26 pm

Pyro wrote:i guess if you want it bad enough you can buy it iff some sort of ebay site,shipping will suck though

p.s-or stop by america to get a copy

along with an american PS2 and TV?

Fliktor · Post by **Fliktor** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 1:16 am

You don't need an US TV. A regular one works just fine. All that make happen is when you turn it on, the picture might be black and white. But you can alter that with a converter, which may turn the picture red, but that can be altered by switching the settings on the PS2 menu screen.

Shirofan · Post by **Shirofan** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 2:18 am

Most recent PAL TVs will accept an NTSC signal with no difficulty.

The colour can be corrected with a device and some tweaking; the bigger issue is whether or not it can accept a 60Hz output. If it cannot you will get nothing.

Most TVs made within the last five or so years can take both 60Hz and NTSC colour without problems; older TVs are hit and miss.

Soul Eater · Post by **Soul Eater** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 6:23 am

Hmm... one of my TVs can do 60Hz (which I can't use), the other can't... and it's only 2-3 years old. It's a Bush, which is an average make.

But anyway I'd have to buy an imported game, an American PS2 and either a new TV or a converter, so it would be way too expensive for just one game. I mean how much is an average copy of Suikoden III + a PS2 over there?

Benjiman · Post by **Benjiman** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 9:07 am

I have to agree, although I would really go to a lot of trouble getting suikoden 3 if it was possible, i dont know if getting a whole american PS2 and game would be totally feesible. How much would a set like that cost, out of curiosity?

Fliktor · Post by **Fliktor** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 11:36 am

New TV that supports 60Hz: Â£50(That's how much mind costed) But you might have to spend a Â£70 in some places. You can most likely get a second hand one that works fine as long as it was made in the last few years, though that depends on the shop itself.

Suikoden III: Â£30-Â£60 Most places since it got a general release. Amazon.com sell it, but they won't ship it to the UK. eBay is probably your best luck, and depending on how quick, or if you use the "Buy It Now" feature, you can get it quite cheaply. Make sure they ship to the UK though, some friends of mine have had that problem.

NTSC Playstation II: Â£160-Â£270 (Depending on how lucky you are) You can find these in alot of places, sometimes on eBay, but the site below sells them. Amazon.com sell them, but again, they won't ship it to the UK.

Volt Convertor: Â£20-Â£40
If you don't have this, then you can't play the PS2. You won't need this if you those swap dics or chip your PS2.
(Most of these come with plug adapters for free anyway, if not you can get them from most places that sell travel electronics)

PAL-NTSC Adapters: Â£10
(You'd only really need this if you had trouble with the colour. Some TV's are fine, and others need some help)

So in total, with shipping and all, you'd be looking at a max Â£450. But I'd broken mine up over a while and worked for the rest of it. In total all I paid was about Â£325 as I was in the Carribean where I picked up most of it.

The best bet would be to go http://www.consolesandgadgets.co.uk/ if you need to import NTSC equipment such as Volt Convertors of PAL-NTSC Adapters for you're TV.

ashlington · Post by **ashlington** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 3:25 pm

Well i know that i wont be bothering to wait for that pal release of S4. I will be importing from US as soon as it is released. Konami have really messed up the UK market and they can expect sales to be even lower now that they have forced so many of us to get a US ps2 or modify our PAL ps2's.