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Yakuza 0 Dev Diary

M

Mr.Monitor

Member
Been playing through Yakuza 4 lately so I can catch up for Zero. All I can think about while playing is how is this series not more popular in the states? Up there with Sleeping Dogs in terms of my favorite open world games from the last gen.
 
Shin-Ra

Shin-Ra

Junior Member
I was hoping they'd talk about the localisation process but I don't need any encouragement to buy this.

Yakuza0segaMoney.gif
 
S

Son Of Sparda

Member
Whoa, that was really good.

Especially the part that showed Majima. I did not expect such an answer from him. Man, Yakuza 0 can't come soon enough!
 
N

Null Pointer

Member
Son Of Sparda said:
Haven't watched the video yet, but is this the same team that did Yakuza 5's localization?
Click to expand...

Hey there. Sam Mullen here, producer over at the SEGA/Atlus office managing the SEGA lineup, and I can answer this question for you.

For the last couple of iterations of the Yakuza series, the game translations were handled by our friends over at Inbound Games, an independent SF-based J2E loc firm that SEGA has worked with closely for many many years on many many games (hit them up up, I highly recommend!). Yakuza 5 was handle by them, and Yakuza 0 was as well. I think we can agree they do outstanding work.

But for Yakuza 0, we are really trying to not only take it up a notch, but to take the opportunity to reevaluate our approach to the series localization in general. So even after we got the game text back from Inbound, Scott and his team have spent many hours further polishing the dialogue, taking almost a craftsman-style approach by listening to the JP voice along side the text to make sure the English text set against the Japanese voice feels as natural as possible.

The end results of this fine tuning are very subtle, but the game really shines in a way I've never seen in a Yakuza game before, especially the cutscenes and cabaret club sections. Creating a bilingual experience, one that is very Japanese but still English at the same time is a real challenge, but Yakuza 0 makes it happen. Maybe I'll get Scott to make a video about it.

In any case, whether you are a long term fan, or someone who has been wanting to jump but has hesitated: this is it, guys. This is where the journey begins.
 
L

lucebuce12

Member
Null Pointer said:
In any case, whether you are a long term fan, or someone who has been wanting to jump but has hesitated: this is it, guys. This is where the journey begins.
Click to expand...
yakuza-zero-money-slap-animated-gif-ps4-game.gif


Wow, sounds like you guys are putting even more attention to the localization than before, and that is honestly fantastic to hear.

I know you probably can't announce or say anything yet but as a bigtime fan of the series, I have to ask. What are your plans for the series after 0 vis-à-vis localization?
 
B

BakedTanooki

Member
I want to give them all my money.
Can not wait.
Will buy as many copies as possible just to support the series. Doing my part to make yakuza 6 happen in the west.
 
E

EmiPrime

Member
Amazon UK really need to open pre-orders for this.

Null Pointer said:
The end results of this fine tuning are very subtle, but the game really shines in a way I've never seen in a Yakuza game before, especially the cutscenes and cabaret club sections. Creating a bilingual experience, one that is very Japanese but still English at the same time is a real challenge, but Yakuza 0 makes it happen. Maybe I'll get Scott to make a video about it.
Click to expand...

Sounds great. I'm glad the days of pointless name changes and the like are well behind us now.
 
R

Ravage

Member
Null Pointer said:
But for Yakuza 0, we are really trying to not only take it up a notch, but to take the opportunity to reevaluate our approach to the series localization in general. So even after we got the game text back from Inbound, Scott and his team have spent many hours further polishing the dialogue, taking almost a craftsman-style approach by listening to the JP voice along side the text to make sure the English text set against the Japanese voice feels as natural as possible.

The end results of this fine tuning are very subtle, but the game really shines in a way I've never seen in a Yakuza game before, especially the cutscenes and cabaret club sections. Creating a bilingual experience, one that is very Japanese but still English at the same time is a real challenge, but Yakuza 0 makes it happen.
Click to expand...

Awesome! Really appreciate the extra effort you guys are putting into the localisation :)
 
8

8bit

Knows the Score
Null Pointer said:
Hey there. Sam Mullen here, producer over at the SEGA/Atlus office managing the SEGA lineup, and I can answer this question for you.

For the last couple of iterations of the Yakuza series, the game translations were handled by our friends over at Inbound Games, an independent SF-based J2E loc firm that SEGA has worked with closely for many many years on many many games (hit them up up, I highly recommend!). Yakuza 5 was handle by them, and Yakuza 0 was as well. I think we can agree they do outstanding work.

But for Yakuza 0, we are really trying to not only take it up a notch, but to take the opportunity to reevaluate our approach to the series localization in general. So even after we got the game text back from Inbound, Scott and his team have spent many hours further polishing the dialogue, taking almost a craftsman-style approach by listening to the JP voice along side the text to make sure the English text set against the Japanese voice feels as natural as possible.

The end results of this fine tuning are very subtle, but the game really shines in a way I've never seen in a Yakuza game before, especially the cutscenes and cabaret club sections. Creating a bilingual experience, one that is very Japanese but still English at the same time is a real challenge, but Yakuza 0 makes it happen. Maybe I'll get Scott to make a video about it.

In any case, whether you are a long term fan, or someone who has been wanting to jump but has hesitated: this is it, guys. This is where the journey begins.
Click to expand...


You're my hero today. Thanks. *Hits poster with bike*
 
C

Coffee Dog

Banned
I haven't played this since the first game hit the US many years ago with that cornball dub, but I'm there day 1 for Zero. The game looks improved by leaps and bounds, and the setting looks incredible.

Thanks for the dedication, Sam. It really is appreciated.
 
M

Matt Attack

Member
Null Pointer said:
But for Yakuza 0, we are really trying to not only take it up a notch, but to take the opportunity to reevaluate our approach to the series localization in general. So even after we got the game text back from Inbound, Scott and his team have spent many hours further polishing the dialogue, taking almost a craftsman-style approach by listening to the JP voice along side the text to make sure the English text set against the Japanese voice feels as natural as possible.

The end results of this fine tuning are very subtle, but the game really shines in a way I've never seen in a Yakuza game before, especially the cutscenes and cabaret club sections. Creating a bilingual experience, one that is very Japanese but still English at the same time is a real challenge, but Yakuza 0 makes it happen. Maybe I'll get Scott to make a video about it.
Click to expand...

This sounds fantastic, and I for one would love to see a video on the process. Thanks for the hard work!
 
S

Son Of Sparda

Member
Null Pointer said:
Hey there. Sam Mullen here, producer over at the SEGA/Atlus office managing the SEGA lineup, and I can answer this question for you.

For the last couple of iterations of the Yakuza series, the game translations were handled by our friends over at Inbound Games, an independent SF-based J2E loc firm that SEGA has worked with closely for many many years on many many games (hit them up up, I highly recommend!). Yakuza 5 was handle by them, and Yakuza 0 was as well. I think we can agree they do outstanding work.

But for Yakuza 0, we are really trying to not only take it up a notch, but to take the opportunity to reevaluate our approach to the series localization in general. So even after we got the game text back from Inbound, Scott and his team have spent many hours further polishing the dialogue, taking almost a craftsman-style approach by listening to the JP voice along side the text to make sure the English text set against the Japanese voice feels as natural as possible.

The end results of this fine tuning are very subtle, but the game really shines in a way I've never seen in a Yakuza game before, especially the cutscenes and cabaret club sections. Creating a bilingual experience, one that is very Japanese but still English at the same time is a real challenge, but Yakuza 0 makes it happen. Maybe I'll get Scott to make a video about it.

In any case, whether you are a long term fan, or someone who has been wanting to jump but has hesitated: this is it, guys. This is where the journey begins.
Click to expand...
That sounds amazing. Thank you for all your hard work. Can't wait to finally get my hands on this game.
 
S

Shoeless

Member
Null Pointer said:
Hey there. Sam Mullen here, producer over at the SEGA/Atlus office managing the SEGA lineup, and I can answer this question for you.

For the last couple of iterations of the Yakuza series, the game translations were handled by our friends over at Inbound Games, an independent SF-based J2E loc firm that SEGA has worked with closely for many many years on many many games (hit them up up, I highly recommend!). Yakuza 5 was handle by them, and Yakuza 0 was as well. I think we can agree they do outstanding work.

But for Yakuza 0, we are really trying to not only take it up a notch, but to take the opportunity to reevaluate our approach to the series localization in general. So even after we got the game text back from Inbound, Scott and his team have spent many hours further polishing the dialogue, taking almost a craftsman-style approach by listening to the JP voice along side the text to make sure the English text set against the Japanese voice feels as natural as possible.

The end results of this fine tuning are very subtle, but the game really shines in a way I've never seen in a Yakuza game before, especially the cutscenes and cabaret club sections. Creating a bilingual experience, one that is very Japanese but still English at the same time is a real challenge, but Yakuza 0 makes it happen. Maybe I'll get Scott to make a video about it.

In any case, whether you are a long term fan, or someone who has been wanting to jump but has hesitated: this is it, guys. This is where the journey begins.
Click to expand...

Fantastic and reassuring answer. Really looking forward to Yakuza 0, and my wife thanks you for the business card case included in the launch edition.

Now just make sure Yakuza 6 and the Yakuza 1 HD remake also make it over and all will be well.
 
J

javadoze

Member
Null Pointer said:
Hey there. Sam Mullen here, producer over at the SEGA/Atlus office managing the SEGA lineup, and I can answer this question for you.

For the last couple of iterations of the Yakuza series, the game translations were handled by our friends over at Inbound Games, an independent SF-based J2E loc firm that SEGA has worked with closely for many many years on many many games (hit them up up, I highly recommend!). Yakuza 5 was handle by them, and Yakuza 0 was as well. I think we can agree they do outstanding work.

But for Yakuza 0, we are really trying to not only take it up a notch, but to take the opportunity to reevaluate our approach to the series localization in general. So even after we got the game text back from Inbound, Scott and his team have spent many hours further polishing the dialogue, taking almost a craftsman-style approach by listening to the JP voice along side the text to make sure the English text set against the Japanese voice feels as natural as possible.

The end results of this fine tuning are very subtle, but the game really shines in a way I've never seen in a Yakuza game before, especially the cutscenes and cabaret club sections. Creating a bilingual experience, one that is very Japanese but still English at the same time is a real challenge, but Yakuza 0 makes it happen. Maybe I'll get Scott to make a video about it.

In any case, whether you are a long term fan, or someone who has been wanting to jump but has hesitated: this is it, guys. This is where the journey begins.
Click to expand...

This is great to hear. Didn't know the exact people behind the Yakuza 5 and 0 localizations, but I'm glad to see there's going to be even more polish than before.
 
ref

ref

Member
Glorious.

Now we just need a Kiwami localization and I really think that would get a lot more people into the Yakuza series.
 
B

Backflip

Junior Member
I love what I'm reading/seeing about the Yakuza 0 translation efforts but I'm afraid that the series won't be able to take off until they translate the games in other languages than English. I saw that the Yakuza 6 videos coming out of TGS generated some interest in France for exemple. But as long as people can't understand a dialogue/text heavy game like Yakuza, they won't bite. Not everybody speaks English.
 
E

Elios83

Member
Don't want to be the bearer of bad news but I've just received a mail from Amazon.
New release date for them is March 2nd.
 
D

Dio

Banned
Elios83 said:
Don't want to be the bearer of bad news but I've just received a mail from Amazon.
New release date for them is March 2nd.
Click to expand...
If so that's a good thing imo. Jan/Feb is too packed for Yakuza to compete with all the other niche JP releases.
 
S

SephLuis

Member
Elios83 said:
Don't want to be the bearer of bad news but I've just received a mail from Amazon.
New release date for them is March 2nd.
Click to expand...

Considering how packed january is, I would actually be happy. I want this game to succeed.

It would be good for more people to confirm this. It would be a new news, so new thread.
 
C

Conezays

Member
Elios83 said:
Don't want to be the bearer of bad news but I've just received a mail from Amazon.
New release date for them is March 2nd.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that might be preferable for me like others have said as well :p Just finished my playthrough of the excellent Yakuza 2. I still have to get through Yakuza 5 but am looking forward to 0 a lot. I oddly started with 4 then 3, Dead Souls, and then back to 1 and 2.
 
Aenima

Aenima

Member
Elios83 said:
Don't want to be the bearer of bad news but I've just received a mail from Amazon.
New release date for them is March 2nd.
Click to expand...

Only 15 days after Persona 5. Not a good release day for me... Id rather get it on January, March will also have Horizon Zero Dawn, so switching from one packed month to another packed month, it just ends in the same but with a delay.

Bedides in my mind January was already reserved to Yakuza 0... :( oh well will be day one no matter the day it comes out, but might stay in the shelve untill im done with Persona 5 now...
 
L

LAM09

Member
Elios83 said:
Don't want to be the bearer of bad news but I've just received a mail from Amazon.
New release date for them is March 2nd.
Click to expand...

Slightly disappointed with all these delays recently. Hope there's some good news about Kiwami and/or Y6 at PSX.
 
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