Namco: We're Working On US Tales Releases
Fri, Jul 30th, 2010, 9:56 pm (EST) by Shawn
Since the release of Tales of Vesperia on the Xbox 360, which was followed by a Japan-only release of a Director's Cut version of the game on the PS3 which appeared to have been in the works from the beginning, as well as a plethora of Japan-only titles in the series, many have wondered if the company still cared about the series in North America and Europe. Namco Bandai has just made a statement on their official Facebook page about just that.
Earlier today, after receiving numerous fan posts on their Facebook page, as well on other social media websites such as Twitter and YouTube, the latter of which was likely the cause of their comments section being disabled, the company finally responded to their fans with the following statement:
Firstly, thank you all for your excitement around the series. We also love the series here at Namco of America and are working with our Japan counterparts to determine if we'll see US releases for these games. Unfortunately, we don't currently have any plans to bring Tales of Graces to the US. If this changes, we'll let you know as soon as we can!
More analysis can be found in the full story.
Tales of Innocence Interview with Absolute Zero Translations (Part 3)
Fri, Jul 9th, 2010, 10:59 pm (EST) by Shawn
As many Tales fans might already know, Absolute Zero Translations recently released their Tales of Innocence translation patch. We recently asked for questions for the people behind the effort, and we've gotten back the answers. We spoke with the project lead, Matt, otherwise more commonly known as throughhim413, about the the translation, what obstacles they had to overcome, and even what their favourite Tales character is.
This is the third and final part in a multi-part interview. Last time, we spoke to Matt about what key lessons aspiring fan translators should look out for, what the team's future plans are, and what might have happened if the team hadn't received donations during the duration of the project. This time, we relax things a bit with some general "what's your favorite" questions, what the highs and lows of the project were, and the one key lesson aspiring fan translators should look out for.
Tales Union: What is your favourite Tales character?
Matt: Jade has been a favorite ever since I played Tales of the Abyss. I really like the whole calm and collected way that he carries himself. His attitude really lends itself to the kind of humor that I enjoy.
I can't help but mention Hasta from Tales of Innocence. He's a minor villain and he really shouldn't be as awesome as he is. I crack up so bad whenever he's on screen. From the way he talks to the random references that he makes, I'm not sure that there's a character in the series as out-there as Hasta. He was a lot of fun to translate and I hope people enjoy his antics as much as I do.
And I'll give an honorable mention to Kohaku Hearts. She's just a very cool female lead whose character grows by leaps and bounds as a function of the story. I really like the multiple sides of her personality that come out as you get further in the game.
More of our exclusive interview can be found in the full story.
Tales of Innocence Interview with Absolute Zero Translations (Part 2)
Thu, Jul 8th, 2010, 8:39 pm (EST) by Shawn
As many Tales fans might already know, Absolute Zero Translations recently released their Tales of Innocence translation patch. We recently asked for questions for the people behind the effort, and we've gotten back the answers. We spoke with the project lead, Matt, otherwise more commonly known as throughhim413, about the the translation, what obstacles they had to overcome, and even what their favourite Tales character is.
This is the second part in a multi-part interview. Last time, we spoke to Matt about what went on behind the scenes during the translation effort and what sorts of challenges the team faced. In the second part of our interview, we find out what key lessons aspiring fan translators should look out for, what the team's future plans are, and what might have happened if the team hadn't received donations during the duration of the project.
Tales Union: It is common knowledge that Absolute Zero Translations is working on Phantasian Productions on Tales of Destiny for the PS2. Are you currently working or are planning on translating any other games, and if so, would it consist of the same team as Tales of Innocence and/or is it another Tales game or another series entirely?
Matt: That's kind of the eternal question. "Now that you're done, what are you working on next?" My plan is to get back to work on Tales of Destiny after a bit of a break. Kingcom will be going back to focus on Super Robot Wars J for the DS next, I believe. This will certainly not be the last time we work together. We don't know what our next project together will be or when it will happen, but we hope that you'll all join us again when the time comes. In the mean time, we both have more than enough work to keep us busy.
More of our exclusive interview can be found in the full story.
Tales of Innocence Interview with Absolute Zero Translations (Part 1)
Wed, Jul 7th, 2010, 5:11 pm (EST) by Shawn
As many Tales fans might already know, Absolute Zero Translations recently released their Tales of Innocence translation patch. We recently asked for questions for the people behind the effort, and we've gotten back the answers. We spoke with the project lead, Matt, otherwise more commonly known as throughhim413, about the the translation, what obstacles they had to overcome, and even what their favourite Tales character is.
This is the first part in a multi-part interview. In Part 1 of our interview, we speak to Matt about what went on behind the scenes during the translation effort and what sorts of challenges the team faced.
Tales Union: Were there any difficulties in creating the modifications for the translation patch? If so, which one gave the team the most trouble?
Matt: Gotta defer to Kingcom on this one since I just handle the translation side. He said that while he did have to rewrite the subtitle code several times, he thinks the grammar stuff was the most difficult to implement. People might not notice it, but we went to great lengths to ensure that all of the variables in the game would result in natural English.
Whereas a lot of translations have to settle for "Discard 2 Poison Powder," our translation managed stuff like "Discard 2 measures of Poison Powder." Instead of "Purchase 3 Knife" it was "Purchase 3 Knives." It took a lot of work for both of us to recognize where it was necessary and how to make it work, but it was totally worth it.
More of our exclusive interview can be found in the full story.
Tales of Innocence Translation Patch Released
Tue, Jun 29th, 2010, 2:03 pm (EST) by Shawn
It's been almost two years in the making, but Absolute Zero Translations has finally released their fan translation patch for Tales of Innocence, after stating earlier last month that they were on track for a late June 2010 release.
The website has all of the instructions on how to patch the game with the translation (you need your own copy, however, the download only includes the patch), as well as a detailed listing of the terminology used throughout the game.
For those wanting to comment about the release, we'll defer to the existing thread on Absolute Zero Translations's forum.
Absolute Zero Translations Will Now Take Your Questions
Fri, Jun 25th, 2010, 4:52 pm (EST) by Shawn
As many already know, Absolute Zero Translations's Tales of Innocence translation patch is set to be released at the end of the month. We are very excited to announce that we will have the opportunity to interview the team behind the effort.
We're hoping to have the questions ready for the team by the end of the week, so that means if you want to get a question in on time, you will need to do it before late Sunday evening. You can submit questions by commenting on this news post.
We're hoping to have the interview up alongside the release, but it may be slightly delayed due to timing constraints. We'll update this post in the event that there are any changes.
UPDATE (6/29): We've sent in the questions to the team, so we're closing comments to this post.
Tales Studio's Debt: What It Means For The Series
Mon, Jun 21st, 2010, 5:58 pm (EST) by Shawn
For those who have been following the Tales news as of late, you likely already know that Namco Tales Studio is in severe debt, barely covering their short-term debts and with long term debts almost four times their current reserves. With all this uncertainty, one question naturally comes to mind --- how will this affect the series from here on out?
According to their balance sheets, Namco Tales Studio's current assets plus their fixed assets are around 6.6 million, with their current liabilities just barely below that amount at 6.5 million Yen. While this might not sound all that bad considering the current lackluster state of RPGs in this next-gen era, the long-term liabilities and the shareholder stakes in the company are around 22-23 million --- almost 400% of what Namco Tales Studio could pay. In effect, if the shareholders were to all cash out at this moment, it would effectively "kill" the developer four times over. While this kind of debt can be expected from a start-up company, it is quite shocking for a long-running company to amass this amount of debt.
It is important to note that after 2006 Namco Bandai fully owns the studio after buying the remaining shares from Telnet Japan, so some of these debts could have been passed on from Namco Bandai to hide some of their own debt, which was widely reported when the publisher announced they would be restructuring the company as well as decreasing its workforce.
More analysis after the jump.
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