I’ve got a couple questions:
[list][]Do you plan to release titles on disc sometime in the future?[/]
[]Which version of Da Capo is being released, the original or Plus Communication? [/][/list]
For now. Enough input for Paypal payment may decide them. There’s no cost in asking for a large profit if there’s a positive answer (well, not a profit for me since I couldn’t care less about an English version, but…)
Paypal have some rather annoying guidelines, and they tend to be pretty harsh about enforcing them.
Doesn’t paypal ban use of their system for adult transactions?
I know I got my account frozen when they found I had a long oudated page that once vaguely mentioned I would take such payments… (I deleted all that and explained it wasn’t true and they unfroze me.)
Yep, that’s the guideline I was referring to. They definitely notice these things.
This seriously has to be a joke. I cannot suspend my disbelief right now.
However I have a feeling that whatever insane money injection they received, they probably spent it on acquiring the hefty amount of money they needed to wrestle the licenses from these companies. Maybe that’s why the price-tag on these games is so ridiculous, because it cost so much just to obtain a license. Isn’t that the reason Peach Princess and G-Collections didn’t bring over the high profile titles from KEY and so on? Because it was too expensive to get a license?
Either way, I have a strong feeling that they didn’t hire good help to bring these games into “proper” english and for that reason they’ll flop like Hirameki did earlier.
It’s funny really, in the past we’ve had companies like Himeya, Otaku etc bringing games over in English and one by one they all died. G-Collections died, and even Hirameki, but Jast continues to survive. I suspect the same fate awaits mangagamer. They didn’t even try to pull the shit hirameki did by selling all-ages games only. I can’t see this getting anywhere.
Interesting development, this.
Agreed with the EUR pricing being a killer. Given the English they utilize on their site, I can only imagine what the translation looks like in the games.
A couple of games look interesting, but I’ll wait and see before even considering buying anything from them. Plus, I’ve got a bit of a backlog on games as it is, so it’s not like I don’t have anything to play.
Consider… that’s a pretty big starting lineup. But I wonder about quality of what you’d be getting, since it seems like they are pushing tons of product. Consider how many titles PP releases a year. As much as I’d like them to release MORE, I understand that that stance would likely reduce the quality of what they were releasing. I’d rather buy from a company that took the time to get it right, rather than one that essentially spammed titles out.
Okay. Downloaded the ZIP file. Extracted it to a folder, then I hit the “autorun.exe” - program asked for a folder to install the game. Now I kinda get worried, because it names the installation folder “HinataBokkoTarte” by default… sloppy. Isn’t this game called Which Girl Should I Choose? – Peach Princess properly renames their installation directories. This is waaaaay unprofessional IMHO… but maybe I’m just being too nitpicky - so I ignored that.
Installed the game. Hit the “HinataBokko.exe” - now it asks for the “authorization code” that I was emailed earlier. Input it. Program goes online to certify the code.
Sidenote: Game only does this once. After its “authorized” it doesn’t need to be online again to start it up.
Double Sidenote: I’m running 64-bit VISTA, which is infamous for not working with tons of stuff. It at least works with authorizing. Which Girl Should I Choose? also works with Vista 64, despite the site saying it doesn’t. However this does not mean all their games will… I assume the original Japanese version worked with Vista 64 already.
Started up the game… now this is where the shit hits the fan, and Narg is upset:
Typos and spelling errors… and not just a few of them. Oh no… I’ve just started playing this game for 20 minutes, and about 30% of the script so far is TYPOS AND SPELLING ERRORS. Translation is accurate, but the typos and spelling errors, remind me of those cheap Chinese anime bootlegs you might have been suckered into buying on Ebay. Poor punctuation. Lack of capitalization. Etc.
Not looking good. Will continue playing the game, but I’m not getting another one of their titles any time soon. Not until some explaining is made… They aren’t looking too legit in my eyes anymore. Such shoddy work… 
The company is Dutch, so I guess their team is as well. Releasing the games in English may not be the better idea, but then, I’m not sure the Dutch market for such games really exist. All in all, we’ll see. Not that I care at all, but it could be interesting.
An interesting development to be sure, but I have heavy suspicions as well given all I’ve read and seen.
Ouch, Narg. 
Thanks for taking the leap for the rest of us.
I was thinking along the same lines, olf_le_fol, re: Dutch translation team translating Japanese into English. I suspect that they paid through the nose for the licenses, and are trying to recoup losses by releasing a cheap and dirty translation. What a shame.
Hmm… Quite unexpected indeed. I have to see for myself regarding the typographical errors. I can tolerate some here and there, but I’d like to see just how frequent they are. Which games have downloadable demos, anyways? Do I have to sign up to download them? I’ve checked the site and I can’t seem to find an option to download the demos…
It’s very frequent. Too damn frequent. Literally every third sentence has a punctuation or capitalization error. Spelling errors creep almost at random ¬ñ but still noticeable.
Also having just played through more of the game, it appears more than one translator was involved, because the “tempo” of how things were translated suddenly changes - right in the middle of the story arc. You can tell by the wording… also this other person actually uses correct punctuation. So yea… TERRIBLE SLOPPY TRANSLATION!!! Now again: they’re pretty accurate… and sometimes a bit too literal (if you’ve done translation work; you’ll know what I mean). This game “only” cost me 20 Euros ¬ñ which is about 30 American Dollars ¬ñ so I don’t feel so burned. But if this is an example of their translation work: I’ll be damned if I’m paying 50 Euros (80 American Dollars) for a shitty translation of those Circus titles.
Only digital copies? Only a limited number of times I can install it ¬ñ which REQUIRES the first start to be activated via online. No extras? No hardcopy? Hell no. I’d rather get the Japanese original, then wait for a fanlation patch. Why? Because from what I’ve seen so far: A FANLATION IS SUPERIOR TO THIS!!! Maybe I’m just bitter. Maybe its just this one game that’s poorly handled. I doubt it… and I’m seriously not in the mood to test it out either. They had me excited at first… now I’m upset.
Can we make that assumption? We don’t know how much Nexton or Overdrive is charging. However, Hirameki acquired huge libraries from Frontwing and K-Industry, so low cost possibilities must exist.
Regarding Circus, they were calling out for publishers to talk to them (with reasonable licensing rates promised since they genuinely wanted to break into English-speaking markets), so the opportunity was always there. It’s just that no company ever capitalized until this Dutch upstart emerged.
[quote]
[me of those cheap Chinese anime bootlegs you might have been suckered into buying on Ebay./quote]
DO NOT WANT !
OK that worries me… i like being able to have the Disc’s here for just in case… and something feels a bit off to me
Indeed, but it could be interesting to see what circus’ conditions were for PP, for instance, not to have business with them. Too high fees? I have nothing to lose to ask the MangaGamer staff.
Uhhh… Can I at least have directions to download the demos? I can’t find a link to download them. I want to see for myself.
OLF: Please ask 'em why they didn’t proofread their work.
B173 M3: Don’t know where their demos are. Maybe someone else can help. But see the screenshots in my next post.
EDIT
Removed the pictures from this post… 20 images is a bit too much to prove a point, and might get unwanted attention from the game maker. See my next post for 5 random sample images instead.
They’re offering demos online, aren’t they? That’s odd.