Can anybody give me any info on the next yaoi release ?
Thanks !
In response to that article, it’s been a general consensus between numerous yaoi fans that the titles licensed thus far have not done as well due to the content. There is a fairly substantial yaoi fanbase within the US craving translated games, yet only a small portion are interested in shota and even less in both shota and BDSM. Thus, by releasing games with those themes involved, the majority of yaoi fans are not even being targeted.
And I quote from one particularly popular yaoi forum:
"Just look at the translated games. One is Enzai, a game that contains massive amounts of blood, gore, rape, incest, bondage, etc. The second one is Zettai, which also contains bondage, non-con and elements of BDSM. I think even for yaoi fans, those are marginalized tastes. I’m not saying the games are bad or anything, it’s just that fewer fans are likely to be comfortable with these elements. I myself have played Zettai for the crack!factor, but I would never touch Enzai. I simply don’t find it aesthetically pleasing to have my bishounen covered in blood and begging their rapists for mercy. Again, not saying that the people who like this stuff are bad or anything. No way. You like what you like.
But yes, the point I’m trying to make is that these games cater to a very limited group of people within an ALREADY limited group of people. The Western market has to be breeched slowly. Maybe if they tried translating a less hardcore game like Silver Chaos, Angel’s Feather or Lamento (ohgodswouldIeverworshipthemforthis!), there would be more customers, and a much more widespread and positive response from the fans."
[ 03-15-2007, 06:36 PM: Message edited by: riya ]
I’m not a yaoi fan, but when I first heard the possibility, I was willing to take a look. What I heard about Enzai quickly put me off the notion. Eeeeeeeek!
(Zettai, the characters are so darn pretty that it is on my list of ‘should try eventually’.)
I tried Enzai and found it a bit much for my tastes. Zettai is amusing, but oddly experimental in terms of gameplay. It goes through a series of cases where different bishounen are paired with one of the two main characters rather than a continuous story with a single couple that you choose. Although personally, I don’t particularly find the BDSM/shota themes present in either games to be all that appealing.
I would have loved to see some of the more vastly popular games translated, such as Lamento (arguably the most popular BL/yaoi game at the moment), Togainu no Chi, etc. Nitro+ Chiral games have absolutely stunning graphics, attractive characters and intriguing plots.
[ 03-16-2007, 01:01 AM: Message edited by: riya ]
There really should be a FAQ sticked at the top of the forum that informs people that popular titles are out of reach for Peach Princess/JAST USA/whatever because of enormous licensing costs.
…why?
and how am i to judge what is considered famous or not?
[ 03-16-2007, 02:48 PM: Message edited by: Lamuness - BBS Admin ]
Why? So we wouldn’t have users posting things like “I hope they translate Kanon/Air/Kiminozo/other popular game.”.
I’m sure you have an idea of what bishoujo games are pretty popular in Japan. 
In any case, the FAQ could just mention “popular games” with a few examples, and then the poster would know that hoping for a translation of what they heard was a popular game is futile.
but i still stand behind my “never say never” line so nope i do not plan on making a faq of such nature
I see. I wasn’t aware of the high licensing costs. I apologize for that and thanks Lamuness for the little strand of hope. ;D However, Langmaor isn’t completely unheard of. Rather, it’s fairly well known (albeit notorously for Enzai and the Enzai OVAs). However, few are comfortable with the content. Not to mention, though it should have been expected, I was actually shocked by how much more intense the game was than the OVAs.
It doesn’t have to be the most popular games. I raised those as a sidenote/example. For the most part, it seems a softer game would be better accepted as a starter. Though of course, I’m not certain how much my opinion and a fairly new 3 page thread on a yaoi forum in response to the above listed article is worth.
However, I quote again from that forum:
"I think a lot of Western BL-friendly companies make that mistake at first… that they release something too hardcore to be mainstream. I still remember when the first translation of Kodaka-san’s manga Kizuna was released here, and the translators were surprised how few people responded to that. (It was only the informed fandom which bought them, and very few people outside that.)
But they didn’t give up. Instead, they tried again, bringing more soft yaoi or shounen ai along with the hardcore, and BOOMBANG, the sales skyrocketed. I think what Jast!USA needs is a change of pace, not a complete stop. They just need to try again."
Look at one of the other threads (the b-game news thread) – one of them has a link to the sales figures of the top-selling games for '06 and '05.
Note the 5- and 6-digit figures. You also may (or may not) have been aware the games basically run for $90.
Games here – most of the back catalog recently got prices reduced, actually, but run for $40-50 newly released. And they sell in … well, I don’t know exactly, but it’s 4-digit quantities.
As for games like Kanon or Tsukihime – they’re considered very valuable due to their Japanese popularity, so the price to localize elsewhere is VERY high. See previous point about sales figures
Thanks. However, once again, note that the whole popular games thing was just the sidenote of my larger point… I’m really hoping that won’t become the focus here. ^^;
Feel free to just ignore my little side comment regarding examples of popular games since that was pretty much just me going off on a tangent.
[ 03-19-2007, 08:15 PM: Message edited by: riya ]
So you’re telling me to pay no attention to you? Not a prob – I mean … uh … say, what’s that over there? 
Personally I completely see your point about the non-consentual nature of the content of the two translated yaoi games. Nonconsentual stuff really turns me off as well. It’s entirely possible that if something less hardcore were translated it’d do better. Of course, with a sample size of two games, neither of which fit the description … it’s a complete unknown.