I wonder why Red Company’s games tend to have dating sim element :D. But I’m sure that’s not the reason Sakura Taisen is never licensed, another game of theirs, Thousand Arms was licensed and received well positive reviews, though only made a stand in a niche market 
what are your guesses on the release date
Not in September for sure, i can’t give a certain guess though
Hopefully, before Thanksgiving (fingers crossed). This is one title I eagerly await and look forward to playing.
Probably for the end of the year.
Unfortunately it will mean that there were only 3 releases in 2008 
LWR, Cherry and PW.
At least 1 of them is already unsuccessful
The story behind Sakura Taisen is a sad one, and it has NOTHING to do with Red Company not trying.
In the Saturn era, Red Company petitioned Working Designs to release the Sakura Taisen series. However this was when SEGA began abandoning the US system, and at the point when Victor Ireland began his crusade to hate SEGA. Thus Red Company was turned down.
For the Playstation, Red Company got Atlus to hear their pleas, thus we got Thousand Arms.
When Dreamcast hit the streets, Red Company petitioned SEGA USA to release the Sakura Taisen series, which talks actually proceeded quite vigorously, but the sudden demise of the Dreamcast in the US caused that to fall out.
During the Playstation 2 era, Red Company tried VERY HARD to convince SONY to allow them to release Sakura Taisen. Several US importers, who I’m afraid I can’t name, opened negotiations and bidding contracts with Red. SONY killed them because they felt the titles were “too Japanese” for the Western market. Remember, this was the time when SONY rejected attempts by Capcom and Konami to create 2D sprite games. SONY was an ass. In any case, it obviously never happened.
This is what spawned the Sakura Taisen World Project ¬ñ to create a Sakura Taisen series that wasn’t “too Japanese”… or at least’s Red Company’s vision if it. Thus the development of Sakura Taisen 5 in grand 'ole New York City. In the end SONY said it was still too Japanese. It was also the twilight of the PS2. Much of Red Company was in shambles, because key personnel (including the original developer of Sakura Taisen), had left or retired. Due to this, there were licensing complexities that caused havoc. The changes in Sakura Taisen 5, to make it appeal more to Westerners, also alienated the Japanese fans. Thus the game failed in totality.
Thus the present situation of why the US has no Sakura Taisen and now dying a painful death in Japan (that new DS release is just terrible).
Isn’t is sad Sakura-chan?
I know what you mean about that DS game, yuck.
Even though SCEI originated from “The Holy Land” Japan (lol :lol: ) i never ever once considered them as a Japanese company. I mean, what the hell? God of War? Warhawk? Made by a Japanese game company? For God sake, it’s not the Japanese way we’ve liked and loved for years. Americans don’t dislike games that is too Japanese. They love FF, they love DMC, they love Onimusha, they love Ninja Gaiden, all of them are titles that is “too Japanese” that Western game companies would never have the abilities (or guts) to make something like that.
I really don’t give a damn about Sony saying Sakura Taisen is too Japanese, nearly 80% of the titles released on their platform is already as much “Japanese” (of course, with a horrible English dub, so horrible that recent Naruto games must also include Japanese audio to keep the sales pick nose). In this aspect i can see that a pure Western company coughMicrosoft Game Studiocough has done a better job than them in releasing “Japanese” games (Do i hear Blue Dragon or Lost Odyssey). My, what has Sony became? :?
Oh, and why do i have the feeling that Western reviewers never seem to appreciate the good ol’ J-RPG elements? I mean, Famitsu gave Lost Odyssey a 36/40, and look at how Western websites treat it, bleh :x
I have always thought -- as a general observation -- that a lot of the most recent backlash against Japanese games in general; and JRPGs specifically can be attributed to the mainstreaming of the US video game market, post-PS1. While certainly not all even back then, a far larger percentage of video game players had interests in the whole spectum of Japanese entertainment (manga, music, anime) and as such understood and sought out the differences in styles. The PS2 and XBox just brought to the gaming table so many new faces with no background interest in "Japanese" stuff that their negativity, while disappointing, is understandable.
For me, Sakura Taisen will always be the biggest non-localization mistake. All of the anime versions were very well received both in western reviews and sales. The figures of the original girls were available in regular US retail outlets and the Saturn and DC versions of the early games remain among the most imported titles of their generation. Taken together, this is ample evidence the American market would have supported the title. So it would have been stuck with an M rating -- I could have lived with that -- it's not as if everyone was only going to play ST to catch Iris in the shower......
There is still I think, one final hope. NIS has an unannounced game for which they have only hinted is a title that has been in Japan for multiple generations and will make RPGers 'very happy' when announced. One can still dream.
[url=http://www.siliconera.com/2008/09/18/well-see-vanillawares-wii-game-in-english-next-year/]http://www.siliconera.com/2008/09/18/we ... next-year/[/url]
Here's a post showing that we are indeed getting the Wii game from the Odin Sphere guys. It also hints (and this guy usually doesn't just post out of his ass) that both Flower, Sun, Rain (Suda 51) and Lux Pain (another DS digital novel) will be making their way here too.Also SONY isn’t as draconian as they used to be, because they aren’t the market leader anymore: but things aren’t final. NIS also has connections to Atlus, who has connections to Red Company (as I mentioned previous)… and Red Company is still in business, nor has claimed they’ve given up on the World Project.
I don’t know if I agree. The thing about the western market is that people tend to emphasize steady change. If a formula remains the same for too long, it falls out of favor. For instance, how many styles of games from 10-15 years ago are still prevalent today? Entire genres like adventures (most Infocom and Sierra designers refused to evolve, even opting to quit making games), war games, space/flight sims, and even old-school single-player CRPGs have faded into the background. Compare this to the Japanese market, where we still see many of the same genres and game designs recycled to this day (even decade-long staples like first-person shooters and RTS games have evolved at much faster rates. As Unreal Tournament 3 proved, a graphics facelift isn’t enough to sell your old game).
With JRPGs, even long-time fans have become frustrated by the lack of progression in recent years. The jump from 16-bit to PlayStation brought about huge changes in visual presentation and characterization, making the games worthwhile. The PS, and to a lesser extent, PS2 titles were also fresh for many gamers who hadn’t touched a JRPG before. However, the genre has grown increasingly stagnant, and it isn’t hard to see why Lost Odyssey saw a mixed reception (unoriginal and unpolished), while Persona 3 earned so much praise.
I digress, but Famitsu is hardly a guide for quality.
Ah… you bring up the 'ole Dragon Quest versus Final Fantasy to my mind. DQ does light years better than FF in Japan; whereas FF does light years better than DQ in North America. The formula of DQ has not changed much since it’s NES days - which is why it’s so endearing to Japanese RPG’ers, while gaining negative reviews from their American counterparts for the same points. There’s no question that in terms of plot complexity, gaming innovation, and awesome bling-bling: Final Fantasy devastates Dragon Quest. Yet DQ is not about awesome devastation of the RPG model, but rather, finding new means to keep the old formula. Thus the selling gap between DQ and FF in North America. Different mentalities of how game improvement work.
However on the flip side, which totally throws us game researchers for a loop when convincing executives to fund something, is the entire appeal of retro gaming in North America matching (and even exceeding) its counterpart in Japan. Take the upcoming Megaman 9, which is expected to be a best seller on both sides of the ocean. Ultimately it comes down to fanbase loyalty: DQ has tons of it in Japan, while its incredibly smaller in the US. It works in opposite though… Castlevania has a larger loyal base in the US, than it does in Japan. As does Chrono Trigger, Streets of Rage, and memes such as Zero Wing or Metal Wolf Chaos.
It’s like a … Mardis Gras in New York. Or … Something.
lets please get back on topic
alot of the other distributors are saying within the next few weeks
Well of course, meganekko > all 
Nooooo, i need my family project for 2008 Peapri mentioned at AX that the release for Princess waltz was early winter, so I want to stay positive and say we’ll get an october release 
bah, but that’s no fun I like how any thread can go into a different subject here
I remember reading the official dremcast magazine stating that the Sakura Taisen games would be released eventually, oh well. Maybe the psp port could be a good option to translate?
Winter starts on the 21st december. 8)
I don’t believe they said that. I think they said they wanted it out late-summer/early-fall, which means around September. And they said they wanted Family Project out around the end of this year or the beginning of next year.
my guess is it might get pushed by princess waltz
hopefully it won’t be much longer
I meant early fall :oops:
I don’t know why but a september release never seemed likely to me, that’s why I’m hoping for an October release 