sanahtlig

Console games sell for about 6,500 yen, which is around $60-70, same as here. http://www.amazon.co.jp/TV%E3%82%B2%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A0/b/ref=sd_allcat_tvgames?ie=UTF8&node=637394 Mangagamer's releases are pretty quick. Their longer titles only seem to take them 6 months to 1 year. JAST USA is of course well known for its glacial speeds. The overseas VN market is unique for a number of reasons. It's incredibly niche. It's (mostly) porn. It's largely confined to PCs. The audience is generally young, tech savvy, and reluctant to part with their money. All of these factors combine to create a climate that's extremely hostile to official localization. Mangagamer and JAST USA aren't the first companies to localize eroge. They're just the only ones left, because all of the others went out of business or gave up. Mangagamer isn't all that stable either, and it's quite possible that they won't be around 5 years from now. Your comparisons to the general gaming industry ignore all of these unique elements that burden the tiny VN market. Without the small hardcore fanbase that currently funds localization efforts, the official market would shrivel and die (or decompose into a primordial ooze of self-replicating nukige), and fan translators would be all that's left. Without the advertising money from localization companies and fanfare from official releases (in niche news outlets and stores like RightStuf), interest would wane in the fan translation scene as well. VNDB itself is funded by advertising money; would anyone step up to fund such efforts if they're not even willing to pay for the games it lists? As I see it, there's currently a tenuous symbiosis between fan translation and official localization. Each needs the other to reach the widest audience possible and provide support for future releases. Incidents like the OP threaten to turn this symbiosis into opposition, to the detriment of both parties and ultimately all VN fans.

You can't (constructively) criticize the businesses practices of an industry based on the concept of intellectual property while ignoring the existence of IP. Mangagamer doesn't sell translations. They sell translated GAMES. Fan translators provide translations. They don't provide games. You're comparing apples and oranges. If you want to compare apples and apples, you should factor in the cost of importing the Japanese games. By calling for the eradication of IP, it's people like YOU that are calling for the world to change, not Mangagamer.

Correct, but the problem is more social (what people would think) than practical (sales would be cannibalized). A company can't justify simultaneously charging $100 for its target audience and $50 for a small niche overseas audience. The Japanese customer base wouldn't be very happy about that, any more than Western customers would be happy about suddenly having to pay $100 for all future releases. This problem is currently surmounted by waiting for the title to fade out of the limelight before being re-released for overseas audiences at a deep discount. Why would you set out with the intention to halt a project midstream? That doesn't make any sense from a business standpoint. You're looking to extract collateral from Mangagamer--make them give a downpayment so we can be assured that they'll actually release the game since they C&D'd it. But why would it be in their best interest to do this?

This is honestly such an arbitrary criterium of quality that I'm surprised you're harping on it. It isn't about difficulty of translating quickly. Japanese developers don't WANT their games localized soon after Japanese release? Why? Because the localized game ($50) undercuts their sales of the Japanese version ($100)! The localized version is also often demosaiced, which is important to some people, and illegal in Japan. While this may be irrelevant to you, some developers may worry that the localized game will be reverse imported (or pirated), Japanese citizens will get arrested, and this will spark a controversy. See above. Don't expect a timely release when you're paying half price, especially in a franchise known for constant re-releases. Mangagamer has stated that they won't start work until the final version is released. Why? Because customers complain when they can't have the latest and greatest version, but they don't want to pay extra for it.

Mangagamer's bestselling title sold around 2000 copies. They're not exactly a "moderate-sized business", especially where game companies are concerned. Warez is a big problem for Mangagamer. Mangagamer recently discussed the impact on sales. http://forums.mangagamer.org/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1349&p=25414#p25412 Many of their customers appear to be impulsive opportunists--they freeload what they can and buy what they can't freeload at the moment the mood strikes them. Behavior like this is why Mangagamer has shifted to a nukige-focused release schedule--such games attract less attention and therefore don't get cracked as quickly. Unfortunately, the market dynamics for eroge in the West appear to punish excellence and reward mediocrity--and warez is squarely to blame. The market will never go anywhere if this dynamic continues.

1) This falls under the "do not distribute" point you made earlier. 2) If we're talking letter of the law (and I don't think anyone but you is), then Mangagamer and Circus have nothing to prove. Japanese companies have sent C&Ds to fan translation groups for titles they clearly have no intention of localizing in the forseeable future. 3) Circus just sent her a C&D. It's rather unlikely they're going to turn around and give Aaeru permission to release her patch for free like she wants.

Years of experience with machine translations have given me a +10 save against confusion from Engrish attacks. Interpreting such language riddles is like trying to put together a puzzle that has pieces from other puzzles mixed in: piece together what you can and don't dwell on the pieces that don't fit. Also, while a demosaic patch for FSN appears to exist, I doubt Fuwanovel's version includes that: http://jyuichi-11.blogspot.com/2009/06/fatestay-night-uncensored-patch-10.html

Protip: Don't play FSN for the H-scenes.

I'm fairly picky when it comes to art (I won't touch the original Higurashi), but Tsukihime's art is serviceable. If you liked Fate/Stay Night, you should play Tsukihime. The effects aren't as flashy, but the writing is solid--not to mention Nasu's vampire mythos is pretty cool. The protagonist is also not annoying like Shirou.

Kodzukuri Banchou is a nukige by the sister brand Anastasia. Kamidori is definitely not the worst game in Eushully's catalog (they have plenty of older titles that don't stand the test of time). And among Japanese players, it's one of their best rated games on Erogamescape. The story is nothing special, but the gameplay is top-notch--among the best you'll find in eroge.

I don't really have anything new to add, but I elaborated on the issues I see with a Kickstarter localization in this thread: Feel free to comment there on how these issues and others can be overcome to make Kickstarter localizations the gold standard and render IP obsolete. Also, I should point out I'm not a collectivist. Collectivists don't seek out arguments. I simply acknowledge the utility of social cohesion in certain contexts.

Rumor has it that the sprites in ryukishi07's games (e.g., Higurashi no naku koro ni) are supposed to represent people. I remain skeptical.

I see a few fundamental barriers standing in the way of a Kickstarter project for VN localization that actually fits Fuwanovel's objectives (of eliminating the need for IP). Developer fear of re-importation: This is already a concern of Japanese developers considering traditional localization, and is one of the reasons they insist on DRM in localized releases. I presume that the fruit of a Kickstarter project would be freely distributed, meaning the Japanese would have equal access to the title. This would be even more problematic if the game was 18+ and mosaics were removed in the English release (as the market currently demands of any professional project). Essentially this a problem of mixing funding models that simply aren't compatible (a localization funded prospectively vs. a game whose development was funded retrospectively). Developer demand for legal accountability: This was a concern prominently voiced by minori, but likely applies to any developer. Japanese developers want to work with a group that will take responsibility for limiting distribution to territories where the work is allowed by local laws. Since some nations ban porn entirely, and most restrict access to minors, any free distribution model involving sexual content will not pass muster. This limits such a project to all-ages titles only. These are the first two issues that come to mind. Also, Will probably isn't the best choice because they actively work with JAST.

Or you pick one that you love, enjoy, want other people to enjoy, and just happens to further your activist agenda all at the same time. Risk of C&D is a negative for most fan translators. In Aaeru's case, I believe it was a positive. I could be wrong, but Aaeru openly *invited* a C&D on multiple occasions. Ask yourself: Is that the behavior of someone who wants to avoid getting entangled in a copyright law controversy? Proposing that all VN localizations *must* be funded by Kickstarter (as Aaeru suggests) is as absurd as banning Kickstarter funding. Developers should have a choice of which model they want to use. Who are Aaeru et. al to declare that all models except Kickstarter are invalid because they don't like them, and then proceed to unilaterally subvert them? IP enables retrospective funding, which is currently the basis for the vast majority of software design projects. Prospective funding is a nice alternative, but it's just that: an alternative. Prospective funding has limitations. We need both models. And since VNs were developed using a retrospective funding mechanism, switching to a prospective funding mechanism for localization is difficult. You don't seem to understand how this business actually works. The model is based on retrospective funding. Publishers fund developers (and often the developer is the publisher in the Japanese VN industry). Funds come from loans or previous sales (or both). More sales means the developer/publisher has more funds (and more credit) to fund the next title. Less sales mean less funds, less credit, and the possibility that they can't pay back the loans they took out on the last title (and thus go bankrupt). Of course the developers benefit from more sales, whether they be from sales in Japan or sales overseas. By downloading warez, you're not supporting the creation of more software. You're just freeloading. It's your responsibility to support software you like and want to see more of. Unfortunately, fan translations reduce this sense of responsibility--all the moreso when they're distributed alongside warez.

Comparisons to the anime industry aren't quite apt because the anime industry's translation potential is saturated: the majority of good anime get an official release. The VN market by comparison is completely unsaturated: less than 5% of titles get an official release. Aaeru picked a title that painted a C&D bullseye on her. She didn't have to--she could've picked a different title with much lower risk. Whereas no matter what anime you pick to fansub, there's a very high risk of a company coming along and deciding to license it, and therefore C&D'ing you.

For every one person like you (that buys the official localization of a title that's been fan translated and freely distributed) there's dozens of people that view fan translated titles as freebies. As Aaeru likes to boast, you can't compete with free--except her English translation freely distributed alongside a copy of the Japanese title isn't "free". It's piracy. Mangagamer already has a huge problem with piracy without fan translators adding fuel to the fire--they can literally spot when a crack is released for their games by the collapse of sales. Evidently, many of their customers are opportunists. They pirate what they can and buy what they must. It paints a very dismal picture of human nature, but there you go.

I've edited the post for clarity, which necessarily makes it more antagonistic. I've further explained my position in two blog posts, which I quote here. If you want to discuss my position, I'd recommend doing so here (blog comments are a poor forum for discussion). http://visualnovelaer.fuwanovel.net/2013/03/da-capo-iii-fan-translation-cease-desisted-by-mangagamer/ Web archive (Edit 6/22/2015; images displayed are incorrect) Me? Both. I'm not very fond of activism though. In general, I consider it a necessary evil.

Aaeru's actions to provoke a copyright dispute are "tough but powerful" in the same way it's "tough but powerful" to intentionally break the law to force judicial review. Except this isn't a court of law; it's the court of public opinion (or at least as "public" as the VN community gets). Some call that activism. Others call it trolling.

School Days HQ is the game for you!

Big-budget Western games are turning into Holywood movies. They spend an unnecessary amount of money on graphics and creating an immersive experience through effects and as a result they're often short and unsatisfying. They try and make up for the resulting lack of content by adding in multiplayer and expecting players to entertain each other.

Less is more. Every scene and every paragraph should serve a purpose. Unnecessary dialogue is a big turnoff for me in VNs, particularly when it just focuses around moe banter and repetitive reinforcement of stereotypical traits. One of the likely reasons I prefer fantasy settings is that the need to establish the setting tends to reduce the amount of pointless fluff interactions. Although there's always games like Seinarukana that strive to prove me wrong.

In most cases I'd rather have mosaics than poor redraws.

So you believe it's alright to profit off another's work (both your own and the developer's), but not to claim it as one's own? That's an interesting twist. I'd argue that the concept of plagiarism is necessarily tied to the concept of intellectual property. But I suppose that's not irrefutable.

Your response is intriguing. Let me add some additional information to the scenario. Upon further investigation, you discover that the version of the game they're selling has been edited. Claiming they translated the game, they've stripped out all credits to the fan translator (you) and have replaced them with their own credit roll. It's quite clear to you however that your translation was used, verbatim. In addition, they sell the game at a hefty profit, well beyond the cost of the media used for distribution. Would this new information change your reaction at all?

My guess is that game OST links to sites like MediaFire would quickly break due to terms violations. Including such files in future game torrents would be a more permanent solution.