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Level-5 on Guild 02 localization, chances of Fantasy Life and Time Travelers, Guild 01 localization details
A portion of a Siliconera interview with Level-5...
S: What happened to the "Omasse Rental Weapon Shop" game? Is LEVEL-5 International America planning on bringing this over?
L5: We’re still wholeheartedly considering how to or whether or not we can make that title work at the moment. The game is actually extremely text-heavy, and it functions on the expressive power of its text and language. Hirai-san, the creator, is a famous comedian in Japan, and the game is deeply rooted in his talent for expressing Japanese culture through language. We need to consider the high pedigree of translation required, and the time and money needed to do that with this amount of text may surprise you. Another factor we need to consider is whether or not a large enough audience outside of Japan would appreciate a game that relies so heavily on knowledge of Japanese culture.
S: Is LEVEL-5 considering to release GUILD02′s games overseas?
L5: We hope to do so at this point, but the Japanese version is still in production, so we kindly ask for your patience for an announcement if we do decide to bring them over.
S: What else is LEVEL-5 International America working on? Will we see any other titles like Time Travelers, Fantasy Life or The Little Battlers Experience in the West?
L5: LEVEL-5 International America works alongside LEVEL-5’s headquarters in Japan to assess the markets for titles in both North American and Europe. Their goal is to figure out how to maximize the potential of LEVEL-5’s entire spectrum of current and future properties in each region, whether that be for existing franchises such as the Professor Layton series, which is popular in the West, or for Inazuma Eleven, currently being broadcasted in over 10 countries throughout Europe and South America.
Essentially, L5IA doesn’t exist solely to self-publish titles that have already been released in Japan; its mission is to explore all the possibilities of a given title and how best to deliver it to our fans. The feasibility of releasing our titles sometimes hinges on business decisions, but the goal of L5IA is to make our titles available to as many people as possible.
Full interview here
S: What happened to the "Omasse Rental Weapon Shop" game? Is LEVEL-5 International America planning on bringing this over?
L5: We’re still wholeheartedly considering how to or whether or not we can make that title work at the moment. The game is actually extremely text-heavy, and it functions on the expressive power of its text and language. Hirai-san, the creator, is a famous comedian in Japan, and the game is deeply rooted in his talent for expressing Japanese culture through language. We need to consider the high pedigree of translation required, and the time and money needed to do that with this amount of text may surprise you. Another factor we need to consider is whether or not a large enough audience outside of Japan would appreciate a game that relies so heavily on knowledge of Japanese culture.
S: Is LEVEL-5 considering to release GUILD02′s games overseas?
L5: We hope to do so at this point, but the Japanese version is still in production, so we kindly ask for your patience for an announcement if we do decide to bring them over.
S: What else is LEVEL-5 International America working on? Will we see any other titles like Time Travelers, Fantasy Life or The Little Battlers Experience in the West?
L5: LEVEL-5 International America works alongside LEVEL-5’s headquarters in Japan to assess the markets for titles in both North American and Europe. Their goal is to figure out how to maximize the potential of LEVEL-5’s entire spectrum of current and future properties in each region, whether that be for existing franchises such as the Professor Layton series, which is popular in the West, or for Inazuma Eleven, currently being broadcasted in over 10 countries throughout Europe and South America.
Essentially, L5IA doesn’t exist solely to self-publish titles that have already been released in Japan; its mission is to explore all the possibilities of a given title and how best to deliver it to our fans. The feasibility of releasing our titles sometimes hinges on business decisions, but the goal of L5IA is to make our titles available to as many people as possible.