Which VN localization company do you prefer?

[WinterfuryZX]

I am the only one who mentioned aksys games, they are note entirely focused on VNS, and despite that they have a release shedule better than JAST.

Mo0st of their titles ar otome but they have a deal with chunsoft, that is enough for me, even if english translations of their older titles is still a pipe dreem.

[ChaosRaven]

2 hours ago, sanahtlig said:

I attended both the JAST and MangaGamer panels at AX2015.  Peter Payne gave a very polished presentation and clearly knew the games he was presenting (JAST staff seemed unfamiliar with the larger Japanese VN industry, however, and were unable to field my questions).  MangaGamer's presentation was inconsistent and highly disorganized.  Each game was presented by a different panel member, and some of them were clearly out of their league giving a professional presentation.  I wasn't particularly impressed with any of the presentations, and the whole panel felt very slapped together.  They spent undue time on forgettable titles and didn't highlight their best titles (especially recent releases).  I brought along two people who were unfamiliar with VNs, and they both agreed that JAST by far gave the better presentation even though they had fewer games to announce.

I wasn't invited to the Sekai Project panel so I'm unable to comment on that one.

Does Jast have a responsible manager on his own nowadays or is it still just Peter Payne showing up from time to time? While I consider Peter Payne a highly competent person who manages J-list most excellently, I still have the feeling that Jast is more of a hobby project for him. His main baby is J-list. Which means, everytime he shows up things are getting better, but as soon as he turns his focus back on J-list its going downhill at Jast again, just for him to return a few months later having to clean up the mess.

I think Jast NEEDS a responsible manager on his own who's commited 100% to the company full time, or things won't change. People might complain about Dovac or Kouryuu not always being Mr. NiceGuy, but I think you have to be an a*s in this business from time to time to get things done and keep everything together. Not that Peter Payne wouldn't possess that 'talent' too, I still remember some highly amusing statements from him.  But I don't want to always to be worried when PP doesn't show up at Jast for a while that everything falls apart again.

I think one of their older key members, Makoto, isn't working with them anymore. But what about Tim or Nicholas Graham? Are they part time or full time members? Who manages Jast when PP isn't around?

[Eai]

8 hours ago, ChaosRaven said:

Does Jast have a responsible manager on his own nowadays or is it still just Peter Payne showing up from time to time? While I consider Peter Payne a highly competent person who manages J-list most excellently, I still have the feeling that Jast is more of a hobby project for him.

 I don't know where you get your feeling in the last statement, but i disagree. I think you are overlooking the fact that PP not showing up everytime (though i still feel he is fairly interacting with fans) doesn't mean that he is not highly commited with JAST as well, as there is a bit more than the visible part but also behind the scenes work. Peter Payne could have had a very "classical" managing style (CEO from other buissness companies are not necessary interacting very much with their public). To the contrary, i have even seen him interacting with fans on other platforms and places not related to JAST such as Lewdgamer. He was also one of the only ones answering a lot of people questions about important information concerning some games releases on twitter and JAST website. Regarding work unrelated to PR, as he is based in Japan, he is most probably the one dealing with such process as acquisitions and Japanese companies contacting, like meeting them in person to establish contracts.

 

[ChaosRaven]

1 hour ago, Eai said:

 I don't know where you get your feeling in the last statement, but i disagree. I think you are overlooking the fact that PP not showing up everytime (though i still feel he is fairly interacting with fans) doesn't mean that he is not highly commited with JAST as well, as there is a bit more than the visible part but also behind the scenes work. Peter Payne could have had a very "classical" managing style (CEO from other buissness companies are not necessary interacting very much with their public). To the contrary, i have even seen him interacting with fans on other platforms and places not related to JAST such as Lewdgamer. He was also one of the only ones answering a lot of people questions about important information concerning some games releases on twitter and JAST website. Regarding work unrelated to PR, as he is based in Japan, he is most probably the one dealing with such process as acquisitions and Japanese companies contacting, like meeting them in person to establish contracts.

And Peter Payne being based in Japan is most likely the main problem here since Jast is based in San Diego, USA. PR isn't the primary job of the CEO, his job is to pick the right people for the company. There's a reason why MangaGamer has pretty much two leads with Evospace based in Japan to handle license deals and acquisitions and Kouryuu who is based in USA to manage the local MangaGamer staff.

How is it possible that Jast announces a release date for Flowers for autumn and then releases a demo almost half a year later without even checking out the translation quality?! Pretty much everyone (except Jast) could predict that would happen.

MangaGamer actually had a similar case with Free Friends not all too long ago. Most people probably don't know that because the info about that incident was just leaked in a short statement in the MG forums back then. The translation quality was apparently not up to their standards and they therefore ended the working relationship with the responsible translator and the whole title was therefore retranslated from scratch by another translator. And that's why MangaGamer works as a company. They observe the work of their staff and in the worst case don't hesitate to draw consequences and end their working relationship with the responsible person.

I'm not sure what's going on at Jast, but it's absolutely clear that 'some people' there were not doing their job correctly in the QA and management department. And this applies to almost all release from Jast in recent years not just the Flowers debacle a few months ago. I'm quite tolerant about the translation quality but even I get pissed if I encounter completely untranslated lines in a title indicating that there wasn't even basic proof reading, or titles are released in an almost unplayable buggy state.

I honestly don't care if Peter Payne is doing PR personally on cons or online sites, but I do care that he picks the right people for his company. So if Joe Jast isn't doing his job correctly then it's his job to make sure he does or replace him with someone who's able to. That's the job of the CEO.

[FrozenRaven]

Not sure if this counts but NIS is pretty good.

[WinterfuryZX]

4 minutes ago, FrozenRaven said:

Not sure if this counts but NIS is pretty good.

They tend to overlocalize too much for my tastes.

[FrozenRaven]

2 minutes ago, WinterfuryZX said:

They tend to overlocalize too much for my tastes.

Sorry I am not completely sure what overlocalize is 

[Decay]

The problem with NISA's work isn't "overlocalization," it's that they're just inaccurate and bad. As in, their translators don't know enough Japanese and just start making shit up levels of bad. Some of their releases have pretty much delved into engrish levels of bad writing, as well. NISA is perhaps one of the most widely hated localization companies out there, so you really picked a black sheep to support. 

[WinterfuryZX]

their translations are too liberal, that makes their script too much americanizad for my tastes. I think they're doing this by choice to get more sales, their Japanese is most probably fine.

[FrozenRaven]

1 hour ago, WinterfuryZX said:

their translations are too liberal, that makes their script too much americanizad for my tastes. I think they're doing this by choice to get more sales, their Japanese is most probably fine.

Oh yeah i get what you mean now, come to think of it i have noticed that quite a bit in their games. But i don't think i have noticed anything as bad as what @Decay is talking about. Maybe i just haven't played enough of their games. The only reason I even picked NIS is because they release their games on consoles.

[Tyr]

Every game with Nick Doerr in its credits is essentially a rewrite.

[Conjueror]

10 hours ago, WinterfuryZX said:

their translations are too liberal, that makes their script too much americanizad for my tastes. I think they're doing this by choice to get more sales, their Japanese is most probably fine.

I've only seen their tls on youtube, but they seemed very stilted and poorly written to me (the good writing of Ar Tonelico games in particular is completely ruined), not to mention the mistranslated lines (weren't they the ones who gave birth to that pregnancy meme with their Disgaea translation?). Americanization is the least of their problems. If there's a game that's overlocalized, it's Phoenix Wright, but Alexander O. Smith did such an awesome job with it, one is inclined to forgive anything.

[WinterfuryZX]

That's the reason I won't touch PW even with a mile pole.

[Zakamutt]

Phoenix Wright is a pretty great translation if you can look away from the slight discrepancies though. I can't fault them for anything but the decision to use a different translator for the other PW games, lol.

[Decay]

I love the phoenix wright localization, lol. Yeah, it's wildly different. But they recognized that they couldn't maintain the spirit of the original Japanese version without making some changes, so they decided to just go hog wild with it. And they actually pulled it off rather successfully, I'd say. The game wouldn't be a fraction of popular in the US as it is now if they didn't do that.

[TexasDice]

Eat your hamburgers, Fuwa.

[sanahtlig]

On 5/24/2016 at 7:09 AM, ChaosRaven said:

Does Jast have a responsible manager on his own nowadays or is it still just Peter Payne showing up from time to time? While I consider Peter Payne a highly competent person who manages J-list most excellently, I still have the feeling that Jast is more of a hobby project for him. His main baby is J-list. Which means, everytime he shows up things are getting better, but as soon as he turns his focus back on J-list its going downhill at Jast again, just for him to return a few months later having to clean up the mess.

I think Jast NEEDS a responsible manager on his own who's commited 100% to the company full time, or things won't change. People might complain about Dovac or Kouryuu not always being Mr. NiceGuy, but I think you have to be an a*s in this business from time to time to get things done and keep everything together. Not that Peter Payne wouldn't possess that 'talent' too, I still remember some highly amusing statements from him.  But I don't want to always to be worried when PP doesn't show up at Jast for a while that everything falls apart again.

I think one of their older key members, Makoto, isn't working with them anymore. But what about Tim or Nicholas Graham? Are they part time or full time members? Who manages Jast when PP isn't around?

JAST has a dedicated licensing person.  I know this because I have his e-mail address.  I'm sure Peter gets involved at times also.

I get the impression that JAST personnel have responsibilities that overlap with J-List.  Nicholas Graham appears to be the boss at JAST, and he seems like a capable sort.  Tim manages some projects.  He seems less experienced.  I'm not sure if Makoto is still working for JAST or not.  I agree that Peter seems mostly focused on J-List, and that JAST is a side project for him.

JAST's new forums are now live, and JAST personnel post there.  You should ask these questions to them yourself.

 

[Decay]

4 minutes ago, TexasDice said:

Eat your hamburgers, Fuwa.

Sorry, too busy stuffing my face with jelly doughnuts.

[Darklord Rooke]

3 hours ago, Decay said:

I love the phoenix wright localization, lol. Yeah, it's wildly different. But they recognized that they couldn't maintain the spirit of the original Japanese version without making some changes, so they decided to just go hog wild with it. And they actually pulled it off rather successfully, I'd say. The game wouldn't be a fraction of popular in the US as it is now if they didn't do that.

I played the AAI2 fan translation, and it wasn't as entertaining TBH. Still a decent translation, but it just shows how awesome the official localisations were. 

That being said there was some censoring in the official versions, and some of the localisation decisions were a bit over the top. Still, that quirky feeling and the humour came across in full force and because of this, the Ace Attorney games are among my favourites in the adventure genre. Bought a DS ONLY for Phoenix Wright.

[kyrt]

edit: did I really just type all this warning wall of text ahead apologies.

I definitely prefer JAST. Physical copies offered every time (with a download copy usually given as well), most of the events J-list or JAST show up Peter shows up and sometimes get wrapped up in talking with fans at his booth. His panels are often a lot more organized enjoyable and while question wise they sometimes can't answer everything the way you'd want (if he can give an answer he does). He's a professional which is a big difference from both mangagamer and sekai project panels that I've seen. They try to only release games fully uncensored which is something sekai project has yet to do for any of its japanese games (likely not  their fault). Generally they also have good prices (at least in the U.S.) and a good variety. The main issue with JAST is the release schedule for games, the acquisitions, and the quality of translations are sometimes leaving much to be desired. I'm pretty sure a bunch of the people working for JAST are freelance with maybe a few actually working. I also get the feeling that they've not had the best of luck with partners. I also have to say the customer service while sometimes a bit slow is usually excellent. I'm expecting a few announcements this year and a few additional releases besides sonico but they definitely don't release quite as many games as the second best.

Mangagamer on the other hand the only thing I have fully against is the lack of physical copies and the DRM. While they have definitely gotten better with that the recent issue with not giving steam keys with purchases and not doing physical editions (where they could put the steam keys and have no issues) definitely hurts in my eye. Their lineup of games has definitely gotten better over the years and their ability to release about one game a month is a very nice bonus the problem lies that they get games that are not top tier. The majority of Mangagamer's games are not anything special. They release more oelvn and nukige than good quality story driven games but like I said that is getting better. Especially recently I've been buying at Mangagamer more often now that the majority of their new games require no DRM. I have a huge stance against DRM and for the longest time the only way I bought their games was via physical copies. The problem here is that their physical copies are often limited runs and if I don't have money at a particular time there is always a chance that when I do have the money they will be out. They to my knowledge do not reprint titles nor have they gone back and gotten rid of DRM from everything which means some DRM still exists. They also are quite a bit more expensive for the better quality titles. I also have to praise their ability to keep us informed on titles they've announced. Allowing us to see where they are with each title is not just a good gesture to the community but is a good marketing strategy. Now people can predict when they will need to scrounge for a bit of extra dough (or take it from the grocery budget), this makes it more likely someone will be able to purchase their games. Like JAST the few times I have had to talk to customer service the service has been impeccable and the quickness at replying might actually be quicker than JAST.

Both JAST and Mangagamer also take care of All Ages and Adult fans and release titles on both sides of the spectrum rather regularly. Honestly both are very good companies and while each will have an occasional spot of bad every so often generally they are both very good companies.

Sekai Project: Oh boy this one. I may not have the most favorable of opinions on this company but I do appreciate them. It's thanks to Sekai Project that we even have the chance for official versions of certain titles and despite my dislike of how they go about their business they have spread visual novel awareness to more than regular visual novel fans. I would not go as far as to say they've made visual novels popular in the west but they have made them noticeable. Sekai Project generally releases pretty cheap games which is a plus as well however it has its fair share of problems as well. The lack of physical copies. The majority of all of their released games have been digital only or kickstarter physicals only. While business wise this is a sound method as a fan and collector it really annoys me. Sekai Project also has the bad habit of releasing only all ages titles and while they do have an adult spin-off website under denpasoft it's treated like a neglected child. Sekai Project's habit of releasing via kickstarter or indiegogo only if successful is also a real annoyance for those of us who expect acquisitions of licenses to mean they actually already have the rights to release the game. Sekai Project has made it possible for things like Clannad to release westward but has also caused a shift in the way japanese visual novel companies think about licensing. I imagine this hurts the chances of some big names coming to Mangagamer or Jast because they wanna try the kickstarter route. I see kickstarter as eventually not working as a means of funding projects and hopefully once this happens the japanese companies will try the normal way or will release titles themselves (with proper translators). Sekai Project has had a few failed kickstarters (or extremely delayed kickstarters) because they like to fund the little guy which is alright and good so long as the little guy does not fall through on his promise. Another big area of concern is that because the majority of their games are steam only they do not offer a way to get them outside of the Steam DRM which is really annoying for someone who wants a DRM-free game. Sekai Project is not the greatest of the visual novel companies but it's also not the worst either and despite most people's disatisfaction toward them it cannot be denied that Sekai Project has had a profound effect on the visual novel market in the west.

Denpasoft: Technically a part of Sekai Project for the longest time denpasoft was ignored and even now is not overly hyped up. Denpasoft never has a panel or a mention at Sekai Project's visual novel panels at cons. It has a very limited selection of games the most of which are extremely short or were only added because of kickstarter. Going forward Sekai Project does not wish to release full games but rather only 18+ patches that you buy separate of the game. They don't seem to bother with trying to get titles mosaic free. Recent announcements have made them decide to try indiegogo for an adult title one of which they announced over a year ago (with no kickstarter/indiegogo...it was likely Karakara's fault this is now happening), they fail to release the higher quality titles with the 18+ content they were originally released with (G-Senjou), and they do not keep people well informed about the games in their lineup. They take no risks which business wise is probably a smart venture but is really irritating for those of us who are sick to death of funding via indiegogo/kickstarter. It is almost June and the last update on the website was back in February when they announced the removal of steam keys. They also seem to be having issues with having adult only titles and an actual payment processor which isn't their fault but is yet another thing that just isn't working. It does not help that because most of denpasoft's games were either from a kickstarter, available elsewhere, niche genre, or really short that people have a habit of pirating their games more than anyone else. Part of this likely comes from the bad rapport denpasoft has made with the fans. The change of the website from the original is a nice change but that was months ago and nothing new has been updated outside of a single release that may not have even gotten a news update. Sekai Project is essentially ignoring Denpasoft. I want to like Denpasoft as much as the others but until Sekai Project gives it the due attention it needs (which I do think will happen eventually) it's just going to be taking a backseat to the visual novel companies that do the same things better.

Moenovel: The Black-sheep of visual novel localization companies. One of the worst releases of a popular visual novel yet. Censored for 12 year old french girls so they could play it. The translation was awful, the censorship was beyond simple sex/nudity, and the release was a joke. They've released a total of one game. If anything it did show what not to do with a visual novel release. It did however have a physical edition and did have a pretty decent record of keeping people informed about the release leading up to it. I think it would be incredibly smart of them to work with the current (does this exist still?) translators of the restoration patch and have them re-release the game without the cut content as they'd make some money from it but then that's unlikely as well. Nothing really worked about this release and it's considered quite possibly to be the worst of the vn localization companies.

Honorable Mentions (verdict is still out): Degica (Muv-luv no idea on translation quality), Mikandi Japan (Libra of the Vampire Princess no idea on translation quality), NISA (released Danganronpa and Psycho-Pass vns), Aksys (blazblue, norn, virtue's last reward, hakuoki, fate/extra, sweet fuse), frontwing (nothing in house yet), and capcom (iffy translation for phoenix wright games but usually enjoyable nonetheless)