Namco-Bandai has Turned it's Back

I've been a fan of Namco/ Namco-Bandai games for a long time now. Katamari series is always endearingly fun, and the Tales series is one of my favorite RPG series out there. But it's actions as of late have began to really piss me off and seem to show less concern of foreign audiences like us. For this I have a list of 3 reasons, 2 of which most fans of Tales can relate too, and the third will only relate to me and other One Piece fans and those in NA at that.

Reason #1: Tales of Vesperia PS3 port. Normally this would be good news if not for the added content. Now added content for a ported console version is no bad thing, however they added a brand-new central character to the story! This will (inconsequentially or not is yet to be seen) change the plot of the story, at least a little bit. This, to me, is a big middle finger to us who got the 360 version last year and do not have a PS3.

Reason #2: Not releasing TWO flagship Tales games outside of Japan. This is just aggravating to those of us who have been collecting the main series of Tales games. This isn't to say the will never be released, but there are just no plans to release them as of right now.

Reason #3: Not dubbing One Piece Unlimited Cruise 1 & 2 or releasing them in North America. This one is no as annoying as the other two reasons, it's just a big inconvenience. They have/are releasing them in Europe and Australia though only subbed. This isn't too bad to deal with as most people prefer the subs more anyway, but with Namco-Bandai cranking out Naruto games left and right and then distributing them everywhere, it is just kind of aggravating when put in perspective of the lack of (personally felt) better made and more solid One Piece games being released.

Yeah, these are just my opinions but I was wondering if anyone else is having the same reaction to this.

^this is pure evil, namco bandai betrayed me...

Meh, I will never understand why they choose not to release Tales of Innocence and Tales of Hearts in the United States and PAL regions. It simply makes no sense, being the fact that they are for the DS you can assume they would sell better than any of the console Tales games. They simply can't use sales as an excuse for why they aren't being released overseas.

I actually sent them an e-mail pointing that out, and of course I just got automated gunk back stating that they appreciate my interest in the Tales series of games, and what fans thinks matters to them, but there are currently no plans to release the two games in the United States.

As for Tales of Vesperia on the PS3 with extra content I don't really care, but it really fucked Microsoft in Japan. It was a pretty bold move of Namco Bandai to do that. I understand they want more money, like everyone else, but screwing Microsoft isn't what I would call a wise decision. I get the feeling that could very well come back to bite them in the ass.

namco bandai just made an archnemesis, one that can even buy them out...

Well, I just got some news that might redeem NB a little bit.
The new fighting game Tales of VS., featuring the protagonists of some of the games (including Shing from Tales of Hearts), for the PSP HAS had a trademark filed in America. It is good that they are likely to release this game in NA though it only be a spinoff, and with the main character of ToH in it, this could give the game hope for international release.

I'm more hoping they'll release Radiant Mythology 2. I hate the idea of Tales of VS. Feels like Namco is stooping to same lame ass level as Square Enix with that dumb Dissida: Final Fantasy.

i agree about the tales of versus, i don't think it would be good for NB to make this versus title... and for radiant mythology 2, it's awesome, i'm playing the japanese one, and i love it, even when the story is kind of blurry for me...

I hear ya, but the main reason it is good news that they are releasing this in America, is that is might end up bringing some popularity to Tales of Heart so that they might release it too. It also has characters from Tales of Innocence, Tales of Rebirth, and Tales of Destiny 2. So maybe, by some miraculous chance, this might insight interest in releasing all those games to NA and PAL regions too.

Well thankfully Absolute Zero Translations is still hard at work on the Tales of Innocence translation. Too bad it's hell to get a decent DS emulator to work on any computer, and finding a way to dump ROM information into a flash card to be played on the DS is even a more improbable task.

I also think this is just plain unfair to those who do not have a PS3. I'm fine with it, but I can imagine the anger and foolishness the people who bought a 360 just for the game must be feeling.

It wouldn't have been so bad if they would have made Patty an extra character. That way she wasn't intricate to the story, they wouldn't have had to redo virtually any scene; if she was just bonus like the rest of the features it could have been done as DLC for 360, but oh well.

Patty Fleur's data is actually present in the 360 version, but was never utilised.

I wonder if Tales of Vesperia didn't sell as well as they hoped for them to have to port it to the PS3. I held out buying for my 360 thinking it wouldn't do as well as it does on the Play Station and they would just make a PS3 version later on. Well what ever the reason I looks like I made the right call.


All I wan't a Tales of the World Radiant Mythology 2




As well as Tales of Destiny 1 and 2 for my PSP

Who knows. There is no announcement about an international release of the PS3 version though. Granted Eternal Sonata did, but that is no guarantee.

Trust me there’s a high possibility since it takes time and money to port from a 360 to a PS3. Porting a PS3 to a 360 is easier and involves less unforeseen problems for the programmers, meaning less time.

We'll see. For some reason I have my doubts about this one, but doesn't matter. Assuming it does, I'll probably buy a PS3 and get both versions just because I'm such a Tales fanatic.