In addition to the Shining Force remake for the Game Boy Advance, Shining Tears and Shining Force IV for the Playstation 2, Sega has confirmed that yet another new Shining Force title is going into the project stage. Could this be the remake/re-release of Shining Force III fans outside of Japan have been waiting for for so long? God I hope so. I truly hope Sega gives fans of the Shining series outside of Japan the consideration they deserve. In the past I’ve received the distinct impression Sega couldn’t care less about anyone who isn’t Japanese and it’s disheartening to say the least.
While I am hopeful, I doubt it’s a remake/re-release of the Shining Force III trilogy.In fact, I’m almost certain it’s a remake of one of the Game Gear Shining Force games or Shining Force II (which was exclusive to the Genesis) for the Game Boy Advance since it seems the remake of the original Shining Force for the Game Boy Advance has shipped quite a few copies.
Sega has every intention of turning the Shining series into its flagship series of RPGs. However, from what I can gather Sega is resurrecting the Shining series for Japanese audiences… exclusively. Tadashi Takezaki, the person in charge of overseeing the new generation of Shining games said that there’s no other genre of games more popular than RPGs in Japan, implying that that in itself was one of the motivations for resurrecting the series. As if western gamers are incapable of appreciating great RPGs for what they are.
Sega seems to be completely forgetting fans of the series living outside of Japan and the fact that it denied the western world the entire Shining Force III trilogy. If Sega had any measure of integrity, the entire game would’ve been translated by now. How can an international company like Sega treat anyone who lives outside of Japan as second rate fans?
As you can tell, I’m really annoyed. Woe is the person who defends Sega of Japan’s ethnocentricity.
The time has come for Sega to redeem itself in the eyes of its fans. Sega needs to atone for depriving us of the complete Shining Force III trilogy. If Shining Force IV turns out to be a better game in every respect and it does reach our shores this time, I may be tempted to forgive Sega. This firm stance against translating great RPGs belongs in the past.
Tips for retaining respect from your peers:
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Never assume anything about situations that you do not have specific knowledge or insight into.
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Never assume anything about people that you do not have specific knowledge about.
If you want to find out something interesting, look up the credits for every game released by Sega of America in the last 2 years. Look up the names of the producers. See how many you can count.
Then revisit your previous statements.
I shall try to take your advice to heart Abadd. Even the posters over at Shining Force Central are annoyed with me for harping on about this issue.
To be honest, I’m tired of it all. These games were a part of my childhood, so they meant a great deal to me. Perhaps I should just forget about them.
I understand your frustration, but it is too early to assume anything, for one. And frankly, it isn’t any sort of ethnocentricism that “prevents” games from coming over to the US.
For example, if retailers don’t want a game, or very few copies can be sold in to retailers, there’s not much a company can do.
Ok, I shall wait and see then.
Tadashi Takezaki actually said that Sega cannot survive without RPGs, which is very encouraging, as it means we will be seeing more RPGs from Sega.
[quote=“Geoffrey Duke”]Ok, I shall wait and see then.
Tadashi Takezaki actually said that Sega cannot survive without RPGs, which is very encouraging, as it means we will be seeing more RPGs from Sega.[/quote]
Well I still think the world would be a much better place if Phantasy Star and not Final Fantasy had risen to be the promeinent RPG in the West, but never mind…
or Sega will go bust 
Seriously I think that the developers of the games would love it for their games to be released all around the world, afterall isnt it a games designer’s dream to have everyone be able to play and immerse themselves in their game?
Unfortunately as Abadd points out there are many overheads involved in shipping games to other parts of the world, there is a big cost in translation and distribution. In the end Sega is tied to generating value for its shareholders, they can not deliberately make actions that would lose the company value. So even if Sega of Japan + Sega of America and the game developers really want the games to come out in the West, if they are almost certain selling it in the West will lose money they cant do it. This is of course assuming that the gain in company image does not outweigh the costs but I digress.
Lets take Shining Force 3 episodes 2 + 3 as an example. When episode 1 had been released in the UK, the Saturn was a dying/dead console. Sega would not want to spend much money on releasing games on the console as it most likely wouldnt earn it back. The developers may have really wanted to release it but as far as shareholder value is concerned it would probably be too risky.
I’m annoyed too that we never got to see a Western release of the 2 chapters, it would have ruled. However it wasnt the developers fault that that happened and it wasnt even Sega’s fault really. If they dont have the money to do it or it wont generate shareholder value then they cant really do it.