Valkyria Chronicles 3 (PSP)

[ShinobiMuramasa]

It's been about 5 months since Valkyria Chronicles 3 was released in Japan and so far there has been no word about localization. Over the last couple of days fans of the series have organized to show their support on Sega and the Valkyria Chronicles Twitter and Facebook. With E3 just about over and still no announcement, today Sega responded to the fans over Twitter that VC3 would not be making an appearance at E3 nor would there be an announcement about a North American release.

For those of you that have not heard of the series, it blends tactical RPG, strategy, and third person shooter elements to create a unique and enthralling gameplay experience. The story of the series is engaging and it doesn't take long before you become engrossed in its world and colorful characters.

Here is a link to a promotional video for the game so you can get a taste of what it has to offer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5arBx1PLds

Sega is making a huge mistake by not localizing this and letting down a huge, established, and dedicated fanbase. Please consider picking this game up!

[Rarutos]

I don't think that tweet necessarily indicates that it won't be coming... They literally just said not at E3 and not announced! Which might mean it still could be announced!

Of course, my hope is dwindling as it is. I'm really really really hoping they won't skip on this. Atlus and XSeed are going to continue to support the PSP in the US! I'm sure Sega can at least give us one last PSP game... Maybe. ;3;

[AtlanteanMan]

While I definitely plan to get Valkyria Chronicles 3 if/when it's released locally, I think I speak for most fans of the series when I say I wish Sega would wake up and see what a vast gold mine they're sitting on with regard to classic RPG and SRPG franchises for consoles. Seriously, their back catalog of titles is far better overall than Square/Enix's; Valkyria Chronicles, Skies of Arcadia, the Shining Force series (the ORIGINAL turn-based SRPG versions), Phantasy Star (online OR the original story-based Genesis versions), Panzer Dragoon Saga, Skies of Arcadia, LandStalker, the still-awesome after all these years Dragon Force...if they could only realize how baffling it is to RPG, SRPG, and Strategy gamers why these franchises haven't seen the light of day in so long! But sadly, most developers are being forced to mold their games to fit the marketing of the latest tech or control interface, so time and again (as happened at this year's E3, obviously) we are ignored and basically told we're too "niche" to bother marketing to. Without more game genre variety, I fear there will be less and less reason for many of us who love these great gametypes to remain with the hobby for too much longer (and I've been a gamer since Pong).

[rozalin]

I've been meaning to join the xseed forums for a while now since I am a fan of xseed's localizations of Ys and LoH. I guess now is a good time!

I'm a HUGE fan of VC. I don't know what is Sega thinking. . .@rarutos you could be right. . .after the initial shock of the tweet, I thought the same thing. . .but I don't know. Are there any gaming conventions after e3?

[ShinobiMuramasa]

I've been meaning to join the xseed forums for a while now since I am a fan of xseed's localizations of Ys and LoH. I guess now is a good time!

I'm a HUGE fan of VC. I don't know what is Sega thinking. . .@rarutos you could be right. . .after the initial shock of the tweet, I thought the same thing. . .but I don't know. Are there any gaming conventions after e3?

The gaming conventions after E3 are Gamescon and the Tokyo Gameshow. Gamescon is Europe, so it is possible that Sega of Europe could announce a localization for Europe. But if Sega of America were waiting for an event to announce it, it would have been E3. They don't usually announce US or European releases for games at the Tokyo Game Show unless it's the first news for the game... VC3 has been out a while, so they wouldn't announce localization at TGS. So us seeking other avenues couldn't hurt at this point. The worst that could happen is Sega gets contacted by a company wanting to localize it and Sega denies them. That would suck but I've seen it happen when another company asks Namco Bandai if they can localize a "Tales of" game and Namco denies them. Hopefully Sega doesn't go the same route as them, it would be a shame if they denied a company wanting to localize it even though they have no intention of doing it themselves.

[Probit_Return]

I'm all for someone saving this gem of a game, and XSeed is a great choice. After their masterful handling of Trails in the Sky, I feel safe with them working on any game they pick up.

Sega's been slowly disappointing me more and more these days, to the point that VC was really the only series I could look forward to and say I was excited for it. If they don't bring it over here, they've got nothing for me. Meanwhile, XSeed just keeps impressing me, especially with their beautiful special edition packaging. *Wink wink, nudge nudge* But in all seriousness, I'd love to see it brought over here.

And if this is any indication
http://www.siliconera.com/2011/06/09...overed-before/
I'm in serious anticipation. It could be ANYTHING, but the possibility that it could be Valkyria Chronicles 3 makes me happy.

[SWP]

I would love to see Valkyria Chronicles. Ive been eagerly awaiting 3 for a while now and would love to see an Xseed localization of the game.

[AtlanteanMan]

The Tokyo Game Show in September is where most of the Japanese developers show off their wares now. E3 has become so much about the Western devs that most of them don't bother to have a booth here anymore. Anyway, I'm hoping for a slew of announcements from Sega (including Valkyria Chronicles 3) and others, especially Daisenryaku Perfect HD from SystemSoft Alpha. It'd be really nice if Sega shocked us all and brought back a console Valkyria Chronicles or maybe even a Shining Force SRPG based off Valkyria's engine. I don't know for sure but I'd say localization developers like XSeed monitor that show very closely for potential games to bring here, if they don't attend it outright. So let's keep our fingers crossed that something good happens.

[AtlanteanMan]

After noticing the fact that there were NO traditional RPGs, JRPGs, SRPGs (like Valkyria Chronicles 3), Strategy, Puzzlers, or Schmups (and probably other genres I didn't think of) at E3 AT ALL, I am seriously beginning to get discouraged and feel that this hobby just isn't ours (meaning old-school gamers') anymore.

That said, this COULD be an opportunity for an enterprising developer with the appropriate resources (whether that's XSeed or not I'm not sure) to make a nice but less graphics-intensive CONSOLE specifically geared toward fans of genres that AREN'T first-person shooters and sports titles. I imagine that if they could get support from Sega (Valkyria Chronicles, Skies of Arcadia, Phantasy Star, Shining Force, Dragon Force, Panzer Dragoon, etc etc etc), Square/Enix (OLD-SCHOOL Final Fantasy, Secret of Mana), Konami (Suikoden), Game Arts (Lunar, Grandia), Nintendo (Fire Emblem), SystemSoft Alpha (Daisenryaku), Namco (Tales series) TechnoSoft (ThunderForce), and Treasure (Radiant Silvergun, Guardian Heroes, Gunstar Heroes), I think the industry would be SHOCKED at how well it would do. I know I would DEFINITELY support it just to be able to play the genres I love once again in new iterations of great franchises we haven't seen in years or decades.

Yeah, it's most likely a pipe dream, but it's a GOOD one. Anybody else think so?

[Chaosblade]

You would be infinitely better off just releasing PC games that run on low end hardware than a weak console. Cuts the extra expense and provides the same experience, if not a better one since it would be easy to develop games for. And I don't think XSeed or any of the other localization houses are in a position to even consider releasing a console. That would require a multimillion (possibly billion) dollar investment, see Microsoft's entrance into the console space (spent something like 4 billion on the original Xbox, never made a profit until a few years ago).

Anyway, I don't think Sega would let anybody else touch VC considering the dedicated fanbase it has (think Namco and the Tales series). I'd love to be wrong, but it just seems really unlikely that they would just hand the game off to somebody else. Apparently there is still some possibility that Sega could release it as digital only, and they might have the option to release it on Vita or as a PSP Remaster on PS3.