Yakuza: Ishin

[Team Andromeda]

How many words of dialogue are in a game like this? Translation isn't particularly cheap, and JP>EN is expensive anyway, so it would be a fairly major outlay for probably not that much of a reward. Maybe there are some examples that buck the trend, but niche martial arts films aren't usually lauded for the quality of their translated subtitles.

I knew one of the old ex SEGA senior producers and in a game like Yakuza there are pages and pages of the stuff . Also unlike any film , every time the text is changed in a game it needs to spell checked (then are then words in Japanese that have no real meaning in the West and are just made up text ) , check there is no issues with the code every time a font is changed , check for bugs text over running and you not only have to pay for coders but also producer/project manager - on both sides of the Atlantic You then have to deal with MS or Sony America who have their own check lists for games and even when all thats done, you have to try and sell the game to retail and try and get it on prime space - For a Game like Yakuza (set only in Japan) and with all sorts of issues over content and violence and an incredibly niche product, its a really hard sell.

[sj33]

Essentially, it's going viable to do a translation if the game is going to be released in the west as well. It's not really feasible to do an English version just for Hong Kong. They usually don't even do a Chinese version - they just release both the English and Japanese versions with a Chinese booklet and hope that covers most bases.

[Neon Ignition]

I'd be nice to be surprised but I'm guessing it's safe to assume no Yakuza from 5 onwards will get an english translation. Sega has made two attempts at making the series appeal to the west, the second due to fan request and it's struggled after both, I think they're over it.