Japan Release

[Dr-G0nz0]

Why can no one sense I was joking. It's obvious that no one knows. The decisions are probably made on how popular the franchise is and thus whether it's worth releasing there. Maybe Origins didn't do terribly well over in Japan and thought not to chance releasing HC.
They probably get sick of franchises being squeezed quicker than Western gamers. Who knows. At least they should enjoy DP a lot more than they'd have enjoyed Homecoming.

[Droo]

Wait, Japan has a problem with extreme violence in media? Someone better tell Takashi Miike.

In seriousness, Shattered Memories got released in Japan after Origins, so poor performance of that game probably isn't the reason Homecoming got passed over.

[Glenn]

Now that I think about it, wasn't there a box art for the Japanese version? I remember preferring that art over the U.S. one. Maybe the art I saw was fan-made or unofficial?

[chounokoe]

Wait, Japan has a problem with extreme violence in media? Someone better tell Takashi Miike.

I really think it was more of a marketing problem. All Silent Hills until Homecoming were rated with a CERO C, which is 15 and up, while that one would have gotten a CERO D, which equals 17 and up. Downpour got the same rating now, but I think they understood with Homecoming that there is a fanbase nonetheless.

Okay and there was also the rumor of a game-breaking bug that occurred and made the game impossible to finish, but I still assume that confusion how to market the game and maybe also mediocre results from SH Origins lead to them dropping it in favour of other projects.

I have to say I am looking forward to the Japanese version of Downpour, if only to compare them regarding translation and such.

[Bishop Sasarai]

Japan DOES have a problem with extreme violence in media. Recently, that is. Just compare the American and Japanese versions of Resident Evil 4.

I've never touched Homecoming, but from what I've read overall, it's not really Japan's loss.

[thy_butcher]

@Glenn, I'm pretty sure the japanese boxart is official; which Is one of the reasons I was so confused to learn of Downpour's absence from the Japanese market.

Why would they make a japanese boxart and not release the game? Maybe they were planning to all along...

[Dr-G0nz0]

Speaking of patches, when the hell are we going to get this patch? I haven't heard zip since they couldn't sort out the 360 HD Collection out. But they did say at that point they were still working hard on the patch for Downpour.... But come to think of it, was that before or after the news they might be closing down???

[Typographenia]

I asked Tomm Hulett about it a while ago, and he told me patches would be handled by the original devs. Like you mentioned, Vatra has been in a rather rough spot recently, so who knows?

[Dr-G0nz0]

Damn... really hope it gets sorted. Be a shame to leave a game as good as that in the incomplete condition it's in now.

[thy_butcher]

Last I heard, the "cancelation of the 360 HDC patch will have no effect on the Downpour patch."
Honestly though, I'm not holding my breath for it.

I'd love a patch for the stuttering & such, but really, the game is very playable for me. I've never had Downpour freeze on me nor have I encountered any game-breaking bugs or other major glitches; just very annoying stuttering.

But as others have hypothesised, perhaps they'll release a patched version Downpour in Japan; so that'd hopefully mean we'd get a download for it.

[Glenn]

@Glenn, I'm pretty sure the japanese boxart is official; which Is one of the reasons I was so confused to learn of Downpour's absence from the Japanese market.

Why would they make a japanese boxart and not release the game? Maybe they were planning to all along...

Yeah it is strange. I feel like enough thought and money go into making an attractive cover that it wouldn't make sense for all that work to be wasted. I sort of think this late launch was planned too.