The localisation controversy (and why it might actually be a good thing)

It’s a game about making friends … with cows

Right before Ryu ga Gotoku 8 (Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth) released, The Japan Times published this article about game localisation. I skim read it, not paying much attention as the writer had also written this about Ryu ga Gotoku 8, which features several glaring mistakes and so I knew he wasn’t someone worth bothering much about.

Ryu ga Gotoku Round Up Special – Tokyo Game Show 2022

^{Picture credit: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio official Twitter (@ryugagotoku)}

Apart from Famitsu (part 1, part 2), Yokoyama and Sakamoto were interviewed by several other Japanese outlets (and international ones — more on that later) at TGS. Obviously there’s a lot of repetition in the questions and answers, so there wouldn’t be much point doing full translations of all of them, even if I had the time or inclination! But they all have some different questions or different angles on similar questions, so I thought I’d do a round up post, for the first time in a while. (A couple of years, it turns out! How time flies …)

Yokoyama and Sakamoto at TGS 2022 – Famitsu interview part 2

This is the part of the interview that focuses on Ryu ga Gotoku: Ishin! Kiwami (aka Like a Dragon: Ishin! in the west). They also talk about the changes in RGG Studio in the past year, the reason for using the Unreal Engine, and why it’s not Kenzan, among other things. Enjoy!

Famitsu discusses Ryu ga Gotoku 8 and Ryu 7 Gaiden with Yokoyama and Sakamoto at TGS 2022

Picture credit: Famitsu

At Tokyo Game Show 2022, Famitsu interviewed Yokoyama Masayoshi and Sakamoto Hiroyuki, in their new roles as head of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and Ryu ga Gotoku series chief producer. Famitsu split it into two articles, this one focusing on Ryu ga Gotoku 8 and Ryu ga Gotoku 7 Gaiden, and a bigger one focusing on Ishin! Kiwami [Like A Dragon: Ishin]. Of course it’s early days, so there’s not much they can say about these games yet, but hopefully there’s some new information here!

Source: https://www.famitsu.com/news/202209/18276512.html

Nagoshi Studio launch interview from Famitsu Online

L to R: Sato, Nagoshi, Hosokawa, Shirosaki

Famitsu interviewed Nagoshi, as well as a few of the other ex-Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio devs who’ve left Sega to set up Nagoshi Studio with him. I’m sure most people know, but just in case: Sato was Ryu ga Gotoku series general producer/studio representative; Hosokawa was Judge Eyes/Judgment series producer; and Shirosaki produced the Super Monkey Ball remake as well as being Kizuna Project manager on Ryu ga Gotoku Online for a while (under the alias of PS2 Kazuki). Full bios for them and the other founding members are available, in Japanese and English, on the Nagoshi Studio official site: https://nagoshistudio.com/staff/

Famitsu interviews Yokoyama about the new Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio structure

Picture credit: Famitsu

Famitsu has the first interview with the new Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio head Yokoyama Masayoshi, following the announcement of big changes at the studio last month. Yokoyama talks about the departure of Nagoshi and Sato, his new role, the new team structure, and what it all means for the future of our favourite games.

Source: https://www.famitsu.com/news/202111/20241637.html

Ryu ga Gotoku monthly round up – October/November 2020

Really not much to report at the moment, but we’ve been promised an “announcement of future developments” next week, so I guess I should just catch up on what little has been going on before that.

Ryu ga Gotoku monthly round up – September 2020

September is usually dominated by Tokyo Game Show, but with no new game to announce this year, it wasn’t quite as huge a presence as usual. Before that though … 

Ryu ga Gotoku monthly round up – July/August 2020

July and August were dominated by Bakamitai … and not much else. It’s odd this year, as normally at this time we’d be getting hints of what to expect at Tokyo Game Show, and we’d be expecting an announcement of at least one new game at the end of the year or the start of next year. But we still know nothing … apart from the fact that they’re working on something.