Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360 - Kotaku Comments

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

kftgr — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 13:37:27 MDT

Interesting move by Ubisoft there. Wonder if they're going to release it in Japan at all, considering that it would be costing them quite a bit extra to do the Japanese tracks (voice acting & script translation). Also, the majority of the Naruto fans are fans through the CN English dub version, so it would actually be eschewed for the English track most of the time. However, if Ubi releases it in Japan, they might not get much sales because of the more advanced Naruto series currently showing, and the 360 installed base is relatively tiny.

Subtitles FTW! Why? So that one can fastforward through the many flashback and/or whining-Naruto sequences without losing anything :)

BTW, anyone know which episode/arc the CN series is at now?

kftgr

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

jonny_foreigner — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 18:53:32 MDT

Believe it! lolz

My Naruto loving coworker will be thrilled, me well meh!

Subtitles FTW!

jonny_foreigner

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

mjpm — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 17:54:50 MDT

Dattebayo!!!!!

Too bad I've been relegated to rehashed bull crap on the Wii's Naruto simply because the series isn't as far along here as it is in Japan (spoilerz: He's OLDER now, with a marginally better suit).

Come back to me when they get around to fighting Akatsuki. I'll be over here with my imports.

mjpm

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Archangel — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 17:44:48 MDT

Man, wish this happened with DBZ: BT2...

Archangel

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

heckaTIGHTis — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 15:32:32 MDT

I saw the game in action at Fanime 2k7. It looks pretty interesting. You have to actually form the hand seals to do techniques and the 1 on 1 fights are similiar to your average 3d fighter except when doing specials. From what i've seen this game is going to cause quite a few broken controllers o.o;;

heckaTIGHTis

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Nexus6 — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 15:09:42 MDT

@Asmodeal: Actually the dubing of anime in France is quite good. Better than the American equivalent.

Nexus6

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Chikebo — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 14:58:25 MDT

Some of the Weeaboos and Japanophiles sicken me with some of these comments, sheesh!

Chikebo

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Roflgoat — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 14:08:01 MDT

This is amazing news. Ubisoft, thank you for not being a d-bag like EA.

@Blue_Six

They did. They ruined Myst 4, apparently.

Roflgoat

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Kazidoom — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 11:51:04 MDT

Not a big fan of Naruto (I've got One Piece for my shonen needs) and even if the game is crap I might buy it anyway just to show Ubisoft that subtitles = good.

Kazidoom

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Dave Silva — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 11:50:04 MDT

So there's not going to be an English voice option?

I'm probably in the minority. I love Japanese voices, but hearing the US voices makes me laugh.

Dave Silva

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Langis — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 11:40:21 MDT

It is indeed a good move by Ubisoft to give players the option of original Japanese voices. Those who prefer the Japanese voice actors can enjoy the game as much as those who don't. And in Naruto's case, a series that lacks a well done dub, this is a very good thing indeed.

That said, the overall "subs suck" vibe that this particular line of comments is emitting is a little disheartening. You may not prefer dubs, but others do. A well done dub (emphasis on the words "well done") is just as potent at presenting a story as an original Japanese track. Slamming dubs just for the sake of slamming dubs is as ignorant as those who don't like subs because they have to read.

Langis

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

crayola77 — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 10:57:37 MDT

Ooh, amazing news. The only problem I might have would be trying to read the subtitles and do some of those button combo's at the same time.

crayola77

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

cakeordeath — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 10:45:18 MDT

Just want to say I love you Ubisoft. I even forgive you for Red Steel! :o

*Runs off to preorder Naruto

cakeordeath

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Ignus — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 10:19:54 MDT

Thats actually cool. English Dubs suck. A lot.
Hopefully this game is gonna be worth buying.

Ignus

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Dorphat — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 09:57:13 MDT

@NoBullet: DID SOMEONE SAY WEEABOO?!

I was only going to post a simple yay, but I think my skin is falling off. May be unrelated.

Dorphat

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

jollygoodlad — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 09:45:46 MDT

Datte ba yo!

jollygoodlad

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

CrimemasterGogo — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 09:19:28 MDT

Oaky calm down people the dubbbing isn't that bad. I don't mind either way as long as the games good.

CrimemasterGogo

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Altima NEO — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 09:19:27 MDT

Awesome. I dont care for Naruto, but I dont like his English speaking voice actor even more. Why do they always make em sound like hoarse sounding old women?

Altima NEO

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

NoBullet — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 09:17:55 MDT

And the weeaboos make a collective splooge.

NoBullet

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

realyst2k — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 08:57:05 MDT

YEEEEEHAAAAAAAA!

If I had to hear that bloody "Believe it!" crap once more I was gonna seriously bludgeon a CN employee to death with a frozen tuna.

realyst2k

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Lanky Bugger — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 08:25:31 MDT

@Lider: Uh, say what?

Fillers aside, the anime is shockingly accurate in regards to the manga. The differences are pretty small and mainly involve fleshing out stuff left implied in the manga (the Temari/Tenten fight) or reducing the violence of some of the occurances in the manga (like Zaku's arm being blown off).

Though how this shows respect for the manga and not the anime I don't know... because the anime's Japanese voice actors were involved in the filler as well, remember?

Lanky Bugger

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

muppetsausages — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 08:23:03 MDT

This comes as no surprise to me; the French, some of the oldest Orientalists, are purists when it comes to their Asian entertainment. Also, they've some art sensibilities in common with the Japanese.

muppetsausages

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Lanky Bugger — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 08:21:01 MDT

Good god, yes.

I'm not going to make any judgements about the quality of the Japanese dub as I don't understand the language. However, I can more easily turn Japanese voices into white noise than I can English voices, because I don't understand what they're saying anyway. That, and Flannigan's voice is as painful as a cheese grater rubbed on my ear.

Lanky Bugger

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Lider — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 08:16:57 MDT

Good move by Ubisoft. This shows that they have great concern for the original manga. Let's hope it follows the manga events and NOT the anime with all of its bad fillers.

Lider

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

WizarDru — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 08:15:11 MDT

"I think the hardcore fan-base is what will make this game successful, and you should pander to them whenever reasonably possible. With their blessing alone it'll do better."

No, the hard-core fanbase may make this game a little more successful than it already is, but this game will succeed or fail by the majority of casual fans of the series in the US, not the hardcore. The hardcore already are watching Shippendan with subtitles and finished playing Gekito Ninja Taisen 2 years ago; they are not the mainstream viewers making Naruto the highest rated show on Cartoon Network and Clash of Ninja 2 a Gamecube bestseller.

I think this is a nice option, but not as necessary as some games. Shenmue II was far superior with subtitles....most of the Naruto games? Not really so much.

WizarDru

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Absent Blue — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 07:57:16 MDT

Good move, I watched the anime before it came to America so I grew accustomed to the Japanese voices. I just am not in a position to appreciate the American ones myself, although that doesn't ring true for everything, it's dependent on the situation. I think the hardcore fan-base is what will make this game successful, and you should pander to them whenever reasonably possible. With their blessing alone it'll do better.

This is just a nice, genuine, fan-based move. Kudos, Ubi, I'm liking them more and more every day.

Absent Blue

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Schu — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 07:40:08 MDT

About bloody time!

Schu

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Elixir — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 07:29:22 MDT

I love Ubisoft now. They also did a great job with Senko no Ronde (keeping the japanese voices with english on top).

Elixir

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

crazyspoonhead — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 07:25:43 MDT

Thumbs up for Ubisoft doing this. This game just went from a "maybe" to a "must-buy" for me now.

crazyspoonhead

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

WoodyNvincible — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 07:22:03 MDT

Just awesome. Ubisoft just racked in a sale from me thanks to this. Let's hope companies continue this trend with future titles of Naruto, Bleach and the rest of the gang.

WoodyNvincible

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Melenor — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 07:11:40 MDT

Personally, I hate Naruto, but I will admit the Japanese voice actors are far better than the English ones. The same can be said of most any anime.

Other games need to do this, too, and networks airing anime should do so as well... I foresee dual audio TV soon.

Titles such as Ninja Gaiden and Odin Sphere already do this, so it's not a big deal - so really, games that DON'T do this should be the ones making news.

P.S. lawl at otakus calling the voice actors "seiyuu." Why aren't the rest of your posts in Japanese? ;)

Melenor

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

endaround — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 07:10:41 MDT

You forgot the fact that its a French company making a game based on a Japanese anime and doing so in Canada and mainly aiming for the North American audience. If that doesn't show the world is small...

endaround

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Wei — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 07:03:03 MDT

Thank you Ubisoft. Not only is the Japanese cast a lot more emotive, but they'll be using the original names of the jutsu. I mean, I know that in the Japanese they are essentialy just saying what they are doing, but I can only have the english-voiced "FIRE-STYLE Jutsu!!!" grate against my eardrumbs so many times.

And hey, bonus, they will all pronounce the titular character's name correctly. That's always good.

@Mongoosekun: I have to disagree. I would love a Shippuden game, but even without it, I think the non-fighting format has legs, even in the original series.

Wei

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

ビッグボス — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 06:41:29 MDT

As a big Naruto fan, let me just say: THANK YOU UBISOFT! <3

ビッグボス

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Do Kesubei — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 06:38:50 MDT

That's very cool of you, Ubisoft! I'm sure the original seiyuu were just as shocked.

But this leads me to ask, who's writing the script? And is it being written in Japanese first, then translated into English; or is it written in English first, then translated into Japanese for the seiyuu?

Do Kesubei

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Rebochan — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 06:33:14 MDT

Dang, I'm not a big Naruto fan but part of me wants to pick the game up just to encourage this trend to continue.

Rebochan

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Kikujiro — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 06:27:20 MDT

Asmodeal > It may have been something poorly done in the past (Hokuto no Ken, Maison Ikkoku...) but by now, most dubs are OK. I mean, just look at Last Exile, Monster, etc... great series, great french dub.

Though in this precise case, Naruto is NOT OK. So yeah, good move from Ubi on this one.

Kikujiro

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

SeraphSkye — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 06:19:41 MDT

Man. Bandai Namco's probably so pissed off at themselves for shelling out multiple mediocre Naruto games and watching Ubisoft do the same...only much better.

SeraphSkye

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

thaKingRocka — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 06:15:31 MDT

3 cheers for ubisoft!

thaKingRocka

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Mongoosekun — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 06:07:27 MDT

@AlcoholicZombie:

It's a naruto game, and if it's not shippuuden it's going to suck double. Sorry. ;)

Mongoosekun

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Asmodeal — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 06:05:58 MDT

Well not surprising, dubing of anime is something old in france and known for its poor quality, and more than once games were ripped of japanese voices in their european version which was quite frustrating (disgaea for example, one (ore more)dbz game also i think).

Asmodeal

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

TokeYo — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 06:03:26 MDT

Hai!

TokeYo

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Blue_Six — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 06:01:54 MDT

Oh Ubisoft?

When will you ever do anything wrong? D:

Blue_Six

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Atheist Jew — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 05:57:34 MDT

THANK YOU ZOMBIE JESUS

Lets hope other developers get a clue and this sets a trend.

@Ashurahori: no, actually, they weren't. Especially not compared with the brilliant work of the seiyu that did the original Japanese track. The American version loses all of it's emotion, ALL of it's Yakuza-specific slang, everything that made it not just a great game, but a great experience.

Atheist Jew

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

TitillatedOcelot — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 05:54:43 MDT

This pleases the council. Hell, I would have picked this one up either way, but this is certainly a nice touch. Although I must say, I find that the dub of Naruto is pretty decent. It isn't anywhere near as bad as One Piece (Hey 4Kids Entertainment: go fist yourselves in traffic. All of you at once. Get going). But if I can get this game in Japanese, all the better.

TitillatedOcelot

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Cirrus — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 05:48:50 MDT

Yes!!!!
I can't wait for this to come out now. Hopefully it folows the story through until at least the fillers in the anime.

Cirrus

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Rhys — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 05:43:31 MDT

I know my friend doesn't like subbed shows 'cos he can't be bothered reading

Rhys

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

AlcoholicZombie — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 05:43:08 MDT

Joygasm!

I seriously hope this game is a success and highly rated. Definitely will set the bar for these type of game. If Ubisoft green lights another Naruto game, I hope it takes place in the Shippuden time line. I early wait for the next episode out each weak and so do thousands of others! I think this will suit the buyers just fine.

Except for uneducated rednecks.

AlcoholicZombie

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Truepatriot — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 05:41:08 MDT

i dont really care for naruto but i like ubisofts move here.i hate having dubbed foreign movies and anime.im ok with reading =D

Truepatriot

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

wisebug — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 05:40:27 MDT

it doesn't say anywhere that they won't include the English voice as well...

wisebug

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Red Peter — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 05:33:38 MDT

@Benzido:

Why not? Can't they read?

May this be the death of awfully dubbed JRPG's! (although I know it won't be)

Red Peter

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

ITR — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 05:31:53 MDT

Believe it!

Ahhhhh no more CN!

Not a fan of Naruto, but I am a fan of Onepiece.

ITR

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Ashurahori — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 05:27:58 MDT

Ryu Ga Gotoku's english voices were AWESOME.

Ashurahori

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Benzido — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 05:24:54 MDT

This is perfect for me, but I can't imagine it will suit the majority of Naruto buyers.

Benzido

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Chrysalis — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 05:17:41 MDT

Whoopeee!....ahem...err...sorry

Chrysalis

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Blazyx — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 05:14:13 MDT

Cool

Blazyx

Naruto Stays Japanese On Xbox 360

Daft — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 05:06:30 MDT

Wow, this is the way to go! I just want a Bleach game like this now!

Daft