Why No Chinese Version for L. A. Noire, Why?

[squirrel]

Many western games have been localized for Chinese. Most of them in traditional Chinese, of course, from Hong Kong and Taiwan. I feel good for them as I can read traditional Chinese (writing traditional Chinese is, of course, another matter). And Rockstar did it much better by publishing simplified Chinese version of GTA4, and in a much lower price than other versions, too.

Dont why this time L.A. Noire receives no Chinese localization, not even in traditional Chinese. Very painful to read / listen to English without some kind of translation.

[sabrage]

This raises another topic about LA Noire: is there mod support? I've noticed GTA IV enjoying something of a renaissance now that the hardware has caught up to it, and players have been churning out some pretty fascinating stuff. I'd imagine that, given enough time, this would solve your problem. It's strange that Rockstar would go back on that precedent though, especially considering China's potential playerbase. (I have no idea how popular PC gaming is in China, that's just an assumption I'm making based off population alone)

[agentorange]

Bear in mind that Rockstar didn't develop LA Noir, they just produce it, Bondi developed it and they are dead now. Could be some retard-o stuff going on because of that.

[Rii]

Because Australians are lazy.

[Nalano]

Bear in mind that Rockstar didn't develop LA Noir, they just produce it, Bondi developed it and they are dead now. Could be some retard-o stuff going on because of that.

I assume R* have the rights to the game, tho. Couldn't they do some cursory localization?

[agentorange]

I assume R* have the rights to the game, tho. Couldn't they do some cursory localization?

I don't think it's ever that simple. But who knows, maybe they're just lazy. Or have their hands full with GTA V.

[Nalano]

I don't think it's ever that simple. But who knows, maybe they're just lazy. Or have their hands full with GTA V.

Assuming, of course, they only have one studio and can only do one thing at a time.

[Smashbox]

It's not really a game you can create a cursory translation of, being mostly dialogue-focused, and with an emphasis on the subtler points of phrasing/wording. Then there's lip sync (impossible to re-lip-sync), not sure how big a deal that is. Anyway, I'm sure the calculation looked something like:

Cost of full-scale accurate Chinese translation > profits generated by lower-priced version of comparatively niche title

[Nalano]

It's not really a game you can create a cursory translation of, being mostly dialogue-focused, and with an emphasis on the subtler points of phrasing/wording. Then there's lip sync (impossible to re-lip-sync), not sure how big a deal that is. Anyway, I'm sure the calculation looked something like:

Cost of full-scale accurate Chinese translation > profits generated by lower-priced version of comparatively niche title

I'm not talking about full voice-acting/lip-syncing. I'm talking "add subtitles." Yeah, you lose all the inflection, but at least you're not completely lost as to what's going on.