Venetica - UK Release Friday

[Dhruin]

I don't really understand why they would translate an entire game into English, release it in three countries that don't have a very large target audience for this sort of game (as far as I know at least) and then decide not to release it in the UK altogether.

dtp distributes directly in some European territories but not the UK. They needed to sign a UK distie -- Mastertronic in this case. dtp are very frustrating with this but it's a side effect of being signed to a small-ish German-based publisher who doesn't have wide international distribution agreements.

 

[KasperFauerby]

If you're looking for the PC version and can wait another 7 days you can order/pre-order the game here.

Wow, that was cheap! Even with international delivery
Placed a pre-order there just now...

Thanks for the link!

 

[coaster]

Coaster , where did you order this from and is it in english ??? My game radar tells me this is a decent game .

I'm in the UK.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mastertronic-Ltd-Venetica-PC-DVD/dp/B00422KX7W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1289559568&sr=8-3

 

[DArtagnan]

I was bored within an hour of trying this game...

 

[Alrik Fassbauer]

It's rather action-oriented, with some quests in it, which show the heritage of its developers : Deck 13, known for the Ankh series. This is my impression from the demo.

 

[Gorath]

You can buy it now. It will land in the pyramid next week.

 

[Alrik Fassbauer]

Yes, I already figured it out.

I have seen reduced prices already elsewhere.

But A Vampre Story had higher priority for me.
Plus Viva Pinata, but that doesn't count, because it was only (inclusive shipping) 4 Euros …

 

[basharran]

I played through it and for an action RPG (let's call it that) it's pretty decent. Also I liked the graphics and setting a lot. Didn't experience too much bugs during my playthrough.

 

[Gorath]

Oh, it is an action-RPG. On top of a solid adventure game.

Worked very well for me, but YMMV.

 

[Anderson]

Would this same publisher release it later in the US, or will we need to wait for a new publishing deal for that? I'm guessing the former, since they are referred to as a UK publishing firm?

 

[Dwagginz]

Would this same publisher release it later in the US, or will we need to wait for a new publishing deal for that? I'm guessing the former, since they are referred to as a UK publishing firm?

I'm not aware of Mastertronic having a US branch.

You should be able to order from the UK if you're desperate for a copy.

 

[Gorath]

Would this same publisher release it later in the US, or will we need to wait for a new publishing deal for that? I'm guessing the former, since they are referred to as a UK publishing firm?

A US deal is rather unlikely after such a long time. Just order from the UK or hope that GoGamer imports a couple of copies.

 

[skavenhorde]

If you guys run into a broken quest like I did then you'll need this. It's a really simple utility someone created to fix most broken quests in the game.

I came across one broken quest where I had to find someone and once I did he wouldn't talk to me. I used that utility when I was on the same screen as him and it fixed it. Then I could talk to him.

 

[Anderson]

A US deal is rather unlikely after such a long time. Just order from the UK or hope that GoGamer imports a couple of copies.

I was afraid of that. I've never imported a game, but I might be willing to in this case. I'll wait for the Euro reviews (360) and try to figure out if it's region-locked...

 

[Alrik Fassbauer]

Games are region-locked ? Since when ?

 

[Anderson]

Games are region-locked ? Since when ?

Well, I've never dealt with this stuff before (importing), so I could be completely confused, but I believe that some games are PAL-only (is that the term? vs. NTSC or whatever), meaning that if you're not in a PAL territory (US is not, I believe it is NTSC), then you can't get them to run on your console.

I'm talking about Xbox 360 games, btw. This probably doesn't apply to PC games.

All I know is that when I've listened to other people consider whether to import a game, they always talk about whether it's region locked, region coded, or something to that effect. But I admit I'm pretty clueless and could be completely mistaken.

 

[TheGameSquid]

Unfortunately, pretty much every console game is region-locked nowadays. Those that don't have region locks are very few and far between. I hope for your sake that they release a region-free version for the 360, but I certainly wouldn't count on it.

I believe the PS3 is region free and about 99% of it's games are too. But you'd need an HDTV and a HDMI cable for it too work, because otherwise some games not might function properly because of the 50Hz/60Hz difference between PAL and NTSC TV's.

Or at least, that's how I think it works.

Amazon.com does have this somewhat unclear listing online, but I don't think it's very reliable.

 

[Anderson]

Thanks, GameSquid, that is helpful. I did not know that most 360 games are region locked, but most PS3 games are not. That's interesting (any idea why, by the way?).

I own a PS3, so maybe I'd better wait for that version, if I'm going to try to import. I do have it hooked up to an HDTV through an HDMI cable, so that shouldn't be a problem.

 

[skavenhorde]

Unfortunately, pretty much every console game is region-locked nowadays.

PS3 is not region locked on any of their games. They mentioned something about DVD/Blueray movies have some kind of region lock, but none of their games are.

I have looked and asked around many different places and my friends have PS3. They can buy games from anywhere. I won't buy a Wii or XBox360 because they do have a region lock. I guess I could look into cracking them so I won't be forced to play games in Japanese or Chinese, but I don't want to go through that hassle not to mention I would void my warranty. I really would like to check out some of XBOX's indie games, but it's just not worth it because of that region lock.

@Anderson You can import any game. I've played imported US games on my friend's PS3. Go to any console store and ask them. They'll say the same thing.

 

[Alrik Fassbauer]

Well, I've never dealt with this stuff before (importing), so I could be completely confused, but I believe that some games are PAL-only (is that the term? vs. NTSC or whatever), meaning that if you're not in a PAL territory (US is not, I believe it is NTSC), then you can't get them to run on your console.

Yes, of course, but this has nothing to do with region codes or locking. It has only something to do with the TV.

A weird thing is, that Japan is together with Europe in DVD region code 2,
*and* has NTSC, which Europe - as far as I know - has not.

Which means that European Video-DVDs must be compatible - or so I read - to both standards : PAL because of Europe + NTSC because of Japan.

But since I'm not an expert in these things (DVD-things), I really can't tell. It's just so that I once read it, and I found it interesting.