Thread: Do Yo Think Pre-Ordering Japanese Pokemon Games is Right or Does it Kinda Spoil it.

Originally Posted by The Outrage

So, BNN, twitter subset of BulbaNews with the expressed purpose of getting you news as soon as it arrives (i.e., not verified) isn't obvious enough that they're going to be reporting spoilers? Why else would you bother following BNN when it's only useful around these big news moments. It's fairly obvious what constitutes as "Breaking News" in a Pokemon forum.

This wasn't "breaking news". They outright started listing names, teams and details about the gym leaders and E4/Champion, spoiled plot points that weren't part of any official press release or news, and posted a lot of things that weren't "news" in any sense of the word.

Originally Posted by Kree

Did you even read what I said?

You're assuming that Japanese is a language you understand at least partially, or are attempting to learn.

I'm assuming that Japanese is a language you cannot understand period and are not attempting to learn.

Yes, I did read what you said.

You said:

So buying a game in a language you can't understand isn't a waste of money now?

There. I read it once more. Believe me, I do see where you're coming from, but my point still stands. Yes, I used myself as an example, but I never said that was the only reason people buy the Japanese games. It's the same point any way you want to slice it. If you enjoyed the game, then it wasn't a waste of money, regardless of your reasons for buying a foreign game. The same would apply for a fan who doesn't speak a lick of English, and bought one of the localised releases (assuming it was never localised in their native language) cos he just wanted to have a go at Pokémon. If he enjoyed it, then it was money well spent, if not then he wasted his quid.

You're saying that buying a game in a language you can't understand is a waste of money, time, and effort. I'm simply saying it isn't as black and white (pun not intended) as you're making it out to be.

I don't understand why everyone is so upset over this. I've imported 3 Japanese games now (HG, Black, and White 2) and I don't speak Japanese at all but I don't feel like my experience changed any from playing English games (I have all of them btw). It's not like pokemon has this amazingly complicated plot that you can't figure out, it's the same general story line every single time. Get 8 badges, beat Team Bad, then fight the Elite Four all while catching all the mons you can. It's super simple really. I thoroughly enjoyed playing through my Japanese games and I don't feel like I "wasted" my money or time. To be honest, I don't understand why it matters or why anyone cares whether someone else buys a game in Japanese. To me it seems like spoilers are avoidable for the most part. It's no one's fault that one can't stay away from youtube and watch Let's Plays and walkthrough or unfollow a pokemon twitter.

Don't care about other people, but I really don't want them to list walkthroughs and stuff. I'm replaying Black version, and I need to know some egg moves for breeding, but I can't visit any pokemon related site in case people uploaded spoilers

I already tasted bitterness when someone uploaded that Akuroma was a Plasma related figure. That kind of stuff is huge and please I'd rather not hear anymore spoilers

Spoilers would come regardless of importers, ROM leaks makes that quite redundant anyways (will be interesting to see what happens with the 3DS games though, but that's for another time). Speaking from personal experience, it's pretty easy to avoid spoilers at all, and I will certainly do the same when gen VI comes around. Putting the blame on others when you go to pokémon sites exactly when a new game is being leaked is a pretty weak excuse if you ask me, seeing that it's pretty obvious that every fansite will try to get as much information out as fast as possible. Besides, for egg moves or other specific pokémon information, you could just go directly to "bulbapeblablabla/wiki/Pokémonnamehere" or some other pokémon fansite and avoid spoilers altogether.

Once again, putting the blame on importers for the fact that you saw one thing you didn't want is a pretty weak excuse if you ask me.

If you don't want to see content from Japanese games before their localised releases, just don't look. No one is forcing you to look at all these YouTube walkthroughs and stuff (besides, BNN and other fan sites got most of their news from 2ch, a Japanese website that Japanese players were posting on). As for whether people should import or not, it's their money, their choice.

I own Japanese copies of Red, Ruby, Ranger, Pearl, Platinum, SoulSilver, White and White 2. I have no knowledge of Japanese and I regret nothing. The Pokémon games are ones that you can play in any language just fine (and let's be honest, the storylines in Pokémon games aren't really that great anyway).

(Also I love the irony at how some spoilers you guys are talking about aren't in spoiler tags).

I've played through Black in Japanese, and it didn't ruin my experience, I enjoyed it and I have no knowledge of Japanese. It was actually fun to play through blind like that. Because of sites like Bulbapedia, I had help when I needed it and I got lost a few times, but that happens to me in English games too. Pokemon is easy to play through in Japanese IMO, I say if you really dont want to wait, then you can import, you might have to look stuff up while playing but other than that its much the same as playing through in your own language. It also helped me with my English play through since I then knew where to go in game so it was easy to just play through it.

Well, I don't know Japanese (Even though I want to), but I wouldn't buy the Japanese Version anyways Because: I only have a 3DS (its region-locked), and I want to avoid spoilers anyways.

I don't have a problem with it. I can understand most of it just fine in Japanese, it's not that hard, and I hate the wait between countries. Of course, I've never actually pre-ordered a Japanese game (no money XD), but I will on the next games. But I do wonder about people who can understand absolutely no Japanese, wouldn't that kind of ruin the fun? Pokémon games are simple enough that you don't actually need to read anything to finish the game, but I think it's a lot nicer reading the cheesy dialogue :P

Originally Posted by Satoshi_Pikachu

But I do wonder about people who can understand absolutely no Japanese, wouldn't that kind of ruin the fun? Pokémon games are simple enough that you don't actually need to read anything to finish the game, but I think it's a lot nicer reading the cheesy dialogue :P

Well, I think the thing is that everyone plays games for a different reason than the other person. Some people like compelling narratives, and others like just like the gameplay. Others like a good balance of both, and a lesser few may like it to study the mechanics and inner-workings of the game. So if your only concern with gameplay and absolutely nothing else or if you're into studying the mechanics of the game, an import will do just as well as a localized version of the game.

With that said, I, again, don't care how people spend their time and money. I listen to music in all different languages and people tell me the same thing. "But how can you enjoy it if you don't understand it?!" Although at least with music, it's a little easier to explain because audio is the primary focus no matter which way you look at it, but with games, it's harder to justify it to people who don't understand that your reason for playing doesn't necessarily require a localized version, or in some cases (such as those in this topic who have expressed interest in learning Japanese) is even more relevant to them than the localized version. However, I don't like importing games, myself, because I do like following the narrative.

As for how it spoils the game, if you ever deliberately click on "Pokémon Black 2/White 2 Walkthrough" or any upcoming video game walkthrough on YouTube or anywhere else, that is definitely completely your own fault and not anyone else's. I can empathize with spoilers as a result of reading Bulbapedia, but you do have to understand that it is a resource website first and foremost that specializes in quick, accurate, and up-to-date information on the spot. If you want information on a specific video game in a series without the upcoming titles being spoiled, I would recommend avoiding Wikis and opt for GameFAQs or IGN walkthroughs instead.

Although it does sort of peeve me when people post spoilers on message boards without putting them in spoiler tags or at least putting SPOILERS: in the thread title. I would hate for the suspense of Megatron dying at the end of Black 2/White 2 to be ruined.

I know I've already replied to this topic, but I figured I'd go into more detail since I didn't read the opening post quite as thoroughly last time.

It's just my opinion, but I think Pre-Ordering the Japanese version without knowing Japanese would spoil the fun for me.

Originally Posted by Otika

Originally Posted by Satoshi_Pikachu

But I do wonder about people who can understand absolutely no Japanese, wouldn't that kind of ruin the fun? Pokémon games are simple enough that you don't actually need to read anything to finish the game, but I think it's a lot nicer reading the cheesy dialogue :P

Well, I think the thing is that everyone plays games for a different reason than the other person. Some people like compelling narratives, and others like just like the gameplay. Others like a good balance of both, and a lesser few may like it to study the mechanics and inner-workings of the game. So if your only concern with gameplay and absolutely nothing else or if you're into studying the mechanics of the game, an import will do just as well as a localized version of the game.

With that said, I, again, don't care how people spend their time and money. I listen to music in all different languages and people tell me the same thing. "But how can you enjoy it if you don't understand it?!" Although at least with music, it's a little easier to explain because audio is the primary focus no matter which way you look at it, but with games, it's harder to justify it to people who don't understand that your reason for playing doesn't necessarily require a localized version, or in some cases (such as those in this topic who have expressed interest in learning Japanese) is even more relevant to them than the localized version. However, I don't like importing games, myself, because I do like following the narrative.

As for how it spoils the game, if you ever deliberately click on "Pokémon Black 2/White 2 Walkthrough" or any upcoming video game walkthrough on YouTube or anywhere else, that is definitely completely your own fault and not anyone else's. I can empathize with spoilers as a result of reading Bulbapedia, but you do have to understand that it is a resource website first and foremost that specializes in quick, accurate, and up-to-date information on the spot. If you want information on a specific video game in a series without the upcoming titles being spoiled, I would recommend avoiding Wikis and opt for GameFAQs or IGN walkthroughs instead.

Although it does sort of peeve me when people post spoilers on message boards without putting them in spoiler tags or at least putting SPOILERS: in the thread title. I would hate for the suspense of Megatron dying at the end of Black 2/White 2 to be ruined.

I know I've already replied to this topic, but I figured I'd go into more detail since I didn't read the opening post quite as thoroughly last time.

Exactly. For me, I play the games not just by game-play, but by story. The reason why I found Black version so much fun was because N's story had been a very interesting plot to me. It's not just because I'm an N fan, but I read every conversation carefully and if I ever skip a dialogue by mistake, I would reload the game and read that part again. I had never seen such an exciting plot development, that I had been delighted and glad that I had ever got to know this game. Some people might say that the pokemon games have predictable plots - but did any of you ever correctly predicted what exactly N's role would've been? What his ideals had been, and how he developed over time? These things are difficult to guess if you just play in a language you can't understand - assuming you didn't read any sort of spoilers beforehand and just played the game alone.

Like I said, I love to read all the important plot-related conversations and the features revolving around it. All the villain teams had different purposes in the games. If I had played the game without being able to understand what they were saying, would I had known about it? Sure, there are story summaries and plot walkthroughs everywhere on the Internet. But reading the summaries and actually reading the conversations while playing the game are two wholly different things. It brings more tension, and it makes playing the games all the more fun.

Of course, not everyone would find the plot of pokemon games THAT interesting. But for me, it is. And I definitely look forward to the plot of BW2 as well. How things would go on forth from here, I would love to see and understand with my very own eyes.