Current Events > Sega reverted Yakuza's western name to its Japanese one

(+) Yeah! (+)

When will Capcom do the same with Mega Man?

Never, because they'll never release a new game.

Dang.

No one is gonna buy a game named Rock Man.

Yakuza was a perfect title for the series. I don't like the rebrand to Like A Dragon, it gets awkward when you have longer titles.

Turbam posted...

No one is gonna buy a game named Rock Man.

No one is gonna buy any games that they don't make.

I don't see anything wrong with making the title truer to the original work.

Agreed, when will Street Fighter, Monster Hunter or Resident Evil have Rockman in them.

Fun Fact: His name is Lock Man in Japan, not Rock Man.
He could lock into the powers of his enemies and steal them. Heck, the Japanese allows you to steal powers from every enemy you meet. Capcom of America thought that the game used too much memory and removed the non-boss powers, cutting the size with 60%.

Nah, it should stay Mega Man, but have the robot be named Rock, like he was in Mega Man 4.

Him being named Mega in Powered Up and Mega Man 11 is the dumbest shit ever >_>

Trelve posted...

Yakuza was a perfect title for the series. I don't like the rebrand to Like A Dragon, it gets awkward when you have longer titles.

It's because the yakuza are no longer the focus, and in some cases of the metaseries, non-existent.

Foppe posted...

Fun Fact: His name is Lock Man in Japan, not Rock Man.
He could lock into the powers of his enemies and steal them. Heck, the Japanese allows you to steal powers from every enemy you meet. Capcom of America thought that the game used too much memory and removed the non-boss powers, cutting the size with 60%.

Also his sister is Loll.

NeonPhoenix posted...

Nah, it should stay Mega Man, but have the robot be named Rock, like he was in Mega Man 4.

Him being named Mega in Powered Up and Mega Man 11 is the dumbest shit ever >_>

Agree.

Trelve posted...

Yakuza was a perfect title for the series. I don't like the rebrand to Like A Dragon, it gets awkward when you have longer titles.

Given that youre almost always playing somebody who isnt a Yakuza, is it really?

I still call it Yakuza lol. Like I keep calling Infinite Wealth just Yakuza 8

I agree that the Yakuza rebrand is kinda dumb. Especially with Yakuza: Like a Dragon having been released. In most of the games, the Yakuza are typically involved so it just makes sense.

ReturnOfDevsman posted...

Also his sister is Loll.

Lock and Loll. That's so iconic.

A few of the games have very little involvement with the Yakuza at all, so they probably figured it was a good change to avoid feeling like it has to be hamfisted in every time.

There are some Japanese titles that I don't think mesh very well in English, but Like a Dragon works since the Dragon imagery is so central to every game.

Foppe posted...

Fun Fact: His name is Lock Man in Japan, not Rock Man.
He could lock into the powers of his enemies and steal them. Heck, the Japanese allows you to steal powers from every enemy you meet. Capcom of America thought that the game used too much memory and removed the non-boss powers, cutting the size with 60%.

nothing in this post is true

ReturnOfDevsman posted...

Never, because they'll never release a new game.

Ouch. :(

Never just like how Resident Evil will never be reverted to Biohazard.

Resident Evil would have been a better comparison to Yakuza anyway as both series had game that used the Japanese title as a subtitles and then went in different directions. Sega used that opportunity to go to the Japanese title from that point in while Capcom didn't.

NeonPhoenix posted...

I still call it Yakuza lol. Like I keep calling Infinite Wealth just Yakuza 8

I don't go that far, but I still generally refer to the series by its former name, since that's the name I was accustomed to after 15 years.

Mind you, I still occasionally refer to certain relocated sports franchises by their previous home city, though I at least make more of an effort not to with those.

hitokoriX posted...

I agree that the Yakuza rebrand is kinda dumb. Especially with Yakuza: Like a Dragon having been released. In most of the games, the Yakuza are typically involved so it just makes sense.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon was a transitional name. If they just dropped the Yakuza name immediately, you'd lose your western fans. I only ever hear people refer to that game online as LAD.

Yes the Yakuza are involved in most of the games but they are becoming less relevant in each new game. In 7, they dissolved the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance completely. I haven't played 8 yet but between my spoiler from 7 and they fact it takes place in Hawaii, I'd assume even less Yakuza involvement.

That said I still call it Yakuza irl. >_>

Sega probably just wanted to be able to trademark the series name and also have people be able to actually Google it properly. "Yakuza" is barely acceptable as a one-off generic game name. Having a large important series be trapped under such a nothing of a name was a problem for them.

Foppe posted...

Fun Fact: His name is Lock Man in Japan, not Rock Man.
He could lock into the powers of his enemies and steal them. Heck, the Japanese allows you to steal powers from every enemy you meet. Capcom of America thought that the game used too much memory and removed the non-boss powers, cutting the size with 60%.

Why would you just make up something this stupid?

SomeUsername529 posted...

"Yakuza" is barely acceptable as a one-off generic game name.

Well, the context is important. It wouldn't work as the title in Japan (after all, it would pretty much be "Gangsters," lol), but I think it's a better title for Western audiences. Any mention of dragons in the West immediately brings high fantasy (that is, Lord of the Rings and its numerous ripoffs) to mind. By comparison, "Yakuza" is a foreign word and I mean, it borderline goes out of its way to not consider international audiences. Especially as of the era when they still used the title "Yakuza."

Foppe posted...

Fun Fact: His name is Lock Man in Japan, not Rock Man.
He could lock into the powers of his enemies and steal them. Heck, the Japanese allows you to steal powers from every enemy you meet. Capcom of America thought that the game used too much memory and removed the non-boss powers, cutting the size with 60%.

I'm 90% sure you're taking the piss with this post, but in case your not, his name in Japanese is , the pronunciation of which is technically neither "Rock Man" nor "Lock Man", but halfway in between. That said, it is abundantly apparent that "Rock" is the intended reading, given the pun it makes with his sister, Roll.

hitokoriX posted...

I agree that the Yakuza rebrand is kinda dumb. Especially with Yakuza: Like a Dragon having been released. In most of the games, the Yakuza are typically involved so it just makes sense.

What do you call Ryu Ga Gotoku: Ishin? The samurai game before the yakuza existed?

SomeUsername529 posted...

Why would you just make up something this stupid?

Wanted to see how many that rolled with it *shruggs*

Pogo_Marimo posted...

Lock and Loll. That's so iconic.

I just realized, if I wanted to play along instead of point out that it breaks the pun, I could have said her name was Load, lol.

NeonPhoenix posted...

Him being named Mega in Powered Up and Mega Man 11 is the dumbest shit ever >_>

In Mega Man 11, at least, you can interpret it as Mega simply being used as short for Mega Man rather than it being his original name like in Powered Up. So I think 11 gets a pass.

NeonPhoenix posted...

Nah, it should stay Mega Man, but have the robot be named Rock, like he was in Mega Man 4.

Him being named Mega in Powered Up and Mega Man 11 is the dumbest shit ever >_>

seriously rock is his name

much like X is mega man Xs name

or spoiler is .EXEs name

I think Etrian Odyssey would be the best. I mean, Etria was literally only a town in the first game whereas the Yggdrasil tree is literally in every game.

They can't change the name of Etrian Odyssey after Metaphor

AceMos posted...

seriously rock is his name

much like X is mega man Xs name

or spoiler is .EXEs name

It's like Dr. Light/Dr. Right name, there is not a correct pronunciation of the name.
Another example would be Locke () as an alternative pronunciation.

Trelve posted...

Yakuza was a perfect title for the series. I don't like the rebrand to Like A Dragon, it gets awkward when you have longer titles.

It makes me think of Madonna

CyricZ posted...

What do you call Ryu Ga Gotoku: Ishin? The samurai game before the yakuza existed?

Or Metal Gear Solid 3, for that matter, the spy game before Metal Gears existed?

Linze posted...

It's like Dr. Light/Dr. Right name, there is not a correct pronunciation of the name.
Another example would be Locke () as an alternative pronunciation.

You say that like we don't have Rockman in English on the box art and title screen of the very first game. It's unquestionably Rock and you'd have to be an idiot to argue otherwise. Similarly, it's unquestionably Dr. Right in Japan and Dr. Light elsewhere. That's why Mega Man 9 has both a Dr. R logo and a Dr. L logo in its data. The former is used when set to Japanese and the latter when set to English.

IcyWind14 posted...

You say that like we don't have Rockman in English on the box art and title screen of the very first game. It's unquestionably Rock and you'd have to be an idiot to argue otherwise. Similarly, it's unquestionably Dr. Right in Japan and Dr. Light elsewhere. That's why Mega Man 9 has both a Dr. R logo and a Dr. L logo in its data. The former is used when set to Japanese and the latter when set to English.

Rockman 1 was even presented entirely in the English language. The original Famicom game data contains no Japanese dialogue.

NeonPhoenix posted...

Nah, it should stay Mega Man, but have the robot be named Rock, like he was in Mega Man 4.

Him being named Mega in Powered Up and Mega Man 11 is the dumbest shit ever >_>

Actually agree. His sister has always been named roll so let rock be his out of armor/civilian name. Mega man works much better as his hero'in name.

ReturnOfDevsman posted...

Or Metal Gear Solid 3, for that matter, the spy game before Metal Gears existed?

If the intent was to be a "gotcha", then I think it's a poor comparison.

There are multiple reasons but the easiest one is the fact that Metal Gears are fictional and the yakuza are not.

Pogo_Marimo posted...

Lock and Loll. That's so iconic.

And his trusty dog, Lush!

DipDipDiver posted...

And his trusty dog, Lush!

No horni