So the follow up to the devilishly good Project Diva F comes out this week in japan. Fear not though! If you're a vocaloid fan in the west and don't feel like importing SEGA has you covered later this year! Its just been announced that there is a localization of the game on the way aiming for the fall. My guess is late August.

With 40 songs (some new some from the PSP games) and new mechanics and features this is shaping up to be one of the most fun releases of the year.

Here is the trailer.

Isn't this a little bit early for that? The last one came out not too long ago.

@alexandersheen: By the time the western release of 2nd hits it will be about a year between releases. Its been while in Japan since the first project diva. It came out about a year ago in japan.

The only way i'll care about this is if i get pizza out of it

YES.

This and Hyperdiminsion Neptunia Re: Birth getting announced have made me very happy about my new Vita purchase. I jumped on this train at the best time.

Yes Sega, continue to bring over fucking Hatsune Miku instead of Yakuza. What a bunch of pricks.

No interest in Vocaloid, but as a rhythm game fan, I'm glad to see that somebody's still willing to put these games out.

Great! Been enjoying the hell out of the Vita release (which took way too long to come out!) and would love some more of that. I had been considering importing 2nd, but now I guess I don't have to. Nice to see they're doing a Vita release at the same time.

Even though I love me a good rhythm game, this sure makes me wonder how well Project Diva did here to justify them bringing over another one. Especially when they are eschewing things like Yakuza and Phantasy Star. Some odd choices being made at Sega...

@taku128: I don't know why but your angry response made me laugh. And put water down the wrong tube. Thanks.

Here is the thing. Project Diva sold and Yakuza didn't. I'd like Yakuza 5 as well but the fact is with each iteration they brought over of the PS3 Yakuza games they sold less and less. The first print run of Project Diva completely sold out and sold way past SEGA's expectations.

Yeah and that's just insane to me. I love my fair share of Japanese games, but I just don't understand why so many people like this Hatsune Miku stuff. Maybe I'll try one out eventually(through PS+ or a sale or something). Anyways, I'm glad these games are coming out here for the people that do like them.

Fucking yesssssss. I'm so glad the first one did so well here. Here's hoping Just Be Friends is in this one.

Its because the vocaloid community is huge and continuing to grow. There is even a Vocaloid Class taught in a school in japan. The love for all this nonsense goes way beyond the games. If you're actually interested in genuinely understanding it better reading this article would be a good place to start.

@hailinel said:

Just to add something more substantial than my one-word post of exultation, here's a trailer from a while back that highlights most of the songs in the game. There's a really good mix of styles represented:

The thing that gets me the most is Hatsune Miku doesn't need a localization. As a rhythm game it's extremely import friendly, the only thing you'd really get out of a translated version being translated lyrics and Sega doesn't even do that. You could enjoy Project Diva F 2 without Sega localizing it, I can't enjoy Yakuza 5 without Sega localizing it because being able to understand the game is so core to the experience. And I know the Yakuza games don't sell great, but there's no way they would have brought over Dead Souls if they weren't making enough to be worth the investment. They even said at the time that they were going to start shortening the length between Yakuza games coming out in Japan and America, which makes no sense if they were iffy on the franchise at that point. Maybe if they tried actually advertising it for once it could actually do pretty well.

Fuck Sega of America.

AR Miku

Right, well exactly the thing you outlined is exactly why they are doing it. The leg work to get that game localized is basically nothing its mostly menus and some text on the tutorial screens. It costs them almost nothing to make and distribute and their return is much higher compared to Yakuza which is an extremely text heavy game which takes a whole lot longer to localize.

Also, most people won't go hunting down an import copy. If it shows up in the PSN store or on the shelf at a local Gamestop they are much more likely to buy it. Especially since importing a copy is going to run you around $85 which is basically what it cost me to import my copy.

@demoskinos: I didn't make my statement well. When I said the "Hatsune Miku stuff" I meant vocaloid stuff in general. I know that the vocaloid stuff is pretty big and growing. As far as understanding it better, I don't think that's really necessary. Other people really like it. It doesn't really matter to me why they like it. They do, and that's cool. Which is why I'm glad the games are getting localized and selling well, and I'd be willing to try one out some day. Whether I like the songs or not, the game being actually fun to play is the most important part to me.

Well, Sega chose to go for romaji for the singalong aspect rather than a full translation. Who knows? Maybe they'll add in an option into F 2nd. Or maybe they won't. Either way, it's misguided to be raging about this given that this game's localization likely had zero effect on any decision Sega made regarding Yakuza (which, as Demoskinos pointed out, sold less and less with each entry). I'd love to see Yakuza 5 localized as well, but after a sales drop-off from 3 to 4 and a further drop with Dead Souls, Yakuza 5's localization was never guaranteed. If you want to be angry, be angry that more people didn't support Yakuza when they had the chance; not that Sega is localizing an unrelated series you have little interest in.

Oh my god, that fucking game. Dead Souls KILLED Yakuza in NA. Sega localized a crappy spin-off that nobody in NA wanted and now because that bombed they think Yakuza 5 would do just as bad here. The main line Yakuza games sell consistently here, not great, but a consistent number.

Then Dead Souls came over and fucked everything up....

Wait, there's a western market for this sort of game? Huh. Surprising.

You mean rhythm games?

I had a good laugh at the trailer when it said 'Tap buttons to the Rhythm', quite a selling point they have there. >.>

Indeedly. Although I've often thought that even Yakuza 3 & 4 are rather flawed to a degree, Dead Souls was just truly awful and it sold exactly like it should. I do so hope that Adam Boyes' plan to start up a new team at Sony specifically for localising games from Japan pans out, especially given Yakuza 5 is one of the most consistently brought up localisation requests.

Why do they release these kind games most of the time in the fall? It is like they want them to fail...

I really Hope Giant Bomb Quick Looks the game and they look at the Vita Version just so they can use the AR

@bigjeffrey: When was the last time that Giant Bomb actually gave any Vita game a Quick Look? I know Jeff bought that modified Vita that could theoretically do video out, but I don't remember much actually coming of that.

I liked the first game but boy was I bad at it. It's definitely old school rhythm game hard . Catchy songs

He said it wont work good enough with the capture gear or something. I remember him complaining about it on his Tumbler.

@71ranchero: yup. The frame rate suffered pretty bad if I recall

I have no interest in Vocaloid stuff, but even I got to admit that the game is surprisingly fun. Though I'll be the first to admit that like 80% of the songs I either don't care for or don't like, but there are a few gems in there that I've replayed a crap load of times.

Vita's shaping up to be one mean rhythm game machine, I'm more interested in IA/VT Colorful since it's trying something new with the analog sticks and dynamic elements but I ain't complaining. 3DS needs a new Rhythm Heaven and EBA to catch up.