Looking for a few good people…

[Septiego]

We have recently acquired the rights and received approval from SCEA to publish Fire Pro Wrestling Returns for the North America and Europe. I’m the localization producer working on this title and I am thrilled to be doing so. I admit that I am not a “hardcore” FPW fan, however I am a “hardcore” gamer - always have been and always will be. Those who are familiar with the approval process at SCEA can understand that getting this title approved was not an easy task, however the gameplay greatly outweighs what some would consider poor and/or dated graphics.

With this being said – I would like both the NTSC and Pal version to be as authentic as possible. I am looking for some help from both the Fire Pro Club community and some key people who I can work closely with that have a solid and complete love for the series.

Cheers,
Mark

[dubq]

Is this you talking or are you pasting this in from somewhere else?

EDIT: I don't mean that as a slight either. I've seen a lot of posts like this that are in actuality news-bites without a source. Just wanted to clarify.

[Critical123]

So fire pro wrestling will be coming to north america??

[Septiego]

Dubq - No problem and I understand. Yes, this is me talking and it wasn't a paste whatsoever from anywhere.

Critical123 - Yes, Fire Pro Wrestling Returns will be coming out in North America late this year or early next year.

~Mark

[oldboy]

We have recently acquired the rights and received approval from SCEA to publish Fire Pro Wrestling Returns for the North America and Europe. I’m the localization producer working on this title and I am thrilled to be doing so. I admit that I am not a “hardcore” FPW fan, however I am a “hardcore” gamer - always have been and always will be. Those who are familiar with the approval process at SCEA can understand that getting this title approved was not an easy task, however the gameplay greatly outweighs what some would consider poor and/or dated graphics.

With this being said – I would like both the NTSC and Pal version to be as authentic as possible. I am looking for some help from both the Fire Pro Club community and some key people who I can work closely with that have a solid and complete love for the series.

Cheers,
Mark

Who is we?

[Critical123]

Dubq - No problem and I understand. Yes, this is me talking and it wasn't a paste whatsoever from anywhere.

Critical123 - Yes, Fire Pro Wrestling Returns will be coming out in North America late this year or early next year.

~Mark

You gotta be kidding me!

[GoldenTurd]

Wow, this sounds awesome. What kind of help are you specifically looking for? If it regards translations, you might wanna contact Iamjoe (or Trueborn, since joe seems to be out of reach and Trueborn seems to be his unofficial spokesperson ) cause he has a lot of that done already.

[dubq]

Yeah, I'm interested in learning more. Who do you work for Mark?

[Septiego]

I am specifically looking for help with translation and more importantly verifying the editing that will have to be done. With all software localization we always have to deal with character limits, for example – the SP Skills has a character limit of 10. SP Skill “Quick Return” is 12 characters and too long. I would change it to “Q. Return” which is nine characters and fits. I would like to conform this from a diehard fan(s) and see if they agree. I am looking for a person(s) who would best suited and enjoy helping out in this way.

In addition, mock-ups for the US packaging will be posted here 1st for your comments and suggestions. As I said before, I would love help from the whole FPC community.

Mark Johnson

Mark@agetec.com
http://www.agetec.com/

[dubq]

Yes I can see character limits being a huge issue.. especially if you're dealing with a direct translation that might not take dialect or context into consideration. I'm sure that everyone here will be more than willing to help Agetec out any way we can.

[Paradigm]

I thought iamjoe found a way to extend character limitations so abbreviations weren't so common with every ability/move/parameter in the game. Maybe I'm getting it mixed up with Davy's Final Fire Pro Wrestling work instead...

[RyanCE]

Wow, this is really awesome news! I'd definitely buy the PS2 one in a heartbeat, but I think a PSP port would be incredible as well (although very unlikely).

[Critical123]

i can't believe that Fire Pro Wrestling is coming to the USA.

Mark will Fire Pro Wrestling Returns be in America to our will there be another game.

[MStyles]

Wow, this might open up FPR to a bunch of gamers. And I won't have to go through all the work of translation pages and/or burning to have english patches.

I'm marking out.

[Critical123]

I just can't wait i hope other fire pro wrestling games come out to the USA i hope spike doesnt give us bullshit like yukes does.

[RyanCE]

I have something else to ask. Will this be a joint project with the game's developer, Spike (as FPW and FPW2 were), or will it be a solo translation? I ask because Spike added some exclusive wrestlers to the BAM!-published FPW and FPW2 on the Game Boy Advance, and it'd be awesome if they contributed a few new wrestlers to the English Fire Pro Returns. Sort of like an incentive for people who already own the Japanese version to buy the new one.

[Septiego]

RyanCE

You are right that would be awesome! Agetec has done something similar before with previous localized titles, however with the schedule for this title it would be hard. But, I will ask Spike and see if there is something we can do. The folks at Spike are some very cool people.

I can assure you that the price point for the title will be very low. I honestly believe there is a truckload of gamers in the US that haven't heard of this game and that would love it. I hope I get the privilege to work on another Fire Pro in the future.

[RyanCE]

Sounds great. And yeah, a very small percentage of American gamers have heard of Fire Pro Returns. Basically, if there's an American/European who's heard of this game, then odds are that they're a member of this forum.

PS: Make sure the Milano Collection A.T. character has the "Can Run Up" ability; in the Japanese version of the game, Spike forgot to give him that technique, and thus he can't do his trademark Armani Shoe Exchange rebound attack.

[Trueborn]

Who is we? I don't see a company name attached or any info that would let someone verify this claim. I'm sort of skeptical.

[RyanCE]

Mark Johnson

Mark@agetec.com
http://www.agetec.com/

[Nth]

RyanCE

You are right that would be awesome! Agetec has done something similar before with previous localized titles, however with the schedule for this title it would be hard. But, I will ask Spike and see if there is something we can do. The folks at Spike are some very cool people.

I can assure you that the price point for the title will be very low. I honestly believe there is a truckload of gamers in the US that haven't heard of this game and that would love it. I hope I get the privilege to work on another Fire Pro in the future.

After Fire Pro Returns was first released, Spike did release a couple of exclusive edit packs that were used as prizes in a edit vs edit contest Spike simmed through their website; with the winners recieving a memory card full of Spike made edit wrestlers.

I also agree with you about US gamers being exposed to Fire Pro. I know youtube has provided a dramatic spotlight to western gamers on the popularity of the Fire Pro series, which continues to snowball. Through various message boards and free media uploading sites like youtube, the global following the Fire Pro Wrestling series has received is quite amazing compared to just a few years ago.
Offering wrestling fans a solid simulated wrestling experience as well as a reprieve from conflicting trademarks and licensing issues that often limit the quality of mainstream wrestling games in the US; Fire Pro Wrestling has set the benchmark for what a wrestling game should be, for more than two decades.

I hope this resurgence in the Fire Pro franchise is enough to push Spike forward into continuing the series as the developers themselves had mentioned a litany of new ideas they would like to incorporate into future Fire Pro titles. With the storage capacity and online functionality of the new generation of gaming systems, Spike really has no limits to what they can accomplish with a wrestling franchise that has always stood triumphantly above high budget mainstream wrestling titles in terms of game play, content and creative freedom for the international wrestling fan.

[dangerdaveawf]

It would be really cool if they could add run a fed mode or manager mode of sorts. Run a fed and make trades or run in invasion angle with other feds etc. I think they had somethign liek this in fpr 2 for gba(manger mode) but nothing that detailed. Hopefully this turns out to be true

[RyanCE]

Adding modes would make it a completely different game. It's supposed to be an English Fire Pro Returns with (possibly) a few more wrestlers.

[jmack]

If this is true then that would be awesome.

[dangerdaveawf]

Adding modes would make it a completely different game. It's supposed to be an English Fire Pro Returns with (possibly) a few more wrestlers.

well then lets hope that the sales are good so it will convince spike to make more