#1 by nordland

2016-06-23 at 20:47 < report >Hello!



Nutaku is looking into the possibility of bringing over some visual novels, and we would like your feedback!



What Visual Novels from DMM would you most like to see translated into English?



It doesn't HAVE to be from this this list, if there's something else you like feel free to add on :)



Also, excuse the English translations next to the pictures, it's not my day-job!



Note: Should Nutaku choose to localize one of these novels, there will be no censorship of the original content.Last modified on 2016-06-24 at 09:52

#2 by PabloC

2016-06-23 at 21:08 < report >NOT anything by Leaf pls. I don't want to see any of those titles ruined by some utterly incompetent translators. -.-'



Pick a simple nukige. There's always a decent market for those, and it should sell decently even with the TL on the level of Aigis or other Nutaku's online games.

#3 by eacil

2016-06-23 at 21:14 < report >"Death by vomit" is the right title I would like you to translate.Last modified on 2016-06-25 at 20:41

#4 by clephas

2016-06-23 at 21:18 < report >Scarlett

Konata yori Kanata Made

Sakura, Sakimashita

Aqua

Those are the ones most likely to draw fans in... personally, I'd suggest you go with Sakura, Sakimashita and/or Konakana...

#5 by dk382⭐

2016-06-23 at 21:42 < report >Albatross is my most desired game on that list but I'm not gonna lie, you guys are probably not actually capable of translating it very well. Same with the other rail-soft titles. You need exceptional translators if you want to tackle those and the payoff for you probably wouldn't be as good as some of us would like to believe. They're well-liked but not super popular.



I think the best bet would be relatively simple VNs like Aqua and Sakura, Sakimashita. They still seem pretty good and have been on my wishlist for a while.



I find it really interesting that you have some Leaf titles on your list. As far as I understand, that brand has been pretty difficult to deal with for the major VN companies here. I guess this is because the rights to those specific titles are a bit different?Last modified on 2016-06-23 at 22:36

#6 by rusanon

2016-06-24 at 06:46 < report >"Description of Kago stay out of the haze" is your best option. Mareni (scenario writer of that game) is very popular high demand author in the West, and this variant of title is going to attract attention even from people who aren't fans.

#7 by chipp12

2016-06-24 at 07:35 < report >I also think that it would be safer to start with nukige titles, even better with older ones since MG/JAST don't like to work with old games.

#8 by kiru

2016-06-24 at 09:17 < report >I think in the current times where people in the West complain more and more about tiny game windows on their giant screens, it's pretty safe to say one should probably ignore VNs without a resolution of at least 720p. Then you need cute girls on the cover. Not much else should matter for a first project.

Of course it would be good if the VN in question isn't super bad, but you can sorta find that out on EGS or (much more limited) here with scores. That doesn't really matter that much for sales though. (unfortunately I suppose)

#9 by sanahtlig

2016-06-24 at 16:50 < report >Try a game from ELF. Their games tend to have a lot of choices, which gives them a touch of interactivity--something Western fans tend to demand. Many of their games have well-animated H-scenes, which would also make them attractive to the nukige crowd. Since they tend to avoid the common VN tropes, these games would appeal to a different audience than your standard moe game.



Like others here, I'll warn you that Nutaku will have to step up its translation game if you want to do any of these titles with actual story value justice. The translation in 2/3 Nutaku games I've tried is unacceptable even by amateur standards.Last modified on 2016-06-24 at 19:52

#10 by eacil

2016-06-24 at 18:29 < report >Sanahtlig, do you want to die?

#11 by bookwormotaku

2016-06-24 at 18:54 < report >If you decide to start with a nukige then try the Kansen series since those have a decent plot or pick something from Atelier Kaguya

#13 by vdz

2016-06-24 at 20:05 < report >@nordland

It's good to see another company entering the market (well, you guys were already selling games from other localizers, but actually localizing stuff is quite different). However, you really should heed the warnings about translation quality as you will inevitably fail if the translations are poor. (The machine translations in the image do not bode very well in this regard.) For nukige you might get away with slightly poor translation (though blatant machine translation is a no-go even for the nukige crowd, as is generally terrible translation for most players), but the more 'serious' a work is, the higher the users' standards are for translation quality.



As such, my #1 recommendation is to stay far away from raiL-soft games until you've proven yourselves. Not only will they not sell at all with a poor translation, you will actively upset people by doing this, possibly to the point where they will try to stop others from buying your games. These games are famous for their apparently well-written prose, and people will be seriously offended if these were ruined by a poor translation. Furthermore, even if you do manage to find someone capable of translating games this difficult, I don't think there's enough of a market for these games yet. Even in Japan, raiL-soft games are a small niche; in the West, the overall market is even smaller, and a good chunk of the audience is still relatively new to VNs and won't be buying anything as hardcore as raiL-soft games.



For other story games, you will have to deliver a very good translation; I have not played any Nutaku-translated games, but from what I've heard your current translation quality is not nearly high enough for games like these. Story games will completely fail if the translation is bad. This also extends to less story-focused romance games.



Nukige is probably the best bet for Nutaku right now; requirements for translation quality are the lowest (though standards still exist! Don't mess it up), and Nutaku seems to be mostly known for porn (at least in the West, don't know how it is in Japan); I've never played any Nutaku games, but I've heard the name plenty of times and it's always been in the context of porn games (the ero-focused kind).



The currently most popular part of the market, which seems to have the most commercial success and is probably the reason Nutaku got interested in the West in the first place, is relatively cheap (10-15$) all-ages romance/moe games on Steam, frequently (though definitely not always) with a patch for adding in 18+ content or an alternate 18+ version. This market has a lot of potential; the audience is large and the standards are low. However, it is getting a bit crowded (Nutaku isn't the only publisher trying to get some of this apparently easy money) so you might need to put in some marketing effort to be visible among more popular publishers.



One other thing to note is that rival publisher Sekai Project is already being quite friendly with Nekoneko Soft, and as such localizing one of their titles would involve stepping on some toes. (They have been interested in Scarlett in particular; getting that title may not only anger Sekai, but also humiliate them in front of the more hardcore fans. Then again, a certain part of the community hates Sekai and would love to see this happen, though I'm not sure how commercially interesting this part of the community is.)





EDIT: I forgot to add my personal picks for titles I'd like to see localized:

Scarlett - Though I'd rather have Sekai get this one, as I don't trust Nutaku to deliver a good translation and Sekai have a Nekoneko fan on their staff who would be the translator if they got it.

Shizuku and Kizuato - These are classics and I'm interested in what they're like. However, I'm not confident Nutaku will provide an acceptable translation as they are now, and I very much doubt these will be commercially successful in the Western market.Last modified on 2016-06-24 at 20:11

#14 by xero95

2016-06-24 at 20:05 < report >Wait wait wait, does this mean their translations will be on par with actual translators now and not pure shit like their efforts on Aigis ect? xD

#15 by fates-end

2016-06-25 at 21:01 < report >oh dear god please no we do not need another IMHHW.

just do some shitty nukige or something.

#16 by kageroyami

2016-06-25 at 22:17 < report >Somehow tackling those RaiL soft games doesn't really seem like a good idea, you need amazing translators and editors for that, and I really doubt about how many people care for RaiL Soft games in the west, just a bunch, not that marketableLast modified on 2016-06-25 at 22:18

#17 by encrypted12345

2016-06-25 at 23:17 < report >Sanarara shouldn't be too hard to translate and might attract Hidamari Sketch fans.

#18 by tachikoma01

2016-06-25 at 23:42 < report >Don't even pick a nukige if you're not gonna uncensor it COMPLETELY.Last modified on 2016-06-25 at 23:44

#19 by xero95

2016-06-26 at 02:30 < report >I find it funny that their even asking us, not like they'd care when all their going to do is censor the thing to hell and back. Only if they hire actual translators.Last modified on 2016-06-26 at 23:53