Denied Japanese Gears of War fans vote to add Japanese Dub to North American GEoW: Ultimate Edition

Yesterday I brought you news that Microsoft Japan had cancelled the Japanese release of Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, citing difficulties satisfying ethical conformity standards. This naturally came as a disappointment to the diehard contingent of Japanese Gear of War fans.

Within hours of the announcement Japanese fans took to the official Xbox Feedback page suggesting that in lieu of an actual Japanese release Japanese language support should be included in the North American release of the game. As the Xbox One is region-free this would theoretically allow Japanese consumers to get their hands on an intelligible version of Gears of War: Ultimate Edition. The thread has already exceeded the 1,000 vote mark.

There's a trend in the Japanese comments of expressing disappointment in Microsoft's support, or lack thereof, for Japanese Xbox One users, suggesting that some of them don't buy Microsoft's official explanation for the cancellation, putting it down instead to a lack of commitment to the region. Translations follow:

"Enough excuses, get serious already. Don't take your Japanese customers for fools"

"If you aren't motivated [to support the system] don't sell the system in the first place"

"This has me worried about whether other titles also won't see release. I'd like to see Japanese releases even if they are delayed, and are restricted or cut in some way"

"Firstly, you should feel ashamed that AAA third-party titles such as Batman Arkham Knight and Destiny aren't being sold domestically within Japan [as they are PlayStation exclusives in Japan]."

"Right. so you were able to get Dead Rising 3 and Ryse released in Japan, but not Gears? That's just strange. Come on, it can't have that graphic a scene in it".

In recent times the Xbox One has only been selling a couple hundred units per week in Japan but the size of a fanbase and their dedication to a franchise are two different things. This is particularly the case for Gears of War where there's a general consensus amongst Japanese fans that the Gears of War series has consistently sported excellent Japanese dubs.

In Japan Gears of War front-dude Marcus Fenix is played by Kousei Hirota, notable for his roles as Halo's always-motivational Sergeant Johnson and Soul Calibur series villian Nightmare. Fans looking forward to Hirota reprising his role will have to wait and see if Microsoft takes their sentiments to heart.

Credit: Automaton Japan

Gears of War: Ultimate Edition Japanese Release Cancelled

It's well known that the Xbox brand has failed to gain traction in Japan, but it's always had an extremely hardcore, if niche, fanbase of gamers who love precisely the combination of sports, shooters, shmups and visual novels the Xbox synonymous with. Today they'll be disappointed to learn that Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, an Xbox One remake of the original 2006 Xbox 360 release Gears of War, has had its release plans dashed indefinitely.

The Official Japanese Xbox Blog had a press release on the matter which has been translated below:

After conducting a development investigation into all the necessary changes that would have to be made in order to get all the content in Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, including new content [to this remake] to pass ethical conformity standards we have concluded that the task would be insurmountable. As such, we have made the choice to forgo a domestic [Japanese] release for the game. We apologise to our all our Xbox fans who were awaiting the release of this game with baited breath for this disappointing announcement.

Later this year we have many anticipated exclusive software releases including Halo 5: Guardians, Forza Motorsport 6, Fable Legends as well as Rise of the Tomb Raider and more planned for the year's end. We will continue to provide all our consumers with experiences they've never had on before on Xbox.

Games in Japan are rated under CERO, which certifies the letters A, B, C, D and Z to releases. A being the mildest classification and the Z rating being the strongest, only reserved for a handful of games (The Yakuza and Resident Evil series, for example, typically net a CERO D).

The Gears of War games have an interesting run in with classification in the past, with Gears of War, Gears of War 3 and Gears of War: Judgement all earning the CERO Z distinction. However Gears of War 2 went through controversial period where a Japanese release looked entirely unlikely before finally releasing with a CERO Z rating. 

Credit: Automaton Japan