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I'm really disappointed in the direction the .hack// series has gone. It went from being something very pleasing and full of goodness to disappointment after disappointment.

Everything was great till they announced a new .hack// game after GU. Even that was exciting until they said, Oh but it's only going to be for the PSP :l Why release it on a inferior system that most people do not have. People don't have it because it really lacks any good games and the only reason I could see having one would be neat is because of the multimedia features, something that most cell phones come equipped with anyway.
Basically they want people to go out and buy a PSP for one game. It won't happen. So they lost sales already before it's even been released. The better option would have been to release it for the PS2 and perhaps port that to the PSP or add a little side story for on the go gaming. Even the PS3 would be a better option. Now it would be perfectly ok to miss a little game for the portable if they didn't announce it would be the finale of the entire series, which is even more disappointing. I'd much rather see a full featured game on a next generation platform then for the entire game to degrade and go to less powerful system to end the series. I'd be happy to get a PS3 for it because it actually would be something I'd buy games for. I payed over 100$ for the whole GU series and I'm glad I did I really enjoyed the series. I'd hope they don't have financial problems, and decided to end everything the budget way instead of perhaps waiting and putting more effort into something we'd all really enjoy. I can already pretty much predict .hack//LINK will be not very mind blowing. It won't offer very many changes or improvements. If anything will be special about it, it might offer some sort of online service.

Then after waiting like a year for the Trilogy to come out in the US, because of course I wanted to see it dubbed. Anyone who is a fan of .hack has probably already downloaded the Japanese version from LuPerry.com forever ago or perhaps imported it. Then a few weeks before it's to be released it's delayed and not only that it's reported to not even be dubbed? What an even bigger disappointment. I was really looking forward to it :l

So I'm starting to think they either hate the US fanbase, or simply don't have the money to provide us without anything other than disappointments.
Sure it's nice to see a new game being made adding to the storyline, maybe the story will even be fun. I'm sure everyone would be even more excited about it if they said it was being released for the PS2 or PS3.
I can't really see any positive to the Trilogy release in the US, since I know pretty much anyone who cares has already seen it. Maybe owning it is special to some? But it's basically something you could have imported or downloaded a year ago and all you really get is a new cover maybe?
Perhaps it's the fault of the subtitle elitists who are loud and vocal wanting to be heard, to make it seem like all people in the US care about is subtitled anime. For me I prefer all my anime to be dubbed. I'll only watch it subtitled if that's all that is available and I'm really interested in seeing it. Bad voice acting is better than no voice acting at all >_> Though I've never really seen anything with "bad" voice acting. I think most of the popular voice acting teams do a great job in all the animes and games they voice over in the US/Canada. I loved Haseo's voice and I also am enjoying him as Cecil in Final Fantasy 4 DS. Basically people who watch subtitled anime watch it with the sound being muted or garbled just because they don't like the way a person grunts or screams in a localized version. So I don't quite see the point.

So as a fan I'm truly disapointed with things and really wish they'd give us somethign worth while then just what feels like leftovers. I wonder what we did to deserve all this

//LINK on the PSP may have had something to do with The World R:X being on a handheld console in the storyline, but I'm not 100% sure about that. I also wish it was on the PS2 or PS3 because the PSP is the only console that I don't have. However, it's also a possibility that they were trying to appeal to a larger fanbase, as there are many people who own a PSP but not a PS2.
The problem is that .hack doesn't have a large enough fanbase as most other games, and the studio may just have not wanted to put money into a movie that they would most likely end up losing money for, because the majority of the people have already seen it online. With the games it's a different story, because you can't easily download a PS2 game onto a computer and play it just like that. Hell, the //Roots and //Sign dubs got the **** end of the stick, they're timeslots being at 5 AM on Adult Swim, when there are barely any people watching. I don't think they hate the US fans, it's just that there aren't enough of them.I'm not too upset that //TRILOGY isn't being dubbed, because I still like the Japanese VA's.
Also, some prefer subs because a studio will hire bad actors that can't act and don't fit the characters well. Hell, watch the dubbed version of Karin, and just see how damn horrid it is. Also, there's Higurashi. The voices kinda fit, but the actors are bad, and their crazy laughs, which creep me out in the Japanese dubs, just make me laugh at their stupidity in English.I was already disappointed with //LINK after seeing many of the new screenshots from the manga, and I hope to GOD that the game's story is different from that of the manga.
The fans didn't do anything wrong or upset the studios. Businesses don't make dicisions based on petty grudges. It's that there aren't enough fans for them to really profit from doing something like dubbing //TRILOGY.

I understand the connection between the .hack//LINK and a portable system. Personally I would have perfered it being on the DS. I have a DS, there's lots of other games for the DS. Certainly I would not want the last game ever to be put on the DS or the PSP. That's what upsets me, that they are putting the end to the series on a portable platform. One that costs way to much for the software available for it. And the multimedia functions such as browsing the internet and watching movies on your PSP just don't justify paying 150- 200$ to play one game :l
I think more people have a PS2 then a PSP actually. The PS2 still sells very well, while the PSP is and has been a bit of a drag to Sony since it came out. New games still come out for the PS2. So why not release a version for each? Or atleast in the US release it on the PS2 since in the US the PS2 is much more popular than the PSP. I know in Japan the PSP is a bit more popular of a item.

But who knows, maybe it will only be released in Japan, so all this whining would be irrevelant. Perhaps even more so the rumor about it being the last one will be incorrect and a future Playstation 3/Xbox 360 or even better, one of the next generation consoles will give us a large update to the story. With all the new devices coming out in the next few years, like the ones that let you make control movements of computers with your mind, stereoscopic 3D, and the range of motion control technology, will come together a produce a amazing new .hack// game where we can finally feel part of it's universe.

Yes I think that last part is quite a few run-on sentences..

There's no chance that it'll be released on DS or Xbox 360. It's a Sony exclusive game. And I don't think they won't release it to the US. Again, they don't hate the fans here. I think a reason that .hack// isn't popular here is because there's almost no advertising here. //GU got one page in Game Informer and a small poster in a Gamestop when //Reminisce came out as far as I saw.

It's a 3rd Party game. It's not owned by Sony in any way. The developers just choose to develop the .hack// series on that system. Similar to the Final Fantasy series.
People get confused a lot that Sony somehow owns Square Enix. A company can claim they will only develop a certain game for one platform but there's no contract obligating them to only make the .hack// series for the Playstation. See Resident Evil 4 for a example.
CyberConnect2 has recently developed alot of the "Naruto" games for the Xbox 360. So I see no reason why they couldn't multiplatform or switch to a different system for a future game.
Also a untitled DS game is still yet to be announced.

I feel it's unpopular here because of the mainstream US not being very accepting to MMO's and anime. So most people would see a game about a Online Universe and never even give it a chance. Or looking down on it for being "nerdy". Also it has a very complex and complicated story. Just playing one of the games wouldn't really make you fall in love with it. I feel to truly enjoy .hack you need to atleast watch the Anime's and read up a little bit on some of the backstories. Most people just want to play a game and know everything about it. You can't really do that with .hack//. Especially GU. It's almost mandatory to watch the anime before playing the game or you really can't fully appreciate the game. The ending of the anime and fate of one of the characters in it is a bit important to GU's storyline.

Aika wrote:I feel to truly enjoy .hack you need to atleast watch the Anime's and read up a little bit on some of the backstories. Most people just want to play a game and know everything about it. You can't really do that with .hack//. Especially GU. It's almost mandatory to watch the anime before playing the game or you really can't fully appreciate the game. The ending of the anime and fate of one of the characters in it is a bit important to GU's storyline.

I disagree. I started out the .hack// series playing part of Infection, but not liking it. Then I played //Rebirth, and that's what hooked me into the series. I finished GU, am in the middle of Mutation, have not seen //Sign or finished //Roots. It does have a complex storyline, which I admit it took me a little while to wrap my head around it. There are still things about it I don't understand. But you don't need to see the anime to understand the series.

All series suck when they last too long. Personally? I feel the series should've never gone beyond the original stuff. Everything was great, perfect, without plotholes, and concluded untl they announced GU.

Don't get me wrong, I love GU, and it's frickin' awesome, but GU was also what brought plot-holes, shonen anime ****, money-whoring, and Kyero into the fandom.

I perfer things to last forever When .hack ends there will be nothing left to look forward to. It's one of those series that doesn't really have anything similar to it, or nearly as complex or emotional.

AT and AK pretty much hit it on the head

imo, just like AK said,

There US fanbase is just too small for .Hack to take off in America, If I remember correctly, i think //Rebirth got the Game of the year Award year after it came out in Japan. Here, only one page about //Reminisce in Game Informer and only like a 5.0-5.5 " Meh-Mediocre " rating on ign -_-

Hell, there are alot of friends of mine, that dun even know what the hell the word: " Anime" means.

It is quite depressing though.

For me I prefer all my anime to be dubbed. I'll only watch it subtitled if that's all that is available and i'm really interested in seeing it. Bad voice acting is better than no voice acting at all >_> Thought i've never really seen anything with "bad" voice acting.

I agree, 110%

I hate hearing jpn dialogue and having to read English text, so f*ckin annoying >_<
Besides, Yuri Lowenthal wasn't bad, not bad at all, playing as Haseo

But I would LOVE to see .Hack on the PS3, with all the capabilities the PS3 has, I really dunno why CC Corp took a very awkward turn of pace like this, I mean c'mon, imagine what they could do, if it was on the PS3.

If they wanted to make it analogous to the fact that The World R:x is a portable version of the game they could've just * shields self for At's possible rampage* made it sort-of like Persona, not to where you can summon monsters based on your personality(?) or your psyche(?) but to the fact that you will finally be able to interact with the outside world in the .Hack Universe.

though, like you mentioned the 360, Aika

I'm sorry but if that were to happen, then .Hack would fall down morale poll even further and deeper than it already is right now

(Besides, we would never hear the end of Kyero's constant ranting on how excited he would be>>)

have not seen //Sign

*slaps*

Sorry but I needed to do that

You HAVE to watch //SIGN, not to gain knowledge, but its the best .Hack anime out of all 3 of them.

About Trilogy, I really loathe the fact that it won't be dubbed, like I said before:

I hate hearing jpn dialogue and having to read English text, so f*ckin annoying >_<
Besides, Yuri Lowenthal wasn't bad, not bad at all, playing as Haseo

Not only that, but I hate some of the parts liek how Haseo achieves the Xth Form ( Fusing with Atoli, ugh>>)
Haseo and that the gay-ass B-st Form ( I think they were putting too much Naruto into the movie at that part, makes it too " Un-.hack")

but GU was also what brought plot-holes

Thats another thing too, before GU was announced, everything seemed to fit well, not alot of plot-holes, if any. Now that GU is out, there are so many plot-holes, confusions, left un-answered questions, etc . And some seem impossible to answer, or get a straight answer out of. And when a question is answered, it often just creates more and more plot-holes and questions. Making it rather tedious.

Though, imo I'm glad that they did make GU, if you think about it, if they didn't make GU; after you finish IMOQ, it may seem as if, something is missing, as if it was actually un-finished.


with //LINK I hate altogether, they turned Link into some gay-ass anime/manga game. I say manga b/c I heard that the cut-scenes would be like manga scans.

Not only that, but once I heard that the main protagonist would be physically inserted into the game, thats what sparked my dis-like of //Link, in the first place, take a look at the scans, you'll see what i mean.

Aika wrote:I perfer things to last forever When .hack ends there will be nothing left to look forward to. It's one of those series that doesn't really have anything similar to it, or nearly as complex or emotional.

I understand the sentiment, but wouldn't you rather .hack end while it's still good, instead of lasting so long that they have to make up stupid ****? "Oh my god Haseo is possessed by Cubia and using Data Drain in the real world and only the Liminality characters can stop him by using the Heart Stones of Za Warudo! Henshiiiiiiin~!"

Alternatively, .hack//Link (if there's actually any sort of difference. Oh ho ho ho ho ho!)

The PSP isn't "inferior", technologically it's far more powerful than the DS. Not to mention that Hideo Kojima is doing the same thing, actually, bringing what he considers the "fifth" Metal Gear Solid game to the PSP rather than the PS3, and fans are crazy enthusiastic about that...

Aika wrote:Even the PS3 would be a better option.

Global PSP sales: 50 million
Global PS3 sales: 22.73 million

The lack of a Trilogy dub was an independent decision made by Bandai of America. The Japanese producers and creators of .hack probably haven't even heard of it.

Aika wrote:Basically people who watch subtitled anime watch it with the sound being muted or garbled just because they don't like the way a person grunts or screams in a localized version.(

Wait, so because some people don't the the dub, you're calling the Japanese track "garbled"?

Azure Knight wrote://LINK on the PSP may have had something to do with The World R:X being on a handheld console in the storyline, but I'm not 100% sure about that.

No, R:2 was portable too. It was almost certainly the other way around. The P-Com looks like a PSP because Link is for the PSP.

Azure Knight wrote:Hell, the //Roots and //Sign dubs got the **** end of the stick, they're timeslots being at 5 AM on Adult Swim, when there are barely any people watching.

SIGN was actually on during normal-ish hours on Cartoon Network, and so was Udeden. Roots was on at 1:30am Wednesday evenings in Japan, so it's not like we had that much worse. And this was after Tivo was invented...

Azure Knight wrote:I was already disappointed with //LINK after seeing many of the new screenshots from the manga, and I hope to GOD that the game's story is different from that of the manga.

THIS IS FROM G.U.+

Aika wrote:Perhaps even more so the rumor about it being the last one will be incorrect and a future Playstation 3/Xbox 360 or even better, one of the next generation consoles will give us a large update to the story.

It's not a rumor. Tail Concerto 2 (somehow) is a rumor. This "final chapter" thing is what they're saying.

Azure Knight wrote:There's no chance that it'll be released on DS or Xbox 360. It's a Sony exclusive game.

That's not true, Bandai Namco and CyberConnect2 publish DS games too. Sony doesn't own .hack at all, .hack has just wound up mainly on Sony hardware, probably mostly for the convenience of fans and because the PS2 was so popular.

Aika wrote:CyberConnect2 has recently developed alot of the "Naruto" games for the Xbox 360.

That's not true. Their Naruto games have all been for Playstations. Their only non-Sony game is the DS game. Otherwise I agree with you.

AuraTwilight wrote:Everything was great, perfect, without plotholes, and concluded untl they announced GU.

There were plotholes, you're just suffering old man syndrome...

Aika wrote:I perfer things to last forever When .hack ends there will be nothing left to look forward to. It's one of those series that doesn't really have anything similar to it, or nearly as complex or emotional.

Well, there's always the possibility that the same talent could now be applied to creating something more original than a .hack sequel. Personally that's what I'm hoping for.

Global PSP sales: 50 million
Global PS3 sales: 22.73 million

that's Sony's own fault for putting the price so damn high in the beginning of release, pig-heads>>

Roots was on at 1:30am Wednesday evenings in Japan, so it's not like we had that much worse. And this was after Tivo was invented...

lol, wow thats alittle weird

Sony doesn't own .hack at all

don't they publish it?

There were plotholes

yea, but not as much as now

you're just suffering old man syndrome...

*presents a cane* Sorry i couldn't resist

Well, there's always the possibility that the same talent could now be applied to creating something more original than a .hack sequel. Personally that's what I'm hoping for.

You mean like a total sequel of the whole series?

I'm with everyone on a lot of the gripes stated in this thread. Kuukai and I chatted a bit last night on the odds of Trilogy having any easter eggs/bonus features. We're getting a slapped together release and the consensus is that it will also be lacking any extras. I tried to desperately get in contact with Bandai Entertainment but they have had some internal reshuffling (the US division) and other items that have been discussed at length on mania.com's forums (if you guys want the link I can dig it up). Very disappointed at how Trilogy was handled. I am hoping Link gives the fans something to look forward to even though its on a portable.

FYI Keyaki:

don't they publish it?

CyberConnect2 is the developer and Namco Bandai publishes the .hack games

Keyaki wrote:that's Sony's own fault for putting the price so damn high in the beginning of release, pig-heads>>

In my opinion the success of the Wii and the failure of the PS3 (and to almost the same extent the 360, which has to be loss-leading at this point - not to mention that fact that between the price point and Natal they seem like they're trying to become the Wii) is a tragedy in the long term, as it represents the end of an era of console gaming where cutting-edge computing technology is incorporated into consoles, and the beginning of an era where no one really knows what the box by the TV is for. If Nintendo wasn't making a lot of money off of the little beige box, the "Nintendo Wii" could easily be a set of controllers and a virtual machine computer app that easily runs on any PC or Mac. It doesn't really require too much processing power, and the bar is so incredibly low that the whole common-configuration argument for console development flies out the window. I mean, to some extent the push from graphics will always be there, but I think that consumers have shown that graphics technology, once the primary driving force behind the console industry, isn't the most important thing to them anymore...

Keyaki wrote:

Kuukai wrote:There were plotholes

yea, but not as much as now

There totally were. 99% of the material in analysis was "Maybe it's this, maybe it's that, iunno." I guess they were less obvious than they are now that a lot of those questions are actually answered, but it was hardly a closed case...

Keyaki wrote:

Kuukai wrote:Well, there's always the possibility that the same talent could now be applied to creating something more original than a .hack sequel. Personally that's what I'm hoping for.

You mean like a total sequel of the how series?

Huh? Er, if you meant "whole," I sorta know what you mean. No, I'm not holding out for a spiritual successor, I'm just excited to see what else they can come up with. It'll probably be as different from .hack as Silent Bomber and Tail Concerto are.

There were plotholes, you're just suffering old man syndrome...

Far, far, far less of them that were much easier to explain.

I'm personally disappointed in myself for not joining the .hack// banwagon sooner, then I wouldn't be as disappointed with //Link being the final arc of the series. In a way, I'm glad .hack// will peacefully die like any great series should do, and NOT turn into a Naruto, Pokemon, or DBZ. Like AT said, they would pretty much just make up things, and the three animes that I just listed do just that. //Trilogy was a pretty mediocre re-telling of the games though, so I'm not surprised if some .hack// fans wouldn't care less about what happens to it. To be honest, I just planned on buying it so I could re-watch the AK vs. Haseo fight in BLU-RAY!!! Buuuut...Unfortunately we weren't getting that in U.S. Oh well, at least I'll get to hear it in English dubs. Oh wait, we're getting SUBS, which is sad since there are plenty of versions all over the web for free with that. //Link will just have to settle being the final few centimeters of the wick until the .hack// candle completely burns out.

Sorry, I'll fix the last part of my post

In my opinion the success of the Wii and the failure of the PS3 (and to almost the same extent the 360, which has to be loss-leading at this point - not to mention that fact that between the price point and Natal they seem like they're trying to become the Wii) is a tragedy in the long term, as it represents the end of an era of console gaming where cutting-edge computing technology is incorporated into consoles, and the beginning of an era where no one really knows what the box by the TV is for. If Nintendo wasn't making a lot of money off of the little beige box, the "Nintendo Wii" could easily be a set of controllers and a virtual machine computer app that easily runs on any PC or Mac. It doesn't really require too much processing power, and the bar is so incredibly low that the whole common-configuration argument for console development flies out the window. I mean, to some extent the push from graphics will always be there, but I think that consumers have shown that graphics technology, once the primary driving force behind the console industry, isn't the most important thing to them anymore...

So you mean, that over the years, the industry's focus changed from just making better games and consoles with better graphics and capabilities to making them all sort-of like "alien-ware" computers?

AuraTwilight wrote:

There were plotholes, you're just suffering old man syndrome...

Far, far, far less of them that were much easier to explain.

Uhh, feel free to add meaningful plotholes to the Wiki. Nothing there right now is even remotely what I'd consider a plothole. I could easily add all the R:1 artistic differences if I wasn't totally opposed to everything on that page to begin with...

_Tri-edge_ wrote:I'm personally disappointed in myself for not joining the .hack// banwagon sooner, then I wouldn't be as disappointed with //Link being the final arc of the series. In a way, I'm glad .hack// will peacefully die like any great series should do, and NOT turn into a Naruto, Pokemon, or DBZ. Like AT said, they would pretty much just make up things, and the three animes that I just listed do just that. //Trilogy was a pretty mediocre re-telling of the games though, so I'm not surprised if some .hack// fans wouldn't care less about what happens to it. To be honest, I just planned on buying it so I could re-watch the AK vs. Haseo fight in BLU-RAY!!! Buuuut...Unfortunately we weren't getting that in U.S. Oh well, at least I'll get to hear it in English dubs. Oh wait, we're getting SUBS, which is sad since there are plenty of versions all over the web for free with that. //Link will just have to settle being the final few centimeters of the wick until the .hack// candle completely burns out.

DBZ ended, though. And with Buu, no less! Also, don't you live in Japan? The U.S. and Japan are on the same Blu-ray region. Just get $90 somehow (ya-ku-za?) and buy it on Blu-ray there! With an expensive and illegal hardware setup, you could probably even play it using the sub track from the U.S. DVD...

Keyaki wrote:So you mean, that over the years, the industry's focus changed from just making better games and consoles with better graphics and capabilities to making them all sort-of like "alien-ware" computers?

I'm saying that, for the last couple generations, console-making has been about applying state-of-the-art engineering to the question of video games, crafting specialized hardware better for graphics and gameplay than anything else commercially available. Now the market is pushing the industry in a direction where I feel they won't do that, where everything will in essence be a PC, or in the Wii's case might as well be.

This isn't to say that the Cell was a great idea. Comparing the PS3 to the 360, it really doesn't seem like it was worth the development. But then again that comparison is already tainted by the shifting paradigm--even game developers would rather program for a simple DirectX PC than for a 9-core monstrosity. But either way, I still think that that was the right way, to have technology-driven gaming systems. Mistakes might be made, research might be overdone, it might be ridiculously hard to program for, but darn it I want my supercomputer.

Sorry, I know, this is all 99% offtopic, but I had a pretty healthy rant going and I wanted to finish it...

Kuukai wrote:DBZ ended, though. And with Buu, no less! Also, don't you live in Japan? The U.S. and Japan are on the same Blu-ray region. Just get $90 somehow (ya-ku-za?) and buy it on Blu-ray there! With an expensive and illegal hardware setup, you could probably even play it using the sub track from the U.S. DVD...

It sounds like a very confusing and tedious process though. XD I'll just go ahead and buy the japanese version, then end it there. I've seen the subbed version so many times, I can basically remember everything being said on the screen to some extent. *sigh* If only .hack// had a larger international fan base. We'd be getting much more than what we're receving now. Then again, that's probably the double-edged sword right there, which would result in it becoming a Naruto/Pokemon series. Damn. X(

Uhh, feel free to add meaningful plotholes to the Wiki. Nothing there right now is even remotely what I'd consider a plothole. I could easily add all the R:1 artistic differences if I wasn't totally opposed to everything on that page to begin with...

I know. I'm agreeing with you.