Spud:
Your case is two business entities duking it out. This is business vs. John Q. Public. Guess who's gonna win out?
Epsilon:
You're missing my point entirely. I'm not talking about what subbers/scanners offer. I'm talking about what the Japanese production companies offer.
I am talking about what the American companies that license this stuff offers!!!
If something that gets produced in Japan totally bombs, we can only shrug - such are the risks that they take with these things and they are well aware of that fact.
However, these companies in America? They have the unusual capability to see how one market responds to something before they decide to bring it to their own home market. It's like looking before leaping.
Honestly, it reminds me of that scene in the beginning of the movie, The Other Guys, where the two Star Detectives have chased the baddies to the roof of a ten story building, only to find that they've escaped via zip lines which were then cut. The detectives then decide to jump off the roof and aim for the bushes... except they just assumed there were bushes below. The only thing down there waiting for them was pavement.
At this point, subbers and scanlators hardly even enter the picture. All they do is they make the market more competitive because people know what's good and what isn't in advance. If anything, they would be useful tools to the industry as a measuring stick to gauge the popularity of a title before they license it.
EDIT: I had recently downloaded Katanagatari and I was about to upload it to BakaBT as my first offering to the tracker... but it just got licensed by NIS America (famous for localizing games like Disgaea, they seem to have decided to start branching into anime). I was a bit miffed, but now I feel: More power to them! As soon as I have the money for it, I would love to have a Blu-Ray release of Katanagatari.
Your case is two business entities duking it out. This is business vs. John Q. Public. Guess who's gonna win out?
Epsilon:
You're missing my point entirely. I'm not talking about what subbers/scanners offer. I'm talking about what the Japanese production companies offer.
I am talking about what the American companies that license this stuff offers!!!
If something that gets produced in Japan totally bombs, we can only shrug - such are the risks that they take with these things and they are well aware of that fact.
However, these companies in America? They have the unusual capability to see how one market responds to something before they decide to bring it to their own home market. It's like looking before leaping.
Honestly, it reminds me of that scene in the beginning of the movie, The Other Guys, where the two Star Detectives have chased the baddies to the roof of a ten story building, only to find that they've escaped via zip lines which were then cut. The detectives then decide to jump off the roof and aim for the bushes... except they just assumed there were bushes below. The only thing down there waiting for them was pavement.
At this point, subbers and scanlators hardly even enter the picture. All they do is they make the market more competitive because people know what's good and what isn't in advance. If anything, they would be useful tools to the industry as a measuring stick to gauge the popularity of a title before they license it.
EDIT: I had recently downloaded Katanagatari and I was about to upload it to BakaBT as my first offering to the tracker... but it just got licensed by NIS America (famous for localizing games like Disgaea, they seem to have decided to start branching into anime). I was a bit miffed, but now I feel: More power to them! As soon as I have the money for it, I would love to have a Blu-Ray release of Katanagatari.