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Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan marked as clone of Elite Beat Agents
 
Category: Naming
Reference: 2083
Closed (rejected) by: root.
Anonymous » 2009-01-04 00:41:28

I don't believe that Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan (0083) should be marked as a clone of the Elite Beat Agents group (0655/1213/1215/1219/1229/1287). EBA's gameplay is definitely almost identical to OTO, but the games are entirely different and don't even share any of the same songs, stories, or characters. Elite Beat Agents is really more of a sequel than a clone, even though the two games were released in markets that don't overlap.

Thanks for all the hard work on the lists, just wanted to point out something I consider an error.
kazumi213 » 2009-01-04 06:36:52

Already discussed some time ago.

The western versions just use different musical contents/artwork due to localization requirements, but they all are the same game.

NTR-AOSP-EUR
NTR-AOSJ-JPN
NTR-AOSE-USA
NTR-AOSF-FRA
NTR-AOSI-ITA
NTR-AOSS-ESP
NTR-AOSD-NOE
NTR-AOSK-KOR

According to you, the Improve/Develop Your Vocabulary series should be splitted. Each language means a different game. Or split the GH OT Decades series, as US, European English and non-English, each feature 6-7 exclusive songs.
kazumi213 (quoting anonymous) » 2009-01-05 07:09:13

2009-01-04 13:56:43 by anonymous

Sorry, there appears to be no way for an anonymous user to reply to a discussion, only post a new one.

There is no way that EBA can be considered as a "localized version" of OTO, the games share almost no assets (and even possibly none at all), and no songs. This is not a case similar to the ones you cited, as the GH OT Decades group do still share the large majority of their songs, and all their assets.

The EBA/OTO case would be more on the level of marking GH OT Decades as a clone of the original GH OT. Identical gameplay STYLE, but almost nothing in the games themselves are shared. EBA even includes multiple features that are not present in OTO, such as wireless play, replay saving, bonus stages, multiple story-endings based on performance, etc.

I'd suggest playing both games for a short time each, it should be almost immediately obvious that they're not clones.
kazumi213 » 2009-01-05 07:59:51

Why do you think that localizing a game means translating in-game text only?

Our P/C lists don't judge whether the contents of grouped games are exact copies for them to be considered clones. It's simpler and more objective than that. We group regional implementations of the same game, no matter the consequences of such implementations on game contents. Of course it's expected that similarities on main points like graphics and music exist, but even those can be customized to suit a specific market idiosyncrasy and due to economic, legal/copyright and even political reasons.

A recent example: first JPN "Shaberu!" was grouped with the "Cooking Guides" due to evident similarities. However it only contains japanese recipes, while western games are compilations of worldwide recipes. A new JPN "Shaberu!" was released, containing world recipes (even more) and Wi-Fi features. Note the new "Shaberu!" shares game serial with western games.

So I accordingly removed first "Shaberu!" from group. It is still grouped with the Korean food game (Korean recipes only), and I have to admit that I'm not completely sure about this group (they don't share serial, but this also happens in some "no-doubt" families)

EBA is the western localization of OTU. This is supported by serial and the fact that EBA hasn't been released in Japan.
kazumi213 » 2009-01-05 15:04:09

From Wikipedia article for EBA:

---
Development

Due to the surprisingly high import rate of Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, Nintendo and iNiS began discussing the possibility of officially exporting the game to other regions. However, as Keiichi Yano, vice president of iNiS and director of the game explained in an interview with 1UP.com, selling the game at retail in Western markets would have been unfeasible due to the game's innate reliance on Japanese popular music and cultural references.[6] It was due to this fact that when Yano and iNiS began work on the North American version, the black-clad cheerleaders of Ouendan were removed and work began on a replacement. The first concepts were of a trio of dancers styled after the Village People,[7] before the final decision of a trio of men styled after government agents, using distinctly Western references such as the Ghostbusters, Blues Brothers, Men in Black and Austin Powers series for inspiration. In addition, the concept of the Elite Beat Divas and Commander Kahn directing the Agents came from Charlie's Angels.
---

The article calls EBA "the spiritual sequel" to OTO. Wiki also gives the definition for "spiritual sequel".

Honestly this "spiritual sequel" which shares serial with OTO is clearly the western localization and both games are correctly grouped. Even OTO2 has unlockable EBA characters.