Natsume on River City: Tokyo Rumble localization, potential for more stateside releases

A portion of a Siliconera interview with Natsume’s producer, Taka Maekawa...

N: How did Natsume partner with Arc System Works to bring the River City / Kunio-kun games to the West?

Taka Maekawa, Producer at Natsume: Our Partnership with Arc System Works started almost a year and a half ago through a good friend of mine in Japan. It all started with Gotcha Racing and Brave Tank Hero for the Nintendo 3DS, then continued with Super Strike Beach Volleyball and River City: Tokyo Rumble this year. With River City, I contacted Arc System Works as soon as I saw the news that Million’s title rights (who were the right holders of Tecnos Japan titles) had been transferred to Arc System Works.

S: The Kunio-kun series has been localized in different ways like changing the main characters to Alex and Ryan in River City Ransom. It looks like the original names, Kunio and Riki, are being used. Can you tell us how is River City: Tokyo Rumble being localized?

TM: With the character names, we kept it same as the original Japanese version since the game takes place in Tokyo. With other text in the game (such as the way NPCs talk, item names, etc.) we combined the nomenclature from the past games in the series, along with our own personal touch.

S: There are more hot blooded River City games in Japan, like the medieval spinoff for 3DS and River City Ransom SP. Is Natsume looking at bringing those over?

TM: Of course! We are definitely open for any opportunities with other titles in the Kunio series!