Board Thread:Off-Topic Discussion/@comment-6433273-20180322113157/@comment-53539-20180409215144

CCyclone wrote: So do we have confirmation for VOCALOID5 coming later this year or next year??? Bc I'm thinking that might be why ST MEDiA has been dead silent on UNI for the last few months...okseveralmonthswheeze

That's the only reason I can think of that we haven't heard about UNI's English or Power/Soft voicebanks, aside from UNI actually having poorer sales than we realize (but again, considering how the Korean fandom essentially exploded after her release I highly doubt that). There was a hint dropped on Twitter by one of those within the Vocatone associate group, but beyond that little has been said. I sadly don't have the tweet to show. I don't it as anything official either. We have no full idea on when its coming, but V4 has been around for nearly four years. As hard as it is to believe that now, we're basically reaching its end. Techology move forward, meaning V5 is due anyway within two years tops. Considering that V3 and V4 covered the transition from Windows 64 bit era into Windows 10, sooner or later basically some technology development is going to happen that will force Vocaloid to update regardless. Considering that UTAU also is in trouble from the 2020s onwards in its current form, Vocaloid would be in a similar boat too if it didn't update.

Even if this isn't the case, the new engine release boasts sales of Vocaloids for a while after its released, thus they would need to release one to keep sales turning along. :-?

I short, its not a question on if V5 is coming, its *when* it will come, though that may be a year longer then expected by the fans, its still over the horizon. Vocaloids past lifespans have been approx. 4 years. The other things is, we don't know how the handling of the new engine will occur. I remember the V3 release and how many rumours were around, as well as mistranslations. V4 had no fanfare in contrast and was just dropped out of thin air. I prefer the fanfare of V3, as we had a period of hype and expectations. We basically didn't know what was coming. But the period of silence was the hardest part, as all studios were quiet after VY2. When I think of the V4 release, I note Chinese V3's were still being released after V4 was released... It was so disorganised and I felt some areas were let down because of it. I hope everything right now is all releases to do with cleaning up and everyone is being given a period of grace to release their last projects so everyone is on par.

Despite being dropped out of thin air, V4 was no surprise as Bil let the cat out of the bag a month or so before V4 was revealed. Which to date is still one of the most funny moments in Vocaloid history. It completely spoilt the Yamaha secret they were keeping, as well as dropped the ball on why Wat called Luka V4x "new luka" and not "Luka V3".

I miss PowerFX... That were loveable fools. T_T

Saying that, V4 still has been the most luckluster version...

Since the later end of last year, the Japanese companies have been mostly quiet. The last time things were this quiet, it was the V2 -> V3 prep era. This didn't happen in V3 -> V4 since V4 came out much sooner then it should have. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a V4 -> V5 event like there was a V2 -> V3 event going to occur sometime in the future, though now the Vocaloid Project is no longer in the same hands as it was in the past, we don't know whats going to happen until it does.

V5 is expected to be a much bigger development then V4, since the new guy behind it has bigger plans then his processor. Until its release, however, we basically don't know whats going to happen. This is the first time in the engines history I feel things are really unpredictable and anything could happen. This is the guy who wants to introduce AI into Vocaloid somehow, meaning Vocaloid will have a self awareness of some nature going into the distant future. My only concern is that fans may expect too much of V5 and would be more disappointed if V5 didn't live up to expectations.

I don't know what else to say. Until we have solid news, we don't even have the grounds to make a sandbox page. :-/