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[Dead]

Disney just called, they want the dog from Toy Story 2 back.

Fixed >:0

 

[dog$]

Can you elaborate?

Well one thing I'd say is that while it may not take "much" effort to translate Japanese to English outright, it's quite another to make the English characters fit into the space/dimensions and memory allocations that are allotted for Japanese games. A 4-character Japanese sentence can be 10 words of English or more, and outside of reprogramming the game you only have 32 (or whatever) character spaces to work with in a single screen.

Take a look at Dragon Warrior 7 to see how even a year+ of translating can still yield a laundry list of butchered names (items, monsters, etc). Even if Enix US at least tried to make a font to fit two English letters in a character slot, they still would have run into a billion translation problems in working with the Japanese character allocations.

ˆ«–²ƒ\?[ƒh. < This says "Nightmare Sword" and fits in 5 of a maximum of 8 character slots on a given screen. Now try fitting the phrase "Nightmare Sword" into 8 characters of English. Multiply this situation by however many lines of text are in an RPG and I'd think that's where a lot of time is consumed.

 

[Forsete]

Really nice.

 

[Akira]

I like the PS2 Madden cover a lot more than the Xbox version... it looks classier to me.

That's what I was thinking.

This is a nice cover. What game is this? I can't read the title right now.

Kingdom Under Fire! Woo!

 

[Buffy4ever]

This is response about translating Japanese to English, It is harder then you think. Many Kanji symbols have different meaning depending on the sentence. Thier are tons of Kanji to decipher, and Katakana is only used for either words form other countires that thier are no menaing in japanese. Also, the sentence structure is arranged totally different then most western culture's sentence structures. So, I can see why it would take namco a year to trnslate a game form Japanese to English, it sometimes take English screenplays based on novels months to write. It is not as easy to translate Japanese as it would be to translate like Spanish to English.
Also what one person said about the culture differences is true, they would have to be changed for example if a game had a Motel ( love hotel ) in the japanese version, it would have to be changed for in the american version, even thought we both use the word Motel. Also, not every american know about both cultures, and just watching Dragon Ball Z on cartoon network wouldn't teach them to a person.
I have a question for the guywho played ps1 on emulation, I din't know Nes emulation could run PS! becuase it is a Sega Master system game. Anyway I am glad that we are getting PS1. PS2 and PS4, they were the best of the series, and thank you Conspiracy Games for bringing them over to the USA.

 

[u_neek]

Kuon --> Survival horror

 

[Grubdog]

Oh okay, that makes more sense than I thought it would. Thanks for clearing that up for me dog$ and sonic4ever.

 

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

 

[Mr_Furious]

*new boxarts:

*some may actually be old but oh well...

 

[Ninja Scooter]

First of all, Terrel Owens is not Michael Jordan. Secondly, the 3 different fonts/styles for each word in the title looks pretty horrible. I guess since they are pricing it as budget title, they might as well make it look like a budget title.

 

[BobbyRobby]

My point is that the other games aren't that great anymore either. I tried playing PS1 on my NES emulator some time ago, I was like "Shit, where's the beef?". It's amazing what games were like in the days before story and presentation.

There wasn't a NES version was there? I could be wrong though. Until recently, I never knew there was a Saturn Suikoden or a PC Engine Final Fantasy.

Edit: Nevermind, I'm a moron. Forgot that PS was made by Sega. Wouldn't exactly be wise to port their games to the competitor's system.

 

[ferricide]

Exactly. They're trying to pretend PS3 never existed. I don't care whether you liked it or not, that's bullshit. RPG fans want all the games, not just the ones Sega feels like giving to us. Phantasy Star Collection for Saturn had all 4 games, tons of bonus features, etc., and that shit was released eons ago. We get...this. Fucking YIPPIE.

phantasy star III has next to nothing to do with the trilogy story, which flows from 1 to 2 to 4 (which wasn't called 'phantasy star IV' in japan, mind you.) it also wasn't made by most of the core staff who worked on the other three games, and it's up to people who know more about the series than you to make these determinations. PS3 is completely superfluous to the trilogy story of the series. moreover it's taking them long e-fucking-nough to remake 2 and 4, so i'm pretty happy to have them skip 3 in the hopes we actually get the important games of the series.

 

[mightynine]

Why not? Please excuse my ignorance, but what is so hard about translating it into English that it takes a year to do? If you know both languages, I can't imagine it taking more than a few days.. but there has to be a reason that's flown straight across my head. This has been bugging me for quite a while. Can you elaborate?

I'd also like to add to what's previously been said about translation is that not only does it have to be translated to English, but it also has to make sense. Lots of jokes that are hilarious to one culture mean absolutely nothing to another, and so on and so forth.

I'm guessing just a bit on that one, so someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[thorns]

wtf.. worst star wars cover ever?

 

[Shouta]

Originally Posted by Neutron Night
Um...no it doesn't. If I was fluent in Japanese I could look over the transcript and translate it in a few days AT THE MOST.

Originally Posted by john tv
HAHAHA...no.

Bingo.

Good Covers = Wild Arms, Red Ninja, Shadow Hearts Covenant, Advent Rising.

 

[king zell]

wtf.. worst star wars cover ever?

 

[MetatronM]

W
T
F
?
!

 

[evilromero]

Ok. QUESTIONS. What are the impressions on Ghosthunter? Also, I is there any word on the quality of KoF 2k2/2k3 on the Xbox?? I'd much rather get it on that platform. Also I can't wait for Metal Slug 4 & 5 on the Xbox. I played the shit out of 5 in the arcade. That big tentacle mech at the beginning sold me.

ONE more question: How is playing Japanese games on the US Xbox? I just recently heard that there is no modification required, which I took with a grain of salt. I always thought it was region locked.

 

[Dagless M.D.]

So are they STILL making PS1 games?

 

[evilromero]

Kuon appears terribly similar to Juon, even though the two names are completely different. I mean, we got the scary ass cover, scary ass white-faced girl, and a title that simly sounds the same. It better be as good. I don't want this half-assed attempt at a Juon game like Siren.

 

[cvxfreak]

Wow... that's really.. wow.

 

[evilromero]

Holy shit. If that is indeed the BK boxart, then I just shit a brick. That is very nice.

 

[JackFrost2012]

I hardly feel like I need to contribute to the "no, you can't translate an RPG in a week," thread, but. Here are some things to consider:

1) you want to do a good translation. this, of course, takes a while. if you seriously think it can be done "in a week," then you don't know anything about translation OR writing.
2) a lot of the difficulty of a large-scale RPG translation comes not from language issues but consistency issues. let's say you have a Key Item called the Dream Gem, but you could also read the kanji as Dreaming Stone or Wishing Jewel. EVERY TIME the Japanese characters for "Dream Gem" appear on the item screen, in quest descriptions, in the battle area, in NPC dialogue, in story cinemas, you MUST translate it THE SAME WAY. Stuff like that can take a LONG time to establish and double and triple check.
3) RPGs have a lot more text than you probably realize. there's a lot of minigame, sidequest, townsperson dialogue most people will never see. well, the people translating it have to see it all.
4) the English version is not "the Japanese version only in English." it is, effectively, a brand new game that has to be tested and retested from scratch.
5) translating the text is like 5% of the overall work of a localization. resolving issues with the original development team, clarifying things that can be read in multiple ways, formatting the text according to the system used by the developers, actually inserting the new text into the game code, testing the translated game, establishing the overseas version of the packaging, etc. etc.. all these steps take time.
6) even once all this is done, the publisher in a different territory may decide to wait a few months to actually publish it, for no reason other than this year vs. last year on the budget sheets, waiting for the holiday season, pure caprice, etc.

That said, you're welcome to learn Japanese, assembly language, and C code and to prove me wrong. Hell, I'm feeling generous; you can have ten days.

 

[Baron Aloha]

Oh, snap!!! Dog's Life is coming stateside? That game looked hilarious in all the videos I've seen for it. Mine!!!

 

[NotMSRP]

Dealing with only a stack of paper, you can do a draft translation within 1-2 weeks. The rest of the time is with polishing.

 

[Synbios459]

So why don't they have like 10 or so people translating various parts of the game? And why couldn't they just reprogram the game, to be able to display more characters, if it's an issue? Or better yet, why don't they translate WHILE they are initially developing the game?

 

[NotMSRP]

multiple translators
pro: speeds up the process
con: inconsistencies in terminologies



Apparently, whatever CS schooling is taught in Japan, it probably emphasize about making your program not as flexible as possible. That's may be why all this crap during the localization process.

 

[Mr_Furious]

So why don't they have like 10 or so people translating various parts of the game? And why couldn't they just reprogram the game, to be able to display more characters, if it's an issue? Or better yet, why don't they translate WHILE they are initially developing the game?

It's stupid to consider throwing unlimited resources into translations. At the end of the day, it's a business.

 

[Defensor]

Rejoice for finally including dual-analog controls!

 

[somnific]

"Well, it took an hour to write... I thought it would take an hour to read!"

hAha, great futurama quote!

 

[Murphmanstudios]

Why did PS2 get the pimped Madden box?

 

[Shouta]

multiple translators
pro: speeds up the process
con: inconsistencies in terminologies

Not true on the pro. Different people work at different rates and trying to setup a converging point can be a lot more work than you want. Also, each translator is different in terms of ability so while one person may translate it, it might not come out correctly or the wording might not flow with the rest of the dialogue. Then you have to go through an editor to clean up dialogue so it sounds consistent and that can be a problem because editors can also make unnecessary changes that would mess with the overall work =b. Lots of junk happens.

 

[Kobun Heat]

This translation stuff is hilarious. Can't believe I missed the fun the first time around.

 

[Shouta]

You were playing with your Kobuns, of course you'd miss it.

 

[NotMSRP]

So then what's faster? In series or parallel?

 

[Shouta]

Arguably, in series unless the translators working parallel to each other are incredibly coordinated. Mind you, doing the translation in a semblance of a sequence will also give context to the translator and will help the translation of the work and its overall quality.

 

[NotMSRP]

So what if you have a very tight deadline? How would you go about it then?

 

[Sp3eD]

So what if you have a very tight deadline? How would you go about it then?

You end up with "All your base are belong to us" types of quotes.

 

[king zell]

most of them represent final packaging

 

[SolidSnakex]

Paper Mario and Phantom Braves are really nice. That MP2 one though, that's not so good.

 

[evilromero]

The MP2, Paper Mario 2 and Konga boxes have to go. My god, someone can do better than that.

 

[NotMSRP]

According to Gamestop, that's the limited edition cover of Phantom Brave.

 

[Mr_Furious]

...and just for the hell of it, a big fat WTF to these controllers I found:

(sorry if some are old)

 

[fennec fox]

 

[Defensor]

 

[bjork]

Shayde looks kind of cool, but I have never heard of it.

Those controllers remind me of Madballs.

 

[Blinky]

Madden (PS2) > Madden (X-Box)

Red Ninja; Guilty Gear; Baten Kaitos =

 

[Ramirez]

WTF,hahaha...

 

[Fifty]

That cover looks awful. He doesn't even look confident, he looks scared. Then again, Tiger isn't the player he once was.....not by a longshot. He's just the only golfer that can sell games with his name on the box.

 

[thorns]

wtf is this?