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[nikolino840]

From Japan to the world: how to translate a game

Everything from slang to costumes needs to be considered in an era where international success is crucial to making a blockbuster.

www.japantimes.co.jp

 

[gokurho]

 

[sigmaZ]

lol I actually remember a long time ago there was an anime or something where they did something like this. They translated the food off as if it were something western. It was something in the late 80s or 90s I think.

 

[SJRB]

This is about censorship more than it is about translation. The outrageous notion that a committee of Western randos decides for an entire continent what is decent or acceptable, stifling the original artists' vision.





Asmongold went in HARD over this article.

 

[Lolofonek]

Article title: "how to translate a game"
Article is actually about how they censor them.

 

[struggler_guts]

Translation has always been trash, so many liberties taken just to be "relateable" to westerners

 

[gaming_again]

The worst thing is that apparently the Skies of Arcadia English script was mostly made up by a single weirdo. I want to know what the real one is like now.

 

[Shake Your Rump]

Clicked the article expecting to be informed. Instead, it's just a few quotes from developers about how they censor skirt length and no longer make gay jokes.

 

[shaddam]

This is about censorship more than it is about translation. The outrageous notion that a committee of Western randos decides for an entire continent what is decent or acceptable, stifling the original artists' vision.





Asmongold went in HARD over this article.

Third post, best post

 

[GeekGuyWithGlasses]

lol I actually remember a long time ago there was an anime or something where they did something like this. They translated the food off as if it were something western. It was something in the late 80s or 90s I think.

You mean how riceballs became donuts and ramen became pizza in the 4kids/western localisation of the Pokémon anime? (while not actually changing the food look)

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

if Japan goes this route, I can see Korea or even China (Chinese developers UNDER CCP RULES, no less) surpassing them.

People who support the industry don't want this crap. Those "Western new audiences" don't exist, as Hollywood is realizing the hard way.

It's rich from these weirdos who preach on "cultural appropriation" doing exactly that.

 

[Fatbody]

What’s most blackpilling about this is that they’re no longer just messing with the localization, but now consulting with the Japanese devs during the creative process and poisoning it at the source. Now you can’t just find a translation patch, learn Japanese, or in the future rely on AI. What would have been created will never be and will have died in the mind of Japanese dev or in an international slack chat.

Truly sick and sinister people. It’s like a virus looking to spread wherever they can.

 

[Power Pro]

lol I actually remember a long time ago there was an anime or something where they did something like this. They translated the food off as if it were something western. It was something in the late 80s or 90s I think.

 

[sigmaZ]

Ah, that's what it was. Of course.

 

[makaveli60]

And does this work the other way as well? Woke retardness being censored from the Japanese versions of western games? Yeah, thought so.

 

[Ikutachi]

 

[Vlodril]

It's with big games as well. FFXVI seemed way off when i played it. Like the subs had nothing to do with what was been said at times. Very weird.

 

[STARSBarry]

 

[LordCBH]

Clicked the article expecting to be informed. Instead, it's just a few quotes from developers about how they censor skirt length and no longer make gay jokes.

Companies like Disney lost billions trying to appease the retarded SJW vocal minority, so I am legitimately confused as to why Japanese companies like Sega and Namco think they should do it.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

And yet AA’s localization is top notch. Even if the Japanjfornia facade got progressively thinner and was just destroyed by that ramen case in AA6, the jokes are rendered brilliantly in English. People who think that they should have kept the Japanese names in the western version can go cry to their loli waifus.

 

[bender]

Companies like Disney lost billions trying to appease the retarded SJW vocal minority, so I am legitimately confused as to why Japanese companies like Sega and Namco think they should do it.

Path of least resistance. The majority of games media has a certain bent so the thinking is probably that it is easier to make these changes than deal with potential firestorms.

 

[Power Pro]

What the hell is this...?

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

i have seen some controversy about translation/localization around anime lately. especifically the one done in united states.

i dunno, i prefered 100% of the time latin american (mexican) localization in anime, is the best and makes anime better.

 

[ReyBrujo]

Really nice article saying absolutely nothing You know, I'm fortunate to speak 3 languages rather fluently (Spanish, English and Japanese) so I try to play all my (Switch) games in Japanese (NA version only includes the Japanese voice lately though). The Spanish translation is usually a mess because it uses the English as base (which sometimes isn't that accurate).

When you play with the Japanese voice you are listening to exactly the feelings the game director wanted, the girl might cry, the guy might shout, and that take alone might have taken 3 or 4 times to get right. It's not that the voice is done in a single take, it takes time until the VAs get the correct mood, intonation and stress the director wanted for that scene. However for the subbing/dubbing the budget (both money and time) is limited and the director does not get involved so you lose the exact feelings they wanted to transmit. And you lose all that. Same with the anime, that's why people watch with subs instead of a dub (and if you watch dubs, burn in hell!).

I remember when I bought the first number of the Haruhi Suzumiya manga in Spanish and when the protagonist asked something to Yuki they had translated it as "Tranqui." (which might be "Easy." as in, do not worry in English). I stopped reading there. Sure, they might have translated the line correctly in Spanish slang but at the same time completely defaced the character which in spirit (at that point of the story) was an alien, kind of a Borg in Star Trek without visible feelings nor humor.

 

[Kurotri]

So, Japan has fallen..

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

Really nice article saying absolutely nothing You know, I'm fortunate to speak 3 languages rather fluently (Spanish, English and Japanese) so I try to play all my (Switch) games in Japanese (NA version only includes the Japanese voice lately though). The Spanish translation is usually a mess because it uses the English as base (which sometimes isn't that accurate).

Spanish translators (from Spain) are full of shit. Only Sony translates / dubs games properly and in those Spanish voices are excellent, but Japanese games/anime translations drive me mad, even if they translate from English, they make up or misinterpret so many things that I wonder how these morons even get paid.

The expression you mentioned, "tranqui", is a prime example of how useless these people are. It's not just that they don't know English, they are fucking stupid, too.

In principle, I am strongly against the use of AI for any job that involves human thinking but in this particular case... oh, boy, I can't wait.

 

[STARSBarry]

What the hell is this...?

The game these dudes just translated, infinite wealth.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

 

[NecrosaroIII]

If you have an interest in translation and localization, I strongly recommend Clyde Mendelin's website, Legends of Localization.

Legends of Localization

Exploring the best & worst game translations

legendsoflocalization.com

It's operated by the dude who did the Mother 3 fan translation. His book Legends of Localization: Earthbound is basically a textbook on J > E video game localization

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

Well that just confirms to me even more why I should hold off on buying any game from Japanese Developer

I usually do this for any game coming from Sega, Namco, Koei Tecmo, SquareEnix, etc

I used to buy Day One but not anymore

 

[NecrosaroIII]

Well that just confirms to me even more why I should hold off on buying any game from Japanese Developer

I usually do this for any game coming from Sega, Namco, Koei Tecmo, SquareEnix, etc

I used to buy Day One but not anymore

As opposed to Western Games that are broken upon release?

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

As opposed to Western Games that are broken upon release?

And equally as woke?

 

[ReyBrujo]

So, Japan has fallen..

Not really. Have faith bro!

 

[PonyStation4]

I need a pure Japanese translation of President Armstrongs speech from Metal Gear Rising

 

[Lumyst]

Third post, best post

Companies like Disney lost billions trying to appease the retarded SJW vocal minority, so I am legitimately confused as to why Japanese companies like Sega and Namco think they should do it.

This could be a case of lagging behind Western trends in entertainment/movies, for instance, "Marvelizing" dialogue like was done in Forspoken, before seeing that Western customers already caught on and were so tired of Disney's approach to entertainment that they lost interest in following the brand. I think it was bad that Square-Enix couldn't use their sensibilities to create what they're good at and diversify the flavor of entertainment this generation. I think they made what they thought fit in to modern Playstation's first party style (complete with, to put it nicely, deliberately blander aesthetics) rather than the rom-com infused young adult adventures that they like making (the West still makes rom coms by the way, complete with fan service, localizers should take note, see:



In Asmongold's video he points out how the only thing people can do is go for the stuff that doesn't take the "neutered" approach and I do think that it sometimes takes a trendsetter to signal a change. At least to some degree, the sexual themes and lewdness in Baldur's Gate 3 can be seen as being a trendsetter especially to those who made RPGs last year that weren't enthusiastically received, and I wonder if Grand Theft Auto VI can be another trendsetter that signals that it's okay to make deliberate use of sex appeal again, at least the trailer did haha otherwise

Spoiler

I'm going to be forced to keep buying visual novels instead for my cartoon style lewdness fix, or even....actually start watching romcoms

 

[InterMusketeer]

Deeply troubling. I like the different culture shown to me through Japanese and other foreign games. They teach me things, show me different perspectives and ideas. I don't want everything to become one bland mono-culture of political correctness. That's the complete opposite of diversity and inclusion.

 

[Madflavor]

Oh my fucking god please no. We rely on Japan to still be able to deliver fun, sexy, unapologetic, and most importantly, authentic approach to storytelling, world building, and characters, while the West devolves more and more into a woke nightmare. If Japan falls to this crap it's going to be bad for people who both make and play games. Forcing a homogenized approach to how art should be presented is backwards ass thinking.

 

[EDMIX]

Oh my fucking god please no. We rely on Japan to still be able to deliver fun, sexy, unapologetic, and most importantly, authentic approach to storytelling, world building, and characters, while the West devolves more and more into a woke nightmare. If Japan falls to this crap it's going to be bad for people who both make and play games. Forcing a homogenized approach to how art should be presented is backwards ass thinking.

The deep lolz

Japan has been localizing games like this for a long time. Unless someone points it out, most won't notice, most don't give a shit.

Japan still has PR, they still decide things based on the majority and will still alter things not to offend.

I have no clue where anyone thought it was like the wild west there simply desperately trying to fucking pretend they are the polar opposite to the west to cry about "woke" shit. So....wait till you find out about all the games in the past where those characters changed based on different versions made for the west lol

So Yakuza 8 is still day 1, same with Persona 3 remake and so many other Japanese games. Most of us who just play games don't even care about this shit to the degree some of you really want folks to. I don't see any data to even support most will not buy a game based on any of this crap...

 

[Pejo]

What’s most blackpilling about this is that they’re no longer just messing with the localization, but now consulting with the Japanese devs during the creative process and poisoning it at the source.

These dickwads right here are responsible for untold amounts of this exact thing. One of my most disliked companies in all of gaming.

*edit*

Most of us who just play games don't even care about this shit to the degree some of you really want folks to. I don't see any data to even support most will not buy a game based on any of this crap...

Oh boy, here comes the gaslighting.

Look at how much this bro "doesn't care" about this:

 

[EDMIX]

These dickwads right here are responsible for untold amounts of this exact thing. One of my most disliked companies in all of gaming.

*edit*


Oh boy, here comes the gaslighting.

Look at how much this bro "doesn't care" about this:

The lolz, I don't, its why I find it funny.

I was actually agreeing with your post as I find the TreeHouse involvement as some of the most tone deaf when it comes to applying any change to a game.

So laughing at this shit doesn't mean I'm buying or not buying a game based on any of this.

I'd argue that is the true sign of someone actually caring or this having any real effect vs "emoji" of someone laughing.

 

[Pejo]

The lolz, I don't, its why I find it funny.

I was actually agreeing with your post as I find the TreeHouse involvement as some of the most tone deaf when it comes to applying any change to a game.

So laughing at this shit doesn't mean I'm buying or not buying a game based on any of this.

I'd argue that is the true sign of someone actually caring or this having any real effect vs "emoji" of someone laughing.

My bad, I thought you were trying to insinuate that this type of thing isn't (unfortunately) common and widespread. I do agree that not many people probably know that it happens outside of enthusiast circles, but in my opinion that makes it even more insidious because people are just assuming that the whole world has bought into this western set of morals and standards.

 

[Toons]

Companies like Disney lost billions trying to appease the retarded SJW vocal minority, so I am legitimately confused as to why Japanese companies like Sega and Namco think they should do it.

Lol no.

The stuff being called SJW is increasingly hsut becoming normal, and the sales of the biggest games and in some cases even movies of the year is showing people just dont give af.

TLOU2 is one of the bigger examples of this. The tides are changing and the old heads are either deep diving completely in the opposite direction of full on hateful insanity or are just grumbling and still playing the games. The rest of the base dont give af anymore.

Even hogwarts legacy would be called woke if it were any other game that wasn't also being campaigned against by internet far leftists.

As for translation, translation and localization aren't the same thing. Localization is never going away, because some stuff simply isn't teanslatable to a wide market in a completely different culture without confusing said audience. And if it comes to confusing your audience vs appeasing a Japanese audience that isnt going to watch your localized version anyway, localizers are always going to pick the former.

The Japanese have repeatedly displayed that they dont care all that much; and a lot of the folks complaining about this are non Japanese which is hilariously ironic.

 

[Toons]

Oh my fucking god please no. We rely on Japan to still be able to deliver fun, sexy, unapologetic, and most importantly, authentic approach to storytelling, world building, and characters, while the West devolves more and more into a woke nightmare. If Japan falls to this crap it's going to be bad for people who both make and play games. Forcing a homogenized approach to how art should be presented is backwards ass thinking.

Japan had a gay lesbian couple in a hugely, immensely popular children's cartoon back in the 80s that the US censored to make them "cousins" lmao.

Theres no falling for anything, japan has literslly always had completely different standards than the US has on that stuff, and that standard is far from the conservative minded utopia you're making it out to be. Let's not even get into Japanese anime affinity for sexualized children or children appearing characters.

 

[EDMIX]

My bad, I thought you were trying to insinuate that this type of thing isn't (unfortunately) common and widespread. I do agree that not many people probably know that it happens outside of enthusiast circles, but in my opinion that makes it even more insidious because people are just assuming that the whole world has bought into this western set of morals and standards.

I don't disagree, but this has been going on for eons.

Japan in terms of those companies are still big business and behave as such, so how they localize will always be based on what ever the trend or ideas are of the west. So issues like gender, sex, race, religion etc all of that comes into play, but thats kinda the way it always was anyway.

Like in Final Fantasy games where a gender is changed or certain religious stuff is removed etc I think most simply didn't know this, yet most never had any issue playing any of those games.

I've always seen this as a type of "oh interesting" type of thing, I've never seen this as a no buy or avoid or anything of the sort as I can't even say 1 game that is coming to the west that is completely unchanged or something. So I can't say Japan is doing this based on a morals thing, merely doing it based on PR as not to offend and to cast a wide net and avoid controversies. As times change, they will have those localization teams continue to alter many factors to adjust to what is the cultural norm of the west (or the perceived cultural norm anyway)

 

[Danjin44]

having any real effect vs "emoji" of someone laughing.

To be fair, you overuse that laughing emoji a lot....I mean A LOT.

 

[Madflavor]

The deep lolz

Japan has been localizing games like this for a long time. Unless someone points it out, most won't notice, most don't give a shit.

I don't disagree, but this has been going on for eons.

Japan in terms of those companies are still big business and behave as such, so how they localize will always be based on what ever the trend or ideas are of the west. So issues like gender, sex, race, religion etc all of that comes into play, but thats kinda the way it always was anyway.

You say that like "eons" ago we were facing the same level of moral gatekeeping as we do now. I was there in the 90s and 2000s. Aside from the occasional concerned parent and a Fox news story, there was very little pressure on studios to check a bunch of boxes to offend as little people as possible. Saying "Japan has always been like this" is being disingenuous to how much times have changed in the West these past 5-10 years with the progressive movement, not to mention some aspects of gaming are less popular in Japan today than they used to be. Some publishers in Japan will attempt to appeal to The West more so than before. And if translations and game studios from Japan start inserting identity politics into their stories and games, and neuter the artistic integrity of their art to offend as little as possible, then yes people will notice and they will give a shit.

To be fair, you overuse that laughing emoji a lot....I mean A LOT.

Who's gonna tell him how cringe saying "the lolz" is?

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

Lol no.

The stuff being called SJW is increasingly hsut becoming normal, and the sales of the biggest games and in some cases even movies of the year is showing people just dont give af.

TLOU2 is one of the bigger examples of this. The tides are changing and the old heads are either deep diving completely in the opposite direction of full on hateful insanity or are just grumbling and still playing the games. The rest of the base dont give af anymore.

Even hogwarts legacy would be called woke if it were any other game that wasn't also being campaigned against by internet far leftists.

As for translation, translation and localization aren't the same thing. Localization is never going away, because some stuff simply isn't teanslatable to a wide market in a completely different culture without confusing said audience. And if it comes to confusing your audience vs appeasing a Japanese audience that isnt going to watch your localized version anyway, localizers are always going to pick the former.

The Japanese have repeatedly displayed that they dont care all that much; and a lot of the folks complaining about this are non Japanese which is hilariously ironic.

I wonder what the sales of The Last of Us 3 will be like. I expect a decrease.

These dickwads right here are responsible for untold amounts of this exact thing. One of my most disliked companies in all of gaming.

I hate Nintendo Treehouse. The current people that work there are all blue hairs and Nintendo of Japan should just fire them all.

 

[EDMIX]

To be fair, you overuse that laughing emoji a lot....I mean A LOT.

I mean, I used the laughing emoji even for this post lol

(i do find many things funny though lolz)

You say that like "eons" ago we were facing the same level of moral gatekeeping as we do now. I was there in the 90s and 2000s. Aside from the occasional concerned parent and a Fox news story, there was very little pressure on studios to check a bunch of boxes to offend as little people as possible. Saying "Japan has always been like this" is being disingenuous to how much times have changed in the West these past 5-10 years with the progressive movement, not to mention some aspects of gaming are less popular in Japan today than they used to be. Some publishers in Japan will attempt to appeal to The West more so than before. And if translations and game studios from Japan start inserting identity politics into their stories and games, and neuter the artistic integrity of their art to offend as little as possible, then yes people will notice and they will give a shit.




Who's gonna tell him how cringe saying "the lolz" is?

More publishers looking to appeal to the west is clear, but the idea of PR seeking not to offend, I don't see some real objective measurement to argue that is happening more then before, as in we don't have any data to support that 1 publisher only looked to change this much, but now is looking to change more or something.

So I don't see much here that I wasn't seeing decades ago with characters changing gender or names being changed or less blood or more blood lol

I mean, you really want it to apply to what is currently happening now, but that doesn't even answer why this very thing was going on decades ago by some of the same publishers.

I don't even know where you got this whole "5-10 years" thing, as that is also false. We've seen changes to dialgue, genders and so many things for generations regarding games coming from Japan to the west.


Barret's dialogue change in FFVII
Wakka's dialogue change in FFX (as to my understanding, he is saying much more offensive things in the Japanese version and that is toned down)
Gepetto in Shadow Hearts dialogue change as not to offend based on..."sensitive" topics
Resident Evil games having an option to literally remove blood
Quina Quen's gender from FFIX
Shit BIRDO's gender change from Japan to the west from SMB2 from 1988

Where you got that shit was ONLY 5 to 10 years ago, sir..you have not been paying attention to any of this then if you think this is some new thing based on something only current that is going on or something.

....also, lolz haha

 

[Madflavor]

More publishers looking to appeal to the west is clear, but the idea of PR seeking not to offend, I don't see some real objective measurement to argue that is happening more then before, as in we don't have any data to support that 1 publisher only looked to change this much, but now is looking to change more or something.

So I don't see much here that I wasn't seeing decades ago with characters changing gender or names being changed or less blood or more blood lol

I mean, you really want it to apply to what is currently happening now, but that doesn't even answer why this very thing was going on decades ago by some of the same publishers.

....also, lolz haha

Of course I do, what are you even talking about? That is preciously people's concern with this. Japan always making certain changes to localization in the past was not an issue back then, because back then Western Media had more artistic freedom due to the lack of social and corporate pressure to be as inclusive and inoffensive to certain minority groups as possible. The concern is that Japan could escalate their efforts to be more in line with Western values, that has in the past 5-10 years pushed woke ideologies into media far more aggressively than before.

 

[EDMIX]

The concern is that Japan could escalate their efforts to be more in line with Western values, that has in the past 5-10 years pushed woke ideologies into media far more aggressively than before.

yea ok.

Yet, they've changed all sorts of shit in games for decades, but suddenly all those changes must now solely be based on this huh?

Sounds to me like the same reason you are worried about Japanese games, is the same reason you should have been avoiding them for decades in the first place. So those companies will alter and change things in games not to offend.

They did it for decades, I don't see them stopping this and it seems like you are more obsessed with the perceived reason behind it, then if it happened at all.