Translation stuff in games

[takenoko]

Edit, all my posts will also be mirrored on my tumblr:
http://takkynoko.tumblr.com/tagged/Game-Translation

If you like this, you might also like these sites, which inspired me to do this:
http://didyouknowgaming.com/
http://legendsoflocalization.tumblr.com/



If you guys have any questions about Japanese/English stuff in games, feel free to ask them. I'm just going to make these as I come up with them. I'm probably going to be mainly posting them to my tumblr account.

I also wrote some stuff about the difference between the Japanese and English in Dark Souls if you're interested:
http://takkynoko.tumblr.com/post/509835 ... dark-souls

[swb90]

this is interesting!!!
hmmms~ MH is super fun ^^

[FangTrigger]

Actually, this forum brings about a topic I actively wanted to discuss.

If given the chance, would you guys translate a Japanese video game if a company approached you with the opportunity? The reason I asked this is because I've seen so many games that I wanted to play at A.W.A. (Anime Weekend Atlanta) but were all in Japanese only. If someone were to create a company that could get the rights to translate said games for a select price, and do it in a fashion that wouldn't infringe on the rights of the copyright holder, would you, as a translator, be willing to do it?

[takenoko]

I'm no businessman. That'd be super hard to do and I wouldn't know where to begin. I'd just recommend petitioning the major localizers like atlus or xseed or 8-4 and hope that they're interested.

[Impact]

I have a good one for you. Seppukumaru, an enemy from the Goemon series. I have the basics on seppuku, but how in the world did they come about to naming a character Seppukumaru?

[takenoko]

Man, I haven't played Goemon in forever. I'll need to do some research, but I'm thinking it's just Seppuku + maru. Maru is a suffix that gets stuck at the end of words to create names. Like the swords in Shinkenger are called Shinkenmaru, or the swords in Hurricaneger are Hayatemaru, etc.

[Revorse]

Goemon? Is that the game on the N64? It had the ninja who used batteries?

[Impact]

Goemon goes way back. It was on the 64 though. Legend of the Mystical Ninja and Goemon's Great Adventure. Awesome games. Sadly there are more Goemon games that go untranslated. Here's to hoping someone translates them sometime. It's where I get my name, in any case. Gotta love an Edo era robo. Might have to dust off my 64....

[takenoko]

By the way, Harakiri Seppukumaru is written this way in Japanese:
ハラキリ＝セップク丸

All in katakana except for the maru.

Also:
腹切 Harakiri
切腹 Seppuku
are just the same kanji, but flipped around.

[takenoko]

An architectural lesson for Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls.

Wedgestone 楔石 = Same meaning as a Keystone

Keystone 要石 = In architecture it’s the top stone of an arch, it supports the rest of the structure. And it’s shaped like a wedge. In Demon’s Souls, it’s what the Archstones are called in Japanese.

Nexus (Temple of the Wedge 楔の神殿)
Nexial Binding (Binding Ring of the Wedge 楔の縛環)
Archstone (Keystone 要石)
Shard of Archstone (Shard of Keystone 要石の欠片)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_%28architecture%2



Titanite Shard (Wedgestone Shard 楔石の欠片)
Titanite Slab (Original Wedgestone 楔石の原盤)
Titanite Demon (Wedge Titanite 楔のデーモン)


http://takkynoko.tumblr.com/tagged/Game-Translation