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dtgreene: shouldn't have been in the game in the first place.
Because? Just because some people view it as raep, no one can have it and see it as a fairy tale love potion used by some desperate loser guy with good intentions?
Gee I wonder all those non western media that had raep content in them that ''just shouldn't be there''. Because AFAIK it definitely hasn't caused any mass rapes in Japan (yet, just to make sure) but maybe we should wait?

I for one have never seen the thought process from ''oh look that's rape'' to ''I must rape''. Maybe someone can narrate a personal experience or that of a friend's?
Post edited January 21, 2016 by Shadowstalker16
Localization:
Adapting the original cultural references and elements so that the general context and effect remain roughly the same, but understandable by the target audience from another culture. An example would be the utilization of various types of English-language accents to convey various cultural nuances present in the original Japanese dialogue.

Censorship:
Changing things in the content or writing because the people responsible are worried it may be offensive/ too violent/ too obscene/ etc. for that other culture. For example, eradicating all references to Nazi Germany in German releases of various Wolfenstein games.
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dtgreene: In SaGa 2, for example, there is a minor character who says, written in katakana, the English words "please don't play this game". (Note that this character is a student in a classroom.) How are you supposed to translate *that* into English while preserving the joke?
Unless I didn't get the point at all: make the character say, written in English letters, the Japanese words for the same.
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dtgreene: Sometimes, changes are necessary.

For example, untranslatable jokes. In SaGa 2, for example, there is a minor character who says, written in katakana, the English words "please don't play this game". (Note that this character is a student in a classroom.) How are you supposed to translate *that* into English while preserving the joke? (Answer: You don't; they instead came up with a different one that went something like "HELLO! HOW ARE YOU? I am learning to speak English. ...How come you can understand me?" (I don't remember the last line of that exactly.))
In the German release of Curse of Monkey Island, they cut the entirety of the song/dialogue puzzle "a pirate I was meant to be" because it was considered to be untranslatable.
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dtgreene: In SaGa 2, for example, there is a minor character who says, written in katakana, the English words "please don't play this game". (Note that this character is a student in a classroom.) How are you supposed to translate *that* into English while preserving the joke?
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Starmaker: Unless I didn't get the point at all: make the character say, written in English letters, the Japanese words for the same.
There actually is an issue here.

Most Japanese players will have some knowledge of English. As a result, a typical Japanese gamer will likely understand the joke.

Most English speaking players do not know any Japanese at all. Therefore, a typical English speaker will not get the translation that you suggest, and will just be confused.

Incidentally, in the DS version, that same character starts off with (again in katakana) "Please do not this game...". (Notice the missing verb? Note that, in Japanese, the verb goes at the end of the sentence, so it's likely that a Japanese speaker learning English will likely make that mistake.) Essentially, they are making a joke about what I believe is a common mistake that English learners make. How would you translate that?

(If anybody has played the fan translation of SaGa 2 DS, do you happen to know what the fan translation did here?)

Remember, translation isn't always as easy as you'd think.
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tinysalamander: I fail to see how a “different culture” is a bad thing. Different does not mean it's automatically bad.
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DaCostaBR: I don't see how you got that from my post.
Isn't that a most common excuse to change things upon translation? Our target audience doesn't know Japan is a place, here have some USA instead, Hermione is Frodo's stepsister, Gandalf is totally into hip-hop and those two lesbian girls are now lesbian cousins… err, damn :) I don't like it when translators think of me a as a simpleton with goldfish memory issues. Different culture is a bonus that adds to my enjoyment not a Cthulhu.

Personally, I'd even prefer directly translated jokes with explanations as well, but it isn't always an option for technical reasons and that's not for everyone, I suppose.
Post edited January 21, 2016 by tinysalamander
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tinysalamander: here have some USA instead, Hermione is Frodo's stepsister, Gandalf is totally into hip-hop and those two lesbian girls are now lesbian cousins… err, damn :)
British English to American English translation??? I don't recall lesbians, cousins or otherwise in Lord of the Rings (I can't vouch for Harry Potter, I've never read any of the books nor seen any of the movies).
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ValamirCleaver: British English to American English translation??? I don't recall lesbians, cousins or otherwise in Lord of the Rings (I can't vouch for Harry Potter, I've never read any of the books nor seen any of the movies).
All those where made up joking examples aside from the last. It was about first translated Sailor Moon in US.

Some translations seem to like swearing in worst possible moments too. That was the case with Ar tonelico 3 and Ar nosurge, AFAIR. I should have written them down…
Post edited January 21, 2016 by tinysalamander
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ValamirCleaver: British English to American English translation???
Well, the US publisher did do that with the first Harry Potter book...
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I noticed that my previous post in this topic is "low rated". Could whoever downrated that post please explain why? (Note that simple disagreement is not a good enough reason to downrate a post.)
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dtgreene: I noticed that my previous post in this topic is "low rated". Could whoever downrated that post please explain why? (Note that simple disagreement is not a good enough reason to downrate a post.)
I'm not seeing any downvoted posts, must've gone back to normal.
That painful thing on the left is Localization. Dated, dank, unfunny, non-contextual localization. The one on the right is dry, to the point, and isn't making a Doge joke in 2015. (Try explaining that one to your kids in the future.)

This is censorship. Thaja is of age, Fire Emblem was never a happy go lucky family friendly series, and the game in question is rated T for Teen anyway. Nintendo of America is still acting like it's 1990 and we can't make our own decisions regarding games, rather than leaving liability in the hands of the parents. Like Apple and 8000 USD worth of Jurassic Park IAP! :D (Note: I full expect NOA to make a timely Portal joke soon.)

And yes, before you ask, Nintendo is indeed wasting money on multiple English localizations.
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Darvond: And yes, before you ask, Nintendo is indeed wasting money on multiple English localizations.
Well, that doesn't surprise me. I never understood why bringing the Operation Rainfall games to America was such a herculean task, when they had already done the hard part by localizing and dubbing it into english.
I don't like it. There's is a line when it comes to making foreign games more palatable to Western audiences (though I can't pinpoint the exact location because this is something that has only come to my attention this past year). Taking the Japanese culture out of Japanese games is the equivalent of me going all the way to Japan on holiday and then refusing to eat the local cuisine unless its just a sample wrapped in a traditional burger. By all rights you are obligated to punch me in the teeth.
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dtgreene: Another case is when something is in particularly bad taste, regardless of culture. I hear the newest Fire Emblem game has a support conversation where a male character spikes the drink of a female character in order to get her to like him; I would say that is definitely crossing the line in any culture and shouldn't have been in the game in the first place. It is good that that conversation is being changed in the overseas releases because it had no business being in the game in the first place! (There's also the whole gay conversion angle to that same conversation, as if it weren't bad enough.)
Some context from someone who does his homework: http://techraptor.net/content/nintendo-is-censoring-fire-emblem-fates-soilel-support
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DaCostaBR: Well, that doesn't surprise me. I never understood why bringing the Operation Rainfall games to America was such a herculean task, when they had already done the hard part by localizing and dubbing it into english.
Because the people up top are people who don't understand that the digital world doesn't have oceans. And one of them is a an executive who made memorable things like the forgettable Bigfoot Pizza and no notable impact on Procter & Gamble. (I don't really get Reggie.)