Titles lost in translation

[Cirrus]

If this topic exists, please direct me. Anyway...

I was thinking about games that their titles get botched when they come over here, or when they lose something special about them. I just want to hear some examples, but I'll add mine.

When I was in Japan, I played a neat game called "Ka" at a mall, and thought it was a slick name. (Ka means mosquito, probably among other things.) It was Mr. Mosquito. Why do they think the American market needs to hear the word "Mr." before the title? Does the American market need that? Mr. Ico? Mr. Ape Escape? Mr.s Mario Brothers?

Another is Gitaroo Man. If I'm not mistaken, it was called Gitaru Man, which only ends with a "U" because the Japanese symbols all end with vowels, and it is usually the vowel chosen. They were going for "guitar." It seems to me that someone barely tried, on that one.

Zettai Zetsumei Toshi, the original name of Disaster Report for PS2. Now, here they totally changed it, because it really was a pretty silly name in the first place. The words basically translate to "absolute destruction of a town." That would have been a much more daring title, don't you think?

The biggest loss would have to be Guerrilla War. This title features two young soldiers taking on a much larger, American looking force. Many of you know this, I'm sure, but I didn't until recently: those guys are Che Guevara and Fidel Castro! The game was originally called "Guevara!". Guess who the bad guys are.

I know there are more, but I can't think of them now. Please add the ones you know.

[FlufflePuff]

Well, Katamari Damacy isn't spelled right. It should be Katamari Damashi. Also, Donkey Kong is kind of a botched analogy. Miyamoto was trying to say stubborn ape and out comes Donkey Kong. That's all I got.

[Cirrus]

So, was Donkey Kong called something different in Japan?

[eightbitonline]

So, was Donkey Kong called something different in Japan?

no, it was called donkey kong because "donkey" kind of meant "stubborn", as in "stubborn as a mule" and the japanese knew that americans associated apes with the word "kong" via the king kong movies.

[alexkidd2000]

So, was Donkey Kong called something different in Japan?

It's been said Donkey Kong was named "Monkey Kong" in Japan but when the name was given over the phone to its State-side manufacturer they heard "Donkey Kong". In truth, the game was, from the outset, called Donkey Kong. Everyone was familiar with "kong" as a name for a giant gorilla and the game designer Miyamoto wanted another name that would imply the creature's stubbornness. Donkey made sense. Sales Reps at Nintendo's New York HQ (Nintendo is in the Seattle area now) thought the name was so stupid gamers would refuse to play the game. They were proven wrong. The game sold 65,000 units (by way of contrast, that was just short of Asteroids' 70,000 units mark).

It's also been said the main character didn't receive the name "Mario" until the release of Donkey Kong Jr. This is partially incorrect. The character was first identified only as "Jumpman". The name Mario appeared later in promotional material for the original game. The name "Mario" came from the name of the landlord of Nintendo's NYC HQ, Mario Segali. He resembled the mustachioed character. The video incarnation of Mario was given a mustache because of the low pixel resolution at the time. Nintendo couldn't make a convincing mouth on the little man but a mustache showed up better. He was given a hat for the same reason. It looked better than blocky hair.

Oddly enough, today Mario's job is given as "plumber" but in the original game he was a carpenter (I suppose to complete the Italian stereotype, he could have been a bricklayer in the beta version). Miyamoto specifically wanted a blue-collar character because he felt the game players would better identify with an everyman sort instead of a super hero.

The game's popularity spawned a lawsuit (of course). Universal Studios, which made the 1929 film version of King Kong, sued Nintendo and Coleco. Although Universal's copyrights had expired a few years previous, Universal felt the game was still damaging to their movie. Maybe expecting a quick, out-of-court settlement, Universal discovered Nintendo was willing and able to go to court. Universal tried to argue its copyright was still valid. A judge dismissed this claim and noted Universal knew full well its rights had expired. The judge viewed the suit as vexatious and ruled in Nintendo's favor. The judge also awarded the video game company $1.8 million for legal expenses

[Lord Contaminous]

what really irks me is about the Mega Man 2-8. Why did Capcom USA drop the untranslated cool subtitles. We could've had these:

Megaman 2: Enigma of Wily

Megaman 3: The End of Wily?!

Megaman 4: A New Ambition

Megaman 5: Protoman's Trap

Megaman 6: The Greatest Battle In History

Megaman 7: The Destined Battle

Megaman 8: Metal Heroes

[Dahne]

The Dragon Quest series is changed to Dragon Warrior for the American version for some reason. Or maybe it's the other way around. I can never remember.

'Knight and Baby' was released in the US as 'Guardian's Crusade'. Yeah, I think I understand that one.

[Sotenga]

Funtime Trivia: Chou Wakusei Senki - Metafight is known in U.S. shores as Blaster Master. The original story was something a bit more plausible than "my mutated frog ran away and now I must find him," but the official storyline eludes me.

[racecar]

If this topic exists, please direct me. Anyway...

I was thinking about games that their titles get botched when they come over here, or when they lose something special about them. I just want to hear some examples, but I'll add mine.

When I was in Japan, I played a neat game called "Ka" at a mall, and thought it was a slick name. (Ka means mosquito, probably among other things.) It was Mr. Mosquito. Why do they think the American market needs to hear the word "Mr." before the title? Does the American market need that? Mr. Ico? Mr. Ape Escape? Mr.s Mario Brothers?

Another is Gitaroo Man. If I'm not mistaken, it was called Gitaru Man, which only ends with a "U" because the Japanese symbols all end with vowels, and it is usually the vowel chosen. They were going for "guitar." It seems to me that someone barely tried, on that one.

Zettai Zetsumei Toshi, the original name of Disaster Report for PS2. Now, here they totally changed it, because it really was a pretty silly name in the first place. The words basically translate to "absolute destruction of a town." That would have been a much more daring title, don't you think?

The biggest loss would have to be Guerrilla War. This title features two young soldiers taking on a much larger, American looking force. Many of you know this, I'm sure, but I didn't until recently: those guys are Che Guevara and Fidel Castro! The game was originally called "Guevara!". Guess who the bad guys are.

I know there are more, but I can't think of them now. Please add the ones you know.

it's the people in marketing...alot of great game's was lost(overlook) by average gamer's ..cause of the TITLE(cover art ) look's unfamiliar/boring...it's all about the packaging

[Cirrus]

it's the people in marketing...alot of great game's was lost(overlook) by average gamer's ..cause of the TITLE(cover art ) look's unfamiliar/boring...it's all about the packaging

So how do you explain the butchering of the Ico boxart?

[Cirrus]

what really irks me is about the Mega Man 2-8. Why did Capcom USA drop the untranslated cool subtitles. We could've had these:

Megaman 2: Enigma of Wily

Megaman 3: The End of Wily?!

Megaman 4: A New Ambition

Megaman 5: Protoman's Trap

Megaman 6: The Greatest Battle In History

Megaman 7: The Destined Battle

Megaman 8: Metal Heroes

I love those... did the X series have sub-names too?

[whoisKeel]

I may be wrong but I don't believe there's any "Castlevania" in japan, it is rather Akumajou Dracula. I'm assuming it is a mix between Castle and Transilvania, but I like Castlevania as a name so I'm not complaining.

A few of the SF characters names were changed. Balrog was originally M. Bison, but sounded too much like M. Tyson, so they switched a few around (I think Bison is Vega)

[Aussie2B]

Yeah, "Gitaru" definitely should be just "Guitar" in English, unless they had an official English translation in Japan that said otherwise.

Katamari Damacy IS right. That's the official English spelling they use in Japan. "Katamari Damashi" is just a direct romanization.

Castlevania was "Akumajou Dracula" in Japan (which roughly means "Demon Castle Dracula"), but Igarashi, the nutcase who took over the series, decided to officially changed the name to "Castlevania" worldwide. While I do like the name "Castlevania", I also liked "Akumajou Dracula", and I wish he had kept things as is.

As for Street Fighter 2, they just didn't want to get sued in America by Mike Tyson. :P They can get away with it in Japan, but in the US you can get in trouble making references to real people without getting their permission.

[Richter]

I may be wrong but I don't believe there's any "Castlevania" in japan, it is rather Akumajou Dracula. I'm assuming it is a mix between Castle and Transilvania, but I like Castlevania as a name so I'm not complaining.

i belive "vania" is durch for 'woods' or 'forest'

[Cirrus]

I may be wrong but I don't believe there's any "Castlevania" in japan, it is rather Akumajou Dracula. I'm assuming it is a mix between Castle and Transilvania, but I like Castlevania as a name so I'm not complaining.

A few of the SF characters names were changed. Balrog was originally M. Bison, but sounded too much like M. Tyson, so they switched a few around (I think Bison is Vega)

Yeah, M. Bison = The boxer, Vega = the Caped General, and Balrog = Masked Slashy hands. Good example!

Any other titles that were changed?

[Kamino]

What happen?
Zero wing very messed up in translation!
Move every 'zig' for great grammar justice!!!

[GaijinPunch]

They were going for "guitar." It seems to me that someone barely tried, on that one.

I'd have to see how the kana was written, but guitar in Japanese comes out "gitaa" -- with a long "a" sound, denoting -er,-ar, etc.

Katamari Damashi

Actually Katamari Damashii if you're really anal. Tamashii is actually a 4 syllable kanji.

My nominations:
Puzzle Bobble vs. Bust a Move WTF?!
Bust a Move vs Bust a Groove or whatever the hell they did with it.
Jet Set Radio (perfectly fine) vs Jet Grind Radio :/
Tales of Eternia vs Tales of Destiny 2
Dragonquest vs Dragon Warrior (I think the west has spammed the word 'warrior' for far too long)

[Cirrus]

What happen?
Zero wing very messed up in translation!
Move every 'zig' for great grammar justice!!!

What! What you say?

Basically, that's just a bad translation, but a good example of one. I'm wondering if there are any more titles are character names, that sort of thing, that lost something good in the translation. I really wish Guerilla War was called Guevara!. I even kind of like "Demon Castle Dracula." The missing names behind the Mega Man games are too bad, as well.

edit: Puzzle Bobble, what a great example. Bust a Move?! What!

[GaijinPunch]

Oh, yeah -- I did a thread on this at Japanese Gaming a while back. Got some good ammo for ya in there.

[Aussie2B]

They were going for "guitar." It seems to me that someone barely tried, on that one.

I'd have to see how the kana was written, but guitar in Japanese comes out "gitaa" -- with a long "a" sound, denoting -er,-ar, etc.

Technically, yes, but katakana for English words isn't always consistent. I swear, I've seen "steel" spelled in katakana a million different ways. :P