Quote Originally Posted by jb143 View Post
No no..you save them for something more practical...
http://i40.tinypic.com/qyepkx.jpg
That's absolutely disgusting.

Quote Originally Posted by Aussie2B View Post
As for repros, I don't like seeing people trying to profit off of stealing games and fan translations, but if someone wants to make their own, that's their business. I just don't understand the fascination myself.
I don't think it's anymore unusual than the fascination of any other video games. But then I don't think most people who are into these reproduction or fan-translated games have a 'fascination', they just enjoy playing classic games, and having them in a convenient format that they enjoy and are familiar with.

Personally, if I want a game that didn't come out in the US, I just buy it. Simple as that. If it's in Japanese, I play it in Japanese. I use an FAQ for some help if its available and I need to, or I figure it out on my own.
That's like the complete opposite of fun to me. Playing a game and having close to no idea what the hell I'm doing, or what's going on, and having to wade through a walk through, spoiling everything, and simultaneously rendering the whole 'playing' aspect tedium, seems powerfully unfun, IMO. Trying to read only enough in an FAQ as to not reveal more than I care to know about the plot seems laboriously ridiculous if there's a domestic language alternative that I can play like I do every other game. While I'm not fascinated with fan translated imports, I completely understand why people would want them rather than trudge through a menu heavy game in a language COMPLETELY foreign to them. I've known and heard people over the years who act like being an import purist is some sort of badge of honor or something (don't get me started on Otaku). As if enjoying the media in their own native language somehow completely diminishes the experience (despite playing hundreds of Japanese games which are/were officially released domestically in their language).

I honestly don't get it. I mean, why play the domestic release of Final Fantasy (pick a number) at all if it's such a bad thing to have it in English? Why does it matter if it's an official release or an unofficial fan translated release?

Very few games absolutely require knowing a language. Even RPGs are typically easy enough to figure out. Talk to everyone in a town, trigger whatever events you need to, explore a dungeon, fight battles. Simple as that.
I don't know (or care) if I'm in the minority, but a pretty large part of why I enjoy RPG's is the engaging story lines. I don't want to "figure it out", I simply want to enjoy it, fully understood and realized.

If the actual gameplay is engaging, I don't care if I'm missing out on some of the story
Fair enough, however you don't really know how much of the story you're actually missing out on though. That some could be little, or plenty. Now, I wouldn't presume to tell you or anyone else what they should enjoy, but personally, I care a great deal about the story/plot/events of a game that's chiefly story driven.

I'm digressing, though. Personally, if I did want to play a translated game, I think I'd buy the legit release and then either emulate the patched version on my PC or get one of those flash carts if I wanted to play the translation on actual hardware. Making a stand-alone fake US release for a single title seems like a massive waste of money and the packaging probably still won't be as nice as the legit foreign release, which is probably a fraction of the price. But different strokes for different folks.
That sounds like a lot more work than just purchasing a translated cartridge and putting it into your game system. You're not doing the developers or publishers any favor either way when you purchase a game second hand after all, so unless you're mainly in it for the sake of collecting, I don't understand what the big deal is playing a fan translated hardcopy version.

I mean like you said, different strokes, but I think it's strange if someone into gaming can't understand the appeal of wanting to playing games in your native language without jumping through hoops, or using unorthodox methods that hinder the fun and simple ease of play that classic gamers grow up with.

I own a lot of import games, but none of them are Japanese text heavy, and they're all non-text driven genres like puzzle, action, shooters, and platform games. I don't own any fan-translated carts, but I would like to get some one day (for cheap, or course). Especially ones which are 'missing' installments of series that came over.