Fan translation Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
A fan translation is an unofficial translation of a computer game, video game, manga, or an unofficial dubbing or subtitling of an anime, into a language that it was never marketed in. This is usually accomplished by modifying the binary ROM image of the game, and utilizing an emulator to play it if it is a console game. It is sometimes an option for releasing a game outside its homeland. For fan translations of computer and video games, Japanese is usually the source language, and English is usually the target language, and fan translation is an answer to a Japanese company's regional decision to keep a game exclusive to Japan. Most fan translators translate computer and video games into their native tongue. The fan translation practice originated with animes and mangas.Fan translation is perceived as having a number of advantages; in particular, it allows gamers to play, and understand, games that were never released in their native language. Many video games, as well as animes, are marketed exclusively in Japan, for example; the text encoded in the ROM images of these Japan-only games can be translated to English or another language, for the enjoyment of English-speaking players and players who speak neither Japanese nor English. Not only is the practice of fan translation considered by many video game players to be a reaction to a disappointing regional decision, or the answer to a Japanese's company's decision to keep a game exclusive to Japan, but it is also considered a sign of a demand for companies to start translating games into languages that they never bothered to translate into. Another reason for fan translation is that the English release is considered inferior to the Japanese release as to gameplay or script content or if the Japan-only game is an enhanced remake of a game that was released outside Japan or that has an original version that was already fan-translated into English.
Some of the Japan-only games that have been translated into English through emulation include Dragon Quest V (Super Famicom), Dragon Quest I & II Reprise (SFC), Cosmo Police Galivan (Famicom), Adventure Island 4 (FC), Tales of Phantasia (SFC), Final Fantasy II (FC, remade for Final Fantasy Origins), Final Fantasy III (FC), Final Fantasy V (SFC), Seiken Densetsu 3 (SFC), Live-A-Live (SFC), Bahamut Lagoon (SFC), and Radical Dreamers (SFC). In addition to English, other fan translations have also been translations into other languages such as French, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Portuguese, Latin, Norwegian, German, Dutch, Russian, Chinese, and Serbian. American subsidiaries of Japanese video game companies usually translate their games only into English. They do not bother to translate into Spanish, although Spanish is a widely spoken language in the United States. European video game companies seldom bother to translate their English-language games into languages other than Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.
If a Famicom game gets fan-translated from Japanese to English, it gets respectfully dubbed an NES game. The same goes for Super Famicom games.
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2 Fan Translators (External Links) 3 See Also 4 List of Fan-Translated Japan-only Video Games 5 List of Retranslated Video Games |
While fan translations are indisputably illegal (Article 8 [Right of Translation] of the Berne Convention explicitly reserves the right of translation to the copyright holder and whomever receives permission of them, saying "Authors of literary and artistic works protected by this Convention shall enjoy the exclusive right of making and of authorizing the translation of their works throughout the term of protection of their rights in the original works."), it is unusual for copyright holders to object. This is probably largely because the electronic games in question are generally not considered commercially viable in the target language, so the translation is rarely seen as a source of lost revenue.
A popular belief in the fan-translation community is that distributing only the translation, as a patch to the original game, is legal; this belief has no support in international copyright law, but it seems plausible that the strong anti-piracy stance the fan translation community has taken has contributed to the tendency of copyright holders to turn a blind eye. Fan translations are mainly done for Japan-only games that were developed for the Japanese versions of game systems that were discontinued in the United States. Article 8 of the Berne Convention, or international copyright law, may be controversial for the fan translation community and the emulation community, and it has been believed by some gamers to have unintended chilling effects on free speech, and that it only serves to force the audience to learn the language that the games in question were marketed in, thus unintentionally making more potential translators. Another legal drawback is that the ROM of the original game is required to play the translation.
There have never been any legal cases involving fan translation issues. As for manga, there was never a need for a test case, since manga fan translations have been published on the Internet for years. Japanese companies are unlikely to sue the fans, especially for animes, and fan translations of animes have been around a long time. According to Yu's Behind the Scenes of IRC, there have been beliefs that "there is a gap between people's opinion and what is written in the law."
YoJR = Year of Japanese Release.
Squaresoft opted for Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest and did not have the resources to translate Final Fantasy V. A PlayStation port of Final Fantasy V was released in the United States under the name Final Fantasy Anthology. Final Fantasy V was the first game with a large amount of text to be translated by fans. The primary innovation of its fan translation was the incorporation of reverse engineering in the translation process. It proved to the fan translation community that such large-scale translations were indeed possible, and soon many other games followed in the reverse engineering model.Legal issues
Fan Translators (External Links)
See Also
List of Fan-Translated Japan-only Video Games
This is a partial list of Japan only games that have been translated into English through console emulation.
YoFTR = Year of Fan Translation Release.'''Complete Translations
Game Title Platform Game Publisher Fan Translator YoJR YoFTR Reason for Japan-onlyness Alcahest Super Famicom Squaresoft F.H. 1994 2002 Reason unknown Bahamut Lagoon Super Famicom Squaresoft DeJap Translations 1995 2002 Reason unknown Cosmo Police Galivan Famicom Nihon Bussan Jair 1988 1998 No localization office or rights Cyber Knight Super Famicom Tonkinhouse Aeon Genesis Translation Proclamation 1993 2002 No localization office or rights.
Dragon Quest I&II Super Famicom Enix RPG-One Translations 1993 2002 No localization office. Enix America Corporation was closed. Dragon Quest III Super Famicom Enix DeJap Translations and RPG-One Translations 1996 2003 No localization office. Enix America Corporation was closed. Dragon Quest V Super Famicom Enix DeJap Translations 1992 2002 A translation was attempted, but the English script was too long to fit into the largest cartridge ROM size available at the time. PlayStation 2 remake may get localized to North America. Dragon Quest VI Super Famicom Enix DeJap Translations and NoPrgress 1994 2001 No localization office. Enix America Corporation was closed Final Fantasy II Famicom Squaresoft NeoDemiforce 1988 1998 Preliminary translation was completed and a full English prototype exists, but work was abandoned in favour of Final Fantasy IV for the SNES. PlayStation version was released in the United States and Europe under Final Fantasy Origins. Final Fantasy III Famicom Squaresoft Neill Corlett and Alex W. Jackson 1990 1999 Squaresoft did not have the resources to translate the game and the Super Famicom was released around the same time. Final Fantasy V Super Famicom Squaresoft RPGe 1992 1997 Super Famicom Nintendo J2E and others 1996 2004 Nintendo was not kind enough to localize this game to North America. Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken for Game Boy Advance is the first Fire Emblem game to be localized to North America. Front Mission Super Famicom Squaresoft F.H. 1995 2000 The developer decided that it would be denied a North American release.
Front Mission: Gun Hazard Super Famicom Squaresoft Aeon Genesis Translation Proclamation 1996 2004 Most likely, localization was not done because Front Mission was not localized.
Mother (Earthbound Zero) Famicom Nintendo NeoDemiforce 1990 1998 Localisation was completed under the name Earthbound. A prototype was obtained by Neo Demiforce, who hacked the ROM image to remove copy protection and allow it to be played in emulators. This hacked ROM was released with the title Earthbound Zero, because its sequel came to be known as Earthbound in the United States.
Radical Dreamers Super Famicom Squaresoft NeoDemiforce 1998 2003 Square USA stopped localizing and publishing SNES games in 1998
Rockman & Forte; (Megaman & Bass) Super Famicom Capcom Aeon Genesis Translation Proclamation 1998 2002 Capcom USA stopped localizing and publishing SNES in 1998. The Super Famicom version was translated into English before the Game Boy Advance version was released in the United States.
Rudora no Hihou Super Famicom Squaresoft Aeon Genesis Translation Proclamation 1996 2003 Squaresoft had localization problems at the time, and the director of the game was probably fired from the company. Rudora no Hihou came out late in the life of the Super Famicom.
Seiken Densetsu 3 Super Famicom Squaresoft Neill Corlett and others 1995 2000 Squaresoft cancelled localization in favor of Secret of Evermore. Super Famicom Technos Japan Corporation Aeon Genesis Translation Proclamation 1994 2003 American Technos did not have the resources to translate the game. Star Ocean Super Famicom Enix DeJap Translations 1996 2004 No localization office. Enix America corporation was closed. Graphics pack, released by fan translator, is required to play the game through emulation. Tales of Phantasia Super Famicom Namco DeJap Translations 1994 2001 Namco intentionally kept the game Japan-only (and continued to do so for the subsequent PlayStation and Game Boy Advance ports) Ys IV: Mask of the Sun Super Famicom Nihon Falcom Aeon Genesis Translation Proclamation 1993 2000 No localization office or rights.
| Japanese Game Title | U.S. Game Title | Platform | Original Localizer | Retranslator | Reason for Retranslation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akumajou Densetsu | Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse | NES | Konami | Vice Translations | The US version was censored due to religious themes, and the original version used a custom chip, incompatible with American NES consoles, that enhanced the game's music and graphics. |
| Assault Suits Valken | Cybernator | Super NES | Konami | Aeon Genesis Translation Proclamation | Konami deleted too much dialogue and deleted cutscenes. |
| Final Fantasy IV | Final Fantasy II | Super NES | Squaresoft | J2E Translations | Too many items, too much dialogue, and some abilities were dummied out of the first American version of Final Fantasy IV. Many things were censored also. Also, the fan translator believed that Squaresoft's old Final Fantasy IV was bad. |
| Final Fantasy VI | Final Fantasy III | Super NES | Squaresoft | RPG-One Translations | Some members of the fan community believe that Squaresoft's translation (by Ted Woolsey) was poor; they especially complained that the names of characters were changed extensively from their original Japanese names (Tina to Terra, Cait Sith to Stray, etc.). The US-version also featured instances of censorship, see Censorship and localisation in the Final Fantasy VI article.
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