Comparing game localizations

[Lariria]

As for early versions of stuff being in manuals and etc, Robocop Vs The Terminator(Genesis version) does a few. There are some different weapon graphics in it than in the final game, and the back of the box has a different boss for Level 2 than the actual boss(It also places the boss earlier in the level, meaning it was extended after they moved the boss).

Not Japanese related, I know, but I thought some people here might find it interesting.

[KillerBob]

Mato, recently I checked the manuals for The Legend of Zelda and I noticed something I had not given a thought before even though I'm a big old school Zelda nerd. In the short "to get you started guide" on page 41, the iconic old man that gives Link the sword is described as "...the old man who lives on the island."



Perhaps this is only news to me, but I never knew the overworld in the original game was intended to be part of an island back in '86. The artwork on the Japanese cover certainly gives you a treasure island vibe. My Japanese is extremely limited but it seems like this is described at this point in the Japanese manual as well, am I right?. I know I'm late with this question and perhaps you have already covered it in your upcoming book. If not, perhaps you could shed some light on this tiny detail in a short LOL-site article sometime.

Hope your book does well so that you can continue with your awesome work in book-form! 

[Tomato]

I do cover this part of the manual a tiny bit in the book but I didn't bring up the island part. The Japanese manual does say "island" too.

The book is already in the proofing stage so I can't really add any more content to it... at the moment. We got some weird pages in the back for additional content, I should start making a list of things like this

[KillerBob]

Well, it's next to impossible to cover every little minutiae of the game. The main thing is the localization process after all. Thanks for the confirmation anyway. The weird pages sounds intriguing.

[KingMike]

I do cover this part of the manual a tiny bit in the book but I didn't bring up the island part. The Japanese manual does say "island" too.

The book is already in the proofing stage so I can't really add any more content to it... at the moment. We got some weird pages in the back for additional content, I should start making a list of things like this

For "update patches" maybe you could've sold updated pages for the user to literally patch the book.

(that idea is largely joking but if there's someone who would actually do something that strange it might be Fangamer and you )

[Turambar]

The Zelda 1 overworld is supposedly at the bottom of Death Mountain in Zelda 2, and if that is true then it doesn't seem right to call the Zelda 1 overworld an "island."

[KillerBob]

The Zelda 1 overworld is supposedly at the bottom of Death Mountain in Zelda 2, and if that is true then it doesn't seem right to call the Zelda 1 overworld an "island."

The overworld as being part of an island doesn't exactly match the background story of the game either. The background story describe how Zelda hid the small parts of the Triforce throughout the land, it implies the setting is the countryside in or around the small kingdom, not something as specific as just an island. As far as I know the example I provided is the only mention of an island in the manual.

But at some part during development before any sequels, it's possible an island may have been an intended setting for the game, or the one who wrote the short step by step guide may have been unaware of the setting and assumed the overworld was an island based on the artwork of the overworld which I admit can easily be mistaken for an island. Probably just a tiny mistake. The thin background story they came up with for the game is not exactly the strongest and most important part of the game. It was most likely one of the last things they applied.

[Tomato]

For "update patches" maybe you could've sold updated pages for the user to literally patch the book.

(that idea is largely joking but if there's someone who would actually do something that strange it might be Fangamer and you )

We're actually doing something along these lines, I'm that crazy

[Tomato]

My Zelda book's finally available to buy! http://www.fangamer.com/products/legends-of-localization-zelda-book

The deluxe bundle comes with a bunch of cool extras if you happen to be one of the first 500!




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UWBbzxshlo

[KillerBob]

My deluxe bundle just arrived in time for Christmas, the timing couldn't have been better. Have only started to read it but it's obvious that a lot of love went into this. You sir, your wife and Fangamer have done an incredible job on this. The book is beautiful and the passport was a brilliant idea.  Crap, now I feel ashamed I haven't finished my patch.

On the subject of the series currency, I believe the Tips & Tactics guide first called them "Rupee" and "Rupees" before the SNES game. Crazy how many names a simple thing as the games currency went by back then, didn't know about the Nintendo Fun Club naming.  I wish the Zelda III localization had continued with rupy/rupies as it feels more fitting to me than the real world currency name...

Thanks for this wonderful Christmas gift, love it!

[SunGodPortal]

"rupies" - Sounds like an STD. I def prefer rupees.

[Tomato]

Cool, glad you like the book, KillerBob! You're in the Thanks section too, BTW

I checked the Tips & Tactics book again, it looks like it went with Rubies, at least in the game intro/mechanics section:



It's possible it says Rupees elsewhere though, I haven't re-read the whole thing in a while.

Looking forward to your patch too!

[KingMike]

225 Rubies are the maximum? Guess you can never afford the Blue Ring.

[KillerBob]

Huh? Interesting. There was apparently a revision made:


Scan taken from zeldalegends.net

Talking about revisions, I noticed when I read your book that the name for the Magical Shield was fixed in the Japanese FDS manual at some point, most likely for version 1.1. See the scan used in your online article vs. the book.

[Tomato]

Interesting, I wonder when that reprint happened. My hunch is that it was around the time the gray NES re-release happened, since A Link to the Past would've been out by then I think.

[KillerBob]

I can't find any reprint date or updated copyright on the scans I'm looking at (I don't own a copy myself) will try to find out. But yeah, I agree, you're probably right about this.

[Almagest]

Breath of Fire IV's censorship (slightly NSFW and contains spoilers!)

[Tomato]

I've been working on the next Legends of Localization book about EarthBound (you can sign up for release notification here: http://legendsoflocalization.com/book ), and it's going to be HUGE. I'm expecting it to be between 300 and 400 pages, yikes.

Anyway, every so often I have questions that I have trouble answering myself so I thought I'd post some of them here once in a while if that's okay.

Right now I'm trying to think of what games in the 90s had alcohol censored in some way, whether it was bars turning to cafes or actual alcohol changing to something else. All that comes to mind right now is FF4 and FF6, but I know there's a lot more than that!

[Spinner 8]

I've been working on the next Legends of Localization book about EarthBound (you can sign up for release notification here: http://legendsoflocalization.com/book ), and it's going to be HUGE. I'm expecting it to be between 300 and 400 pages, yikes.

Anyway, every so often I have questions that I have trouble answering myself so I thought I'd post some of them here once in a while if that's okay.

Right now I'm trying to think of what games in the 90s had alcohol censored in some way, whether it was bars turning to cafes or actual alcohol changing to something else. All that comes to mind right now is FF4 and FF6, but I know there's a lot more than that!

I definitely remember a drunk guy in Brave Fencer Musashi having had "a little too much caffeine"

EDIT: found a (pretty insufferable) video: https://youtu.be/ZgNcgMKp_Mc?t=525

ANOTHER EDIT: Japanese version: https://youtu.be/2Gu-T8HQsDo?t=324

[danke]

In Pokemon Red/Green (Japanese versions), your path is blocked by an old man who is passed-out drunk. In Red/Blue (American versions), he just hasn't had his coffee yet.

http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Old_man_%28Kanto%29