[Recca]

I don't think that this is at all true. Maybe some people have started losing interest in SNES translations, but the fan community is still fairly large. In matter in fact, Dynamic-Designs is focusing only on SNES translation projects now. AGTP is also focused mostly on SNES translations as well. There's also still quite a few great un-translated games left for the SNES that no one is currently working on such as Haou Taikei Ryuu Knight and Bounty Sword.

[travel27]

Yes, the two major ones are Aeon Genesis (aka agtp) though his life is filled to the brim with real life stuff as of now from what I hear.  Plus DDesigns, and some of the busy guys are coming back around from what I've heard. 

But of course do not sleep on other more "under the radar" guys like nightcrawler (though he does own this site, no?) and kingmike, both of whom do a bang up job and sometimes poke their head through with a surprise here and there.  Then there are other random 1-time translators with occasional surprises

(not to forget all the classic translators/hackers who have "retired" for lack of a better word.) But I am just talking about current.

Na, I think the scene still has a few years left and at least half a dozen to a dozen more solid translations.

[deadlyblossom]

But fan translation is still here. And I'm trying to compare Final Fantasy 1, 2, 3 and 6 to others.

[Kallisto]

Maybe we need to re-structure how we all help each other with these translations. I do believe that Aeon Genesis is a good example when life tends to take top priority, I got a PM back from him about his current situation, and explained why his translations had slowed down quite a bit.

I think the best way to start getting these translations out the door will have to be a community effort by focusing one game at a time rather than scattering forces about trying to work on multiple translations. There is a lot of talented people on this site that have a different skillset, and I can see if the people on here focused on one project rather than multiple then we can start seeing results. All too often I think we expect too much from groups of 1-3 people working on a project by themselves, and it takes untold amount of years, the Tales Games currently headed by that one guy working on Tales of Destiny Director's cut, and others is a example of taking on too much. I once recommended to him he focused on only one Tales Game, and looks like he actually he took my advice or he had that in mind anyway, and he has made significant progress with Tales of Destiny.

Also I do believe maybe we also need better software because far as I can tell that these SNES games seem to give constant problems to would be translators. Maybe what we're using is too archaic to get things done?

[FAST6191]

Open projects have been tried before and often fall flat.

For one translation can have massive tonal shifts between translators and the last thing you want is that. You could have another acting in a supervisory role but that is not making things better.

Tools wise, specifically for translation, I am not seeing. I agree many level editors need a firm kick up the arse in some cases (not that I can point to a non PC platform with level editors with long term support). The translation stuff you get split three ways, four if you want full manual but nobody does that.
1) So simplistic as to be pointless outside of a basic or specific game.
2) Either quasi scripting languages or programs that account for nearly every edge case and can work accordingly.
3) Custom made tools for the game. Great for those doing other language translations but less useful if you are hacker as most of those will be developed with feedback from the translator and equally getting them to any kind of polished up tool takes more than you might imagine over a simple insertion tool you made for you and someone you co developed the tool with.

Similarly the scattered efforts might not be so scattered. Two big reasons being this is my hobby so I treat it as such and might well want to tangle with assembly today and pick apart a scripting language tomorrow, . The other being I am a hacker and might still just about know the kana (aka just next to useless as a translator) so after I have dumped the script in a usable format and passed it to the translators then I might move to something else as I wait for the translations to happen. This gives a bit of a scattered appearance to the outside observer.

I would go further but a horrible memory of gantt charts percolated up through my mind so I am going to have to go take a shower.

[KingMike]

Maybe we need to re-structure how we all help each other with these translations. I do believe that Aeon Genesis is a good example when life tends to take top priority, I got a PM back from him about his current situation, and explained why his translations had slowed down quite a bit.

I think the best way to start getting these translations out the door will have to be a community effort by focusing one game at a time rather than scattering forces about trying to work on multiple translations. There is a lot of talented people on this site that have a different skillset, and I can see if the people on here focused on one project rather than multiple then we can start seeing results. All too often I think we expect too much from groups of 1-3 people working on a project by themselves, and it takes untold amount of years, the Tales Games currently headed by that one guy working on Tales of Destiny Director's cut, and others is a example of taking on too much. I once recommended to him he focused on only one Tales Game, and looks like he actually he took my advice or he had that in mind anyway, and he has made significant progress with Tales of Destiny.

Also I do believe maybe we also need better software because far as I can tell that these SNES games seem to give constant problems to would be translators. Maybe what we're using is too archaic to get things done?

RHDN tried a "community translation", Eithea (sp) for the PS1. The idea fell flat on its face as Gemini was pretty much the only person who had any idea where to begin with hacking a PS1 game.

[amitrius17]

travel27, it seems like you're aligning my FantasyAnime.com with RomHacking.net. RomHacking.net caters to emulation enthusiasts. My site can also cater to emulation enthusiasts, but the majority of my audience is everyone else. 'Everyone else' doesn't care about new SNES translations anymore. If I were to post the next SNES translation in my site's social media channels, the post would largely get ignored. That's why I posted that statement in my Translation Nation subsite. My audience doesn't have an interest, so it's not worth it for me to continue maintaining it.

Chronosplit described my site perfectly. I'm for the nostalgia crowd. Translations and ROM hacks are a feature, but not my focus. So come into my bosom if you want to fondly remember the classics you loved.

Amitrius once described a work of mine as 'porn for ff6 fans.' i didn't quite know how to take that.

Lol! I still think your work is lke porn. It's so sexy.

[Kallisto]

That is probably one of the most adorable avatars I've seen.

[Real_Character]

Someone mentioned that snes was always niche. This is true. In it's height, if you were into snes you were an uncool dork and not something you were encouraged to be proud of.

But I just want to make one point with a rhetorical question and answer. Is the nes older than snes? Is the nes still popular as a phenomenon? Did the NES Classic Edition sell out or not?

[KingMike]

Yes, the NES Classic sold out, all 50 units Nintendo produced.

[Synnae]

Someone mentioned that snes was always niche. This is true. In it's height, if you were into snes you were an uncool dork and not something you were encouraged to be proud of.

My childhood in a nutshell.

I agree with you there, it was hard to find people that shared the same hobby. But even so, I still had my circle of friends that were also into it. It was fun doing multiplayer with them. Good times.

[KingMike]

Someone mentioned that snes was always niche. This is true. In it's height, if you were into snes you were an uncool dork and not something you were encouraged to be proud of.

But I just want to make one point with a rhetorical question and answer. Is the nes older than snes? Is the nes still popular as a phenomenon? Did the NES Classic Edition sell out or not?

That probably depends on where you're from.
It was pretty even split between the Genesis and SNES in America (well, I know in sales Genesis was a bit higher, but SNES was hardly a "niche" console.)
Now if you were playing TurboGrafx or Master System, then yes.

[Real_Character]

That probably depends on where you're from.
It was pretty even split between the Genesis and SNES in America (well, I know in sales Genesis was a bit higher, but SNES was hardly a "niche" console.)
Now if you were playing TurboGrafx or Master System, then yes.

It depends where you are from, mostly in the sense that different places have different cultural priorities. I don't mean it was niche among video games. What I meant is that video gaming, itself, as an identity or hobby was a niche. It was notch above tabletop games, if that, at least compared to today. And that seemed especially true among places with a "culture of honor". Where I grew up, young men only mattered if they played football or engaged in other activities meant to train their future prospects as a protector and provider to someone. Although, in truth, not even the heart of Japan ever celebrated young men playing video games. That was an old narrative that only in recent years I realized was a myth. Despite what Nintendo Power tried to push, video games were historically seen as toys for children, and anyone else engaging in it, to any significant degree, was stepping out of the norm and was widely seen as the comic book guy from The Simpsons, at least after the initial fad of the late 70s and early 80s wore off.

The region I know less about gaming history is Europe, but I know that while the US was playing and forgetting about the Atari 2600, the UK was doing the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64. And other regions seem to have followed their own little parallels with different consoles, such as Brazil with the Master System. But by the time the SNES rolled around, it seems like things became pretty uniform, anywhere there was fandom: It was kids stuff. I doubt hardcore gamers of the ZX, C64 and Brazilian SMS were ever presumed to be anything but kids, like the SNES gamers were.

[Synnae]

And look at video games now. It has become serious business and as mainstream as it can get. Any average joe plays them. "Gamer culture" is mostly glorified and even seen as something cool, especially in places like South Korea. Little do they know how things were back in the day.

And you're right. Brazil had plenty of this whole "culture of honor" as well, so gaming was seen as something childish. Whether it was the Master System or SNES or whatever else.

[Real_Character]

And look at video games now. It has become serious business and as mainstream as it can get. Any average joe plays them. "Gamer culture" is mostly glorified and even seen as something cool,

Eh. I wouldn't go that far. It's glorified by itself but that's about it, imo. I would say it's more precise to say the gamer population has reached critical mass and it can't be so easily belittled anymore. I haven't been in a high school in a long time, so I might be wrong, but I seriously doubt the gamer nerds in HS are getting with the cheerleaders. I'm pretty sure the star athletes are still the ones getting glorified. Gaming is more seen like an everyday, banal thing these days.

especially in places like South Korea. Little do they know how things were back in the day.

I would say again this is not exactly true. I think that if you're a "pro gamer" you'd get some admiration, for obvious reasons. If you're just some random gamer at an internet cafe, your parents will still be telling you to stop being a layabout and wasting your life.

I do know that in Japan, games are still seen as childish and an avid adult male gamer is "otaku" (which is not a word that has been "taken back" like "nerd" in the west). Online gaming is almost non-existent in Japan, in the form that it exists elsewhere.

And you're right. Brazil had plenty of this whole "culture of honor" as well, so gaming was seen as something childish. Whether it was the Master System or SNES or whatever else.

Pretty much the entirety of Latin America, with few exceptions, such as Mexico City. There's a lot of it in the US as well, around half the people are wired that way, the south, the southwest. There's an interesting Norwegian documentary that touches on it called Hjernevask, episode 4.

[mz]

Any average joe plays them. "Gamer culture" is mostly glorified and even seen as something cool, especially in places like South Korea.

Gamer culture has been something cool as far back as I can remember...



The only uncool gamers were PC users, mainly because they were usually old and fat, and they used their computers for other stuff besides gaming.

[Synnae]

I should have made it more clear. By "glorified" or "cool" I was trying to mean the gamers who play competitively, get plenty of money and make a living out of it. Not just some random basement dweller who plays games. Hence why I cited S.Korea, since a lot of pros are from there.

But either way, I guess the discussion is going too off-topic at this point.

[tc]

Someone mentioned that snes was always niche. This is true. In it's height, if you were into snes you were an uncool dork and not something you were encouraged to be proud of.

But I just want to make one point with a rhetorical question and answer. Is the nes older than snes? Is the nes still popular as a phenomenon? Did the NES Classic Edition sell out or not?

All relative. If you were there, you already know. If you weren't, no explanation will suffice.
Only those residing in the contiguous United States in 1988 through 1990, of an age range to comprehend it, can truly grasp the magic nes brought to a generation.

[Real_Character]

I should have made it more clear. By "glorified" or "cool" I was trying to mean the gamers who play competitively, get plenty of money and make a living out of it. Not just some random basement dweller who plays games. Hence why I cited S.Korea, since a lot of pros are from there.

I know what you meant, but I hold by what I said. There are 'pro gamers' in the US and Germany, too, but gaming is still overall seen like a banality, maybe slightly above going to the movies or watching tv, at this point. Maybe. But maybe not. An infinitesimally small amount of people are "pro gamers". I'd say the wave gamers have been riding much more is the rise of "nerdism", where some ethereal notion of "nerd" conflating gaming, anime, and other hobbies like that, with intelligence. Few people are even aware or even care that there are "pro gamers" or game competitions for money. Even I tried watching a dota 2 competition and got bored. I listen to a few game related podcasts and youtube channels and not a single one has raved about spectator gaming. The advocates of spectator gaming do often say that the audience has gotten bigger than the sports audience, but the thing is that it's not really true in global standards. What size is the (association) football (soccer) audience? Sports watching in the US is plummeting and it's easy to overtake it at this point, especially when compared to a global audience.



Where are the shades and power glove? Not cool at all.

Only those residing in the contiguous United States in 1988 through 1990, of an age range to comprehend it, can truly grasp the magic nes brought to a generation.

From one point of view, yes. I agree that in the gaming world, the nes was a turning point. This is why there is a big audience for it. So, the point is that we can only assume the snes could be just as popular, if not more, which refutes the OP quote. But my main point before that was that outside of gamers, video gaming was still only seen as playing with toys, and sometimes even aggressively opposed in various ways. I hear about all these 8-bit and 16-bit era kids having dads, and sometimes even moms, buying and playing nes games along with them. That amazed me and I would have loved if that was my experience, but those are only a bubble. Most parents wished kids stopped playing their nintendo tapes so much, because it was worse than watching tv all day, for some reason. Some parents, like mine, made no qualms about it. My dad was kind of snarky about it and didn't think it was serious or good for anything, and my mom was downright naggy about getting me to quit.

And I very distinctly remember a joke in middle school, where one nerdy kid got asked what his favorite sport was; he hesitated for a moment and some other smartass kid asked "nintendo?", and then everyone laughed. Well, it was kind of funny. And, no, I wasn't the kid. It was some kid named Greg.

And then high school. Oh boy. It was a mortal sin to talk about video games.

[Synnae]

And then high school. Oh boy. It was a mortal sin to talk about video games.

Hahahaha. One of the reasons I didn't talk about it with anyone.