disney wii dance dance revolution
The gaming world has lost a lot of limits that was plagued until recently. Today, most if not all big games in Japan, U.S. and Europe are located in all major languages, and because video games are now big business worldwide, most of the locations are given in a relatively short time (several months) after the publication of original work, and a lot of games are published in all major regions, while (more or less a week or two)
And even if a game does not translate into any of the other regions, which could occur for minor and more games low budget, the fact that most current consoles are region free means that the most avid fans can play almost anything that can be imported without any problems.
It was not always so. Even the games of the international bestsellers are now tended to be less important importance at some point, and as such, could not have seen the international release. Probably the most famous series in this regard is the flagship of Square Enix RPG Final Fantasy series. The delivery number 13 in the main series is nearing completion, but in Europe only half of them were initially released.
Many games that were originally considered to be poorly prepared for a Western audience abroad are now multi-million dollar franchise worldwide, not only Final Fantasy, but Dance Dance Revolution and Dragon Quest, among many others have proved very popular in Japan, despite initial doubts as to their success.
RPG Game in particular, focusing more on strategy and based on shifts in the reflections and direct action are not considered appropriate fodder for a Western audience, which is expected to seek immediate satisfaction. In the mid-90s, some of the great Japanese RPGs for the console Super Nintendo (and later on the PlayStation) could start making their way to American shores, but with the exception of the Final Fantasy series, almost none of they deem appropriate for Europe.
Of course there was also the problem that, in order to find RPGs to Europe, the huge amount of text would have to be translated into several languages at once that was decided in a major financial risk that few developers were willing to take.
Today day, this is not a big problem. Japanese RPGs have become very popular in the West, and the location of them can not be called a risk. Even the darkest hardcore RPG and has found its niche market outside of Japan, which shows how the Western taste has expanded over the years.
That said, there are still several genres that have failed to find its way west. Casino games such as Horse Racing and Pachinko / Slot machine simulators, visual novels, and love Sims / Dating games are all pretty great genres in Japan, however, few if any have made anywhere outside of Japan. The last two are perhaps not deemed suitable for the western market, being very heavy and with text mostly still images, and no real action to speak. This is a kind of shame, because from the point of view of translation that would provide a nice challenge.
On the other hand, maybe a little more worrying, we see that even major releases America does not sell so well in Japan. Extremely popular series such as Grand Theft Auto and God of War has sold millions in the West, but have done no more than decent in Japan. This is an interesting fact which tends to create a heated debate in the gaming forums.
It is here that one of the greatest challenges of the location game lies. If the games do not do well in western Japan, can be attributed to the location? Does the humor used in many action / adventure games, rather than caught in Japan? It is the famous 'jacket' made by the average action movie / Game Hero something that works well in a Japanese environment? What about the language of the street thugs and members of the mafia in the GTA?
Surely we can say that if the humor does not come through, or lose credibility in the target product, the translation is at least partly to blame? In order for games to do better in western Japan, and perhaps to bring (even more) obscure Japanese games to the west coast, intelligent and creative translation is the key.
By Anthony Teixeira – Active Gaming Media.
Read my blog about Game Localization.
Dance Dance Revolution Disney Groves
|
|
SKQUE DANCE PAD FOR WII DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION DISNEY GROOVES $12.94 DDR Dance Revolution Pad Mat For Nintendo Wii GameCube… |
|
|
Dance Dance Revolution Disney Grooves Includes Two Dance Mats $69.99 The magical world of Disney hits the dance floor with an entirely new DanceDanceRevolution game for Wii designed for multiplayer fun right out of the box. Leveraging classic Disney characters, 40 Disney songs that we all know and love and bundled with two DDR dance mats, DanceDanceRevolution Disney Grooves combines the mega-popular DanceDanceRevoluti… |
|
|
Dance Dance Revolution Disney Grooves $29.99 MANUFACTURER WARRANTY: 90 DAYS… |
|
|
Space Channel 5 Part 2 (Japanese Import Video Game) Only released in Japan, requires Japanese or modded system (or boot disc like Gameshark) to play!… |
|
|
SKQUE DANCE PAD FOR WII DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION DISNEY GROOVES $12.94 DDR Dance Revolution Pad Mat For Nintendo Wii GameCube… |
|
|
Dance Dance Revolution Disney Grooves Includes Two Dance Mats $69.99 The magical world of Disney hits the dance floor with an entirely new DanceDanceRevolution game for Wii designed for multiplayer fun right out of the box. Leveraging classic Disney characters, 40 Disney songs that we all know and love and bundled with two DDR dance mats, DanceDanceRevolution Disney Grooves combines the mega-popular DanceDanceRevoluti… |
|
|
Dance Dance Revolution Disney Grooves $29.99 MANUFACTURER WARRANTY: 90 DAYS… |
|
|
Space Channel 5 Part 2 (Japanese Import Video Game) Only released in Japan, requires Japanese or modded system (or boot disc like Gameshark) to play!… |
