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Non-NEC Console Related Discussion => Console Chat => Topic started by: Tatsujin on January 16, 2012, 10:07:31 PM
Title: A fundamental question to all the English mother-tongulers out there :)
Post by: Tatsujin on January 16, 2012, 10:07:31 PM
Isn't it a bit strange to you that you are surrounded with games which have names just like "Altered Beast", "After Burner", "Blood Gear", "Dragon Spirit", "Fantasy Zone", "Faceball" and such?
As for me it would be kinda strange to have all those games written in my mother-tongue and have to read, talk and deal with 'em on a daily basis.
I really like to know how that must be for you? :)
Title: Re: A fundamental question to all the English mother-tongulers out there :)
Post by: SuperDeadite on January 16, 2012, 11:11:12 PM
Meh, Pure Japanese titles are usually pretty shitty. My guess is that the Japanese found English Movie Titles to sound way cooler, and attempted to copy this with game titles. Either way, if games had been released in the USA with Japanese titles, nobody would have ever bought them.
Title: Re: A fundamental question to all the English mother-tongulers out there :)
Post by: Tatsujin on January 16, 2012, 11:14:04 PM
Lol, that was so not the question. But thanks for the attention anyway :)
Title: Re: A fundamental question to all the English mother-tongulers out there :)
Post by: Ji-L87 on January 16, 2012, 11:28:15 PM
I sort of get what you mean. When I first installed BF 2 - the default language was Swedish, but I couldn't stand it (sounded so silly, I thought) so I had to re-install it in English. Just so it would feel right. Huh.
Title: Re: A fundamental question to all the English mother-tongulers out there :)
Post by: Arkhan on January 17, 2012, 01:06:42 AM
I don't get the question.
You're asking if I think it's weird to have a game called Altered Beast, or any other combination of actual english words?
Isn't that like asking if I think it's strange I get food at a place called Gepetto's Pizza?
or Outback Steakhouse?
It's english. What's strange about it.
Title: Re: A fundamental question to all the English mother-tongulers out there :)
Post by: Necromancer on January 17, 2012, 01:39:58 AM
Me neither. Have we become also one day a flavour in our world of when words flow in formulations and the assembly of illness is stressed?
Title: Re: A fundamental question to all the English mother-tongulers out there :)
Post by: SuperDeadite on January 17, 2012, 01:47:04 AM
I did answer your question Tats. It isn't strange at all. When I was 5 years old playing my NES, I called the game by what it said on the box. All I cared about then was playing the game. I didn't give a crap about what nation created it nor it's original language. Kids don't think about that kinda stuff unless their parents are crazy japanophiles. Adults might find some titles (S.C.A.T.) strange, but kids don't give a shit. You are getting old buddy.
Title: Re: A fundamental question to all the English mother-tongulers out there :)
Post by: Tatsujin on January 17, 2012, 01:50:24 AM
As stated in my initial post:
"As for me it would be kinda strange to have all those games titles written in my mother-tongue and have to read, talk and deal with 'em on a daily basis."
So I know, for you guys it's just your Language and you probably don't know other, as it would be for me if the Titles were all in German or even better Swissgerman. For me kinda unimaginable.
Title: Re: A fundamental question to all the English mother-tongulers out there :)
Post by: SuperDeadite on January 17, 2012, 01:56:58 AM
Well then tato, how do you feel about "Soldner X"? The game was made in Hong Kong I believe. :) To me, a name is just a name.
Title: Re: A fundamental question to all the English mother-tongulers out there :)
Post by: PunkicCyborg on January 17, 2012, 02:13:00 AM
Is Gotzendiener annoying to you tats? What does that even mean and is there a german equivalent to engrish??
Title: Re: A fundamental question to all the English mother-tongulers out there :)
Post by: SignOfZeta on January 17, 2012, 05:41:08 AM
I've been following manga and anime since before there was any kind of import game scene so excessive use of English is something I've been familiar with for so long I can't even remember not seeing it. It sure would be inconvenient for me if it were something other than English since the Engrish represents %90 of what I can understand in printed Japanese material.
Its very true though that when my square friends see my model magazines and PC Engine games and such they always ask why there is so much English in them. So I guess the answer is "yes" people do seem to find it strange.
The reason for this is twofold, I think.
1: White people are cool to the Japanese, and Americans are the ultimate white people. There are stories from Expo '70 where Japanese would ask random white people to sign autographs for no other reason than them just being gaijin. In the 80s there was a very popular trend of T shirts with English non-sequitors on them like, "Fire!" or "Smooth", or "f*ck!". Then there is of course Hollywood. Even if a movie from the US is given a new name, its given a new English name. ie: Time Bandits becomes Bandit Q.
2: It seems like at least %99 of all loan words in Japan are of English origin. Rather than invent new Japanese words for non-Japanese things, they will usually just abbreviate it and slaughter the pronunciation. Rarely is there a kanji for something like "CPU" or "water pump".
There are plenty of examples of using French or German or whatever (ie: Maschinen Krieger) in genre games/anime/whatever, but it can be extremely hard to decipher since katakana murders those languages even more than English. Its also hilariously hard for Japanese to pronounce.
Title: Re: A fundamental question to all the English mother-tongulers out there :)
Post by: Arkhan on January 17, 2012, 06:09:54 AM
I don't care what language the game title is as long as I can pronounce it. Who cares what language its in.
Call it ACHTUNG SUPER BURRITO BONITA WARRIOR GAIDEN for all I frigging care.
Title: Re: A fundamental question to all the English mother-tongulers out there :)
Post by: esteban on January 17, 2012, 11:16:28 AM
To get back to Tatsujin's original question: I was always grateful that English appeared (however randomly) in Japanese pop-culture.
I grew up exposed to a lot of non-English media (Europe, Middle east, south America, etc.), and there were rarely obvious references to English in the content.
But my first exposure to this sort of phenomenon began earlier, when I realized that some bands/music artists (mostly European) purposefully sang in English to garner a certain "Anglo-chic-aesthetic" (you know what I mean). You don't sing in English simply to appeal to larger potential audiences—you sing in English because it embodies a specific aesthetic.
I agree with Zeta that the decision to borrow English words is not simply a practical solution, but an aesthetic one.
Title: Re: A fundamental question to all the English mother-tongulers out there :)
Post by: Tatsujin on January 17, 2012, 12:22:38 PM
Is Gotzendiener annoying to you tats? What does that even mean and is there a german equivalent to engrish??
Tho speak the truth, yeah it's a little bit strange to me when they use german in game titles, but mostly because it makes little sense in most cases.
But now imagine a game like "altered beast" in german would say "gewandeltes/verändertes tier" or "after burner" would mean "nach brenner"..lol that would so not work.
There are always some titles that just sounds cool, even in German. but for most of the English titles it wouldn't.
Now a good example would be Thunder Blade -> Donner Klinge. That would sound quite rad as for a pure name.
but there are sooooooo much more english titles, compared to those few in german.
Title: Re: A fundamental question to all the English mother-tongulers out there :)
Post by: MotherGunner on January 17, 2012, 12:49:23 PM
I sort of get what you mean. When I first installed BF 2 - the default language was Swedish, but I couldn't stand it (sounded so silly, I thought) so I had to re-install it in English. Just so it would feel right. Huh.
Battlefield 2? or Battlefront 2?
Title: Re: A fundamental question to all the English mother-tongulers out there :)
Post by: blueraven on January 17, 2012, 12:51:37 PM
I'm going to answer Tats' question in relation to this comment, ela.
Is Gotzendiener annoying to you tats? What does that even mean and is there a german equivalent to engrish??
From a linguistic perspective, they call the term "Code Mixing" where you substitute an English word for a word that has no Japanese equivalent (e.g. Korewa "Think Tank" desu ka) as opposed to "Code Switching" which is literally switching between two different language while talking (e.g. "Que Hora es? I'm going to be late!!")
So here's where I'm guessing you're going with this Tats...
Because of the literal German translation of words (e.g. Luftmeister for Airmaster) I can see how the transliteration form English to Deutch could be problematic, and even derail the conversation as folks might actually think that you were TALKING abut a "nach brenner" not as a brand, or game name, but as the description of an action. I envision a logic chain like this: "What is it that is burning after, and why is this sentence not complete with a dangling preposition?" Plus, if there is no German equivalent of the release, referring to the English title "Aero Blasters" were I German or Swiss and having either Deutch or Swizzler as my mother-tongue would as foreign as hearing about a game called Gewandeltes or Göetzendiener. By speaking the name of an American game I would literally be interjecting a word via code mixing into the conversation that would require immediate clarification to an outsider.
Title: Re: A fundamental question to all the English mother-tongulers out there :)
Post by: RegalSin on January 17, 2012, 12:59:34 PM
I am not going to call anybody an r-tard.
Well, OP the flat fact is that the English empire took over the world, and after America beat the piss tar out the red coats ( because we never wanted to paid their war bills ), we then beat each over human commodity, ( while the English just shipped back the slaves to Africa and sold them to the US, and France ). That is why almost every title is English.
America then blew up little Japan, and dominated the baby-sans with their big dorks, ( those basement clubs that sprang up faster then first-aid hospitals ) and after that the Viet-Kongs and their baby-sans ( the back drop of GTA:Vice City says it all ).
To continue that American pride, apparently during the post "Lost Era" ( WWII ) from 1945-1989 America was on top of the world. We unlike Russia was a mixture of people, and Russia was viewed as a communist and thus anti-demcracy/capitalism nation.
So to answer in short, Japans modernization period was the downfall and disgrace of their way of living. At one point Japan was turning into another 1920 styled Hong Kong. Books from Japan for a long time was, written just like the western way, and style ( right to left, with words going right to left ). Again I will state this, MODERNIZATION IS THE AMERIKANIZATION, WESTERNIZATION, EUROPEANIZATION, PINK IMPERIALIZATION OF THE WORLD.
In Japan, many Japanese wanted to be noticed by westerners to get their books published. Even just to break a dollar, because artist knew westerners all the time would purchase their products. It is like me in zhong-wen town buying chopsticks.
Other effects was.
1. By the 1980's VHS provided people with an outlit source. Most films admired was from the west. I am not saying their was nothing from the east, I am saying that most "cool" sounding films was from the west. So it caught on. Before the 1980's most media was from daily lives and events, and this is why Manga was even caughted on.
That should answer your question. How does it feel? Who really cares, because to the Japanese they still think the Esapna is sexo, ahora fantasico. While we US Americans see them as poor, worm bitten, currupted, and desperate, deranged people. Personally I disagree because they have a hold on a majority of our arcutech, and sciences.
Japan just like USAmericans are clueless to how the Americans are. To them we are still what my parents, parents thought about America. A great place to make it. Reality check, is that many Asian group ( for which their is over hundreds ) live in USA without even seeing or interacting with westerners at all. Their is ghettos where the same acitivities that occurs in East Asian nations, occurs in USA. A Ghetto is still a ghetto also.
1: White people are cool to the Japanese, and Americans are the ultimate white people.
No they did that because the majority of people at the expo was most likely dressed in a suit and was eurpean. Also to make things clear during the reconstruction of Japan, Russian Archutechs was called in. So the Japanese was usted to seeing those people, work on stuff.
If you could find me a video of this expo ( which I am sure exsist ) that showed a Japanese man getting autographs from random people and then passing the non-white people, that would make sense.
The Japanese did not like outsiders period...............the not even human class still exsist even till this day, but off hand.
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sign autographs for no other reason than them just being gaijin.
Well after being blowned to bits, and being modernized, to the Japanese Americans were all movie stars. It is the same affect of people in the west, asking Asian people to write in their language.
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In the 80s there was a very popular trend of T shirts with English non-sequitors on them like, "Fire!" or "Smooth", or "f*ck!".
That is still around. The whole world has not moved an inch from the 1980's. We have the same reversal of that. Like when I wanted to get a roll out bed, the man told me the words written, was a sexy thing.
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Its also hilariously hard for Japanese to pronounce.
when an invention is created it is universal and belongs in all languages. Like Jeans for example.
1. Whale eating 2. Censoring of comics raised up again after ten years. 3. Nationalist Japanese leader almost elected 4. Korean hate 5. Shinji Makima shaved head like Strider worker 6. Nigerians 7. Westerners building new houses 8. Turks 9. Priminister being bad-mouthed ( Priminister that issued the condom banned ( which actually worked ). 10. Shotty construction ( which also tied to curruption ( but so in the west ), and thank you title-wave, for proving this. 11. School girls in Britania take to the streets? Why? See 12. 12. Seperate cars for people who do not want to be around perverts.
Japan is a great place if your a Japanese person, otherwise forget it. The last thing I want to do, is go to Japan and waste a couple thousand dollars going on tours. Why go to Japan when I could find Japan in my own backyard. I could even put sand down and comb the earth, just like in Japan.
Title: Re: A fundamental question to all the English mother-tongulers out there :)
Post by: nectarsis on January 17, 2012, 01:12:07 PM
^ Celphy has a run for his $ :lol: :lol:
Title: Re: A fundamental question to all the English mother-tongulers out there :)
Post by: Arkhan on January 17, 2012, 01:55:05 PM
and you guys thought I posted tl;dr horse shit!
Title: Re: A fundamental question to all the English mother-tongulers out there :)
Post by: SignOfZeta on January 17, 2012, 02:12:14 PM
Wow.
Semi-off topic: I work for an Austrian engineering firm and litterally every technical term they use is confusing hell. Many many things are abbreviated to acronyms that stand for things nobody working here can actually pronounce. It's quite amusing.
Title: Re: A fundamental question to all the English mother-tongulers out there :)
Post by: blueraven on January 17, 2012, 03:23:43 PM
Title: Re: A fundamental question to all the English mother-tongulers out there :)
Post by: guyjin on January 18, 2012, 10:22:07 PM
it's not unusual to me to have game names in my own language; it's been that way for as long as I can remember (Combat, Adventure, Vanguard, etc.). It's also not uncommon for game names to not be in my native language(Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi, Herzog Zwei, etc). Some even have nonsense names (Tetris). It's all good to me.