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NEC TG-16/TE/TurboDuo => TG-16/TE/TurboDuo Discussion => Topic started by: esteban on April 15, 2005, 09:36:10 PM
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Hi folks. I am trying to think of a feature article to write for my upcoming website and I thought the topic of "sanitizing game content" is something that would appeal to folks in general (not just turbo fans).
YOUR MISSION: To expand the list of games for Part I & II below, and to correct any mistakes / omissions you see in this thread. Thanks in advance for your thoughtful comments.
PART ONE -- So, I'm trying to compile a list of all the Turbo games that were cleaned up during localization... but I don't think many games fall into this category:
1. Scatalogical Content. Kato & Ken --> JJ & Jeff. In K & K, farting was an offensive weapon... but for J & J it became "aerosal" from a can of spray paint. Piles of poop remained in the game, however, including some birds who poop on you (ASIDE: file this under "scatalogical pet peeve" -- instead of white, goopy bird poop, both versions simply re-used the generic "pile o' dog poop"... why couldn't Hudson give us more varieties of poop?)
2. Nudity. The infamous shower scene in Cosmic Fantasy 2... was anything really censored in this game besides the shower scene?
3. Religion. Anything? Perhaps something about the Crusades / Christianity was altered in Exile so as not to offend Christians? The Templar Knights were real, historically (... but now I am wondering if it was Drac X that dealt with Templar Knights?)...
4. How about gory / bloody stuff? Final Zone II and Last Alert (Red Alert) have some bloody cinemas... were they left intact?
5. Violence Against Women: In Final Zone II, Bowie slaps Momoko in the face HARD in one of the cinemas... This remained in the U.S. version, though...
6. Promoting alcohol. Anything? I've read how "drinking ale" in some RPGs was changed (for games on other systems, though I can't remember any further details now :( )
7. Promoting tobacco. When I started thinking about sanitizing booze, I thought, "Hey, what about SMOKING?" Final Lap Twin, for example, was going to be the original HuCard pack-in for the TurboDuo... but NEC didn't want the "Marboro" billboards in the game to be construed as "promoting smoking to minors". Well, that's what TurboPlay magazine reported, for what its worth.
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PART TWO: What Japan-only games have particualry bloody / naughty / misogynistic elements in them that would have been sanitzed for North America (explain, in detail, please):
0. Nudity?. Camera Man / Photograph Boy (the actual title escapes me at the moment) -- I remember a dude in a raincoat who "flashes" you (bonus points if you snap a picture of him at the crucial moment!). anything else? I vaguely recall naked women, but my brain might be playing tricks on me.
1. Scatological content. Toilet Kids -- vertical shooter with one theme: poop. even the spiders have arses and shoot poopy bullets at you.
2. Titilation/Sexualization of women. For example... Steam Hearts -- I need details, I don't own this game... Strip Fighter II... and many other games, I'm sure...
3. Sexuality. For example, Ai Cho Aniki (Super Big Brother) -- folks in the U.S. are so prudish that the overtly homoerotic theme would be a stumbling block.
4. Race/ethnicity/national origin. Anything? Did any of the Japanese games have stereotyped racial / ethnic character designs, for example?
5. Nazis. Download 2 has a bio-morphed HITLER monster as a final boss. For some reason I think this might cause problems for a U.S. release. At the very least, the Japanese cover art (which features hitler's visage) would have to be changed, methinks.
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Hi folks. I am trying to think of a feature article to write for my upcoming website and I thought the topic of "sanitizing game content" is something that would appeal to folks in general (not just turbo fans).
YOUR MISSION: To expand the list of games for Part I & II below, and to correct any mistakes / omissions you see in this thread. Thanks in advance for your thoughtful comments.
PART ONE -- So, I'm trying to compile a list of all the Turbo games that were cleaned up during localization... but I don't think many games fall into this category:
1. Scatalogical Content. Kato & Ken --> JJ & Jeff. In K & K, farting was an offensive weapon... but for J & J it became "aerosal" from a can of spray paint. Piles of poop remained in the game, however, including some birds who poop on you (ASIDE: file this under "scatalogical pet peeve" -- instead of white, goopy bird poop, both versions simply re-used the generic "pile o' dog poop"... why couldn't Hudson give us more varieties of poop?)
2. Nudity. The infamous shower scene in Cosmic Fantasy 2... was anything really censored in this game besides the shower scene?
3. Religion. Anything? Perhaps something about the Crusades / Christianity was altered in Exile so as not to offend Christians? The Templar Knights were real, historically (... but now I am wondering if it was Drac X that dealt with Templar Knights?)...
4. How about gory / bloody stuff? Final Zone II and Last Alert (Red Alert) have some bloody cinemas... were they left intact?
5. Violence Against Women: In Final Zone II, Bowie slaps Momoko in the face HARD in one of the cinemas... This remained in the U.S. version, though...
6. Promoting alcohol. Anything? I've read how "drinking ale" in some RPGs was changed (for games on other systems, though I can't remember any further details now :( )
7. Promoting tobacco. When I started thinking about sanitizing booze, I thought, "Hey, what about SMOKING?" Final Lap Twin, for example, was going to be the original HuCard pack-in for the TurboDuo... but NEC didn't want the "Marboro" billboards in the game to be construed as "promoting smoking to minors". Well, that's what TurboPlay magazine reported, for what its worth.
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PART TWO: What Japan-only games have particualry bloody / naughty / misogynistic elements in them that would have been sanitzed for North America (explain, in detail, please):
0. Nudity?. Camera Man / Photograph Boy (the actual title escapes me at the moment) -- I remember a dude in a raincoat who "flashes" you (bonus points if you snap a picture of him at the crucial moment!). anything else? I vaguely recall naked women, but my brain might be playing tricks on me.
1. Scatological content. Toilet Kids -- vertical shooter with one theme: poop. even the spiders have arses and shoot poopy bullets at you.
2. Titilation/Sexualization of women. For example... Steam Hearts -- I need details, I don't own this game... Strip Fighter II... and many other games, I'm sure...
3. Sexuality. For example, Ai Cho Aniki (Super Big Brother) -- folks in the U.S. are so prudish that the overtly homoerotic theme would be a stumbling block.
4. Race/ethnicity/national origin. Anything? Did any of the Japanese games have stereotyped racial / ethnic character designs, for example?
5. Nazis. Download 2 has a bio-morphed HITLER monster as a final boss. For some reason I think this might cause problems for a U.S. release. At the very least, the Japanese cover art (which features hitler's visage) would have to be changed, methinks.
A good Turbo related situation that would fall under catagory 5 is Tengai Makyo: Manji Maru. For the uninitated a Manji is a good luck sign in Japan. Unfortunately, in Western culture a Manji is known as a swastika. As a result removing every single Manji from that game might have been one of the many hurdles that led to its being passed over for a US release.
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I really like the idea of this feature, but I'm afraid there isn't going to be a whole lotta content than what you already have.
You could mention some kind of "avoiding copyright issues" or something dealing with the mask color change in Splatter House.
4. Race/ethnicity/national origin. Anything? Did any of the Japanese games have stereotyped racial / ethnic character designs, for example?
I'm sure there are quite a few, but I can't think of any. Japanese games seem to have black stereo types at times. (Ehem, SNK!)
By the way, was there any smoking in Last Alert? It seems like Guy Kazama would certainly light up a cig at any time like Solid Snake, but I can't be sure if he ever did or not.
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As far as gory stuff, I gotta say Splatterhouse is kinda nasty. For the one level alone, where you're in the monster "womb" and smacking around monster fetuses, then you get to the end and beat up on that cervix or whatever the hell it is....kinda warped me. :lol: Anyways, they'd never release Strip Fighter or any of the other "sexy" games here, not to my knowledge...
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6. Promoting alcohol. Anything? I've read how "drinking ale" in some RPGs was changed (for games on other systems, though I can't remember any further details now :( )
'Magician' for the NES did this. If you entered the 'guild' and drank 2 mugs of 'goats milk', the proprietor would give you some valuable information. Drink too much 'goats milk' and the game would end on you. Even at 10 i knew what they were really getting at.
PART TWO: What Japan-only games have particualry bloody / naughty / misogynistic elements in them that would have been sanitzed for North America (explain, in detail, please):
4. Race/ethnicity/national origin. Anything? Did any of the Japanese games have stereotyped racial / ethnic character designs, for example?
Take a look at great basketball. I refuse to put that card in my Turbo again, or my Duo EVER, but IIRC there were a lot of highly stereotypical players in it.
5. Nazis. Download 2 has a bio-morphed HITLER monster as a final boss. For some reason I think this might cause problems for a U.S. release. At the very least, the Japanese cover art (which features hitler's visage) would have to be changed, methinks.
If I remember correctly, the final boss in bionic commando(for the nes) was hitler. They changed the name stateside, though.
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What I always found amusing was that games developed in the USA, when imported to Japan, are also sanitized. It became really noticeable when Mortal Kombat was exported.
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What I always found amusing was that games developed in the USA, when imported to Japan, are also sanitized. It became really noticeable when Mortal Kombat was exported.
Ahhh, yes, if the scope of my article went beyond the tg-16 / pce, I would definitley like to compare / contrast the US -> Japan vs. Japan -> US sanitation processes. I don't know anything about Mortal Kombat,though... what's the scoop?
anyway, if I broaden the scope of the article, it would also allow me to discuss how things have / haven't changed over the years. For example, during the NES era, Nintendo often required religious iconography to be removed from games (i.e. some of the castlevanias had crucifixes removed).
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A good Turbo related situation that would fall under catagory 5 is Tengai Makyo: Manji Maru. For the uninitated a Manji is a good luck sign in Japan. Unfortunately, in Western culture a Manji is known as a swastika. As a result removing every single Manji from that game might have been one of the many hurdles that led to its being passed over for a US release.
Yeah, that is interesting... I agree, if this game was brought out to "the west", the Manji would definitely be replaced with some other "innocuous" symbol.
I always thought that Manji was slightly different than the swastika (like a reverse image of it, or something), but to most westerners, they'd simply see a swastika. This is amsusing because I'm pretty certain that many old churches in Europe have the Manji (there might be a different term for it) and use it as a sacred design motif (i.e. as a border on walls and on tiled floors). The nazi party, IIRC, simply took this existing symbol, and slightly altered it (why? would they do this... i can't remember).
TANGENT: one of my favorite vegan restauraunts in southern cal, Wheel of Life, is run by a buddhist. Great thai / chinese food and a loving atmosphere... BUT they have this illuminated, rotating wall decoration (a technicolor Manji that spins!) featured prominently behind the counter. I know it must confuse some folks! Since we're on the swastika theme:If I remember correctly, the final boss in bionic commando(for the nes) was hitler. They changed the name stateside, though.
The original Bionic Commando (famicom version) had tons of swastikas (they were turned into the "falcon" symbol) because super joe was fighting nazis! I, too, forget the original title of the game, but it was obvious in the the famicom version that nazis and hitler had been resurrected and that super joe was our only saviour (sp?). Bionic Commando, by the way, is one of my all-time NES faves (in fact, it was kind of kooler that Hitler appeared out of nowhere in the U.S. version! It was like a great "plot twist"... here you are, thinking you're fighting a generic army, only to discover...)
TANGENT: There was an episode of Bionic Woman or 6 million dollar man that had this same premise (contemporary nazis resurrecting hitler). Much more fun than the movies that used this plot (i.e. "they saved hitler's brain" or whatever).
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As far as gory stuff, I gotta say Splatterhouse is kinda nasty. For the one level alone, where you're in the monster "womb" and smacking around monster fetuses, then you get to the end and beat up on that cervix or whatever the hell it is....kinda warped me. :lol: Anyways, they'd never release Strip Fighter or any of the other "sexy" games here, not to my knowledge...
THANKS! Being the scoundrel that I am, I never realized how twisted that stage was! FETUS, WOMB, CERVIX (or EVIL FALLOPIAN TUBES that shoot out eggs).
HELP ME OUT: In the the next to last level, they started out as EGGS / round discs, right? and then they turned into fetuses, right? or is it only when you get to the cervix boss that you are assaulted by EGGS shooting at you?
If I'm correct, this means that the eggs are being fertilized by unseen evil semen (poor Rick, he's swimming in the stuff).
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You could mention some kind of "avoiding copyright issues" or something dealing with the mask color change in Splatter House.
hey, that's not a bad idea! I'd also mention Fighting Street! If TTi brought Street Fighter II ' HuCard to the U.S., i think they would have called it Fighting Street II! I'm serious, i think i read that somewhere (file under "hearsay"). Also (maybe?): Air Buster (Genesis) --> Aero Blasters. I don't know when a name change is a copyright issue versus localization process.By the way, was there any smoking in Last Alert? It seems like Guy Kazama would certainly light up a cig at any time like Solid Snake, but I can't be sure if he ever did or not.
I gotta check that out. I picture Guy with a cig hanging off the tip of his lips...
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'Magician' for the NES did this...
yeah!
Take a look at great basketball. I refuse to put that card in my Turbo again, or my Duo EVER, but IIRC there were a lot of highly stereotypical players in it.
Excellent! This sounds like a perfect candidate for my article, thanks! Check your PM...
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The nazi party, IIRC, simply took this existing symbol, and slightly altered it (why? would they do this... i can't remember).
They didn't. The swastika is an old Aryan religious symbol. Just as Japan used Shinto as a state religion as part of their agenda in WW2, Hitler and his Nazi party used the swastika and other Aryan symbology as part of theirs. It's merely a religious thing. Of course, since stories are often misconstrued and mistold, especially in countries which fought against the Nazis, the symbol became one of evil rather than the good symbol that it was to millions of people for centuries.
From what I understand, MK was "cleaned up" when sent abroad. Blood and fatalities were removed from the game completely (even the "pit death"). I can't quite confirm it but I also heard that a couple of the moves were removed as well (like Johnny Cage's split punch).
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7. Promoting tobacco. When I started thinking about sanitizing booze, I thought, "Hey, what about SMOKING?" Final Lap Twin, for example, was going to be the original HuCard pack-in for the TurboDuo... but NEC didn't want the "Marboro" billboards in the game to be construed as "promoting smoking to minors". Well, that's what TurboPlay magazine reported, for what its worth.
In Splash Lake, one of the enemies is a cigarette smoking log. When you drown him, his log body goes under first, while his cigarette lingers before it falls as well. His name was "stumpy" maybe? i cant find my booklet right now...
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In Splash Lake, one of the enemies is a cigarette smoking log. When you drown him, his log body goes under first, while his cigarette lingers before it falls as well. His name was "stumpy" maybe? i cant find my booklet right now...
I know I have splash lake in a box somewhere. AWESOME to find out that this cute game has a character who smokes!!! What an awesome death "stumpy" faces, too. I honestly don't remember anything like this in the game, and I would have never suspected it.
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;)
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The US version of Splash Lake still has the smoking log...it's not censored.
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HELP ME OUT: In the the next to last level, they started out as EGGS / round discs, right? and then they turned into fetuses, right? or is it only when you get to the cervix boss that you are assaulted by EGGS shooting at you?
If I'm correct, this means that the eggs are being fertilized by unseen evil semen (poor Rick, he's swimming in the stuff).
Yeah, the whole level is the eggs splopping out, and if they land on the ground the egg pops and the fetus will jump on you and cling to you. Ugh. Swimming in evil demon semen. Demon Semen....what a great band name.
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The US version of Splash Lake still has the smoking log...it's not censored.
sweet! thanks for checking it out! i totally appreciate it :) fancy taking a screenshot (or three) and posting them here? Or, at the very least, is he / she a cute log? The sprites in Splash Lake were pretty small... from what i can remember.
Yeah, the whole level is the eggs splopping out, and if they land on the ground the egg pops and the fetus will jump on you and cling to you. Ugh. Swimming in evil demon semen. Demon Semen....what a great band name.
Thanks for clarifying that. and moving on.. Demon Semen. I concur, how could there be no film / band / comic book with this title? well, i haven't actually googled it yet... i'm sure some juvenile has claimed this.
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(http://www.nodtveidt.net/splash-lake-1.png)
Smoking logs :)
(http://www.nodtveidt.net/splash-lake-2.png)
One takes a dive...
(http://www.nodtveidt.net/splash-lake-3.png)
Ciggy's still floating in the air for a brief moment before falling in. :D
These are from the US version, taken with Magic Engine 1.0 PR10.
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I always loved those smoking logs! I'm surprised I never thought of those!
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THANK YOU for those fab screenshots. You have captured the essence of Smoky the Log and his untimely demise. I totally don't remember this character, so I would never have suspected that Splash Lake was relevant to the "Sanitation" topic.
I'm a dork, but I think Smoky has a cute death scene. As folks pointed out, the cig floating on the water is a nice touch :)
R.I.P. Smoky the Log. 1991-2005.
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Here's a silly one.
The uniforms of the cheerleaders in TVS: Basketball were changed so they show much less cleavage than the girls in TVS: Football.
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Haha that's a great one!
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Here's a silly one.
The uniforms of the cheerleaders in TVS: Basketball were changed so they show much less cleavage than the girls in TVS: Football.
awesome. i'm anal, so one thing bugs me: if Basketball came out first, then this fits your theory, but i thought football came out first.... so I'll have to figure it out :)
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Well if football came first, I guess they decided to do some BREAST ENLARGING.
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I really hate those BS censorship and alteration for domestic release.
SNES and Genesis are the worst in 16-bit era.
I rarely buy US release at that time because of this and guess how much $$ I've spent .......... :cry:
(JPN has better cover art...........you know what I mean)
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football came out first. There is an odd white stripe around the neckline of the bball cheerleaders, like it was a quick fix when someone higher up must have complained.
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football came out first. There is an odd white stripe around the neckline of the bball cheerleaders, like it was a quick fix when someone higher up must have complained.
EXCELLENT! You rock, thanks for noticing that, I will definitely put this game in the article and grab a screenshot of this "cover-up" !
It would be kool to compare the computer versions of these games to the TG-16... but I've yet to explore the PC versions (i think there were AMIGA versions as well, I'd check those out first.... maybe plunk down $60 on this amiga emulator i've been eyeing...)
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Aren't those amiga emulators free? I have one on my Xbox by X-port that works great and it had to have been open source for him to port it, he only did open source projects. I think it's called UAEX or something.
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The UAE Amiga emulator is free.
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I want to support these fabulous folks:
http://www.amigaforever.com/
because they do things right (it's totally legal), plus they pack a whole bunch of historical documentation with it. Kick ass awesome docs, videos, etc. ($60 for everything, $30 for just emulator). It's the way I feel about MagicEngine as well... I could have used my brother's key, but I wanted to support ME so I got my own. On PC, I've tried AMIGA emulators... I've had the best experiences with amiga forever (they really try to get all the nuances... like the sound of the floppy drive!).
PLUS, they have a cross-platform package with Windows / Mac OS X. My new laptop is a mac, so...
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Ah that would be cool if it came boxed like real software with actual docs and stuff. I wouldn't mind paying for Magic Engine if they ever incorporate some filters, Turbo games look like Legos on my monitor.
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Umm...magic engine HAS filters...two to be exact...
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Well I haven't tried magic engine in a couple years, there weren't any the last time I downloaded the demo.
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Two filters were added in ME 1.0. Time to upgrade. :D The hires filter is completely badass. :D
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Back on topic: here's another good "sanitized" game...The Legendary Axe II. This was actually the only change in the game that I know about, aside from the title screen.
US version:
(http://www.nodtveidt.net/lau2-1.png)(http://www.nodtveidt.net/lau2-2.png)
Japan version:
(http://www.nodtveidt.net/laj2-1.png)(http://www.nodtveidt.net/laj2-2.png)
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Back on topic: here's another good "sanitized" game...The Legendary Axe II. This was actually the only change in the game that I know about, aside from the title screen.
ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS! Guess, what, I think this might be the first game to lead off my article. THE SCREENSHOTS ARE GORGEOUS (they are the reason, in fact, I want to use them to lead the article :)).
Please keep up the good work! Come on folks, I know you have noticed things like this, I need your help ;)
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Hehe cool...I actually played through both versions tonight just to capture those screenshots. :D
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Hehe cool...I actually played through both versions tonight just to capture those screenshots. :D
I figured as much! Which reminds me: LA II is on my TOP 10 of best HuCard soundtracks of all time.
I love the compositions, the PSG "instruments", the mood each song evokes (plus, each song totally matches the atmosphere / mood of the level it was intended for)....
What do you think? I won't be offended if you think LA II ain't so spectacular :)
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Actually, I agree...LA II definately has one of the best soundtracks on hucard. The only track I wasn't too partial to was the one for level 6 (sounded rather generic in places but it was good overall). The music for the final level was just plain awesome and the boss track was cool too. :) Honestly, I can't think of many games off the top of my head with a better soundtrack on hucard than LA II, except maybe Neutopia II or Violent Soldier/Sinistron.
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Actually, I agree...LA II definately has one of the best soundtracks on hucard. The only track I wasn't too partial to was the one for level 6 (sounded rather generic in places but it was good overall). The music for the final level was just plain awesome and the boss track was cool too. :) Honestly, I can't think of many games off the top of my head with a better soundtrack on hucard than LA II, except maybe Neutopia II or Violent Soldier/Sinistron.
it's nice to know i'm not the crazy one! you see, I've also told folks that I dug the 2 simple songs on Blodia / Timeball. I do like those songs, not top 10 of course, but they're definitely underappreciated tracks. Well, my credibility was shattered for saying anything remotely positive about Timeball (which isn't so bad a game -- another instance of my credibility crumbling).
Back on topic: Blodia was not censored / sanitized in any way when it was released in North America under the title "Timeball".
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Actually, I agree...LA II definately has one of the best soundtracks on hucard. The only track I wasn't too partial to was the one for level 6 (sounded rather generic in places but it was good overall). The music for the final level was just plain awesome and the boss track was cool too. :) Honestly, I can't think of many games off the top of my head with a better soundtrack on hucard than LA II, except maybe Neutopia II or Violent Soldier/Sinistron.
it's nice to know i'm not the crazy one! you see, I've also told folks that I dug the 2 simple songs on Blodia / Timeball. I do like those songs, not top 10 of course, but they're definitely underappreciated tracks. Well, my credibility was shattered for saying anything remotely positive about Timeball (which isn't so bad a game -- another instance of my credibility crumbling).
Back on topic: Blodia was not censored / sanitized in any way when it was released in North America under the title "Timeball".
I actually really like Blodia/Timeball. I think it's a very unique puzzle game, and is great to play on the Express everyone once in a while. I particularly like the second song when I play. :)
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I actually really like Blodia/Timeball. I think it's a very unique puzzle game, and is great to play on the Express everyone once in a while. I particularly like the second song when I play. :)
yes! so do I. There was another TG-16 board where the folks, as an ongoing joke, would make fun of Timeball / Blodia. It was funny because I never could say that I actually liked the game. And since there weren't many puzzle games for TE, I spent a lot of time playing Timeball, Chew Man Fu, and Cratermaze. Oh, and boxyboy.
FYI: There was a pirated HuCard (a multi-card, if you will) that had 4 pc-engine puzzlers on it... including Blodia (boxy boy, drop rock, and can't remember the last one)! That would have been great for portable puzzling on the go!
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Blodia is one of the worst games ever made! Of course coming from the man who enjoys China Warrior, it doesn't surprise me that you like it, haha. My guilty pleasure is Ordyne, that game sucks but I love it.
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Blodia is one of the worst games ever made! Of course coming from the man who enjoys China Warrior, it doesn't surprise me that you like it, haha. My guilty pleasure is Ordyne, that game sucks but I love it.
Nothing wrong with Ordyne. I've only been able to play it a few times though before getting bored and tired of its cuteness. :)
Want a bad game, play Drop-Off. WORST puzzle game ever. Blodia looks like a work of art when it comes to Drop-Off.
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Blodia is one of the worst games ever made! Of course coming from the man who enjoys China Warrior, it doesn't surprise me that you like it, haha. My guilty pleasure is Ordyne, that game sucks but I love it.
:) Yeah, if I had any credibility, I lost it by admitting to liking China Warrior and Timeball :). I really haven't played much Ordyne, but I'll dig it out and see how I feel.
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Actually you'll probably dig it too, if for nothing else than it's incredibly bad music. The first level has some of the worst, yet most memorable music in a hucard. I can still remember that one and the Neutopia II song, hah.
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I'm new here, and I'm pretty sure that nobody will believe me, but I used to test quite a bit for TTI. I also talked with Victor Ireland at Working Designs quite a bit.
Victor had very strong convictions in terms of retaining the integrity of the games that they converted. the nudity and a part where a girl flips someone off are the only things pulled from CF2 as far as I can remember. It's been a few years :D
I was a tester for Splash Lake, and to tell the truth, for the last couple of years, the only game that actually went through any graphical changes was Air Zonk. Everything else became merely a language translation.
The changes in Air Zonk consisted mainly the Charged Bomb, that was originally a big pile of poo in the Japanese version. That game was on such a fast track, that the US names of the characters and levels were applied via a hasty phone call. "I need to rename all of this for a meeting taht's in a half hour!" The names that John and I came up with are what were applied to the final game.
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I'm new here, and I'm pretty sure that nobody will believe me, but I used to test quite a bit for TTI. I also talked with Victor Ireland at Working Designs quite a bit.
Victor had very strong convictions in terms of retaining the integrity of the games that they converted. the nudity and a part where a girl flips someone off are the only things pulled from CF2 as far as I can remember. It's been a few years :D
I was a tester for Splash Lake, and to tell the truth, for the last couple of years, the only game that actually went through any graphical changes was Air Zonk. Everything else became merely a language translation.
The changes in Air Zonk consisted mainly the Charged Bomb, that was originally a big pile of poo in the Japanese version. That game was on such a fast track, that the US names of the characters and levels were applied via a hasty phone call. "I need to rename all of this for a meeting taht's in a half hour!" The names that John and I came up with are what were applied to the final game.
Rock on, thanks for the scoop. If you can think of anything else, please feel free to share it with us! I am still working on this article... and of course there is a entire section dedicated to "Scatalogical" content that was found in Japanese versions....
I NEVER KNEW ABOUT AIR ZONK! awesome.
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In the Hucard "Photograph Boy" I forgot what the name is in Japanese, but somewhere in the game has a racial charactererization of Michael Jackson. Big red lips and everything.
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In the Hucard "Photograph Boy" I forgot what the name is in Japanese, but somewhere in the game has a racial charactererization of Michael Jackson. Big red lips and everything.
Excellent, I'll have to find that part of the game (I've only completed the first level or two). This game was already going to be included in my article-- but for the "streaker" and "showering ladies" you take pictures of (and gawd knows what else in the later levels!).
Unfortunately, I don't own the HuCard (perhaps a future purchase) because the instruction manual might have some neat stuff... the cover (check out www.pcecp.com (http://www.pcecp.com/)) certainly hints at lots of "unsavory" elements in the game.
I remember someone had taken screenshots of lots of things from this game... though I can't recall the link off-hand.
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For anyone who's played Final Zone II in English (I only seen the clip in Japanese language.)
What did Momoko say to Bowie that made him slap her?
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[The setting is Momoko's house. For some odd reason, the big, balding military man Hansen is in the house. Hansen has no relevance to this scene. Momoko, annoyed that her lover, Bowie, is leaving for another battle, confronts him.]
Momoko: "Why won't you quit your war games?"
Bowie: "Sorry, this happens to be my hobby."
[Bowie slaps Momoko across the face.]
.....
That'll teach a woman to question a man's motives!
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Haha, that's awesome.
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That is still one of the funniest moments EVER. Just because of the long-ass load time right before the slap. My friends and I were dying when we first saw that.
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Oh man, I tried beating this game on the 4th and I made it to that part and couldn't stop laughing at how hilarious that was! I love how there is a little pause inbetween what Momoko said and Bowie's slap. Unfortunately I didn't beat the game. I made it to the last level without dying, but I heard fireworks going off, so I had some exploding to do instead (which turned out not happening).
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Does any body know the differnce with the, U.S&JPN version of Devil Crush?
I've herd the U.S one is missing the pentagram :?:
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Does any body know the differnce with the, U.S&JPN version of Devil Crush?
I've herd the U.S one is missing the pentagram :?:
Ahhh, excellent question! I'm sure the emulation folks can figure this out quickly. I don't own the Japanese HuCard (it's always pretty expensive when I stumble upon it).
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Does any body know the differnce with the, U.S&JPN version of Devil Crush?
I've herd the U.S one is missing the pentagram :?:
Looks like the pentagram is changed to one of those 8 sided stars like the smaller ones on the lower part of the board in both versions. More consistent that way if nothing else. No other differences that I can see.
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Does any body know the differnce with the, U.S&JPN version of Devil Crush?
I've herd the U.S one is missing the pentagram :?:
Looks like the pentagram is changed to one of those 8 sided stars like the smaller ones on the lower part of the board in both versions. More consistent that way if nothing else. No other differences that I can see.
Thank you! This was a good find, because I didn't even have "occultism" (though I did mention religion) as a category for my article. If folks want to send me (or post) screenshots, that would be swell. KEEP 'EM COMIN!
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I have a 4-In-1 Sports Hu Card.
Each time you turn on the system, a game just randomly boots.
It has a raised shell casing, kinda like the flash-rom HuCard.
If I remember correctly, it wouldn't fit in my Supergrafx but it does fit in a GT.
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The nazi party, IIRC, simply took this existing symbol, and slightly altered it (why? would they do this... i can't remember).
They didn't. The swastika is an old Aryan religious symbol. Just as Japan used Shinto as a state religion as part of their agenda in WW2, Hitler and his Nazi party used the swastika and other Aryan symbology as part of theirs. It's merely a religious thing. Of course, since stories are often misconstrued and mistold, especially in countries which fought against the Nazis, the symbol became one of evil rather than the good symbol that it was to millions of people for centuries.[quote]
The Nazi's actual logo is of a swastika turning a particular direction, tilted and encased in a circle. Although they also used the tilted swastika without the circle for some three dimensional purposes.
The general swastika has been used all over the world in different variants pretty much throughout recorded history.
http://www.manwoman.net/swastika/swastika.html
The Manji symbol is pretty much as opposite a swastika as possible from the Nazist version.
But some ignorant and ironically biggoted parents/parent groups in the U.S. demanded that the Manji symbol be removed from a japanese Pokemon card.
It was only sold at retail in Japan. Just because it was imported like other Pokemon stuff during the craze, these losers had the card banned in it's own country instead of doing 5 minutes homework and explaining it to their kids.
Just like with other issues that parents try to ban games for instead of educating, or "parenting" their own children themselves.
It's like Cheif Wiggum said to Homer & Marge:
"I really wish you people would solve these problems yourselves. I mean, we can't be "policing" the city all the time".
I think that they should've just slapped an 'M' symbol anywhere that they really needed it(I think they could've just erased it alltogether) in TM/FEOE II: MM and brought it over.
I wouldn't be offended or take it as censorship if they did then or now with the remakes. I'd just be glad it got translated at all and I'm the world's biggest TM/FEOE fan.
Since it would be an english version of the game, it's reasonable to have an english equivelant.
But I also think that the real reason they never did bring it over was because of the amount of work that would've been involved in translating what was refered to at the time as the 'biggest game ever'("over 550 megs!").
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FYI: There was a pirated HuCard (a multi-card, if you will) that had 4 pc-engine puzzlers on it... including Blodia (boxy boy, drop rock, and can't remember the last one)! That would have been great for portable puzzling on the go![/quote=stevek666]I have a 4-In-1 Sports Hu Card.
Each time you turn on the system, a game just randomly boots.
It has a raised shell casing, kinda like the flash-rom HuCard.
If I remember correctly, it wouldn't fit in my Supergrafx but it does fit in a GT.
Ahhh.... what games are on the 4-in-1 sports HuCard? I've never seen that! The Puzzle 4-in-1 is similar to a regular HuCard (not raised) with the cover art from all four games distributed symetrically across 4 quadrants. The auction was for the HuCard only, so there was no packaging or manual. Do you have package / case / manual?
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I didn't notice if this was posted yet, but the femme versions and expressions in the Bonk games got changed in the North American versions.
Snatcher also got toned down in the Sega CD version, which was for the most part, a port of the PCE version.
The one game that should've been altered for a U.S. audience but wasn't, is Bravoman. What were they thinking bringing it out over here at all(instead of one of the many other great HuCards that needed zero translating)?
I also don't remember if anyone mentioned Natas from Dungeon Explorer 1 & 2. I forget if his named was actually Satan in the original. I also forget if Judas was in the original.
I read through 4 pages before mentioning the middle finger in Cosmic Fantasy 2 and got beaten to it in one of the last posts. :?
It was unusual for WD to keep CF2 as the title instead of just calling it 'Cosmic Fantasy' like they did with Shockman/Suibubuman 2. That was cool.
But if they weren't responsible for the hour-long boss fight after stepping off the boat, then they should've fixed it. :x
I still can't remember much of exactly what's been listed already
but Sadler's cigarette was removed from the Genesis version but I'm pretty sure it was kept in the Turbo CD game.
I like how Shouryuken, Hadouken, etc was replaced by "Street Fighter!" in the U.S. arcade version of Fighting Street/SF I.
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The nazi party, IIRC, simply took this existing symbol, and slightly altered it (why? would they do this... i can't remember).
They didn't. The swastika is an old Aryan religious symbol. Just as Japan used Shinto as a state religion as part of their agenda in WW2, Hitler and his Nazi party used the swastika and other Aryan symbology as part of theirs. It's merely a religious thing. Of course, since stories are often misconstrued and mistold, especially in countries which fought against the Nazis, the symbol became one of evil rather than the good symbol that it was to millions of people for centuries.[quote]
The Nazi's actual logo is of a swastika turning a particular direction, tilted and encased in a circle. Although they also used the tilted swastika without the circle for some three dimensional purposes...
Hah! I never heard about the Pokemon Swasitka fiasco. The same culturally-ignorant folks who demanded for the symbol to be removed from the Japanese Pokemon card would be equally offended by the tacky manji ornament that adorns the wall of my favorite restaurant. I think I mentioned it: it's a super-colorful fiber optic manji that slowly rotates. Awesome.
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[/quote]Ahhh.... what games are on the 4-in-1 sports HuCard? I've never seen that! The Puzzle 4-in-1 is similar to a regular HuCard (not raised) with the cover art from all four games distributed symetrically across 4 quadrants. The auction was for the HuCard only, so there was no packaging or manual. Do you have package / case / manual?[/quote]
The only system I have hooked up ready to go right now is my RX and it doesn't want to play it either right now.
As far I can remember, it has USA Basketball, Super(?)Volley Ball, Hot Blood High School Soccer and maybe the dodgeball was also Hotblooded...
http://members.shaw.ca/justin_cheer/4in1.jpg
I found it as a lone HuCard at a local fleamarket. It's been taped on the sides to hold the shell in place.
The cool thing is that I've never seen a rom for it online. Maybe it houses 4 seperate roms and thats why they come up randomly.
I'd really like to get ahold of the Famicom HuCard.
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First of all, BlackTiger, THANKS! You injected some life into this old thread!
I didn't notice if this was posted yet, but the femme versions and expressions in the Bonk games got changed in the North American versions.
Ahhhh! I don't know about this: more info please! And feel free to post / email me screenshots!
Snatcher also got toned down in the Sega CD version, which was for the most part, a port of the PCE version.
Excellent, can you think of any specfic examples?
The one game that should've been altered for a U.S. audience but wasn't, is Bravoman. What were they thinking bringing it out over here at all(instead of one of the many other great HuCards that needed zero translating)?
I think they were hoping that this would appeal to folks as a distant (very distant) relative of the MegaMan franchise (which was really hot at the time... didn't MM2 just come out? or maybe MM2 came out later and my theory is baseless :D)
I've never played Bravoman for too long (perhaps I'm afraid the HuCard will corrode my console if I leave it in it?)... I know there is corny dialogue in it (Hi! I am Japanese telephone box!), but does it ever get "dirty" or "risque"?
I also don't remember if anyone mentioned Natas from Dungeon Explorer 1 & 2. I forget if his named was actually Satan in the original. I also forget if Judas was in the original.
Oh, I totally forgot about this. IIRC, someone wrote a LETTER TO THE EDITOR about this! I think they were mildly concerned! Hahahahahahaha! I'll post a link if it's from TurboPlay, but it might have been VG&CE or GamePro or something....
It was unusual for WD to keep CF2 as the title instead of just calling it 'Cosmic Fantasy' like they did with Shockman/Suibubuman 2. That was cool.
Yeah, same with Valis 2 and Final Zone 2... I always thought that the "2" was kept because it made the games seem more substantial (hey, if they made a sequel, this must be some series!)
I still can't remember much of exactly what's been listed already
but Sadler's cigarette was removed from the Genesis version but I'm pretty sure it was kept in the Turbo CD game.
Yes, I think you are correct. This is very kool, since this is a Turbo vs. other platform comparison. I wonder if there are any other examples like this (differences across U.S. versions)?
I like how Shouryuken, Hadouken, etc was replaced by "Street Fighter!" in the U.S. arcade version of Fighting Street/SF I.
I totally don't remember that! Pretty funny :)
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The only system I have hooked up ready to go right now is my RX and it doesn't want to play it either right now.
As far I can remember, it has USA Basketball, Super(?)Volley Ball, Hot Blood High School Soccer and maybe the dodgeball was also Hotblooded...
http://members.shaw.ca/justin_cheer/4in1.jpg
I found it as a lone HuCard at a local fleamarket. It's been taped on the sides to hold the shell in place.
The cool thing is that I've never seen a rom for it online. Maybe it houses 4 seperate roms and thats why they come up randomly.
I'd really like to get ahold of the Famicom HuCard.
Wow, thanks for the pic, that's quite interesting! The ROM on that is unique, because there would have to be some sort of code to instruct the console to randomly select a game. The actual ROMs for the games are the same as the standard releases, I'd reckon, but the 4-in-1 definitely has at least a little bit of extra code. When I'm on my other computer, I'll upload a nice pic of the Puzzle 4-in-1 HuCard. You'll dig it, it looks pretty nice, actually.
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ck_Tiger"]I didn't notice if this was posted yet, but the femme versions and expressions in the Bonk games got changed in the North American versions.
Ahhhh! I don't know about this: more info please! And feel free to post / email me screenshots!
Here you go.
This is the real Bonk-
(http://members.shaw.ca/justin_cheer/pced2.gif)
(http://members.shaw.ca/justin_cheer/pced3.gif)
Why'd they change it? :? [/img]
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THANK YOU!!!!! oh man, I love how cute femmebonk is! seriously! so this is Bonk 3 HuCard (JP vs. US), correct? I assume that Bonk 3 CD underwent a similar change when it was released in North America.
But what about Bonk 1 and 2... they were left intact, correct?
At PCECP, I found:
PC Genjin 3 (HuCard)
PC Genjin 3 Taikenban (HuCard) -- Promotional
and no Japanese CD release of PC Genjin 3.
The US version of Bonk 3, apparently, adds a "battle mode" (as well as Redbook audio).
So what's the deal, I am confused!
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THANK YOU!!!!! oh man, I love how cute femmebonk is! seriously! so this is Bonk 3 HuCard (JP vs. US), correct? I assume that Bonk 3 CD underwent a similar change when it was released in North America.
But what about Bonk 1 and 2... they were left intact, correct?
The first pic is Bonk 2, the second is Bonk 3.
Bonk doesn't femme-it-up after eating meat in the original PC Denjin, but there are probably other differences still.
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THANK YOU!!!!! oh man, I love how cute femmebonk is! seriously! so this is Bonk 3 HuCard (JP vs. US), correct? I assume that Bonk 3 CD underwent a similar change when it was released in North America.
But what about Bonk 1 and 2... they were left intact, correct?
The first pic is Bonk 2, the second is Bonk 3.
Bonk doesn't femme-it-up after eating meat in the original PC Denjin, but there are probably other differences still.
AWESOME. See my previous post, I added a query about the Bonk / PC Genjin series in general. Again, THANKS :)
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On the swastika thing, the second Goemon game on N64 had the manji (?) symbol turned into hearts for the US version, but in the instruction manual it clearly shows the original symbol. I guess whoever did the manual based it off the Japanese version and didn't know Konami was going to edit it for the US, haha.
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I was just playing through Cadash (local version) and noticed a mermaid with no nipples. The import might provide a little more. This would be consistent with Working Designs' "no nipples" policy.
edit: Nope I was wrong. I'm really digging Cadash by the way. Its like a more serious and challenging Dynastic Hero/Wonder Boy.
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I was just playing through Cadash (local version) and noticed a mermaid with no nipples. The import might provide a little more. This would be consistent with Working Designs' "no nipples" policy.
edit: Nope I was wrong. I'm really digging Cadash by the way. Its like a more serious and challenging Dynastic Hero/Wonder Boy.
Hey, thanks for checking that out, I appreciate it. Cadash is fun. We need more games that incorporate NINJAS into the typical D&D party.
On the swastika thing, the second Goemon game on N64 had the manji (?) symbol turned into hearts for the US version, but in the instruction manual it clearly shows the original symbol. I guess whoever did the manual based it off the Japanese version and didn't know Konami was going to edit it for the US, haha.
Ha! You'd think someone would have spotted that before it went to the printers :)
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Does anyone here remember the last town in Exile with all the naked people? I haven't played the Japanese version, but I strongly assume that there is some perverted dialog leaking around, especially when you save that chick because Sadler kind of said something perverted already, but I forgot.
And as far as Bravoman goes, I don't see how people consider it a bad game really. I think it's a pretty straight-forward solid platform game, nothing makes it awful really. Of course I would have rather chose another game to be brought out here, but I am not ashamed of poor Bravoman.
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Does anyone here remember the last town in Exile with all the naked people? I haven't played the Japanese version, but I strongly assume that there is some perverted dialog leaking around, especially when you save that chick because Sadler kind of said something perverted already, but I forgot.
And as far as Bravoman goes, I don't see how people consider it a bad game really. I think it's a pretty straight-forward solid platform game, nothing makes it awful really. Of course I would have rather chose another game to be brought out here, but I am not ashamed of poor Bravoman.
If folks can follow up on Keranu's Exile lead (naked, raunchy folks... that wasn't the island of Baccus or Bakas or Bachus or however they spelled it, was it?)
And I'm going to pull out Bravoman in the next week or two and give it another chance, OK? Seriously.
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Awesome, I think you might agree with me Steve about Bravoman since we seem to share similar tastes in the poor man's games. I wouldn't say Bravoman is a generic title too, because it has some unique gameplay bits to it like how Bravoman can stretch out his limbs (this is especially fun when doing multiple jump kicks in air) and the horizontal shooting stages (like Shubibin Man 2). Also the art style in the game is pretty original if you ask me, along with the hilarious "BRAVO!" yell every time he punches.
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Who can forget Van's uncle: "Is that a spear or are you just happy to see me?"
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Haha, is that in CF2? I don't quite remember that one.
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And as far as Bravoman goes, I don't see how people consider it a bad game really. I think it's a pretty straight-forward solid platform game, nothing makes it awful really. Of course I would have rather chose another game to be brought out here, but I am not ashamed of poor Bravoman.
Bravoman was a very popular arcade game in Japan when it came out. I'm not sure what the appeal was for them, but I thought the game was interesting for the time.
It's pretty surprising how many arcade translations are on the PCE.
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Yes the PCE has tons of arcade ports and they are all pretty close and great if you ask me.
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In Exile, the isle of Eleusis does indeed feature many nude people. Eleusis is based on a tropical island from history which was exceptionally hot, so people didn't usually wear clothing (it wasn't necessary) and when they did, it was very light clothing (light robes, etc). Both Exile and Exile II had locations based on actual locations of the world (Exile II was more obvious in this respect). But there are no "perverted" comments in the English version of the game (I wouldn't know about the Japanese version since I don't know a whole lot of Japanese, plus I don't even have the Japanese version). Yes, they're naked, but calling them "raunchy" is downright mean. :( That would be like me calling everyone who showers "raunchy" because you're naked when you do it. :P I don't understand why today's society has such a problem with people being nude...
(http://www.nodtveidt.net/exile-nude-women.png)
Ya, that comment about the spear is from Cosmic Fantasy 2, and it's right in the beginning of the game before Van goes to the tree.
(http://www.nodtveidt.net/cf2-spear.png)
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In Exile, the isle of Eleusis does indeed feature many nude people. Eleusis is based on a tropical island from history which was exceptionally hot, so people didn't usually wear clothing (it wasn't necessary) and when they did, it was very light clothing (light robes, etc). Both Exile and Exile II had locations based on actual locations of the world (Exile II was more obvious in this respect). But there are no "perverted" comments in the English version of the game (I wouldn't know about the Japanese version since I don't know a whole lot of Japanese, plus I don't even have the Japanese version). Yes, they're naked, but calling them "raunchy" is downright mean. :( That would be like me calling everyone who showers "raunchy" because you're naked when you do it. :P I don't understand why today's society has such a problem with people being nude...
(http://www.nodtveidt.net/exile-nude-women.png)
OH yeah, we can have drugs, gangs, and people getting beaten bloody....but we better not see any nipples or forget it....see thats america....we accept violence but not nature.... :?
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Awesome, I think you might agree with me Steve about Bravoman since we seem to share similar tastes in the poor man's games. I wouldn't say Bravoman is a generic title too, because it has some unique gameplay bits to it like how Bravoman can stretch out his limbs (this is especially fun when doing multiple jump kicks in air) and the horizontal shooting stages (like Shubibin Man 2). Also the art style in the game is pretty original if you ask me, along with the hilarious "BRAVO!" yell every time he punches.
I think that Bravoman is alot like Rayman...a fore father of Rayman of sorts.......only Bravoman's body parts stretch not just hands that go flying across the screen....
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Yes, they're naked, but calling them "raunchy" is downright mean. :( That would be like me calling everyone who showers "raunchy" because you're naked when you do it. :P I don't understand why today's society has such a problem with people being nude...
I know! I'm sorry, I was speaking in the voice of the "Mr. and Mrs. Censor" when I said that! Of course I totally agree with you :). My personal views on this, and many other related issues, are far-out-to-the-left progressive (I might upset some folks here, so I'll keep it to that... though my viewpoints will be revealed when I finish my article).
Ya, that comment about the spear is from Cosmic Fantasy 2, and it's right in the beginning of the game before Van goes to the tree.
This I actually remembered! THANK YOU FOR THE SCREENSHOTS from Exile and CF2, by the way!!!!!!!!!!
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I know! I'm sorry, I was speaking in the voice of the "Mr. and Mrs. Censor" when I said that! Of course I totally agree with you :). My personal views on this, and many other related issues, are far-out-to-the-left progressive (I might upset some folks here, so I'll keep it to that... though my viewpoints will be revealed when I finish my article).
Ah okay, that makes more sense now. :D Thanks for the clarity. I'm pretty left-wing myself, the difference is that I could care less if it offends people...mainly because the right-wing brings about censorship and propaganda that displeases me, and if they're not going to change their closed-minded ideals then I'm not going to change my open-minded ideals. :D
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Ah okay, that makes more sense now. :D Thanks for the clarity. I'm pretty left-wing myself, the difference is that I could care less if it offends people...mainly because the right-wing brings about censorship and propaganda that displeases me, and if they're not going to change their closed-minded ideals then I'm not going to change my open-minded ideals. :D
:). Ask Keranu about some of the message board scuffles I've been in concerning politcal / social issues -- with fellow gamers, of course. I'm pretty sure he witnessed some of them (but he did not partake). Naturally, it turned out that the folks I respected the most (videogame-wise), turned out to be pretty darn conservative. Ahhhhhh, the craziness.
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:D
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Steve you might want to avoid lengthy conversations with the guy who did the ys translations if you don't want them spoiled by association. :wink:
Heck I can't even get the things to work. But I'm sure thats my own lack of skills, and blank cds. Ys complete looks to die for too. And I could deal with Ys 4 and xak.
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Steve you might want to avoid lengthy conversations with the guy who did the ys translations if you don't want them spoiled by association. :wink:
Heck I can't even get the things to work. But I'm sure thats my own lack of skills, and blank cds. Ys complete looks to die for too. And I could deal with Ys 4 and xak.
He even put in a line in Xak III by one of the townspeople in the first city saying something like "Whats that? You're a Republican? Good for you! Better than being a disgusting lowlife Democrat!" ...or something.
Its fine by me though(I would've prefered lowlife politician personally...), since he(along with several others) is doing such a huge service for the gaming community in general, let alone PCE fans.
I don't care what townspeople say, if it doesn't further the quest then a translator can put anything short of hatred for them and I'll still appreciate it.
As for the patches, you need to follow his instructions exactly, but he's such a nice guy he'll do what he can to help you through it either way if you contact him.
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Haha that was awesome in Xak III, I remember being all WTF, but it was so unexpected and out of place it was actually pretty funny.
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I never caught that line! Haha, and yeah Nightwolve can get very serious about stuff like that in conversations, so I just avoid it, especially since I hate talking about politics and what not.
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Yeah I don't really give a f*ck, I just want to play some games :o
Preferably with something funny done to them for the US release.
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Steve you might want to avoid lengthy conversations with the guy who did the ys translations if you don't want them spoiled by association. :wink:
Good to know :). I'll stick to videogame-only topics. :)
Yeah I don't really give a f*ck, I just want to play some games :o
Hey, you can do BOTH! :). Don't be another TV Casualty! ;)
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He even put in a line in Xak III by one of the townspeople in the first city saying something like "Whats that? You're a Republican? Good for you! Better than being a disgusting lowlife Democrat!" ...or something.
Its fine by me though(I would've prefered lowlife politician personally...), since he(along with several others) is doing such a huge service for the gaming community in general, let alone PCE fans.
I don't care what townspeople say, if it doesn't further the quest then a translator can put anything short of hatred for them and I'll still appreciate it.
As for the patches, you need to follow his instructions exactly, but he's such a nice guy he'll do what he can to help you through it either way if you contact him.
Awesome, thanks for the info! Myself, I'd prefer to have progressive, left-wing agit-prop in games, since we're overwhelmed with conservative, right-wing ideology as it is. But this line in Xak is FUNNY! And it's such a general statement, it's not bad at all. I've played old text-adventures (hacked versions) in which lots of homophobic, racist and misogynistic content was added. That was crazy.
One of these days I'll figure out how to patch games (I mostly play on consoles) so I can play Xak and Ys IV!
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Does any body know the differnce with the, U.S&JPN version of Devil Crush?
I've herd the U.S one is missing the pentagram :?:
Looks like the pentagram is changed to one of those 8 sided stars like the smaller ones on the lower part of the board in both versions. More consistent that way if nothing else. No other differences that I can see.
Well that clears it up when ever i get a copy.It won't matter... wich version i get then 8)
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One of these days I'll figure out how to patch games (I mostly play on consoles) so I can play Xak and Ys IV!
Not to change the subject i got free copy of... Y's IV from a friend with the english patch.
I'll say this every body should try it,it's worth while to play it in english :D
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I never caught that line! Haha, and yeah Nightwolve can get very serious about stuff like that in conversations, so I just avoid it, especially since I hate talking about politics and what not.
I certainly appreciate the guy's work, but I have a lot of trouble taking a guy seriously when he has a picture of Ronald Reagan as his avatar. It's a bit too radical for my tastes.
Have to say I'd vote for Ronnie over Dubya any day though. :)
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For anyone who's played Final Zone II in English (I only seen the clip in Japanese language.)
What did Momoko say to Bowie that made him slap her?
It wasn't quite as raw/uncalled for as many here remember it. Bowie actually slaps Momoko because she says that he's being manipulated by the military and that "Someday, you'll end up like my brother", who by all accounts died right in front of them in an explosion.
Velda/Verda and Bowie were comrades-in-arms and clearly close personal friends. Bowie was pissed because he felt Momoko dishonored her brother's sacrifice and loyalty to the military.
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For anyone who's played Final Zone II in English (I only seen the clip in Japanese language.)
What did Momoko say to Bowie that made him slap her?
It wasn't quite as raw/uncalled for as many here remember it. Bowie actually slaps Momoko because she says that he's being manipulated by the military and that "Someday, you'll end up like my brother", who by all accounts died right in front of them in an explosion.
Velda/Verda and Bowie were comrades-in-arms and clearly close personal friends. Bowie was pissed because he felt Momoko dishonored her brother's sacrifice and loyalty to the military.
Dude, if you're living in the stone-ages, assaulting Momoko might not have been "uncalled" for. But by any standard, the Bowie we know and love should be able to deal with his feelings and emotions -- no matter how hurt he feels by Momoko -- and not resort to violence. Channel that violence against Ruman, Bowie! Momoko friggin' loves you Bowie -- she even went to the trouble of recording a SONG FOR YOU -- you don't hit the ones you love!
That said, I would not want this scene to be censored, by any means. It is much more interesting to see Bowie as a flawed, violent, even sexist, character. So, the problem is not that Bowie assaulted Momoko (this is clearly wrong), but the problem is any attempt to justify or legitimate his assault.
Emperor Megas (love that handle, by the way :)), I totally appreciate your point and I think it is very important: we do need to have a better understanding of Bowie's motivations and his state of mind when he slaps Momoko) -- but I would stop there. I wouldn't suggest that "she had it coming", lest I open a can whoop ass on you :)
I hope you don't think I was too harsh on you, I tried to ease up on the sermonizing :). And I really do think you made a great contribution -- I'm totally incorporating your point into the article. Thanks!
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Steve that's japanese culture for you though, from watching a bajillion samurai movies I gather that when someone dishonors you or your brother you're allowed to slap the shit out of them, hell she's lucky he didn't kill her on the spot regardless of who she was, haha. That scene completely rules, I miss the days when that kind of shit could fly. I mean we have in-your-face blood and guts now, but nothing as wickedly awesome as exploding Hitler or the Bowie slap.
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Steve that's japanese culture for you though, from watching a bajillion samurai movies I gather that when someone dishonors you or your brother you're allowed to slap the shit out of them, hell she's lucky he didn't kill her on the spot regardless of who she was, haha. That scene completely rules, I miss the days when that kind of shit could fly. I mean we have in-your-face blood and guts now, but nothing as wickedly awesome as exploding Hitler or the Bowie slap.
I totally agree! But it's not just Japanese culture: face-slapping was big in U.S. pop culture as well! And the desire to face-slap a woman has always been firmly entrenched in U.S. culture for a long time (i.e. The Honeymooners!).
What's funny is that FZII, as a game, sucks. But there is so much to still appreciate about it (I love the music, and some of the scenes are pretty kool -- like the confrontation with Ruman at the end).
Of course, the Bowie-Momoko Face Slap cannot be topped. :)
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Haha the Honeymooners was AWESOME, I loved how he was always THIS close to slapping the shit out of Alice just because she was right and he was wrong. That is one of the few old comedies that holds up well today I think, the jokes were pretty timeless and obviously very groundbreaking. I just watched a bunch of episodes last summer and they were just as funny to me as Seinfeld, Cheers, or Newsradio (that show rocked!).
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Haha the Honeymooners was AWESOME, I loved how he was always THIS close to slapping the shit out of Alice just because she was right and he was wrong. That is one of the few old comedies that holds up well today I think, the jokes were pretty timeless and obviously very groundbreaking. I just watched a bunch of episodes last summer and they were just as funny to me as Seinfeld, Cheers, or Newsradio (that show rocked!).
Honeymooners RULED. I totally agree. Another show that still holds up well is "I Love Lucy", though I think that Honymooners has a much better cast of characters. I liked Newsradio, too, though it isn't nearly as great as Seinfeld (Seinfeld's characters have much more depth, in my opinion). Cheers (and to a lesser extent, Frasier) are classic.
At night, I take a break from work and watch Just Shoot Me (it's on a midnight here)... I was mildly amused by this show when it originally aired, but I have much more respect for it now. I think it really, really rocks. Why? A pretty awesome cast of characters who are allowed who have some depth, even though it does't appear so on the surface.
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What's funny is that FZII, as a game, sucks. But there is so much to still appreciate about it (I love the music, and some of the scenes are pretty kool -- like the confrontation with Ruman at the end).
Of course, the Bowie-Momoko Face Slap cannot be topped. :)
The best example I can think of is Golden Axe PCE. I love it, it was the first CD game I ever saw and was one of the first 3 bought. Regardless of how bad the ingame aesthetics and challenge may be, finishing it and watching the ending cinemas is more rewarding than most games.
That's the appeal of so many Turbo games, as well as a lot of PCE titles.
We may not have received the best games from Japan, but most Turbo games always had some kind of cool factor to make up for imperfections.
Final Lap Twin wasn't the best arcade style racer, but it's one of favorites. Motoroader & Bomberman look like homebrew games, but anyone who's actually given them a chance knows how addictive they are.
Valis II and Red Alert wouldn't be the same if you stripped them of cinemas and CD music.
But its not like it is nowadays, with games being all about looks and becoming barely interactive movies. The Final Fantasy series(excluding XI) isn't even RPG anymore. Snatcher is more interactive than FFX.
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Final Fantasy X ruled man, awesome game! It always irks me when people call FF games "interactive movies" when they have quite a bit of depth if you bother to actually play them. Somebody made an actual DVD of all the movies and cinematics in FFX and it was about 3-4 hours long, that's out of a 40+ hour game, so that's only 10% of the time you're watching something intstead of playing it.
Snatcher was a great game too, I don't see where the level of interactivety and amount of cinematics has any relation to how fun a game is. Hell, simple point & click games like Monkey Island are some of the best games I've ever played.
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A Keelan quick post:
Final Zone II - Doesn't suck, rules. The Bowie slap is a classic and I loved ever second of it!
Honeymooners - AWESOME!
Cheers - One of my favorite sitcoms, at least the first half Shelly Long instead of the other bitch Kirstie Alley.
Point and click adventures - Totally rule, but the traditional graphic and text adventures (such as King's Quest) are even better.
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Final Fantasy X ruled man, awesome game! It always irks me when people call FF games "interactive movies" when they have quite a bit of depth if you bother to actually play them. Somebody made an actual DVD of all the movies and cinematics in FFX and it was about 3-4 hours long, that's out of a 40+ hour game, so that's only 10% of the time you're watching something intstead of playing it.
Snatcher was a great game too, I don't see where the level of interactivety and amount of cinematics has any relation to how fun a game is. Hell, simple point & click games like Monkey Island are some of the best games I've ever played.
I also loved cinematic games(like Snatcher).
My point was that emphasis has been put more so on aesthetics over gameplay as years go by.
Final Fantasy is the best example, because if you remove the cinemas from the few games that have any, you can see than overall depth of gameplay has been going down a slippery slope from FFVII onward(although IX seemed better than XIII), where as leading up to FFVI, it was just the opposite.
And this is what has setup gaming in a very dangerous predicament leading up to the next generation. Casual gamers now rule, they're the market. And they judge games by budget just like movies. And now only big time developers are going to be able to afford to develop games that take advantage of the 3D power of new consoles.
What this should mean, is that we finally get awesome 2D games again, but somehow I don't think thats going to be the case.
I just hope that publishers start to look at ways of making money in general, not just risky smash hits. Because just as Nintendo can afford to make its own games for its own system, any publisher can make good money putting out a good 2D game, like recent Castlevanias, because it'll cost way less of a fraction to develop than it will proportionately earn in sales.
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I totally agree with your Final Fantasy post about the gameplay getting worse. Not only that, but the stories and characters have just gotten so f*cking retarded that I'm not sure if I could keep tolerating them because they just sort of get gayer as each one comes out. Even though that isn't a very fair judgement, but I mean damn , characters like Tidus? I thought Squall and the rest of the retards in FFVIII were worse enough.
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Haha well we're on opposite sides there, I thought X had an awesome story and great characters. Plus there was just so much to do, I spend a good 15 hours at the end of the game just playing around finding stuff and exploring, it was equal to or more fun that I'd had with any other RPG out there.
My idea of games going down the tubes is shit like Dead to Rights (the incredibly cliched 3rd person shitfest shooter trying to be "HARD"), Tom Clancy games (repackaging the exact same f*cking game and releasing it 2-3 times a year) and pretty much anything made by EA (complete lack of polish and qaulity control, basically Acclaim but with sports games that actually sell).
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I just hope that publishers start to look at ways of making money in general, not just risky smash hits. Because just as Nintendo can afford to make its own games for its own system, any publisher can make good money putting out a good 2D game, like recent Castlevanias, because it'll cost way less of a fraction to develop than it will proportionately earn in sales.
I think this may be the case in the near future- If you look at fashion and music it seems that many of the popular styles and themes tend to be recycled about every 20 years- The same may be true to some extent in the gaming industry. Think about it- 2-d gaming was really at it's height in '86-'94. In theory nostalgia should start setting in on a larger scale within the next five years, and we should see a pop in the demand and manufacture of quality 2-d gaming-
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I just hope that publishers start to look at ways of making money in general, not just risky smash hits. Because just as Nintendo can afford to make its own games for its own system, any publisher can make good money putting out a good 2D game, like recent Castlevanias, because it'll cost way less of a fraction to develop than it will proportionately earn in sales.
I think this may be the case in the near future- If you look at fashion and music it seems that many of the popular styles and themes tend to be recycled about every 20 years- The same may be true to some extent in the gaming industry. Think about it- 2-d gaming was really at it's height in '86-'94. In theory nostalgia should start setting in on a larger scale within the next five years, and we should see a pop in the demand and manufacture of quality 2-d gaming-
I hope that we get industries within the industry, like with death metal. Death metal fans are loyal, I download free mp3's to try out albums and if I like them I buy the CD, and the scene thrives on its own.
There's a huge market not only for 2D and just plain good games, but also retro games. If someone put out a new spec defying PCE CD games, which would cost like nothing for a real developer and it got actual promotion and magazine coverage, it would sell more than well enough to make a good enough profit.
But lets take it even further. Do you think that anyone would buy a brand new reprint of Dracula X, possible with bonus materials, for $30? It wouldn't cost Konami a dime to develop and they'd make a killing even if they sold it for $5 a pop.
But its a slap in the face that most companies refuse to even put old content on new platforms and when they do, charge a lot for a little.
Thats why the Capcom Classic Collection is so cool.
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But lets take it even further. Do you think that anyone would buy a brand new reprint of Dracula X, possible with bonus materials, for $30? It wouldn't cost Konami a dime to develop and they'd make a killing even if they sold it for $5 a pop.
But its a slap in the face that most companies refuse to even put old content on new platforms and when they do, charge a lot for a little.
Thats why the Capcom Classic Collection is so cool.
Nuff said Midway,Atari,Namco and Capcom don't have problems with putting out collections.
You think, Konami would jump on the band wagon by now.
Still they refuse and don't want... to listen to fans for some reason :evil:
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But lets take it even further. Do you think that anyone would buy a brand new reprint of Dracula X, possible with bonus materials, for $30? It wouldn't cost Konami a dime to develop and they'd make a killing even if they sold it for $5 a pop.
But its a slap in the face that most companies refuse to even put old content on new platforms and when they do, charge a lot for a little.
Thats why the Capcom Classic Collection is so cool.
Nuff said Midway,Atari,Namco and Capcom don't have problems with putting out collections.
You think, Konami would jump on the band wagon by now.
Still they refuse and don't want... to listen to fans for some reason :evil:
Thats the thing, they have put out collections of like 30 mostly boring games for psx & saturn in japan. If they charged like $10 for these things it'd be fine.
The closest they've come to to Capcom's generations is stuff like Salamander Deluxe pack for Saturn and Castlevania Chronicles for PSX.
But they didn't include the Gradius' in one nor the Nintendo 8 & 16-bit Castlevanias in the other. I mean, we're talking like 1 meg of disc space for a product that they aren't selling elsewhere commercially(and as such is legal to emulate in the U.S.).
If they want to sell old games as singles, then it would be nice to get them in their original format. Famiclones wouldn't be made if there wasn't a huge demand for them.
Imagine if some licensed out the PCE Duo and got it down to like half the size of a Sega CDX and sold it for $100. As much as collectors push up prices on Duo systems, there's enough of us who actually play the games to sell out new hardware.
A company was supposed to release an NES style Famiclone in the U.S. this month that plays both NES & Famicom game. I wonder if Nintendo managed to stop it before any got out.
http://www.playmessiah.com/index2.htm
They've got some cool accessroies for NES & SNES.
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Nintendo didn't intervene, in fact from what I heard Nintendo actually gave Messiah the green light. Besides, the NES patent's 15 years is up, or for that matter "BEEN up". That Generation NEX is a pretty slick and maybe more durable than those fragile Famiclones from Hong Kong.
My biggest concern is that if the system will play the music in Akumajo Densetsu correctly.
And they might be at Gamestops, because on their site, they were on preorder.
Alot of people are already lamenting the price of the system too being 60. But that's because in the GNEX, it also has some new school quirks added to it, wireless controllers and rumble feature.
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Nintendo didn't intervene, in fact from what I heard Nintendo actually gave Messiah the green light. Besides, the NES patent's 15 years is up, or for that matter "BEEN up". That Generation NEX is a pretty slick and maybe more durable than those fragile Famiclones from Hong Kong.
My biggest concern is that if the system will play the music in Akumajo Densetsu correctly.
And they might be at Gamestops, because on their site, they were on preorder.
Alot of people are already lamenting the price of the system too being 60. But that's because in the GNEX, it also has some new school quirks added to it, wireless controllers and rumble feature.
I first read about it in Retro magazine where they made a couple of comments about Nintendo trying to stop it.
If 15 years(why is music 50?) is all that you get for a patent in the U.S., then why isn't someone whipping up some hi-tech Turboduos already?
I'd gladly pay $60 U.S, for a NEX. I'd also pay as much for a Turbo Dux as the real deal if it'd be more reliable and wireless(but this is one system that should get the S-Video upgrade).
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^^ Probably because the games are so hard to find, where NES games are dirt cheap and everywhere.
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Well if that's the case, Gamestop needs to get back into selling NES games all over again.
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(why is music 50?)
Because music is copyrighted and hardware like this is patented...two different legal protection systems.
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(why is music 50?)
Because music is copyrighted and hardware like this is patented...two different legal protection systems.
Thats still crazy that its as short as 15 years, I wonder if Nintendo had a chance to renew it and passed.
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it's actually a good thing that patents can't be renewed unless you love Gauntlet and ford automobiles. Ford patented the carburetor and Atari patented "multiplayer, multicharachter cooperative play video games". (making the assumption they refused to license the patent to 3rd parties or did so at a crazy price).
most people think that the copyright times should be less than they are, as it seems rather silly to protect something for that long, especially well after the death of the artist.
the reason for difference, is that a patent is usually on some form of technology that could potentially block development of entire branches of science. whereas copyrighted artwork only prevents people from making nearly identical copies, however they can still make very similar copies.
there's a guy in japan making at least somewhat of a hardware rom emulator for the pc engine.
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Was any of the gore changed, going from
the Japan to US version of Splatterhouse?
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Was any of the gore changed, going from
the Japan to US version of Splatterhouse?
This is a good question. The fellow who created "The West Mansion" (Splatterhouse fansite) might have the answer, but I don't remember if he had both versions or ever compared them. Unfortunately, I don't have the Japanese HuCard, so I can't compare.
I've heard conflicting things:
1. in the church: golden meat cleaver... is this a different weapon? is the boss the same (disembodied head with spinning spheres)?
2. some other stuff (hahahaaha. nice and vague. your welcome :) )
I suspect that the games are nearly the same, because TurboPlay Magazine recycled a Splatterhouse strategy guide that originally appeared in a a Japanese PC-Engine magazine. Things look the same -- except for the fact that Rick's hockey mask was changed to a red mask for the TG-16 version.
Of course, some of the puking and blood might have been toned down... so, I'd love to hear from folks who've played both versions.
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I played and own the Japanese version but suck very bad. If there are any cheats for it, post them! So I can make some pics to compare.
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I played and own the Japanese version but suck very bad. If there are any cheats for it, post them! So I can make some pics to compare.
Here you go:
Level select:
Hold Run and press Select three times when the house and lightning are displayed on the title screen. Then hold Down/Left and press I. Note: To face the final Boss, select level 0.
Level select (Japanese version):
Press Select three times, then hold Left and press Run when the house and lightning are displayed on the title screen. Note: To face the final Boss, select level 0.
Sound test:
Enable the "Level select" code. Then, press Select at the level selection screen.
Expert mode:
Hold Select at the title screen until the word "Hard" is displayed.
Also, check out the Splatterhouse strategy guide in TurboPlay #2 (http://home.comcast.net/~turboplay-magazine-archives-tg16/TurboPlay_Collection_02.html[/url) :
page 12 (http://home.comcast.net/~archive-one/TP-02-12.jpg)
page 13 (http://home.comcast.net/~archive-one/TP-02-13.jpg)
page 15 (http://home.comcast.net/~archive-one/TP-02-14.jpg)
etc.....
(keranu, do you like this post ;) )
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But lets take it even further. Do you think that anyone would buy a brand new reprint of Dracula X, possible with bonus materials, for $30? It wouldn't cost Konami a dime to develop and they'd make a killing even if they sold it for $5 a pop.
But its a slap in the face that most companies refuse to even put old content on new platforms and when they do, charge a lot for a little.
Thats why the Capcom Classic Collection is so cool.
Nuff said Midway,Atari,Namco and Capcom don't have problems with putting out collections.
You think, Konami would jump on the band wagon by now.
Still they refuse and don't want... to listen to fans for some reason :evil:
Thats the thing, they have put out collections of like 30 mostly boring games for psx & saturn in japan. If they charged like $10 for these things it'd be fine.
The closest they've come to to Capcom's generations is stuff like Salamander Deluxe pack for Saturn and Castlevania Chronicles for PSX.
But they didn't include the Gradius' in one nor the Nintendo 8 & 16-bit Castlevanias in the other. I mean, we're talking like 1 meg of disc space for a product that they aren't selling elsewhere commercially(and as such is legal to emulate in the U.S.).
If they want to sell old games as singles, then it would be nice to get them in their original format. Famiclones wouldn't be made if there wasn't a huge demand for them.
Imagine if some licensed out the PCE Duo and got it down to like half the size of a Sega CDX and sold it for $100. As much as collectors push up prices on Duo systems, there's enough of us who actually play the games to sell out new hardware.
A company was supposed to release an NES style Famiclone in the U.S. this month that plays both NES & Famicom game. I wonder if Nintendo managed to stop it before any got out.
http://www.playmessiah.com/index2.htm
They've got some cool accessroies for NES & SNES.
Agreed i got genertions 1-5 and the deluxe packs for my Saturn as well,Salamander,Gradius,Paroduis.
Realy it wouldn't be hard to make... one big collections for todays consoles.
Dunno in some odd way i guess, Konami doesn't think it could sell in todays market.
They act like... emulation would be hard for them but it realy isn't at all.
I'm sorry afther, Konami arcade classic for the ps1 and the (Castlevania&Contra collection for the PC) they could have done better :P
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(keranu, do you like this post ;) )
Hehe, you remember my post about your posts linking to your Turbo Play scans :lol: . Of course I love the post!
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TANGENT: There was an episode of Bionic Woman or 6 million dollar man that had this same premise (contemporary nazis resurrecting hitler). Much more fun than the movies that used this plot (i.e. "they saved hitler's brain" or whatever).
Umm... I do know that they did that for Wonder Woman (Season 2)... Yeah, got the DVD's. Essentially they cloned hitler from some strands of hair. And it was apparently a full-grown hitler with all of his memory. (Err... yah.)
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TANGENT: There was an episode of Bionic Woman or 6 million dollar man that had this same premise (contemporary nazis resurrecting hitler). Much more fun than the movies that used this plot (i.e. "they saved hitler's brain" or whatever).
Umm... I do know that they did that for Wonder Woman (Season 2)... Yeah, got the DVD's. Essentially they cloned hitler from some strands of hair. And it was apparently a full-grown hitler with all of his memory. (Err... yah.)
Ahh! So it was Wonder Woman! At least I knew it was a female superhero! Wonderwoman!
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JP Splatterhouse - Lv 7: instead of the gravestone there is a wooden cross.
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JP Splatterhouse - Lv 7: instead of the gravestone there is a wooden cross.
Excellent! Yes, that makes sense. When Konami localized the NES Castlevanias, for example, they removed a lot of the crosses -- since they were considered an overtly religious symbol. This was Nintendo ofAmerica's policy, I'm pretty sure.
Can anyone out there get a screenshot of this?
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He even put in a line in Xak III by one of the townspeople in the first city saying something like "Whats that? You're a Republican? Good for you! Better than being a disgusting lowlife Democrat!" ...or something.
No no no, don't ruin it with inaccurate paraphrasing to the best of your memory. It was this sequence:
(http://www.ysutopia.net/projects/xakiii/images/CD_2C8FA6F9-001.png) (http://www.ysutopia.net/projects/xakiii/images/CD_2C8FA6F9-002.png) (http://www.ysutopia.net/projects/xakiii/images/CD_2C8FA6F9-003.png)
(http://www.ysutopia.net/projects/xakiii/images/CD_2C8FA6F9-004.png) (http://www.ysutopia.net/projects/xakiii/images/CD_2C8FA6F9-005.png)
I was in silly mood, completely hateful of the Secular Liberal Left after 9-11 and their behavior, so that's what inspired that. I wanted to plug the site mostly, and then I thought since I'm just appending those lines, why now add a few more? I was quite in anti-censorship mode at the time. Instead of censoring myself on what I felt, I decided to express it. ;)
A little late to the party in the thread, I know, but I thought I'd join anyway. I was surprised to find what I did there brought up in a thread so recently. Anyway, I was tempted to add more of that in my Ys patches, preferably something a little more clever than that, but liberals haven't pissed me off as much to have gone that far. I'm just not as aggravated by them as much.
Steve you might want to avoid lengthy conversations with the guy who did the ys translations if you don't want them spoiled by association. :wink:
Oh ho ho, clever is you. Don't worry - I hate you liberals as much as you hate me, or at least, you should, because, in all honesty, I am your enemy. But Keranu makes a good point. I enjoyed my pre-9-11 youth and naivete before I knew anything about politics. Apathy is good. He should enjoy being in that position while he has it because you can change dramatically when and if you do become interested in the subject.
These days, I too attempt not to let agitators suck me into serious scuffles. They take a lot of energy and I have more important things to be doing than arguing with people over the Internet. But it is hard and I sometimes am unable to avoid it. However, I did make one attempt in that I stopped going to a board I was visiting for about 3 years given the shear amount of AAAs posting there (Angry Angsty Atheists as I refer to them) - it just finally occured to me I cannot stand being around them and it's pointless. Usually they're ex-Catholic/Christian and what not, in other words, they're weren't atheists early in life, and those are usually the ones I cannot stand the most. They just seem to have a bigger chip on their shoulders than an atheist who's been that way most of their life. I can manage to get along better with those. Just a general obversation, mind you, not an authoritative statement that all of them would fall into; just the ones I've run into over the Internet in the last 4 years or so.
Anyhow, if a person of such an ideological persuasion is respectful and has a trait known as intellectual honesty (which is very important to me when I make judgment about someone), I am more than willing to oblige in return. But yeah, good pot shot there, bud. I should've checked this board more often, but it took Aaron long enough to get rid of ezboard which was a good deterrent to getting more board members. I checked it from time to time as guest when he reopened it, but it didn't seem like the activity was building up so much. Then recently, the Forum Index disappeared for guests, so I registered to do the occasional quick browsing.
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Haha you should have put some hidden political stuff in Ys, mostly just because it would have been hilarious to see the purists whine and cry about it. It's super funny when people get all riled up over that kind of shit (like all those nerds who swear that Ted Woolsy did such a horrible job back in the day, as if the f*cktards can actually read japanese to make a comparison, haha).
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Well, I had to be more "respectful," you see... Deuce, the translator, is a big atheist lib, but we got along. Why? Well, cause we became comrades in the cause of Ys! It was Ys after all; I wanted the translation to be faithful and not poisoned by political partisan-hackery, a position I took later down the road. We're still working together on more Ys projects I have cooking up; that's about 4 years I've known him. But anyway, I did leave some Rush Limbaugh references in the ReadMe, cause yeah, I like 'em riled up. There's nothing better for that than ole El Rusho. ;)
As for Ted Woolsey, I've never known what the deal was with that, but I know I enjoyed FFII very much. That, along with Ys Book I & II is why I began to love RPGs. Fan translators that would actually redo the same game, the same rom, I've never understood. I dunno what motivation I would have to replay the game all over again. Most especially with FFII (FFIV) because I already really enjoyed the story and that's why I played it over like three times. Their talking points about how they didn't censor this or that or take too much liberties is inane. Anyhow, it's not like it's a bad thing, but I think if they've got the resources to actually do fan translations, priority should be given to imports that we never got to play in English at all, not retranslations... That's my position. Give us more games that we never got, not retranslations because you hated the translator. Ted Woolsey? Hell, forget him, how about Victor Ireland and dancing over the grave of Working Designs [err, now 'Failing Designs']? LOL That's some real hatred I've come across right there...
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Yeah I totally agree, retranslating stuff is a pointless waste of time. I'd much rather play new games then the same game with a different translation, and honestly most of the retranslations I've seen aren't any better than the original and are actually worse in most cases (like this one FFIII re-translation I played was f*cking awful, somebody actually said "PWNED" or some shit like that).
On Working Designs, I couldn't believe the amount of hate either. I think it's just becuase Vic was such a public figure that everybody had somebody to hate on. I mean I can't stand some of the shit Atlus does (like Magna Carta, ugh) but since they're just a faceless company there's nobody to hold a personal grudge against for passing up awesome shit like Ikusa Gami for garbage like Samurai Wester.
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Hell, forget him, how about Victor Ireland and dancing over the grave of Working Designs [err, now 'Failing Designs']? LOL That's some real hatred I've come across right there...
Love or a hate thing when people mention Vic.
Some of the message boards i visit have different opinions.
On, WD going kaput some are glad he's gone some are upset over it imo :?
Any ways got any more fan translation plan for, PCE games :?:
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Any ways got any more fan translation plan for, PCE games :?:
Nah, I'm spent there. I do have plans for "Ys: The Oath in Felghana" for Windows [PC], and I have a feeling, if you like the Ys series, you'll find that quite a bit more enjoyable than anything found on the little ole PCE HE system.
(http://www.ysutopia.net/images/ysf/ysf_01.png)
Trust me. ;)
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Rad dude, that looks awesome. Have you tried Xanadu Next? That game kicks ass too, I wish somebody would have a crack at translating it.
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Well, I took a look at it. I didn't get too far, cause it looks complicated, and I usually don't play them very far in Japanese - I just wanted to check it out briefly. But yeah, if I ever think about another translation project down the road, it might be that or even ED6.
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Any ways got any more fan translation plan for, PCE games :?:
Nah, I'm spent there. I do have plans for "Ys: The Oath in Felghana" for Windows [PC], and I have a feeling, if you like the Ys series, you'll find that quite a bit more enjoyable than anything found on the little ole PCE HE system.
(http://rigg.servegame.com/translations/ysf/img01.png)
Trust me. ;)
Looks good that's if i ever get the time to get a copy :P
Import pc games can be down right expensive :x
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Any ways got any more fan translation plan for, PCE games :?:
Nah, I'm spent there. I do have plans for "Ys: The Oath in Felghana" for Windows [PC], and I have a feeling, if you like the Ys series, you'll find that quite a bit more enjoyable than anything found on the little ole PCE HE system.
Trust me. ;)
Wow, that's too awesome. Folks have praised this game, but the prospect of an Enlgish-language version is just too awesome.
Anyway, as far as "re-translating" is concerned: I agree that (most often) it is much more productive to work on a new title. That said, I am always curious about how original vs. localized scripts differ -- but usually the key differences can be sufficiently documented in an article or FAQ or something.
Anyway, I loved WD. Who cares if they bastardized the original scripts? We got some great stuff from them... I don't know if more faithful translations would have been as memorable or as enjoyable. For example, I love the bastardized "Battle of the Planets" cartoon we got here in the States, since that's the cartoon I grew up watching. This rings even truer for Robotech. Regardless of how bastardized the U.S. localizations were, they're the ones I love.
When great liberties are taken with orginal source material, I do like to be aware of it... but it doesn't mean that we can't enjoy the creative localizations as well.
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That said, I am always curious about how original vs. localized scripts differ -- but usually the key differences can be sufficiently documented in an article or FAQ or something.
Anyway, I loved WD. Who cares if they bastardized the original scripts? We got some great stuff from them... I don't know if more faithful translations would have been as memorable or as enjoyable. For example, I love the bastardized "Battle of the Planets" cartoon we got here in the States, since that's the cartoon I grew up watching. This rings even truer for Robotech. Regardless of how bastardized the U.S. localizations were, they're the ones I love.
When great liberties are taken with orginal source material, I do like to be aware of it... but it doesn't mean that we can't enjoy the creative localizations as well.
Eh, you know, I agree with you in a way, but it's kind of interesting. Take Working Designs. I'm an American and I was targetted as such with their localization for N. America for some game, let's say CF2. I buy the product, highly enjoy it, and wind up still having fond memories for it even today. Now, I'm still naive at this point. Where the game came from is of no interest to me. Whether WD created it from scratch or took it from another country and made it its own, it's inconsequetial to me, right? Assuming I'm still naive about how exactly it came into creation.
Fast forward to now. You get on the Internet and you run into these "purists..." They start whispering in your ears about liberties taken with the translations of various games WD did, right? You didn't know this before and curiously enough, you didn't friggin' care, did you?? Hehe. So, you ask them, would the script have been better with a more one-to-one translation? They say, "NO, that's not the point!! The original script writers had their material altered beyond recognition! You never got to experience it!" Oh, I say... Oh...
What's my point?? I think it's what Cypher said to Mr. Smith, "Ignorance is bliss..." ;) I know I enjoyed WD a lot more before I had rabid WD and Victor Ireland haters 'whisphering' in my ears about their "bastardizations..."
It also goes to my experience with one of them who used to help with my translation projects for Ys games. Shimarisu is her nick, and originally I was quite happy to have found someone who was both a Japanese/English translator and a loyal Ys fan. Take the "Ys I Complete" game. Originally, Deuce, my current translator, appeared out of nowhere and translated the script in two weeks. I didn't search him out, he found me. I left the patch system as such so that anyone could edit the script and he went and took advantage of that. So I played the game with his script, and really enjoyed the game, but it wasn't quite finished and he had some incomplete strings to deal with. I had already made arrangements with Shimarisu to work on the script, so I thought, hey, two translators would help with a more accurate translation/localization, so the more the better, right??? WRONG!!!!!!!
Alright, so she finishes her proofing/rewriting of Deuce's script work, and I make a patch and I'm all happy thinking the mistakes would be gone, but then, after playing the game, I start noticing something... something had gone awry.... I'm telling you, I was almost ready to cry. I'm like, WTF, what's going on here? This is horribly dry and repititious!! There were horrible lines by Sarah like, "She is my aunt. She will help you. She can found to the north..." I'm like, what happened to the good lines by Deuce??? Little did I realize this chick used to argue with Victor Ireland in IRC and claims because Vic once told her to go learn Japanese if she wanted games translated her way, she in fact, did just that.... OMG! To "balance" her perception of a world gone mad with localization styles done by companies such as Working Designs, she feels the need to go to the extreme opposite and boy does it show!
Anyway, her translation was circulated for a long time with my patch, until early 2005 when Deuce and I decided to redo it, and finish the job with Ys II Complete which we did. We fixed a lot of mistakes and he had restored some of the naturalizations he had originally done and the script is better for it. If you want an example of a crap literal translation, take a look at my Xak III patch. Akimaru, who proofed that, now regrets his Japanophilia/Fanboyism for leaving it with a more literal translation style. It's bearable, but it shows.
So yeah, all that experience colors my opinion of purists. If people listened to them, we would all be damned with horrible, horrible scripts... Believe you me. I've seen it!!! I've had the displeasure of failing miserably with my editing attempts at it! DON'T YOU BELIEVE 'EM!! :P Above all, don't let them destroy your image/love/respect for Working Designs! NEVER!
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One thing I find to be funny about people who whine about translations is that they don't understand that there is always a substantial amount of definition change when crossing the line from one language to another. I'll give a very valid example from our own production, Mysterious Song.
In the original English script, there's a woman who says "I can't find my pussy anywhere! *slap* I meant my cat, pervert!". In English, clearly this is serious innuendo. This does not translate correctly to any other language though, so it has to be rewritten when translated. Also, certain lines in the original English script are meant to be funny but completely lose their punch if translated literally, so the translator has to replace the line with something that gives a similar amount of comic punch. This isn't always easy to do...
As for WD...don't worry, they will be back. This is merely a transitional phase.
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Haha I totally agree with Nightwolve. In my experience most people who complain about translations is a f*cktard, especially the people who bitched about Working Designs. There's a whole group of people out there who rag on the awesome Tales of Phantasia translation because they're morons.
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I loved reading about the specific experieces you two (NightWolve and nodtveidt) had with localizing scripts.
Bottom line: translating a script is a creative process, even when you are trying to be faithful to the orginal text, and results in a "new" work of art that will never satisfy everyone. Translators have it rough! :)
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Haha, kinda reminds me of the book "The Grapes of Wrath".
The Japanese found the title funny because the kanji for the title literally became "Angry Raisins"
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I think I tend to enjoy a more literal translation, but I want figurative language and such to be used so it isn't too dry or repetitive... Apparently the Japanese aren't too big on synonyms, now are they? Heh, J/K. But a translation going completely OT isn't the best way to spice up a game, either. A translated game should be fun in the way the developers intended. If the old game had a joke (that wouldn't make sense in English), then sure, we should get a different joke. But I think it should be the same kind of joke, capturing the original spirit.
If Working Designs did that, then they were awesome. My issues with them were their reprogrammings... Like removing the easy mode from Thunder Force 5. That's not good! Making Sillhouette Mirage harder, stealing experience in Lunar 2 for Sega CD when you save... No thank you! That really is messing with the creators' intent.
I think the real reason they failed is the insane collectors' editions and high price tags. If they'd just released the best games they could for $50, they would have done SO much better. Fanboys will bring in $, but not enough $... The proof is in the pudding.
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creators' intent/what developers intended/capturing the original spirit
This is the crux of the matter, scriptwise, for purists, I think. They apparently place a high value or blind trust on the creators' intent in all aspects. You're essentially saying, "Don't touch anything, the Japanese writers are by default awesome, so I wanna know exactly what their intent was for every line, etc."
You know, it's like, why assign them such praise and respect as writers and assume you would've got a better experience with a more literal translation? I think that if their writing was so good, you wouldn't have to do anything to the script, aside from naturalizing it like what we've talked about already such as to maintain the same comic punch for some line that just wouldn't work in English, etc.
From a business standpoint, it is easier and cheaper to do the literal translation and not really give a shit if it's at least decent. You thereby place blind "trust" with the original writers, do a straight up localization, and if it comes out to be a boring piece of shit, well, then you can just claim you "honored" the creators' intent, I guess, and then use that in your marketing... ;)
Oh and yeah, correct on the lack of synonyms in the Japanese language. They either don't have 'em or don't use 'em...
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Well, why shouldn't I trust Falcom, if they made Ys? Or any original developer? If I like the game, do I need it to be improved? Why translate a game at all if its story isn't worth maintaining?
Like I said, when Working Designs tried to improve the games they released here through code changes (removing Easy mode, etc.), they usually harmed the game more than they helped it. How is trying to improve a script by writing something original or off-topic any different? Why must it be done? I'm not seeing it...
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Well, why shouldn't I trust Falcom, if they made Ys? Or any original developer?
Well, I like Falcom myself and they're pretty good for action games. Any trust I have for them has been developed over the years, same goes for something like SquareENIX. You shouldn't have blind trust in the general sense is what I'm saying as appears to be the case with the purists.
You know, perhaps you missed all the shitty mediocre RPGs over the years that could've used some WD style revamping. Trust is something that is earned, not given freely as is being demonstrated with questions like, "Why shouldn't I trust any original developer?" More like, "What have they done to earn my trust or respect?"
If I like the game, do I need it to be improved?
Assuming you're hardcore, got the import, then bought the US port and saw an "improvement" attempt made on it?
To put it another way, in your question, does "improve" mean something that you yourself would actually find to be an improvement, or what the company thought would be an improvement while you would find it to be a bad decision after having compared it to the original import, assuming you had access to it?
Why translate a game at all if its story isn't worth maintaining?
Well, finding out that the story isn't worth maintaining is a judgment that would be made after translating it. Ditching it totally afterwards though, would be a lot more work I would think, so I dunno how often that's been done. You've got all the events, scenes, context issues, etc.; so many considerations you'd have to take into account and change. You'd have to reprogram the game significantly in most cases, I would think, and localizing groups probably wouldn't wanna go that far if just improving what's already there works well enough.
My "trust", specifically with WD, was built up based on their work, enjoying their products, etc. But then, I wasn't obsessed about the fact that the products originally came from the land of the rising sun, and thus, I just had to know what the original writers exactly wrote for the script.
Now, if I had reason to believe that the original writers were better for whatever specific game we're talking about, than WD would lose points in my book, sure. I want the better script, bottomline. But, nobody's ever made a compelling case to me with what games they did pick, as far as the story goes, that the original writers were better and thus I would've enjoyed a more literal translation. They tell me how much they hate Vic and that pop culture phrases they inserted, that I enjoyed, didn't belong in the game, because yeah, like you, preserving the "creators' intent" is apparently sacred.
Like I said, when Working Designs tried to improve the games they released here through code changes (removing Easy mode, etc.), they usually harmed the game more than they helped it.
The coding changes can be more easily called out as harmful or helpful assuming you track down the import to compare to the US port. I wouldn't care if I didn't know or have the original to seek out and find something like that to carp on. But at any rate, if they did make a bad decision and a majority that knew of the import agreed, well, then it wasn't an "improvement."
How is trying to improve a script by writing something original or off-topic any different?
They don't even come close to being the same thing if we're talking WD. If they made a bad decision in recoding a part of the game, it's a bad decision. That doesn't speak to their script rewriting abilities. You're also again using "improving" as "harming" based on your previous comment.
It seems like you're attacking their credibility on the dialogue work by using the code changes that you found to be bad against them. Seems like a cheap shot to me. I mean, did you enjoy the script or didn't you? Since you can't read Japanese, you obviously can't compare lines and point to examples as easily as you can with coding changes like the difficulty setting you mentioned.
Assuming you've got a good script already to work with, then you don't necessarily need to "improve it," I would agree. But if you think your improvements could attract more gamers thus sell better, make the game far more memorable, and you have the talent to do it (which WD did), then you go for it. Some poor recoding decisions, doesn't take away from the memorable and enjoyable writing that they were known for. For most of us, at least.
Why must it be done? I'm not seeing it...
Well, nobody said or demanded that it MUST BE DONE. It doesn't have to be done (which is dependant on if the source material is already good, an assumption being made in your questioning), but it can be highly preferable, especially if the original writers sucked. I'm not seeing then why apparently there isn't any room in your mind for it to BE done...
Oh, hey, I can ask more waste of time questions like, why must a mediocre story be preserved?? Why must that be done? Because of the sacredness of the creators' intent?? (Anyway, perhaps I'm inferring too much from what you already said. I'm confused cause you said you liked their work in the previous post, except for the recoding, but now appear to be playing devil's advocate for the purist that hates what they do totally.)
From my perspective and the literal translations I've dealt with in my projects, they came out dry, boring, and downright horrible at times. Now, a company wouldn't have to do much of anything to the script if the original writers were that good. Why add more to your costs improving a script that's already enjoyable, memorable, etc. and thus, will likely sell well as it stands? See, cause you're claiming that they're ruining the scripts. So, gimme an example where I would've enjoyed a literal line rather than one that had liberties taken with it, like you did with the recoding issue. That would help. Then I could say, "Yep, bad decision; it would've been better to have used the literal translation in that case."
It's not hard. Simply, I want an enjoyable product and many games that WD localized are still very memorable to me even to this day. Many games that were done in literal style, straight up, have been long forgotten. Ask me why I prefer it being done and not why it must be done and there is your answer.
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A quick aside (this is relevant to WD recoding games to make them more challenging): A few months ago some folks here compared North American vs. Japanese Exile 2. The discussion mentioned a bunch of neat things (I didn't know that the NA version added parallax to some stages). I had always thought that WD dropped the ball on Exile 2, but after talking to folks here, I have given it a second chance and enjoyed it a lot more. Still a flawed game, though. I even bought the Japanese version (to see the changes myself), but I never got around to playing it.
/aside
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Nighty, I don't have time to reply to your post right now, but about dropping the ball on Exile 2.... That game had the worst collision detection of any game I've EVER played. The best example is when using the female knife-throwing character... My other major complaint (besides the difficulty at times) is you can never max out your health - build your EXP all the way to 65535 or whatever, and you will get nothing at all for it. That's a major oversight to me, even if it only affects the obsessive like myself. Anyway, I still enjoyed the game (and the voice generally rocked, though a little hammy) but it's the kind of game I wouldn't pay more than $20 for on Xbox or PS2 these days...
I'll write more later about WD. :)
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I dunno what it was with Exile 2, but it just wasn't as fun. Not a bad game, but I was hoping for more. Anyway, to be clear, nobody's arguing that WD was somehow perfect and free from making mistakes. I never made that argument and I hope that's not being inferred from anything I said. They were great for their time, I loved their script rewrites a great deal overall, and I will miss them.
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I frankly hope we see WD again, purists can bite me, whether they be game purists, DBZ purists, or Macross purists...WHO CARES! I'm just glad when we actually get something! Like if we'd gotten any of the Far East of Eden games, changed or not, I WANT them! Yeah, WD ain't perfect, who is? Certainly not me, nor any of us, so we should never expect perfection, but sheesh, I put up with plenty of mistranslations, & re-writes, & whatever.
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"definitely an E-class ticket"
WD ads were pretty funny, if you read the small print at the bottom of the page :lol:
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I used to be somewhat of a purist in the sense that I preferred the Japanese versions of games to the US counterparts. As time went on, I've gotten to the point where I'll buy whichever version comes out first. There are exceptions though. Mostly anime based games I'll only buy the Japanese version. Simply because I watched the Japanese versions on TV. The same animes in English just don't have the same appeal to me. Obviously this is because I grew up watching Japanese language animes.
As for translations, there is no way a person could do a 1-to-1 translation of a game into another language. If it is possible, then both languages would end up with some boring, simple, and lifeless sentences. IMO good translations require a person who is eloquent and articulate in both languages. This is pretty difficult. Idioms/jokes/etc can be difficult due to language and *culture* differences.
I'm not sure what the purists expect since it seems that they'll never be satisfied. I honestly don't care, but I think good translations are good because they capture the spirit of the story/characters/etc. Bad ones are bad because they are lifeless, simple, and boring... and are probably 100% grammatically correct. :P
With that said, I'm looking forward to getting Cosmic Fantasy 2 (US) and enjoying it in English for the first time.
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I used to be somewhat of a purist in the sense that I preferred the Japanese versions of games to the US counterparts. As time went on, I've gotten to the point where I'll buy whichever version comes out first. There are exceptions though. Mostly anime based games I'll only buy the Japanese version. Simply because I watched the Japanese versions on TV. The same animes in English just don't have the same appeal to me. Obviously this is because I grew up watching Japanese language animes.
As for translations, there is no way a person could do a 1-to-1 translation of a game into another language. If it is possible, then both languages would end up with some boring, simple, and lifeless sentences. IMO good translations require a person who is eloquent and articulate in both languages. This is pretty difficult. Idioms/jokes/etc can be difficult due to language and *culture* differences.
I'm not sure what the purists expect since it seems that they'll never be satisfied. I honestly don't care, but I think good translations are good because they capture the spirit of the story/characters/etc. Bad ones are bad because they are lifeless, simple, and boring... and are probably 100% grammatically correct. :P
With that said, I'm looking forward to getting Cosmic Fantasy 2 (US) and enjoying it in English for the first time.
I agree. I know it sounds crass and unsophisticated, but I can have quite an enjoyable time with a "bastardized" game/film if it has semi-decent production values. Sometimes I don't even need that! I recently tried to watch the original Japanese Goemon series... and unfortunately, it wasn't nearly as awesome (for me) as the horribly hacked version I grew up with: Battle of the Planets. Now, I wish that the English cartoon hadn't sanitized the themes on death and sexuality (among many other things) ... but I realized that Battle of the Planets was a "new creation", and that it doesn't have an analog in Japan. Goemon is Goemon. BotP is an utterly different beast altogether. Both are enjoyable!
By the way, CF2 is highly entertaining! WD did a great job w/ the cinemas/ story :)
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When it comes to anime, I'm either/or. I can't stand to watch Bubble Gum Crisis in its English dub. I'll take the japanese dialog with subtitles everytime. Priss's voice is just so much cooler in japanese.
Akira on the other hand, I prefer the English dub. Though the new re-dub was unsettling at first, I now prefer it over the old dub. I was just so used to them saying "ka-nay-daa"...
I also prefer the bastardise Robotech over Macross, because I grew up watching that show when it was on the air. I couldn't get enough of it :) The opening theme song is so... well... friggan awesome!
Back to games. I'm just happy I can play them in English - that's all. The fact that Tales of Symphonia came to the US is enough to moisten my eyes.
Someone should write an Ode to WD.
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malducci says:
Someone should write an Ode to WD.
Do not misinterpret the subject ... I am glad that WD brought over the titles that they did. But they did also screw over not only TTI, but also the TurboDuo userbase as well when they jumped over to the Sega CD.
Keep in mind that what I am going to say here is how it happened, as I understand it, and may be partially incorrect, especially since I only received this info from the NEC side of things. I have no official dealings with WD or NEC, nor was I involved in anyway with the workings between the 2 companies.
WD was basically given a Duo Dev Kit -- these development kits are generally rather pricey, the original PlayStation Dev Kits cost around $20,000. So, to get one at no cost is quite a deal. The understanding was that the funds needed to license the Japanese titles that they wanted to convert and bring stateside would be more feasible with a free dev kit. This would allow WD to start with smaller titles and then as their income grew, take on larger projects, with bigger licensing fees.
This is how things worked, for a while. Then at soem point WD eitehr realized that the Duo user base in the US was on decline (likely) or that the licensing fees were getting too large for the possible number of units that could be sold (also likely), or both. There may have been other factors too, I truly do not know.
But WD dumped the Duo and moved to Sega. Do I blame them? Not at all -- they had to keep afloat and moving to consoles with larger user bases is certainly a part of that (and MindRec is having the same struggle right now). I certainly have gotten the impression that WD promised more stateside Duo support to NEC than what it was able to deliver, but again, this is just a hunch based on the information that was told to me, and whether this promise was implied or actual, I also do not know.
Lack of WD support toward the end of the Duo\\\'s life certainly did not kill the Duo, but it did expediate the process. So that, if anything, is a reason to not be a fan of WD. But can you really blame WD for wanting to stay alive longer?
I am sure that Victor would have a different side to things, and somewhere between here and there is where the ture story actually lies (pun intended).
But if someone does write that ode, be sure to keep this in mind.
-bt
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Great post, I've never even put some of that information through my head before, but it all makes a lot of sense.
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WD was basically given a Duo Dev Kit -- these development kits are generally rather pricey, the original PlayStation Dev Kits cost around $20,000.
An off topic side note: PSP dev kits are now down to $4700. That's definitely with-in the reach of most indie developers. The idea of starting a company for developing on the PSP is very tempting, though I'm not sure what other cost and fees are involved - not to mention qualifying as a licensed company.
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PSP dev kits are now down to $4700.
It is rumored that Nintendo Revolution Dev kits will be around $2,000.
Which makes that option quite affordable.. ..
however, if you want to release anything, you must first become an official Nintendo Developer, and soem of those conditions include things like:
Nintendo is the exclusive provider of all software (so no software unless N makes it, and you get the bill for that).
All games/marketing amterial/etc must be approved by Nintendo before release.
(and the killer): You need to post a 5 million dollar bond to release a game.
Yes, I am being serious about that last one. This is basically an insurance policy in case some one sues you (and Nintendo) over your game, being for physical harm, mental anguish, decreased sperm count, copyright violation, etc.
I have been consdering this route, but the agreement that you have to go through to become an official Nintendo Developer is just a bit too prohibitive, in my mind, at this time.
I would guess that Sony has similar things in their agreements for becoming a PSP developer.
-bt
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(and the killer): You need to post a 5 million dollar bond to release a game.
Isn't this were a game publisher comes in? I wonder how much a small company actually make after signing away whatever rights, for another company to pick it up and publish it.
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The Japanese version of Battle of the Planets/G-Force is Gatchaman. I can see having nostalgia for the hacked version, but that is just too hacked for me to want to see more than one or two episodes.
If you guys are considering indie development, Xbox 360 is where you should focus your efforts. Xbox Live Arcade is already thriving, and Microsoft is supposedly bending over backwards to get the major developers to support the service... So I would imagine everyone gets a pretty good deal through it
The Revolution will have downloadable software too, but we're not sure exactly how it'll work or how successful that'll be... Plus the prohibitive Nintendo policies mentioned above. ~ ~
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The Japanese version of Battle of the Planets/G-Force is Gatchaman. I can see having nostalgia for the hacked version, but that is just too hacked for me to want to see more than one or two episodes.
Whoops, my bad, I made a typo :).
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You need to post a 5 million dollar bond to release a game.
That's either a new stipulation, or one they neglect to mention when they offer the details at first. I've spoken with NOA reps before on the subject and never heard a peep about a $5mil bond. Then again, they also adamantly refused to admit to the existence of the Pegasus, so...go figure.
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You need to post a 5 million dollar bond to release a game.
That's either a new stipulation, or one they neglect to mention when they offer the details at first. I've spoken with NOA reps before on the subject and never heard a peep about a $5mil bond. Then again, they also adamantly refused to admit to the existence of the Pegasus, so...go figure.
It's there... perhaps it's after the part where they say that once the agreement is signed that anything between you and Nintendo is then confidential?
See:
http://contracts.onecle.com/bam/nintendo.lic.2001.11.09.shtml
10.2 LICENSEE's Insurance. LICENSEE shall, at its own expense, obtain acomprehensive policy of general liability insurance (including coverage for advertising injury and product liability claims) from a recognized nsurance company. Such policy of insurance shall be in an amount of not less than Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000 US) on a per occurrence basis and shall provide for adequate protection against any suits, claims, loss or damage by the Licensed Products. Such policy shall name NOA and Nintendo Co., Ltd. as additional insureds and shall specify it may not be canceled without thirty (30) days' prior written Notice to NOA. If LICENSEE fails to maintain such insurance at any time during the Term and for a period of two (2) years thereafter, NOA may secure such insurance at LICENSEE's expense.
-bt
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What's the cost on such a bond?
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What's the cost on such a bond?
Depends on a lot of things (as all insurance does), but the going price seems to be in the $3,000-$7,000 range on an annual basis.
-bt
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edited quote:
Snatcher was a great game too, I don't see where the level of interactivety and amount of cinematics has any relation to how fun a game is. Hell, simple point & click games like Monkey Island are some of the best games I've ever played.
I also loved cinematic games(like Snatcher).
My point was that emphasis has been put more so on aesthetics over gameplay as years go by.
Final Fantasy is the best example, because if you remove the cinemas from the few games that have any, you can see than overall depth of gameplay has been going down a slippery slope from FFVII onward(although IX seemed better than XIII), where as leading up to FFVI, it was just the opposite.
And this is what has setup gaming in a very dangerous predicament leading up to the next generation. Casual gamers now rule, they're the market. And they judge games by budget just like movies. And now only big time developers are going to be able to afford to develop games that take advantage of the 3D power of new consoles.
What this should mean, is that we finally get awesome 2D games again, but somehow I don't think thats going to be the case.
I just hope that publishers start to look at ways of making money in general, not just risky smash hits. Because just as Nintendo can afford to make its own games for its own system, any publisher can make good money putting out a good 2D game, like recent Castlevanias, because it'll cost way less of a fraction to develop than it will proportionately earn in sales.
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dude, you might want to check out a series called "mother" in japan. the ONLY english version released was called "earthbound" in the U.S.A.
earthbound = "mother 2" .
"mother 3" is being released today/tomorrow/sunday/monday on gameboy advanced!!!
low-rez graphics, AWESOME story line, WIERD game.
and i LOVE it!!
http://starmen.net/mother2/images/screenshots/summers3.png
^^ mother2 SCREEN-SHOT
http://i20.ebayimg.com/04/i/05/18/e0/6f_1.JPG
^^ usa "earthbound" CARTRIDGE pic.
http://starmen.net/
^^ info source on the "mother/earthbound" games....
http://www.1101.com/MOTHER3/index.html
^^ japanese official "mother 3" page....
http://starmen.net/mother3/mother3world/#
^^ english translation of the official page (authorized too!)
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I just gotten my furthest on Genpei Toumaden II just now, and now I'm wondering about another localization edit for Samurai Ghost. It has a "seppuku" scene.
There was a boss in I think Round 3 or 4 that looked and fought exactly like my player. When you beat him, he gets on his knees and shoves his own sword through himself.
I wonder if that got taken out in the US version.
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I just gotten my furthest on Genpei Toumaden II just now, and now I'm wondering about another localization edit for Samurai Ghost. It has a "seppuku" scene.
There was a boss in I think Round 3 or 4 that looked and fought exactly like my player. When you beat him, he gets on his knees and shoves his own sword through himself.
I wonder if that got taken out in the US version.
Awesome! This is a great find :). Next time you play the game, make a note of what stage & boss this is! I'd like to document this with as many details as possible...
From our discussion in the other thread (about the waterfall boss who plays a flute), it seems that this is the boss for level 4?
Even if it *remained* in the TG-16 version, it's a fun bit of trivia :).
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Hey here's an interesting thing I noticed last night when looking through screenshots!
In the USA version of Shape Shifter (which came out in America first, right?), Lycos doesn't wear a shirt so his buff skin is fully exposed. However in the Japanese version, Lycos wears a brown shirt!
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Hey here's an interesting thing I noticed last night when looking through screenshots!
In the USA version of Shape Shifter (which came out in America first, right?), Lycos doesn't wear a shirt so his buff skin is fully exposed. However in the Japanese version, Lycos wears a brown shirt!
ROCK ON! I love these little nuances... who can confirm this? I only have the U.S. version of the game....
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I have both, so I can confirm it. I just never thought much about it. Also, I might add, that I believe the Jp game is easier. I remember, I originally played the Jp version, yeaaaars ago, & I got to the moon....before my friend erased my memory by saving over it :P But, when I got the US version, I just couldn't do it....that is, without the cheat code!
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I have both, so I can confirm it. I just never thought much about it. Also, I might add, that I believe the Jp game is easier. I remember, I originally played the Jp version, yeaaaars ago, & I got to the moon....before my friend erased my memory by saving over it :P But, when I got the US version, I just couldn't do it....that is, without the cheat code!
Yes, Paranoia, I remember you saying that you thought the Japanese version was easier -- probably on the ME boards way back when we were talking about this game.
You also said that you like the translucent(?) water effects in one of the stages? Could you elaborate on this, because it sounds interesting (I honestly don't remember much about this game, since I haven't played it since it came out... although I popped the CD in my CD player a few months ago and I liked the music :) .
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The transparency effects for the first area with water looks pretty nice as PD said, though two things I thought could be touched up on it were more texture on the top of the water like waves, instead of the flat top it has (though it kind of looks cooler that way), and the other reason being that only Lycos seems to show off the transparent effect, not the enemies if I recall. Excellent game, by the way.
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Depends on a lot of things (as all insurance does), but the going price seems to be in the $3,000-$7,000 range on an annual basis.
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That's definitely with in a small companies range. That makes it even more tempting :lol:
A group of friends/associates and I are forming a new LLC. It's mostly film production, but there are other areas/fields this company will cover. I'm going to have, to have a talk with the other members and investers about game developement. I'll PM you as this is getting off topic.