CAPCOM Translators: Ruining The Plot Since 1996

[News Bot]

Not always.

In the case of FF, Square was infamous for their "engrish". And like in most cases, it was mostly a direct result of them not being able to fit the English text into a particular game. Their translation/localization work only started improving around 1999-2000.

Yeah, but that's what I mean.

The work on Parasite Eve was very good, also.

[Carnivol]

The likes of MGS and Final Fantasy are translated pretty well because Konami and Square actually put effort into localization, and the translators take it seriously, try and be familiar with the material and are very dedicated to their work.

No @Studio putting in effort
Yes @translators taking it seriously

Almost all interviews with people who worked on late 90s and early 00 localizations for those companies seems to indicate that studio/publisher were pretty much only getting in the way of their outsourced translation efforts.


Anyway, it's true that after a major bump in quality during the jump to the PS1 (partly Sony's fault), Square's loc efforts improved drastically. (And some of their finest in modern days should without a doubt be properly credited to people like Alexander O. Smith, Honeywood, or 8-4.)

[Wrathborne]

Hey NewsBot, how are your translation skills out of curiosity?

I know some of the translation issues come from rush jobs, what would you say s the number one problem with translations in general?

[Mr. Spencer]

It depends on what Japanese restaurant he goes to.

[News Bot]

No @Studio putting in effort
Yes @translators taking it seriously

Almost all interviews with people who worked on late 90s and early 00 localizations for those companies seems to indicate that studio/publisher were pretty much only getting in the way of their outsourced translation efforts.

Anyway, it's true that after a major bump in quality during the jump to the PS1 (partly Sony's fault), Square's loc efforts improved drastically. (And some of their finest in modern days should without a doubt be properly credited to people like Alexander O. Smith, Honeywood, or 8-4.)

Well when I said Konami and Square, I really meant their translators.

Hey NewsBot, how are your translation skills out of curiosity?

I know some of the translation issues come from rush jobs, what would you say s the number one problem with translations in general?

I'm unable to judge my own translations haha. Which is why I need feedback from people. I tend to be more interested in the information in the text, so I often translate it in a very literal, drab style. Later, I reword and rephrase to make it sound less stilted and awkward and more natural in English. In turn, it helps improve my own writing ability and I tend to remember conclusions I make to certain difficult words or phrases.

Without knowing how CAPCOM's translators in particular actually do their job, I'd have to say that they simply don't pay attention or care about details and have no qualms with making stuff up to speed their own job up.

[Pikminister]

Without knowing how CAPCOM's translators in particular actually do their job....

... I bet they would tell you that they do exactly this:

I tend to be more interested in the information in the text, so I often translate it in a very literal, drab style. Later, I reword and rephrase to make it sound less stilted and awkward and more natural in English. In turn, it helps improve my own writing ability and I tend to remember conclusions I make to certain difficult words or phrases.

[News Bot]

... I bet they would tell you that they do exactly this:

By reword and rephrase, I mean pick better suiting structure and words that sound better in English. Not completely change the intention of the text to something completely unrelated. It's not hard to do at all. Which baffles me as to how "professionals" that get paid do worse than an amateur who does a superior job in much less time.