So, that Nintendo Direct....

... WOW.  Let's go over what went on.

The biggest thing?

EARTHBOUND IS FINALLY COMING OUT ON THE WII U VIRTUAL CONSOLE!

This game has been long sought after.  The quirky SNES game was released earlier this year or last year in Japan on their Wii U virtual console, but possible legal issues kept this game from America... for now.

Anyway, it's coming out, but there is no word on what has or will be changed for the legal US release. 

The Oracle series from The Legend of Zelda will also arrive in the US for the first time.  While the originals were available separately on the Gameboy Color (I actually almost beat Oracle of Seasons, I got stuck on the final boss, and I made it about half way through Oracle of Ages at one point)  this time the two will be linked together, getting rid of the password system the original used.

Speaking of that,

Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 2 is coming to the 3DS!  I never played the first, but it should be available on the 3DS VC.  Or the Wii VC.  Either way, I should play it soon.  Did you ever play it?

Level 5 is releasing 4 games.  So far, no word on Phoenix Wright vs Professor Layton (BRING IT OVER PLEASE!!!!)  but Guild 02, among others, will arrive in the US.  As will the LAST Professor Layton game ever. (barring Wright vs Layton)    I don't know if I can handle that.  I'll miss that gentleman.

((I believe I read it will be released in the US Next year, so we will have hope!))

SMT 4 also has a release date

((The function on this blog is keeping me from finding the English trailer)  It comes out July 16th.

A lot of people are excited about this one:

Most people thought this game would go the way of Type-0

Where despite it's heavy lauds in Japan, it wouldn't come over here.  Happily, Square Enix proved everyone wrong and we'll receive it soon... in 2014.  It's kind of a sequel to Four Heroes of Light so pick that up if you haven't already.

On the Mario side of things, there is a new Yoshi's Island, Super Luigi U DLC (to continue the Year of Luigi), and Mario and Luigi: Dream Team is coming to the US and Europe.


There where others, but these are the ones I'm most excited about.  (Though I am debating on Animal Crossing, I've never played one before.)

1) FREAKING EARTHBOUND, THE HOLY GRAIL OF VIRTUAL CONSOLE GAMES, WILL BE AVAILABLE.  We'll see what and how much gets changed, but this should be great.

2) I adore Legend of Zelda games.  This should be a lot of fun.  The game has a simple formula, but it's very concise, the worlds are fleshed out, and it always works. 

3) The Professor Layton games are great challenges, but more importantly we grow to care about each of these characters.  Plus, in a world of violent anti heroes, to have such a gentleman like Hershel Layton and his apprentice, Luke Triton, is so refreshing.

4)  While I have played one SMT game (Devil Survivor 1... I still haven't beaten it)  I know a lot of people are interested and I DO want to give it a try.

5) Bravely Default is a Square Enix RPG... I'm a total sucker for those games. 

6) I'm most excited from Dream Team.  It focuses quite a bit on Luigi and it's an RPG. 


So, all in all, a very successful Nintendo Direct conference. 

What did you like the most?

Mother 2/Earthbound FINALLY released on the (Japanese) Virtual Console!

(Deep Breath)
Mother 2/Earthbound is a cult game on the SNES that did moderately well in Japan and became a cult game despite a unique translation (Which is one of the best parts of the game) and Nintendo horribly mismanaging the promotion of a game that came out near the end of the SNES cycle.


However, Mother 2/Earthbound has a complicated legal history, mostly due to the fact that the games creators loved music.  So they put music everywhere among other things.  Eventually,  Fans gave up all hope of ever seeing it re released.  Too much would need to be changed.  This was especially tragic since it WAS planned to be released on the Wii VC.  If you have a copy of the Japanese Super Smash Bros Brawl, you can play a demo of the Wii VC game for several of the characters, including Ness. 

I'm not sure what happened, but the game was released a few days ago for the Japanese Wii U Virtual Console.  Itoi, who created the game, is going to do a stream tomorrow morning (7 AM Eastern Time)  To celebrate the release and he's trying to fight for the game to be released in Western Territories.  We'll see if it actually happens, but now we're one step closer for the gamers who missed the game the first time around to play it the first time. 

Deleted Content: Mother 64

The "Mother" series debuted in Japan in 1989.  The first game never made it to the US.  It was going to, but by the time it debuted, the NES would be pretty much dead.  While we know there is at least one beta cart floating around on e-bay (or there was at least, and it was confirmed to be legitmate)  the game was never published.

But Mother 2 (known as EarthBound) was released in Japan in August 1994, and the US in July 1995.  The game did FANTASTIC in Japan and is still very much liked. In the US it was marketed everywhere as "This Game Stinks" (and ignoring basically everything that has made the game so popular, like Ness, the amazing translation/localization, the weapons, etc), came out near the end of the SNES and...well...  the only acknowledgement Mother fans get in the US is through Super Smash Brothers and music on iTunes.

Mother 3 was originally known as Mother/Earthbound 64.  It was to be released on the Nintendo 64DD, but when the system was canned Mother 3 was transferred over to the GBA. Much like Mother 1, it came out at the end of the GBA cycle and with EarthBound's lackluster sales, Nintendo decided against bringing Mother 3 to the US.

This trailer and a few magazine scans are all that exist of Mother 64 now.  While people have managed to link Mother 64/3 scenes together there is enough differences (especially with Lucas and Claus) to wonder what could have been.

Localization

I'm going to talk about localization in general today. 

Localization is the second part of translation that turns a good translated script into a great one.  When you translate, you first translate something literally.  "The vodka is good but the meat is rotten" is a well known example of a literal translation of "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak".  What localization does is smooth the words over to give accurate translations.   Almost every word we use has an alternate and more specific meaning, or what about context?  "Steal" vs "lift" mean the same thing, but have very different contexts. 

This is where localization comes into play.  They look at the word, it's context, and make sure that they have the best word that fits the scenario.  Check some examples out here.

Other problems of localization include slang or references to local events.  "Spastic" means excited in the US, but it's horribly insulting elsewhere.  Meanwhile, the Ace Attorney games have "Lotta Heart" who speaks in a particular Japanese dialect.  The implications of that dialect wouldn't transfer over to the US, so they made her southern instead.

Localization is what makes games more enjoyable.  "YOU SPOONY BARD!" was put in because English lacked a current word that expressed what the Japanese said.  It's now an iconic line.  (For the record, the literal translation is somewhere along the lines of 'you lovesick bastard')   Maya's noodles were replaced by hamburgers, Final Fantasy VI's heroine is called either "Tina" or "Terra"  (the point was to make it sound exotic to the player's ears. "Tina" isn't exotic in the west)  and Pokemon's names are often changed to get the pun or idea across. 

Literal isn't always better.  There are some things readers just won't get, either due to cultural differences, language subtleties, or a mix of the too.  Some things that okay in one language or culture  are very insulting in another.  Localization sees these problems and fixes them.