|
A fan translation is an unofficial translation of a computer game, video game, manga, or an unofficial dubbing or subtitling of an anime, into a language that it was never marketed in. Manga and anime fan translations are referred to as scanlations and fansubs respectively, and are not the focus of this article.
Fan translations of computer and video game console games are usually accomplished by modifying the binary ROM image of the game. In dealing with translations of console games, a console emulator is generally utilized to play the final product, although game copiers or similar devices can be used to run the translated ROM image on its native hardware. For fan translations of computer and video games, Japanese is usually the source language, and English is usually the target language, probably since many electronic games are or were marketed exclusively in Japan. The fan translation practice originated with anime and manga, and expanded to video games more or less concurrently with the rise of console emulation in the late 1990s.
Fan translation allows players to play and understand games that were never localized to their native language, as well as to improve upon an poor quality official localization. Two of the most well known fan translated games whose official translations are considered subpar are Final Fantasy IV and Phantasy Star II.
In addition to English, other fan translations have been produced in French, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Portuguese, Latin, Norwegian, German, Dutch, Russian, Chinese, Swedish, and Serbian.
Origins
 RPGe's translation of Final Fantasy V was the first major fan translated work. Original Japanese is on the left; RPGe's translation is on the right. Reverse engineering and the rise of console emulation made fan translation possible. The first complete translation patch for a video game was released in 1997. The patch, produced by RPGe, was designed to translate Final Fantasy V for the Super Famicom (also known as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System) into English. While translating games had been around by the time of the patch, it was the first to prove that the in-depth hacking required for such a project was feasible. New groups quickly sprang up in RPGe's wake and began translating other works.
Legal issues While fan translations are indisputably illegal (Article 8 [Right of Translation] of the Berne Convention explicitly reserves the right of translation to the copyright holder and whoever receives permission of them, saying "Authors of literary and artistic works protected by this Convention shall enjoy the exclusive right of making and of authorizing the translation of their works throughout the term of protection of their rights in the original works."), it is unusual for copyright holders to object. This is probably largely because the electronic games in question are generally not considered commercially viable in the target language, so the translation is rarely seen as a source of lost revenue.
A popular belief in the fan-translation community is that distributing only the translation, as a patch to the original game, is legal; this belief has no support in international copyright law (probably because for video games, the translation can be played only through emulation), but it seems plausible that the strong anti-piracy stance the fan translation community has taken has contributed to the tendency of copyright holders to turn a blind eye. Fan translations are mainly done for Japan-only games that were developed for the Japanese versions of game systems that were discontinued in the United States. Article 8 of the Berne Convention, or international copyright law, may be controversial for the fan translation community and the emulation community, and it has been believed by some gamers to have unintended chilling effects on free speech, and that it only serves to force the audience to learn the language that the games in question were marketed in, thus unintentionally making more potential translators.
There have never been any legal cases involving fan translation issues. As for manga, there was never a need for a test case, since manga fan translations have been published on the Internet for years. Japanese companies are unlikely to sue the fans, especially for animes, and fan translations of animes have been around a long time. According to Yu's Behind the Scenes of IRC (http://cal.jmu.edu/zemliansky/firstyearwriting/virtualtruth/yuscenes.html), there have been beliefs that "there is a gap between people's opinion and what is written in the law."
List of fan-translated games This is a partial list of Japanese video games which have been translated into English by fan translators.
MSX translations
Nintendo Famicom/NES translations
Super Famicom / SNES translations - Alcahest (Square Co., Ltd., 1994) — translated by F.H. in 2002
- Bahamut Lagoon (Square Co., Ltd., 1995) — translated by DeJap Translations in 2002
- Cyber Knight (Tonkinhouse, 1993) — translated by Aeon Genesis Translation Proclamation in 2002
- Dragon Quest I & II (Enix, 1993) — translated by RPG-One Translations in 2002
- Dragon Quest III (Enix, 1996) — translated by DeJap Translations and RPG-One Translations in 2003
- Dragon Quest V (Enix, 1992) — translated by DeJap Translations in 2002
- Dragon Quest VI (Enix, 1994) — translated by DeJap Translations and NoPrgress in 2001
- Final Fantasy IV (Square Co., Ltd., 1991) — translated by J2e Translations in 1999
- Final Fantasy V (Square Co., Ltd., 1992) — translated by RPGe in 1997
- Final Fantasy VI (Square Co., Ltd., 1994) — translated by RPG-One Translations in 2002
- Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu (Nintendo/Intelligent Systems, 1996) — translated by J2e Translations and Fire Emblem Sanctuary of Strategy in 2004
- Front Mission (Square Co., Ltd., 1995) — translated by F.H. in 2000
- Front Mission: Gun Hazard (Square Co., Ltd., 1996) — translated by Aeon Genesis Translation in 2004
- Koryu no Mimi (Oosawa Arimasa, M.A.T., Inoue Noriyoshi, VAP; 1995) — translated by RPG-One Translations in 2004
- Live-A-Live (Square Co., Ltd., 1994) — translated by Aeon Genesis Translations
- Mickey & Donald Magical Adventure 3 (Capcom, 1996) — translated by RPG-One Translations in 2004
- Radical Dreamers (Square Co., Ltd., 1998) — translated by NeoDemiforce in 2003
- Rockman & Forte (a.k.a. Megaman & Bass) (Capcom, 1998) — translated by Aeon Genesis Translation Proclamation in 2002
- Rudora no Hihou (Square Co., Ltd., 1996) — translated by Aeon Genesis Translation Proclamation in 2002
- Seiken Densetsu III (Square Co., Ltd., 1995) — translated by Neill Corlett in 2000
- Shin Nekketsu Kouha: Kunio tachi no Banka (Technos, 1994) — translated by Aeon Genesis Translation Proclamation in 2003
- Star Ocean: Fantastic Space Odyssey (Enix, 1996) — translated by DeJap Translations in 2004
- Tales of Phantasia (Namco, 1994) — translated by DeJap Translations in 2001
- Ys IV: Mask of the Sun (Falcom, 1993) — translated by Aeon Genesis Translation Proclamation in 2000
Fan translators (external links)
See also |
Feeds |
Contact