Localization Comparison Stuff

I like the idea, a book like that would be great to read in segments (maybe even as a toilet book?) but you really need to look at all the legal stuff beforehand

I think this is wonderful, I’m a huge fan of Legends of Localization. Take my money, mato!

“id buy that for a dollar”
but seriously, SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY

I wholeheartedly endorse this. I would buy each book the moment they become available.

BTW, would you be using my logo i made for you with these? If you do, I’m totally okay with it. I don’t need any compensation or anything; just a simple acknowledgement in the books’ notes or whatever is all.

This sounds pretty cool, I’d definitely be interested. Especially the part about the Mother 3 translation notes. 😀

I would buy every book! I love Legends of Localization!

Oh, ABSOLUTELY. Only if you cover Terranigma in Legends of Localization at some point though!

Seriously though, wouldn’t there be a whole truckload of legal issues?

I haven’t looked into the legal implications yet, I forget how Reid and Fangamer were able to skirt the issue, but I think it involved the fact that it was meant to be a supplement to an existing work or that it was for educational purposes, I forget. I’d definitely look more into it, consult the companies involved, and get a law-talking guy involved if I were to go forward with it. Right now I’m just seeing if there’s any interest.

There’s definitely some interest, but I’m not sure there is enough to justify legal and production costs. If I were rich, I’d definitely support you plenty. Hope you learn enough to make a decision soon!

Definitely. It’s always fascinating looking at how translations are done, especially when you’ve got a proper authority on the subject writing about it. You could probably write an entire book on the philosophy and general history behind video game translation, couldn’t you?

sounds like something that is predestined for kickstarter/indiegogo

I tham allz!! O_O

*I want tham allz

This would be the best book series ever. It’s wonderful to have a site to visit, but there’s a lot to be said for print, because not everyone has Internet access 24/7 (plus the computer chair at my place is rather uncomfortable when you consider long reads).

I would absolutely love to get my hands on these if you made them.

I’d def buy one. Or at least trade a signed banana peel for one. But seriously, I pay cash.

I’d buy this sort of thing in a heartbeat. Here’s hoping you can skirt the legal implications though…

This Would be AWESOME!

The Great Morgil: Oops, forgot to reply to you – I’m actually not thinking that far ahead yet, I mostly just wanted to see if there was any interest in it. Which there seems to be – I was actually thinking the poll results would be the exact opposite of what they are. I’m gonna be too busy this month to do much planning but I’ll post more stuff on my Mato Tree site as things progress.

Considering I’ve been in love with Earthbound since it came out, I’d be allll over this. I followed your M2/EB comparison for years, too. It’s just fascinating stuff, and I’d definitely get the Mother and Mother 3 ones too if you were to release them. And I have to say it’d be awesome if there were bonuses included.

(I know you’re still working on your Final Fantasy II comparison, but I’d be interested in that as well!)

Hmmmm the extra content sells me on it… They are really long as-is and are a good read indeed and it is kinda rough reading it all on the computer screen. This might be a good idea.

that sounds really cool, and I love me some extra stuff!

i would totaly buy t if it came out

I just woke up and I haven’t even had my morning shower yet, so I’m sure I love this idea much more than I think I do right now. I love reading the LoL updates. Us Pokémon fans are still waiting for you to consult our vast knowledge to do Red and Blue (or Green, but, already we have an issue, there’s this whole weird thing going on with how they were released in both countries). Anyway, if I ever had any spare cash, I would buy one of these for sure, mostly depending upon which one has the coolest bonus content. I always like having a new video game-related poster in my room (the hardest part is finding space on the wall with the rest of ’em), so maybe a cool one of those would sell me on it. I’m cheap. ;p

I’m absolutely interested in this (I’m also still disappointed in myself that I haven’t ordered a Mother 3 handbook yet either).

I would definitely pick up some of these (especially the Mother series books) if you made them available for order. I really love reading your comparisons and localization interests me greatly, so they’re books I’d happily add to my shelf.

I’d buy every book you wrote, Tomato.

Kickstart this.

I’d buy it. I would like to see localization changes from the 8-bit era as well. As a suggestion maybe you could localization mistakes in their own section apart from changes to keep from any mistakes made on the reader’s part. As for legal issues… there is little to nothing you can do unless your willing to take the time to license the copyrights. Good luck and if this happens I swear I will buy this faster than a cheetah on a sugar high!

It’s quite possible

Like others, id eventually buy it! Its really a good idea, especially with all the fan translations and stuff! I think someone said Terranigma… I would like to see that one.

I’d love to see this!!

Honestly I would prefer a Fangamer type guide for EB Zero / Mother similiar to the one made for Mother 3.

VERY interested

Me approves.

Yup u got my money please do it

I’m begging you, take my money and do this! I spend hours reading your localization pages.

I’ve read your site a long time so I would like to help support you for all of the wonderful information and constant updates for a series that is no longer being made so please let me know when your book will be available for purchase down the road, I would be honored to be one of the first preorders for it.

@ Mato: Cool, I look forward to hearing more about this in the coming months.

AFAIK: books like these would definitely be safe from a legal standpoint due to the fact that they’re basically academic explorations of a given topic. If Nintendo had released their *own* book on the same subject it could be troublesome, but obviously that’s not a concern 🙂

Hey Mato, I don’t know if you’ve seen it already or not, but i was watching Game Grumps(JonTron and Egoraptor) playing Kirby Super Star, and that reminded me of that secret in Earthbound that has Kirby in it. Well, then i saw where they had absorbed something’s power, and kirby became YoYo Kirby.And, i think you know where i’m getting here, especially since the yoyo sort of moved the same way that Ness’s yoyo moves in Brawl, and thought this might’ve been where the design came from, but i don’t know if anyone’s discussed anything about this. http://images2.fanpop.com/image/photos/10600000/Yoyo-Transforming-Kirby-kirby-super-star-ultra-10683620-1024-768.jpg (He’s even got a hat)

^One thing I’ve noticed about that that no one seems to realise is that Kirby absorbs a robot in a baseball cap to get that ability.
Kinda like Robot Ness at the end of EB.

Okay, so the general feedback’s been much better than I expected, so I’ll start doing some early planning on this later this month/early next month. I guess the big question will be what game to do first, I’m guessing it’d be safest to start with one of the Mother games though.

Gonna try to get the ball moving again on the Final Fantasy IV comparison too, as soon as I can.

Yeah, I can see this being a Big Deal. Honestly surprised it hasn’t been done yet, it’s such a good idea. 😀 Go Mato go!♪

I’d love to see you do something with this. Though I do feel that it’d lose a bit of charm without the alt-text on every image.

I would definitely pay for a book like this. Even for games that I had never played (like Zelda and Final Fantasy II) I was still totally fascinated by the translation differences and localization process.

Kickstart it!

I know this thread is a little old but I just found it. Anyway, I would LOVE to have your comparisons in book form. Perfect for coffee tables, great for a quick read, ideal for reading along with the games. Take my money too!