Adventure Forums

Adventure Forums (https://adventuregamers.com/archive/forums/)
-   Adventure (https://adventuregamers.com/archive/forums/adventure/)
-   -   Osawari Tantei -- Petition for translation! (https://adventuregamers.com/archive/forums/adventure/13432-osawari-tantei-petition-translation.html)

nikoniko 02-20-2006 09:45 PM

Osawari Tantei -- Petition for translation!
 
Okay, folks, I've just been in touch with the publisher of Osawari Tantei Ozawa Rina, a Japanese adventure game for the Nintendo DS that has charmed many of us with its lovely artwork and nice design. (If you don't know what all the excitement is about, check out the many screenshots through the link above. Be sure to check out the second page for more, including some unofficial translations.)

I requested information about the possibility of an English translation and international release of this game, and their reply was that they didn't think there'd be enough overseas interest. Hoping to convince them otherwise, I created an online petition to show them there are many of us who would love to buy this game if it were released in English.

Please, please sign this, not only because there are a lot of people who might enjoy this game, but to send a message to Japanese publishers that we want to see more of their games translated... especially adventure games!

Those of you who are active on other gaming boards, please consider inviting others to join you in signing this petition. I'm not going to advertise this on boards where I've never contributed before, as I don't want to be seen as a spammer, but if you're known somewhere and are willing to help out this humble but noble cause, please post a link back to this forum message. That will give those who are unfamiliar with the game a chance to check out screenshots and other game info before they read the petition itself.

A big thanks for reading this, and an even bigger thanks to those who sign the petition! After we get together a good number of signatures, I'll forward the petition to the publisher, together with a Japanese translation.

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/...8/osawar03.jpg

jjacob 02-20-2006 10:09 PM

Good idea! Hope this works, not that I own a DS. I might get one in the future, but more translated games can only be good. BTW what the hell is this all about:
Quote:

Originally Posted by petitionspot
Your such a Bitch Michael that
you wait all that time and
nobody signs your damn
petition so then you sign it
yourself. You dude, are a fag.

:crazy:

nikoniko 02-20-2006 10:15 PM

How bizarre... I just created the petition, so what's he going on about? And why wouldn't I sign my own petition, seeing as I'm the main petitioner? Oh well, that's the internet for you. I have the Power of Delete, though, so Mr. F.U. is gone for now.

jjacob 02-20-2006 10:17 PM

Indeed it is :P :crazy:

Starflux 02-21-2006 12:38 AM

I signed it! I'd like this game to be available here, so I'm all for it!

squarejawhero 02-21-2006 01:05 AM

Hardly ripping through the forum member list at the moment. What's wrong with you lot?

You should post this at GB and JA+ too.

Marek 02-21-2006 02:57 AM

I signed it but my signature doesn't appear.

Starflux 02-21-2006 03:03 AM

You need to confirm an email before it appears.

Karmillo 02-21-2006 03:39 AM

I just signed it, and ill be sure to pester anyone I can to sign it :D

jjacob 02-21-2006 03:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flux
You need to confirm an email before it appears.

That's odd, I didn't have to.

Jackal 02-21-2006 07:25 AM

I signed. Practically a done deal now! :D

RLacey 02-21-2006 07:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by squarejawhero
Hardly ripping through the forum member list at the moment. What's wrong with you lot?

I know it's quite novel, but it's going to take more than ten hours for everyone who visits these forums to see this topic ;).

Anyway, signing.

fov 02-21-2006 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by squarejawhero
Hardly ripping through the forum member list at the moment. What's wrong with you lot?

Um... it was posted in the middle of the night in North America? :P

I winced when I saw the title of this thread, but this is a petition that seems like it could actually work. I'm happy to sign. :)

Kolzig 02-21-2006 08:09 AM

It would great if this game would get a translation.
I'd be first in line to buy it. :)

nikoniko 02-21-2006 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marek
I signed it but my signature doesn't appear.

Marek, I switched to e-mail confirmation after the spamming which was mentioned above. After you click on the link in your e-mail, your name and comment will appear. Sorry about the inconvenience, but thank you for your support!

Quote:

Originally Posted by fov
I winced when I saw the title of this thread, but this is a petition that seems like it could actually work. I'm happy to sign.

I usually wince when I see the word "petition" myself, but since the publishers expressly named a perceived lack of interest from the international market, I figured it couldn't hurt to show them there are hundreds of us (I hope) who would like to play this game and others like it. If necessary, I'll even offer to translate it myself at little cost, because I'd love to see more Japanese games making it overseas, especially adventure games.

Quote:

Originally Posted by squarejawhero
You should post this at GB and JA+ too.

Yes, I should. I'll be doing that soon. EDIT: Posted at JA+.

Cheers,
Michael

nikoniko 02-21-2006 05:29 PM

Many thanks to those who have already signed the petition. We're up to about 20 signatures now, which isn't bad considering this has been up less than a day. That's about 0.1% of AG.com's 17000 daily visitors. If we can get up to 1% we'll be in pretty good territory. Though the petition says I'm waiting for 500 signatures, I think anything up in the 200-250 range is enough to make a point.

Haven't signed the petition yet? What are you waiting for? :P

fov 02-21-2006 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doroposo
That's about 0.1% of AG.com's 17000 daily visitors.

Where'd you get that number? (The 17000 daily visitors, I mean.) Just curious.

nikoniko 02-21-2006 07:00 PM

The advertising page. :D

fov 02-21-2006 07:32 PM

Lies, all lies. :D

I still wouldn't assume that 17,000 people have seen this thread... not yet, anyway. ;) As of right now it has 204 views, and some of us have viewed it more than once. So technically, you're going at better than 10% right now!

Junkface 02-21-2006 08:25 PM

Signed.

jjacob 02-21-2006 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doroposo
I usually wince when I see the word "petition" myself, but since the publishers expressly named a perceived lack of interest from the international market, I figured it couldn't hurt to show them there are hundreds of us (I hope) who would like to play this game and others like it. If necessary, I'll even offer to translate it myself at little cost, because I'd love to see more Japanese games making it overseas, especially adventure games.

I don't think it's the translation itself that they're worrying about, that's relatively cheap, it's the advertising, publishing and distribution that's costly :) Besides, I wouldn't offer to translate it yourself, leave that to professionals (not that your Japanese sucks ;)), since certain aspects like humourous remarks etc. are extremely hard to translate, yet translators do this on a daily basis.

Legolas813 02-21-2006 09:32 PM

I know people have good intentions, but I've rarely seen anything happen as a result of an online petition, even if it has signatures in the six digits.

nikoniko 02-21-2006 09:40 PM

Ah... there was supposed to be a :P after that to show I wasn't serious. Guess I forgot. :D

I'd much rather have a professional do it, too. In fact, I know just the professional to do it, if SUCCESS does decide to go to all the expense and bother that an international release would entail. My wife's cousin has been a professional translator for ten years, and she's been keen to get in with a Japanese games company but has gotten sort of stuck in her current job. In fact, she's the one who will be translating the petition to Japanese for me, though she's equally adept at translating from Japanese into English.

Starflux 02-22-2006 12:40 AM

It occurred to me that they should just put an English translation in their game by default. Remember, we can just import DS-games from anywhere and play them without having to put up with region-locking-bs. Of course, an actual release in the western world would be awesome :)

Karmillo 02-22-2006 06:49 AM

I wonder what the humour will be like in this, If it will be like Phoenix Wright and will need parts rewritten or if it can just be translated straight into english and still make sense to us

nikoniko 02-22-2006 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Legolas813
I know people have good intentions, but I've rarely seen anything happen as a result of an online petition, even if it has signatures in the six digits.

Oh, I agree, and I've said the same myself before, but then most petitions are also poorly thought out. They fail to address the key issues which prevented the desired result from happening in the first place, in this case a perceived lack of market potential. Many are also put forth by single-minded people who fail to see a broader picture, that if you can't win the current match then set yourself up for a stronger play in the next one. I don't know whether SUCCESS can be persuaded to translate this game, but I have absolutely no doubt that they'll take any strong interest we show into consideration for future titles. And if we get enough signatures, I'll reference the petition with some other publishers to let them know there's a market for English releases.

I'm also putting together some e-mails to send to publishers who have already put out English titles, to let them know we appreciate what they've done and would love to see more. Likewise, I'm looking into contacting some independent Japanese developers to see if we can get the seed of English translation planted early. Most are operated as part of their publishing companies, though, so it's looking like there's no way to influence them directly.

And since I'm in the US right now, I've enlisted the help of my good friend, Erik, who's the manager of a local GameStop. He's put up screenshots and a game description along with a paper petition, and when I talked to him at lunchtime he told me he'd already gotten 50 signatures since yesterday. Way to go, Erik!

Failing all this, I'll see how much money I can put together to hire the Yakuza to, uh... deliver a convincing message in person. :P (Just kidding)
me

Karmillo 02-22-2006 11:20 AM

Ill do it for a plane ticket

nikoniko 02-22-2006 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karmillo
I wonder what the humour will be like in this, If it will be like Phoenix Wright and will need parts rewritten or if it can just be translated straight into english and still make sense to us

It's hard to tell from the few screenshots they've released. But considering the translators of Phoenix Wright succeeded nicely in conveying the humor of the game, I'm sure it could be done here. Not everything needs to come across perfectly to work well.

Karmillo 02-22-2006 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doroposo
It's hard to tell from the few screenshots they've released. But considering the translators of Phoenix Wright succeeded nicely in conveying the humor of the game, I'm sure it could be done here. Not everything needs to come across perfectly to work well.

Yeah i loved phoenix wright, personaly I hope if theres much humour in this then they take the same route as they did with PW instead of a direct translation.

fov 02-22-2006 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doroposo
And since I'm in the US right now, I've enlisted the help of my good friend, Erik, who's the manager of a local GameStop. He's put up screenshots and a game description along with a paper petition, and when I talked to him at lunchtime he told me he'd already gotten 50 signatures since yesterday. Way to go, Erik!

That's pretty cool! :D

Where in the US are you right now?

nikoniko 02-22-2006 01:55 PM

In Maryland, about 20 minutes out from Washington, DC. I suppose I could try to get some politicians involved, too. :D

jjacob 02-23-2006 03:30 AM

You should enlist the aid of Jack Abrahmoff, I hear he's pretty good at 'convincing' people :D

RLacey 02-23-2006 03:37 AM

Hey, this isn't a murder simulator... why not try Jack Thompson?

Karmillo 02-23-2006 03:14 PM

So when are those signitures going to be sent to the petition?

jjacob 02-23-2006 04:06 PM

You have to confirm your signing by clicking on the link in the e-mail you got :)

Karmillo 02-23-2006 04:11 PM

Ive done mine, i meant the 50 from gamestop

nikoniko 02-23-2006 04:15 PM

The GameStop effort is going very well, especially now that thanks to Erik, I have a petition going in another of their stores. Erik's petition is already over a hundred signatures, and I'll check in with the other store on Sunday or Monday after I finish up with some family matters. At this rate I'm pretty excited, because considering how busy GameStop gets on the weekend, I can dream of this going over 500 signatures. (Online, we're not doing as well, so anyone out there who hasn't signed yet be sure to click the link in my sig right away. :D)

I'm thinking that since I have to pass through Tokyo anyway when I go back to Japan, I might put in an appearance at the SUCCESS Corp offices to deliver our petition in person. I'll walk through the door wearing my best suit and flashing my most ambassadorial smile, and will stubbornly refuse to leave until the company president agrees to our demands... or until someone threatens to call the police.

Karmillo 02-23-2006 04:39 PM

Dont bother walking in through reception and stuff like that, get a helicopter to fly you to the offic, swing through the window, slam the petition down with very detailed cover letter then jump back out the window parachuting to safety!

They will be so shock/stunned/amazed that they will sign a us publishing deal right away!

Melanie68 02-23-2006 05:04 PM

Karmillo - you should make a game. :P

Karmillo 02-23-2006 05:05 PM

One day Mel, one day :D


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 12:47 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Design & Logo Copyright ©1998 - 2017, Adventure Gamers®.
All posts by users and Adventure Gamers staff members are property of their original author and don't necessarily represent the opinion or editorial stance of Adventure Gamers.