Here at Source Gaming we have a team of translators and a plethora of translations we have brought to the west over many years. So we know a lot about the topic of translation preservation and localization and that’s why in this patreon-request roundtable, Mr. JBRPG asked us to share our experience and thoughts on the difficulty around localizing and gathering sources from non-English locales. Specifically, the challenge he wanted us to discuss is what it takes to translate sources from other languages to English and doing one’s best to preserve the originally intended context.
Not everyone is involved with the translations at Source Gaming so let’s start by hearing exclusively from the translation team!
When it comes to translating informational sources, one of the toughest parts can be finding where a source of information comes from first. Sometimes rumors of something a developer in Japan said can make its rounds online for years without any concrete source or with a shoddy translation to begin with, and that’s why I think it’s also important to document where the original Japanese source comes from in any translation. After finding a source and beginning a translation, researching information about the timeframe an article was published can be pretty crucial for the context.
For example, in one of my translations for Hard4Games about the Nintendo 64DD, I was confused about one part that had to do with the load times of disks versus CDs. Nintendo PR Chief Yoshio Hongo ranks disks above CDs in a hierarchy during the interview, but I never knew that about disks and CDs. The translation didn’t make sense to me until I understood that, but I also had to keep in mind that the reason the fact was mentioned at all was because the PlayStation, a console that runs games from CDs, was the bestseller at the time. Knowing about that timeframe, Hongo was clearly trying to sell the 64DD as better than the PlayStation, especially since his hierarchy specifically labels the CDs as from “that other company.”
Like Kody has already mentioned, it’s incredibly difficult to find original sources for older news articles. When creating Source Gaming, my original intent was to have the Japanese text within translation so users could check and improve the translation in the future. This was to help alleviate some of the issues that I faced in my own research. An off-hand remark that something was “found in Famitsu” is incredibly difficult to source. Usually in those cases, I would need to track down the physical copy of the magazine off auction sites and hope that whatever was referenced is actually in it.
When it came to duplicating and gathering the Japanese source with the translation, it’s something I pursued for a bit at the start of Source Gaming. However, it was also unethical and potentially dangerous for the website to copy word-to-word something that is an active publication, so we had to stop that. In order to help address the original issue, I made it a priority to always include the source of the information. For the Sakurai columns, that meant including the number of the column, and if additional information was procured from the serialization version, include that as well. This would help future researchers check our translation, and ensure that Source Gaming was acting responsible.
This is a bit off topic, but the Internet is constantly changing. I don’t mean to be an old man yelling at clouds, but when I was young there were dedicated forums for interests, and people generally collected around their passions. Web Rings were essential in order to even find new websites, which made Digg and eventually Reddit so important for discovery. Over the years, the Internet has contracted and has become centered around social media and huge communities. Almost like a contraction. With Elon Musk’s recent acquisition of Twitter, I fear that a lot of the information we’ve put on these social media platforms will be lost. As the Internet changes, the way we gather information and sources changes as well. As the Internet changes, the harder it will become to source information from earlier periods. Archivists like the geniuses behind Internet Archive are so important in preserving information like that.
Anyway, to get back to the original topic it’s extremely important to have context when translating. When I first started Source Gaming, I admit I was incredibly passionate about seeing what the true meaning of some of my favorite experiences. As I became more experienced, I realized there was a fluidity between translations and it takes incredible skill to bring something from a certain language to another. Just like any writer, or speaker, there are constant choices being made when creating something. There is always something gained and lost. This is why there are so many translations of MacBeth or the Bible. Translation is never 1 to 1. Looking into misinformation over the years, I have encountered some translations that were straight up wrong, or just lacked context.
One example that sticks out to me is the comment from Toshihiro Nagoshi for SEGA’s 60th anniversary. This is how the original comments were translated as during a live stream:
“I think even know the Nintendo platform is still a game console that is played by a wide range of age groups, but basically, I think it’s a hardware for kids and teens.”
However, as Gaijinhunter pointed out a more accurate version would be:
“Nintendo’s platform has, and continues to be, played by a wide range of age groups, but I think in general their hardware is strong when it comes to kids and teens.”
The second is less inflammatory, and more accurate to what Nagoshi meant.
I really like Push’s example from Toshihiro Nagoshi because we see this sort of thing happen all the time. When you’re translating information or what real people are saying that can have real world consequences, it’s important to make sure you correctly capture tone. Sometimes I’ll see a translation that isn’t necessarily wrong, but it makes a statement sound stronger than intended or something along those lines.That then gets exaggerated even further in a headline or something and causes problems. A translation will often be taken as gospel truth without the reader understanding how much leeway there can be going from Japanese to English.
On a similar topic, it’s important not to read between the lines when there isn’t anything there. Sometimes a statement is just vague. I remember when Pokemon Sword and Shield were coming out, a lot of sites were messaging me about an interview with Ohmori and trying to get me to confirm a quote that had been going around. It was a vague line that could maybe be read how it was being taken online, but it wasn’t something you could confirm from the text. You really feel the pressure when something you translate starts spreading on social media because we don’t want to misrepresent anyone.
It’s important to keep in mind the type of translation and the intended audience. For creative works it’s fine to take more liberties to make things have the same “feel” as the original, but for informative translations like Source Gaming does, we’re putting words in peoples’ mouths and declaring information that will be cited for years to come, so I prefer to err on the side of accuracy, even if the end result is more wordy than beautiful. More translator’s notes to explain context when necessary, less “Eat your hamburgers, Apollo”.
Similarly, keep in mind who the translator is. I’m proud that Source Gaming has maintained their integrity and reputation for providing quality information — we’re just a bunch of nerds doing it for the love. We don’t need to rush to be first on some scoop, and we have very little incentive to twist someone’s words into an attention-grabbing headline, unlike other media sites. And when Source Gaming does make a mistake, we correct it and let everyone know ASAP!
Outside of the translation team, a couple of others on the team also wanted to share their thoughts on this topic.
Although I am sharing my perspective, I am nowhere near as far in my studies or knowledge of the Japanese language and translation like my friends and teammates are. However, I am knowledgeable of the fact that translation and/or the people that translate it can really make the difference in the way something comes across, whether intended or not. Like Push and Bear stated in the translation of Nagoshi’s statement of Nintendo’s hardware, one reading in the way it was translated present an inflammatory or demeaning tone.
Not video game based, but I often see this when reading manga and the differences of fansub and the official subs that end up coming out often a lot later. Taking a recent example I came across in Chainsaw Man’s manga. In Chapter 17, Pages 12-13, Kobeni approaches Arai and Power as they’ve been stuck within the 8th Floor Loop for about several hours or more. In the MangaStream fan translation, Kobeni’s lines are:
“Got it… I figured it out… The reason we can’t leave the 8th floor is because of the devilman’s power! That’s definitely it!”
Whereas the official ViZ/Shueisha translation by Amadna Haley has Kobeni state:
“I get it now… I figured it out… It’s that fiend’s ability! That’s what’s trapping us to the eight floor!! That has to be it!!”
Both translations referring to the same situation, but while the first statement can cause confusion as if to whether Kobeni is talking about Power or the demon that Power killed; the second statement clarifies that she’s specifically referring to Power – who is a fiend. Additionally, the official translation provides better sentencing when showcasing emotion and in regard to the dramatic, high tension situation by presenting more build up in the breaking of sentences within Kobeni’s assertion. Just like with how we need to communicate things with one another, it’s not about what you say but how you say it.
As to the lack of preservation, it’s always very difficult to talk about it as if you’re not already in the know – how would you ever know that something wasn’t being preserved. And then once you’re in the know, was it already too late? Sometimes I find about different video game magazines and old Japanese fighting game strategy guides that not only showcase how to play the character, but also some of their concept art. It’s great to see that the original is preserved, but at what lengths did someone go to find this? Do we have every known copy of Gamest? What about Game Freak’s old magazines or the decals of Arcade Cabinets? Some of these may be able to be recreated as the game can speak for itself, once someone has translated it already. But what about the way in that the original publishers and developers wanted to present their own work, tha also needs to be retained. Although I’m not part of the translation team, I try to send them whatever comes my way as I think the preservation of the medium that we care about is not only important, but I trust that they’re the people who can do it honestly.
I think my friends above have really covered everything I could say about translations so let’s talk about preservation of sources. Sources are surprsingly fical and its easy for them to get passed around, misinterpreted and then the original is lost. When this happens it’s almost like history has been rewritten – the misinterpreted line is now the truth becuase we can no longer find out the truth. In some cases, you just need to take the translators word as authority, unless you can learn the language yourself and check, but to even do that you have to go back and check the original translation and a surprising amount of people don’t do that.
In History, and probably every other academic subject, they warn you not to use Wikipedia. While some might think this is because anyone can update Wikipedia, and this is certainly a factor of it, the main reason is because Wikipedia is a secondhand, and sometimes third or fourth, source. Like chinese whispers, its easy for someone to misunderstand the original work or source and put their own biases into the Wikipedia article, changing its meaning. YouTuber Shaun did a great video on this problem called “How Wikipedia Got EX Machina (2014) Wrong” that I would recommend checking out.
The other point I wanted to bring up is that sources can sometimes be found in the unlikliest of places. When I was living in Japan one of the things I lookedo ut for when shopping fot retro games was old magazines and books that might have undiscovered interviews in them. While articles from Famitsu and Nintendo Dream are fairly well documented, by both ourselves and other internet archivests, a source that’s just as valuable for information like this are video game guides. There were several game guides both old and new, that had bonus sections featuring interviews that in someway related to the games they were covering. As examples, there are two interviews I found that I’m not sure translations currently exist for them, at least I couldn’t find them back in 2017. The first is an interview with Takehito Koyasu, the voice of Dio Brando from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and, more relevantly, the voice of Navarre from Fire Emblem, in a game guide for New Mystery of the Emblem on DS. The second is an interview with cast of the 1993 Super Mario Bros. live-action movie that I found in a game guide for Super Mario All-Stars on the SNES. Maybe we’ll get that one translated in time for the new movie next year.
The point is, information is everywhere and you’d be surprised where you can find sources. So if you are passionate about this kind of stuff then just think next time you go to throw a magazine away, or find an old game manual or guide in your loft, or even chuck out a ripped packet of cards from a booster set – maybe there is something there that no one else has seen before?
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Sourcegaming is one of my favorite sites when it comes to translations and source preservations, so insight like these are always a pleasant read. 🙂