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DarkZero

372th Post

Silver Customer

"Sega of America Hates Japanese Names" , posted Tue 14 Oct 03:58

1up.com, Ziff Davis's new online gaming news venture featuring the dude from Video Fenky, is reporting that Sega has renamed Dororo "Blood Will Tell" in North America in much the same way that Kunoichi was renamed "Nightshade". And once again the change ends up being very odd, because if the name Dororo is judged to be too difficult for American gamers, then what do they assume those stupid Americans will think when they load up the game and realize that they're playing as "Hyakkimaru", a samurai with a sidekick named "Dororo"?

These name changes also make me wonder about what's in store for Sega of America's future. A year ago they were releasing the ultra hard Shinobi in the United States with a Japanese language option and no name changes, all while outlining a bold strategy for releasing Sakura Taisen 5 and Sakura Taisen 5 Action in the US. Now they're taking the two Japanese-themed games that they're already translating (read: pouring money into) and beginning to make changes to them. Will we still see a Japanese language option in either of these games? Are they going to make changes within the games? Will we still see Sakura Taisen in the US? And just W(hy)TF are they doing all this when Onimusha, Shinobi, and Otogi certainly haven't needed it? They're making me a little worried, here...

Replies:

Burning Ranger

503th Post

New Red Carpet Member

"Re(1):Sega of America Hates Japanese Names" , posted Tue 14 Oct 04:48

Speaking of which, does anyone know if the US version of Rent-a-Hero No. 1 will be drastically Americanized?

Advanced Cyborg E. Branger AKA Burning Ranger

"Never underestimate the predictabilty of stupidity." -Vinnie Jones from SNATCH

Rid Hershel

5530th Post

Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master

"Re(2):Sega of America Hates Japanese Names" , posted Tue 14 Oct 04:51

But they still haven't started to change contents and cut all the story sequences, like Namco of America.

Sakura Taisen in the US? Nah, I never believed they would launch it here, I still don't. Besides, it's not a game for the US market at all.

match of the millennium!

DarkZero

373th Post

Silver Customer

"Re(2):Sega of America Hates Japanese Names" , posted Tue 14 Oct 04:59

quote:
Speaking of which, does anyone know if the US version of Rent-a-Hero No. 1 will be drastically Americanized?

The print ads for the Xbox port of Rent-A-Hero No. 1 all had that name on them when they ran a few months ago in EGM. Changing the name now would be extremely counterproductive, so I doubt it will be changed.

iggy

1865th Post

Silver Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive

"Re(3):Sega of America Hates Japanese Names" , posted Tue 14 Oct 05:49

quote:
Speaking of which, does anyone know if the US version of Rent-a-Hero No. 1 will be drastically Americanized?

...EH!!?????!!!
They're doing Renta on X Box? redone, or port of the DC version? oh my god oh my god Sega I hate you hate hate hate hate.
Hmmm, speaking of americanizations, I discovered on Game FAQs what happenned to Shikigamino Shiro there, and it's... well... I still can't really believe it didn't happenned in some twisted alternate reality.

DarkZero

374th Post

Silver Customer

"Re(4):Sega of America Hates Japanese Names" , posted Tue 14 Oct 06:02

quote:
Speaking of which, does anyone know if the US version of Rent-a-Hero No. 1 will be drastically Americanized?
...EH!!?????!!!
They're doing Renta on X Box? redone, or port of the DC version? oh my god oh my god Sega I hate you hate hate hate hate.

A port of the DC version, which means that, much like the Sonic Adventure ports, the entire thing is pure shovelware. Same game and same problems with the game that everyone originally complained about, but now with the added bonus of everyone bitching about the graphics because they're three to four years behind the curve on a system that can do way better. I believe that the game may be a budget title though, unlike Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, which was a FULL PRICE piece of shovelware that practically squealed "rent, don't buy!" whenever I passed it in the store.

cafeh2
4th Post

New Customer

"Re(1):Sega of America Hates Japanese Names" , posted Tue 14 Oct 09:29

As far as JP names go... sure I hate the changes but when you think about appealing to the mass market it's the only logical way to go. You show somebody a game called "kunoichi" and they'll go "Kuhn oye chee? Is that a food??" And "Dororo" sounds like a mexican pinata... tho renaming it to "Blood can tell" or whatever is a pretty stupid rip off of DMC.

Grave

728th Post

Red Carpet Regular Member+

"Re(1):Sega of America Hates Japanese Names" , posted Tue 14 Oct 10:24

It's just an issue of what appeals more to the market, I think. The logo reads "Blood Will Tell" and as a subtitle, "Tezuka Osamu's Dororo", so it's not like they're pretending the title never existed. I just think it's common sense that a game called Blood Will Tell would drum up more US interest than a game called Dororo.

Mosquiton

954th Post

Red Carpet Regular Member++

"It's about marketing" , posted Tue 14 Oct 10:30

quote:
1up.com, Ziff Davis's new online gaming news venture featuring the dude from Video Fenky, is reporting that Sega has renamed Dororo "Blood Will Tell" in North America in much the same way that Kunoichi was renamed "Nightshade". And once again the change ends up being very odd, because if the name Dororo is judged to be too difficult for American gamers, then what do they assume those stupid Americans will think when they load up the game and realize that they're playing as "Hyakkimaru", a samurai with a sidekick named "Dororo"?

These name changes also make me wonder about what's in store for Sega of America's future. A year ago they were releasing the ultra hard Shinobi in the United States with a Japanese language option and no name changes, all while outlining a bold strategy for releasing Sakura Taisen 5 and Sakura Taisen 5 Action in the US. Now they're taking the two Japanese-themed games that they're already translating (read: pouring money into) and beginning to make changes to them. Will we still see a Japanese language option in either of these games? Are they going to make changes within the games? Will we still see Sakura Taisen in the US? And just W(hy)TF are they doing all this when Onimusha, Shinobi, and Otogi certainly haven't needed it? They're making me a little worried, here...

Come on, Dororo is a tongue twister. Let's go pal, 10 times fast!

Heh. Anyway, if it helps them sell even a few more copies I'm all for it. It's not like they're changing the thief character's name to "Danny" and the samurai to "Mort". At least, not to my knowledge.

Let's be honest here. The number of people outside Japan who can correctly pronounce, and actually know the meaning of the word 'kunoichi' is extremely limited. The same goes for being able so say Dororo (much less 10 times fast), and being familiar with Tesuka's work.

Sega has not exactly been as profitable as they could be recently, so do them a favor and buy the game anyway.

/ / /

Grave

729th Post

Red Carpet Regular Member+

"Re(1):It's about marketing" , posted Tue 14 Oct 10:53

quote:
Heh. Anyway, if it helps them sell even a few more copies I'm all for it. It's not like they're changing the thief character's name to "Danny" and the samurai to "Mort". At least, not to my knowledge.

Actually, for me, that might be an incentive to purchase it! Mort the samurai... I should have thought of that when I was playing Way of the Samurai. Except I was usually Bob, Steve, or Chuck the samurai.

Mosquiton

955th Post

Red Carpet Regular Member++

""Tezuka Osamu's Dororo"" , posted Tue 14 Oct 16:09

Is the subtitle for the game, you can actually see the logo at Gamefront.

Sega obviously still has love for J-names... more than I thought, even.

/ / /

DarkZero

375th Post

Silver Customer

"Re(2):Sega of America Hates Japanese Names" , posted Tue 14 Oct 16:43

quote:
As far as JP names go... sure I hate the changes but when you think about appealing to the mass market it's the only logical way to go. You show somebody a game called "kunoichi" and they'll go "Kuhn oye chee? Is that a food??" And "Dororo" sounds like a mexican pinata... tho renaming it to "Blood can tell" or whatever is a pretty stupid rip off of DMC.

This goes back to what I've said all along though, which I still haven't heard an answer for. If they think that Americans are going to be bothered by the name "Dororo", why won't the names "Hyakkimaru" and "Dororo" bother them once they start playing the game? The same goes with "Nightshade". If the game isn't going to be changed to Jennifer the Ninja's battle against Tiffany the Evil Ninja and Frank of the Dead, then why bother changing the name? It's still going to have tons of those difficult-to-pronounce Japanese names in it.

pointystick

1180th Post

Red Carpet Premium Member+

"Re(3):Sega of America Hates Japanese Names" , posted Tue 14 Oct 18:10

Localization is tricky business, and I am sure that inside any given developer, there are political battles every day about how it should be done, and the result is that the game isn't internally consistant. It doesn't effect me directly since I get all originals these days, but it does annoy me when it turns a friend off of an excellent game for no good reason.

Kaepora
244th Post

Frequent Customer

"Re(3):Sega of America Hates Japanese Names" , posted Tue 14 Oct 18:27

quote:
If they think that Americans are going to be bothered by the name "Dororo", why won't the names "Hyakkimaru" and "Dororo" bother them once they start playing the game?

Because once they've spent their money by purchasing or renting the game, most people will wade through it for a while to try and feel like they're getting their money's worth. The trick is to get you to take it up to the register, and apparently the cheezy "Blood Will Tell" is more likely to do that than the foreign "Dororo".

Ammadeau

506th Post

New Red Carpet Member

"Re(4):Sega of America Hates Japanese Names" , posted Tue 14 Oct 20:51

'Blood Will Tell' is a name no one is going to remember, it's too generic. I think that'll hurt sales more than a name people can't pronounce but will stick in their minds. Nightshade is a little better in this respect, but I still think it's lame.

PS - The US port of Rent-a-Hero 1 is on indefinite hold, caused by Sega of Japan for some strange reason. It might never get released.

Avatar courtesy of Rid Hershel

Grave

731th Post

Red Carpet Regular Member+

"Re(5):Sega of America Hates Japanese Names" , posted Tue 14 Oct 21:19

quote:
'Blood Will Tell' is a name no one is going to remember, it's too generic. I think that'll hurt sales more than a name people can't pronounce but will stick in their minds.

We were both posting on this same thread at TNL, but I'll repeat myself here anyway, heheh. I feel that in the US market, a game with a name like "Dororo" is hardly going to get taken seriously. I'm shocked that it's still in the subtitle, even. You know how fickle and at times downright stupid the US gaming market can be. This is a smart decision in their part. No matter what they're calling it, though, we're still getting the game. Isn't that what matters?

Ammadeau

508th Post

New Red Carpet Member

"Re(6):Sega of America Hates Japanese Names" , posted Tue 14 Oct 22:25

quote:
We were both posting on this same thread at TNL, but I'll repeat myself here anyway, heheh. I feel that in the US market, a game with a name like "Dororo" is hardly going to get taken seriously. I'm shocked that it's still in the subtitle, even. You know how fickle and at times downright stupid the US gaming market can be. This is a smart decision in their part. No matter what they're calling it, though, we're still getting the game. Isn't that what matters?

'A sequel to that Blood FPS game? Man, that sucks! Damn Sega, why don't they come out with a sequel to Halo already?'

I don't disagree with changing the name. I just think they changed it to something that's going to result in even less sales, especially among the moronic casual gamers out there.

Nightshade is at least a decent name. Blood Will Tell will be forgotten less than a month after release.

Avatar courtesy of Rid Hershel

Grave

733th Post

Red Carpet Regular Member+

"Re(7):Sega of America Hates Japanese Names" , posted Tue 14 Oct 22:30

quote:

'A sequel to that Blood FPS game? Man, that sucks! Damn Sega, why don't they come out with a sequel to Halo already?'

Hah, it's funny that you mention that... I remember when ads for Blood 2 began appearing in PC magazines. I loved the first Blood, so of course the idea of a sequel would have excited me... except I didn't know about it. The game's full title was Blood 2: The Chosen, and I had heard nothing of it before I saw my first ad... but when I first read the logo, I saw "The Blood Chosen 2"... which of course made me wonder what happened to the first. Then I thought about it, read some more, and... oh, right! Blood 2!

Yes. Slow. I'm very slow.

Anyway, yeah, it is a forgettable name... but if the game's not forgettable, I think people will learn to remember, heh heh.

Ishmael

968th Post

Red Carpet Regular Member++

"Re(8):Sega of America Hates Japanese Names" , posted Wed 15 Oct 09:32

Blood Will Tell... Dororo... Personally I think they should have named the game "Bazooka Leg." It seems silly to change the names of their games but if Sega doesn't start changing the game itself and is actually willing to localize a game that sounds as odd as Dororo then it's not all that bad.

Undead Fred

973th Post

Red Carpet Regular Member++

"Re(7):Sega of America Hates Japanese Names" , posted Wed 15 Oct 10:18

quote:

Nightshade is at least a decent name. Blood Will Tell will be forgotten less than a month after release.

Eh, I disagree about the Nightshade thing. The way I see it, if the name wasn't changed, people will see the box on the shelf and see "Kunoichi" and go, "Hmm... wonder what that is..." and see a female ninja and say, "Ooh! Ninja stuff!" and take a look at it. Personally, I know what "kunoichi" is, so I'd be like "Ooh! Female ninja stuff!" and take a look. Heh heh.

"Kunoichi" doesn't sound goofy, but I could see people passing up on Dororo... it sounds like "Fat Guy Adventures" or something. I think it's a fair compromise to have the lame English title with the original title as a sub-title. I just don't like the Nightshade change. It sounds cheesy. I mean, they left Shinobi alone... why not Kunoichi? I just think their sales wouldn't go down if they left the title the way it was. As far as correctly pronouncing the title, all they'd have to do is put out a commercial with someone saying the title once or twice, and that should do it. Ugh. Just not "Nightshade." Bleh.

THAT'S DANNY. His hometown is New Orleans.

Grave

734th Post

Red Carpet Regular Member+

"Re(8):Sega of America Hates Japanese Names" , posted Wed 15 Oct 13:27

quote:
it sounds like "Fat Guy Adventures" or something.

Fat Guy Adventures starring Mort the samurai and Danny the thief. WE COULD GET PAID TO DO THIS STUFF!

Juan

3509th Post

Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master

"Re(9):Sega of America Hates Japanese Names" , posted Wed 15 Oct 13:33

I am digging the "Bazooka Leg: Legend of Dodoro" title!

quote:
it sounds like "Fat Guy Adventures" or something.

Fat Guy Adventures starring Mort the samurai and Danny the thief. WE COULD GET PAID TO DO THIS STUFF!

I am Viewtiful

you scumbag!

Hungrywolf

2436th Post

Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master

"Re(8):Sega of America Hates Japanese Names" , posted Wed 15 Oct 15:15

quote:

Nightshade is at least a decent name. Blood Will Tell will be forgotten less than a month after release.
Eh, I disagree about the Nightshade thing. The way I see it, if the name wasn't changed, people will see the box on the shelf and see "Kunoichi" and go, "Hmm... wonder what that is..." and see a female ninja and say, "Ooh! Ninja stuff!" and take a look at it. Personally, I know what "kunoichi" is, so I'd be like "Ooh! Female ninja stuff!" and take a look. Heh heh.

"Kunoichi" doesn't sound goofy, but I could see people passing up on Dororo... it sounds like "Fat Guy Adventures" or something. I think it's a fair compromise to have the lame English title with the original title as a sub-title. I just don't like the Nightshade change. It sounds cheesy. I mean, they left Shinobi alone... why not Kunoichi? I just think their sales wouldn't go down if they left the title the way it was. As far as correctly pronouncing the title, all they'd have to do is put out a commercial with someone saying the title once or twice, and that should do it. Ugh. Just not "Nightshade." Bleh.

I dislike the whole "Nightshade" thing too. I like Kunoichi...

"no again my apoligizes for anyone i offend!!!!!"
Hungry Like the Wolf

Gen

2062th Post

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"Re(1):Sega of America Hates Japanese Names" , posted Wed 15 Oct 17:40:

they change the names because they think they will sell more units with a name that is easier for the masses, rather than because of hate.

Kid: "Mommy I want Dororo"

Mommy: What game did he want? Doh blah blah? Hm well here's Mario he'll like that.

Dororo isn't an English word. In an English culture it sounds like a string of sounds. I'm sure there are English words which to Japanese who aren't into English already would sound like "blah blah" to them too.

We are different, we read about Japanese games before they come to English market, we care what the original character names are. If we hear "Dororo" we might recognize it as being Japanese, etc. Some of us already speak Japanese or have learned it. The kid's mommy is not like that. Most consumers don't speak Japanese, don't look into foreign game markets, don't know or care that much about a previous form of the game. So it's not hate by the domestic company bringing it over, and it's not as simple as saying Americanization=stupidity. It's adaption to English market = increase chance of selling units to English market. If they were selling the game only to people like us they wouldn't change the names so much.

As for changing stuff on the cover but not change names in the game, I guess all they are trying to do is give the Kid's Mommy a name that sounds like a name which she is more likely to remember until she makes the purchace. After that they've made their money already.

Over the years name changes seem to have decreased in general.

However I'd prefer they didn't change the Dororo name my self. I usually prefer good English translations for Japanese games I'm into; ones that still contain the original stories and meaning of dialogue. If they change something I think there should be a good reason.

[this message was edited by Gen on Wed 15 Oct 18:15]