Fans campaign for Chinese localization of Pokémon games: Over 7000 fans from the Grea

[BulbaBot]

Fans campaign for Chinese localization of Pokémon games: Over 7000 fans from the Greater China ...

With this year's Pokémon World Championship, fans from the Greater China region are rallying for localization of Pokémon games into the Chinese language.

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[Solayoh]

Re: Fans campaign for Chinese localization of Pokémon games: Over 7000 fans from the

Problem with Chinese is, which Chinese do you use?
Mandarin which is spoken in a larger part of China.
Or Cantonese so that Hong Kongers (traditionally a friend of Japan) can understand it.
Or into Wu so the Shanghainese the biggest economic city can understand it?

Some might say all 3, but are Nintendo really willing to increase their workload by 50%?
And of course even then theres all the other chinese languages that havent been covered.

 

[The Outrage]

Re: Fans campaign for Chinese localization of Pokémon games: Over 7000 fans from the

Problem with Chinese is, which Chinese do you use?
Mandarin which is spoken in a larger part of China.
Or Cantonese so that Hong Kongers (traditionally a friend of Japan) can understand it.
Or into Wu so the Shanghainese the biggest economic city can understand it?

Some might say all 3, but are Nintendo really willing to increase their workload by 50%?
And of course even then theres all the other chinese languages that havent been covered.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't written Chinese (I'm going to guess the game will go for Simplified*) a common written language amongst all the dialects? Considering there's no voice acting, I don't see how mutually unintelligible dialects really matter when the written word should (theoretically) be understood by all.

And since this is a petition for the "Greater China region" (read: mainland), as specified by the article, I'd imagine if they had to split hairs on the dialect, they'd go for Mandarin.

*Alternatively, since Japan allowed for Kana and Kanji modes in their language setting, Game Freak could allow for both Simplified and Traditional, the latter of which is more popular outside of the mainland, making everyone happy.

China's also a much larger region that can potentially offer up more fans (given that there's no video game ban in mainland China anymore) than Western Europe, yet Game Freak's catered into translating four languages (since they use American grammar, I'm counting English as catering to the US) into that, but you don't think they'd translate it into Chinese because "which language do they use?" if there's a potentially large fanbase they can target? It's money that speaks and if they find the Chinese video game market profitable, they'll localize.

 

[Solayoh]

Re: Fans campaign for Chinese localization of Pokémon games: Over 7000 fans from the

Problem with Chinese is, which Chinese do you use?
Mandarin which is spoken in a larger part of China.
Or Cantonese so that Hong Kongers (traditionally a friend of Japan) can understand it.
Or into Wu so the Shanghainese the biggest economic city can understand it?

Some might say all 3, but are Nintendo really willing to increase their workload by 50%?
And of course even then theres all the other chinese languages that havent been covered.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't written Chinese (I'm going to guess the game will go for Simplified*) a common written language amongst all the dialects? Considering there's no voice acting, I don't see how mutually unintelligible dialects really matter when the written word should (theoretically) be understood by all.

And since this is a petition for the "Greater China region" (read: mainland), as specified by the article, I'd imagine if they had to split hairs on the dialect, they'd go for Mandarin.

*Alternatively, since Japan allowed for Kana and Kanji modes in their language setting, Game Freak could allow for both Simplified and Traditional, the latter of which is more popular outside of the mainland, making everyone happy.

China's also a much larger region that can potentially offer up more fans (given that there's no video game ban in mainland China anymore) than Western Europe, yet Game Freak's catered into translating four languages into that, but you don't think they'd translate it into Chinese because "which language do they use?" if there's a potentially large fanbase they can target? It's money that speaks and if they find the Chinese video game market profitable, they'll localize.

I don't get what you mean by the written language thing. I'm no expert on the Chinese languages either. They might use the same alphabet, but I cant see how someone who only Speaks Cantonese could understand written mandarin. Surely if you can read a language and know what it means you can also hear it and know what it means? As an english speaker, I can say the words I see in for example Croatian, as they use my alphabet, but I have no idea what they mean.

for the "Greater China region" (read: mainland)

Um no the Greater China region is precisely the opposite of that. The Greater China Region refers to (as well as the mainland) Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, all of which have their own languages.

As for translating into Western Europe I don't understand Game Freaks methology with say Italian, surely Portuguese or Russian would be much better options, as about 15 European and Asian countries have Russian as a recognised language, Portugal also has the important tie to Brazil, what does Italy have, a small part of Switzerland. Game Freak/Nintendo have never been ones to follow the option that makes most business sense.

 

[The Outrage]

Re: Fans campaign for Chinese localization of Pokémon games: Over 7000 fans from the

I don't get what you mean by the written language thing. I'm no expert on the Chinese languages either. They might use the same alphabet, but I cant see how someone who only Speaks Cantonese could understand written mandarin. Surely if you can read a language and know what it means you can also hear it and know what it means? As an english speaker, I can say the words I see in for example Croatian, as they use my alphabet, but I have no idea what they mean.

I'm referring to Written Vernacular Chinese:

"Since the early 1920s, this modern vernacular form has been the standard style of writing for speakers of all varieties of Chinese throughout mainland China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore as the written form of Modern Standard Chinese. This is commonly called Standard Written Chinese or Modern Written Chinese to avoid ambiguity with spoken vernaculars, with the written vernaculars of earlier eras, and with modern unofficial written vernaculars such as written Cantonese or written Hokkien."

The history of written Chinese (the language, not their alphabet) is far more different than that of written English, so I have no idea why you're comparing the two for your understanding. Yes, there are other written versions that are more clear for the other languages (i.e., written Cantonese) but as far as Game Freak is concerned they only have to translate to the official written language between all of them.

 

[SnorlaxMonster]

Re: Fans campaign for Chinese localization of Pokémon games: Over 7000 fans from the

I think if they were to cater to one specific part of Greater China, it would be Taiwan and Hong Kong. The games are already available there (unlike mainland China). And even then, since players are currently playing in English or Japanese, I'm sure slight differences between variations of Chinese would be something players would be happy to deal with.

 

[33Whimsicott33]

Re: Fans campaign for Chinese localization of Pokémon games: Over 7000 fans from the

To be honest, I would've expected there to be even more supporters rallying. China never got a real Pokemon game, but that didn't stop bootlegs, pirates, or ripoffs of every shape or form from leaking in. The only thing more proliferating than it is Doraemon.

EDIT: Nevermind, it's the total petition signing number. Speaking of which, I'll do it! I have friends overseas that I want to play with. Pokemon brings people together, doesn't it?

 

[Lysson]

Re: Fans campaign for Chinese localization of Pokémon games: Over 7000 fans from the

I'd say localize it to whatever language is spoken greater and has people that can actually buy the games. If it was localized more people would hear about it and buy it which means more business and more Pokemon fans.

 

[Almonds]

Re: Fans campaign for Chinese localization of Pokémon games: Over 7000 fans from the

More Pokemon fans -> More Pokemon games in the future

I don't see any downside to this.

 

[SammyW27]

Re: Fans campaign for Chinese localization of Pokémon games: Over 7000 fans from the

They don't have Pokémon in China?!

Wow. This is the first I've heard of it :shame:

Is this the work of those Commie rats?

 

[swam260]

Re: Fans campaign for Chinese localization of Pokémon games: Over 7000 fans from the

I'd like to append a bit more about this story.

The initiator of this petition Yichen Wu (@koutian1xiaotu on Twitter) is a resident in Washington D.C. He printed the petition in four langugages (Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and English), with a cover featuring some fan arts (https://twitter.com/koutian1xiaotu/status/500983299045883905). The petition was successfully handed to Junichi Masuda and Tsunekazu Ishihara during their autograph events today on the World Championships. Mr. Masuda said he had seen mentions about Chinese localization on Twitter and he will read the letter and visit the petition website later. Mr. Ishihara wrote a "thank you for loving Pokémon" message to Yichen Wu. This is a big step forward of this campaign.

 

[Leggo]

Re: Fans campaign for Chinese localization of Pokémon games: Over 7000 fans from the

I would love it if Pokemon games were to be localized in Chinese because that would give me even more reason to learn how to read more Chinese (I don't know how much Chinese I can read). Plus, if I don't understand something, I can always just go to my mom for help. xD

 

[Mokoniki]

Re: Fans campaign for Chinese localization of Pokémon games: Over 7000 fans from the

This sounds like a great idea. I'm sure Chinese fans would appreciate it.

 

[Mikuri]

Re: Fans campaign for Chinese localization of Pokémon games: Over 7000 fans from the

Dream on. Brazilian fans had made a petition prior to the release of X and Y and we got nothing despite the support of 18000+ fans. And now we have another petition, this time asking Nintendo to localize Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, with 21000+ supporters and I'm certain that we sadly will not be playing these games in Portuguese.

 

[Gabo2oo]

Re: Fans campaign for Chinese localization of Pokémon games: Over 7000 fans from the

Dream on. Brazilian fans had made a petition prior to the release of X and Y and we got nothing despite the support of 18000+ fans. And now we have another petition, this time asking Nintendo to localize Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, with 21000+ supporters and I'm certain that we sadly will not be playing these games in Portuguese.

I believe they should be asking for future games in general including Portuguese as one of their languages (perhaps using those two previous petitions as a pretty heavy reasoning), instead of aiming for specific games having it. I believe that would make it have a little more chance. Bonus points if people from Portugal join to sign as well (as long as that doesn't mean translating the games for Portugal Portuguese instead of a neutral Portuguese, since that's what's happening with Iberian Spanish translation that Latin American players can't even understand at some points).

 

[Amante do Mikuri]

Re: Fans campaign for Chinese localization of Pokémon games: Over 7000 fans from the

Dream on. Brazilian fans had made a petition prior to the release of X and Y and we got nothing despite the support of 18000+ fans. And now we have another petition, this time asking Nintendo to localize Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, with 21000+ supporters and I'm certain that we sadly will not be playing these games in Portuguese.

You're right!

 

[BlackButterfree]

Re: Fans campaign for Chinese localization of Pokémon games: Over 7000 fans from the

China has a billion people, yet the petition only has 7,000 people? I'd expect at least 500,000. Maybe more, depending on how popular Pokémon is over there...

With both Masuda and Ishihara being given the petition directly and responding favorably to it, there's a very distinct possibility of it happening in the future, but if Portuguese hasn't gotten it with two petitions that combined have 6x as many signatures, I don't have much faith.

As long as I get to keep my American English, I'm fine. The second they turn it into Australian or British, I'm gonna get mad. I don't understand half the things my Australian and British friends say...

 

[The Outrage]

Re: Fans campaign for Chinese localization of Pokémon games: Over 7000 fans from the

China has a billion people, yet the petition only has 7,000 people?

That's why I don't think this would work--given the population and the signatures, and the fact that the person who started this lives in the U.S. so its not even an initiative started by someone from the Greater China area makes it less convincing that it would be profitable.

How many of the people who signed are even in the regions in question?

As long as I get to keep my American English, I'm fine. The second they turn it into Australian or British, I'm gonna get mad. I don't understand half the things my Australian and British friends say...

It must be so difficult understanding what colour or neighbour means. I don't know, are you unable to understand British and Australian bmgf members when they write their posts?

 

[捷克羅姆]

Re: Fans campaign for Chinese localization of Pokémon games: Over 7000 fans from the

China has a billion people, yet the petition only has 7,000 people? I'd expect at least 500,000. Maybe more, depending on how popular Pokémon is over there...

Keep in mind that the petition was only up for around a week at the time of writing, the numbers have almost doubled for the past few days.

As long as I get to keep my American English, I'm fine. The second they turn it into Australian or British, I'm gonna get mad. I don't understand half the things my Australian and British friends say...

Considering the English localization is done in the US, I don't see why you have any worries on it switching to British spelling. Besides, American and British English are mutually intelligible, so I have no idea why you couldn't understand them...

How many of the people who signed are even in the regions in question?

Do note that the one who started the petition promoted it over a large forum in Mainland China and set up a microblog for it.

While this petition doesn't guarantee anything, it did garner some media coverage in Japan and USA.

 

[LeLittleLi]

Re: Fans campaign for Chinese localization of Pokémon games: Over 7000 fans from the

Problem with Chinese is, which Chinese do you use?
Mandarin which is spoken in a larger part of China.
Or Cantonese so that Hong Kongers (traditionally a friend of Japan) can understand it.
Or into Wu so the Shanghainese the biggest economic city can understand it?

Some might say all 3, but are Nintendo really willing to increase their workload by 50%?
And of course even then theres all the other chinese languages that havent been covered.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't written Chinese (I'm going to guess the game will go for Simplified*) a common written language amongst all the dialects? Considering there's no voice acting, I don't see how mutually unintelligible dialects really matter when the written word should (theoretically) be understood by all.

And since this is a petition for the "Greater China region" (read: mainland), as specified by the article, I'd imagine if they had to split hairs on the dialect, they'd go for Mandarin.

*Alternatively, since Japan allowed for Kana and Kanji modes in their language setting, Game Freak could allow for both Simplified and Traditional, the latter of which is more popular outside of the mainland, making everyone happy.

China's also a much larger region that can potentially offer up more fans (given that there's no video game ban in mainland China anymore) than Western Europe, yet Game Freak's catered into translating four languages into that, but you don't think they'd translate it into Chinese because "which language do they use?" if there's a potentially large fanbase they can target? It's money that speaks and if they find the Chinese video game market profitable, they'll localize.

I don't get what you mean by the written language thing. I'm no expert on the Chinese languages either. They might use the same alphabet, but I cant see how someone who only Speaks Cantonese could understand written mandarin. Surely if you can read a language and know what it means you can also hear it and know what it means? As an english speaker, I can say the words I see in for example Croatian, as they use my alphabet, but I have no idea what they mean.

Allow me to explain. Written Chinese does not use an alphabet but rather thousands of normally used logographic characters. Different "dialects" of Chinese may have different pronunciations, but the words are written with the same characters and though different dialects may have slightly different syntax, when writing in Standard Vernacular Chinese, everything is written the way it would be said in Mandarin. In this way, people who speak different dialects of Chinese that are otherwise mutally unintelligble
[QUOTE

for the "Greater China region" (read: mainland)

Um no the Greater China region is precisely the opposite of that. The Greater China Region refers to (as well as the mainland) Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, all of which have their own languages.

As for translating into Western Europe I don't understand Game Freaks methology with say Italian, surely Portuguese or Russian would be much better options, as about 15 European and Asian countries have Russian as a recognised language, Portugal also has the important tie to Brazil, what does Italy have, a small part of Switzerland. Game Freak/Nintendo have never been ones to follow the option that makes most business sense.[/QUOTE]

The spoken/written language issue is already not a problem as stated above but to clarify:
Yes most regions in China have their own dialects but Mandarin is the Lingua Franca for most regions except Hong Kong and Macau where English is also very common.