![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Today's discussion is about Katamari Damacy. (Yes, I'm obsessed. This, too, shall pass. :P)
My question I pose to you is: When/if the game is released in North America on the Playstation 2, should the name be translated, or left in its original form? In a similar vein, should the songs be translated to appeal to a larger audience? There's no voices to translate, so that will remain out of this discussion.
On the non-translated hand, there is already an English title for it (even the offical Japanese website, linked above, spells "Damashii" as "Damacy"). The songs are incredibly infectious and have a large range of styles, which all relate back to the theme of stars and Clumps. Of course, by retaining the original Japanese name, some people will totally gloss over it as they wouldn't even consider what it might be. Those who have read reviews and are "in the know" obviously would understand what it is.
On the translated side, we have "Soul of a Clump". That's not a particularily eye-catching name, really, but it definitely gets the point across that it's one of those wacky games. Translating the songs, however, might be a little more difficult. Any anime fan can tell you that dub-translated songs are mostly horrid. I'm not certain how much weight Namco has in North America, but Namco Japan managed to get a number of popular voices to sing the songs on the Katamari soundtrack. I doubt they could do the same here, but even just dubbing the songs (or replacing them altogether) might wreck the fun and sillyness, or might add to the sillyness (as we could understand the songs).
Perhaps a compromise can be made. I think the name Katamari Damacy should be retained, as everyone who knows of this game (from E3, and from import reviews) knows it by this name - heck, I would love it if they kept the original kanji graphic (which translates as "Katamari Damacy", and is quite eye-catching). But if Namco goes the way of translating the songs, I hope that they provide the option of switching between the English and Japanese versions of the songs. (I don't think they used the full 4.7gigs on that disc :P)
Also, an interesting point to note is that while sales for Katamari Damacy were not stellar initially (which usually denotes it was a flop), it has sold over 100,000 units in Japan since. That, in itself, is a success. :)
Piro put a rant up about Samurai 7. It's a Gonzo production... check. He's interested in the cute girl... check. The cute girl happens to be voiced by Fumiko Orikasa... *OMGWTFBBQ CHECK!* I need to see this now... :D
My question I pose to you is: When/if the game is released in North America on the Playstation 2, should the name be translated, or left in its original form? In a similar vein, should the songs be translated to appeal to a larger audience? There's no voices to translate, so that will remain out of this discussion.
On the non-translated hand, there is already an English title for it (even the offical Japanese website, linked above, spells "Damashii" as "Damacy"). The songs are incredibly infectious and have a large range of styles, which all relate back to the theme of stars and Clumps. Of course, by retaining the original Japanese name, some people will totally gloss over it as they wouldn't even consider what it might be. Those who have read reviews and are "in the know" obviously would understand what it is.
On the translated side, we have "Soul of a Clump". That's not a particularily eye-catching name, really, but it definitely gets the point across that it's one of those wacky games. Translating the songs, however, might be a little more difficult. Any anime fan can tell you that dub-translated songs are mostly horrid. I'm not certain how much weight Namco has in North America, but Namco Japan managed to get a number of popular voices to sing the songs on the Katamari soundtrack. I doubt they could do the same here, but even just dubbing the songs (or replacing them altogether) might wreck the fun and sillyness, or might add to the sillyness (as we could understand the songs).
Perhaps a compromise can be made. I think the name Katamari Damacy should be retained, as everyone who knows of this game (from E3, and from import reviews) knows it by this name - heck, I would love it if they kept the original kanji graphic (which translates as "Katamari Damacy", and is quite eye-catching). But if Namco goes the way of translating the songs, I hope that they provide the option of switching between the English and Japanese versions of the songs. (I don't think they used the full 4.7gigs on that disc :P)
Also, an interesting point to note is that while sales for Katamari Damacy were not stellar initially (which usually denotes it was a flop), it has sold over 100,000 units in Japan since. That, in itself, is a success. :)
Piro put a rant up about Samurai 7. It's a Gonzo production... check. He's interested in the cute girl... check. The cute girl happens to be voiced by Fumiko Orikasa... *OMGWTFBBQ CHECK!* I need to see this now... :D