'Castlevania' series title dropped in Japan

[NeoSneth]

umm

wtf is wrong with castlevania...
sounds fine to me.

Akum...whatever is pretty pointless .

 

[Magnaflux]

Time to sweep Shito under the toolshed.

He can bunk with wizkid.

 

[Kirk Foiden]

Who cares what it's called, so long as the game doesn't suck?

They could make SotN 2 and call it 'Mary-Kate and Ashley's Magic Carpet Ride' and I'd still buy it the day it comes out.

Actually, I'd buy an Olsen twins game too.

I personally would avoid any Olsen twins game not simply because I question the quality of any game with them in it, but because a now-defunct company actually decided NOT to release a KOF game and instead released an Olsen twins game, in its place. *Acclaim* Serves them right. (Well, at least KOF EX2 did get released by somebody else).

 

[ki_atsushi]

Why are we fighting over fucking Castlevania names? This is becoming outrageous. Castlevania has a cool ring to it, the title alone tells me that it's a dracula themed game without actually using the word Dracula. Pretty cool. It's like Transylvania and castle rolled into one word. It just sounds better than Akumajou Dracula.

 

[SouthtownKid]

Why are we fighting over fucking Castlevania names? This is becoming outrageous. Castlevania has a cool ring to it, the title alone tells me that it's a dracula themed game without actually using the word Dracula. Pretty cool. It's like Transylvania and castle rolled into one word. It just sounds better than Akumajou Dracula.

You ask why, and then you do it. Silence!

 

[gamejunkie]

I like bumping threads!

BUMP!

BUMP! BUMP!

 

[SML]

This Castle is so fucking big, it's an entire political entity. I like the Castlevania title.

 

[Kiel]

Looks to me like the upcomming PS2 game is still called Castlevania as it says so on the game poster.

 

[Formation Z]

[1’’’] – 31/10/91 - Nintendo SuperFamicom - Akumajou Dracula (remake of [1])

Wrong. Not a remake of part 1. It's Super Castlevania IV. It is true that the Japanese version of it has the same name.

 

[Neo Bomber Man]

Now that's one good point.

basically, if any work has a title of it's own, that's supposed to be translated or sliglty adapted only if needed. Re-inventig a title is another story. There's NO reason to change 'Samurai Spirits' in 'Samurai Showdown'. Also, there's NO reasoun to re-invent 'Gaou Densetsu' which is 'The Hungry Wolves Legend' into 'Fatal Fury'. Possibly, the idea of an 'hungry wolf' is in Japanese what the idea of a 'lone wolf' is in English. That's fair enough. Calling 'Garou Densetsu' as 'Lone Wolves Legend' would have been acceptable. Fatal Fury is just stupid. Same with uber stupid 'Art of Fighting' (The Dragon-Tiger Fist, or The Fist of the Dragon & Tiger'), and all those bastardised western titles. Castlevania is no exception. All subtitles are no exception.

Gekka no Yasoukyoku = Nocturne of the Moonlight, WHY "Simphony of the Night"?
Shikkokutaru Zensoukyoku = Dark Night Prelude, WHY "Legends"?
Byakuya no Kyousoukyoku = Concerto of the White Night , WHY "Harmony of Dissonance"?
Akatsuki no Enbukyoku = Minuet of the Red Moon, WHY "Aria of Sorrow"?
Sougetsu no Juujika = Cross of the Blue Moon, WHY "Dawn of Sorrow"?

C'mon, it's just plain stupid.

Shall we start talk about Zelda titles?

LoL

I tried getting this point across to one of your countrymen, Hakkun, a couple years ago. The point is that unless you are a native English speaker you will never, ever understand how gay or cumbersome or unflowing a lot of more literal translations sound when introduced into English. It doesn't matter what anyone (in question) thinks really because there's a certain feel for the language one must possess to understand why such changes can be necessary. Sure some titles are needlessly altered but you must understand that there are a lot of instances where it truly is the right thing to do. Selling video games means marketing, and in marketing it's good to have something catchy, something that jives with its primary, target audience, which is in this case the English-speaking world.

Let's take Samurai Spirits for example. That really doesn't mean anything in English. It simply doesn't. Take Samurai Shodown. If you take a moment to parse the title, to dream about it's meaning, this showdown of samurai, where the most skilled and cocky fighters meet in battles of magnitude untold, wearing hardened faces of victory and ready to make you taste death, blah blah, you can write all sorts of poetic crap about it with a good night's sleep behind you (unlike that hoopla I wrote) but you see, from a simple word change classified as "stupid" and "pointless" by you suddenly the maker can penetrate the mind of the gamer and get them thinking a lot more about the game, because they've got a more flowing title that will stick better in the gamer's head and which ultimately should translate into more cash for the parent company, which is what they want. And which as a gamer, is essentially what you want.

One can easily find examples of mangled English ideas/titles in other languages so there is no battle to uncoolify Japanese names, but again, the changes can be necessary sometimes for reasons us native speakers will never appreciate, so it's really not worth making a big stink over whichever side of the fence you're on.

Fuck I am tired.

 

[ki_atsushi]

You ask why, and then you do it. Silence!

Of course I did, to shut everyone up once and for all.

 

[LWK]

http://turnjap.ytmnd.com/

 

[Mike Shagohod]

Who cares what the name of the game is?

If it's good, it's good no matter what the name on the box/title screen says.

So you're telling me you'd have played and raved over a game series called something as lame as...

Whipping Man ???

Come on dude. A good name attatched to a video game is a BIG part of why it's successful. I personally always hated the name "Castlevania" and wondered why they just didn't call the series VAMPIRE KILLER. I mean it's what all the Belmonts do anyhow. That's a title that's to the point and it still retains some grit to it. In an alternate reality (like Japan is so fond of) we're playing the games Whipping Man and Super Jumpman Sunshine (Jumpman being what Mario was going to be called originally at the time before Donkey Kong got it's title). I mean can you imagine playing our old beloved classic Super Mario. Bros. as Super Jumpman Bros.

There's a lot to a name.

GK

 

[genjiglove]

Of course I did, to shut everyone up once and for all.

You are the sweeping voice of reason the internet needed.

 

[RBjakeSpecial]

NeoBomberman- 100 percent agreed. Although sometimes I disagree with the new names games are given, it serves a purpose.


I prefer 2 titles for a game. I love finding out the Japanese title of a game and being shocked by it. Like Dynamite Dekka or Burning Knucle. It's just cool.

I love the title "Power Instinct". I wish I had a band called that. Such a coool title.

edit-I love the title Fatal Fury much better than Garou Densetsu. The game has an imitation 80s American kung fu setting. Fatal Fury just sounds like a band kung fu movie. Perfect name for the English speaking market.

Almost wish they changed "Real Bout". Something like "Lighting Fast Fatal Fury". That would be a beautiful title.

 

[Darklighterx]

Demon Castle Dracula? pfft
Castlevania is much better!

 

[Magnaflux]

Castlevania is one of the coolest names for a game ever. Just hearing the name allready tells me that there are vampires involved.

Castle + Transylvania = Castlevania

Not to mention all the vampire movies I've watched and the romantic settings of Transylvania in said movies.

If it were released in whatever jibberish Japanese, I probably would not have played it.

 

[SouthtownKid]

Castlevania is one of the coolest names for a game ever. Just hearing the name allready tells me that there are vampires involved.

Castle + Transylvania = Castlevania

Not to mention all the vampire movies I've watched and the romantic settings of Transylvania in said movies.

If it were released in whatever jibberish Japanese, I probably would not have played it.

In so many posts (not necessarilly yours) it sounds like people are misunderstanding. They aren't dropping the "Castlevania" name here. Only in Japan, where they only used it for the crap PS2 game and the good GBA games. In Japan, they're going back to the original series title. So why the fuck does anyone here care? If you buy the games here, it will still be Castlevania, and if you buy imports, you already have a bunch of games called Akumajou Dracula.

 

[Mike Shagohod]

In so many posts (not necessarilly yours) it sounds like people are misunderstanding. They aren't dropping the "Castlevania" name here. Only in Japan.

Oh guess I did misread that then. Well that sucks. I've always hated the name "Castlevania" as even as a child I thought the pun on the name Transylvania was stupid. I guess I'll just go on referring to the series as Vampire Killer like I always have, even if it was the title of the JPN "Bloodlines" video game on Mega Drive.

GK

 

[Magnaflux]

In so many posts (not necessarilly yours) it sounds like people are misunderstanding. They aren't dropping the "Castlevania" name here. Only in Japan, where they only used it for the crap PS2 game and the good GBA games. In Japan, they're going back to the original series title. So why the fuck does anyone here care? If you buy the games here, it will still be Castlevania, and if you buy imports, you already have a bunch of games called Akumajou Dracula.

Well our famous Japanophile Pedophile Shito is very concerned.


Like I give a flying sushi roll what happens in Japan. :chump:

 

[StealthLurker]

So you're telling me you'd have played and raved over a game series called something as lame as...

Whipping Man ???

.