Announcement: SSRPG English Release is coming soon...

[Deuce]

Okay, things are moving along at a decent clip now, and I've gotten a lot more work done. I'm working like mad and doing everything in my power to see to it that the initial (1.0) release of...

Samurai Shodown: Tales of the Bushido

(that's "Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits: Bushidou Retsuden," or "Samurai Shodown RPG" for those who don't know Japanese)

will be released* at some point before the end of this year. The voice timing is coming along smoothly, and once that is done and tested to work properly, the final step will really be to get the patch into a freely distributable form that will be non-legally actionable... ie. not redistributing modified files copyrighted by SNK. Odds are, this will be a late December release, sometime around Christmas, but the final betatesting phase will begin shortly.

This has been a long time coming... ever since the game was initially released in 1997, to be exact. But this project has taken two years to reach this point, and the finish line is in sight. I'd like to thank those of you who've been supportive, who've read the FAQ and not asked stupid questions. Those of you who have been jerks, well, I invite you to orally extract the current contents of my colon. They're gooshy.

Your wait is almost over.




*Note the proper use of the word, "release." Anyone who uses "release" as an intransitive verb deserves to be shot with a special gun that fires grammar textbooks at terminal velocity. That includes IGN staff, Gamespot staff, Kotaku staff, Joystiq and associated site staff, the author of VGcats, and especially the people at Magic Box for somehow bringing that bit of Engrish here and making it part of the gaming vernacular.

 

[ne7]

great news - look forward to checkin it out!

 

[HattoriHanzo]

Bravo!!! To think that I completed the game blindly not knowing head nor tail about the story... I WANT!!!!

 

[NipRing]

Where are the FAQ for this located? I'd like to read them please.

*edit, found it*

 

[Deuce]

Where are the FAQ for this located? I'd like to read them please.

*edit, found it*

Noted. I added a link to it in the original post for clarity's sake, anyway.

 

[DeadPixels]

Glad to hear things are going smoothly Deuce. I picked up a copy of the game a few months back in anticipation of your project being completed. Your hard work is greatly appreciated.

 

[Dinodoedoe]

Cool project and keep up the good work.

 

[The Chief]

Very cool, I've been looking forward to this for some time now.

 

[aria]

Excellent!

 

[Kazuki Dash]

Best news that's come in a long while...thanks for all the hard work and for keeping us constantly in the loop, Deuce. Dig the new avatar by the way.

Oh yeah...sticky please.

 

[BLEAGH]

Great news indeed!

 

[Late]

There's only one bushido, hence no 'the'

 

[Deuce]

There's only one bushido, hence no 'the'

"The" is singular, feedbag.

 

[Lochlan]

"The" is singular, feedbag.

Deuce, you are one of the best members of the forum.

Your craftsmanship in the translation project is inspiring, as always.

 

[Late]

"The" is singular, feedbag.

Yes it is but "the bushido" is grammatically incorrect.

Nietzche : Tales of the nihilism? [sic]

 

[Deuce]

Yes it is but "the bushido" is grammatically incorrect.

So is that sentence. The proper usage of commas is a skill you'd do well to learn. It's never too Late. *rimshot*

However, I am aware that "the bushido" is not, depending on how prescriptivist one chooses to be with translating Japanese to English, grammatically correct. Once you play the patch, though, you will quickly come to learn that I regard obsessively literal translations as having value only to the strictest linguistics professors, and the most obnoxious weeaboos (disgusting little creatures).

When it comes to something one is meant to actually read and make sense of on the fly, one has to find the middle ground between literal and Working Designs. I pride myself on doing precisely that... at least, most of the time. (Edits can and do happen, of course.) Ideally, a localized game's dialogue, if read aloud, should never sound as if it was written in another language first.

I considered other titles, such as "Tales of Bushido," or "The Bushido Diaries" and other such translations of "Bushidou Retsuden," but none of them rolled off the tongue well, and none of them fit in the allotted space on the title screen as well. The title is finalized, as is the title screen. Learn to love it, because it's not changing.

One additional note: "Bushidou" literally means "path of the warrior." So if you want to be literal about it, "the bushido" still works. ;P

 

[CrackerMessiah]

*Note the proper use of the word, "release." Anyone who uses "release" as an intransitive verb deserves to be shot with a special gun that fires grammar textbooks at terminal velocity. That includes IGN staff, the author of VGcats, and especially the people at Magic Box.

As other members here have stated, in their word amount of choice, "thank you."

Although, I've gotta wonder: does your attention to grammar come from business or pleasure? It comes of as passionate as it does mildly abrasively critical. Not trying to judge either way... "Just curious" is all.

 

[Deuce]

Although, I've gotta wonder: does your attention to grammar come from business or pleasure? It comes of as passionate as it does mildly abrasively critical. Not trying to judge either way... "Just curious" is all.

It's a bit of both. I work in a corporate environment, but I've always been a stickler for proper grammar and spelling. I grew up reading, in an environment where it wasn't frowned upon, but wasn't particularly encouraged. Born and raised in the south, where I swore I would not sound like the kids around me... who scarcely seemed able to form sentences in their first language, let alone learn a second. The way I type is the way I speak. It takes no extra time at all. In fact, to "dumb down" my typing, in order to mock the usual babble one sees on the internet, takes longer for me, because I have to fight the usual urge to correct mistakes on the fly.

Similar to the saying, "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right," "If it's worth listening to, it's worth saying properly." To sum up my thoughts on the matter, I have a signature which I use on another forum:

Spelling and grammar do count on the internet.
Failure to make proper use of both makes you look like an idiot.
There is no justification; there are only half-baked excuses.
Use language correctly, or do not use it at all.

Do I take any particular delight in correcting the mistakes of others? Not especially. But neither am I concerned with hurting anyone else's feelings. Personally, when I make mistakes and don't realize it, I prefer someone point them out to me, so I can either go back and correct them, or learn the lesson and not look like an idiot the next time around.

I may be callous, but at least I'm not a hypocrite about it.

 

[kuk]

a very important new for my neogeocd console

 

[yeismeload911]

Good to hear the project is coming along smoothly, I look forward to playing it sometime. Keep up the good work!

 

[michel]

you are my hero!

 

[Verythrax]

/me <3 Deuce

 

[SNKNostalgia]

This is amazing! SSRPG and Policenauts are coming close to being ready to play in English. I bought these games around the same time. The only other game series in need of translation for all the years was Arc The Lad 1 and 2. Of course, that was taken care of officially in 03 (a little late for an official translation, but at least it happened).

I would also like to play Snatcher on the Saturn in English, but the Sega CD version is my favorite anyway. I still need to play through my Ys IV on the Duo. What a great 2 years its been for RPG translations.

 

[MonoTekETeA]

one has to find the middle ground between literal and Working Designs.

This made me chuckle, thanks.

Your work is sounding fantastic. I love fan translations and all you guys do for the community. A+

 

[Danthor]

I have owned this game for my NeoCD since late '01 hoping it had an english option as a good deal of other NeoCD software does, only to be disappointed. I played it anyway, of course, loving almost all things Samurai Shodown. But you sir, have just made my year with this announcement. I have longed for the day which I could play and understand this little gem.

Thank you!!!