Which would you rather have when a Japanese game comes over seas?

None of those situations are strictly ideal, but I feel like they don't counter each other. One of them requires that they deliver a subpar product while the other is an acceptable, agreeable result. Do I want the studio to work hard on localization or do I want them not to work on localization so much, and also remove some more content?

So, yeah. I chose the second one. At least there, if the localization team is good, you get a decent game as intended (if it is not, you would have gotten a lesser game regardless). You might not even miss the original VO, although the only real reason not to include it would be size concerns.

Also, please notice that not all content being removed is a bad thing. In the Yakuza games, there were a trivia mini game that required some native level knowledge of Japan. I am not against that being removed, so far as their exclusion doesn't mess with the balance of the game.

I'd rather have dubs with all the original content in tact. In cases like TMS and XCX or whatever, the content that was cut or changed was ultimately insignificant and didn't stop me from thoroughly enjoying either game, but on some level it still bothers my brain in this way I can't really describe. It's like an itch I can't get rid of.

Rather have access to the original VO and have some of the pervy bs removed since it never appealed to me anyway.

@hermes: I'll admit that I was being too general when comparing the two.

I just want it exactly how it was released in japan just with English subs.

I've always been a believer in excepting its from another culture and part of the world.

Ideally I want an option there available to people to play how they like. In reality dual audio is mad expensive to both license the original and then produce a dub. So I'd prefer a vision be established for the game and pick one or the other and do it really well.

I guess in a broad sense I would want the second? But it would really depend on the game and severity of what was cut and how they handled cutting it. For instance if you ask this question specifically of Tokyo Mirage Sessions then I pick the former because I think it's pretty important that this specific game be voiced in Japanese and the changes they make work out just fine for the most part.

If the dub is good then I prefer it over the original Japanese anyway most of the time (I don`t speak japanese). Having the option for both is nice, but not vital in any way for me.

@dudeglove: Should specify Nintendo of America because in Japan it all seems to be fine

*censored

Subbed whenever possible. It's not so much the voice acting of dubs that's the problem, it's the cultural differences that make it awkward. It's lame to have English voice actors apparently aware of Japanese cultural norms while speaking English. Real, English speaking, high school kids wouldn't be aware of all these weird little Japanese language and cultural quirks that the voice actors would have to convey. Just leave the voices in Japanese and give me some decent, literal text translations. I understand enough about Asian and Japanese culture at this point to get the references without awkward, vocal transliterations.

That doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Even thought the Persona games are dubbed, in the context of the game and the fiction the characters are speaking Japanese. Them speaking in English and being familiar with Japanese cultural norms isn't an issue because, canonically, they are speaking Japanese. They aren't "real, English speaking high school kids," they're Japanese high school kids in Japan that are speaking Japanese. The English is only the sake of the English speaking audience.

The truth is that, for the vast majority of people, a dub makes a piece of media much easier to follow than something that is only subbed. I know I for one would rather watch the action on screen rather than have my attention drawn to the lower third in order to read for most of the running time. For all the talk of things being lost in translation with a dub, I think the things you may miss in terms of animations and character expressions because you're busy reading are a much worse loss.

Would rather have the original voice acting with subs.

Things that are removed in localisation are never anything worth getting mad over. It's never anything integral to the experience.

I would rather not have the weird censorship or the voice overs. I mean if it's an option to have english dubs occasionally I'll try it out just to see how good the actors are but honestly most of the time I keep in in Japanese. The censorship would be worse in my opinion though just because there's usually absolutely no point.

As long as I can set voice volume to 0 I'd rather have no censor but English voices.

Honestly, as long as I can understand it, I'm good.

For instance - Persona 4 was great. I enjoyed those characters and they seemed to translate pretty well. But I also really enjoyed One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 and that was full Japanese VA with subtitles (hell, it got me watching the show like that).

I would choose any option if the other is about censoring/deleting content from the original game.

Seriously, what do they think they are doing by removing the contents from the original version? Protect our weak minds? or are they afraid that we might see something that "someone" doesn't like?

Every game should come in its original state out of respect to all the gamers who have waited for it and paid their hard earned money for it. Also the Developers who worked day and night to come up with these "yucky" contents, and if someone is too sensitive for them, then they should have an option for them and we the gamers can choose to turn them off or turn them on.

For god sake we are fucking adults!

The best is to come in it's original state with both original voice and english dub. Also subtitles (at least in english).

What's the point of censoring/deleting content from the original game? Release the game everywhere as it was released on it's original form. Unless it's something that might get lost in translation, there's no need to change it or delete it.

I chose the Dub option mainly because I really prefer English VO. Even if it's terrible.

The type of localization changes in TMS generally doesn't bother me even if many seem a little silly. Nobody like having potentially good content cut but honestly if putting more clothes on a couple characters "ruins" the game (which seems to be the primary complaint I've heard), you have to wonder if the game was that good to begin with.

I haven't started playing it yet so I don't know if any of the changes will actually bother me or not.

Also worth considering, a bit of inside baseball stuff on how much stuff costs to localize from former XSEED localizer Jess Chavez

http://h-protagonist.tumblr.com/post/133766547738/how-the-sausage-gets-made#notes

Dub with original content. It's hard to pay attention to subs as I'm playing a game and they're always little in video games and never have translations for the original audio. Instead, the subs are always for the foreign (English/American) dub. Movies do this far better.

Since as we all know, videogames are art, I'd ideally want the art piece in its original form and not altered to fit our perceived sensibilities.

I almost always prefer a good dub. These days undubbing a game with the original Japanese VA is not that hard and there are always people out there that do it. There's no reverse option if there's no dub in the first place.

The issue of censorship is not something I get vehemently up in arms about though. I'd prefer it that they don't in most cases, but unless it completely destroys the game it won't stop me from playing it if the rest is still worth experiencing.

I can't stand overly literal translations. It often completely ruins the emotion and subtlety inherent in the text. It's what often ruins many anime fan-subs for me. The problem is that the Japanese and English language are inherently different languages that inherently function differently, so if all your do is try to literally translate the text you lose far too much. As long as you are experiencing a translation and not the text in its original form you will never actually be experiencing a pure version of it.

The best localizations are the ones that know when to take liberties to make the dialogue convey the proper meaning in English. That doesn't necessarily mean overlocalizing it to the point of removing anything Japanese, but translating a joke that directly relies on quirks of the Japanese language would be stupid.

That's some dilemma. I'll go for the English dub. I've heard decent dubs, but I can't think of any content changes I've enjoyed.

English subs and a choice between the original or dubbed voice-over.

I mean, if you have to dub, you already translated the dialogue to English, and you still have the original voice-over. How much work could it take to just throw the option to mix the two?

Also: don't fucking edit or distill a piece of art because you think it will be more palatable to a local audience. The whole idea that this kind of thing is okay is just embarassing and the fact that this kind of thing happens just makes video games look like a joke. Withhold the contempt for your audience and allow them to experience art from a different culture.

I'll take original VA with subtitles any day. Preferably the games would be unaltered too, but then I'm not really into the kinds of games that likely would get stuff removed either way.

Then of course, what usually happens is that we get games that are both dubbed and altered released in the west, has the cases described in the poll options ever actually happened?

I'm not here to necessarily debate that, but I find is strange. This is the company that is responsible for "saving" Bayonetta 2. There are titties and asses poppin up all over the place in that game (and the first too which is also available on their platform), but yet they turn around and censor the stuff in TMS...which is child's play in comparison.

I just wanna know what made them throw Bayonetta a pass, but get all strict with everything else. It's baffling. Did Kamiya/Platinum just put their foot down or what?

@babychoochoo: I don't really want to go down this road, but I'm pretty sure it's specifically due to the age of the characters involved and the Japanese gravure industry being pretty sketchy and controversial. Bayonetta is a game very clearly marketed toward an older audience, but much about TMS is very teen oriented.

@geirr said:

Since as we all know, videogames are art, I'd ideally want the art piece in its original form and not altered to fit our perceived sensibilities.

That might be one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

Nothing translates 100%. Ever.

Just give me a solid product.

I honestly give zero shits about Japanese dubs, I'd rather just have an english dub - typically I even prefer an English dub even when the voice acting is awful.

The sort of changes we've seen made in some games as they've made their way to the West haven't really bothered me. I'd probably prefer nothing was really changed, but it's also not something that gets under my skin.

You can't get a true 100% translation, especially with how puns may only work in their original language. If something has to be changed to make sense in the translation that's fine, but don't come at me with entire conversations removed and replaced with "..." and not expect a shit show. Thinking back to the Fire Emblem stuff, I'd rather have seen the face-touching mini-game just because "oh man that's some wild Japanese shit!" If you're changing it because it needs to fit a different audience, maybe it's not meant for that audience in the first place.

The moment you make them speak English, they're not Japanese high school kids anymore. There are loads of idiosyncrasies tied to language and culture that do not literally translate into English well. In order for a dub to be any good, you have to transliterate instead of just literally translating. A good dub will do this well, but not without changing at least some of the actual meaning of what's being said. Bad dubs all too often will either leave in the Japanese idiosyncratic stuff and everyone will sound like weirdos or idiots or if incredibly incompetently done, will just change everything and the original meaning will have been lost. Good dubs are rare. Unless we're talking Ghost Stories.

There's been many a good story ruined by terrible dubbing. Subbing, even if it's poorly done at least lets me hear the characters' original voice and inflection.

@sinusoidal: The moment you translate Japanese into English you are already dealing with countless idiosyncrasies that don't translate properly to the English. If you can't understand what is being said beyond the text you're still experiencing it an "impure" form that will not accurately translate much of the original. Even games that keep the Japanese voice acting still try to localize the English dialogue to work within the English language.

It's perfectly fine to simply enjoy and prefer the sound of Japanese voice acting even if you don't understand it, but I think this whole "purity" angle that sub fans like to spout is frankly just a bunch of horseshit.

@sinusoidal: I think this argument is super silly considering how much media is out there (games, movies, anime, etc) that take place in foreign countries yet don't represent their characters speaking the native language of the represented country, but rather the language that is native to the viewer. There is TONS of anime out there that takes place in countries outside of Japan and they almost always speak in fluid Japanese, and speak and act with Japanese mannerisms, even in scenarios where they should obviously be speaking in their native tongue. (Or on the flip-side, a native English speaker speaking in broken English.) But as a viewer you understand that despite that they are not actually meant to be speaking in literal Japanese, it's simply a concession made to ease the viewers understanding.

It's no different when you play a game like Persona with an English dub. You don't have to hear them speaking Japanese to understand they are Japanese. And as mentioned, the whole purity angle is dumb, because any concessions required to be made for a game to be dubbed are usually the same ones that have to be made to the text. If the dialogue cannot be spoken aloud in English and still make sense then it is a bad localization.

I'm prolly not the target for this poll since English dubs really don't bother me AT ALL, but cutting content is just terrible.

@zeik: But, it's seeing that stuff through the Japanese cultural lens that makes it interesting. Take something like Deadly Premonition. It was done entirely with English voices and the ensuing insanity saves it entirely from mediocrity.

In an ideal world no content would be cut and you would be able to pick which audio track (original/dub) and subtitles, like a movie would.

We don't live in an ideal world

Atlus almost never provides dual-audio, so while it is unfortunate, it's not a surprise.

I've never seen anything I cared about removed from a localization, so that doesn't really affect my experience. On the other hand, a bad dub will make me turn off the voices, so I lose a lot of content as a result. Localizations are usually done on the cheap with C-tier voice actors, so good dubs are extremely rare.

This is exactly why having the original audio is helpful. When a localization team screws up the translation, you can hear what was originally being said.

@gnosislord: True, but the overwhelming majority of people who rely on subs do not understand what is actually being said in Japanese. They are relying entirely on the translation. Even if the localization is bad those Japanese voices won't do jack to fix it if you can't understand them.

wait? does this mean SMB3, mario should technically have the Tanuki suit with anatomically correct magical testicles?