Did Square use an Italian fan translation for TWEWY:Final Remix?

[Robin64]

I thought that was interesting and a bit scummy if true. Emphasis on the if because I don't know all the facts, but there is certainly some evidence.

Back in 2012, a couple of guys named Mentz and Mewster release an Italian translation for the DS game The World Ends With You. You can grab that here.

Fast forward to 2018 and the Switch release of TWEWY and we have an official Italian translation in the Switch version. Except...

(image from https://www.twitch.tv/untoldzero)

(and I just found an "infamous" translation I did on the stream.
This was horrible in my translation, and I'm lmaoing in seeing it in the official game)

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Apparently, over 90% of the text is the same. Now maybe there are just certain ways you write these things, and in the example above, both translators came up with the same words? I don't really know. It does seem a little unlikely though.

Sure, I have 2 comparison videos, (outdated) ds translation vs italian switch let's play

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrWUSc1suGs (2:40)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6xWPvF1lXQ (58:17)

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Although Mewster hasn't been contacted yet, he's still trying to get in touch with Mentz to see if he knows anything.

Maybe this isn't a big deal, maybe it's not even true and Square did their own translation that happens to match (is that likely..?), I don't know. But I though it was worth pointing out anyway.

 

[Vexii]

Mamma Mia!

 

[Deleted member 5129]

I mean, there's only so many ways you can translate stuff lol - language would be very confusing if you could translate every sentence 20 ways


Edit: Ok guys I get it lol

 

[Quinho]

I mean, there's only so many ways you can translate stuff lol - language would be very confusing if you could translate every sentence 20 ways

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This

 

[Robin64]

That's really not true guys, as seen by the fact that games like Final Fantasy IV have had multiple different takes on just the English translation alolne over the years. Translators bring their own style to the script and often relocalise stuff to make more sense. To get exact sentences the same, consistently, is quite unlikely.

 

[Jucksalbe]

90% is way too much for it to be a coincidence. It sounds like they took the fan translation and maybe looked over it again, but you're not gonna end up with that many similarities by pure chance.

 

[Mirev]

I mean, there's only so many ways you can translate stuff lol - language would be very confusing if you could translate every sentence 20 ways

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Agree

(Non so se sei ita ma comunque se quelli erano i testi la traduzione non può mai essere troppo diversa.)

 

[Vexii]

I mean, there's only so many ways you can translate stuff lol - language would be very confusing if you could translate every sentence 20 ways

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Well there's a huge difference between translation and localisation.

You can translate something literally but have it not make any sense, so it's up to localisation to consider the best way to convey that message to the intended audience.

You might translate a sentence from Japanese that literally becomes "There was a darkness eternal", but choose to localise it into the much simpler "It's pitch black in here!"

(I'm neither proficient in Japanese translation nor localisation, but it was the best I could come up with)

 

[OtakuCoder]

I mean, there's only so many ways you can translate stuff lol - language would be very confusing if you could translate every sentence 20 ways

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There are tons of examples (mostly J->E but that's just what I know) of games and other works having several different localisations...

 

[Kyougar]

90% is too much for it to be a coincidence.

 

[PlayBee]

Well let's go ahead and jump to conclusions and get some harmful rumors started just in case

 

[dadjumper]

I mean, there's only so many ways you can translate stuff lol - language would be very confusing if you could translate every sentence 20 ways

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It is and you can

 

[Deleted member 26768]

This happens a lot in the industry and it is fine, they should have been paid well for the translation.

Edit: i read too fast and missed neither of the translators knew which certainly is scummy.

 

[zoboomafoo]

I mean, there's only so many ways you can translate stuff lol - language would be very confusing if you could translate every sentence 20 ways

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Errrrr... Not to be insulting, but you clearly never did translation. There IS pretty much always many ways to translate something. You don't end up with the exact same sentence structures just like that, unless both just used the same online translator and didn't edit anything, or something like that.

Langage is not a mechanical and rigid thing, especially not if you translate dialogues.

 

[Cloud Strife]

The two translations just match, most likely. While it's possible for us Italians (and anyone else) to come up with slight variations of a sentence that leave the original meaning unaltered, when translating, I'd be surprised to learn that Square did use something created by fans.
But yeah, generally speaking, you should give translating something a try, like others already said.

 

[Rodjer]

I mean, there's only so many ways you can translate stuff lol - language would be very confusing if you could translate every sentence 20 ways

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Ehm no, especially in Italian, you can translate a localize a sentence in various ways.

 

[TheMoon]

I mean, there's only so many ways you can translate stuff lol - language would be very confusing if you could translate every sentence 20 ways

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But that is exactly how language works lol

 

[Hentailover]

Errrrr... Not to be insulting, but you clearly never did translation. There IS pretty much always many ways to translate something. You don't end up with the exact same sentence structures just like that, unless both just used the same online translator and didn't edit anything, or something like that.

Langage is not a mechanical and rigid thing, especially not if you translate dialogues.

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^

 

[Deleted member 2793]

Yeah, 90% means they most likely got it from the fan translation and edited it a bit.

Language isn't math, they wouldn't get to 90% of the text being the same at all by luck.

 

[Tribal_Cult]

I can think of other 10 ways to say those lines without even looking at the original text.
Pretty clear to me that's probably what happened.

 

[Kalor]

90% being similar is way too much for this to be a coincidence. They probably took the fan translation and edited some of it. They should have at least contacted the fan translators and offer them compensation for the work that they did.

 

[Herb Alpert]

The guy square hired probably found a way to win some time.

 

[Deleted member 2791]

Oh wow now I wonder if the brand new french translation of this release is based on a fantrad as well

 

[Piichan]

Filip Miucin finally found a new job!

 

[Barrylocke]

To be clear, how was the 90% number determined? Was someone able to dump the text from the Switch Italian version and compare it to the DS Fan-translation?

90% exactly matching is definitely too much for it to be a coincidence in my mind.

 

[Ketaya]

If this translation is new in the switch release and wasn't in the mobile release, wouldn't Nintendo be responsible for it as they are the publisher outside japan?

 

[MaxAugust]

I'm betting the dude they hired to do the Italian translation is about to get fired.

 

[Stopdoor]

I mean, there's only so many ways you can translate stuff lol - language would be very confusing if you could translate every sentence 20 ways

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You see, there's just a certain number of ways you can translate things haha - language would be really disorienting if someone could translate all sentences into 20 possibilities

 

[Edge]

Seems like they have put as much work into this translation as they did into the controls.

 

[AverageFisk]

I translate/subtitle TV shows for a living. There is no way the translation is 90% identical by accident. There are always subtle differences between translators, even when dealing with simple text.

 

[Lant_War]

90% is a bit too high, but it might just be a coincidence.

Well let's go ahead and jump to conclusions and get some harmful rumors started just in case

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Let's go! Where can I get my pitchfork?

 

[FluxWaveZ]

You see, there's just a certain number of ways you can translate things haha - language would be really disorienting if someone could translate all sentences into 20 possibilities

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Look, the numerous ways you can translate things are limited, heh - language would be pretty overwhelming if one could translate any sentence into 20 different ones.

 

[Delaney]

To be clear, how was the 90% number determined? Was someone able to dump the text from the Switch Italian version and compare it to the DS Fan-translation?

90% exactly matching is definitely too much for it to be a coincidence in my mind.

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Yeah, I'm still waiting for some proof on that. The "apparently 90% of the text is the same" might be something people went along with, even if the comparisons do show that some dialogue is identical.

 

[Deleted member 202]

It's just a coincidence. I dare you to check the other language translations to see if you find anything.

 

[AverageFisk]

Yeah, I'm still waiting for some proof on that. The "apparently 90% of the text is the same" might be something people went along with, even if the comparisons do show that some dialogue is identical.

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Yeah, of course, if these 90% aren't exactly identical then this isn't an issue.

 

[Noppie]

Filip Miucin finally found a new job!

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Lol

 

[Deleted member 39587]

It's just a coincidence. I dare you to check the other language translations to see if you find anything.

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Jason Schreier is on the case!!

 

[Hektor]

Look, the numerous ways you can translate things are limited, heh - language would be pretty overwhelming if one could translate any sentence into 20 different ones.

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I mean to say, the quantity of options you have to localize things is finite, hihi - language would be fairly perplexing if somebody could localize every sentence in 20 different manners.

 

[The Booktastic Bus]

"Eat your spaghetti, Apollo"

 

[ASaiyan]

Look, the numerous ways you can translate things are limited, heh - language would be pretty overwhelming if one could translate any sentence into 20 different ones.

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Please understand, there's only so many ways you can skin a cat when it comes to translation, lol. Language would be a big headache for everybody if you could localize the same sentence twenty different ways.

Spoiler

Now we just need 17 more...
EDIT: Nope, 16 actually...

 

[AverageFisk]

I mean to say, the quantity of options you have to localize things is finite, hihi - language would be fairly perplexing if somebody could localize every sentence in 20 different manners.

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The gist of the matter is that you can only interpret things a certain amount of times, haha - language would be quite difficult if anyone could just interpret any sentence in 20 different ways.

 

[Blackpuppy]

Anyone who's done 10 minutes of translation can tell you that 90% similar is too much of a coincidence. Especially Japanese to Western languages. Just look at examples of Beowulf.

 

[Deleted member 26768]

Anyone who's done 10 minutes of translation can tell you that 90% similar is too much of a coincidence. Especially Japanese to Western languages. Just look at examples of Beowulf.

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most EFIGS games are translated from the English script though that room for interpretation is still there. Another thing is if the translator and editor work line by line or more per scene which has a different result too.

 

[Blackpuppy]

I mean, there's only so many ways you can translate stuff lol - language would be very confusing if you could translate every sentence 20 ways

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After all, there is a finite amount of ways one can go about translating from language to language, haha. Languages would be quite a mess if one could translate a phrase a bunch of different manners.

 

[julian]

Please tell me the 10% difference was adding back in lines from the pre-release English translation, like "bag full of dicks".

 

[Deleted member 13370]

edit

 

[Squid Bunny]

An example of an official localization and a fan translation: they are completely different beasts. If the 90% thing is true, than I have no doubt that the fan translation was used.

 

[Alvis]

The gist of the matter is that you can only interpret things a certain amount of times, haha - language would be quite difficult if anyone could just interpret any sentence in 20 different ways.

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What I am trying to say is that there can't possibly be so many ways to express the same idea, haha - Language would be quite hard if the same concept could be expressed in 20 different manners.

 

[Robin64]

Yeah, I'm still waiting for some proof on that. The "apparently 90% of the text is the same" might be something people went along with, even if the comparisons do show that some dialogue is identical.

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It's the number the fan translator used, but I have asked for more clarification.

 

[Cheapstare]

Seems pretty obvious from the video.