A fan translation is an unofficial translation of a computer game or video game, into a language that it was never marketed in.
The fan translation practice originated with anime and manga, and expanded to video games more or less concurrently with the rise of console emulation in the late 1990s. Fan translations of manga are known as scanlations, and an unofficial dubbing or subtitling of an anime are referred to as fandubs and fansubs respectively.
Fan translations of computer and video game console games are usually accomplished by modifying the binary ROM image of the game. In dealing with translations of console games, a console emulator is generally utilized to play the final product, although game copiers or similar devices can be used to run the translated ROM image on its native hardware. The most common type of fan translations are those of Japanese computer and video games, which are often marketed exclusively in Japan, into English. Seiken Densetsu 3 was one of the most difficult fan translation projects in the history of fan translation.
Fan translation allows players to play and understand games that were never localized to their native language, as well as to improve upon a poor quality official localization. Two of the most well known fan-translated games whose official translations are considered subpar are Final Fantasy IV and Phantasy Star II.
Reverse engineering and the rise of console emulation made fan translation possible. One of the early complete translation patches for a video game was released in 1997. The patch, produced by RPGe, was designed to translate Final Fantasy V for the Super Famicom (also known as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System) into English. While translating games had been around by the time of the patch, it was the first to prove to a large audience that the in-depth hacking required for such a project was feasible. New groups quickly sprang up in RPGe’s wake and began translating other works.
Earlier big translation projects were e.g. done by Oasis for the MSX system. Konami’s RPG SD-Snatcher was translated in April 1993, and Dragon Slayer 6 was translated in 1995. Oasis has done a number of other translations before 1997 as well, and Maarten ter Huurne and Takamichi Suzukawa released a translated version of Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake in April 1997.
These were possible before emulation on PCs became popular (or even adequate enough to play games) because the games were on floppy disks, and were therefore easier to distribute to the users, in comparison to ROM cartridges used by video game consoles (the MSX also used cartridges, but methods were discovered to copy the content onto floppy disks and other media too).
In an effort to preserve the milestones and accomplishments of this era, an article exists which provides a more comprehensive, technical breakdown of the history of the fan translation scene.
Legal issues
While fan translations are indisputably illegal (Article 8 [Right of Translation] of the Berne Convention explicitly reserves the right of translation to the copyright holder and whoever receives permission of them, saying "Authors of literary and artistic works protected by this Convention shall enjoy the exclusive right of making and of authorizing the translation of their works throughout the term of protection of their rights in the original works."), it is unusual for copyright holders to object. This is probably largely because the electronic games in question are generally not considered commercially viable in the target language, so the translation is rarely seen as a source of lost revenue. However, in 1999, one well-known incident in which copyrighter holders took action involved the Kanjihack translation of ASCII's RPGMaker 95. However this action did not directly concern the actual translation. The cease and decist letter was sent in regards to Kanjihack hosting the binary executable for the PC version. Kanjihack complied, but the project was then continued by others. The Berne Convention does not explicitly prohibit parallel importation.
A popular belief in the fan translation community is that distributing only the translation, as a patch to the original game, is legal. The reasoning is that the patch only contains the new data and directives for where it is to be placed, and does not have the original copyrighted material included in any form, and therefore it is useless unless the user applies it to a (copyrighted) ROM, the acquisition and legality of which they are left completely accountable for. This belief, while untested in court, is probably not supported by international copyright law, but this strong anti-software piracy attitude by the fan translation community may have convinced copyright holders to, by and large, turn a blind eye.
There have never been any legal cases involving fan translation issues, and such projects have been relatively widespread over the Internet for years. In recent years, anime fansubbers have started to attract the attention of some American anime distributors; and as of 2004 one manga scanlator has been handed a cease and desist by a Japanese company, but most of this attention has been restricted to polite entreaties asking fan translators to refrain from dealing with licensed material.
List of fan-translated games
This is a partial list of Japanese video games which have been translated into English by fan translators.
MSX translations
- Parodius ~Tako wa Chikyū o Sukū~ (Konami, 1988) — translated by Takamichi Suzukawa
- Snatcher (Konami, 1988) — translated by Daniel Caetano, Takamichi Suzukawa & Artemio Urbina in 2003
- Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (Konami, 1990) — translated by Maarten ter Huurne and Takamichi Suzukawa et al. in 1997
- Dragon Slayer 6 (Falcom, 1989) — translated by Oasis in 1995
- SD Snatcher (Konami, 1990) — translated by Oasis in 1993
- Xak - The Tower of Gazzel (Micro Cabin, 1991) — translated by Oasis
- Ys I (Falcom, 1987) — translated by Oasis
- Ys II - The Final Chapter (Falcom, 1988) — translated by Oasis
Nintendo Famicom/NES translations
- Akumajou Densetsu (a.k.a. Castlevania III) (Konami, 1989) — translated by Vice Translations
- Cosmo Police Galivan (Nihon Bussan, 1988) — translated by Jair in 1998
- Final Fantasy II (Square Co., Ltd., 1988) — translated by NeoDemiforce in 1998
- Final Fantasy III (Square Co., Ltd., 1990) — translated by Neill Corlett and Alex W. Jackson in 1999
- Joy Mech Fight (Nintendo, 1993) — translated by AlanMidas in 2000
Super Famicom / SNES translations
- Alcahest (Square Co., Ltd., 1994) — translated by F.H. in 2002
- Bahamut Lagoon (Square Co., Ltd., 1995) — translated by DeJap in 2002
- BS Zelda: Kodai no Sekiban (Nintendo, 1997) — translated by The BS Zelda Homepage Team in 2005
- Cyber Knight (Tonkinhouse, 1993) — translated by Aeon Genesis in 2002
- Dragon Quest I & II (Enix, 1993) — translated by RPGOne in 2002
- Dragon Quest III (Enix, 1996) — translated by DeJap and RPGOne in 2003
- Dragon Quest V (Enix, 1992) — translated by DeJap in 2002
- Dragon Quest VI (Enix, 1994) — translated by DeJap and NoPrgress in 2001
- Dual Orb 2 (I'Max, 1994) — translated by Nightcrawler's Translation Corporation in 2002
- Final Fantasy IV (Square Co., Ltd., 1991) — translated by J2e in 1999
- Final Fantasy V (Square Co., Ltd., 1992) — translated by RPGe in 1997
- Final Fantasy VI (Square Co., Ltd., 1994) — translated by RPGOne in 2002
- Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu (Nintendo/Intelligent Systems, 1996) — translated by J2e and Fire Emblem Sanctuary of Strategy in 2004
- Front Mission (Square Co., Ltd., 1995) — translated by F.H. in 2000
- Front Mission: Gun Hazard (Square Co., Ltd., 1996) — translated by Aeon Genesis in 2004
- Koryu no Mimi (Oosawa Arimasa, M.A.T., Inoue Noriyoshi, VAP; 1995) — translated by RPGOne in 2004
- Live-A-Live (Square Co., Ltd., 1994) — translated by Aeon Genesis
- Mickey & Donald Magical Adventure 3 (Capcom, 1996) — translated by RPGOne in 2004
- Radical Dreamers (Square Co., Ltd., 1998) — translated by NeoDemiforce in 2003
- Rockman & Forte (a.k.a. Megaman & Bass) (Capcom, 1998) — translated by Aeon Genesis in 2002
- Rudora no Hihou (Square Co., Ltd., 1996) — translated by Aeon Genesis in 2002
- Seiken Densetsu 3 (Square Co., Ltd., 1995) — translated by Neill Corlett, SoM2Freak, Lina`chan, Nuku-nuku, Filia, et. al. in 2000
- Shin Nekketsu Kouha: Kunio tachi no Banka (Technos, 1994) — translated by Aeon Genesis in 2003
- Star Ocean: Fantastic Space Odyssey (Enix, 1996) — translated by DeJap in 2004
- Tales of Phantasia (Namco, 1994) — translated by DeJap in 2001
- Ys IV: Mask of the Sun (Falcom, 1993) — translated by Aeon Genesis in 2000
Other translations
- Xak III: The Eternal Recurrence (Microcabin/NEC, 1994, NEC PC-Engine) — translated by NightWolve - RIGG in 2004
- Ys I & II Complete (Falcom, 2000, PC) — translated by NightWolve, Deuce - RIGG in 2005
- Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys (Falcom, 1993, NEC PC-Engine) — translated by NightWolve, Deuce - RIGG in 2004
Unauthorised translations of computer games are also done by Russian software pirates. Interestingly, some games, such as Japanese hentai games are localised using the English version as a source.