Nintendo’s Double Localizations - American VS British English

[@todayntsnews]

I’m surprised you didn’t mention Tomodachi Life. The European version had different box art, different script, different characters models, even the characters had different accents compared to the US one

[@AzumarillConGafasBv]

Tomodachi Life needs its own video about localisation, there's like 10 versions of Tomodachi Life in order to adapt to the country it's releasing on, for example, there's a Chinese, Japanese, Korean, another Chinese edition, if I'm not wrong there are 2 American versions and etc

[@CiromBreeze]

Tomodachi Life is a bizarre one. Was talking with a friend about it the other day, and apparently even the shop NPCs are different! We (EU) got these cool robot guys with monotone voices, but apparently the NPCs have cardboard faces in America! (And are ninjas in Japan. Kinda jealous of that one.)

[@bickerysebastian]

@@CiromBreeze Correction: The original/Japanese release had the shopkeepers wear KUROKO stage masks. The "ninja mask" don't cover the shopkeepers' faces completely.

[@Mimi.1001]

As far as I know, there are even exclusive "holidays" so to speak. For German Unity day (3rd of October) the shops are decorated with German flags and balloons, which I definitely didn't expect and which no game does like ever. I assume there is similar stuff for other national holidays, even besides the obvious 4th and maybe 14th of July, which would be pretty damn cool.

[@squish_39]

@@AzumarillConGafasBv It does have it's own video about localisation! kzbin.info/www/bejne/oGPCZH2LhbBmh9k

[@Jdtendo]

It should also been kept in mind that many games use the same English title in all European countries, and thus the title should be easy to understand even for people with limited English knowledge. For example, "Universal Gravitation" can easily be understood as "gravitation universelle" for French speakers, "gravitación universal" for Spanish speakers, "gravitazione universale" for Italian speakers, "universelle Gravitation" for German speakers… Whereas "Topsy-Turvy" is not a well-known or recognisable word for non-English speakers.

[@timelymirror7826]

it's true that probably lots of games just use only an English title for worldwide releases

[@theshadowdirector]

I actually did miss a mark on a spelling test thanks to Game Boy 'Color', no joke.

[@beartackle]

When I was young, I thought "colour" was a special way to write "color," when I read it somewhere, so I used it in my writing assignment, and my teacher wrote a note that I spelled it wrong.

[@Alex-zt3ht]

im not an english native speaker and im a bit surprised that one of the two ways to write those words is seen as wrong by teachers, i mean they are both right aren’t they? does it work like this for other such pairs too? like meter/metre, flavor/flavour, donut/doughnut etc?

[@theshadowdirector]

@@Alex-zt3ht which version of English you're taught will vary on region. In Europe and Commonwealth countries it's British, everywhere else, ifs American.

[@lpfan4491]

In germany, both were taught to us. Which generally makes sense, even tho we are in europe, neither version of english is "ours". However, it is so long ago that I straight up do not remember the diffrences and what belongs to where, english is just english to me.

[@MultiTimetravler]

You can tell its going to be a Jon episode cause the title is never anything anybody ever asked for and I love it!

[@CrimsonMoonM]

He isn't the content creator who gives us what we want, but the one who gives us what we didn't even know we needed.

[@davebob4973]

i wouldve asked for it he just made the video before i did

[@stur5170]

One of my favourite ones is the character Bryne in Spirit Tracks. Over here in the UK, he's called Staven. And the reason for this didn't know until recently: "In the EU English version, he is called “Staven”, which is derived from the BR Standard Class 9F 92220 Evening Star, the last steam locomotive to be built by British Railways"

[@winterwinter12]

I think Outset Village is called Aboda in the US as well

[@CiromBreeze]

Huh. I was wondering why everyone called him Bryne.

[@SAI-Max_D]

Meanwhile in Australia & New Zealand, we got the totally not confusing combination of having the game contents based on the US localisation paired with the UK-based instruction manual... (yes, the game card is still region-locked to work only with PAL-based DS systems)

[@jackayers4955]

Is that really where the name comes from? It seems very obscure. The other train-based names are obvious - Mallard, engine, coal, etc.

[@tom13king]

Most of the bosses have different names in the UK IIRC. As a kid I always wondered why my strategy guide was lying to me about the boss names.

[@dimensiondetective]

5:11 An odd thing about Paper Mario Color Splash is that there WAS a localisation change. (Minor Spoiler?) One of the “things” in the game was a washing machine. The American version has the same washing machine as Japan, a model where clothes are loaded into the top. But for Europe and Australia, the washing machine is an ENTIRELY different model where clothes are loaded into the front. That also means when you first find the machine it is lying on it’s back. So the localisers where willing to provide entirely exclusive models to different regions...but not add one letter to the games title..

[@gamagama69]

lmao what do both models not exsit in all of the world?

[@snufkin8940]

​@@gamagama69 Brit here, I've never seen a top-loading washing machine in person

[@gamagama69]

@@snufkin8940 interesting

[@pikkedmen]

yeah nintendo is weird with colour / color

[@PIKMINROCK1]

I think it's a thing with trademarks and possibly branding. Likely, if they don't approved for the subtitle variation, they just unify the name across regions.

[@TheChampionEccentric]

The game that blew my mind for English/English translation is Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Among other changes like menu text, literally every single of the 500+ trophies has a different translation between regions, and I simply can't understand why they would go through that kind of effort.

[@PhirePhlame]

It all started when NoE wound up accidentally letting the word "spastic" from the US version of Mario Party 8 (a relatively innocuous, if still pejorative, word in US vernacular for a clumsy or erratic person) slip into the initial print of the European version (where the same word is...loaded against the disabled, to say the least). Needless to say, from then on NoE started doing a lot more of their own localization work and a lot less of simply piggybacking off of the NoA translations.

[@Bracketmeister]

@@PhirePhlame Yeah, where I am in the UK, that word is kind of considered an ableist slur so it always really catches me out when American media just throws it out like nothing. I remember when Weird Al released Word Crimes and he had no idea of the international connotations. I think since learning, he never sings that line when performing live.

[@Videospiel-Man5730]

But then on the other hand the dont translate song titles! No matter if it makes sense or not the english titles are used in germany!

[@carloso5910official]

⁠@@PhirePhlame But once the Switch came, NoE went back to using the NoA translations but only with whatever changes they needed to make (if they needed to)

[@tintinfinite3388]

While most English-speaking regions like Australia uses the NoE English localisation, there were times that the country uses the NoA localisation. In Australia, the DS Rhythm Heaven game was titled "Rhythm Heaven" like the North American name, and then the later games uses its European name instead.

[@duncanblue124]

Localization for us usa people

[@Kiri68419]

And the reverse happend with going from Splatoon 1 to 2. We sure love to thong...I mean flip flop.

[@FrostGlader]

The weirdest one is Squeak Squad. Australia seems to use the American version of the game, but every game that mentions it uses Mouse Attack, this is notable in Smash. Even weirder, we use the European versions of the Professor Layton series.

[@RadioTails]

​@@FrostGlader The Australian versions of Nintendo DS games seem to use the Japan/USA black boxes (in most cases), instead of the bigger and ugly white boxes Europe used.

[@FrostGlader]

@@RadioTails normally that’s the case, but even that isn’t quite true. There’s a number of games in my collection that use the European Boxes, a notable example being Sonic Rush. They’re all Australian copies. I actually own 2 copies of Cars (DS), one uses the Black Box, while the other uses the European Box. They’re both official Australian copies.

[@unboundsky9999]

Fun fact: the whole “Featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry Series” sticker on the Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne box art was only a thing in the European version. It was also renamed to Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer’s Call for some reason.

[@lpfan4491]

You are telling me the sticker was an actual thing and not made up for the meme?

[@akosy129]

My favourite one is that in Paper Mario Colo(u)r splash, there is a scene with a washing machine, and in America it’s top-loading washing machine, and in Europe it has that circular door on the side.

[@skydiamsteam6005]

The difference between French and Canadian French localizations are also interesting, with sometimes use of Quebec slang

[@nekogirlbeth123]

Something that interests me is how the NoE translation of Miitopia, both 3DS original and Switch remaster, seems to have more fun with itself than the NoA translation. I could just give the comparison of NoA's "Sarcastic Guy" to NoE's "Sarky Bloke" but to elaborate a little, the NoE script lampshades tropes a little more often, engages in some sillier wordplay and likes to interject antiquated phrases contrasting the games' mishmash setting, it fits the vibe of the game a little better than the NoA translation.

[@ToaderTheToad]

From what I've played of NA Miitopia it doesn't seem to take itself very seriously either Though I will say that yeah it is a bit more toned down compared to Tomodachi Life

[@FrancoPantoja]

If I say so, the Latin American translation was also a bit fun and modern. They used words like "reggeaton" and "selfie stick"

[@Alex_56740]

One localisation difference that interested me was in Pikmin 3 where the UK dialogue implied Charlie had a crush for Brittany, whereas in America Charlie talked more about himself.

[@Videospiel-Man5730]

Modern american games like to remove gender from the occasion so perhaps thats the reason?

[@tedioustotoro4885]

I remember playing the game World’s End Club and that game having both an American and British translation for the text but only an American translation for the dub so, as the game went on, more and more lines varied between the text dialogue and the spoken dialogue.

[@gabrielgoes0]

lmao that sucks

[@Juliafy]

Mexican here, born and raised. The exact same thing happens with the Spanish language localizations. I think Spain had games in Spanish long before we had them here in Latin America. The first Nintendo game I can think of it's Pokémon Red/Blue, back in the year 2000 we finally got a Spanish translation, but it was the European version; even the cartridge had a different code: DMG-APAS-LTN. For me it was fun to been able to understand what the game was telling me... However there were some words that I've never heard nor read before. Six years later we finally got latin american localizations on games and they're quite different one from the other.

[@timelymirror7826]

Quite interesting

[@FrancoPantoja]

Yes, Europe got spanish translations one generation before America.

[@DeadweightLKS]

The changed vehicle names messed me up quite a bit in Mario Kart Wii. Everyone online raved about the Flame Runner and I couldn’t figure out how to unlock it! Turns out… it’s just the Bowser Bike!

[@Larry]

The Working Designs' US translations of JRPGs are full of '90s refrences that have really made them a part of their time. Loads of Wayne's World and Bill & Ted mannerisms Etc.

[@BenEdwards98]

Glad someone else is talking about the disgraceful disappearance of "I'm using motion controls!", It's something I noticed right away after 8 Deluxe came out

[@autismandgaming4532]

One of my favourite examples of regional changes is in splatoon 2, where instead of the Vampires vs Werewolves splatfest, we got... Toilet paper in vs. Toliet Paper out. Im not joking

[@fathm4623]

Melody Motorway is SUCH a better name for the track that it's kind of shame the default is presented as Music Park

[@Kritigri]

Oh hey, I have one! On the PS1, there's a completely different voice actor for Gex in Gex: Enter the Gecko (or Gex 3D: Enter the Gecko). Gex also has completely different lines depending on the version.

[@KaraDestare]

You just can't hate Gex after learning he's voiced by Cat from Red Dwarf lol

[@gamagama69]

whoa thats really different

[@YukeWeiss]

Ding Dong

[@X2011racer]

Even though it's technically not Nintendo, there were some changes between the NTSC-U/C and PAL English versions of Goldeneye. Aside from the obvious spelling changes, Q's Analysis for Facility no longer misidentifies the mines as Timed Mines. In the NTSC version, Q warns Bond that the mines will go off once they are placed, which is false; The mines you carry are Remote Mines and therefore must be manually detonated. In the PAL version, Q instead informs Bond to place the mines in a way so that all the targets are destroyed, or else if improperly placed, the mines won't take out every canister. The cancelled XBLA version appears to be using the PAL version as its basis, as it uses the PAL version Analysis instead of the NTSC version. However, the Xbox Game Pass version uses the NTSC-U/C version regardless of Region.

[@AmethystLeslie]

Thinking about how NoA localized the "This way" command in Splatoon 1 as "C'mon" which could be seen as condescending, like "c'mon, what are you DOING?" I didn't know until years later that it was supposed to be a "This way" command. Also, agreed with the British VAs in the Xenoblade series being the identity of the series. It's especially cool in America cuz we love fantasy settings with British accents. Plus... It's different. Non-American (English-speaking) VAs is interesting from an American perspective.

[@lrgogo1517]

I remember seeing a screenshot of JPN Splatoon 1, and the command there was 「カモン」 "Kamon," so I guess someone on the team said, "Oh, hey, that's already an English term! We can use that as well, right? :)"

[@lpfan4491]

Xenoblade 1 is also one of those rare times where the english dub is straight up just the definitive way of playing the game.

[@bensell982]

You mentioned Ape Escape but failed to mention the best part part about Ape Escape 2. In the American version the main characters Jimmy and Natalie are voiced by the same people who did Ash and Misty in the pokemon dub. Strangely enough the American version is the only game in the series not published by Sony. Instead it was published by Ubisoft which is probably why the PSN version is the European version.

[@conradojavier7547]

Sony decided that if they Remaster Ape Escape, they'll use the Euro Dub as THE International Dub.

[@theshadowdirector]

Another Code/Trace Memory is one where I've heard the European translation is preferred as NoA inserted a lot of humour that wasn't indeed. Especially important when considering a story driven game.

[@petershillito]

Yeah, the American version (Trace Memory) makes Ashley American along with having her be pretty easy going and quick to trust D, while the European English Another Code has Ashley be a lot more suspicious and cynical about the whole "there's a ghost hanging out with me". I do wonder whether the treatment of the localisations of these games in America contributed to both the sequel to Another Code on the Wii and the sequel to Hotel Dusk both only coming out in Japan and Europe, skipping the Americas entirely.

[@llaffer]

5:31 "You could have just put a U in there" Nintendo was saving all of those extra U's for the Wii U later on :)

[@mrtoyreviewman]

Wow, I didn’t even know about the motion/tilt controls thing, I always thought it was motion controls for all versions and they just changed it for the Switch version. I’ve been saying I’m using motion controls for years. The more you know!

[@podracer35]

The pronunciation of Duck Hunt fact made me chuckle. I never thought of that and will never unhear it

[@Nintentoad125]

It will never not annoy me how NOA came up with the wonderful name of the "Check Mii Out Channel" but NOE thought "Mii Contest Channel" was a better name

[@SharpEdgeSoda]

I know sometimes it seems like keeping the original Japanese is the way to go, but remember, when Nintendo picks the Japanese Name, they are picking something that *sounds marketable* in the Japanese language. "Universal Gravitation" might *flow* better in Japanese as a subtitle, and when a game's title is functionally part of it's marketing, localization can make the call to change things if the direct translation doesn't "flow" in the language it's being translated to. Cultures are different, and what works in different cultures is the job of localization. Sometimes they may make the wrong call, but you don't *notice* the right calls.

[@euducationator]

I think it's also worth noting that "Universal Gravitation" conflicts very strongly with the tone of the Yoshi series. It sounds very verbose and science fiction-like. Yoshi games lean very heavily to the side of being lighthearted and cartoony so having a name like this just doesn't fit a Yoshi game very well.

[@theshadowdirector]

Xenoblade X did have have an in-story reason for why it needed an American dub. But I'm glad they moved back for 2 and 3, the British subbing industry needs the work!

[@TaliesinMyrddin]

I like how in XC2 all the 'ancient' 500 year old characters were US accents while most of the modern ones were British isles and Australia. It's a fun little flip on the real world.

[@theshadowdirector]

@@TaliesinMyrddin yes, though I think most of them are British actors putting on accents (Pyra ages Mythra for certain) though most do a good job.

[@gabrielgoes0]

does it? I don't remember

[@TaliesinMyrddin]

@@gabrielgoes0 Pretty much just that all the humans in XCX were refugees from the US on Earth, it wasn't really specifically a "this is why we sound like this" thing in the plot

[@gabrielgoes0]

@@TaliesinMyrddin oh, I didn't remember that very important plot point lmao thanks for clarifying

[@M00nlightOfficial]

I think probably my favorite example of localization differences is Endless Ocean: Blue World, or in Europe, Endless Ocean 2: Adventures Of The Deep. First off, I think the name Blue World makes more sense as you explore the waters of each continent, though Adventures Of The Deep is probably referencing the end of the game. However, lots of names, phrases, and even species were changed as well. There was a KZbinr named SkullKid3 who used to Let's Play the European version (as that's where he lived) which shows the localized differences.

[@Nickk7878-v8t]

Not to mention that in Triforce Heroes, the Triforce never appears, so it doesn't make sense to call Link the Triforce Hero.

[@Videospiel-Man5730]

That one even had memes thrown in by america!

[@Following1000]

Whilst the process of relocalising for the same language may seem pointless, I do love a lot of these UK localisations more than their US counterparts. A game that was relocalised but not mentioned here is Fantasy Life. This was bizzarly a game that released in EU and AU before NA, and their scripts are another case of completely seperate localisations. Therefore there's a lot of differences, such as Flutter being unnamed in the NA version, Staffs being called Wands (Because NA don't know what a staff is apparently), location name changes and the Magician job being called Wizard as a few examples. There's also the DLC exclusive job titles being 'Demi-Creator' and 'Creator' in NA, but in EU their's no hidding and it's straight up 'God-In-Training' and 'God'.

[@marktreerng]

I didn't even know "tilt controls" was some meme. I sure do remember the motion controls line though. Played loads of that on WiiU. "I'll give it my best shot!"

[@XelchanTheBrave]

Honestly I wish NoE kept localizing Splatoon into english. Their script was less crazy but it kept the serious aspects of the story intact which became more and more important with the games going forward. KZbinr Rassicas (forgot the name so correct me if I'm wrong) has some very good videos at how NoA's localization of Octo Expansion is just plain worse and makes a story that originally simply had political undertones way too politically charged.

[@carloso5910official]

Looks like NoE found it easier to just use NoA’s scripts and only make changes to what they need to

[@mikemaster43]

They also double localize Spanish! For Spain and Latin América!

[@skydiamsteam6005]

And also French and Canadian French!

[@belstar1128]

I think they do that even more than for English since the difference is bigger.

[@Alaneeeeee]

@@belstar1128 Yes. Every single game gets it's own translation, and both versions are pretty different.

[@FrancoPantoja]

The Spanish translations started one generation earlier in Europe

[@belstar1128]

@@FrancoPantoja Yea back in the 90s gaming companies really only cared about richer countries. even today Africa and most Asia gets nothing.

[@blumenmupfel]

The game boy color vs. colour thing actually tripped me up in school because my teacher and our workbook used British English, so it was "wrong" when I put color because of my beloved GBC D:

[@belstar1128]

On the internet sometimes people get angry at me because i spell it in the American way. but sometimes i spell it in the uk way and then people also get mad at me. so its really pointless and i don't even speak English natively.

[@gamefreakDX]

Layton games not only have the superior European names, but also the superior British VA. Namely Luke. Though I was surprised that in the Phoenix Wright crossover, all regions used the British VA for luke.

[@rhodrage]

I listened to Us Luke for the first time recently and was amazed by how awful it was. Maybe cause I was used to British Luke, but British Luke actually sounds right as a Brit, US Luke sounds like a bad impression.

[@adamdonnelly6470]

@@rhodrage I’m not 100% on this but I believe UK playtesters for the Curious Village hated Luke’s American voice so much that the devs had to recast him for the UK/Irish release of the game.

[@Gabo2oo]

The crossover didn't get a North American localization at all, they straight-up reused the UK one as-is. Not an issue for the Layton characters, but it feels super weird to read Phoenix calling himself a "defence attorney", to be honest.

[@BigKlingy]

Interestingly Layton's VA isn't British so his accent is fake, but it's kept for all regions since UK people seem to like it. I get why they'd change Luke though, bad cockney is VERY noticeable and jarring to someone outside America. Especially from a child character.

[@FruityKoala]

Meanwhile in Australia we get a mishmash of EU and NA. Botw on Switch actually has the NA box art but the EU cartridge meaning the home icon doesn’t match up with the box art 😠

[@BSCTDrayden]

still love how Layton games in Europe have the grammar things AND a different dub for Luke

[@jimmyrobertson4264]

when we were kids, one of my friends had an american copy of layton (i think curious village), i was so jarred by luke's VA. there's just something a BIT off about the accent.

[@eastbeast1379]

SEGA does what Nintendont: Colour 🇬🇧

[@F0XK1D]

I really enjoy these videos that focus on the European gaming market! Most channels focus on the US

[@DaNintendude]

I like to headcanon that Music Park is the name of the full park-- while Melody Motorway is the specific road you drive on. That way the flags make sense.

[@PhirePhlame]

As a fun fact, the Korean version of Mario Strikers Charged is called "Mario Power Soccer"

[@larryinc64]

I'm surprised you mentioned the Layton name changes, but not the redone voice work for some of the characters to replace the Americans doing a British accent with actual Brits.

[@jeffgreen5429]

While I'm impartial to most of these: Wario's Galleon is fantastic. Using Shipyard in NA has shades of "Sorcerer's Stone" because American kids are apparently not smart enough to understand "Philosopher's Stone".

[@hrudyplayz]

In french, we say neither "tilt controls" or "motion controls" but "i'm using the gyroscope"

[@DisableYT]

Paper Mario: Sticker Star had a completely separate translation too. I haven't seen them side by side, but I heard the UK translation is considered to be better. Personally, I'll never forget that Toad who called Bowser a "wally".

[@CaptainJLinebeck]

Yeah the EU version of Sticker Star uses a lot of British slang that gives the characters more a regional personality

[@belstar1128]

@@CaptainJLinebeck That makes it pretty annoying for non uk players who are stuck with the uk version because their countries are too small .even now i watch some uk youtubers and they just say some gibberish word like "the mugs eyeful"

[@Koivusilta]

Dragon Quest V didn't have a number either in Europe. It was only with DQVI and IX, when Nintendo took over the European publishing duties of Dragon Quest games from Square Enix that they started using the numbers in European releases. And even then, DQVI was called Realms of "Reverie" instead of "Revelation" here. :) But yeah, this stuff is so fascinating, particularly in cases like Kirby and Smash Bros where they even go out on their way to record new voices for the PAL english release. Konami did that with the Eledees/Elebits games as well.

[@kbhasi]

Thanks for making a video about that! The games having separate UK localisations were the primary reason why I wanted to import E region Wii U and gen 2 3DS consoles into Singapore to play instead of the U region consoles and games we got here!!! However, I never did as I didn't have much of an interest in gaming and couldn't afford to even get a 3DS and some games at the time! Then the Switch came out and it seems to have US English only, no UK English, at least in Splatoon and Animal Crossing, the first-party games I play the most on mine, and would try and translate the American nuances into British nuances, but that only works for comparison points I know about. I should really consider working on a series of blog posts and videos to help more people translate US English to UK English, but if I did, there'd be more of a focus on fiction books as I'm more of a bookworm than a gamer.

[@Terranigma23]

It's like in the Wii era. A lot of Nintendo games (like Mario Galaxy 1&2) were translated in "Québécois" (French Canadian language from the province of Québec). :)

[@Blazio]

Another thing with the Color/Colour thing is we use Colour in Canada yet almost always get the American version of games with their spelling.

[@belstar1128]

You know its really annoying is when people try to correct me when i use to word color. i use both the American and uk spelling since i don't speak English natively and learned from a mix of uk and American media. but there is always someone who thinks i am dùmb for using the alternative spelling.

[@BahamutOmega]

Then add in the usual Americanisms of changing metric units to imperial. Something that should just be left in the game as standard pretty much everywhere else.

[@vgbcp3rs0na41]

FIGHT US!!!

[@coolcraze302]

I remember as a child watching Americans play splatoon and then being shocked when I finally got the game and saw Cuttlefish saying ‘give ‘em hell’ in the first level in the British version

[@keatsiannightingale]

Great video! This is a very interesting topic for me (I'm a translator) and I always like to see the differences in videogame localisation. Localisation gone wrong could also be a good topic to cover!

[@xtrem5428]

Splatoon 2 had the same thing in French too. The NA French and EU French were very different, even in the name of the weapons. I had to make a translation file because my team had players in both France and Quebec. For example, the Forge Splattershot Pro is "Liquéficateur pro Fusia" in Canada, and "Liquidateur pro griffé" in France. Or the Aerospray MG being "Pouche-pouche" in Canada and "Aérogun" in France.

[@timelymirror7826]

how many Nintendo games have Canadian french

[@xtrem5428]

@@timelymirror7826 I dunno about that. I play mostly in English. I know Star Fox 64 3D only had France French dubs and it's what made me switch to English. Might be more recent games that have both translations, because if you go back to the N64 era, they didn't have French at all in NA versions.

[@AlterBridgeJericho]

There is a hilarious moment in EU/PAL 3DS Miitopia where a character says "it's just me, your mighty and infallible God" which they apparently removed in the US version since they thought using God's name would be taken in vain. So dumb.

[@HybridAngelZero]

Here's a fun thing: the version of Ape Escape 2 on North American PSN for PS4 is actually the British English version. At first I wondered why this happened (Ape Escape 1 has the North American localization on PSN) and I realized Ubisoft actually localized Ape Escape 2 and 3 in America, and Sony likely just slapped the PAL version (which they published) on there so they wouldn't have to pay Ubisoft

[@RioBlitzle]

the list of different localised game names was interesting, because while with some i was well familiar (rhythm heaven vs rhythm paradise and pushmo vs pullblox for example), there were some i just had no idea were a thing until now, on both sides of the pond- my childhood copy of squeak squad was a rom on an r4 and i had no idea it was supposed to be called mouse attack here, and i also had no idea americans call streetpass quest find mii!!

[@CiromBreeze]

Honestly, "Find Mii" sounds like some weird search game (... you know, like the one in Wii Play, which actually IS called Find Mii), rather than a game where you're on a quest to save the prince/princess, so in this instance I prefer StreetPass Quest. (Though if it was "Save Mii", it'd be a whole 'nother story...)

[@averagewhiteguy2]

While I am American, one thing I can respect in European versions is that they are often times more faithful to the JP text. Translations should be as close to the original as possible while making it understandable and flow well in the language. I hate adding jokes or dumb slang.

[@M0vess]

I will always advocate for Melody Motorway being a way better name

[@jullicent]

One other thing is sometimes Nintendo outsources their localization instead of doing it internally. For example, Fire Emblem Awakening, Xenoblade X, and FE Warriors Three Hopes were all done by 8-4.

[@timelymirror7826]

8-4??

[@legendofhayden]

my ability to correctly predict if it’s a Jon video so often means you’ve established your vibe so well that it comes through in the titles and topics you choose

[@TurnaboutAdam]

I was literally thinking this as I saw the title.

[@trapez77]

He carries this channel

[@TurnaboutAdam]

@@trapez77 nah, the whole gang is great. Jon’s content is A+, though

[@Ronald_Ruck]

In an English vocabulary test I wrote "colour" wrong because I didn't know the writing on my GBC was not British English. 😔

[@belstar1128]

Yea that stuff is so annoying i sometimes get hate online when i write it in the "wrong" way.

[@datalphalion]

At least Europe got their revenge when Hot Shots Golf on PS4 was simply called Everybody’s Golf in all regions. So I’d say it’s worth it.

[@zackythegamer]

note: most first party (nintendo published and or developed) ds games in australia used the american version you can tell on the cartridge since the last letter on the game id is E (USA Version) instead of P (Europe/UK Version)

[@BasVoet]

As a non-English speaker by origin I have always found these differences fascinating.

[@Sparx632]

I remember that cool DSiWare game X-Scape (X-Returns in Japan) was called 3D Space Tank here in Europe, very creative.

[@boo1_gaming927]

For the stats in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, there's a different name for one of them between the US and UK versions. It's called traction in the US, but it's grip in the UK.

[@boredgoddesstori6635]

Fun Fact: in German it‘s called „Rette die Krone!“ (save the crown!) instead of Find Mii or Streetpass Quest

[@jules9424]

In Dutch it's called "Mii in Misére" (Mii in trouble). I really like the alliteration of this one.

[@miket.1933]

That was totally weird. I played Fantasy Life a month ago and later saw a video and I was really surprised that some jokes in the dialog were completely different.

[@CiromBreeze]

Fantasy Life is probably one of the biggest changes between versions - even character names (Flutter/Butterfly, Fluffkin/Furkin, Cherry/Poppy), locations (Levitania/Terra Nimbus, Choir Hall/Chapel, Drysand Desert/Aridian Desert) and classes (Magician/Wizard, God Rank/Creator Rank) are different! ... Makes it really annoying to play multiplayer, honestly. Most ironic is the first Alchemy quest, known as "Alchemy 101" in EU but "Liquid Lessons" in the US. We don't even use the term "101" here, that's purely an American thing.

[@louish5068]

I preferred when they did the separate localisations. I hate how now we just get the american english version, we need more british english in gaming. Also, apparently Spyke in Splatoon talks stereotypically british now??? He never did in splatoon 1 here in europe but now that we just get the american translation he does in the dlc. And its weird. He basically feels like a different character

[@matthewberry2144]

Yeah, while I think NOA has made fun translations that can add more charm, I think many translations go too far, and Splatoon is one of the worst offenders for that. I kinda prefer when they make it more faithful to the Japanese version there, and since Splatoon 2, Europe has just taken America's localized text. Like there's the infamous Marina fiasco where NOA addressed Marina being way too mean in the English localization when she was nothing like that in Japanese and changed some dialogue for her to be more pleasant.

[@timelymirror7826]

Nintendo of America is responsible for the localizations

[@carloso5910official]

Even though NoE just gets NoA’s English localizations, they still make some changes to where it’s needed if they need to

[@PikaLink91]

1:00 A typical example of companies dumbing things down for them stupid Americans. Sorcerer's Stone, anyone?

[@supermariof0521]

You forgot "Mario Party 8". In the board, "Shy Guy's Perplex Express", there's an event where Magikoopa casts a spell that contains the word "Spastic". However when the game was localized in Europe, initial copies contained that word, but were quickly recalled due to the word "Spastic" being a European slur against diasbled people. So the word was replaced with "Eratic".

[@Envy_May]

this is a weird one, but there are also instances of "magikoopa" being used in america when "kamek" is used in europe, even though both of those words are canon, just one refers to the species and the other refers to an individual

[@pvzmariosonica8fan]

The line was also changed in later US releases

[@supermariof0521]

@@pvzmariosonica8fan Oh it was?

[@pvzmariosonica8fan]

@@supermariof0521 Yes it was

[@carlosraruto]

I remember being surprised at how different Advance wars Days of Ruin was between the European and American versions

[@mkbest]

Not to mention, in the original Splatoon game we had "Nice!" instead of "Booyah!".

[@techmark3665]

And “to me” instead of “c’mon”

[@swagkirby3449]

Something else is the DSiWare Express sample titles are called "A little bit of X" in Europe and I can't unhear Lou Bega's Mambo number 5 upon learning that

[@nathandavies9191]

“That’s my creme caramel” had me 💀💀💀

[@Cutie_Nepgear]

Another Code: Two Memories (Trance Memory) a lot of dialouge changes in the American version. However there were very little cases that they corrected errors that were made in the European version like Ashley saying the ribbon on the stuffed bear was red was corrected to pink and Ashley saying Jessica is a college teacher was corrected to high school.

[@noisykestrel]

Here in Germany, there was a bizarre controversy when Final Fantasy X came out: The German subtitles were a 1:1 translation from the Japanese script, but the audio was the localised American English one. This lead to people complaining on forums about the “Bad Translation”, especially the ending, where the English audio says “I love you”, but the German subtitles say “Danke (Thank you)”, which was originally said in the Japanese audio. The same thing happened with the Final Fantasy VII Remake, where people complained about the German script not matching the English one, for some reason believing the English one was more accurate, while the German one actually was far more accurate than the English one. But honestly, as a German who learnt British English in school and made an effort to use it properly, I just find the European localisations much more appealing to read, more like they “belong here”. Also, I much prefer the accurate script of Splatoon over the adapted one, simply because it's the original one.

[@JLP7220]

It is so common and unfortunate that there are some people in the German Gaming and Anime communities that look down on German localizations.

[@lpfan4491]

Always when a german localization is actually done well, people complain. When it is done poorly or based on an inaccurate english translation, then it is "translated well", simply because the endresult is fun. You know, that may fly for games like Splatoon, but storyheavy games like most RPGs definitly have a priority on good translation over the possibly better script. I think Kingdom Hearts actually stopped translating from japanese in more recent releases(including a certain cutscene in KH2 that is completely diffrent from japanese, so rip) and it sucks. While the older translations weren't always 1:1 because of their own potential errors and wanting to keep it somewhat in line with the english voiceacting, they were still clearly more accurate and straight up decided to side with the original script when the english material was simply mistranslated to the point of compromises being impossible. Major mentions go to "Why did he pick you" and "Defeat Xehanort and take back your body", which are clearly and wildly wrong, with those errors just not existing in german.

[@SuperFromND]

i've got a rather minor one, but flipnic on PS2 was given the subtitle "ultimate pinball" over in NA and our version changed the names of the theology stages to "evolution" also the NA version was published by capcom; the EU one was published by ubisoft, and the JP one by sony themselves

[@MuchWhittering]

I wish more companies did proper British versions. Sucker Punch is great for it. The Sly games all used British spellings over here, and Ghost of Tsushima has a British English option for its subs too. In Jak 3, the Slam Dozer became the Ram Rod for some reason.

[@Elvisbackpack]

I've never heard of "tilt controls", I've always used "motion controls".

[@Snugboy]

Hey Jon SO sorry but I will NOT be watching this video until the American localization is available. Thanks for understanding

[@GVG]

We'll get Derrick to dub it

[@Snugboy]

@@GVG thank you so much for understanding!!!!!!!

[@TheZebbga]

​@@Snugboy It would be hilarious if they did haha. With script edits and everything.

[@UnknownUser-ow5zb]

I don't know why I prefer the name Suckerfish over Squee-G in Splatoon so much, but I am still irritated that they went with that name going forward. I also prefer how Judd speaks in the UK version, I feel the dryness and lack of cat puns fits him much better.

[@CiromBreeze]

Suckerfish was such a better name, given that it's slang for an *actual fish* which does pretty much the same thing.

[@Kilumy]

Gotta love all the european Gaming content that Jon does :)

[@Johntrampoline]

It’s not very common but there are a few games in Australia with different translations/titles to Europe and America. For example game and watch gallery 1-3 were known as gameboy gallery 2-4 in Australia.

[@InfraSolart]

I love this kind of stuff, it gives a uniqueness to the game you get from your local store. The unified worldwide editions are neat, but I find that in re-releases they remove cool features from one of the original versions.

[@robertbrookes2000]

Great video. I'd happily watch an hour long deep dive into the topic. US vs UK changes in media I find fascinating. As a big fan of the Layton series, it's always interesting discussing which of the titles are better. Of course I lean to the European titles: Pandora's Box, Lost Future and Spectre's Call. As opposed to Diabolical Box, Unwound Future and Last Specter. To be fair, the in game Elysian Box is not named Pandora's Box so Diabolical Box does make a bit more sense. Whereas Lost/Unwound Future has a cutscene with changed dialogue, which I personally think makes Lost the much better pick. There's also a fair number of puzzles in the series that have different names, or some different puzzles altogether. As well as lots of NPC name changes. And let's not forget the biggest change, the voice actress for Luke is different for US and UK audiences. I'm glad for this as to British ears the British VA was much more accurate.

[@vboyz21]

I never knew how much I was missing this video from my life. Good work lads 🙌🏼🙌🏼

[@FizzyChalice]

Finally, I’ve always wanted to see someone discuss this.

[@rhodrage]

Somewhat related. The UK often gets the US English translation for Pokemon games. Except for Sword and Shield, that used the UK English. I wish they'd give us UK English all the time, like Layton had it all completely redone, but still.

[@Bracketmeister]

The fact that in the US version of Splatoon, Spyke was written as a cockney, but in the PAL version, he was a shady guy that, if anything, probably sounded more American than most other characters is so weird to me. And since we return to Inkopolis Plaza in the first DLC for Splatoon 3, seeing Spyke with the cockney dialogue feels like he's had an entire character rewrite.

[@petemellows]

You should check out the directs. In The latest TotK direct the US get overdubs and Australia gets subtitles. Most people I know like subtitles, so this might be very smart if their market research reflects my very small sample size.

[@Telzrob]

OK, most of this is logical enough. I do take issue with equating "Long Johns" to "Trousers". Long Johns are a specific type of long underwear (Worn when it's frickin' COLD), also called thermal underwear. They go UNDER clothes, if you're showing them off you're doing it wrong (unless your about to have a good time, and are in a very warm place (or a place that's about to BECOME very warm (*wink wink *know what I mean? *nudge nudge))).

[@xerontokyo]

Same case back in early 2000's ATLUS USA & Ghostlight have different subtitle for Shin Megami Tensei III, In the US it is called Nocturne while Europe it is Lucifer Call cause trademark and copyright issues.

[@will_0_w]

I can't believe you missed wii fit! The trainers are completely different

[@millasgameroom]

as a fellow european, glad to see more attention on this.

[@goronberry]

One of my favourite localisation changes is in Spirit Tracks, the four different quadrants of the world are called realms in the American version but lands in the European version. While the European version technically makes more sense as the term realm is typically used for areas far more separate to Hyrule such as the Sacred Realm or the Twilight Realm (Even the European version of Spirit Tracks still calls the final area the Dark Realm), it lead to the unfortunate consequence of one of the areas being called Water Land which is really dumb sounding.

[@TurnaboutAdam]

This is so funny, literally 4 hours ago I was talking with an American friend about how Kirby Squeak Squad was called mouse attack here. I hadn’t even heard of the game before that, and here it used as an example.