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A title that I have been following with acute interest as of late is a group over on Serene's Forest that started to translate the newest 3DS Fire Emblem title, Fire Emblem if. Within a short period after release, the team has finally come out and released a translation patch that translates menus, with further work being done to translate the story and other game elements, with the thought that localization is quite a ways off and that certain features may end up being censored. Under the lead of SciresM and Cellenseres, the translation project has made incredible progress in other matters, having fully translated the first several chapters of story dialogue.

To apply this patch, tread carefully because the means of applying the patch may cause irreversible damage. Unfortunately, the patch is only available to a Nintendo 3DS that is below or equal to firmware version 9.2. It currently works on any 3DS region but may require the region free patch to operate. The patch comes in two flavors: A ROM patcher and the NTR_CFW method.

For the ROM patcher, please refer to the readme.txt attached to the download. Using the NTR_CFW method follow these instructions:

1. You need a (New) Nintendo 3DS with Firmware 9.2 or lower, otherwise there's no way to execute custom code on your 3DS now,
2. You need to get NTR_CFW + RegionFree-Plugin + LayeredFS-Plugin (1.1 for 3DS, 2.2 for N3DS).
3. Download our Patch and extract the content to the Root of your SD Card.
4. Start NTR_CFW on your 3DS (MSET-Exploit, Spider-Exploit or Cubic Ninja Exploit) or on your N3DS (Cubic Ninja Exploit).
5. Start "Fire Emblem If - Special Edition" (Retail Cartridge or eShop Version, both will work).
6. While the 3DS - Logo screen, the top-screen should blink in green for ~0.5seconds (like in the Video).
7. Your Game is temporary patched! You can play our Translation!

The GBAtemp.net Staff will not take any responsibility for any consoles damaged using this exploit. Please proceed with caution, and best of luck. The two methods of patching are linked below.

ROM Patcher Version
NTR_CFW Patch
Link to ongoing discussion

 

[Verack]

Most people don't care about this stuff. You are literally translating a game just to play is a few months faster. That's wasting time and effort on a redundant Project.

With all due respect, that "stuff" matters immensely to me. Call me a nerd or whatever you will, but I am incredibly critical about being able to play a product the way it was originally intended to be played. To me, buying a product is like buying a pie. How would you feel if when you bought your favorite pie, you noticed only 75% of it was in the box? Then you'd go to the store manager, and he would tell you "Oh that other 25% of the pie was offensive and tasted bad to me, so I didn't give it to you. And no, you can't have the other 25%".

In other words, I want the game as close as possible to the original. I don't want parts missing, lines changed, or content cut all because "most people don't care about this stuff".

 

[Xenon Hacks]

Most people don't care about this stuff. You are literally translating a game just to play is a few months faster. That's wasting time and effort on a redundant Project.

The game is going to be censored to hell so a proper translation is needed,wanted, and welcomed also it's not redundant because the translations will be very different for each region and id much rather play the game the way it was meant to be played.

For example allot of anime when translated from japanese to english loses it raw emotion intended dialogue and most times makes no sense.

 

[sarkwalvein]

Most people don't care about this stuff. You are literally translating a game just to play is a few months faster. That's wasting time and effort on a redundant Project.

Who is most people? Where do you take your stats from?

 

[CathyRina]

With all due respect, that "stuff" matters immensely to me. Call me a nerd or whatever you will, but I am incredibly critical about being able to play a product the way it was originally intended to be played. To me, buying a product is like buying a pie. How would you feel if when you bought your favorite pie, you noticed only 75% of it was in the box? Then you'd go to the store manager, and he would tell you "Oh that other 25% of the pie was offensive and tasted bad to me, so I didn't give it to you. And no, you can't have the other 25%".

In other words, I want the game as close as possible to the original. I don't want parts missing, lines changed, or content cut all because "most people don't care about this stuff".

Then buy the original and be happy with it. No need wasting time and effort into a translation that only the niche of the niche will find useful and most people will just use it to play the game early and eventually ignore it on launch.

The game is going to be censored to hell so a proper translation is needed,wanted, and welcomed also it's not redundant because the translations will be very different for each region and id much rather play the game the way it was meant to be played.

For example allot of anime when translated from japanese to english loses it raw emotion intended dialogue and most times makes no sense.

But the thing is, Anime and Games are entirely different media. Censoring an anime is taking away from the experience because you can only watch the anime. There is no other way to experience it. However censoring a game doesn't change the way you play the game at all. You play the game in the same way as you usually would you just see less butts and boobs. And let's be honest if you lack your daily dose of butts and boobs because a game was being slightly censored then you should visit Pixiv more often. Not to mention most Nintendo censorships aren't noticeable unless somebody tells you that the game was censored. This is really just bitching about a non-issue.

Who is most people? Where do you take your stats from?

Common Knowledge. Many people don't follow games news and internet drama (same way as most people who bought FEZ don't know who Phil Fish is) or they just follow Nintendo/Microsoft/Sony news on the respectable devices which is pro biased. They don't even know a game was censored unless you tell them it was. And most people don't care because they still have/will have fun with the game. Fire Emblem Awakening was considered the best 3DS game for 3DS before A Link between Worlds came out. What do you think, how many of those people were upset because they put a piece of silk in front of Tharja's ass in one picture? I would say not many. I haven't seen one single review who talked about any censorship and all people I talked to claimed FE:A was perfect. If there is not a single person who was upset with the censorship out of two dozens I'm safe to assume that most people don't care.

 

[Verack]

(respone)

I would love to buy the original version, but my Japanese is a bit rusty, and the 3DS has a region lock. Both of these prevent me from playing the game in its "original" form.

However censoring a game doesn't change the way you play the game at all.

It changes it for me. I hate to break it to you, but the exact reason for If/Fate's "amie" section is exactly for, as you put it, "your daily dose of butts and boobs". I'm not going to lie or sugarcoat it: the amie portion of the game is there for pure fanservice. However, simply removing it or altering it because "oh who cares you can get butts and boobs on the internet!" doesn't fly with me. If I were in charge of the world, "localizations" would simply translate the text of a game and do nothing else. No name changing liberties like Harold > Arthur, for example.

They don't even know a game was censored unless you tell them it was.

So are you suggesting censorship is fine, or are you suggesting "what they don't know won't hurt them"? Both of which are quite nasty suggestions, might I add. I personally stand against censorship of any variety: that includes the boobies, my news, my history books, and anything you can think of. Changing ANYTHING simply to make some people feel comfortable is absolutely unacceptable in my opinion. If you don't like a product, you can simply ignore it.

 

[sarkwalvein]

Common Knowledge. Many people don't follow games news and internet drama (same way as most people who bought FEZ don't know who Phil Fish is) or they just follow Nintendo/Microsoft/Sony news on the respectable devices which is pro biased. They don't even know a game was censored unless you tell them it was. And most people don't care because they still have/will have fun with the game. Fire Emblem Awakening was considered the best 3DS game for 3DS before A Link between Worlds came out. What do you think, how many of those people were upset because they put a piece of silk in front of Tharja's ass in one picture? I would say not many. I haven't seen one single review who talked about any censorship and all people I talked to claimed FE:A was perfect. If there is not a single person who was upset with the censorship out of two dozens I'm safe to assume that most people don't care.

Then there is your problem for data analysis.
If you want to evaluate if a translation project for a specific game is worth the time you have to take into consideration a subset of people on the world, the subset that could possible play translations.
First of all: Only 3DS owner could play a 3DS games, discard anyone else because it is not part of the market.
Second: Only people that actually "follow game news and internet drama" could be the target market for any fan translation project, so take everybody else away.
Third: Also people that can play translations, that is, people that want to hack their system and whose system have FW below 9.2.
Then: People that actually care to play Fire Emblem If Japanese version translated.
Only after all that condition you find a potential market for a fan translation project.

So, what is the ratio of people that have a 3DS, follow game news and internet drama, can and want to hack their 3ds, and want to play Fire Emblem If Japanese version translated?
I will pull out of my ass, I mean "use common knowledge", to say that this ratio is big enough to justify the effort.

 

[John5p]

Common Knowledge. Many people don't follow games news and internet drama (same way as most people who bought FEZ don't know who Phil Fish is) or they just follow Nintendo/Microsoft/Sony news on the respectable devices which is pro biased. They don't even know a game was censored unless you tell them it was. And most people don't care because they still have/will have fun with the game.

It's funny how your comment is strikingly similar to Ellen Pao's response to the reddit admin's lack of communication to the mods debacle.
"The vast majority of Reddit users are uninterested in what unfolded over the past 48 hours." -Ellen Pao

Just because many people don't care, it doesn't mean the entire project is pointless. Quit your Chairman Pao act and realize that you are pulling stats out of your ass and the people that do care are developers and they matter because they release content for us.

 

[CathyRina]

I would love to buy the original version, but my Japanese is a bit rusty, and the 3DS has a region lock. Both of these prevent me from playing the game in its "original" form.

We are talking about a fan translation that you would have to pirate anyway to make it work. I don't have a PS2 and yet still I have 3 PS2 games just to play them Legally on a emulator.

So are you suggesting censorship is fine, or are you suggesting "what they don't known won't hurt them"? Both of which are quite nasty suggestions, might I add. I personally stand against censorship of any variety: that includes the boobies, my news, my history books, and anything you can think of. Changing ANYTHING simply to make some people feel comfortable is absolutely unacceptable in my opinion.

I wouldn't say censorship in general is fine because there are plenty of areas where censorship would be cancer. However censoring a entertainment media is fine.
Keep in mind Nintendo wants to sell a product and the cultural standards to nudity are immensely different between West and Japan. If a piece of the game would increase the age rating of a game they are going to sell less copies of a product. Many GTA games in their planned state would receive the "Adult Only" rating in US which would shut around 90% of sales off so they censored them to get the "Mature" rating. This way not only more copies are going to be sold but also more people have access to the games. That's a good thing. If you don't agree with a companies decision on censoring then you are a exception.

If you don't like a product, you can simply ignore it.

I was going to but then you started quoting me. Simple replies don't appear in my alerts box, Quotes do.

*snip*

I'm surprised you haven't noticed yourself how much of a niche audience you are catering to by that comment.

It's funny how your comment is strikingly similar to Ellen Pao's response to the reddit admin's lack of communication to the mods debacle.
"The vast majority of Reddit users are uninterested in what unfolded over the past 48 hours." -Ellen Pao

Just because many people don't care, it doesn't mean the entire project is pointless. Quit your Chairman Pao act and realize that you are pulling stats out of your ass and the people that do care are developers and they matter because they release content for us.

I don't know who Ellen Pao is but you have as many stats to back your claims up as me so what's the point of your response? You're proving that using my point is wrong by using the same point that I did? That's not right.

 

[Verack]

However censoring a entertainment media is fine.

We will simply have to disagree then. The reason I give full support to the fan translation is because I do not believe in censorship of any kind.

Keep in mind Nintendo wants to sell a product and the cultural standards to nudity are immensely different between West and Japan.

I could go on a giant rant about how "Puritan America" is one of the most obnoxious things on the planet, but that would be irrelevant to this discussion.

Anyway, the content of If/Fates would net it a M at most, or a strong T even. AO is reserved strictly for games with content of sexual nature or otherwise pornographic material. An exception to this was the recent release of Hatred, which managed to net an AO for what is claimed to be "excessive violence". Regardless, that is not the case here.

I don't know about you, but I don't see children playing Fire Emblem. The target audience in Japan is for late teens and young adults (the 16-22 age range). I would imagine that it is similar here in America. What I do suspect though is that Nintendo as a whole wants to keep their image "family friendly", which is exactly why NoA is shy around games like Fatal Frame, Devil's Third, and so on.

As for the GTA bit, you have to understand we're talking about two different instances here. In your example, you're talking about changes made during the production period. As in, developer decisions that occur before a game is released. In the case of If/Fates, we're talking about content that already exists in the game (the JP version of the game) being removed.

 

[sarkwalvein]

I'm surprised you haven't noticed yourself how much of a niche audience you are catering to by that comment.

By definition the audience for any fan translation is a niche audience.
I don't find any sense in saying "you are losing time translating this because your audience is niche, translate something else" when any other game that is fan translated will also have just a niche audience.

We are talking about a fan translation that you would have to pirate anyway to make it work. I don't have a PS2 and yet still I have 3 PS2 games just to play them Legally on a emulator.

Also there is no need to pirate this game to play the fan translation.
You could just plug the original cart and use NTR with LayeredFS plugin for the translation.

 

[John5p]

I don't know who Ellen Pao is but you have as many stats to back your claims up as me so what's the point of your response? You're proving that using my point is wrong by using the same point that I did? That's not right.

I claimed that developers care and they matter. Censorship, fan translations, etc are made possible by developers so of course these people care. Also developers matter to us (the end user) because they release content for us. Why do I need stats to prove this? Developers make stuff and we consume that stuff. =_=

If you want to talk about stats, you do realize that most posts in this thread are in disagreement with your views. Does that mean if most people in this thread disagree with your opinion, your post is a waste of time? Translation projects are not a waste of time otherwise there would never be a translation to begin with. Your views are not a waste of time. Your opinions have value just like the value of translations. Although your opinion is of the"niche" minority in this thread, I respect that.

 

[CathyRina]

I claimed that developers care and they matter. Censorship, fan translations, etc are made possible by developers so of course these people care. Also developers matter to us (the end user) because they release content for us. Why do I need stats to prove this? Developers make stuff and we consume that stuff. =_=

You need stats to prove it. What you currently say are assumptions not facts. Just because I like to consume Coke doesn't mean I'm automatically interested in the people behind Coke. I just want to drink Coke and don't care about anything else. So why should I suddenly give a f*ck about people behind games?

By definition the audience for any fan translation is a niche audience.
I don't find any sense in saying "you are losing time translating this because your audience is niche, translate something else" when any other game that is fan translated will also have just a niche audience.

But other translations aren't that niche. Other translations allow people who are interested to play games that wouldn't have been playable without Japanese knowledge.
If people are so extremely bitter about censorship then why not simply wait for the NA release and make a Undub/uncensor mod instead of a full translation project?
Even if the current intention is to allow people to play a uncensored version, most people will play it just because they can play the game early that way.
And I know that I have no proof backing it up but that's just human exploitative nature and I assume that this is the case.

Also there is no need to pirate this game to play the fan translation.
You could just plug the original cart and use NTR with LayeredFS plugin for the translation.

The point is you need a hacked device a hacked device anyway not that you would have to download a ISO of the game. If you have a hacked device region lock isn't a issue.

I don't know about you, but I don't see children playing Fire Emblem.

Let's start with I don't see children playing on a 3DS at all. Ironically I saw only 1 child playing Pokemon on a Bus but know of 5 Children who own a PS vita.
But it doesn't matter what we see or not see. What matters is the companies intention and as long as decisions are being made that don't kill my enjoyment in a product and broaden the audience of a product then I don't care about this decision being made. You do and I respect that but in my personal opinion the translation is redundant. Let's end the discussion on that because it won't lead to anywhere. You won't agree to me and I won't agree to you.

 

[John5p]

You need stats to prove it. What you currently say are assumptions not facts. Just because I like to consume Coke doesn't mean I'm automatically interested in the people behind Coke. I just want to drink Coke and don't care about anything else. So why should I suddenly give a f*ck about people behind games?

First of all, I never disagreed that you don't care who are the people behind the games. It's your opinion and I respect that.

Second, are you telling me I'm assuming developers care about what they do?Are fan translations made by people who don't care about the project? That's absurd. You keep on rambling about people who don't care, but discount the people who do care. Why can't you just accept some care and some don't? You also keep on saying you don't care. Well we get it. You don't care, yet you care enough to respond. It doesn't need to be repeated.

 

[CathyRina]

Are you telling me I'm assuming developers care about what they do?

I still don't undesrtand what you mean by that. I'm talking about most consumers not giving a fuck about people behind the games that's all. Not Developers doing what ever you want to say.

Are fan translations made by people who don't care about the project? That's absurd. You keep on rambling about people who don't care, but discount the people who do care. Why can't you just accept some care and some don't? You also keep on saying you don't care. Well we get it. You don't care, yet you care enough to respond. It doesn't need to be repeated.

I have yet to find a part in my argumentation that says that everybody don't care. Because so far I was speaking about majority not everybody. And Speaking about majority automatically assumes that there is a smaller group opposing that majority.

 

[Cyan]

What is the format of the released files?
.lz is the format used by the game, or it's a patch format? (like xdelta/ips/ppf?)

I don't want to be the party breaker here, but sharing extracted or edited game files is still illegal (or else we would just edit any ROM to make them legal).
if they are all patches to patch the file content, then it's fine. if they are final files to replace/swap to the extracted ROM, it's not very clean...

 

[Jwiz33]

Unfortunately, the patch is only available to a Nintendo 3DS that is below firmware version 9.2.​

It doesn't have to be below 9.2. It has to be on 9.2 or below. So below 9.3.

 

[thorasgar]

Let's start with I don't see children playing on a 3DS at all. Ironically I saw only 1 child playing Pokemon on a Bus but know of 5 Children who own a PS vita.
.

You may not see it in Germany but in the U.S. you will find the opposite. I have two boys 9 and 12 and every kid on our block has a 3DS none have a Vita. I don't even know what one looks like. They both had a DS lite in 2008 and we were late to the party in our neighborhood. In fact I don't think I have ever seen an adult play any form of DS.

 

[CathyRina]

You may not see it in Germany but in the U.S. you will find the opposite. I have two boys 9 and 12 and every kid on our block has a 3DS none have a Vita. I don't even know what one looks like. They both had a DS lite in 2008 and we were late to the party in our neighborhood. In fact I don't think I have ever seen an adult play any form of DS.

oh I know a bunch of kids who had the DS / DS Lite. I just can't find many who have a 3DS

 

[Xenon Hacks]

oh I know a bunch of kids who had the DS / DS Lite. I just can't find many who have a 3DS

Because walking around with a $150+ item that isn't a trackable phone is probably not a smart idea. My New 3DS never leaves my house unless i'm traveling to another state by plane.

 

[CathyRina]

Because walking around with a $150+ item that isn't a trackable phone is probably not a smart idea. My New 3DS never leaves my house unless i'm traveling to another state by plane.

Then you aren't using it how it was mean to be used (which is ironic giving your previous statement on how you don't want to play games the way they wasn't been meant to be played).
Handhelds are designed to be portable consoles that allow you to play games anywhere. And I'm not even talking about "while walking" because lets be real that's stupid (even with a phone it's stupid).
I ride a bus regularly and play games to pass some time. I've seen only 1 kid doing it with a 3DS, 1 grown up doing it with a PSP and the rest was rocking Pou or some other poo on their smartphones.
Not even that. My streetpass encounters are limited to 2 persons when I am at certain part of the town at a certain time of day.
I had much more streetpass encounters during my trip to England however but on the other hand London is pretty crowdy.