Forum - View topicNEWS: Software Studio minori, Fan Translation Group in Talks
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Paploo
Posts: 1875 |
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Curious news. Sounds like they're approaching things the right way by taking down their site in that style. Better then just ignoring the C&D and inviting an eventual lawsuit like some outfits prefer to do.
From what I've seen, many translated anime-game/dating sim companies work primarily online anyways, so I wonder if people starting fan translations should just start using their japanese skills to contact the companies first and try to license the titles. |
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Razzuel
 Posts: 164 |
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I own Wind: A Breath of Heart; it's an amazing game, so I'd love to be able to play another game by the same developer. Also, I hear a lot of good things about ef, so hopefully this leads to an eventual North American release or something.
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norbjunior
Posts: 49 |
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I think this is a step in a direction that I've been hoping for for a long time. We basically have an entire industry based around fan work, and oftentimes, it is of supreme quality and care. I'm honestly surprised it took this long for an official company to license a fan translation, as to me, it seems like a logical step. I always look at things like manga scanlations and think "if I were this company, I'd make an offer and buy the translation." The work's already been done, now lets all benefit from it, and help bridge the gap between under-the-radar fan projects and official licensed merch.
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Shay Guy
 Posts: 2303 |
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Hope their work's better than Mirror Moon's Fate/stay night translation.
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Paploo
Posts: 1875 |
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Mind you, at the same time, they'd totally be in the right to deny them any talks at all. It sounds to be a case of the fan translation group taking things seriously and taking down the material, rather then just overlooking the issues involved with unpermitted translations. If things don't suit the company, they might take their business elsewhere
Really, most offical licensed product is just very elaborate fan-created translations if you look at it a certain way- the difference is they did all that stuff after working out the rights for it [Jojo's Bizarre Adventure's manga translation is in part because Jason Thompson did the work to get it here]. I do hope in the future, fans who are translating these games attemp to contact the companies first, as they are small companies and likely pretty flexible. |
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doubleO7
 Posts: 1072 |
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While that would be ideal, I doubt that most fan translation groups could afford to actually license the games they translate. Although I'm not very familiar with the costs of licensing fees for VNs, but I would assume they're a whole lot cheaper than anime/manga, so I could be wrong and maybe there are some groups where licensing may not be totally out of the question. |
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nightjuan
 Posts: 1473 |
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I would say that the mere existence of these talks is a positive sign but it ultimately depends on what, if any, tangible results come from them. Still, at least it's something you don't see every day and that's worth noticing.
I can't speak in favor of the quality or content of the games mentioned and wouldn't rush out to buy any of them without further information but, as a matter of principle, my hopes are that the executives and fan translators involved manage to come up with a viable distribution agreement. Whether or not it will provide me with products I'm interested in buying is, of course, another matter. |
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Reaper gI
Posts: 299 Location: UK |
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Minori acted very childishly and inapropriately to start with. They now apear to be acting more profesionaly about it. Hopefully the two parties are no longer at each others throats and can actually hold reasonable discussinons without it devolving back into mudslinging and trolling.
Hell, it was at least fun to watch so far. This has been quality internet drama. |
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14886 |
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Let's see if they can afford it or if they have to ask for donations....
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Asrialys
 Posts: 1164 |
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So they're discussing an actual license? I'd think it would be cheaper for both sides to just pay for the translation. Then again, minori may not know what to do about proper distribution.
Sort of related, I wonder if MangaGamer would be willing to distribute products that they don't translate... |
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Pirkaf
 Posts: 156 |
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If it would be profitable, why not? They hire external translators anyway. |
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Reaper gI
Posts: 299 Location: UK |
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We have no details besides the sentence or so on each site. They offered to buy the Higurashi fan translation, think they'd be fine with it. |
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TJR
Posts: 223 |
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Presumably, but we don't know their intentions yet. Ultimately, they stipulate that any negotiating party must visit them in Japan, which places NNL (already guilty of illegally distributing ef, as well as a portion of *eden - they may feel safe in Canada, but it's a whole different story once they're on Japanese soil) in a dangerous position. Let's just say that the worst case scenario is that minori is preparing to set an example.
minori has no intention of distributing overseas versions.
Word has it that minori and MangaGamer (Circus, Overdrive, et al.) despise each other. The thing is that they're on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to their opinions on how to handle overseas markets. minori would like to lock out all games unless a particular title is explicitly approved by a country's rating board and/or government (this means that they'll only license a game if the publisher agrees to make an ESRB submission. This goes for both adult and non-adult products). On the other hand, MangaGamer operates outside any rating board and sells games to people living in numerous countries, regardless of legal issues. minori has openly denounced MangaGamer's business, claiming that it's "immoral" and dangerous to their industry. |
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TJR
Posts: 223 |
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It's a matter of connections and trust. Most companies don't want to work with people they don't know on a personal level. This is why MangaGamer is so successful at attracting licensors. They're backed up heavyweights like Circus, which means that they have pre-existing connections to numerous eroge companies. That said, certain individuals involved with fan translation are now becoming acquainted with people affiliated with MangaGamer (thanks to events like Anime Expo, which also allowed them to mingle with MangaGamer guests like age, 0verflow, and Frontwing), so we may see improved relationships with eroge companies. |
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enurtsol
Posts: 14886 |
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Ah, the fallout from incidents like the Rapelay backlash that caused Japanese eroge companies to lock out non-Japanese IPs. They don't want foreign societies, whom their games are not made for, pressuring their Japanese government to clamp down on them. |
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