Have you learned a new language for games?

[Spose']

I'm still in the process of learning, so I'm not nearly fluent yet. But it did (and still does) require some serious dedication, yes.

Do you find yourself struggling playing some games at time?

[Tsukasa01]

English and currently I'm learning Japanese, but not only for games I also want to travel to Japan soon

[Gare]

Do you find yourself struggling playing some games at time?

Oh, definitely. I basically play games with the kanji dictionary in front of me at all times. It can be frustrating when I have to keep looking up words I don't understand, and sometimes playing becomes more like work. But that's kind of the point, no? And not understanding the story or what the characters are saying is far more frustrating, so that keeps me motivated. The key is to man up and keep looking shit up in the dictionary. That's what I meant when I said it needs serious dedication.

[akeley]

Thats also only RPG not fps action ect.

Not sure if you`re aware that this Wikipedia page includes only tabletop RPGs? ;)

I got mega excited when I saw it because I was looking for something like that regarding videogames. Any idea where I can find one?

[Iamerror]

I'm currently learning Japanese, so I can play Japanese Rpg's, namely Dark half and Mother(for now). In the beginning I would make up a story of what I thought was going on. It was entertaining, but I knew I had to learn Japanese.

[Spose']

Not sure if you`re aware that this Wikipedia page includes only tabletop RPGs?

I got mega excited when I saw it because I was looking for something like that regarding videogames. Any idea where I can find one?

meh i did not but whatever. it shows how big the libraby is/ point proven.

[killerklown]

Oh, definitely. I basically play games with the kanji dictionary in front of me at all times. It can be frustrating when I have to keep looking up words I don't understand, and sometimes playing becomes more like work. But that's kind of the point, no? And not understanding the story or what the characters are saying is far more frustrating, so that keeps me motivated. The key is to man up and keep looking shit up in the dictionary. That's what I meant when I said it needs serious dedication.

how well does that work? that sounds like a great way to learn a new language. i've thought about learning japenease for a longe time( mostly for anime though) but never figured out how to teach myself. i think i'll try what your doing. thanks.

[Gare]

how well does that work? that sounds like a great way to learn a new language. i've thought about learning japenease for a longe time( mostly for anime though) but never figured out how to teach myself. i think i'll try what your doing. thanks.

It works, more or less. But I limited myself to games that don't use overly complex language. Keep in mind, though, that I started doing this after several months of classes, so I already know the grammar basics and such. My primarly goal with doing this is just expanding my vocabulary. Once I look up the unknown words I can generally figure out what's being said. Hopefully. But even if I don't, I just make an educated guess and try to go from there. You kinda have to be prepared for that.

The biggest obstacle is the fact that I play these games on the PSP. The Japanese font size on the PSP screen can be relatively small, meaning that kanji will appear rather pixely and very hard to look up properly in the dictionary. Sometimes I just can't look it up at all, which is frustrating but what can you do.

I don't know how self-teaching would work out. I didn't do it for very long before I decided that I needed classes. It probably differs from person to person, but I'm not a teacher, so I wouldn't want to tell you what to do.

[Devi]

Oh and the japanese games will have better story ect in it as its not a translation.

You know, I've actually been curious about that. Is that the case? I mean, obviously there's going to be a good amount of style lost in translation, but when reading really awkward passages, I've often wondered if it was the original writer or the translator who was lacking.

[Elin]

I haven't really learned a language for videogames, but I've learned tons of stuff from them. I wouldn't say my Japanese is fluent, as I've never lived there and my speaking skills are still a little underdeveloped, but I can read novels, watch movies, play games and do most other things in the language now without any problems, and a good 90% of my Japanese came from playing videogames growing up. I've also used videogames for reading practice in a host of other languages I've dabbled in. I really do think it's a very good way of learning a language if you're interested and willing to put in the hours.

You know, I've actually been curious about that. Is that the case? I mean, obviously there's going to be a good amount of style lost in translation, but when reading really awkward passages, I've often wondered if it was the original writer or the translator who was lacking.

Varies from game to game, really. A good number genuinely are ruined by the translator, especially when you're looking at older games. Wild ARMs II comes to mind. It's regarded as the strongest game in the series by Japanese fans, and is generally very well liked, but the story is completely garbled in English, and the game is slammed as mediocre by many English speakers. There are lots of less extreme examples, too, where translations aren't game ruining, but read amateurishly in places and lack the spark of their Japanese equivalents. Grandia, Final Fantasy VII, Legend of Dragoon, Ar Tonelico 2, Breath of Fire 2, and a host of others fall under that umbrella to varying degrees.

Others, though, are just downright badly written in any language. Something like Star Ocean 4 was ripped apart for its writing by the English speaking media, and many people placed the blame on the translators. But said translation was handled by 8-4, arguably the finest Japanese to English videogame localisation house in the world. And if you speak Japanese and read some user feedback on the game, you'll find that Japanese players were just as critical of its writing. So there you obviously have a situation where the translators just weren't really given a lot to work with, and things aren't going to be particularly great in any language.

There are also a couple that are arguably better in translation than in the original. Vagrant Story's archaic English script fits the game so well that I could never imagine playing it in Japanese, Working Designs's quirky, playful work on the Lunar games made them quite possibly more popular in the West than in Japan, and Phoenix Wright's host of silly puns and cultural references are arguably even more creative and fun than those in its Japanese equivalent. Of course there's a lot to be said for having the original just because... well... it's the original. I don't really play Japanese games in English anymore because I'm kind of a purist. :'D Still, there's definitely some really high quality Japanese to English translation work out there, and while translating Japanese to English will invariably mean change, it doesn't necessarily mean a drop in quality.

[The Almighty MegaMan]

Yes. English.

Actually, scratch that. I learnt a different language thanks to videogames. And the internet. And music. Not the other way around.

I want to learn japanese too, but eh, no time, and it's too much effort for little reward.

[Devi]

Spoiler warning:

Varies from game to game, really. A good number genuinely are ruined by the translator, especially when you're looking at older games. Wild ARMs II comes to mind. It's regarded as the strongest game in the series by Japanese fans, and is generally very well liked, but the story is completely garbled in English, and the game is slammed as mediocre by many English speakers. There are lots of less extreme examples, too, where translations aren't game ruining, but read amateurishly in places and lack the spark of their Japanese equivalents. Grandia, Final Fantasy VII, Legend of Dragoon, Ar Tonelico 2, Breath of Fire 2, and a host of others fall under that umbrella to varying degrees.

Others, though, are just downright badly written in any language. Something like Star Ocean 4 was ripped apart for its writing by the English speaking media, and many people placed the blame on the translators. But said translation was handled by 8-4, arguably the finest Japanese to English videogame localisation house in the world. And if you speak Japanese and read some user feedback on the game, you'll find that Japanese players were just as critical of its writing. So there you obviously have a situation where the translators just weren't really given a lot to work with, and things aren't going to be particularly great in any language.

There are also a couple that are arguably better in translation than in the original. Vagrant Story's archaic English script fits the game so well that I could never imagine playing it in Japanese, Working Designs's quirky, playful work on the Lunar games made them quite possibly more popular in the West than in Japan, and Phoenix Wright's host of silly puns and cultural references are arguably even more creative and fun than those in its Japanese equivalent. Of course there's a lot to be said for having the original just because... well... it's the original. I don't really play Japanese games in English anymore because I'm kind of a purist. :'D Still, there's definitely some really high quality Japanese to English translation work out there, and while translating Japanese to English will invariably mean change, it doesn't necessarily mean a drop in quality.

Ah, I guess I could have safely assumed that.
But that was really interesting to read from someone who knows first hand, especially with all the examples, so thank you!