Terrible Platinum script...

[Guested]

Did anyone else notice how terrible the English script of Platinum is? I tried to play it when it came out, and I couldn't even make it past Sandgem without vowing to never leave my Japanese version again.

I'll post some examples a bit later...

But anything the professor says just sounds completely unnatural, and things that he and Dawn say were obviously taken as literal translations from the Japanese... "Please let me pass," she says, as she walks away. What kind of English-speaking 10 year old talks like that unless there's some kind of giant bouncer blocking their way?! I think "Excuse me" or ANYTHING ELSE would have been more natural.

The translation seemed to be so poorly done that for a second I thought my copy of the game had been switched with someone's terrible fan-translation.

Don't even get me started on all the lame internet memes that the super-nerd translators snuck in there.

Did anyone else feel like the English was really unnatural??

Also, do you remember if it was the same script as Diamond and Pearl? I'll replay the intro to Diamond a little later to see if I can find out, but let's discuss this .... issue... here.

[Pender]

The only thing that bugged me about Platinum's English script is the fact that the Elite 4 and Cynthia still don't seem to remember who you are when you rebattle them.

[Guested]

That.... doesn't really have anything to do with the translation, though.

Also, I never liked the "Player used one Pokeball."

Of COURSE the player only used one...

How about "a pokeball" ....?

[Torte de Lini]

Sorry.

My only complaint is how horrible the clothing styles are.

[randomspot555]

Did anyone else notice how terrible the English script of Platinum is?

I think Nob did an awesome job on the translation and found half the fun of Plat was reading over his work.

But anything the professor says just sounds completely unnatural, and things that he and Dawn say were obviously taken as literal translations from the Japanese...

I think part of Professor Rowan's personality is he is a very unnatural person. He spends most of his time doing field research so he isn't exactly the type to be overtly friendly. In some cases, he's kind of a dick More than a few people talk about how strange he is.

"Please let me pass," she says, as she walks away. What kind of English-speaking 10 year old talks like that unless there's some kind of giant bouncer blocking their way?! I think "Excuse me" or ANYTHING ELSE would have been more natural.

Kids' games usually have maturity themes in them. It's been that way in Pokemon since the start.

As for the literal translation, Nob talked about this on the Something Awful forums; that he tried hard to trim out a lot of the "fat" of the script. That way the game will have a faster pace.

The translation seemed to be so poorly done that for a second I thought my copy of the game had been switched with someone's terrible fan-translation.

Well, the Pokemon Company did fire him, telling him they'll be doing their translations in-house, then informed him his last project will be Plat.

Don't even get me started on all the lame internet memes that the super-nerd translators snuck in there.

Hey, I personally love the stuff. Sure, it's some of the more common and annoying internet memes like from /b, but stuff like n00b has sunk into the younger culture.

Did anyone else feel like the English was really unnatural??

In some cases, yes. But there are things that the translation has to greatly change. Such as any reference (subtle, or otherwise) to religion, drugs, sex, anything not "kid friendly".

Remember Mr. Coffee, the guy in R/B/FR/LG who cheers up after you give him some coffee? He's passed out and incredibly hung over.

There's some other examples he's posted in the Pokemon threads at Something Awful's forums, but I don't feel like searching for it at the moment.

Also, do you remember if it was the same script as Diamond and Pearl? I'll replay the intro to Diamond a little later to see if I can find out, but let's discuss this .... issue... here.

There's certainly a lot of word-for-word script for the first 6 or so badges. After that is where most of the new plot fits in.

I think the script is pretty fantastic. But it's not like I had high expectations for a kids game anyway. It's just one of the many things that keeps me coming back to Pokemon. And Nob's words are something I'll miss come the next Pokemon games.

[damio]

That.... doesn't really have anything to do with the translation, though.

Also, I never liked the "Player used one Pokeball."

Of COURSE the player only used one...

How about "a pokeball" ....?

At least it is better than "Player used one Pokeballs."

[AngelSL]

It was fine to me. But that's probably because I memorized the whole darn'd storyline.

[Poryhack]

I wasn't aware that any translators posted about their job on the net; can you link to one of his threads?

[randomspot555]

I wasn't aware that any translators posted about their job on the net; can you link to one of his threads?

He's never made a thread, per say. But he's posted a lot in each Pokemon thread. The current one is here. I just linked to the first page he posted on. His SA name is Doug Dinsdale.

Something Awful's forums are a one-time fee to post in (and another one-time fee for extra features, like search). But they are free to browse. You just have to put up with some annoying advertisements.

He also made a handful of posts in this thread here. Not sure if he posted anything beyond that page.

I have some tidbits that he's posted throughout the past couple threads somewhere in Serebii. I'll see if I can dig that up.

He also did an "event" giveaway. He randomly captured a bunch of Pokemon with his OT/ID#, and nicknamed them "Dinsdale." I got an Onix.