The Tin-- Um... Bell Tower...?

[SmellTheBurningEmber]

Umm... Can anyone explain at all why they changed the name of the Tin Tower to the Bell Tower? I know the bells are now important to the story, but still. That's like making the Indigo Plateau the Champion Plateau. Can anyone shed some light or give an opinion on my they would do this? ~STBE

[Guested]

What do they call the Burned Tower in it's pre-burned form in the new version of the game?

This is why I ask, and this will give you more info.

In the Japanese games, the towers were called the Suzu no Tou and Kane no Tou. Both "suzu" and "kane" are plays on words. Both are types of bells, and both are kinds of metals. The metal reference ties them to their real-world inspirations: Ginkakuji (Temple of the Silver Pavilion) and Kinkakuji (Temple of the Golden Pavilion).

In the original English games, the towers were called Tin Tower and Brass Tower, which were good translations for the metal reference but obviously lost the bell pun.

So... ultimately... whoever translated HGSS either:

a) Did not get the pun and only saw "suzu" as meaing "bell" (and never played GSC)

or

b) Consciously chose "bell" for its connection with the story

[SmellTheBurningEmber]

Makes sense. On the Burned Tower note, I thought it was always called that in-game. I have yet to talk to a trainer in GSC or HG/SS that has made a reference to it originally being called the Brass Tower. I always thought that was an anime adaption thing. ~STBE

[Guested]

Oh yeah?

To be honest, I don't remember if that reference was made in GSC, or if it was from the anime. I just checked online.

Well, without the pairing actually stated in the game, that leaves more room for the translator to miss the pairing reference.

[SmellTheBurningEmber]

After some researching, I learned that the Burned Tower was referenced as the Brass Tower in Crystal ONLY. It was not brought over to HG/SS. Back on the Bell Tower, I saw some things on why it was changed. The most logical thing I found was that "Tin Tower" DANGEROUSLY sounds like "Twin Towers"; however, this could easily be irrelevent because a trainer at (I believe) Lake Valor makes a reference to the "Tin Tower" in DPPt (released years after the horrific event). Thoughts? ~STBE

[AtomicGreymon]

The most logical thing I found was that "Tin Tower" DANGEROUSLY sounds like "Twin Towers"; however, this could easily be irrelevent because a trainer at (I believe) Lake Valor makes a reference to the "Tin Tower" in DPPt (released years after the horrific event). Thoughts? ~STBE

That's the least logical explanation I've read, personally; there's really no reason to be that over-sensitive just because a word sounds similar. And yeah, a guest at the Lake Valor hotel actually mentions the Tin Tower by name. The most likely scenario is what Guested said a few posts back, about the original Japanese name of the tower being a play on words... it meant both a type of bell, and a metal. While I like the name Tin Tower, personally Bell Tower works equally well for me when the original Japanese name is taken into consideration. Since it was called the "Tin Tower" in the English D/P/Pt, it's easy enough to assume that both names are valid in the canon.

[SmellTheBurningEmber]

Well, if you take into consideration that the Burned and Tin Towers are "twins" and the fact that one is burnt to the ground, it sounds somewhat similar to the actual event of 9/11. Having the it called the "Tin Tower" sounds similar to the "Twin Towers" also makes it a bit disturbing. And like I said, it could be irrelevent; I was just stating the oddness of the similarity.

By the way, you live in Canada. 9/11 was a BIG DEAL to us Americans. You can't say that it is over-sensitive. ~STBE

P.S. I agree with the canon thing.

[AtomicGreymon]

Well, if you take into consideration that the Burned and Tin Towers are "twins" and the fact that one is burnt to the ground, it sounds somewhat similar to the actual event of 9/11. Having the it called the "Tin Tower" sounds similar to the "Twin Towers" also makes it a bit disturbing. And like I said, it could be irrelevent; I was just stating the oddness of the similarity.

By the way, you live in Canada. 9/11 was a BIG DEAL to us Americans. You can't say that it is over-sensitive. ~STBE

P.S. I agree with the canon thing.

I may live in Canada but I'm reasonably close to the border and unless you actually live in NYC I've probably spent a lot more time there than you have. Regardless, I'm simply rarely in favour of any kind of censorship; for any reason (and personally I feel it's even more important to check myself on issues that might be closer to me personally, since I don't want to give into my own bias). If the Burned/Brass and Tin Towers had ever actually been referred to in the game as "Twin Towers" or something like that, that should obviously be removed (like the Space Shuttle Columbia was removed from FireRed/LeafGreen... it was the exact name). Tin is a type of metal, and can't be made to be a synonym for Twin.

This was simply a case of translation differences. Nintendo didn't mind leaving the Tin Tower name in Diamond, Pearl and Platinum and nobody ever kicked up a fuss (and there are losers out there like Jack Thompson who go through every videogame line-by-line in order to find something to complain about).

[DeathWatch]

I have just noticed that when I was playing Heart Gold to be honest.