I love these ports. For example, the N64 to Dreamcast ports.
I own both an N64 with flashcart and DC with ODE. And a CRT TV. I would rather play a finely tuned DC port of an N64 game on my CRT, with improved performance, than emulating said N64 game via a PC on and LCD screen.
The port is more authentic than emulation, even though it obviously goes beyond what the N64 was capable of.
It is, for me, that perfect niche of more authentic and accurate than emulation, benefitting from a CRT display, but ever so slightly nicer than the original experience. I dare say it's probably even better than putting an N64 cart in the Analogue 3D, since that is still working with the original game, and would be upscaling for HD LCD use.
These ridiculous ports are my jam!
(Secretly hoping infidelity does a Metal Gear / Snake's Revenge port to SNES, so I can run them both side by side on my CRT.)
@NeonPizza Astute points. 20 years ago, when the PS3 came out and we got that JP unit in, I didn't even own a smartphone. Then the next year, someone from work mentioned being on "Facebook", which I'd not heard of until then.
Such a different innocent time. Everyone was broadly aware of the same cultural trends, even if they didn't follow them. As you point out, it was unified. Today everyone has broken off into their own little curated reality. They might watch someone online with an audience of 3 million that you or me have never even heard of.
@MSaturn I feel I have the same or very close POV to you. In the 90s, I would have defended the right to expression even of those I disagreed with. What I never expected was that in having such a laissez-faire attitude, it would allow people to assume positions of power in media with diametric opposite views.
I also never considered it as being a tool as you describe it. But it makes sense, given how everything has flipped around. Which is so bizarre.
I'm from the UK, but back in the day games were a smaller cottage industry with not much oversight, the same with niche magazines. It was a bit of a wild west in many ways.
I've honestly struggled to comprehend the present day. It feels like the culture I grew up in, and the norms and values I had and shared with my peers, is now gone. It's difficult to pinpoint when it happened, but maybe from around 2011 or so? It was a slow shift.
Now I don't even recognise the socio-cultural landscape any more. And speaking too loudly about the changes will incite so much rage that it hardly feels worth going online.
I never once imagined things would change like this. Change in the way you've astutely described.
I mean, I remember when Jack Thompson was yapping his mouth, and everyone banded together to protect the medium from censorial influence. And banded together when the media tried to use games as a scapegoat. Creative freedom was also paramount.
And now? We have ethics departments in American studios wagging their fingers and forcing Japanese developers to change what they're doing, and they don't know what is happening or even why.
I look at 2026 and feel like we lost the culture wars. There's an Orwellian tone of "thought crimes" pervading everything now. And should you admit to such thought crimes you get dog-piled and cancelled. I hate it so much.
I was working on Retro Gamer magazine, in the actual office, when a Japanese import PS3 was brought it in, so the other mags could do import reviews before it launched in the UK. It felt like being on the absolute cutting edge of technology and media culture. I reviewed Gundam for Play. It wasn't great, but I knew MGS4 would eventually be out.
Has it really been 20 years?
Culture seemed so vibrant and alive back then. No moralising or moral sentinels, no pearl clutching, no cancel culture, no tyranny of virtue, no ethics departments, no sensitivity training.
Just pure freedom to make, and play, and enjoy, and write whatever the **** you wanted.
God, I miss it so badly you cannot even begin to imagine.
The kids today, the new generation that entered the media based work force, are only interesting in tearing everything up and burning it down. Someone should have filtered and kept them out.
We will never have it as good again as we had it 20 years ago.
This news story makes me sad. It's like when I've read about we've lost the ability to traditional artisanal things, and just use something artificial instead thinking no one will really notice or care.
I'm thinking things like rare food flavours, but we just cheaper synthetic flavours instead, or we no longer use ambergris as a fixative for perfumes. Or moulded plastic instead of hand-carved woods or metals. Or how we're losing the knowledge to make traditional Japanese ink stones, or the wooden barrels to ferment soy sauce (kioke).
And now I see this. Transparencies it would seem are the modern day videogame equivalent of kioke soy sauce. We're literally losing the ability to use proper transparencies due to the way modern hardware and graphics works. It's too complicated, or too much of a strain, so we'll just stick some holes in and call it a day.
Older games really were better. Those transparencies you saw on PS1 through to PS3, proper artistry at work.
@Eocene84 "The people on here happy about this make me sick. Seriously, people like you should be banned and then even IP banned so you can't come back."
I like this comment so much I'm quoting it.
I fully support IP bans on toxic posters ruining things for the rest of us.
In the mean time I just put them on ignore. I've got like 20+ people on my ignore list and it's just going to keep growing every time I see such posts, ROFLMAO.
I don't understand anyone here taking glee in the destruction of someone else's property. It's sickening.
I also despise the sanctimonious, puritanical, tyranny of virtue that's being espoused due to the content.
Let consenting adults buy whatever they like from other consenting adults. Nobody was exploited in the creation of this content.
The screaming pearl clutching and virtue signaling of these morality sentinels is insufferable.
@RupeeClock "It's in the same way that people are getting accused of leaving AI generated comments in discussions, because of their writing style or just trying to give a well written response."
Exactly! More than once a comment of mine on YT was accused of being AI. My profession is writer. If I give a response it will (hopefully) be intelligent, reasoned, correctly spelled, while providing references, so as to build on the discussion.
Now I'm like: eh, ***** it. And either don't comment or just hash out something quick and mispelled. Because it is rage inducing to read some low IQ response that utterly dismisses you entirely, thinking you're not real.
I generally spend very little time online now (these articles notwithstanding).
The AI conditioning also produced something disturbing recently.
I tried to watch the original Alien film, from 1979. And throughout the film are strange arbitrary visual details which are not explained. To give it a lived in feeling. The famous "agaric fly" keyboard being one.
And I knew the backstory to the film's production, and the effort to crew put into everything.
And yet my brain was constantly having an allergic reaction to it. Because AI adds lots of non-symmetrical details, and arbitrary details. So I kept having these moments of revulsion, briefly thinking: this looks like AI! Despite knowing it is not. And having to fight this feeling and sensation.
But then there would be a wall panel. Or patterns on a helmet. Or even that agaric fly keyboard. And my neurons would scream at me, that all of these have the tell-tale signa of generative AI.
A colleague suggested that the reason could be that AI was trained on richly detailed media such as this film, hence it adopts that style.
Because look up the agaric fly keyboard in HD. Look over all the keys. Doesn't it look AI? Weird nonsensical keys. Like a fever dream hallucination. But I've read interviews on its creation in 1979, and they were just trying to create a visually interesting, lived in world, with mystical elements.
AI has severely poisoned my mind and my ability to appreciate media. And I don't know how to cure this.
@Henchdog My Afrikaans is sadly terrible after all these years. I only learned it at school. But my mother was bilingual; I think it's fantastic you're keeping it alive. I hope you find the time and motivation to finish a few.
If you know anyone at SABC, I would really appreciate the ask actually! Even if it's just to confirm they remember it.
At the moment none of us know the actual name, actors, production company, anything.
So while I wouldn't expect there to be a tape in the archives, even just the recollection of it would be very helpful.
I tried emailing the SABC, but not sure if it actually reached anyone.
I know what you mean about finding stuff. Do you remember the candy easter eggs you could get, with a hard white sugar shell, abd chocolate interior? I was surprised to discover this was an SA only thing. No one in the UK has even heard of it. I'm going on holiday soon - I hope to buy a few boxes. It's my first time back in 30 years.
Other notable things I recall but can't find in the UK: Zambuck, TV Bars, and Grandpa Powders.
Also! A request...
Do you happen to have any old M-Net TV guide magazines? Circa from when it first started up until around 1999 or so? We left 95, but I'd love to see one again even from after we left.
We used to get it every month, but sadly never kept any, and now I have nostalgia for them. I ask every SA who I come across, and none do. Who keeps 35 year old TV guides?
If by some weird fluke you have one, would you be willing to sell it? I'd pay shipping from Australia to UK.
@Henchdog Your native language is... (checks profile) Indigenous Aboriginee?
Probably not, but I salute your attempt to fan-translate into a language that isn't English.
I always think it's cool seeing announcements of a fan-translation into something like Polish or Norwegian, or whatever. It reminds me that the videogame industry - games culture - has for the longest time been dominated by America, with a little bit of Europe, and a sizeable portion by Japan.
Thus leaving the Dreamcast controller with a spare Y+B button!
Two of the yellow C buttons can be fitted to the Y+B, or just doubled up, since sometimes you want to activate a deku nut or swing a deku stick. But it'll work perfectly.
Granted, you won't have the convenience of the 4x C buttons in the upper right, but it'll be good enough. One of the C buttons is the camera, and the other 3 are items, so have 2 of them doubled on Y+B. So the d-pad will replicate the 4, and Y+B will act as a duplicate of say... the left and bottom C button?
That way when playing the Ocarina tunes, you can intuitively use the D-pad for the C button directions.
The N64's d-pad was never needed for OoT so that's fine.
I emulated OoT on the 3DS on my PC using a wired X360 controller, and it was super easy to map - I even had some leftover buttons to map touch screen hotspots. As long as the person do the port is smart and implements an optimised solution, or provides the option to remap buttons when compiling it, this will work absolutely fine.
EDIT:
just to get pedantic here...
C up = d pad up
C down = d pad down
C right = d pad right
C left = d pad left
C left = Y (duplicate)
c down = B (duplicate
This way you can put action oriented C button stuff on the Dreamcast action buttons (deku stick, hookshot, etc.). Z trigger and shield R from the N64 map nicely to L+R.
C right isn't going to have a duplicate face button, but you can just assign less important stuff to that, like using a milk jar, or activating some secondary item which is only used in low stress areas. And C-up isn't a big deal on the d-pad up direction.
By duplicating two C buttons, but keeping them all on the D-pad, this still allows you to intuitively use the ocarina music notes.
@PZT
I've read readme files describing the time needed to hack (not translate) certain games. Assume 12 weeks x 40 hours, that's 480 hours. Now, granted, the Mega CD is not a platform architecture I know well. That game I believe uses weird compression? And a three month schedule wouldn't be all hacking, or all translating. One side is usually idle waiting for the other to do their task. But based on my understanding of the topics, having spoken with both translators and programmers, I still feel that a professional top level programmer whose sole day job is cracking the architecture to extract the text, could do it in the time. The 90 day deadline is ambitious since one translator would struggle. I think Metal Gear Solid took Blaustein about 6 months working on his own? And that used complex military jargon. So OK, I revise my statement: 3 months to hack, 6 months to translate. Unless we had a team of 4 translators to split the workload.
Whatever. I'll admit my statement was hyperbole, if you'll admit CJ taking 14 years is excessive. I looked it up. He announced the project in 2012!
Somewhere between 90 days and 14 years is the answer to this.
Let this be a lesson to everyone: do not sit on your projects thinking you have forever.
I agree with what @Phara128 says - this was never going to come out.
I say: good.
These guys sat on it for over a decade.
Then eadmaster comes in and is like: I'd like to play this, so would others, here it's done.
This is exactly what needed to happen.
There are a multitude of other fan-translations where this exact same thing needs to happen again.
CJ Iwakura has sat on Shadowrun for the Sega Mega CD for about 20 years now. Where TF is the translation already!? Nobody else wants to take on the job, out of respect for other groups who raise their hand and earmark a game.
If I had limitless wealth I would hire a hacker and a translator, and say to them: you have 90 days to release the Shadowrun CD patch, I don't care that another group is pretending to do it. 90 days and you get a bonus paycheque. This is your new day job, 40 hours a week! I'm paying you by the day! GO GO GOOOOO!!!
Enough of this nonsense. Some of these projects end up constipated and not shifting, and everyone just sits around being all: "Well gee, it'd be bad etiquette to do it ourselves."
Nah. If someone raises their hand and a decade goes by and NOTHING happens, it's fair game.
Well done to eadmaster. I hope these two have a learned a valuable lesson in speed and efficiency and not being bone idle. Their work was not a waste of time - it motivated eadmaster to get it done, and it's also a valuable life lesson they have paid for in full.
This sets a valuable precedent for the entire fan-translation community.
If you raise your hand, and you announce a project, you are beholden to get it done, not sit on it for decades like a dragon atop a pile of gold coins. "The game is mine! Only I shall translate it!"
Nope. Someone else is going to usurp you and do it themselves.
These two sat on it doing nothing since 2014. In the year 2024 it had been a decade. That's just silly nonsense.
This was absolutely the best thing to happen. THE BEST THING. Great, great work eadmaster. It needed to happen, he made it happen, now please, take all of this to heart. Absorb this lesson into the fabric of your souls.
@Bakamoichigei I think the download has expired. It only lasts 3 days. The CMYK explanation is spot on. I leave it to you to adjust / sort.
To be honest the Zelda card game is insanely difficult I found. Even when cheating I found it borderline impossible. So the "game" could honestly just do with some fresh custom barcodes.
@Peteykins
I didn't know about any drama, so looked this up. He is sketchy as hell!
For 10 years people donated expensive games because he promised to make a museum. Then he decides just to send the games to a private company.
The worst thing I dug up though...
Guy sent Hancock CIB SNES games, under the agreement Hancock would pay a pre-agreed upon fee to buy the games.
Time goes by, the seller contacts Hancock who says he took the SNES games to a local expert, who said they're fake, so he's not paying him.
Seller refutes they were fake.
Sellers says, well, can I at least have my games back?
Hancock says no because he threw them in the bin.
ROFLMFAO
Fully boxed SNES games? Fake? I don't buy that. But let's pretend the cart, box, and manual are repros. Those are not cheap! They're just cheaper than a £500 original.
You don't just throw them in the bin.
WTF. You agreed cash on delivery, you decide you don't want them due to suspicion of forgery. YOU GIVE THEM BACK. What sort of imbecile just bins someone else's stuff?
"Some guy said it was probably fake so I just threw the cart, box, and manual in the trash and never even bothered to tell you."
@VITIMan @Bakamoichigei I've just initiated a WeTransfer of a ZIP file, about 160mb, with the final PDF of the Metroid deck, and folders with the art I used. The barcodes were taken from the Zelda cards, which I had a folder of, and are not included, just to make this small.
The design program I used was a very old version of PagePlus. I've not included it since I doubt anyone can open it, and when I tried opening on my other computer it was full of dead links.
The final PDF should not have any security. Meaning you should be able to open it up and manipulate it using a powerful design software? Maybe? Anyway, that PDF was good enough for the printer.
I discovered the problem with my initial batch was that printing in colour it did not scan well. I think because the barcode section was not just black ink lines, but rather... Black lines which included colour inks, since I just dropped the scans in and did not alter the files. I hope that makes sense. I dropped in scans of the Zelda cards, which were scanned in colour, and when I zoom in I can see random colour pixels. Presumably this comes through in the printing.
Because! When I did a basic B&W photocopy of the cards, they worked flawlessly. So the size is correct, and the sharpness is fine. But the colour printing, and perhaps also the glossy finish, made them impossible to scan.
If you decide to print these, please keep this in mind. The barcode section will need adjusting into monochrome, and do not have a glossy finish.
I tried playing the game (using the photocopied cards), and it is INSANELY difficult. Impossible maybe? I'd like to readjust the barcodes to make the game much easier. Keep in mind it was just a reskin of the Zelda game. But I've moved on from this project.
The folder also contains some word docs, unused art, an excel file, and other stuff I was working with to make these. If anyone wanted to make their own card designs, the hi-res art is there, and you can probably generate your own barcodes.
I can't sell these because it's Copyright Nintendo. But if you share them online freely, maybe mention that I've got some interview books on Amazon, if people want to support me while also owning something physical (and which I have the rights to sell).
Any questions ask, but I'm kinda washing my hands of these. It was great gag to play on Damien, and I'm now moving on to the next gag!
@dodgykebaab Just to show that I am not without a sense of humility, someone pointed out the following to me online elsewhere:
You underestimate the power of SPITE! With this fan translation pissing so many people off, the interest in a better translation for this game will more likely skyrocket. That's what happened with Suikoden on PSP (woven web of something or other) it got a very ***** machine translation, literally unedited Google Translate. Within 2 years (or so I recall) someone else made a much better patch literally out of spite.
I was completely unaware that Woven Web had two fan-translations, first a terrible Google Translate one, unedited, and then a spite fuelled proper translation.
I am going to cling to the hope that Sega fans are as passionate and as crazy as the Suiko fandom, and unite together to redo this.
@dodgykebaab Thank you for the kind words, I'm glad you enjoyed the books.
I would really like to believe your point #1 to be true. And I will eat humble pie if someone takes the tools and redoes the translation on this. But I am not the optimist.
@dodgykebaab I need to log in to retro game talk to view these, but you appear to be showing me retranslations of retail games (Phantasy Star, Target Earth), not retranslations of fan-translations. Which tells me you didn't understand my original post.
I was confused when you claimed thousands, given I could not think of one, and I've interviewed people in the scene and written lengthy history articles on fan translation.
Now I get it: you were referring to translations of games which had commercial localisations back in the day. Which is not what I'm talking about.
Which is fine, I'll explain it again:
When a Japan only game gets fan translated, meaning it receives its first English fan translation, this has a chilling effect on other fan translators taking on the same project.
No fan group is going to say: hey, let's redo the work a rival group did!
The exception being the FF games, where there's weirdly a bunch of different fan translations.
After our earlier chat I went looking for feedback on Segagaga, and found multiple people stating the same thing as me.
When a Japan only game receives a fan translation, that's it. People are not going to do a second fan translation.
The fact you're showing me translations of games that had retail localisations proves to me you didn't get what I was saying.
The same with the apology.
As I stated clearly, in English: if Segagaga receives a second proper fan translation, I will apologise.
I'm not apologising for anything else.
I said this will never get a second fan translation, and if it does I'll apologise.
You go and list a bunch of fan translations for games that had retail localisations back in the day thinking that's the same thing.
I don't really know how to simplify this any further: fan translators don't bother making second fan translations once someone else comes out.
I mention Bangaio because by pure fluke both teams released at the same time.
Anyway, as I said:
If someone does a second Segagaga translation, properly, you go ahead and let me know.
As for this translation: I spent an hour on my desktop going through the CD Romance thread, YouTube, Reddit, and Tw/Bs, to see people's reactions. I chatted with a guy on YT briefly.
Everyone who has played it is saying the same thing. This is crap.
@dodgykebaab You want me to prove non-existence of something? You realise that's impossible, right? That's basic philosophy.
I followed the Reddit complaints with people citing other examples: in manga, adult only VNs, general games. Someone craps out a machine translation and other teams quit.
You cite 1000s. Name just 5. Some rules:
No final fantasy games; those are a unique exception with dozens of retranslations
No retranslations of commercial localisation; only retranslations of fan translations
The recent Bangaio one doesn't count. Those two teams worled concurrently, not one trying to redo the other
Princess Crown doesn't count; the first was abandoned hence the 2nd team
Here is my promise: if someone redoes this from scratch, @ me here. I will publicly apologise to you for my hubris. I will apologise in the new news article on it too.
I am happy to be proven wrong.
I want to be proven wrong!
We will NEVER see a proper from scratch manual translation of Segagaga, taking into account the nuance. This AI slop is all we will have forever.
@dodgykebaab
Just for the record I'm not on twitter or bluesky, that was simply the only source to find screens.
I know full well the story behind the hacking. I've been following this game's fan translation attempts since 2006.
I hear what you're saying: the main thing here is the tools. Now someone else can do the translation.
News flash: nobody is going to do anything.
Once a fan translation comes out, regardless of quality, it has a chilling effect.
Nobody else is going to touch this now.
We had one chance, one shot, this was it.
They blew it.
Don't try to placate me with "well now others can fix it".
Not gonna happen. This will be the only English version, now and forever in perpetuity. Giving me 3 options:
1) become a native level JP reader
2) play garbage
3) accept that Segagaga is dead forever and never play it
I'm going with #3
Why is it garbage Sega Saturn RPGs manage to find multiple peope to hand translate them, but this team of hackers couldn't find even ONE bilingual person to translate it, so they cheaped out with AI? Did they even advertise? "We solved the hacking! Translators apply within!"
Do not presume I am clueless on the background to this.
The previous fan translation team extracted and 100% manually translated the script, but could not reinsert it.
So why, WHY, did these chuckleducks not contact that team and collaborate?
Now it's too late.
This dumpster fire is all we will have forever now.
This AI slop translation looks like unplayable dogshit.
All of the wit, and satire, and nuance, and exquisite humour in the writing has been DESECRATED.
This project has officially turned into filthy rotten trash fire.
I had been looking forward to this for so long, and everyone involved has basically poisoned the well. I'm not suffering through this crap. It's worthless.
I can only hope someone who knows what they're doing redoes it from scratch.
But seeing as it's taken 20+ years to get this, I doubt we will ever see the translation this game deserves.
To the team responsible:
I hope you're happy. Instead of finding a fan who is bilingual, laziness and impatience got the better of you, and you have KILLED Segagaga. This is an absolute disgrace.
@slider1983 As pointed out by @GhaleonUnlimited - users on Reddit are saying the AI translation is dry, which is not good for a game meant to be a comedic satire.
Worse still are claims that references to Sega have been botched or messed up. This is much more severe, and I can see AI doing that. If there's a subtle play on words, the AI will miss that and just translate it based on the next expected word. Remember - these LLM are just text predictors.
I'm actually keen to see specific examples, but I can imagine it. Sega specific puns or mispelling jokes won't be picked up by a text predictor.
Myrient in many cases was the only place that hosted extremely rare aftermarket homebrew titles - games made and put out there after a system died, which are not part of any ROM set elsewhere, because it was not an official retail game.
Give how terrible fan communities are at preserving these efforts, Myrient has been my one stop go to for such obscure oddities. Notably all the weird Lynx homebrew, where the original author's website is now 404 and forgotten.
Myrient didn't forget it.
(sigh)
I don't where else you'll find some of this stuff, because it's simply not hosted anywhere else! Not even on the Internet Archive.
The archive page says: "The only way to play it as of now is on Retroarch with CD Speed set to X8 (must be changed in the menus for the specific core, in this case beetle PCE) or on real hardware with a turbodrive."
I have a Terraonion ODE for my PCE. Will this run? I don't feel like downloading 800mb, getting my system out, popping the micro SD, going back to my computer, configuring it to the correct file type (assuming it's not already), putting it in a new folder, going back to my PCE, popping the micro SD card back inside, hooking it up to my TV, booting into the ODE menu, trying to load the game...
Only to find that as per the archive text it does not run.
Anyone willing to take the hit and try it first then report back here?
We need to bring back the sexiness in games. So many these days seem po faced and restrained, like they've been developed by Puritans and prudes. Bring back the T&A, I say!
@smoreon An excellent point. With different ammo types, you'll use the gun with the most ammo, if you're being careful.
I hated this decision. I think it's beyond idiotic, I think it's bad design, and I'm shocked anyone signed off on it.
The ammo **** up in Invisible War killed the entire game for me and I didn't play more than a couple of hours. Absolute trash.
With the original I was switching between guns, and switching between ammo types constantly, same with System Shock 2 from that time period. Also Jagged Alliance 2. Different ammo types are intensely fun to play around with. Armour piercing, explosive, regular, hollow point, sabot, sedative, non-lethal, etc.
It's funny that what they say contradicts a previous thing I'd read in interviews. I'm not sure of the source, but a different interview someone stated something like: They were testing with focus groups, and someone was complaining that it was too complicated to keep track of different ammo types, or they didn't like the fact they had to keep track of limited ammo for something, and kept getting confused, so the dev team - to "fix" this - just stripped the whole system out and implemented a single ammo pool.
I cannot stress how much I hate this new idea.
The joy of the first game was having all these tools, to be used as you see fit in different situations, and suddenly it's like: no tools for you! The whole thing was dumbed down.
One of the absolute worst design decisions in the history of videogames.
For the record: I'm fine with and love a high volume of tools to work with. Give me a hundred different weapons and 50 different ammo types to juggle. I'm not the only person who will be delighted to spend money on such a rich and complex game.
Sounds like it won't have a single cohesive open world like MG1 or MG2:SS. Those were basically Zelda with guns and amazing for it. I liked Snake's Revenge and Ghost Babel, but was a little saddened they both adopted a level based structure.
I'm excited, but I'm still waiting for another 2D top-down open world game.
@GravyThief
Not trying to be funny here, or deliberately obtuse, but I genuinely do not know. I could ask, but I doubt anyone would tell me.
I wrote an article a while back where I divulged his salary. Maybe that's why? But the VGHF is an NPO, so the documents showing this are a matter of public record. So it's not like I was leaking private info.
@N64-ROX
Frank Cifaldi's open hatred for Time Extension is well known. I'm aware of it. Others are aware of it. He knows we are aware of it. We know that he knows we are aware of it. I say nothing because Frank has a million supporters, and one does not wish to anger so many faithful. That many people are a force of power to be feared.
But I'm grateful you noticed this and spoke up. Thank you.
I think Frank Cifaldi is a lovely man. He does tremendous valuable work. He is a shining beacon in the sphere of games history, and the knowledge he preserves and freely shares with the world is glorious and wonderful.
Fun fact: in the old days of forums he cosplayed as an angel holding a bear, posting a photo online which I saved. This saintly aura was prophetic, for he now rises like a benevolent Messiah, safeguarding the history of videogames.
Glory be to the blessed Frank Cifaldi, whom we all pledge loyalty.
@metaphysician Ironically, I'm sometimes part of that demographic. In as much as - I feel you can have either type, or a mix of both, and abstract plotless games can be tremendously worthwhile.
With Bangai-O though, having played lots of shooters already, the insane story helped it stand out for me. It was so good, I'd jave happily just read a script dump.
It's tricky to articulate - the balance between story and games is difficult. I would never ostracise a game for focusing on one or the other. But Bangai-O resonated for me because it married the two so well. They hit gold with the balance.
Gunstar Heroes is another Treasure game I love. It doesn't have much "plot" in terms of dialogue boxes, but there's a visual storytelling through the character designs and themes, which elevates it above your average run n gun.
@Razieluigi
The story on the DC version is why I loved it! Was gutted when the sequels had no story, and critics stupidly claimed this was a good thing. T_T
For me 80% of the joy was the batshirt insane dialogue, with 20% being gameplay.
I bought the sequels, but never bothered playing more than a couple levels. Honestly what was the point?
Can someone point out key differences in the two fan translations???
Chalk me up as another person who does not like the new art style for the new Castlevania, and would prefer an older style of pixel art. The Remaster for Suikoden I&II, with the pixelated characters, has reinforced my love for this kind of aesthetic style.
The new Castlevania though?
That looks like a lot of other similar 2D games from recent years: like a cheap Flash game.
I have hated cheevos since they first existed. And it annoyed me in the PS3 era when you could not disable them.
Today I've seen multiple people say they refuse to play any game without them, which saddens me. Fantastic PS1 gems on PSN overlooked because no cheevos. A guy on Reddit saying he started Valkyria Chronicles, one of the greatest games ever made, and he started to feel physically ill due to there being no cheevos, and had to rage quit.
I realise these are optional.
But that doesn't mean I can ignore the phenomenon.
As @Tasuki brilliantly points out, cheevos have become a sort of mind virus, so devs now put them in all games, and design games around them, and make the goals of those games - their inherent design ethos - revolve around cheevos.
When was the last time you heard a dev say: screw cheevos, we're making our dream game, and that game IS the game, not some arbitrary meaningless tasks tacked on.
I know people will tell me to let others enjoy their games how they want.
But they are not enjoying them.
That guy on Reddit who rage quit Valk Chronicles described feeling physically ill, and while he was interested enough to start the game, he quit for no reason other than it not providing him with the digital heroin he's been trained to feel addicted to.
I want to reach out to him, and everyone who refuses to play those PS1 gems, or indeed any game without cheevos, and say warmly: it's OK, you can enjoy the game just for the game itself, you don't need cheevos to feel joy. As @JayJ also pointed out.
Anyone who has the winning "blue shirt" footage, feel free to @ me on here or post in the YT comments (I'm not on Twitter or Bluesky). We can work out who digitises the tapes, I'm happy to post it back, and I'll also sort that £100 bounty!
Genuinely do not understand why they don't license the fan translations. Almost all of these are now in English. Maybe even all of them?
Falcom / Xseed officially licensed the fan translation for a couple Ys games, so there is a precedent for beneficial mutual cooperation between publishers and the fan community. It can work.
This was one of the absolute BEST games on the N64. The devs behind it said it had a direct influence on GTA3. I interviewed them for Game Developer website - if I recall correctly, some of the "kinematics" code from this was even reused. (Best check the interviews - this was years back.)
I have always tried to encourage people to play this or the GBC remake. It's incredible.
The PS1 "port" is pure hot garbage though. Possibly the worst cross system console port I've ever seen.
Comments 800
Re: "I Could Not Give Less Of A S**t If Anyone Else Plays Them" - Developers Behind 'Pointless' Homebrew Ports Defend Their Work
I love these ports. For example, the N64 to Dreamcast ports.
I own both an N64 with flashcart and DC with ODE. And a CRT TV. I would rather play a finely tuned DC port of an N64 game on my CRT, with improved performance, than emulating said N64 game via a PC on and LCD screen.
The port is more authentic than emulation, even though it obviously goes beyond what the N64 was capable of.
It is, for me, that perfect niche of more authentic and accurate than emulation, benefitting from a CRT display, but ever so slightly nicer than the original experience. I dare say it's probably even better than putting an N64 cart in the Analogue 3D, since that is still working with the original game, and would be upscaling for HD LCD use.
These ridiculous ports are my jam!
(Secretly hoping infidelity does a Metal Gear / Snake's Revenge port to SNES, so I can run them both side by side on my CRT.)
Re: Xbox 360, PS3 And Nintendo Wii U Are "Officially Retro", Says GameStop
@NeonPizza
Astute points. 20 years ago, when the PS3 came out and we got that JP unit in, I didn't even own a smartphone. Then the next year, someone from work mentioned being on "Facebook", which I'd not heard of until then.
Such a different innocent time. Everyone was broadly aware of the same cultural trends, even if they didn't follow them. As you point out, it was unified. Today everyone has broken off into their own little curated reality. They might watch someone online with an audience of 3 million that you or me have never even heard of.
Re: Xbox 360, PS3 And Nintendo Wii U Are "Officially Retro", Says GameStop
@MSaturn
I feel I have the same or very close POV to you. In the 90s, I would have defended the right to expression even of those I disagreed with. What I never expected was that in having such a laissez-faire attitude, it would allow people to assume positions of power in media with diametric opposite views.
I also never considered it as being a tool as you describe it. But it makes sense, given how everything has flipped around. Which is so bizarre.
I'm from the UK, but back in the day games were a smaller cottage industry with not much oversight, the same with niche magazines. It was a bit of a wild west in many ways.
I've honestly struggled to comprehend the present day. It feels like the culture I grew up in, and the norms and values I had and shared with my peers, is now gone. It's difficult to pinpoint when it happened, but maybe from around 2011 or so? It was a slow shift.
Now I don't even recognise the socio-cultural landscape any more. And speaking too loudly about the changes will incite so much rage that it hardly feels worth going online.
I never once imagined things would change like this. Change in the way you've astutely described.
I mean, I remember when Jack Thompson was yapping his mouth, and everyone banded together to protect the medium from censorial influence. And banded together when the media tried to use games as a scapegoat. Creative freedom was also paramount.
And now? We have ethics departments in American studios wagging their fingers and forcing Japanese developers to change what they're doing, and they don't know what is happening or even why.
I look at 2026 and feel like we lost the culture wars. There's an Orwellian tone of "thought crimes" pervading everything now. And should you admit to such thought crimes you get dog-piled and cancelled. I hate it so much.
Re: Xbox 360, PS3 And Nintendo Wii U Are "Officially Retro", Says GameStop
I was working on Retro Gamer magazine, in the actual office, when a Japanese import PS3 was brought it in, so the other mags could do import reviews before it launched in the UK. It felt like being on the absolute cutting edge of technology and media culture. I reviewed Gundam for Play. It wasn't great, but I knew MGS4 would eventually be out.
Has it really been 20 years?
Culture seemed so vibrant and alive back then. No moralising or moral sentinels, no pearl clutching, no cancel culture, no tyranny of virtue, no ethics departments, no sensitivity training.
Just pure freedom to make, and play, and enjoy, and write whatever the **** you wanted.
God, I miss it so badly you cannot even begin to imagine.
The kids today, the new generation that entered the media based work force, are only interesting in tearing everything up and burning it down. Someone should have filtered and kept them out.
We will never have it as good again as we had it 20 years ago.
Re: "The Sega Saturn Was Truly Ahead Of Its Time" - Here's Why Modern Games Use 'Dithering' Instead Of Transparency
This news story makes me sad. It's like when I've read about we've lost the ability to traditional artisanal things, and just use something artificial instead thinking no one will really notice or care.
I'm thinking things like rare food flavours, but we just cheaper synthetic flavours instead, or we no longer use ambergris as a fixative for perfumes. Or moulded plastic instead of hand-carved woods or metals. Or how we're losing the knowledge to make traditional Japanese ink stones, or the wooden barrels to ferment soy sauce (kioke).
Here's an article:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/travel/article/20190225-a-750-year-old-japanese-secret
And now I see this. Transparencies it would seem are the modern day videogame equivalent of kioke soy sauce. We're literally losing the ability to use proper transparencies due to the way modern hardware and graphics works. It's too complicated, or too much of a strain, so we'll just stick some holes in and call it a day.
Older games really were better. Those transparencies you saw on PS1 through to PS3, proper artistry at work.
Now all gone.
Re: This Long-Running Website Has Apparently Been Nuked From Google Thanks To AI-Written Resident Evil Review
The Escapist too?!
Oh man. I started my career on that back in 2005. The absolute best website at the time.
This is all grim reading. Media is in a very sad state of affairs. I swore 2026 couldn't possibly be worse than 2025...
(monkey's paw curls a finger)
Re: "Literally Crying Right Now" - 50 Copies Of This Adult-Only Visual Novel Demo Exist, And One Just Got Destroyed In Transit
@Eocene84
"The people on here happy about this make me sick. Seriously, people like you should be banned and then even IP banned so you can't come back."
I like this comment so much I'm quoting it.
I fully support IP bans on toxic posters ruining things for the rest of us.
In the mean time I just put them on ignore. I've got like 20+ people on my ignore list and it's just going to keep growing every time I see such posts, ROFLMAO.
I don't understand anyone here taking glee in the destruction of someone else's property. It's sickening.
I also despise the sanctimonious, puritanical, tyranny of virtue that's being espoused due to the content.
Let consenting adults buy whatever they like from other consenting adults. Nobody was exploited in the creation of this content.
The screaming pearl clutching and virtue signaling of these morality sentinels is insufferable.
Re: "Definitely Not Created By AI" - How An Innocent Conker Celebration Drew Rare Into A GenAI Debate
@RupeeClock
"It's in the same way that people are getting accused of leaving AI generated comments in discussions, because of their writing style or just trying to give a well written response."
Exactly! More than once a comment of mine on YT was accused of being AI. My profession is writer. If I give a response it will (hopefully) be intelligent, reasoned, correctly spelled, while providing references, so as to build on the discussion.
Now I'm like: eh, ***** it. And either don't comment or just hash out something quick and mispelled. Because it is rage inducing to read some low IQ response that utterly dismisses you entirely, thinking you're not real.
I generally spend very little time online now (these articles notwithstanding).
The AI conditioning also produced something disturbing recently.
I tried to watch the original Alien film, from 1979. And throughout the film are strange arbitrary visual details which are not explained. To give it a lived in feeling. The famous "agaric fly" keyboard being one.
And I knew the backstory to the film's production, and the effort to crew put into everything.
And yet my brain was constantly having an allergic reaction to it. Because AI adds lots of non-symmetrical details, and arbitrary details. So I kept having these moments of revulsion, briefly thinking: this looks like AI! Despite knowing it is not. And having to fight this feeling and sensation.
But then there would be a wall panel. Or patterns on a helmet. Or even that agaric fly keyboard. And my neurons would scream at me, that all of these have the tell-tale signa of generative AI.
A colleague suggested that the reason could be that AI was trained on richly detailed media such as this film, hence it adopts that style.
Because look up the agaric fly keyboard in HD. Look over all the keys. Doesn't it look AI? Weird nonsensical keys. Like a fever dream hallucination. But I've read interviews on its creation in 1979, and they were just trying to create a visually interesting, lived in world, with mystical elements.
AI has severely poisoned my mind and my ability to appreciate media. And I don't know how to cure this.
I despise genAI so damned much.
Re: "What A Terrible Waste Of Time All Of It Was" - Princess Crown's Original Translation Is Dead
@Henchdog
My Afrikaans is sadly terrible after all these years. I only learned it at school. But my mother was bilingual; I think it's fantastic you're keeping it alive. I hope you find the time and motivation to finish a few.
If you know anyone at SABC, I would really appreciate the ask actually! Even if it's just to confirm they remember it.
At the moment none of us know the actual name, actors, production company, anything.
So while I wouldn't expect there to be a tape in the archives, even just the recollection of it would be very helpful.
I tried emailing the SABC, but not sure if it actually reached anyone.
I know what you mean about finding stuff. Do you remember the candy easter eggs you could get, with a hard white sugar shell, abd chocolate interior? I was surprised to discover this was an SA only thing. No one in the UK has even heard of it. I'm going on holiday soon - I hope to buy a few boxes. It's my first time back in 30 years.
Other notable things I recall but can't find in the UK: Zambuck, TV Bars, and Grandpa Powders.
Also! A request...
Do you happen to have any old M-Net TV guide magazines? Circa from when it first started up until around 1999 or so? We left 95, but I'd love to see one again even from after we left.
We used to get it every month, but sadly never kept any, and now I have nostalgia for them. I ask every SA who I come across, and none do. Who keeps 35 year old TV guides?
If by some weird fluke you have one, would you be willing to sell it? I'd pay shipping from Australia to UK.
Re: "What A Terrible Waste Of Time All Of It Was" - Princess Crown's Original Translation Is Dead
@Henchdog
In fact, let me ask you, did you ever watch this lost SA film? Various people are trying to find it!
https://youtu.be/B19ru_O4pzI
Re: "What A Terrible Waste Of Time All Of It Was" - Princess Crown's Original Translation Is Dead
@Henchdog
A fellow South African? Greetings! So then... Is dit Afrikaans?
(We moved to the UK in 1995.)
Re: "What A Terrible Waste Of Time All Of It Was" - Princess Crown's Original Translation Is Dead
@Henchdog
Your native language is... (checks profile) Indigenous Aboriginee?
Probably not, but I salute your attempt to fan-translate into a language that isn't English.
I always think it's cool seeing announcements of a fan-translation into something like Polish or Norwegian, or whatever. It reminds me that the videogame industry - games culture - has for the longest time been dominated by America, with a little bit of Europe, and a sizeable portion by Japan.
Re: Zelda: Ocarina Of Time Is Being Unofficially Ported To Sega Dreamcast
@shiningpikablu252
An excellent question, but I think there's enough? It won't feel perfect, but there's technically enough.
stick = stick
start = start
Z+R = L+R
4x C buttons = 4x D-pad directions
A+B = X+A
Thus leaving the Dreamcast controller with a spare Y+B button!
Two of the yellow C buttons can be fitted to the Y+B, or just doubled up, since sometimes you want to activate a deku nut or swing a deku stick. But it'll work perfectly.
Granted, you won't have the convenience of the 4x C buttons in the upper right, but it'll be good enough. One of the C buttons is the camera, and the other 3 are items, so have 2 of them doubled on Y+B. So the d-pad will replicate the 4, and Y+B will act as a duplicate of say... the left and bottom C button?
That way when playing the Ocarina tunes, you can intuitively use the D-pad for the C button directions.
The N64's d-pad was never needed for OoT so that's fine.
I emulated OoT on the 3DS on my PC using a wired X360 controller, and it was super easy to map - I even had some leftover buttons to map touch screen hotspots. As long as the person do the port is smart and implements an optimised solution, or provides the option to remap buttons when compiling it, this will work absolutely fine.
EDIT:
just to get pedantic here...
C up = d pad up
C down = d pad down
C right = d pad right
C left = d pad left
C left = Y (duplicate)
c down = B (duplicate
This way you can put action oriented C button stuff on the Dreamcast action buttons (deku stick, hookshot, etc.). Z trigger and shield R from the N64 map nicely to L+R.
C right isn't going to have a duplicate face button, but you can just assign less important stuff to that, like using a milk jar, or activating some secondary item which is only used in low stress areas. And C-up isn't a big deal on the d-pad up direction.
By duplicating two C buttons, but keeping them all on the D-pad, this still allows you to intuitively use the ocarina music notes.
It's flawless!
Re: "What A Terrible Waste Of Time All Of It Was" - Princess Crown's Original Translation Is Dead
@PZT
I've read readme files describing the time needed to hack (not translate) certain games. Assume 12 weeks x 40 hours, that's 480 hours. Now, granted, the Mega CD is not a platform architecture I know well. That game I believe uses weird compression? And a three month schedule wouldn't be all hacking, or all translating. One side is usually idle waiting for the other to do their task. But based on my understanding of the topics, having spoken with both translators and programmers, I still feel that a professional top level programmer whose sole day job is cracking the architecture to extract the text, could do it in the time. The 90 day deadline is ambitious since one translator would struggle. I think Metal Gear Solid took Blaustein about 6 months working on his own? And that used complex military jargon. So OK, I revise my statement: 3 months to hack, 6 months to translate. Unless we had a team of 4 translators to split the workload.
Whatever. I'll admit my statement was hyperbole, if you'll admit CJ taking 14 years is excessive. I looked it up. He announced the project in 2012!
Somewhere between 90 days and 14 years is the answer to this.
Re: "What A Terrible Waste Of Time All Of It Was" - Princess Crown's Original Translation Is Dead
Let this be a lesson to everyone: do not sit on your projects thinking you have forever.
I agree with what @Phara128 says - this was never going to come out.
I say: good.
These guys sat on it for over a decade.
Then eadmaster comes in and is like: I'd like to play this, so would others, here it's done.
This is exactly what needed to happen.
There are a multitude of other fan-translations where this exact same thing needs to happen again.
CJ Iwakura has sat on Shadowrun for the Sega Mega CD for about 20 years now. Where TF is the translation already!? Nobody else wants to take on the job, out of respect for other groups who raise their hand and earmark a game.
If I had limitless wealth I would hire a hacker and a translator, and say to them: you have 90 days to release the Shadowrun CD patch, I don't care that another group is pretending to do it. 90 days and you get a bonus paycheque. This is your new day job, 40 hours a week! I'm paying you by the day! GO GO GOOOOO!!!
Enough of this nonsense. Some of these projects end up constipated and not shifting, and everyone just sits around being all: "Well gee, it'd be bad etiquette to do it ourselves."
Nah. If someone raises their hand and a decade goes by and NOTHING happens, it's fair game.
Well done to eadmaster. I hope these two have a learned a valuable lesson in speed and efficiency and not being bone idle. Their work was not a waste of time - it motivated eadmaster to get it done, and it's also a valuable life lesson they have paid for in full.
This sets a valuable precedent for the entire fan-translation community.
If you raise your hand, and you announce a project, you are beholden to get it done, not sit on it for decades like a dragon atop a pile of gold coins. "The game is mine! Only I shall translate it!"
Nope. Someone else is going to usurp you and do it themselves.
These two sat on it doing nothing since 2014. In the year 2024 it had been a decade. That's just silly nonsense.
This was absolutely the best thing to happen. THE BEST THING. Great, great work eadmaster. It needed to happen, he made it happen, now please, take all of this to heart. Absorb this lesson into the fabric of your souls.
Re: Random: I Was Pranked By These Metroid Barcode Battler Cards, And Now I Wish They Were Legit
@Bakamoichigei
I think the download has expired. It only lasts 3 days. The CMYK explanation is spot on. I leave it to you to adjust / sort.
To be honest the Zelda card game is insanely difficult I found. Even when cheating I found it borderline impossible. So the "game" could honestly just do with some fresh custom barcodes.
Re: The National Videogame Museum Has Acquired A "Mythical" Nintendo PlayStation
@Peteykins
I didn't know about any drama, so looked this up. He is sketchy as hell!
For 10 years people donated expensive games because he promised to make a museum. Then he decides just to send the games to a private company.
The worst thing I dug up though...
Guy sent Hancock CIB SNES games, under the agreement Hancock would pay a pre-agreed upon fee to buy the games.
Time goes by, the seller contacts Hancock who says he took the SNES games to a local expert, who said they're fake, so he's not paying him.
Seller refutes they were fake.
Sellers says, well, can I at least have my games back?
Hancock says no because he threw them in the bin.
ROFLMFAO
Fully boxed SNES games? Fake? I don't buy that. But let's pretend the cart, box, and manual are repros. Those are not cheap! They're just cheaper than a £500 original.
You don't just throw them in the bin.
WTF. You agreed cash on delivery, you decide you don't want them due to suspicion of forgery. YOU GIVE THEM BACK. What sort of imbecile just bins someone else's stuff?
"Some guy said it was probably fake so I just threw the cart, box, and manual in the trash and never even bothered to tell you."
Outrageous insanity.
Re: Random: I Was Pranked By These Metroid Barcode Battler Cards, And Now I Wish They Were Legit
@VITIMan @Bakamoichigei
I've just initiated a WeTransfer of a ZIP file, about 160mb, with the final PDF of the Metroid deck, and folders with the art I used. The barcodes were taken from the Zelda cards, which I had a folder of, and are not included, just to make this small.
The design program I used was a very old version of PagePlus. I've not included it since I doubt anyone can open it, and when I tried opening on my other computer it was full of dead links.
The final PDF should not have any security. Meaning you should be able to open it up and manipulate it using a powerful design software? Maybe? Anyway, that PDF was good enough for the printer.
I discovered the problem with my initial batch was that printing in colour it did not scan well. I think because the barcode section was not just black ink lines, but rather... Black lines which included colour inks, since I just dropped the scans in and did not alter the files. I hope that makes sense. I dropped in scans of the Zelda cards, which were scanned in colour, and when I zoom in I can see random colour pixels. Presumably this comes through in the printing.
Because! When I did a basic B&W photocopy of the cards, they worked flawlessly. So the size is correct, and the sharpness is fine. But the colour printing, and perhaps also the glossy finish, made them impossible to scan.
If you decide to print these, please keep this in mind. The barcode section will need adjusting into monochrome, and do not have a glossy finish.
I tried playing the game (using the photocopied cards), and it is INSANELY difficult. Impossible maybe? I'd like to readjust the barcodes to make the game much easier. Keep in mind it was just a reskin of the Zelda game. But I've moved on from this project.
The folder also contains some word docs, unused art, an excel file, and other stuff I was working with to make these. If anyone wanted to make their own card designs, the hi-res art is there, and you can probably generate your own barcodes.
I can't sell these because it's Copyright Nintendo. But if you share them online freely, maybe mention that I've got some interview books on Amazon, if people want to support me while also owning something physical (and which I have the rights to sell).
Any questions ask, but I'm kinda washing my hands of these. It was great gag to play on Damien, and I'm now moving on to the next gag!
I'll email you both too.
Re: "Time To Expose Everything" - GamersNexus Digs Into Sega's Police Raid To Reclaim Dev Kits
JUSTICE FOR DARIUS KHAN!
Re: English Translation Of Cult Dreamcast RPG SEGAGAGA Is Complete, But There's A Catch
@dodgykebaab
Just to show that I am not without a sense of humility, someone pointed out the following to me online elsewhere:
You underestimate the power of SPITE! With this fan translation pissing so many people off, the interest in a better translation for this game will more likely skyrocket. That's what happened with Suikoden on PSP (woven web of something or other) it got a very ***** machine translation, literally unedited Google Translate. Within 2 years (or so I recall) someone else made a much better patch literally out of spite.
I was completely unaware that Woven Web had two fan-translations, first a terrible Google Translate one, unedited, and then a spite fuelled proper translation.
I am going to cling to the hope that Sega fans are as passionate and as crazy as the Suiko fandom, and unite together to redo this.
Re: English Translation Of Cult Dreamcast RPG SEGAGAGA Is Complete, But There's A Catch
@dodgykebaab
Thank you for the kind words, I'm glad you enjoyed the books.
I would really like to believe your point #1 to be true. And I will eat humble pie if someone takes the tools and redoes the translation on this. But I am not the optimist.
Re: English Translation Of Cult Dreamcast RPG SEGAGAGA Is Complete, But There's A Catch
@dodgykebaab
You seem to labour under the belief I don't understand the fan translation scene.
This is a bit old now, but I wrote this:
https://hg101.kontek.net/fantranslation/Romhacking.htm
Rest assured I have followed the scene closely for over 20 years, documenting it along the way.
Re: English Translation Of Cult Dreamcast RPG SEGAGAGA Is Complete, But There's A Catch
@dodgykebaab
I need to log in to retro game talk to view these, but you appear to be showing me retranslations of retail games (Phantasy Star, Target Earth), not retranslations of fan-translations. Which tells me you didn't understand my original post.
I was confused when you claimed thousands, given I could not think of one, and I've interviewed people in the scene and written lengthy history articles on fan translation.
Now I get it: you were referring to translations of games which had commercial localisations back in the day. Which is not what I'm talking about.
Which is fine, I'll explain it again:
When a Japan only game gets fan translated, meaning it receives its first English fan translation, this has a chilling effect on other fan translators taking on the same project.
No fan group is going to say: hey, let's redo the work a rival group did!
The exception being the FF games, where there's weirdly a bunch of different fan translations.
After our earlier chat I went looking for feedback on Segagaga, and found multiple people stating the same thing as me.
When a Japan only game receives a fan translation, that's it. People are not going to do a second fan translation.
The fact you're showing me translations of games that had retail localisations proves to me you didn't get what I was saying.
The same with the apology.
As I stated clearly, in English: if Segagaga receives a second proper fan translation, I will apologise.
I'm not apologising for anything else.
I said this will never get a second fan translation, and if it does I'll apologise.
You go and list a bunch of fan translations for games that had retail localisations back in the day thinking that's the same thing.
I don't really know how to simplify this any further: fan translators don't bother making second fan translations once someone else comes out.
I mention Bangaio because by pure fluke both teams released at the same time.
Anyway, as I said:
If someone does a second Segagaga translation, properly, you go ahead and let me know.
As for this translation: I spent an hour on my desktop going through the CD Romance thread, YouTube, Reddit, and Tw/Bs, to see people's reactions. I chatted with a guy on YT briefly.
Everyone who has played it is saying the same thing. This is crap.
Re: English Translation Of Cult Dreamcast RPG SEGAGAGA Is Complete, But There's A Catch
@dodgykebaab
You want me to prove non-existence of something? You realise that's impossible, right? That's basic philosophy.
I followed the Reddit complaints with people citing other examples: in manga, adult only VNs, general games. Someone craps out a machine translation and other teams quit.
You cite 1000s. Name just 5. Some rules:
Here is my promise: if someone redoes this from scratch, @ me here. I will publicly apologise to you for my hubris. I will apologise in the new news article on it too.
I am happy to be proven wrong.
I want to be proven wrong!
We will NEVER see a proper from scratch manual translation of Segagaga, taking into account the nuance. This AI slop is all we will have forever.
Please prove me wrong. Please.
Re: English Translation Of Cult Dreamcast RPG SEGAGAGA Is Complete, But There's A Catch
@dodgykebaab
Just for the record I'm not on twitter or bluesky, that was simply the only source to find screens.
I know full well the story behind the hacking. I've been following this game's fan translation attempts since 2006.
I hear what you're saying: the main thing here is the tools. Now someone else can do the translation.
News flash: nobody is going to do anything.
Once a fan translation comes out, regardless of quality, it has a chilling effect.
Nobody else is going to touch this now.
We had one chance, one shot, this was it.
They blew it.
Don't try to placate me with "well now others can fix it".
Not gonna happen. This will be the only English version, now and forever in perpetuity. Giving me 3 options:
1) become a native level JP reader
2) play garbage
3) accept that Segagaga is dead forever and never play it
I'm going with #3
Why is it garbage Sega Saturn RPGs manage to find multiple peope to hand translate them, but this team of hackers couldn't find even ONE bilingual person to translate it, so they cheaped out with AI? Did they even advertise? "We solved the hacking! Translators apply within!"
Do not presume I am clueless on the background to this.
The previous fan translation team extracted and 100% manually translated the script, but could not reinsert it.
So why, WHY, did these chuckleducks not contact that team and collaborate?
Now it's too late.
This dumpster fire is all we will have forever now.
Re: English Translation Of Cult Dreamcast RPG SEGAGAGA Is Complete, But There's A Catch
@ja3 @HoyeBoye @ChronosZero86 @slider1983 @GhaleonUnlimited
Spent months editing it my arse.
Look at all the threads and screens on social media.
https://bsky.app/profile/moomanibe.bsky.social/post/3mfvap2dbu22a
This AI slop translation looks like unplayable dogshit.
All of the wit, and satire, and nuance, and exquisite humour in the writing has been DESECRATED.
This project has officially turned into filthy rotten trash fire.
I had been looking forward to this for so long, and everyone involved has basically poisoned the well. I'm not suffering through this crap. It's worthless.
I can only hope someone who knows what they're doing redoes it from scratch.
But seeing as it's taken 20+ years to get this, I doubt we will ever see the translation this game deserves.
To the team responsible:
I hope you're happy. Instead of finding a fan who is bilingual, laziness and impatience got the better of you, and you have KILLED Segagaga. This is an absolute disgrace.
Re: English Translation Of Cult Dreamcast RPG SEGAGAGA Is Complete, But There's A Catch
@slider1983
As pointed out by @GhaleonUnlimited - users on Reddit are saying the AI translation is dry, which is not good for a game meant to be a comedic satire.
Worse still are claims that references to Sega have been botched or messed up. This is much more severe, and I can see AI doing that. If there's a subtle play on words, the AI will miss that and just translate it based on the next expected word. Remember - these LLM are just text predictors.
I'm actually keen to see specific examples, but I can imagine it. Sega specific puns or mispelling jokes won't be picked up by a text predictor.
This is why AI is bad for this project.
The entire game is satire requiring nuance.
Re: "This Is What AI And Greed Does" - Video Game 'Preservation Service' Myrient Is Shutting Down
Myrient in many cases was the only place that hosted extremely rare aftermarket homebrew titles - games made and put out there after a system died, which are not part of any ROM set elsewhere, because it was not an official retail game.
Give how terrible fan communities are at preserving these efforts, Myrient has been my one stop go to for such obscure oddities. Notably all the weird Lynx homebrew, where the original author's website is now 404 and forgotten.
Myrient didn't forget it.
(sigh)
I don't where else you'll find some of this stuff, because it's simply not hosted anywhere else! Not even on the Internet Archive.
Re: The PC Engine Version Of Popful Mail Is Now (Partly) Playable In English
The archive page says: "The only way to play it as of now is on Retroarch with CD Speed set to X8 (must be changed in the menus for the specific core, in this case beetle PCE) or on real hardware with a turbodrive."
I have a Terraonion ODE for my PCE. Will this run? I don't feel like downloading 800mb, getting my system out, popping the micro SD, going back to my computer, configuring it to the correct file type (assuming it's not already), putting it in a new folder, going back to my PCE, popping the micro SD card back inside, hooking it up to my TV, booting into the ODE menu, trying to load the game...
Only to find that as per the archive text it does not run.
Anyone willing to take the hit and try it first then report back here?
Re: Random: "They Wanted It Dark And Sexy" - Maximo: Ghosts to Glory Artist On The "R-Rated" Version We Never Got To Play
@Martin_H
Love the slogan! I hope the T-shirt has a screencap of this scene alongside it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfVbybGk5_g
Re: Random: "They Wanted It Dark And Sexy" - Maximo: Ghosts to Glory Artist On The "R-Rated" Version We Never Got To Play
We need to bring back the sexiness in games. So many these days seem po faced and restrained, like they've been developed by Puritans and prudes. Bring back the T&A, I say!
Re: Deus Ex Designers Still Disagree On This Unique Solution To "An Immersive-Sim Problem"
@smoreon
An excellent point. With different ammo types, you'll use the gun with the most ammo, if you're being careful.
I hated this decision. I think it's beyond idiotic, I think it's bad design, and I'm shocked anyone signed off on it.
The ammo **** up in Invisible War killed the entire game for me and I didn't play more than a couple of hours. Absolute trash.
With the original I was switching between guns, and switching between ammo types constantly, same with System Shock 2 from that time period. Also Jagged Alliance 2. Different ammo types are intensely fun to play around with. Armour piercing, explosive, regular, hollow point, sabot, sedative, non-lethal, etc.
It's funny that what they say contradicts a previous thing I'd read in interviews. I'm not sure of the source, but a different interview someone stated something like:
They were testing with focus groups, and someone was complaining that it was too complicated to keep track of different ammo types, or they didn't like the fact they had to keep track of limited ammo for something, and kept getting confused, so the dev team - to "fix" this - just stripped the whole system out and implemented a single ammo pool.
I cannot stress how much I hate this new idea.
The joy of the first game was having all these tools, to be used as you see fit in different situations, and suddenly it's like: no tools for you! The whole thing was dumbed down.
One of the absolute worst design decisions in the history of videogames.
For the record: I'm fine with and love a high volume of tools to work with. Give me a hundred different weapons and 50 different ammo types to juggle. I'm not the only person who will be delighted to spend money on such a rich and complex game.
Re: The Studio Behind The Simpsons: Hit & Run, Scarface, & Prototype Has Been Rebooted As New Radical Games
In an alternate timeline there exists ENTERTAINMENT HOTHEAD.
Re: Spy Drops Gaiden Might Just Be The 2D Metal Gear Spiritual Successor You've Been Waiting For
Missions plural?
Sounds like it won't have a single cohesive open world like MG1 or MG2:SS. Those were basically Zelda with guns and amazing for it. I liked Snake's Revenge and Ghost Babel, but was a little saddened they both adopted a level based structure.
I'm excited, but I'm still waiting for another 2D top-down open world game.
Re: Every Shining Game, Ranked
@Gravyc
I put both on my ODE, and the saves are interchangeable.
I played the first few hours alternating.
It's different, but so far it's been so mild as to not be worth bothering.
I'll probably default to the Working Designs one in the hope of future zaniness.
Re: "Time To Expose Everything" - Fallout From Sega Dev Kit Raid Rumbles On
@GravyThief
Not trying to be funny here, or deliberately obtuse, but I genuinely do not know. I could ask, but I doubt anyone would tell me.
I wrote an article a while back where I divulged his salary. Maybe that's why? But the VGHF is an NPO, so the documents showing this are a matter of public record. So it's not like I was leaking private info.
Re: "Time To Expose Everything" - Fallout From Sega Dev Kit Raid Rumbles On
@N64-ROX
Frank Cifaldi's open hatred for Time Extension is well known. I'm aware of it. Others are aware of it. He knows we are aware of it. We know that he knows we are aware of it. I say nothing because Frank has a million supporters, and one does not wish to anger so many faithful. That many people are a force of power to be feared.
But I'm grateful you noticed this and spoke up. Thank you.
I think Frank Cifaldi is a lovely man. He does tremendous valuable work. He is a shining beacon in the sphere of games history, and the knowledge he preserves and freely shares with the world is glorious and wonderful.
Fun fact: in the old days of forums he cosplayed as an angel holding a bear, posting a photo online which I saved. This saintly aura was prophetic, for he now rises like a benevolent Messiah, safeguarding the history of videogames.
Glory be to the blessed Frank Cifaldi, whom we all pledge loyalty.
Re: "A Woefully Underrated N64 Underdog" - Treasure's Bangai-O Gets Not One But Two New English Translations
@metaphysician
Ironically, I'm sometimes part of that demographic. In as much as - I feel you can have either type, or a mix of both, and abstract plotless games can be tremendously worthwhile.
With Bangai-O though, having played lots of shooters already, the insane story helped it stand out for me. It was so good, I'd jave happily just read a script dump.
It's tricky to articulate - the balance between story and games is difficult. I would never ostracise a game for focusing on one or the other. But Bangai-O resonated for me because it married the two so well. They hit gold with the balance.
Gunstar Heroes is another Treasure game I love. It doesn't have much "plot" in terms of dialogue boxes, but there's a visual storytelling through the character designs and themes, which elevates it above your average run n gun.
Re: "A Woefully Underrated N64 Underdog" - Treasure's Bangai-O Gets Not One But Two New English Translations
@Razieluigi
The story on the DC version is why I loved it! Was gutted when the sequels had no story, and critics stupidly claimed this was a good thing. T_T
For me 80% of the joy was the batshirt insane dialogue, with 20% being gameplay.
I bought the sequels, but never bothered playing more than a couple levels. Honestly what was the point?
Can someone point out key differences in the two fan translations???
Re: Not Feeling Castlevania: Belmont's Curse's Art Style? Then Check Out Silent Planet
@jason160uk
Yeah, I didn't like it either.
Chalk me up as another person who does not like the new art style for the new Castlevania, and would prefer an older style of pixel art. The Remaster for Suikoden I&II, with the pixelated characters, has reinforced my love for this kind of aesthetic style.
The new Castlevania though?
That looks like a lot of other similar 2D games from recent years: like a cheap Flash game.
This, however, looks beautiful.
I don't get it. Do the kids today hate pixel art?
Re: Achievement Unlocked - This Free Service Has Changed The Way I Play Retro Games In 2026
I have hated cheevos since they first existed. And it annoyed me in the PS3 era when you could not disable them.
Today I've seen multiple people say they refuse to play any game without them, which saddens me. Fantastic PS1 gems on PSN overlooked because no cheevos. A guy on Reddit saying he started Valkyria Chronicles, one of the greatest games ever made, and he started to feel physically ill due to there being no cheevos, and had to rage quit.
I realise these are optional.
But that doesn't mean I can ignore the phenomenon.
As @Tasuki brilliantly points out, cheevos have become a sort of mind virus, so devs now put them in all games, and design games around them, and make the goals of those games - their inherent design ethos - revolve around cheevos.
When was the last time you heard a dev say: screw cheevos, we're making our dream game, and that game IS the game, not some arbitrary meaningless tasks tacked on.
I know people will tell me to let others enjoy their games how they want.
But they are not enjoying them.
That guy on Reddit who rage quit Valk Chronicles described feeling physically ill, and while he was interested enough to start the game, he quit for no reason other than it not providing him with the digital heroin he's been trained to feel addicted to.
I want to reach out to him, and everyone who refuses to play those PS1 gems, or indeed any game without cheevos, and say warmly: it's OK, you can enjoy the game just for the game itself, you don't need cheevos to feel joy. As @JayJ also pointed out.
Re: Random: Fan-Made 'Star Fox CD' Adds The Hornet From Daytona USA, Because Why Not
I love (and miss) weird and wacky silly stuff like this in games. Bring back the fun, I say.
Re: We're Getting Not One But Two Culdcept Titles This July
@Zeebor15
Culdcept is like if Magic the Gathering and Monopoly had a baby. Board game with card battles. Highly addictive.
Re: Check Your VHS Tapes - You Might Be In Line For A Small Reward If You Can Find This Elusive 'Games World' Footage
Thank you for this @damo
Anyone who has the winning "blue shirt" footage, feel free to @ me on here or post in the YT comments (I'm not on Twitter or Bluesky). We can work out who digitises the tapes, I'm happy to post it back, and I'll also sort that £100 bounty!
Good hunting everyone!
Re: We're Getting Not One But Two Culdcept Titles This July
Culdcept Saga is one of the reasons I imported a US X360, since the localisation was US exclusive. Totally worth it!
Re: This N64 Classic From The Developers Of GTA Has Gotten A Native PC Port
There's already a patch to fix the bug, so I'd bet money it gets added to the recomp.
Re: Japanese Fans Are Getting A Ganbare Goemon Collection, And We've Never Been More Jealous
@Quick_Man
No.
If it can be made to work once, it can be made to work every time.
This is why the English language has the word: precedent
Feel free to look it up.
Also cross reference the above with "Egg of Columbus".
Again, Google is freely available to enlighten yourself. Have a nice day.
(Ah, sometimes I love low IQ takes that allow me to flex my greater intellect.)
Re: Interview: "I Did My Best To Make It Work" - Legendary Localiser On Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, & The "Total Nightmare" Of Xenogears
Incredible interview.
The description of Sega sounds so much like Sega, even if he didn't say Sega most of us could probably guess it was Sega.
That company. LOL!
Re: Japanese Switch Owners Are Getting A Ganbare Goemon Collection, And We've Never Been More Jealous
Genuinely do not understand why they don't license the fan translations. Almost all of these are now in English. Maybe even all of them?
Falcom / Xseed officially licensed the fan translation for a couple Ys games, so there is a precedent for beneficial mutual cooperation between publishers and the fan community. It can work.
Re: This N64 Classic From The Developers Of GTA Has Gotten A Native PC Port
This was one of the absolute BEST games on the N64. The devs behind it said it had a direct influence on GTA3. I interviewed them for Game Developer website - if I recall correctly, some of the "kinematics" code from this was even reused. (Best check the interviews - this was years back.)
I have always tried to encourage people to play this or the GBC remake. It's incredible.
The PS1 "port" is pure hot garbage though. Possibly the worst cross system console port I've ever seen.