Fans begin translating Type-0

[Wolf Kanno]

Square Enix Won’t Release Final Fantasy Type-0 In North America, So Fans Are Taking Over | Kotaku Australia (http://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/02/square-enix-wont-release-final-fantasy-type-0-in-north-america-so-fans-are-taking-over/)

Looks like fans are taking things into their own hand.

[Formalhaut]

Eventually, the fans will rebel and take over SE and release Type-0 to the world.

[Yar]

Good for them, but I have noticed that fan translations tend to be sub-par. Here's to hoping that it's a good one.

[Formalhaut]

Good for them, but I have noticed that fan translations tend to be sub-par. Here's to hoping that it's a good one.

Given it's large fan-base, and desire for it, I'm sure they'll pour over it with care.

[qwertysaur]

So it's the same scenario as mother 3. :p

[Mirage]

The problem with fan translations is often that they are just that, translations. Official releases are often localizations, not just translations.

I could totally go for a fan localization though.

[Aulayna]

Now that it's gaining coverage on more popular news sites it's only a matter of time before they get slammed with a C&D under the DMCA.

[Wolf Kanno]

They might hold off and see if this garners some interest in the game in the West before nailing them with a Cease and Desist.

[Xannidel]

I want to quote a facebook group called "Project Crystallis" in regards to this:

"We have received many messages regarding a fan translation of Final Fantasy Type-0 and would like to go on record that we in NO WAY support this movement. We feel that it promotes piracy of the game, which undoubtedly will push Square Enix further away from localizing it (probably the reason they havent already). It will also render all the signatures and support we have garnered thus far, completely pointless.
We ask that you please support an official release as the only possible outcome. We would like SE to take us seriously, and supporting things such as this will portray the impression that we will settle for less."

How do you guys feel towards this?

[Wolf Kanno]

Squenix can ax the fan translation whenever they want to so I don't necessarily feel it will affect actually bringing the game over, if it was finished and then released via emulator, that would be a different story but as of right now the fan project doesn't have enough content to threaten SE fiscally and wouldn't really change their mind about it. They'll shut the project down eventually but if people start following the fan translation, it may actually give SE a better idea of how successful the game could be but this is assuming that its a lack of interest that killed a worldwide release and not some other factor. For all we know, the translation for the game was put on hold to deal with other factors in the company and will resume once they've been resolved. I mean the game was released for both PSP and Vita, and whereas they can argue the lack of support for the aging PSP, its not like the Vita is going anywhere soon so they can release the game in the next few years if they wanted to.

[Del Murder]

I agree with Wolf. SE can shut this down whenever they want so maybe showing interest in it will fan the flames of then actually releasing this legitimately.

[Elpizo]

I wonder why fans are always so silly to announce what they're doing worldwide. That's just asking for a C&D. Projects like this need to be done in secret and released in secret. Once it's on the internet, it can never get off again.

[Wolf Kanno]

Part of it because they are most likely trying to poke the company into action about it, though I would also guess its because so few people have a real grasp of what copyright law is and how Fair Use works. :D

[Elpizo]

Part of it because they are most likely trying to poke the company into action about it, though I would also guess its because so few people have a real grasp of what copyright law is and how Fair Use works. :D

Bah, don't remind me. I'm still pretty annoyed by the C&D Hasbro gave Fighting is Magic. Sure, it's legal for them to do it, but it's still stupid. This whole law is stupid and has so many holes in it the whole bottom has fallen out at this point. When nearly every toddler in the whole wide world is committing a crime by drawing his favourite cartoons or TV shows and showing his work off at school or handing it out to his/her friends, I'd say there's something seriously wrong with your law. But what do I know. *shrugs*

[black orb]

I wonder why fans are always so silly to announce what they're doing worldwide. That's just asking for a C&D. Projects like this need to be done in secret and released in secret. Once it's on the internet, it can never get off again.
>>> Silly indeed, these sort of groups have egos too and like to show off I guess (well, they work for nothing so I cant blame them)..:luca:

With or without fan translation I doubt SE will change their plans about the game anyways..

[Skyblade]

Which is easier? Fully translating a game as best you can, and distributing it without getting in legal troubles? Or partially translating it enough to catch the owners attention and get slapped with a cease and desist, while showing them that there's still interest in this game over here, and possible getting an actual localization done?

They announce what they're doing because they want the game to be released. We already have word that the majority of the translation is done, it's just Square sitting on their butts not wanting to release it for some reason. The more attention the game gets, the better, and something to which Square has to respond with legal action like a Cease and Desist is attention that Square has to give.

How many such projects will Square have to shut down before they realize that this game has a market?

[Aulayna]

How many such projects will Square have to shut down before they realize that this game has a market?

I think they know it has a market. I think their concern is whether the market is big enough and in all honesty considering iOS/Android has a significant market share in western territories and the recent re-releases of PSN versions of PSone titles or HD remasters that are in the works it wouldn't surprise me to see Type-0 International/Final Mix get released in the future on a different platform than the fledgling Playstation portables.

[NeoCracker]

There has, to my knowledge, never bee a C&D issued over a fan translation. The only real legal issue that has yet to come up is with one of the original RPG makers, which the issue wasn't a translation, but the site linked to illegal downloads of the game itself.

There was also a group who got a C&D, but immiidately after it was announced they were being brought on to work on the official release. I forget the game, but the group was nonamelosers.

Then there was the instance of XSeed commissioning the fan tranlsation of an Ys game to offset the costs of bringing over such a niche' game series.

And, according to Wiki, "A popular belief in the fan translation community is that distributing only a binary patch, which must be applied to the full, original game, is legal. The reasoning is that the patch only contains the new data and directives for where it is to be placed, and does not have the original copyrighted material included in any form, and therefore it is useless unless the user applies it to a (copyrighted) ROM, the acquisition and legality of which they are left completely accountable for. This belief is untested in court. Regardless, the patch must still contain a translated script that is derived from the copyrighted script of the original, but this anti-software piracy attitude by the fan translation community may have convinced copyright holders to, by and large, turn a blind eye"

So basically, the legality of a fan-translation is largely up in the air, unless our resident lawyer has some insight on the nature of it. :p

I doubt Square will do anything about this unless they intend to bring it overseas themselves.

Edit: And on the note of Mother 3, not only is Tomato, the guy who did the fan translation, a working translator, but the people who developed Mother 3 both knew about the fan translation, and said that since there was no word of it getting an official launch, they were thrilled that it was being worked on as it meant more people would play it.

Any time I hear of a company catching wind of a fan translation for their game, I only ever hear that they are happy it's being done.

Edit2: The game involving No name Losers mentioned above.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ef:_A_Fairy_Tale_of_the_Two.

[Spooniest]

I wonder if the game is any good?

[Roogle]

With or without fan translation I doubt SE will change their plans about the game anyways..

Right, I cannot see Square Enix changing its plans because of a fan translation. I am glad that someone is taking enough of an interest in the game to translate it. We missed out on some great games in the nineties and we were able to play them, still, because there were fans that were dedicated enough to translate the game. A translation is not an easy undertaking.

I think it reflects poorly on a company when a fan translation is the only way to play a game and the fans are paranoid about there being some kind of Cease & Desist Order. As someone mentioned earlier, Mother 3 was translated with the blessing of its creator who was thrilled that the game would receive a larger audience. I like to see that kind of support for fan works. I heard that there was a game a few years ago whose publishing company bought the rights to the translation and sold it in stores. I wonder what game that was?

[NeoCracker]

I believe it was one of the Ys titles.