Current Events > Why did they change some game titles from Japan to America?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Akumojou Dracula to Castlevania I understand because it's lost in translation and a game called Devil's Castle Dracula wouldn't sound appealing

Rockman and Biohazard I don't understand

capcom had to change biohazard to resident evil because there is a band that has biohazard trademarked

And Rockman got nothing to do with music.

---

Rockman sounds fucking dumb. I imagine in Japanese where its just weird foreign sounds it sounds fine.
---

DeadBankerDream posted...

Rockman sounds fucking dumb. I imagine in Japanese where its just weird foreign sounds it sounds fine.

I think Akumojou Dracula sounds cool personally

"Rock" was slang for crack at the time, so releasing a game in the US called "Rockman" wouldn't have flown with the parents.

---

DeadBankerDream posted...

Rockman sounds fucking dumb. I imagine in Japanese where its just weird foreign sounds it sounds fine.

From what I've read in the past they changed it to mega man because they felt it would confuse Western audiences. They thought we'd look at the robot master naming scheme and be confused why rockman's power wasn't rock themed.

---

DeadBankerDream posted...

Rockman sounds fucking dumb. I imagine in Japanese where its just weird foreign sounds it sounds fine.

Well the meaning is the same in Japanese. Rock and Roll is still exactly that in Japanese ( rokku n rooru) so they named the main characters Rock and Roll.

---

Jumpman though.

---

Puckman
Because the didnt want American teenagers to damage the artwork and remove the rounded part of the P.

---

biohazard sounds like a chemical spill or some shit.

resident evil >>>>>>>

---

pauIie posted...

biohazard sounds like a chemical spill or some shit.

resident evil >>>>>>>

It makes complete sense to the plot of the original game.

---

ssjevot posted...

It makes complete sense to the plot of the original game.

never said it didn't

---

ssjevot posted...

It makes complete sense to the plot of the original game.

It makes complete sense for the whole series. The whole series is about biohazard outbreaks whereas It was never really about a single residence by the second game (and even the first game tbh). Plus they title drop Biohazard a bunch which they obviously cant do with Resident Evil. RE is a more memorable and catchier name though.
---

Resident Evil is a slightly more terrible anus butt title than Biohazard.
---

My favorite thing about Resident Evil 7 was that when I saw the subtitle was "Biohazard", I thought, "Did they flip the names in the Japanese version?" Because in RE7, there's some more biohazard stuff, but the main setting is just an ordinary house. So I figured "Resident Evil" could work as a subtitle for that, too. And sure enough, they did. In Japan, it's known as Biohazard: Resident Evil.

---

Another series that does this is Etrian Odyssey. Etrian is merely the name of the town of the first game and never appears again whereas the Japanese name Labyrinth of the World Tree is relevant for every game.
---

I went a really long time having no idea what Etrian Odyssey was and thinking was something else entirely.

---

Also:

Palutena's Mirror (JP) = Kid Icarus (EN)

---

Because no one will know that you play as a badass Yakuza from: "Like a Dragon" lol

---

ChrisTaka posted...

Because no one will know that you play as a badass Yakuza from: "Like a Dragon" lol

Yakuza's Japanese title is Ryu ga Gotoku, though, which at the most basic, translates to "Ryu is Fighting". Neither one makes for a very distinct title, though.

Answering the main topic though, it's because some stuff just doesn't translate well, may have unfortunate cultural implications, legal reasons such as when Dragon Quest was Dragon Warrior, a more unique title for marketing & trademarking, or someone simply thinks it sounds better. As mentioned there are some problems when the name change doesn't hold up over time, such as when Phoenix Wright stops being the focal point of the series, & they shifted focus to what was the subtitle into being the series name overall.

---

SauI_Goodman posted...

capcom had to change biohazard to resident evil because there is a band that has biohazard trademarked

I don't get how you can trademark a word...

Like, are bread manufacturers not allowed to call their products bread because there is a band named bread?

YellowMustard69 posted...

I don't get how you can trademark a word...

Like, are bread manufacturers not allowed to call their products bread because there is a band named bread?

Thing about trademarks is that you generally want something distinct & memorable, or at least an unusual association such as Apple for a computer company. Even if you could, naming your bread product "Bread" it would probably be insanely generic & forgettable, unless you had a really good marketing campaign around it. It's supposedly why the "SciFi Channel" changed its name to "SyFy"; same pronunciation, but the spelling makes it more unique.

---

darkbuster posted...

Yakuza's Japanese title is Ryu ga Gotoku, though, which at the most basic, translates to "Ryu is Fighting". Neither one makes for a very distinct title, though.

What? literally means "like a dragon".

---

ssjevot posted...

What? literally means "like a dragon".

Never kept too on top of my Japanese, but IIRC, it's one of those issues where gotoku has a very wide translation & kanji shenanigans.

---

Like a Dragon is a much better title than Yakuza and I sometimes use it for that reason, causing great confusion among my less culturally intelligent friends.
---

I can see rockman, it soundes dumb to me when i first heard it. It made me think of a megaman boss named Rock Man that throws rocks

It it was Rock and Roll then yeah, id dig it

---

ssjevot posted...

I went a really long time having no idea what Etrian Odyssey was and thinking was something else entirely.

god weebs are the fucking worst sometimes
just call it yggdrasil labyrinth like the actual games translate the phrase

Different markets, different cultures, it really only makes sense for the marketing to be different.

---

darkbuster posted...

Never kept too on top of my Japanese, but IIRC, it's one of those issues where gotoku has a very wide translation & kanji shenanigans.

Nah. There isn't really any other word or meaning like you indicated before. I live and work in Japan in an all Japanese work environment. You could easily confirm for yourself with an online dictionary though, other than the from Buddhism there isn't anything else.

---

Illuminoius posted...

god weebs are the fucking worst sometimes
just call it yggdrasil labyrinth like the actual games translate the phrase

I have never played one of these games in English. I found one of the games in Japan and bought it. Went online and found out it's called Etrian Odyssey when I got stuck and that was what made the connection for me. I had heard people talk about the game, but I didn't realize I had bought it until I went online.

---