@LuigiBlood I doubt that very much under the current laws, as if you illegal translate something without the copyright holders consent. Then I suspect the rights of even the translation you did will go back to the original rights holders. If you commit a crime under law, you don't get to keep your ill gotten gains so to speak. I'll end the legal discussion there.
Would very much welcome a collection of the original five games and the spin off Gun Hazard in a set. It's a shame there hasn't been a proper collection of the SNES, PS1, Nintendo DS & PS2 releases to date. Word to the wise the the two remakes are awful which is what you would expect from Forever Entertainment. Really wish another developer had done the remake job.
@Guru_Larry Known about this for sometime, they used the Valken fan translation it was clear from a quick comparison I did myself it was the same just with a few edits to clean it up or change it. I was surprised retro-bit did this as the fan translation is inferior to the excellent Switch M2 English release. Retro-bit didn't want to pay M2 the rights costs it seems or even pay the fan translators.
Not much they can do really as what people never mentioned is while fan translations are nice to see they are highly illegal. As you need the copyright holders permission to translate their work to another language in the first place, which 99% of them don't have.
If anything all they can sadly do is ask for a credit if that. As unless they had the copyright holders permission to translate the game in the first place, they have little in the way of a legal case. As if they try to sue retro-bit, they can just say they had permission while the fan translators didn't.
Last thing you want is a case that angers a rights holder, else that could see games companies turn on fan translators and could see all fan translations ever made taken down.
Fan translations have been a grey area for a long time rights holders turn a blind eye to. Having professionally worked to localise games in the industry myself for a publisher. I know how much work goes into it myself. That said with A.I. now as it is I can self translate stuff myself for any game ever made with screen grabs.
@Damo It certainly looks like A.I., but I would suggest you use the words like "alleged" or "may" to cover you legally. As VGDensetsu is not a strong source. As someone who has worked in games it looks bad and to me doesn't look like most of it was drawn by a human, I could be wrong however. Having worked with some great video game artists and concept artists, this is just heart breaking to see and could mean a huge loss of jobs and talent in the industry as time goes on.
Doesn't help Systems 3 reputation either in my view as I don't think they are a good company.
There are clear mistakes, like the right side of the backpack should be seen under the arm, but isn't present. You have a low cable on that side going nowhere as a result, when it looks like it should be in the backpack. The cable on the lower left just loops into itself. The lower cable on the top left starts as part of the arm design and turns into a cable that doesn't link anywhere. The guns are disproportionate to one another. The space ship design has thrusters on the front and back for most of them and the perspective doesn't look quite right in some areas. There are a number of other errors as well.
This new release looks rather lacklustre and I was homing it might include the excellent Super Dropzone. Which doesn't look like it sadly.
Thanks for the post, even if people haven't used there 360 in years they need to really beware of all the issues and problems with the 360 now. It also shows how little Microsoft supports the system. Which in turn raises questions about there future plans, as if they treat the Xbox 360 as throw away what does it say about the service they offer in the future. In there current form I certainly don't want to support them, if this is how they treat consumers.
Correction Sega Saturn's demise was 2000 in Japan when the last few games released on it. SEGA were still releasing games on it in 1999. Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Dungeon & Dragons Collection were two of the big releases that year. It was the western Saturn releases that ended in 1998, which was a huge error as it meant Saturn owners moved to other consoles in the dry period.
Darius Gaiden's entry seems a little odd it's a great game, but there are far better shmups on the system and better exclusive games. All 10 are very good games, Sakura Wars is a good tactic RPG, but I will say Shining Force III Trilogy and Mystaria - The Realms of Lore 1 & 2 (Riglord Saga in Japan) are better games in my view.
Looks like this won't be using the new translation done for the Nintendo Switch digital version by Rainmaker according to Retro-Bit. Footage in the trailer matches the old fan patch, but Retro-Bit have stated this is a new translation.
Wouldn't be surprised if this turns up as the fan patch with corrections, but we will have to wait and see. If will have to be quite different from the Rainmaker one to avoid any legal cross over.
Got an update and thanks to a few Shining fans they have confirmed at least two more undiscovered codes in the Japanese version. One grants you 18 braves apples if you enter your name as ダーミズダ for Arthur. The other grants you a Squeak Sandals, Courage Suit, Vigor Scarf & Goblin Helmet on starting the game if you enter your name as ナナメミギ for Arthur. Again these are sadly Japanese only, but I can find no information previous listed on either of these two before yesterday.
Hope these cheats and information come in handy for people, I sadly ran out of space for the Rodi weapon hidden special attack text in the video description. I also learned today it can be triggered even if you don't have any pixies, so what I say about needing pixies in the video is incorrect.
Rodi's Dagger / Kozuka Hidden Special Attack
(Japanese Version Only)
In the Japanese version only, Rodi starting katana weapon has a hidden special use feature. After Rodi joins your part in Desire Mine, go to the use item feature in battle and select the Kozuka. This will trigger the fairy bell sound effect and summon all the pixies you currently have. Doing between 300-450 damage on all enemies on screen. This also works even if you don't have any pixies yet as the enemies will just play their damage animation, making the attack far quicker to watch. Don't sell the Dagger / Kozuka at any point in-game as there is no way to get it back.
Did a bit of a fun run with it early got to the forest cave really quickly it takes out the first boss in one use.
Comments 9
Re: Retro-Bit Apologises For Using Fan-Translations Without Permission
@LuigiBlood I doubt that very much under the current laws, as if you illegal translate something without the copyright holders consent. Then I suspect the rights of even the translation you did will go back to the original rights holders. If you commit a crime under law, you don't get to keep your ill gotten gains so to speak. I'll end the legal discussion there.
Re: Anniversary: I Don't Wanzer Believe It, But Front Mission Turns 30 Today
Would very much welcome a collection of the original five games and the spin off Gun Hazard in a set. It's a shame there hasn't been a proper collection of the SNES, PS1, Nintendo DS & PS2 releases to date. Word to the wise the the two remakes are awful which is what you would expect from Forever Entertainment. Really wish another developer had done the remake job.
Re: Retro-Bit Accused Of Plagiarising Existing Fan-Translations
@Guru_Larry Known about this for sometime, they used the Valken fan translation it was clear from a quick comparison I did myself it was the same just with a few edits to clean it up or change it. I was surprised retro-bit did this as the fan translation is inferior to the excellent Switch M2 English release. Retro-bit didn't want to pay M2 the rights costs it seems or even pay the fan translators.
Not much they can do really as what people never mentioned is while fan translations are nice to see they are highly illegal. As you need the copyright holders permission to translate their work to another language in the first place, which 99% of them don't have.
If anything all they can sadly do is ask for a credit if that. As unless they had the copyright holders permission to translate the game in the first place, they have little in the way of a legal case. As if they try to sue retro-bit, they can just say they had permission while the fan translators didn't.
Last thing you want is a case that angers a rights holder, else that could see games companies turn on fan translators and could see all fan translations ever made taken down.
Fan translations have been a grey area for a long time rights holders turn a blind eye to. Having professionally worked to localise games in the industry myself for a publisher. I know how much work goes into it myself. That said with A.I. now as it is I can self translate stuff myself for any game ever made with screen grabs.
Re: Accusations Of AI Art Deflate Archer Maclean's DropZone 40th Anniversary Announcement
@Damo It certainly looks like A.I., but I would suggest you use the words like "alleged" or "may" to cover you legally. As VGDensetsu is not a strong source. As someone who has worked in games it looks bad and to me doesn't look like most of it was drawn by a human, I could be wrong however. Having worked with some great video game artists and concept artists, this is just heart breaking to see and could mean a huge loss of jobs and talent in the industry as time goes on.
Doesn't help Systems 3 reputation either in my view as I don't think they are a good company.
There are clear mistakes, like the right side of the backpack should be seen under the arm, but isn't present. You have a low cable on that side going nowhere as a result, when it looks like it should be in the backpack. The cable on the lower left just loops into itself. The lower cable on the top left starts as part of the arm design and turns into a cable that doesn't link anywhere. The guns are disproportionate to one another. The space ship design has thrusters on the front and back for most of them and the perspective doesn't look quite right in some areas. There are a number of other errors as well.
This new release looks rather lacklustre and I was homing it might include the excellent Super Dropzone. Which doesn't look like it sadly.
Re: Xbox 360 Online Store A Hot Mess Ahead Of July 2024 Closure
Thanks for the post, even if people haven't used there 360 in years they need to really beware of all the issues and problems with the 360 now. It also shows how little Microsoft supports the system. Which in turn raises questions about there future plans, as if they treat the Xbox 360 as throw away what does it say about the service they offer in the future. In there current form I certainly don't want to support them, if this is how they treat consumers.
Re: Japanese Saturn Fans Pick The Console's Best Games
Correction Sega Saturn's demise was 2000 in Japan when the last few games released on it. SEGA were still releasing games on it in 1999. Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Dungeon & Dragons Collection were two of the big releases that year. It was the western Saturn releases that ended in 1998, which was a huge error as it meant Saturn owners moved to other consoles in the dry period.
Darius Gaiden's entry seems a little odd it's a great game, but there are far better shmups on the system and better exclusive games. All 10 are very good games, Sakura Wars is a good tactic RPG, but I will say Shining Force III Trilogy and Mystaria - The Realms of Lore 1 & 2 (Riglord Saga in Japan) are better games in my view.
Re: Assault Suits Valken / Cybernator Is Getting A Physical Reissue On SNES
Looks like this won't be using the new translation done for the Nintendo Switch digital version by Rainmaker according to Retro-Bit. Footage in the trailer matches the old fan patch, but Retro-Bit have stated this is a new translation.
Wouldn't be surprised if this turns up as the fan patch with corrections, but we will have to wait and see. If will have to be quite different from the Rainmaker one to avoid any legal cross over.
Re: Shining The Holy Ark Cheat Codes Surface 26 Years After Release
Got an update and thanks to a few Shining fans they have confirmed at least two more undiscovered codes in the Japanese version. One grants you 18 braves apples if you enter your name as ダーミズダ for Arthur. The other grants you a Squeak Sandals, Courage Suit, Vigor Scarf & Goblin Helmet on starting the game if you enter your name as ナナメミギ for Arthur. Again these are sadly Japanese only, but I can find no information previous listed on either of these two before yesterday.
Re: Shining The Holy Ark Cheat Codes Surface 26 Years After Release
Hope these cheats and information come in handy for people, I sadly ran out of space for the Rodi weapon hidden special attack text in the video description. I also learned today it can be triggered even if you don't have any pixies, so what I say about needing pixies in the video is incorrect.
Rodi's Dagger / Kozuka Hidden Special Attack
(Japanese Version Only)
In the Japanese version only, Rodi starting katana weapon has a hidden special use feature. After Rodi joins your part in Desire Mine, go to the use item feature in battle and select the Kozuka. This will trigger the fairy bell sound effect and summon all the pixies you currently have. Doing between 300-450 damage on all enemies on screen. This also works even if you don't have any pixies yet as the enemies will just play their damage animation, making the attack far quicker to watch. Don't sell the Dagger / Kozuka at any point in-game as there is no way to get it back.
Did a bit of a fun run with it early got to the forest cave really quickly it takes out the first boss in one use.