Neat Junk Archive

A Mighty Ant

Poe’s away on vacation for a long time, so I’ll post stuff here from time to time. Here’s a pic that spartonberry showed off the other day, from a generic Japanese Game Boy JRPG called “Legend”:

The enemy’s name is “Muhammad-Ari”, and “ari” is the Japanese word for “ant”.

This is the sort of naming sense that I usually see in J-to-E translations rather than in Japanese games themselves. So this is a cool, rare treat, especially coming from what’s apparently a super bland generic JRPG!

Results of the Pokemon “Localize Me” Challenge #2

Round 2 of the Pokemon Gold/Silver Beta Localization Challenge featured this steel shark thing:

This was a tough one to localize, since I asked people to forget anything they learned about the Gold/Silver Beta before suggesting a new localized name. As pointed out to me by someone on Twitter, The Cutting Room Floor lists this Pokemon’s name asイカリ (ikari). Two kanji are listed next to the name in the notes: 錨 and 怒リ. Both of those characters are pronounced “ikari”, but one character means “anchor” and the other is “rage”. So Anchorage is the perfect name for this guy in English.

Can anyone beat that localization? Here are the top suggestions from Twitter and Instagram!

  • Shankor / Shanchor
  • Sharchor
  • Fangchor
  • Shankery
  • Megaloadin
  • Hainker (from German Hai (shark) and Anker (anchor))
  • Anchorbiter
  • Hookjaw
  • Ankor
  • Chain Chomp

Most people suggested some variation of Shanchor, so next time I gotta pick a harder one >:]

Bootleg Mario Week 2018: Donkey Kone Ice Cream

This one is technically a Donkey Kong rip-off, but I’m counting it as Mario since two of the kids are dressed like Mario and Luigi. I wonder if it plays the Mario or Donkey Kong theme as it drives around!

Have you seen pictures of bootleg Mario things like the above? Please share them in the comments!

Bootleg Mario Week 2018: Super Mario Fried Chicken

It’s easy to find bootleg Mario games, but it’s hilarious when you see small businesses using Mario characters and fonts to advertise their products. Let’s feature these blatant rip-offs all week!

First up is Super Mario Fried Chicken.

I like the addition of the chicken leg in Mario’s hand. I don’t think the Mushroom Kingdom even has chickens, though… Not gonna lie, I’d totally buy some chicken from this place.

If you’ve seen other bootleg Mario things like the above, please share them in the comments!

Localization Issues Pervade the Ys VIII Switch Port

Whoops, YS VIII is goofin’ again. The Switch port releases next week and GameXplain did a really excellent review on it: watch it here! Their review is almost glowing, but then they point out the lack of localization polish…

Dang, what the heck happened? After all the fuss made over the PS4 version’s subpar localization (the president of NISA even issued a public apology) and the huge effort to rewrite the script and re-record all the voice acting, how did this happen?