Conclusion

NWR: In your opinion, why wasn't Fatal Frame 4 officially released here in the west?

Colin: I personally believe it boils down to sales. Nintendo is a big hitter, and rarely localizes titles that sell less than 100, 000. Fatal Frame did not make the cut.

Clayton: In general I agree with Colin - I'm sure it was a monetary decision (in business what other kind is there?). However, I have always been confused as to the timing. The release was scrapped just weeks before it was scheduled to hit store shelves. As I recall, a few magazine ads had already run in Europe. I guess the publishing costs were determined to be too high at the last minute. But I've always been frustrated with the idea that there is probably a fully translated copy sitting on a computer somewhere. As a fan of the genre, I am also worried that the decision not to publish it is a bad sign for future survival horror releases.

NWR: Another Wii game fans would like to localize is Captain Rainbow. If there's enough demand for it would the team be interested in localizing that game?

Colin: Captain Rainbow is game people bring up often. I would be hesitant to touch the title without a translator of some great capability for translating Japanese humour and puns. As a parody game, the script could be devastatingly tragic if translated without the utmost care. Feel free to contact me if you are such a person, via the patch website.

NWR: Would you consider localizing PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 titles?

Colin: I am not aware of any PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 titles which are valuable enough to consider a fan translation (except perhaps Vesperia PS3 for the bonus content). Also, I am not even certain anyone has the keys necessary to extract the files from those games. Without access to those keys, or direct access to the RAM, translation patches are impossible. On a side note, the DS scene has a lot of active translation groups.

Clayton: Possibly - depending on the title. For me to spend my free time digging through gigabytes of hex code requires a fair bit of motivation, so I would really need to have a personal interest in the game itself. However, I certainly wouldn't discriminate against any platform if it has something I'm interested enough in.

Aaron: For me, it would come down to personal preference. Being a Tales fan and a PS3 owner myself, I'd very much enjoy helping to localize Tales of Vesperia. Though, the homebrew communities for the other latest-gen consoles are nowhere near as mature as the Wii's is. The Xbox 360 has some very specific requirements, including hardware modifications and the console having been offline and outdated for a few months, and the Playstation 3 - if you've been keeping up with recent news - is only just starting to be seriously hacked this week. So if it were even possible, it would be difficult to be as accessible as our project currently is. Regardless, I would certainly try :)

NWR: Have you received any cease and desists messages from Nintendo?

Colin: No. Nor have I received any solicitations. Nintendo is likely largely indifferent to us.

NWR: Are you concerned that using your real names with the project might make you more exposed somehow?

Colin: There is nothing illegal about our project as far as we are aware, and none of the companies have issues with it. Morally, we are boosting sales, boosting name recognition for the game, and bringing the realm of community modifications into a safe and legal forum.

Personally speaking, we are showing initiative, dedication, and competence. Most of our team is reasonably young, and to us, this is an opportunity that we wouldn't be able to have in the workplace for another ten or twenty years, if at all. If it makes us more exposed, it's only to show that we are standing on our own two feet rather than hiding under a rock, asking for someone else to do it for us.

Clayton: I don't think this was a particularly shadowy project. Any reasonable measure we could take to make the game require a legitimate game disc was taken (Colin and Aaron put in a LOT of effort in to making it work that way). The truth is, it would have been significantly easier to release an illegally copied disc image. However, the goal was to help both the fans and the franchise. The only way to do that was to allow anyone with a legitimate disc to be able to play the translated game. Encouraging pirating of the game would certainly NOT increase the likelihood of seeing future releases outside of Japan - and requiring a modified system to play it wouldn't be very helpful to most of the real Fatal Frame fans. Hopefully it is perceived for what it really is - a labor of love. Still, let's just stick with first names- just in case! ;)

Aaron: Not at all. Maybe I'm just young and naive, but I have to view this as an accomplishment and be proud of what we've done, not hide it. It was a rewarding experience for all of us - one that will benefit the whole community. We've taken precautions to make sure the project is as safe, accessible, and legal as it can be, and we don't believe that anyone has any issues with it.

Thanks to the entire Riivolution team for the great interview! Their translation website can be found here. Discuss this interview in Talkback!