Scribblenauts Gets a New Title in Japan

[Greg Tito]

Scribblenauts Gets a New Title in Japan

Konami has undertaken the arduous task of localizing Scribblenauts for Japan but that means the title gets a bit lost in translation.

The unique puzzler Scribblenauts was a breakout hit on the Nintendo DS in English-speaking nations in 2009, but it was never released in the DS's native country of Japan. That's because the game is largely based on using language to solve puzzles, allowing the player to write in the word for any object for that object to then appear in the game. For it to work in Japan, all of that code would have to reworked for the Japanese alphabet and language. Konami announced today that it has been working on translating Scribblenauts to Japanese, but part of that process means changing the very English-sounding title. The game will release in Japan on January 27th with the title Hirameki Puzzle: Maxwell's Peculiar Notebook.

According to Andriasang.com, the game is a full Japanese version of Scribblenauts, which I assume means that it uses the Japanese characters as well. It also seems that Konami will be offering a deal of sorts for Japanese players who have waiting so long for this port. You can pick it up for ¥3,980 (~$49) which is about ¥1,000 cheaper than most DS titles in the island nation.

Not only is Maxwell's Peculiar Notebook an awesome title, but I think it almost more perfectly encapsulates the gameplay than Scribblenauts does. What do you guys think? Should 5th Cell change Scribblenauts 2 to Maxwell's Peculiar Notebook, er, 2?

Source: Andriasang.com [http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/11/09/scribblenauts_japanese_release/]

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[Onyx Oblivion]

His notebook is peculiar.

I like it.

 

[PhunkyPhazon]

Maxwells Peculiar Notebook sounds like a Professor Layton title. Which is even more fitting since the Phoenix Wright crossover will essentially have a magic notebook.

...Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright vs. Scribblenauts, anyone?

 

[Beyond D espair]

I wonder if they'll use Hiragana over particular words that must use more than one Kanji... I could image trying to write down the name of an object and then getting something you didn't want while you were still trying to jot down the second Kanji.

 

[Baldr]

I find it hard to believe they couldn't translate "Scribblenauts" into something more literal like "Adventurers who write" Then again, literal translations of Anime titles sometimes come out sounding weird in English.

 

[Therumancer]

I'm sorry, but to me the title seems like it's trying to cash in on the "Death Note" craze a bit too late.

 

[PureChaos]

that is SUCH a cool name. should be changed for sure

 

[josemlopes]

No, its sounds way to japanese.

 

[Formica Archonis]

No, its sounds way to japanese.

... it's a Japanese game....

 

[josemlopes]

No, its sounds way to japanese.

... it's a Japanese game....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5th_Cell

 

[josemlopes]

Crap, double post...

 

[Imp Poster]

too late, we all know it as Scribblenauts. Name recognition thing.

 

[Formica Archonis]

No, its sounds way to japanese.

... it's a Japanese game....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5th_Cell

So the company's from Washington. The translated game is (duh) translated into Japanese. It's, therefore, a Japanese game.

 

[BobisOnlyBob]

I wonder if the pre-title - Hirameki Puzzle - has anything to do with Hirameki Action [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirameki_Action:_Chibikko_Wagan_no_Daiki_na_Bouken#Hirameki_Action:_Chibikko_Wagan_no_.C5.8Ckina_B.C5.8Dken]?

I like the name. But Scribblenauts here, "Hirameki Puzzle: Makkusuweru no Fushigi na Notto" there.

 

[Delock]

Maxwells Peculiar Notebook sounds like a Professor Layton title. Which is even more fitting since the Phoenix Wright crossover will essentially have a magic notebook.

...Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright vs. Scribblenauts, anyone?

... You just restore 5 days worth of lost hope for humanity with that idea.

 

[josemlopes]

No, its sounds way to japanese.

... it's a Japanese game....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5th_Cell

So the company's from Washington. The translated game is (duh) translated into Japanese. It's, therefore, a Japanese game.

I also thought that you might be refering to that but I was mainly talking about turning the name of the game into that in all versions due to the previous comments

 

[Ravek]

I'm sorry, but to me the title seems like it's trying to cash in on the "Death Note" craze a bit too late.

Hahaha what

 

[Therumancer]

I'm sorry, but to me the title seems like it's trying to cash in on the "Death Note" craze a bit too late.

Hahaha what

Anime series, about a mystical notebook where you write someone's name in it and they die. Was noteworthy due to it gaining international notoriety due to people keeping real life "death notes" of a sort of people that they wanted to see die and how.

For a while you had referances showing up nearly everywhere, and a few times it seemed like people were trying to use the idea of a mystical notebook to pimp various products.

Differant theme, but the basic idea here seems to be that in the Japanese version they are going to have the character write things in a notebook, causing them to manifest. Not identical, but similar to other knock off concepts.

Basically some slightly behind the times marketing guy saying "hey we should call it this, because concepts like this are hot right now, and it will improve sales!". That's simply how it seems to me. Of course that doesn't mean that this was their logic.

 

[Ravek]

Of course that doesn't mean that this was their logic.

Indeed. To say that it's trying to cash in on Death Note because it has 'notebook' in the title is incredibly far-fetched.