View Single Post
  #12  
Old Mar 25, 2010, 10:22 PM
seanne's Avatar
seanne seanne is offline
VGMdb Staff
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Sweden
Posts: 1,490
Default

Here are some thoughts on the greater issue.

For the main series title:

1) If the game was released in the west under a completely new name, use a romanization of the original name, i.e:

Akumajo Dracula > Castlevania
Biohazard > Resident Evil
Sekaiju no Meikyuu > Etrian Odyssey
Gyakuten Saiban > Phoenix Wright
etc

Same goes for titles where the change is very slight, i.e:

Genso Suikoden > Suikoden
Dragon Quest > Dragon Warrior
Eternal Arcadia > Skies of Arcadia
Street Fighter Zero > Street Fighter Alpha

It always helps if the original title is well known to western fans as in most of the above examples.

2) If the game has been released in the west under a name which fully retains the original meaning, I'd say typically it's alright to use the English title but this is perhaps best judged on a case-by-case basis.

The Legend of Heroes > Eiyuu Densetsu
Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon > Chocobo no Fushigina Dungeon

3) If the game has not been released in the west, essentially always go with the original title unless the game has an official English name (preferably a direct translation) in which case it can be judged on an individual basis. There may be other circumstances warranting judgement as well.

As for subtitles, typically use the title for the same language as for the main title, but this can depend on what is commonly used, well known, etc.
__________________
VGMdb group on last.fm
Reply With Quote