From: v089l3s3@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (JER HORWITZ)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: Re: SoRII bashing SFII?
Keywords: flame SFII SNES Sega
Date: 20 Dec 92 22:34:00 GMT
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In article <1642@tecsun1.tec.army.mil>, carleton@tecsun1.tec.army.mil (Daniel Carleton) writes...
>v089l3s3@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (JER HORWITZ) writes:
> 
>>In article <1638@tecsun1.tec.army.mil>, carleton@tecsun1.tec.army.mil (Daniel Carleton) writes...
>>> 
>>>	Did anyone notice the suspiciously named "Bare Knuckle II" machines
>>>in the arcade in Streets of Rage II?  There is also a reference to it on
>>>the scoreboard in the baseball stadium.  I Sega trying to encourage the
>>>destruction of SFII machines :> ?

>>Funny you should mention the BK machines... I wanted to
>>post to see if Teh Kao recognized the reference - they
>>are, in fact, the Japanese title of Streets of Rage
>>[Bare Knuckles] and you'll note that the baseball park
>>also has signs that say Bare II all around.

>Do the japanese actually use the english phrase 'Bare Knuckle', or is that
>a direct translation from the japanese title. 

KEN A: Are you reading this? This may be a good thing to include in the FAQ.

The Japanese have three main character sets they use, in addition to the
English "Roman" letter set. One of these three sets is used to directly
translate foreign words into characters all Japanese can read. The set
is called Katakana, and foreign words (most often English, then German
and French) translate into syllables comprised most often of a consonant
and a vowel. Bare Knuckles becomes BIA- NA KU RU [pronounced Beah (rhymes
with Bare) Nah-kur]. There are dictionaries available for this purpose
if you can't just guess what it means by saying it a few times fast. :)

> Does the Japanese version
>still have the english words written on the side of the arcade machines?

Yes, and it makes a heck of a lot more sense to them.

>Why do we call the japanese genesis the Mega-Drive?

More correctly, we call the Japanese Mega Drive the Genesis. Sega released
their 16-Bit game system in Japan a full year or two before it was released
here. It was called the Mega Drive; Japan-ized English to mean 1000x the
power of the previous generation of game systems. It was decided that they
would release the unit in America under a name which would reflect several
things - the rebirth of Sega, new life, etc - Genesis. The press commented
that they thought the old name was cooler, and because Sega was super
strong in the U.K. and outside the U.S., when the system debuted everywhere
else a year or two later, the name Mega Drive stuck elsewhere.

> is that another direct
>translation?

Mega Drive is written in English quite often by Sega, although in Katakana
it appears as ME GA DO RAI BU(VU), although it's pronounced Mega Doriv.
(little emphasis on the o).

>  Do the japanese commonly use english in Japan?
Not in speaking, but in naming products. Hence, most of the games that hit
stores retain the same names as they had in Japan, although some, like
Art of Fighting (by SNK) have different Japanese names, not written
in Katakana, but in either Kanji (Chinese characters) or Hiragana
(characters of most spoken Japanese).

Art of Fighting is "Battle of the Dragon and Tiger".

[ -> Jer Horwitz ] [INTERnet Game Consultant]