Japan’s Modern Warfare 2 Translation Mess

In a piece of hilariously poor translation work, Modern Warfare 2′s infamous “No Russian” stage this week met Japanese gamers with virtual terrorist Vladimir Makarov suggesting that the protagonist “kill them; they are Russians”. The awkwardly twisted quotation shifts much of the plot’s meaning and later repercussions, the original’s “Remember, no Russian” a pivotal moment in the game’s exposition.

While it’s unlikely that much of the colonised world have yet to hear correct details of the level’s actual content, swathes of Japanese gamers are apparently looking to boycott the release unless changed, instead purchasing English language versions of the title. As amusing as the polarised import frenzy may be for western players used to struggling their way through symbol-laden titles from Play Asia, it’s impossible to deny such a horrendous failure on the part of Modern Warfare 2′s eastern translators.

English speakers have long been shafted with translatory messes like Zero Wing’s classic “all your base are belong to us”, but it seems surprising that a storyline element as controversial and widely discussed would fall through a script editor’s net. However, Famitsu still scored the Activision money machine a respectable 39/40 so the retail effect of the language error seems negligible at best.

Via: Joystiq