User:EvieMelody/Common But Notable Themes

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Regional Differences

Censorship or cultural-related changes

Some examples of types of these changes include the following. Incidentally, the company Nintendo is also known for having some strict policies on it (not necessarily related to localisation but their games in general), and they often include such changes in their localisations, although its enforcement is inconsistent and they violated it by releasing games like Devil World and (in a general sense) especially Time Twist: Rekishi no Katasumi de...:

• The localisers change content to appeal more to the target audience (in Advance Wars, Officers are called Shoguns in the Japanese version)
• To avoid sexualised content, or content at risk of being seen as suggestive (in Pokémon Gold and Silver, the battle sprite of the Swimmer♀ trainers originally winked in the Japanese version)
• To avoid overly religious themes (the trophy of Tamagon in Super Smash Bros. Melee is unused outside of the Japan version. It also refers to his game as Demon World, even though it was released as Devil World).
• Similarly, to lessen elements which may be seen as occult in the West (such as divination, fortune-telling, mediumship/channeling and possesion. For example, in the Japanese version of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, Hex Maniacs have no pupils) or to undertone specific references to Eastern spirituality (such as Buddhist altars in the Generation I and II core Pokémon games instead becoming statues of Diglett).
• To remove references or potential inferences to drugs or alcohol (in Game Boy Camera the printer syringe icon for Game Boy Printer was removed when the Japanese version was localised, possibly to avoid confusion with a medical syringe. Also in the Pokémon series, the Kanto old man originally passed out because he was intoxicated in the Japanese versions; the English localisation changed this to him passing out due to having too much coffee).
• To remove anything in general that could be seen as bad taste, or misinterpreted in the localisation. One example is the Pokémon species Jynx (unfortunately for controversy regarding similarities with the blackface stereotype, until her skin became purple in all future appearances regardless of region). Another example is how the Red Star army became the Orange Star army in Advance Wars, possibly to avoid communist connotations. For media in general (with localisation sometimes being a part of it), this can also apply to topics that unfortunately received a recent negative exposure in the news similar to the time of release; such as refraining to release something if it coincides with a natural disaster such as an earthquake.

Revisional Differences

Games with revisional differences pertain to games with different versions (with different data in the ROM/ISO/etc.) even within the same language.

• A lot of older video games (before online updates and patches) have factory revision changes, and these sometimes depend on the means of release. A well-known example is Tetris (Game Boy); the original (Rev 0) was part of a Japan Special Link Bundle. The music for A-Type was silently changed for Rev 1, as well as engine changes/bug fixes. However, there are a huge number of these variations, and a goal of the "Datter" communities is to document them. So, for any games with revision change(s) not documented on the wiki; you could add these changes to an article. Identifying a revision change is possible in a few ways.
  • By dumping the ROM/ISO/etc. and checking a hash to compare it with another dump (such as MD5; there are free MD5 checkers online). However, it is important that the dump is "good"; for games with stored checksum(s) an emulator will sometimes tell you if it doesn't conform with the actual data. Note that a hash collision though unlikely is technically possible. To be even more safe, you can also use check a more secure hash such as SHA-256, take the output from multiple types of hashes, etc.
  • If the game has a header, by researching the data structure of the header to see if there is anything to note the revision, such as 00 for Rev 0 and 01 for Rev 1.
  • Checking a cartridge imprint (visible by tilting the cartridge under light; example). Note that even if the cartridge has a different imprint, it might have the same ROM image because the imprint pertains to (unknown) details regarding its manufacturing at the factory, although an indication of a different ROM image might be identified with a letter after the number, such as "A" being a Rev 1.
  • Checking if any bugs or glitches work differently (either through the developer's intentions, or as an unintended consequence. It's even possible that a newer revision introduces new bugs.) (Example)
  • Checking for any noticable changes while playing in general.
  • Performing a byte comparison is a possibility (such as Command Prompt's cmp /b (file name 1) (file name 2) command. It can be forwarded to a text file using > (output file name)) However, it's often better to disassemble the code yourself (with the aid of a debugger or decompiler); due to the fact that when code/data is shifted or moved around, it can create many changes unworthy of analysis, such as updates to the pointer of the routine/data and make notable changes harder to detect.
• Although this may be taken from granted nowadays, games with online updates and patches may include specific bug fixes, new features/content (including use of previously unused content), performance updates and so on. As above, some may unintentionally introduce bugs or worsen the experience. Another point is that competitive games such as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate may nerf or buff a character/gameplay element etc. for balance reasons.
• Some games rather than factory revision changes are more like enhancements; but not entirely new games either - for example, the Game Boy Color enhanced version of Wario Land II, as opposed to the original Game Boy version. However, these (as other version differences) do not get their own specific article.
• Sometimes, an English European localisation of a game will still be different to the North American version; perhaps including censorship, bug fixes, text fixes, etc. It might also include a language select screen, so you can play in a language other than English, without the need of region specific releases (although this was not the case for core series Pokémon games until the release of Pokémon X and Y). It is rarer for there to be changes in an Australian version, but can happen.
• A re-release of an older game (such as from Nintendo's Virtual Console service) may still contain some small changes in its image. Note however that in other cases, the changes do not apply to the image itself but are rather a result of the emulation (i.e. emulation errors, lack of compatibility with peripherals like the Game Boy Printer (although either the image or the emulation may patch out the ability to try to use them), or masking; such as how the Super Mario 64 part of Super Mario 3D All-Stars is based on the 1997 Shindou Pak Taiou Version but the English text changes are patched in using the emulator).