So, after re-playing through CV:HoD after getting a bit of Castlevania nostalgia, I'm left wondering yet again what types of illicit drugs the people over at Konami of America were on when they did the Japanese to English translations for this game...

Just a few examples of the various bizarre (drug-induced?) translations:

Item descriptions from the "collectible furniture" subquest (a quest that's on a whole other level of bizarreness unto itself...):

Wizard's Urn - "Staring at this urn tends to induce sneezing."
Silk Curtain - "Made of the finest silks and milky to the touch."
Teacup - "With a sip of tea from this cup you can join our clan."
Hero Statue - "A hero immortalized forever. Someday, that will be me..."
Goddess Statue - "Statue of a goddess. Goddesses are so beautiful aren't they?"
Raccoon Figure - "A superb piece of art by an obviously skilled raccon figurine craftsman."
Gold Trinket - "The inscription reads: 'Candelight make your girlfriend like you more.'"
King-Size Bed - "Manufactured by the only trusted and true name in beds, 'FUTON'"

Various nonsensical location names:

"The Approach of Deplore" (just another example of a direct, literal translation not always being the best idea...)
"Waterway of Aquatic" (hmm...seems a little redundant, no?)

Various unintentionally humorous item descriptions:

Heavy Armor - "This armor looks extremely heavy." (how creative...)
Sturdy Turban - "Turbans are a big hit in areas of the world with hot climates." (who came up with this stuff?!)
Arm Guards - "Good protection for the entire arm but arms get a bit sweaty." (too much information...)
Lucky Charm - "This charm increases its users LCK. You are not allowed to look inside it." (*smacks forehead*)



As Conan O'Brien would say, "You can't make this stuff up, folks" .

I honestly don't remember any of the other CV games I've played having such...strange?...English translations, so I'm not sure how things went so terribly wrong in the case of HoD ...

My first post in more than a month...work has been keeping me busy it would seem. A quick list of the good, the bad, and the ugly:

The Good
- The company paying for all the lovely goodies I need for my job. Imagine if you had to pay for Visual Studio 2005, MSDN subscriptions, etc. out of pocket yourself ...
- Dell XPS and a Core 2 Duo laptop as my main work PCs. Almost makes me wish I could bring them home with me to game on . A shame to waste all that power on pure software development, no?
- All the gourmet coffee I can drink provided for free (!!!)
- Leftover food from project meetings always up for grabs.
- Every other Friday off.

The Bad
- 9 Hour work day.
- Leaving for work while it's still pitch black outside.
- Leaving for home after the sun has already set.
- Starting off my day around the same time I'd be heading off to bed if this were still college .
- All the seats filling up on the Metro by the time the trains roll up to the station I get on at.

The Ugly
- All the homeless people in DC...pretty depressing seeing the same dejected-looking faces every day on the way to work, especially this time of year.



So with that out of the way, I figured I'd finish off this post with an idea for a nice stocking stuffer gift for that techy friend or family member:

A USB drink cooler, perfect for keeping that can of Red Bull or Mountain Dew Code Red nice and chilly.



I'm considering buying one for myself, but this time of year, a coffee mug warmer seems a lot more handy...

Now this looks familiar...




No, it's not a new game in the Fire Emblem series for SNES/GBA. It's actually a somewhat obscure Sega Genesis/Saturn game called Langrisser that didn't see much action outside of Japan.

From the description on the Hardcore Gaming 101 website (great site to pore over for any gamer interested in classic games), Langrisser sounds like a cross of several more well-known games. As you can see from the screenshot above, the overhead view looks very similar to the Fire Emblem games. The style of the battle screens, on the other hand, seems more reminiscent of Advance Wars:


The description also mentions a generals system, possibly similar to the same concept from the Heroes of Might and Magic franchise.

Anyways, just an interesting look at a game that most of us Americans probably aren't familiar with...