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Rotated/justified Japanese text question

physmotone

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14 Mar 2018
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Hi,
I recently translated one of our iPhone games to Japanese but since releasing it I've become a bit concerned that it might look wrong. There's a couple of issues, any help on them would be appreciated!

1) In the main game screen we have text that says 'Level 10' but it's rotated 90 degrees (English pic here: https://is3-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/...e5-8d9f-0c181da3c4a0/pr_source.png/690x0w.jpg) I've also rotated it in Japanese but not sure if that's correct? (Japanese pic here: https://is3-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/...df-d237-1fcd23f73987/pr_source.png/690x0w.jpg ) Should I be writing the Japanese text vertically instead?

2) In the menu screen there's text that says 'Music On' or 'Music Off' but I've had to justify that over several lines for the Japanese version. Can anyone tell me if it's still readable? Pic here: https://is5-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/...2b-bd63-377b9465a5c2/pr_source.png/690x0w.jpg

Many thanks!
Tone
 
1)
Both can work well, the rotated horizontal version you made or vertical one like below.






However, it's common that the score is also vertical and located lower to the level for the vertical one.











So the rotated horizontal version would be better. I personally think that there is no problem even with the rotated English version. I bet Japanese gamers can understand the English word "level".

2)
音楽オン and 音楽オフ are OK, but 特殊音響効果 is too complicated in that small space. I prefer サウンドエフェクト written in smaller font (if possible). Also, the long vowel mark "ー" shouldn't be put alone at the end of ゲームセンター. Furthermore, the biggest problem is 高いスコア which must be the translation of "high score". This is literally a literal translation. 高いスコア can't mean "high score" as "one's best score". The transliteration ハイスコア is the one you need to use.
 
That's great @Toritoribe, thanks for all the detailed information!

I'll stick with the level text as it is then and rework the menu with your updated translations. Thanks for the proper translation of 'high score' too, I'll update that as well.

Tony
 
I wonder who wrote the description for your game in the iTunes store. Most likely not the same person who did the in-game texts.

You have the kanji word for high score right there: 高得点. (I would still go with the more conmon ハイスコア)
 
Well, 最高得点 works fine, since "high score" would actually connote "best score" in this case, I think.
 
Ah, I see, but the meanings are different. 高得点 in the explanation refers to "a good/relatively high score" as the same meaning as 高いスコア. For instance, if the best score is 20,000 and the average is 10,000 or so, 18,000 can be 高得点. On the other hand, "High Score" on the menu page must be the "highest/best score so far", so the translation should ハイスコア, ベストスコア or 最高得点, not 高いスコア or 高得点.

説明 would be written by someone in App Store, I think. 新機能 must be by a machine translator.
 
Yes, I see it now. 高得点 is just "a high score". Thanks.

As for the text on the app store, I thought that it would have to be submitted by the developer. Maybe the OP can clarify. I've always wondered how it works.
 
Thanks for all the help!

Originally I wrote the app store text in English and then had it translated at 'Gengo.com'. I only had the in-game text translated recently so it would have been done by a different person. Ironically I paid more for the 'business level' translation of in-game text so I thought it would have been better quality but obviously not!

It's an odd system because they ask you to rate how good the translation is but that's impossible to do if you don't speak the language - I just had to assume it's ok.

Tone
p.s. If you're interested here's an excerpt of the help text that was translated - it looks different from google translate but not hugely:

English: "Touch and drag a block to move it, blocks can only be moved left and right. To score big, you need to set up chain reactions, the bigger the chain, the higher the score!"

Japanese: "ブロックをタッチしドラッグして動かしてください。ブロックは左右にのみ動きます。大きく得点するには、連鎖反応を起す必要があります。連鎖が長いほど、スコアは高くなります!"
 
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Originally I wrote the app store text in English and then had it translated at 'Gengo.com'. I only had the in-game text translated recently so it would have been done by a different person. Ironically I paid more for the 'business level' translation of in-game text so I thought it would have been better quality but obviously not!
The translation 高いスコア clearly shows that the translator didn't understand the context correctly. I presume they are not a native Japanese speaker, unlike the one who translated the app store text.

It's an odd system because they ask you to rate how good the translation is but that's impossible to do if you don't speak the language - I just had to assume it's ok.
It's odd indeed, but you can ask to check whether the translator is reliable or not in forums like here JREF. We had several members like that.

How do you like this Japanese translation? | Japan Forum
Please help evaluate this translation | Japan Forum
Please help evaluate this translation | Japan Forum
Help me select a translator based on 1-sentence sample | Japan Forum

p.s. If you're interested here's an excerpt of the help text that was translated - it looks different from google translate but not hugely:

English: "Touch and drag a block to move it, blocks can only be moved left and right. To score big, you need to set up chain reactions, the bigger the chain, the higher the score!"

Japanese: "ブロックをタッチしドラッグして動かしてください。ブロックは左右にのみ動きます。大きく得点するには、連鎖反応を起す必要があります。連鎖が長いほど、スコアは高くなります!"
A bit stiff, but understandable enough.
 
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