al-azad posted:

The Gaijin Gamer's Guide to Japanese (to guide you through the mountain of import games)
Modifying my curriculum a little. Memorizing all the commands in Zork is ridiculous for beginners so instead I'll be focusing on directions which is far more important. Plus there's actually a Japanese version of Zork 1 on PlayStation, that's news to me.

Part 1: Kana

Part 2: Kanji

Here it is, the roadblock to every aspiring linguist. Where the kana can be learned in a weekend, kanji will take years. Some 2,000+ is expected after high school and that doesn't include the special readings exclusively used for names.

Kanji have multiple meanings based on their usage or context. They have a traditional Chinese meaning, which could be something different when used as a verb or noun, and mean something else when compounded with other kanji. For example 表 is the kanji for "exterior/surface" but when used as a verb in 表す it means "to represent/express". Kanji have sound readings (onyomi) based on Chinese and their Japanese phonetic readings (kunyomi). Usually compound words and nouns use onyomi readings and adjectives and verbs use kunyomi but many exceptions exist. For example 物 means "thing" and uses the kunyomi reading もの (mono). But 生物 means "living thing" and uses the onyomi ぶつ (butsu).

Here's a fun example of how complex kanji can get. Brightness and bright share the same kanji 明 but the noun is pronounced めい (mei) and the adjective あか (aka). Nouns by themselves usually use onyomi while adjectives use the kunyomi reading although this isn't always true either because as mentioned above the noun for "thing" is kunyomi. 日 "day" is usually にち (nichi), but 明日 "tomorrow" is あした (ashita). 星 star's onyomi is normally セイ (sei) but sometimes ショウ (shou), but how come 明星 Venus ends up みょうじょう (myoujyou)? This is called rendaku and it's the devil. I guess myoushou results in a lot of tongue twisters so people started voicing their consonants. You'll see rendaku often as is the case with 人々 "everybody." It's ひとびと (hitobito) and not ひとひと (hitohito).

How Can I Make Kanji Work For Me?

You're not going to learn kanji overnight but we can at least memorize the most common stuff. Although Japanese has its fair share of synonyms you're going to see some vocabulary more than others because it's easy for everyone to recognize instantly. For example 別れる and 分かれる both mean "to separate" and are pronounced exactly the same. But 99% of the time you'll only see 分 used in the context of the verb "to understand" 分かる (wakaru) instead. But that kanji is also used for minute because the Chinese meaning is "part." I apologize in advance.

Because Japanese is a "sound poor" language this leads to all the punny jokes you've probably seen. Hey, here's a good one! An American woman asks a Japanese man for directions. She replies "thank you" in her best accent サンキュー (sankyuu). The man exclaims "I didn't know you were pregnant!"

Get it? Because "thank you" in English sounds like "maternity leave" in Japanese さんきゅう (sankyuu). Huh? Anybody??



りーん
りーん

...continuing on

Beginner: Directions

I'm going to put the romaji in spoilers. Try your best to read the hiragana.

Let's start off easy with cardinal directions. They use the kunyomi readings.

北 きた kita - north

東 ひがし higashi - east

南 みなみ minami - south

西 にし nishi - west

Intercardinal directions are a little more difficult because they use onyomi instead of the kunyomi. Compound words (more than one kanji) usually use onyomi.

北東 ほくとう hokutou - northeast

南東 なんとう (nantou) - southeast

南西 なんせい (nansei) - southwest

北西 ほくせい (hokusei) - northwest

Since adventure games require moving up and down let's look at those as well.

上 うえ ue - above/up

下 した shita - below/down


What direction am I facing? Don't cheat!

Practice: Copy and paste the kanji from above to answer these. Read them out loud as you do it.

What are the directions to get through the Lost Woods in the first Legend of Zelda?

北 西 南 西

Referencing this map of Zork, what's the fastest way from the round room to the Egyptian room?

南東 東 下 南 東

Intermediate: Learning Your Verbs Through SCUMM

Verbs are kanji with a hiragana ender which means they'll largely use kunyomi readings. Verbs are classified as either -ru verbs or -u verbs based on the sound they make. You don't need to know more than that until you start conjugating sentences. For now remember: if a word ends in an "u" sound then it's likely a verb.

Maniac Mansion is a perfect place to dive into verbs. You'll see this vocabulary in almost every Japanese adventure game (although NES will tend to use hiragana so you'll have to memorize the kanji on your own, sorry). To start off easy, why don't we look at the Japanese version of Maniac Mansion on Famicom?



From left to right, top to bottom:

開ける あける akeru - to unlock/open
押す おす osu - to push
仲間 なかま nakama - Colleague. Used to change characters
行く いく iku - to move
閉める しめる shimeru - to shut/close
引く ひく hiku - to pull
使う つかう tsukau - to use
読む よむ yomu - to read
渡す わたす watasu - to give
取る とる toru - to take
点ける つける tsukeru - to switch on
消す けす kesu - to turn off power

Practice: Boot up the Japanese Maniac Mansion in an emulator or something and play it! Use the above list as reference and say out loud the verbs as you select them. Use an English FAQ to help solve a puzzle or two by referencing the Japanese verbs with the English verbs. For a real challenge beat the game. It's maybe an hour with a guide.

Advanced: Counting, Time, and Dates

The calendar format for dates is "day: month: year" while the full international (e.g. newspaper) format is "year: month: day: time [sometimes Gregorian day]." The numbers are almost always written in Arabic numerals but we should still learn how to pronounce the numbers in Japanese. Let's start with the basics of counting the days on a calendar, 1-31.

一　いち　ichi - one
二 に ni - two
三 さん san - three
四 し／よん shi or yon - four
五 ご go - five
六 ろく roku - six
七 しち／なな shichi or nana - seven
八 はち hachi - eight
九 きゅう/く kyuu or ku - nine
十 じゅう jyuu - ten

4 and 7 have huge exceptions because shi sounds like "death" and shichi "certain death." Generally speaking, anything beyond ten uses yon and nana instead of shi and shichi. Nine can also be pronounced ku and this seems to be a dialect thing. Kyuu is the most common with few exceptions.

Going higher than ten involves combining a number in the ones place with the tens place. So 20 is にじゅう (nijyuu) and thirty one is さんじゅういち (sanjyuuichi).

The kanji for dates and their onyomi

日 にち nichi - day of the month
月 げつ getsu - month
年 ねん nen - year

However, when counting the months of the year it's pronounced がつ (gatsu). If somebody asks you what month is August you would say はちがつ (hachigatsu, 8th month) and not hachigetsu.

Annoyingly, counting days changes the readings. Day becomes か (ka) and the numbers precede it. You should know the kanji by now so let's focus on the readings.

ついたち (tsuitachi) first day
ふつか futsuka second day
みっか mitsuka third day
よっか yokka fourth day
いつか itsuka fifth day
むいか muika sixth day
ようか youka seventh day
なのか nanoka eighth day
ここのか kokonoka ninth day
とおか tooka tenth day

Once you get into the teens it goes back to onyomi readings. For example 13th day jyuusannichi. Howeveeeeeeer we have a boatload of exceptions because language hates you. Remember that people don't like saying shi for four so the number four retains it's kunyomi. E.g. the twenty-fourth day will be nijyuuyokka. Seven oddly becomes shichi so seventeenth-day is jyuushichinichi. Nine becomes ku when counting days so twenty-ninth day is nijyuukunichi.

Moving on to Gregorian days. 曜日 ようび (youbi) means "day of the week." The kanji for day uses kunyomi but because of our good friend rendaku you voice the consonant. The seven kanji have a unique meaning and you should memorize them because they're very common. If you want to be formal you can add 曜日 but just the onyomi can suffice as an abbreviation if people understand your context. You'll see the abbreviation in calendars and planners but not newspapers.

月 げつ getsu - Monday (moon)
火 か ka - Tuesday (fire)
水 すい sui - Wednesday (water)
木 もく moku - Thursday (tree)
金 きん kin - Friday (gold)
土 ど do - Saturday (earth)
日 にち nichi - Sunday (sun)

Finally, let's count time.

時 じ ji - Hour counter. o'clock.
分 ふん fun - Minute counter.

Get ready for more exceptions! The 4th hour is shortened to yoji. 7 and 9 use their alternate reading. For minutes you use the full alternate reading for 4, 7, and 9. 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 10 get handakuten'd where the fun becomes pun e.g. yonpun is 4 minutes. Furthermore 1, 6, 8, and 10 get shortened to double consonants. E.g. 1 minute is ippun, not ichipun.

Whew, that's a lot of stuff.


Romaji is common with dates, probably because news is read by a wide variety of people. But you should still know what the kanji mean because they crop up often. What day is it in this screenshot?

Practice: Transliterate today's full date including the time (abbreviate the year since I didn't teach you thousands). What's your favorite day of the week and your least favorite?

As of this writing it's yokka hachigatsu jyuurokunen. The time is shichiji jyuuyonpun. I love kinyoubi and hate getsuyoubi!

In Part 3 we're diving into the deep end. Learn how to reference and look up Japanese you don't know using dictionaries. Use character recognition programs to cut and paste Japanese text from screenshots. Find out how to translate things you don't know really quickly!

Further Reading
Numbers and Counting

PaletteSwappedNinja posted:

Capcom made a Luigi's Mansion arcade game; it came out in Japan last year, got a limited release in the US via Dave & Busters and is now available for whoever wants to lease it, I think.

http://www.capcom.co.jp/arcade/luigimansion-ac/index.html


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Anc_FYS0AE

Mace Bacon posted:

Talking about the Analog NTs, I thought they were buying all the yellowed Famicoms no one else wants to buy for their boards? I don't have a problem with that really. I've seen Famicom's that look like they were played by a person playing Dragon Quest in long sessions constantly chain smoking and then buried in the dirt for 20 years.

I just looked up eBay for an example:




This can be yours for a starting bid of 5 USD!

Edit: More horror shows:




And can we start "Consoles that look like Donald Trump"?

TeaJay posted:

In Nintendo news, I've been playing AM2R a lot yesterday and I could safely believe it's an official release. I'm not that familiar with Metroid series outside of Super Metroid (which I've played over and over again), as in, I haven't played the GBA Metroids that AM2R borrows the style and gameplay from - or the actual Metroid 2. But it really does feel like playing a Metroid game, although one mechanic I don't like all that much is the lava going down when you have killed enough metroids in one area, restricting your progress that way.

shyduck posted:

I tore the LCD ribbon cable of a GB Pocket while trying to do a backlight upgrade

That film you have to remove first is a bitch and a half.

BattleMaster posted:

How many times do you think you'll even replace it in your life? Do whatever you want, but I've always opted for tabbed CR2032s because I figure spending a couple of minutes 30 years later isn't a big deal, if I even care about the poo poo when I'm 60.

Nail Rat posted:

You'll care when you're 70 because you'll have more free time, be lonelier and have the mind of a child! It all comes back around eventually.

univbee posted:

Who in this thread will be the first to go senile and rant in the nursing home to their visiting adult children and grandchildren that "they're coming out with a Super Nintendo this year, that's what I want for Christmas"?

Germstore posted:

"He can only retain memories for the amount of time a Chrono Trigger play through takes. I've never seen someone so happy."

Random Stranger posted:

I think if you've gone senile, you're more likely to demand a Jaguar.

univbee posted:

"*mumble* *mumble* do the math *mumble"" you say.

"I am" says the nurse while fine-tuning the amount of sedative in the syringe.

Code Jockey posted:

See this is why I insist on hacking all of my devices to run emulators, I want something that can do SNES and PSX in every room so that when I eventually fall down and can't get up, I'm covered no matter where I do it

Random Stranger posted:

Well, you put the horse racing, mah jongg, terrible dragon quest clones, and baseball games in one pile. And then you play the other two.

8-bit Miniboss posted:

Why would you throw this?

Zand posted:

downwell is really actually fun but its definitely not a shmup



im repost this then

d0s posted:

flyboi posted:

RZA Encryption posted:

This isn't super retrogames related, but I just got this thing and it's pretty cool. Reminds me a LOT of the cybiko.

RZA Encryption posted:

I received mine today.

shyduck posted:

CIB X'Eye

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3787634

The Joe Man posted:

Posted the thread:
https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3787634

I'm outta here for now; thanks fellas!

Rirse posted:

Dang the CD Drive on the PC is bad, so I have to find a spare somewhere. I can still use the old PC, but it stuck on Vista...a fate worst then death.

shyduck posted:

Zaphod42 posted:

If anything the internet just scares them. Kids play on our consoles! We can't let them have internet access! That's scary!
(It is, but its not like those kids dont' have PCs, and there are things you can do to mitigate it better than just not doing it)

Zaphod42 posted:

Its basically a "we don't know what to do with this and we aren't going to bother to find out" which I can kinda understand, but comeon... get with the times guys.

al-azad posted:

Shooting games are fun but I've never understood the fighting genre. Once you find the one why would I play anything else? I hold out for fighting games with story modes (Persona Arena) or tons of collectibles like the Virtua Fighter series.

Discount Viscount posted:

really fighting games peaked with Urban Champion

Random Stranger posted:

The box art for the Super Famicom version of Super Strike Eagle is extremely



I feel that's almost US Phalanx levels of "Why would you put that on the game box?" except in this case we know why they chose that image even if it doesn't make any sense.

Uncle at Nintendo posted:

al-azad posted:

If you're going to get a Wonderswan flash cart you need to load up Dicing Knight and revel in the $1000 game.

I AM THE TOILET posted:

poo poo yes we have a winner

As a reward... some more captures that aren't as cool but have a minimalist vibe

Saoshyant posted:

Happy birthday!



What, you guys forgot? You suck.

And I'm celebrating by ordering the gently caress out of a copy of the obscure but apparently best racer ever released on the system, Vanishing Point. I may have been wrongly influenced about its many merits by some random Internet person, though(!), but it's cheap and there's only one way to find out.

the wizards beard posted:

Backlit TFT LCD displays for gameboy, apparently better quality than the 101 gba: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1051244254989027&substory_index=0&id=940780776035376

Phantasium posted:

That's a blessing in disguise, because original DQ7 flies right in the face of my pacing argument, clocking in about an hour and half before you get into the first drat fight.

al-azad posted:

The secret to enjoying RPGs again is to play them in bed. I don't have the patience to play a big long game on the big TV anymore and yet I'll lay on the couch for literally 12 hours playing one.

I don't know the psychology behind it but maybe it explains how throwaway phone apps work. I can't sit down to play a video game for 60 minutes straight anymore but I will play one for 10 minutes, cook dinner, 30 minutes, take a dump, 60 minutes, bathe, 30 minutes, lay in bed, 30 minutes, sleep.

e: Pretty excited for Dragon Quest 7 tomorrow, the game I had zero time for on Playstation.

Also really excited for the NX if it means every game can be played remotely.

e2: On average people spend 90 minutes in the bathroom a week. With a portable in hand you're beating an average RPG every 4-6 months. That's value, people!

Tyson Tomko posted:

I was hoping this would be some kind of Bubble Bobble related post. Speaking of Bubble Bobble:



Not mine sadly, but if I was going to get anything video game realted inked on me the Bubble Bobble purple whale is pretty drat cool. Of all the crappy gamer tats I've seen this one at least translates pretty well to skin.

al-azad posted:

Ehh, I'll take Mega Turrican over Contra 3. I am interested in the Japanese reception of the later Contra games when they added health. I'm guessing they did it to reach a wider audience but the series kind of died after 16-bit.

Samuel L. ACKSYN posted:

You know, normally I don't go in for bootlegs, but I had to order this one.

Instant Sunrise posted:

that lovely kinect game?

rockinricky posted:

Just wait until you get to the Gambit level. You will INVENT new swear words.

The Kins posted:

This is what the UI for the NES Classic looks like:



Certainly not a fan of the colorscheme in comparison to the Famicom Mini's variant.

8-bit Miniboss posted:

Trigger warning: https://imgur.com/gallery/n8FKM

Random Stranger posted:

They may be crappy games but give them away before you do something like that. Those are exactly the kinds of bad cabinets that no one is going to shed tears over a MAME conversion, too.

Code Jockey posted:

lol

I really love the box art style for SMS games. It's just... I dunno, it's so basic and to the point. It's like those generic foods with a white box and giant block lettering saying PASTA or CHIPS, only with extra little clipart images of what the game's about.

I regret not buying a CIB Master System years ago, but it was just a little too spendy for what I'd really get out of it. It was in great, great shape though.

lllllllllllllllllll posted:

It looks like anyone can assemble a "retro device" nowadays that can play emulators. The GPD XD looks like one of the better ones (seemingly good built quality, battery life and screen). Any comments/recommendations about it or upcoming devices (preferably open source)?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwO80jzKhtE

e: Just found this. Looks like there'll be a handheld Windows 10 PC from GPD soon.

Wise Fwom Yo Gwave posted:

Ended up making this over the weekend with my own two hands, gimp, some sprite rips and a shadow box from Michaels:

azurite posted:

Talking Cave Johnson portrait.