Fan translation is perceived as having a number of advantages; in particular, it allows gamers to play, and understand, games that were never released in their native language. Many video games are marketed exclusively in Japan, for example; the text encoded in the ROM images of these Japan-only games can be translated to English or another language, for the enjoyment of English-speaking players and players who speak neither Japanese nor English. Not only is the practice fo fan translation is considered by many video game players to be a reaction to a disappointing regional decision, or the answer to a Japnaese's company's decision to keep a game exclusive to Japan, but it is also consider a sign of a demand for companies to start translating games into languages that the never bothered to translate into. Another reason for fan translation is that the English release is considered inferior to the Japanese release as to gameplay or script content or if the Japan-only game is an enhanced remake of a game that was released outside Japan or that has an original version that was already fan-translated into English. Some of the Japan-only games that have been translated into English through emulation include Dragon Quest V (SNES), Dragon Quest I & II Reprise (SNES), Cosmo Police Galivan (NES), Adventure Island 4 (NES), Tales of Phantasia (SNES), Final Fantasy II (NES, remade for Final Fantasy Origins), Final Fantasy III (NES), Final Fantasy V (SNES), Seiken Densetsu 3 (SNES), Live-A-Live (SNES), Bahamut Lagoon (SNES), and Radical Dreamers (SNES). In addition to English, other fan translations have also been translations into other languages such as French, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Portuguese, Latin, Norwegian, German, Dutch, Russian, and Serbian. American subsidiaries of Japanese video game companies translate their games only into English. They do not bother to translate into Spanish, although Spanish is widely spoken language in the United States. European video game companies do not bother to translate their games into languages other than Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Fan Translators
List of Fan-Translated Japan-only Video Games
| Game Title | Platform | Game Publisher | Fan Translator | Year of Japanese Release | Year of Translation Release | Reason for Japan-onlyness |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alcahest | Super NES | Squaresoft | F.H. | 1994 | 2002 | Reason unknown |
| Bahamut Lagoon | Super NES | Squaresoft | DeJap Translations | 1995 | 2002 | Not enough localization staff |
| Cosmo Police Galivan | NES | Nihon Bussan | Jair | 1988 | 1998 | No localization subsidiary |
| Dragon Quest I&II | Super NES | Enix | RPG-One Translations | 1993 | 2002 | Enix of America was closed |
| Dragon Quest III | Super NES | Enix | DeJap Translations and RPG-One Translations | 1996 | 2003 | Enix of America was closed |
| Dragon Quest V | Super NES | Enix | DeJap Translations | 1992 | 2002 | Enix of America was closed |
| Dragon Quest VI | Super NES | Enix | DeJap Translations and NoPrgress | 1994 | 2001 | Enix of America was closed |
| Final Fantasy II | NES | Squaresoft | NeoDemiforce | 1988 | 1998 | Squaresoft had problems with Nintendo. Playstation version was released in the United States under Final Fantasy Origins. |
| Final Fantasy III | NES | Squaresoft | Neill Corlett and Alex W. Jackson | 1990 | 1999 | Squaresoft did not have the resources to translate the game and the Super NES was released around the same time. |
| Final Fantasy V | Super NES | Squaresoft | RPGe | 1992 | 1998 | Squaresoft opted for Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest and did not have the resources to translate Final Fantasy V. Playstation port of Final Fantasy V was released in the United States under Final Fantasy Anthology. |
| Seiken Densetsu 3 | Super NES | Squaresoft | Neill Corlett and others | 1995 | 2000 | Squaresoft opted for Secret of Evermore and did not have the resources to translate Seiken Densetsu 3. |
| Shin Nekketsu Kouha: Kunio tachi no Banka | Super NES | Technos Japan Corporation | Aeon Genesis Translation Proclamation | 1994 | 2003 | American Technos did not have the resources to translate the game. |
| Tales of Phantasia | Super NES | Namco | DeJap Translations | 1994 | 2001 | Namco refused to have the game released outside Japan. |
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