Forums > Game Forums > Ninja Gaiden > Trivia for the game.
yenruoj_tsegnol_eht (!!ihsoy) (2599) on 9/14/2012 1:46 PM · edited · Permalink · Report
About the trivia saying «The word "Gaiden" in the title means "Letter". It can also mean "sidestory".»
I asked if: «It, always or under special conditions, makes sense to start adding as trivia translations of the words in game titles.» getting advised from the approver to open a thread. The smallest correction we can make is to choose between "letter" and "sidestory", I guess.
vedder (70822) on 9/14/2012 2:02 PM · Permalink · Report
I'd say it only makes sense for games that are released in English speaking regions with words that aren't English in the title, of which "Ninja Gaiden" is fine example. "Panzer Dragoon II: Zwei" is another example (and I see that that game also already has a trivia item for it)
yenruoj_tsegnol_eht (!!ihsoy) (2599) on 9/14/2012 6:03 PM · edited · Permalink · Report
Now somebody should take the pain to say which is the correct translation between the two posted in that trivia (letter; sidestory). I'll have to inquire of someone by a private message if no answer comes, you are all warned.
Lain Crowley (6629) on 9/14/2012 9:52 PM · Permalink · Report
There's no such thing as a "correct" translation. It will always be subjective to a degree. For example look at Good People Die. The translation of the title is pretty cut and dry, and is a solid title in English, but the author didn't want the kanji wordplay to be lost so he wrote a new title for the english version: Virtue's Last Reward.
j.raido 【雷堂嬢太朗】 (95649) on 9/15/2012 7:22 AM · Permalink · Report
There is such a thing as an incorrect one, though. I've never encountered "letter" as a translation for 外伝, and in a video game (or anime and manga, for that matter) context it's pretty much always "side-story" or, alternatively, "spinoff".
Game Guesser (28) on 9/15/2012 11:58 AM · Permalink · Report
Wow, that sounds almost exactly like some "trivia" given in this unofficial NES strategy guide....let's see, it should be right over here...
Game Player's Encyclopedia of Nintendo Games, from Signal Research Inc.
Ah, the second paragraph of the game description...
"That's where your quest begins. Armed at first only with the great sword and your amazing ability to leap, you must guide Ninja Gaiden (gai-den in Japanese means foreign telegram or communication -- a reference to the letter which motivates the quest) through level after level, against waves of attackers."
In retrospect, that phrasing is a bit odd. Despite what it looks like, it seems to be referring to guiding the game, as other text acknowledges Ryu is the player character.
Anyway, it should be "sidestory", as noted at Wikipedia:
Specifically reference 33
So where did the alternate translation come from? I guess it's one of those meaningless gaming urban legends. But if we believe the internet, we can go from 外伝 (sidestory) to がいでん, which could turn into 外電, which appears to be a Chinese term for international news dispatches.
But it doesn't really seem to matter if we believe the internet at the end of the day, as it's no longer the 80s, and we know pretty definitively what was meant by the title, even if it wasn't chosen for that specific purpose.
Lain Crowley (6629) on 9/15/2012 8:10 PM · Permalink · Report
DAIS you are a national treasure.