Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2003 4:20 am Post subject: Policenauts for the US Saturn
I'm curious to know. As you may or may not know, Konami was working on localizing Policenauts for the US Saturn in '96, but somewhere along the lines, it got canned.
Now I heard that apparently 80% of the game was translated during the time of it's cancellation. Does that mean that 80% of the actual game (voice and text included) was translated or was it just the screenplay? The Policenauts trading cards has descriptions and even quotes of the characters (actual lines from the game) written in English, so it's evident that an English translation was done by Konami.
I've heard that Policenauts was nearly finished when it was canceled, but the only semi-reliable source I've found for this report is a Postmeister column from a late 1996 issue of Gamefan, which often printed the unsubstantiated.
However, there's some evidence that Policenauts was headed for an American release. Cover art for the game was shown in booklets included with new Saturn systems, and there's a listing for Policenauts in the EB Games database.
I didn't know about the trading cards, though. Got any scans?
Oddly enough, Jeremy Blaustein, who was heavily involved with Snatcher's localization, was unaware of any plans to translate Policenauts.
NK: Do you know if there is any truth to the rumor that Policenauts was partly or entirely translated for a planned US release?
JB: It is false as far as I know. I was in the international business dept. at Konami when it came out and I never heard of any plans to release in US, then or since. Of course there was that petition that the fans wrote, but nope, don't think so.
I've heard that Policenauts was nearly finished when it was canceled, but the only semi-reliable source I've found for this report is a Postmeister column from a late 1996 issue of Gamefan, which often printed the unsubstantiated.
However, there's some evidence that Policenauts was headed for an American release. Cover art for the game was shown in booklets included with new Saturn systems, and there's a listing for Policenauts in the EB Games database.
I didn't know about the trading cards, though. Got any scans?
Oddly enough, Jeremy Blaustein, who was heavily involved with Snatcher's localization, was unaware of any plans to translate Policenauts.
NK: Do you know if there is any truth to the rumor that Policenauts was partly or entirely translated for a planned US release?
JB: It is false as far as I know. I was in the international business dept. at Konami when it came out and I never heard of any plans to release in US, then or since. Of course there was that petition that the fans wrote, but nope, don't think so.
Yeah, I already knew about all that stuff, including the Blaustein interview (the EBgames stuff is new to me though).
I heard two more things about Policenauts:
1) Apparently, Kojima stated that he was working on an English dub, but couldn't get the lip-synching right (which may had been a factor in it's cancellation).
2) Kevin O' Donohue, who wrote the manual for Snatcher and several Konami games at time, was writing Policenauts manual too before it's cancellation.
As for the trading cards, well here they are (be warned that there are some spoilers there). I guess it has more to do with using English in Japanese products to make them look more hip than actual signs of an aborted translation, but who knows.
http://www.junkerhq.net/PolicenautsScans/tcimages.html
I thought I read that Policenauts was localized for US and to be published on the PlayStation but SCEA didn't approve of it. I'm sure if this is true, a Saturn version would have been in the works as well.
Joined: 30 Nov 2003 Posts: 323 Location: Doritos Inc.
Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 7:26 pm Post subject:
PlayStationMuseum wrote:
I thought I read that Policenauts was localized for US and to be published on the PlayStation but SCEA didn't approve of it. I'm sure if this is true, a Saturn version would have been in the works as well.
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