Mato Tree

Tinkering with NES Programming

Mato — Sat, 05 May 2012 14:34:48 +0000

A few weeks ago I got the urge to see how to program NES games. I only spent a couple hours on it but I managed to figure out graphics, sprites, palettes, and input. For a test, I made it so you can move a Sky Runner from EarthBound around:

There’s not much to do other than move it left and right and up and down, but here’s the ROM:

Super Sky Runner Move Mania v1.23456b!

I’d like to get more into NES programming someday, maybe even make some simple games and then move on to SNES programming where I can make sequels to my NES games

What Up With Bahumat?

Mato — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 15:44:01 +0000

I just realized it’s been like ten years since we released the Bahamut Lagoon translation patch. I haven’t played it in many, many years, but I know I could do so much better with it, what with my ten years of professional experience since then. Maybe one of these days I’ll do a detailed Let’s Play of it or something, I dunno.

I actually miss doing ROM translations, I wish I could not have to worry about income so I could just do fun personal projects like in the old days

I Play Bunny Beyblade

Mato — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 02:47:35 +0000

Many years ago I worked on a show called Beyblade, which, if you’re here, you probably know was a show meant to advertise toys to schoolchildren. My friends and I liked to make fun of it and its craziness, and somehow a weird combination of leftover Easter Peeps candy and Beyblade overdose led to this:

I just remembered that the Japanese catchphrase for that show was, literally, “Go shoot!” I think I was asked to keep it as-is for the subs too

Anyway, not many folks on the interwebs have seen me in real life, so there you go! To this day I don’t know what the heck we were doing in this video, and we weren’t even drunk!

Not Translating

Mato — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 13:20:43 +0000

For some reason Stevesesy made a post about me working on a new fan translation for a Super Famicom game (here), but it’s not true at all. I wish it was, but I have no time for big fan translation projects anymore, and if I WERE working on something I would announce it on here myself. In fact, I even had to drop the Far East of Eden Zero translation from my project pile (see here) due to lack of time.

Shin-chan Snack for Sale!

Mato — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 15:44:54 +0000

Many years ago I worked on the Shin-chan anime for FUNimation. Throughout the anime there’s a snack called Chocobees that Shin absolutely loves. It even appeared in some of the episodes FUNi licensed:

Eventually, they made this snack for real! I’ve been keeping one for a while now, but since I’m decluttering the place maybe a fellow Shin-chan fan will enjoy it. I’m selling it on eBay here, if you’re interested!

If you get it, just be sure not to eat it, as it’s long past its expiration date

Getting Rid of Stuff

Mato — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 15:28:17 +0000

I’ve been selling a lot of stuff of mine on eBay lately, but I have a bunch of stuff I know wouldn’t sell for very much and that I’d end up losing money on if I listed them. So I’m planning on either donating these or giving them out to anyone here who’s interested.

If any of those interest you, send me an e-mail at tomato@starmen.net and let me know. Just pay the shipping cost and you can have anything you want there!

I got lots more stuff like this I’ll probably post in the future too, so keep your eyes peeled!

A Japanese ROM Isn’t Always a ROM

Mato — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:28:55 +0000

Some years ago, when I was reading the Mother 1 or 2 novel I think, I read in the afterword that the author had gotten an advance copy of the game so she could start writing the novel early on. I was confused though, because she said she had gotten a “ROM”. Given that the novels were written in the early 90s, I was like, “No, she must be talking about an early cartridge copy, not a ROM like we would call it now.” So I was always careful to try and not translate “ROM” as “ROM” unless it actually warranted it.

I just randomly stumbled upon a Japanese auction today that confirmed my hunch:

Being a computer geek I understand the technicalities of why translating that as “ROM” wouldn’t necessarily be a wrong translation, it’s just that nowadays it would give English-speaking Internet people the wrong impression.

So I guess the point of this tale is to always beware of false friends. Because they’ll sneak up and spoil the party if you’re not careful.

My Old Square Rejection Letter

Mato — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 17:41:32 +0000

The past month or two I’ve been decluttering my place and slimming down a lot of my merchandise collections by selling it on eBay (you can check out some of my stuff here!) While cleaning out one of my closets a few weeks ago I stumbled upon this – a rejection letter from Square.

I had just graduated from university (or was about to) so I applied to lots of different game companies hoping to work for them as a translator. Square (the Japanese headquarters) had some positions open for translators so I jumped on that the instant I saw it. Of course, the age-old problem befell me – I didn’t have any professional experience, so no one wanted to hire me. But how are you supposed to get experience if no one will hire you?!

That’s why I had done a ton of fan translating in the years before – to try to get as close to professional experience as I could. In fact, I had even fan translated a bunch of Square RPGs, stuff like Bahamut Lagoon, Final Fantasy for the Wonderswan, and a bunch more I’ve probably forgotten. Anyway, it wasn’t meant to be, but luckily I went on to have an awesome career translating for FUNimation and doing occasional games on the side for localization companies. And funnily enough, I did at one point end up working on a Square game through one of those localization agencies

Anyway, here are some more pics of the rejection letter. I have no real attachment to it, I’m wondering if it would be worth anything on eBay…

I just remembered that I had also applied to a position for the USA branch of Square too – I don’t remember how I got my reply but it was one of those “unfortunately we don’t feel your addition to our staff would be mutually beneficial at this time” jargon things. I’m certain it didn’t come on such nice stationery, at least.

Still, I wonder if I’d have a chance if I applied to companies now…

Final Fantasy III (US) with FFII (US) Map Graphics

Mato — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 13:07:40 +0000

Over on the RHDN forums Zeemis posted a patch that changes all the map graphics in FF3us to look like FF2us. I love the FF2 map style so seeing the FF3 world map like this in that style is like, “Whoa, it feels like a totally different game now!”

Here’s the thread with pics and patch.

Mario Contest Results!

Mato — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:59:18 +0000

A while back I posted a contest/drawing for a beat-up Japanese Super Mario Bros. manual I used for my SMB localization page. Basically, people who posted their stories about their first time playing Super Mario Bros. and one winner would be chosen (see here). Well, here’s the winning result, courtesy of Ms. Poe:

I’ll contact Zack soon, unless he contacts me first. I’m still finishing up my Zelda 1 comparison, and there’ll be a contest attached to that one too, so stay tuned!