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[ULTROS!]

Further examples of nonsensical names:

Nokia
Nintendo
Sega
Sony
Sanyo
Panasonic

Should I continue?

Sega was derived from "Service Games" I believe.

 

[Momo]

Sega was derived from "Service Games" I believe.

This would be correct

 

[RoadHazard]

I don't really mind "Ni No Kuni" staying in the title. I think the "Wrath of the White Witch" part is much worse. "Wrath", really? Lame, and not a subtitle I think suits this seemingly magical game. "The Queen of White Sacred Ash" sounds better to me.

But yeah, they should just have given it a clever English name without directly translating the Japanese title, similar to how "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi" became "Spirited Away".

Sega was derived from "Service Games" I believe.

"Sony" is also not really nonsensical:

"Its founders Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka derived the name from sonus, the Latin word for sound, and also from the English slang word "sonny", since they considered themselves to be "sonny boys", a loan word into Japanese which in the early 1950s connoted smart and presentable young men."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony

(I prefer to think that it's just derived from "sonus", and has nothing to do with "sonny" - makes it seem more elegant!)

 

[Aeana]

I don't really mind "Ni No Kuni" staying in the title. I think the "Wrath of the White Witch" part is much worse. "Wrath", really? Lame, and not a subtitle I think suits this seemingly magical game. "The Queen of White Sacred Ash" sounds better to me.

But yeah, they should just have given it a clever English name without directly translating the Japanese title, similar to how "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi" became "Spirited Away".

"The Queen of White Sacred Ash" sounds like Engrish. "Sacred White Ash" sounds more natural, but even that clearly looks like a translation from another language.

 

[ULTROS!]

nvm ignore this

 

[Zoe]

Sega was derived from "Service Games" I believe.

That's weird, shouldn't it be pronounced "saga" then?

 

[Momo]

"Sony" is also not really nonsensical:

Despite the origins of the words, Sony, SEGA, Pokemon is about as nonsensical as you can get. They don't even mean anything in any language, it's just made up poop.

That's weird, shouldn't it be pronounced "saga" then?

Service Games
SeGa

EDIT : I misunderstood you. It's not a real word so i don't think we can apply phonetics to it. It is as SEGA wants it to be.

 

[ULTROS!]

Further examples of nonsensical names:

Nokia
Nintendo
Sega
Sony
Sanyo
Panasonic

Should I continue?

Sega, Sony and Nokia have been answered so...

Sanyo:

The company's name means three oceans in Japanese, referring to the founder's ambition to sell their products worldwide, across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans.

Nintendo:

The name Nintendo can be roughly translated from Japanese to English as "leave luck to heaven".

Panasonic:

For 90 years since establishment, the name of the company was always topped with "松下" ("Matsushita"). The company's name before 1 October 2008 had been "Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.", used since 1935.[5][6]

In 1927, the company founder adopted a brand name "National" (ナショナル Nashonaru?) for a new lamp product, knowing "national" meant "of or relating to a people, a nation."[7] In 1955, the company labeled its export audio speakers and lamps "PanaSonic", which was the first time it used its "Panasonic" brand name.[8] The company began to use a brand name "Technics" in 1965.[8] The use of multiple brands lasted for some decades.[8]

 

[Zoe]

Service Games
SeGa

EDIT : I misunderstood you. It's not a real word so i don't think we can apply phonetics to it. It is as SEGA wants it to be.

In Japanese, "service" is spelled/pronounced with a "sa," so that's what I was getting at.

 

[angelfly]

All this over a name? I think leaving it Ni No Kuni is fine. I would've probably had issue if they changed it.

 

[ULTROS!]

In Japanese, "service" is spelled/pronounced with a "sa," so that's what I was getting at.

I doubt this has any contribution to the reason why it's SeGa rather than SaGa but Sega (aka Standard Games) originated from Hawaii, not Japan.

 

[Momo]

In Japanese, "service" is spelled/pronounced with a "sa," so that's what I was getting at.

I got what you were saying after the second read.

 

[radiantdreamer]

Sega, Sony and Nokia have been answered so...

Sanyo:


Nintendo:


Panasonic:

And Ni no Kuni means Another World, so the point?

It still means nothing to most North Americans. It might as well be gibberish. I mean, you had to look those up. The same goes for Ni no Kuni.

 

[ULTROS!]

Sort of related to Ni no Kuni though not threadworthy I think but the PS3 version doesn't include the physical book but a digital version instead: http://andriasang.com/comyfc/

 

[rpmurphy]

Can you still use the book from the DS version though?

 

[.la1n]

Sort of related to Ni no Kuni though not threadworthy I think but the PS3 version doesn't include the physical book but a digital version instead: http://andriasang.com/comyfc/

Not this shit again

 

[randomkid]

I dunno, I think it's kinda new threadworthy. We're missing out on the best pack-in product in videogame history.

Definitely makes business-sense though. No way were stores gonna stock it after the DS overshipping disaster. Still kinda funny that the version that doesn't have to worry about portability won't have the book.

 

[fernoca]

Though, did they ever said that the PS3 would include a book; or people assumed it would include one just because the DS game had one?


But dammit, it pains me to see the DS book/game!..

 

[randomkid]

Not sure if they ever confirmed, but they definitely strongly hinted at it!

 

[exhume]

^ Nicest packaging ever.

 

[Finaika]

Studio Ghibli Level5 Joe Higashi

 

[Sagitario]

Studio Ghibli Level5 Joe Higashi

I think this is the main reason I am interested in this game

 

[fernoca]

Not sure if they ever confirmed, but they definitely strongly hinted at it!

That looks nice. Guess will know for sure soon; wouldn't surprise me if it ends been a limited edition.

 

[Ratrat]

Studio Ghibli Level5 Joe Higashi

Who is this Joe Higashi I keep hearing about?!

 

[watershed]

I think they mean Joe Hisaishi, composer of most of the famous studio ghibli scores from Totoro to Princess Mononoke to Spirited Away and more. He also had some great collaborations with Takeshi Kitano.

 

[Sagitario]

Yeah, he meant Hisaishi. I didn't even realize he spelled it wrong.

 

[radiantdreamer]

That packaging is so nice, it NEEDS to be in a glass case. DAYUM. I really hope we get something this epic stateside.