Japanese Prefer Subs to Dubs – 49% vs 47%
- Categories: Games, News
- Date: Feb 22, 2010 20:18 JST
- Tags: FPS, Marketing, PS3, RPG, Statistics, Translation, Xbox 360
Japanese polled as to whether they prefer subbing or dubbing in their games have by a narrow margin indicated a preference for subs.
The survey, running from 2007-2009 and taking in 6,656 participants, was run both online and in game packaging, quizzed gamers over their preferences for game localisation.
It emerged that 49% of the total preferred subs, whilst 47% opted for dubs of translated titles.
4% mysteriously picked “other” – just how they wanted titles localised is something of a mystery, pictographs are one possibility.
Different genres of games attracted results appropriate to their characteristics – FPS and action gamers preferred dubs to reading text in the heat of the action, whilst RPGs tended to be preferred in sub format.
Interestingly, PS3 gamers preferred dubs by a significant margin, whereas Xbox 360 gamers preferred subs by a similar margin.
In other media, both subs and dubs are common; however, the proportion of movies being shown in theatres subbed is apparently declining – young Japanese movie-goers, it is said, simply cannot read them properly any more.
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Typicaly I turn on subs in my games to go through conversations faster. Mostly in RPGs, shooters rarely matter what NPCs have to say.
i prefer leaving them on, sometimes the voices can't be heard over "noise" (music, gunfire, etc) and that really bugs me even more so when i'm enjoying the story of the game i'm playing
that and dubbing, i have always found... i think this works best here for me anyway "their voices are like cockroaches crawling around in my brain"
never really liked dubbing on principle :P
As I don't speak the english well enough to understad complex sentences just by hearing, I turn the subtitles on too.
And no one mentioned the horrid use of japanese words in the subs... You Kisama-tachi.... *snickers*
Well... "Kisama-tachi" would roughly translate to "Bastard-company", "Bastard-group" or "group of bastards" in English...
I personally prefer "ONORE DIKEADO!" ("DAMN YOU DECADE!").
i prefer the game/anime in yatsu's original language with subs. dubs seem to spoil it for me, kisama.
I like both...
Dubs with Subs...
Specially if I hear Lolis.
Dub: "Onii-sama~"
Sub: "Lord Ichiro! Please do me!"
And thats why you are still a virgin.
Oh, is that a crime?
No, but you're honest.
wait why are you arguing with this particular anon, seriously what are the chances he's ever been laid?
me i've always preferred things in their original context, too many things get "lost in translation" just doing subs already, dubs seem to double if not triple that effect imo :P
Come to me Ichiro!! I'll take your virginity in a very MANLY way full of GAR!
>:)
@anon 23:14:
gay time??? lol
Such brave honesty here...yes! bring on the loli dubs!!
To think I tasked a hot 11yo pussy. ;-)
Nagi's problem was that she wasn't
やらないか？
Those subs must be shooped, even beginners know what Kisama and Yatsu mean.
Go to TV-Nihon. You'll wish you were right.
I know this one.. This is the bad ending isn't it?
Where one of the lolis is actually a boy.
Or all of them, if it's a Cage game.
Same here ichiro. I tend to use both. Especially with funimation stuff cause then you can hear a indirect translation for everyone and read a direct one.
In case of Atlus games, like Disgaea, definately original voices with english sub, since you can't go for no or japanese subs at all.
I mean. Fark. They take artistic liberty a little too far. >_>
Kisama wants you in the mobile suit business.
Including you too White yatsu Four murasame.
I dunno how many people get the humor of the "Kisama" & "Yatsu" reference, but let me explain it to anyone who doesn't get it:
Kisama - A crude way of saying "you", kinda like "you bastard"
Yatu - A way to say "that guy/girl", not really rude, but somewhat contrasting to the typical polite form
The joke is (if you haven't gotten it by now), that the italicizing makes it seem like "Kisama" and "Yatsu" are names rather than "You" and "That guy/girl".
Why don't these subbing/dubbing companies, or localization groups just ask the interwebs for proofreading? I'm sure that I'm not the only one who would compulsively correct it.
When this was subbed, there were no interwebs. I know it's hard to believe.
Zeta gundam FTFW. Four, who are you, you KISAMA?!
Er, no, the joke is that it's a crappy sub group that leaves in random Japanese words that are perfectly translatable.
You generally italicize foreign words in text.
Oh shut kisama's fucking mouth. Kisama's a faggot.
And I might be wrong, but I think the internet existed around 2006. (even later since I don't remember when the DVD came out) Two of those images are from the movies, and judging from the fact that it's all done in the same font, I'm guessing they're all from the movie.
It's all according to keikaku.
Subtitles? what are those? A smaller title below the main title?
Do it RAW like a real man! ^^
Yeah, I think the "other" 4% could be saying they prefer raw. Plenty of Japanese gamers speak English well enough to play a game raw.
And finding out that Japanese 360 users prefer the original voices is no shock, since most xbox fans are "America maniacs"`
4% isn't really plenty :p
Raw, like cock?
I prefer subs for games and Animes...
English Seiyuus sound awkward...
the use of the word 'awkward' is really sugar coating it with extra chocolate icing on top!
Monotonous as well.
i keep avoiding dubs like poison. too bad some of my mates are part of the "can't read subs quickly enough" demographic... and german dubs are usually exceptionally bad. i can't imagine english ones living up to that.
luckily i'm living in a place where most flicks are shown subbed in cinemas. would prefer untranslated versions though, at least as long as i understand the language.
Your mates are stupid and gay. Though your avatar leads me to believe you are a virgin so...
i didn't want to say it cause they're still my mates. but you got a point.
and yes, i will stay a virgin forever! cocks are disgusting!
Virgin forever, yeah right. Just wait for a few more years, then we'll see if you would repeat what you said.
There were/are times, when I wish I were a girl, living in a rich family, be a lesbo, because I do find cocks are disgusting... =/
Subs rule. Dubs don't.
Ever tried watching Hellsing Ultimate in English?
shut up, KISAMA
Exactly! It's always wonders me, why pretty melodious English language sounds so horribly incongruous in anime?
If it's stuff with real live actors, subs are a must, because with dubbing you only get half the perfomance; it sucks a lot of personality out of performances, as acting is to be understood as a whole, voice + body language. It's 2 actors doing the same role at the same time, that's weird, and the synergy of voice and body language is lost.
If it's 2d stuff though, I don't have much of a problem, it's just swapping one voice actor with another. But depending on the material it can be bad too, because important details may be lost in translation. Also, it's really weird and breaks suspension of disbelief when the language doesn't match the setting; example, samurai lords in feudal japan talking in english. Mel Gibson gets it; using the real languages for historical movies takes them to another level (Apocalypto, The Passion).
Finally, you get to learn a bit about other languages if you use subs, that's a big plus for me.
tl;dr -> if I had to vote, I'd vote subs.
Actually, no. Precisely it is because it is only 2D animation, it is the voice that really gives personality to the character. Why are some seiyuus are valued for their voice? Not all seiyuu fans support their favourites simply because they are pretty.
I` not so sure about the live actors part a lot of times the voice of the actor doesn`t fit the character or the actor/actress sucks and the dub fix that problems.
I'm guessing those that picked "other" prefer it raw.
Or believe that Japanese people should only play Japanese games; I'm sure there are plenty of them out there.
Yeah. Most international Western games have English as an option and Japanese games obviously have Japanese, so a Japanese gamer knowing English is quite well-off without any manner of translations.