History Woolseyism / VideoGames

** Also in ''Sonic the Hedgehog'', Fang the Sniper's name was toned down to Nack the Weasel in America and Europe. However, the North American and European versions of ''Sonic Gems Collection'' refers to him as Fang in all games that included him, and in ''Sonic Generations'', there is a wanted poster of him that refers to him by both names.[[note]]Interestingly, Nack was actually going to be his Japanese name, but it was deemed too similar to '''Knuck'''les and was changed, only to be re-used in the English version afterwards.[[/note]]

* ''VideoGame/Injustice2'': At some point during the story mode, Harley Quinn derisively refers to Wonder Woman as "Wonder Bread". In the Brazilian dub, he calls her "Mara Maravilha", an real-life singer-turned-controversial-politician whose artistic name is similar to how Wonder Woman is called in Portuguese "Mulher Maravilha".

* [[GloriousMotherRussia Soda Popinski]] from ''VideoGame/PunchOut'' was "Vodka Drunkenski" originally, but was changed for the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] release to avoid controversy. Fans ''universally'' agree that not only does "Soda Popinski" roll off the tongue much easier, but a boxer who chugs soda to boost his strength fits in alongside the magical Indian, frigging ''Franchise/DonkeyKong'', and whatever the hell King Hippo is supposed to be ''[[WorldOfWeirdness far better]]'' than a mere drunk. Hilariously, despite this his former name provided a [[VodkaDrunkenski trope name]] all the same.

*** Some talents are altered in the English release because they're based on Japanese culture that Western audiences won't be immediately familiar with; for example, Junko is the Super High School Level [[GyaruGirl Gyaru]], while in the English version she's the Ultimate Fashionista, and Hifumi is the Super High School Level Doujin Writer, which is translated as Fanfic Creator.

** Similarly, ''Justice for All' has a female character named Kirio Kamiya, whose masculine-sounding name is a plot point ([[spoiler: which is that de Killer addressing her with masculine pronouns is evidence that he never spoke to her in person]]) that's of importance to the game. In the localisation, she thus got renamed to Adrian Andrews - while still keeping the alliteration in her name.

** On one route, a mysterious note appears which reads [[spoiler:"Truth had gone, truth had gone and truth had gone. Ah, now truth now sleeps in the darkness of the sinister hand". In the Japanese version, this was mostly the same aside from the last part referring to a "bow hand", which was the left hand used to hold a bow in archery. Since archery is more well-known in Japan than in other regions, the English localisation went with the more familiar "[[ASinisterClue sinister hand]]", both of which clue Junpei into figuring out that the note was a cryptic clue to unlocking a code via his bracelet.]]

* In ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'', a major plot point where [[spoiler:the final "9" door in the incinerator was actually a lowercase 'q', which was a twist on the central goal of "seek a door that carries a [9]". In the beginning, this was disguised when Zero informed the players of the Nonary Game's rules; the Japanese version simply had them give the instructions verbally through the loudspeaker, which obscured the '9 is q' twist since "kyuu" in Japanese is verbally identical to 'q'. The English version had to change this up a bit by having Zero plant a set of printed instructions on each player which used a handwritten font since '9' and 'q' can be easily mixed up, meaning it read "seek a door that carries a ''[q]''".]]

* In the third game, instructions given to [[spoiler:Pearl Fey]] tell her to "gravely roast the master in the fires of Hades", [[spoiler:which is basically asking to send Misty and Maya Fey to hell]]. The reader, a young child, obviously doesn't understand what this means, and so ends up [[HilarityEnsues throwing gravy from a roast dinner over a hanging scroll]]. In the Japanese version, the instructions said to "Give [[spoiler:Misty Fey]] magnificent burial rites" in kanji. [[spoiler:Pearl]], not being able to read kanji that well, asks the others to translate for her and is told how they are read ("''karei indou''"), but not what they mean - so she interprets this as "Indian curry" and throws that over a hanging scroll. Both of which would end up looking like a sort of "brownish slob" obscuring the scroll's picture, thus having the scroll's brown slob obstruction explained believably in both versions.

* In the case "Reunion, and Turnabout", an important clue in the case is the position of the driver's and passenger's seats in an automobile. [[spoiler: The clue is that the car in question is an overseas import, with the driver and passenger seats the reverse of what would normally be expected in that culture.]] The Japanese version[[note]]Japanese cars have the driver's seat on the right[[/note]] is straightforward: The car is simply of American make[[note]]American cars have the driver's seat on the left[[/note]]. However, Americans frequently buy cars from Japanese manufacturers, and any Japanese car made for sale in America is constructed like an American-made car. As such, the car was changed to a British make [[note]]Americans generally know that the driver's seat is on the right in a British car.[[/note]]

* The original Russian translation of ''Warcraft III'' by Soft Club is famed for this, being very loose and very creative. Many of the jokes and references in the original English, which referenced American cultural phenomena, were adapted to reference Russian and Soviet culture, ranging from merely changing the names of the shows (e.g. the Crypt Fiend mentioning ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_World_of_Animals In the World of Animals]'' as opposed to ''Animal Planet''), to Akama quoting Nikita Khruschev and Grom Hellscream singing the songs of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulat_Okudzhava Bulat Okudzhava]. There was also a smattering of name changes, ranging from small but meaningful (''Lich King'' to ''Король Мертвых'', meaning ''King of the Dead''), to questionable (''blood elves'' to ''Мстители'', meaning ''avengers''), done to make the names of the characters sound more natural in Russian. This, together with the iconic voice work of the likes of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitry_Nazarov Dmitry Nazarov] and [https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D0%B8%D1%85%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2,_%D0%92%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%80_%D0%92%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87 Vladimir Vikhrov], made the Soft Club translation beloved (and memed about) in Russia and the former USSR, despite its questionable accuracy. Even when ''Warcraft III: Reforged'' came out, with a more high-quality translation done by Blizzard itself and co-ordinated with that of ''World of Warcraft'', the old translation still remains popular, and mods exist to replace the ''Reforged'' translation with it.

* ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingNewHorizons'':
** Nook's (in)famous currency Bell is called '''Динь''' (Din'). Din' is a Russian onomatopoeia for a bell ringing.

[[caption-width-right:256:Japanese: all-katakana robot speech. English: LeetLingo.]]

* As...[[WidgetSeries colorful]] as the ''VideoGame/RhythmHeaven'' series is, the minigames' original Japanese names are surprisingly straightforward. The English localization rectifies this by replacing them with {{pun}}s and [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal alliterations]] that describe the minigames or at least roll off the tongue better. For example, "Assembly" from the Nintendo DS title became "Built to Scale", referencing both the minigame's premise (building widgets in a factory) and the main audio cue (an [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scale_(music) ascending scale]]).

* In the original Japanese version of ''VideoGame/TailConcerto'', the main races were referred to as Inuhito and Nekohito, literally meaning "Dog Person" and "Cat Person", which the English dub translated literally. Come ''{{VideoGame/Solatorobo}}'', and the localization team ended up creating new terms "Caninu" and "Felineko" ({{PortManteau}} of "Canine-Inu" and "Feline-Neko") to use instead. [=CyberConnect2=] ended up loving the new names so much that they adapted it to future ''Little Tail Bronx'' stories.

** The names of the individual Mavericks were this for the longest time as well. Names like "Burnin' Noumander" and "Metamor Mothmeanos," though cool-sounding to a Japanese audience, sounded ''terrible'' to an English ear and became "Flame Mammoth" and "Morph Moth," respectively. Unfortunately, they had to [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks take it too far]] in ''VideoGame/MegaManX5'' and give the Mavericks cringe-worthy ''Music/GunsNRoses'' names, where "Tidal Makkoeen" became "''Duff [=McWhalen=]''." ''Mega Man X Legacy Collection'''s decision to revert their names to be more in line with their original Japanese ones was even more contentious, as by that point a large subsection of the fanbase preferred the Guns N' Roses names ''because'' [[NarmCharm they were]] [[SoBadItWasBetter so goofy.]]