Chinese video games?

[Gleaves]

Shadow Complex, a downloadable game on the xbox 360, is fully voiced/subtitled (trad.) in Chinese. It's an action game, so there is not a whole lot of dialog, but enough that I don't feel guilty for playing a game instead of studying.

Anyone know of other recent games that are voiced in Chinese?

[Gleaves]

If folks are interested in adventure games (point and click), Chinaavg.com is a site that does fan translations of games into Chinese. They have 汉化ed over a 100 games (list below). If you are a fan of adventure games, you probably know some of these. If not, you are likely to have never heard of them. Most can be found on verycd.

Below is a list of the games chinaavg.com has translated. I put it in spoiler tags just because it was such a long list. (Here is a thread from the site that lists all the games, but you need to log in and post to see the list).

1、Echo: Secret of the Lost Cavern [回声：失落秘洞之谜]【2005】

2、Voyage [月航] 【2006】

3、Atlantis：Evolution [亚特兰蒂斯：进化][汉化包制作人：ww76314]【2006】

4、Safecracker [破箱人] 【2006】

5、The Secrets of Da Vinci: The Forbidden Manuscript [达•芬奇的秘密：被禁的手稿] 【2006】

6、Grim Fandango [冥界狂想曲] [汉化包主要制作人：saphireblue]【2006】

7、The Secrets of Atlantis：The Sacred Legacy [ 亚特兰蒂斯的秘密：神圣遗产]【2007】

8、Secret Files: Tunguska [秘密档案：通古斯] 【2007】

9、Destination: Treasure Island [目标：金银岛] 【2007】

10、Nostradamus: The Last Prophecy [诺查丹玛斯：最后的预言] 【2007】

11、Cleopatra A Queens Destiny [埃及艳后传奇] 【2007】

12、Return to Mystery Island [重返神秘岛][汉化包制作人：江南孤鸿]【2007】

13、Dracula 3:The Path of the Dragon [吸血鬼德古拉3：龙之路] 【2008】

14、Outcry [疾呼] 【2008】

15、Syberia 1 [赛伯利亚之谜 1]【2008】

16、The Longest Journey [最长的旅程]【2008】

17、Nikopol: Secrets of the Immortals [尼可波勒：诸神混乱]【2009】

18、Dirty Split [罪恶裂痕][汉化包主要制作人：soring123]【2009】

19、Art of Murder 1: FBI Confidential [谋杀的艺术 1：联邦调查局的机密] 【2009】

20、Still Life 1 [静物 1] 【2009】

21、The White Chamber [白色密室] [汉化包主要制作人：worldcup12]【2009】

22、Fairy tales about Toshechka and Boshechka [托托和波波飞越童话世界] 【2009】

23、Ghost in the Sheet [鬼奴] [汉化包主要制作人：worldcup12]【2009】

24、Five Magical Amulets [五个护身符] [汉化包主要制作人：odair]【2009】

25、Full Throttle [极速天龙] 【2009】

26、Sanitarium [疯人院] 【2009】

27、Tanya Grotter and the Magical Double Bass [塔妮亚•格勒特与魔法琴] 【2009】

28、Tanya Grotter and disappearing floor [塔妮亚•格勒特与与消失的楼层] 【2009】

29、Neznayka I Barrabass [森林小小人] 【2009】

30、Return to Mysterious Island 2：Mina's Fate [重返神秘岛 2：米娜的命运] 【2009】

31、Mental Repairs, Inc. [心灵维修公司] [汉化包主要制作人：worldcup12]【2009】

32、Syberia 2 [赛伯利亚 2] 【2009】

33、Green Moon [绿月] [汉化包主要制作人：修普诺斯]【2010】

34、Drawn:The Painted Tower [谜画之塔] 【2010】

35、The Golden Calf [金牛犊] 【2010】

36、Avenue Flo [弗洛大街] [汉化包主要制作人：hongrui78]【2010】

37、Mata Hari [玛塔•哈莉] 【2010】

38、A Vampyre Story [吸血鬼的故事] [汉化包主要制作人：XQ_261]【2010】

39、Secret Files 2:Puritas Cordis [秘密档案 2：**危机] 【2010】

40、The Jolly Gang's Spooky Adventure [快乐伙伴的捉鬼冒险] [汉化包主要制作人：odair]【2010】

41、The Lost Crown:A Ghost hunting Adventure [失落的王冠：捉鬼大冒险] 【2010】

42、Iron Roses [铁玫瑰] [汉化包主要制作人：歪歪乐]【2010】

43、Masyanyas African Adventures [快乐伙伴的非洲冒险] [汉化包主要制作人：odair]【2010】

44、Awakening:The Dreamless Castle [觉醒：无眠之城] [汉化包主要制作人：odair]【2010】

45、Autumn's Treasures: The Jade Coin [奥特姆的宝藏之翡翠玉币] [汉化包主要制作人：woli]【2010】

46、Empress of the Deep:The Darkest Secret [深海女皇黑暗的秘密] [汉化包主要制作人：odair]【2010】

47、Emerald City Confidential [翡翠城的秘密] [汉化包主要制作人：worldcup12]【2010】

48、The Mystery of the Mary Celeste [鬼船之谜] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

49、Driller Incident [钻孔机事件] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

50、Righteous Kill 2:Revenge of the Poet Killer [正义杀戮 2] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

51、Memento Mori [死亡象征] 【2010】

52、Евлампия Романова. Нежный супруг олигарха [艾芙兰皮娅•罗曼诺夫] [汉化包主要制作人：odair]【2010】

53、The Legend of Crystal Valley [水晶谷的传说] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

54、Campfire Legends:The Hookman [营火传说：铁钩人] 【2010】

55、Born Into Darkness [生于黑暗] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

56、Shutter Island [禁闭岛] 【2010】

57、Black Mirror 2 [黑镜 2] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

58、Pizza Morgana Episode 1 [**披萨送餐队第一章] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

59、Hotel [时光旅店] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

60、Jolly Rover [极乐浪子] [汉化包主要制作人：naptid]【2010】

61、Strange Cases: The Lighthouse Mystery [奇异档案之神秘灯塔] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

62、Deadtime Stories [亡灵故事] 【2010】

63、Strange Cases: The Tarot Card Mystery [奇异档案之神秘塔罗牌] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

64、Love Chronicles: The Spell [爱语魔咒典藏版] 【2010】

65、Limbo Of The Lost [失踪地带] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

66、Indiana Jones And The Fate Of Atlantis [夺宝奇兵之印第安那琼斯与亚特兰蒂斯之谜] [汉化包主要制作人：worldcup12]【2010】

67、Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island [巫胡岛的幽灵海盗] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

68、Art of Murder 2 : Hunt for the Puppeteer [谋杀的艺术 2：追捕木偶人] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

69、The Search for Amelia Earhart [寻找埃尔哈特] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

70、Magic Encyclopedia 2 Moon Light [魔法全书2：月光] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

71、Agatha Christie:Murder on the Orient Express [阿加莎•克里斯蒂：东方快车谋杀案] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

72、Love Story: Letters from the Past [爱的故事之过去来信] 【2010】

73、Drawn2:Dark Flight [谜画之塔 2：暗夜飞行] 【2010】

74、Hans Christian Andersen: The Ugly Prince Duckling [安徒生之丑小鸭王子] [汉化包主要制作人：worldcup12]【2010】

75、DinerTown Detective Agency [美食小镇侦探社] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

76、Amnesia:The Dark Descent [失忆症：黑暗侵袭] [合作伙伴：天邈汉化组]【2010】

77、Art of Murder 3: Cards of Destiny [谋杀的艺术3：命运之牌] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

78、Escape from Frankensteins Castle [逃离科学怪人的城堡] [汉化包主要制作人：worldcup12]【2010】

79、Penumbra Episode 1:Overture [半影第一章：序曲] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

80、Lost Realms: Legacy of the Sun Princess [失落的王国：太阳公主的遗产] [汉化包主要制作人：worldcup12]【2010】

81、Gotcha: Celebrity Secrets [奖章：名人的秘密] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

82、Hidden Expedition:Titanic-Secrets of the Fateful Voyage [泰坦尼克：宿命之旅] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

83、Hidden Mysteries: Vampire Secrets [隐藏的秘密：吸血鬼之谜] 【2010】

84、Penumbra Episode 2:Black Plague [半影第二章：黑色瘟疫] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

85、Penumbra Episode 3:Requiem [半影第三章：安魂曲] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

86、Lost Horizon [失落的地平线] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

87、Island：The Lost Medallion [孤岛：失落的纹章] [汉化包主要制作人：bmwmj]【2010】

88、Blood Oath [血之誓约] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

89、Tulula：Legend of a Volcano [图卢拉：火山的传说] 【2010】

90、Mind's Eye：Secrets Of The Forgotten [心灵之眼：遗忘的秘密] [汉化包主要制作人：bmwmj]【2010】

91、Haunted Hotel 3 [幽魂旅店 3] [汉化包主要制作人：DavidGBL]【2010】

92、National Geographic Games： Herod’s Lost Tomb [国家地理：失落的希律王古墓] 【2010】

93、Vampire Brides：Love Over Death [吸血鬼新娘] [汉化包主要制作人：almz777]【2010】

94、Avenue Flo 2：Special Delivery [弗洛大街2：特快专递] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

95、Mystery Trackers：The Void Collector's Edition [神秘追踪者：虚空典藏版] [汉化包主要制作人：bmwmj]【2010】

96、Lost Realms 2：The Curse of Babylon [失落的王国2：巴比伦的诅咒] [汉化包主要制作人：bmwmj]【2010】

97、Campfire Legends 2 The Babysitter [营火传奇2：临时保姆] 【2010】

98、National Geographic Adventure: Lost Of Z [国家地理探险：失落Z城] 【2010】

99、Amazing Heists：Dillinger [惊天大盗：迪林格] [汉化包主要制作人：winne]【2010】

100、Даша Васильева: Личное дело Женщины-кошки [达莎•瓦西列娃：神秘女孩的个人档案] 【2010】

101、EVANY Key to a Distant Land [水晶之钥2：通往遥远的大陆] 【2010】

102、Hidden Mysteries: Salem Secrets [隐藏的秘密5：塞伦女巫之谜] 【2010】

103、Jekyll and Hyde [化身博士] [合作伙伴：绝影汉化组]【2010】

104、Death City [死亡城市] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2010】

105、Twisted: A Haunted Carol [扭曲：幽灵的颂歌] [汉化包主要制作人：bmwmj]【2010】

106、Ancient Adventures: Gift of Zeus [远古冒险：宙斯的礼物] [汉化包主要制作人：bmwmj]【2010】

107、TREASURE ISLAND [金银岛] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2011】

108、Valerie Porter and the Scarlet Scandal [瓦莱丽·波特：丑闻昭彰] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2011】

109、Book of Legends [传奇之书] [汉化包主要制作人：bmwmj]【2011】

110、Tamara the 13th [塔玛拉 十三纪] [合作伙伴：圣城家园]【2011】

111、Marooned 2 - Secrets of the Akoni [孤岛逃亡 2：阿肯尼的秘密] 【2011】

112、Little Noir Stories: The Case of the Missing Girl [黑幕故事：迷失少女] [汉化包主要制作人：DavidGBL]【2011】

I just played Drawn and enjoyed it thoroughly. I bought it from Bigfish games and applied the chinaavg patch I grabbed from verycd. The game has some tough/small fonts. I'm trying to get Sanitarium working now.

I was thinking of starting a separate thread to focus on reviews of individual games in terms of their value as a study tool.

[roddy]

I was thinking of starting a separate thread to focus on reviews of individual games in terms of their value as a study tool.

There's perhaps scope for a Grand Project there, along the lines of First Episodes and Comics, if you fancy taking the lead. Doesn't need to be a long term commitment.

[feihong]

There are actually quite a few adventure games for the DS as well, and the downloads for them are already patched. I have a list somewhere on my computer, I'll see if I can find it.

The two most useful video games for me in terms of helping me improve my Chinese were Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap and Super Mario RPG. Both of them are GBA games and are playable through emulation on your PC.

[Gleaves]

I'll look into making it a project of sorts. It could be cool to have somewhere to pull together a list of games available in Chinese, difficulty levels, study value, technical issues, etc.

100% agreed, Feihong. Adventure games and RPGs on the GBA and DS are terrific. Phoenix Wright and Professor Layton are both great as they are almost entirely steered by text.

[feihong]

@Gleaves

I'd be willing to help out. So far I haven't made much progress on my video game goals for this year.

[Gleaves]

Cool, thanks. Learning a language has to the best hobby ever - my goals for this year consist of watching shows, reading books, and playing video games.

Edit: I just wanted to note that Yersi's blog has some good posts on games in Chinese (including Baldur's Gate and Cave Story).

[Findus]

Wow, this thread is amazing! I cannot understand much yet, but this resource is awesome nonetheless.

One of my most "precious" moments of learning new languages was when I was about 5 years old. I was playing an old MS-DOS game called "Police Quest" (I'm sure there are many who have heard of it!) and I was wondering how I could pick up a gun from a locker. I had my dad write down "pick up gun" and "open locker" on a piece of paper. I then tried writing it into the game, which I guess took about an hour. ;) But it truly did work - I always knew what "pick up" and "gun" meant from that moment on! So, to me, one shouldn't underestimate the things you can learn by playing a video game.

[dennis04]

How do you get Planescape:Torment working? I downloaded all the ISO's 1-4. I unzipped CD iso 1 where I did the setup to install the basic files. When I run the game it always asks me to put in disc number 2. I already copied the CD2 directory in the main directory, plus I don't have a CD player to begin with. But for some reason it's not reading the CD2..

Anyone please help me.

Also I found using Pleco OCR while playing Dragon Force or Cave Story, something with nice big fonts is a nice addition to playing for quick look up.

[Gleaves]

You might be able to mount the cd image with daemon tools (basically this program will make your computer think there is a disc in the drive).

Also, be sure to check out our gaming project. It is a growing list of gaming recommendations.

[murrayjames]

Gleaves, Yersi or anyone:

The Chinese version of Planescape is translated from English, right? Just how difficult is the translation? Is it less valuable (from a Chinese learner's perspective) to play a game translated from another language than one written in Chinese originally?

[Gleaves]

Planescape was translated from English and released in China, so the translation is pretty good (better than fan translated). Planescape is an extremely wordy game, so it makes for terrific study material, but it is a very healthy amount of reading and the content can be tough. So probably upper intermediate. Not as hard as a book, but more difficult than comics. I've only played it for about an hour or two, but it is on my (ridiculously long) list of games to play in Chinese. Baldur's Gate is also tough. Fallout is a bit easier. The likes of Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy are also easier.

In general, I think native material is always better to use for studying. The language will be more natural and contain more cultural references, etc. That said, Chinese RPGs are not for everyone, so its probably better to play something translated that you really like as opposed to trudging through native stuff. In the case of TV and movies, there is plenty of native Chinese material to choose from. For games and comics, translated versions are often the most appealing options. I used mostly translated material initially, but I have now naturally gravitated toward native Chinese stuff.

[dennis04]

Thanks for the DAEMON Tools recommendation. I can now get to the character creation screen where I can allocate fighting characteristics, but after I click accept I get back to the insert disc 2 screen. Hmm maybe something is wrong with my comp, oh well I have other games to hold me over. Plus, the text seems kind of small, but I agree, the material seems native Chinese.