Page 1 of 1

Policenauts Official Website

Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 4:26 pm
by 87th
It took me a good long time before I found out there was an official website for this game. Unluckly, for me, it's almost entirely Japanese text. There seems to be a message from Kojima to fans of the game though. If any text on the site is particularly interesting or important, can someone please translate it? I'd really appreciate that. Here's the link-
http://www.konami.jp/gs/game/psonebooks/policenauts/

Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:01 pm
by Modnar
hmmmm dont know why I never looked for the official site....oh well, but i realy want to see that mesage, he signed it in 2003.

Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:52 pm
by Artemio
I believe either Osiris or Arkhound translated that waaaay back... in August 2003, at the Metal gear Net forums... but I searched the site to no avail.. anyone recall the topic to place alink if it is still up there?

Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 1:21 am
by DarkTetsuya
Well I ran the text thru @nifty (an E-J/J-E text translator):
@nifty wrote:Policenauts is the work which was hard labor most. It had the time as long as four years until it resulted [ from drafting a plan ] in the first commercialization (the 9821st edition sale). Then, if the 3DO version by which the next-generation transplant was carried out, the PS version, and the Saturn version are included, it will also have been foothold six years.

In the meantime, its affiliation post also changed 3 times, and there is neither an organization nor a position nor environment with how often, and it changed. Of course, times (the Berlin Wall disappears and cold war structure collapses) also moved greatly. it is anticipation -- it was hit by the great earthquake which was not boiled and carried out. For [ of the violent shaking ] six years, as possessed, it is a 創り続 beam about Policenauts.

There was nothing with how often and frustration did not have once in the beam of a project being [ stranding ] wonderful, either. Is it absorbed in only one ADV game 創り called [ why it has concentrated on the one fictitious world during such the period, and ] ? Policenauts? Honestly, it may turn round now, or he is sufficient, and it does not understand. Uniquely, in the ability to say, "merely completing a work" was only concentrating and I of those days was concentrating on. "Policenauts is completed" -- it dreamed only of it and alive in every day.

It is the extravagant time purely spent as a creator. Then, it became the present position (a manager and producer), and the possibility of 物創り increased. However, it can never perform having been immersed only in one work 創り like that time for many years. "Police NOTSU" can be said to be that I am the work of the last which gazes at only 物創り and was able to continue making it intently.
Sorry, that was some seriously borken engrish... those online text translators still have a ways to go, it would seem LOL. :grin:

DT

Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 11:16 am
by 87th
DarkTetsuya wrote:Well I ran the text thru @nifty (an E-J/J-E text translator):
I don't like those things. They usually come out with complete shit. I didn't read the translation incase it spoils my enjoyment of Kojima's message when it's professionally translated.

Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 3:42 am
by Marc
Yeah I translated it back in 2003. I got it somewhere, just gimme a bit. :)

Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 9:53 pm
by Johnny Undaunted
That's the site from the PSone Books reissue. Here's the original site.
http://www.konami.jp/gs/game/policenauts/

Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 1:28 pm
by OtakupunkX
87th wrote:I don't like those things. They usually come out with complete shit.
No joke. The first day I started my Spanish class our teacher warned us about them. They're kind of fun to mess around with though.

Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 2:46 pm
by Artemio
Believe me, they are even worse when translating fron a language such as Japanese. I've played quite a bit with Spanish (to get a few laughs with "Engranaje de metal solido" from the Kojima page) and some with Japanese...

Interesting you are studying Spanish though, not a common thing (and I hear it is quite difficult to learn as a second language when compared to English).

Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 2:56 pm
by James_The_Stampede
Snatcher wrote:Believe me, they are even worse when translating fron a language such as Japanese. I've played quite a bit with Spanish (to get a few laughs with "Engranaje de metal solido" from the Kojima page) and some with Japanese...

Interesting you are studying Spanish though, not a common thing (and I hear it is quite difficult to learn as a second language when compared to English).
Spanish and French are the most commonly taught languages here. Japanese on the other hand.... :P

Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 2:22 pm
by Tao
James_The_Stampede wrote: Japanese on the other hand.... :P
My school teaches. :) We have to be one of the few schools in the country that does. It's alright, if you're willing to put up with the unshowering, self-proclaimed おたく yelling out "KAWA-EEEE!" every five seconds.

I've always wanted to learn Spanish. I figure that learning a romance language could do nothing but help me in the future. How long have you been studying Japanese, Artemio?

Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 2:58 pm
by James_The_Stampede
Tao wrote:
James_The_Stampede wrote: Japanese on the other hand.... :P
My school teaches. :) We have to be one of the few schools in the country that does. It's alright, if you're willing to put up with the unshowering, self-proclaimed おたく yelling out "KAWA-EEEE!" every five seconds.

I've always wanted to learn Spanish. I figure that learning a romance language could do nothing but help me in the future. How long have you been studying Japanese, Artemio?
I feel your pain :( I deal with those types at every anime expo. I love putting those kind in thier place though. Because I don't LOOK like a nerd, they think I'm a bit on the stupid side. Boy, do they get a nice big suprise when they start thier otaku elitism. :D

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 3:38 am
by Marc
Here's the translation, sorry for the late reply, I've been away the last few days.


Policenauts, in Director Hideo Kojima's words

Policenauts is the most difficult game I’ve ever worked on.

It took four years going from the initial planning stages to the release of the first version of the game (on the PC9821), and even after that, if you include the time spent porting the game to the next-generation 3DO, PlayStation and Saturn consoles, that makes the total amount of time I spent on the game six years. During that time, I changed divisions in Konami three times, and the organization of the company, my position, and working environment changed many times, too. Of course, the world changed greatly as well, with events like the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. We also experienced that horrific earthquake that no one could have foreseen.[1]

Throughout the hardships and upheavals of those years, I continued to work on Policenauts as though I was possessed. The project came close to cancellation many times, but strangely enough, I was never discouraged, not even once.

How was it I was able to stay focused on a fictional world for that long a period of time? Was Policenauts simply a game I was obsessed with making? To be honest, looking back on it, I'm not quite sure myself.

The only thing I can say is that at the time, I devoted myself solely to finishing the game. "I will finish Policenauts!" – that alone was my dream. It was a luxurious time spent purely as a creator.

I'm now looking at the world through the eyes of a company executive as well as a producer, and the development possibilities for me have expanded. However, I won’t be able to do as I did with Policenauts ever again and become absorbed with solely creating one game for several years at a time. I think I can say that with Policenauts, it's the last game where I was able to focus only on creating.

[1. The Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995.]

[Page 2]

Also, apart from the graphics and sound, I did most of the game myself, such as the game design, the massive amount of text, the simplified language script, the storyboarding, the collision-detection, the flag-control... If it can be said that MGS, created with its 100-man team, was made with all the frills of a Hollywood movie, then Policenauts is closer to an independent film. Much of my personality can be found throughout the game.

Policenauts was also a "meeting place" of sorts. I met the current core staff of KCEJ (the Kojima Group), including Yoji Shinkawa and other staff members, as well as many of the people who support me now, both from inside and outside the company, thanks to Policenauts.

It’s a road that has lead to the present, but it’s a part of the past to which I can’t return. But even now, this "game" continues to shine brightly.

Hideo Kojima
2003

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 4:16 am
by 87th
Thanks for that. These type of comments always interest me.

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 7:33 am
by OtakupunkX
Thanks for posting that up here man. I enjoyed reading it.