May 2011 Archives

Many mobile phones in Japan still come equipped with IrDA ports which allow for data transfer with other IrDA enabled devices. It's a cheap and easy way to send contact details from one phone to another, or to transfer content from your phone to your computer, and it's a lot easier to set up on Linux than I had expected. In fact, I finished backing up my phone data so quickly that I had some spare time left and decided to write this short tutorial on how to set up IrDA on Ubuntu... continue reading

"It's a meee, Mario!" it was blurting out of computer speakers in 1999, more than a decade ago, when UltraHLE was released, the first emulator for x86 systems that was capable of emulating real games of the then only 3-year-old Nintendo 64 system. Since then, emulation software has become a multi-million-dollar business and even found its way into modern console systems. Today we present an overview of the most popular emulators of Nintendo systems for Linux, specifically Ubuntu.... continue reading

The Japan Subculture Research Center published an excellent post by Demian 'Ryu Ichinose' Smith about his experience translating Ryu ga Gotoku 龍が如く, a Playstation 2 videogame known in the West as "Yakuza". Demian's post is extremely interesting in how it highlights the challenges video game translators are typically facing when trying to localize a game with as much cultural background as Ryu Ga Gotoku. How do you preserve the game's original atmosphere and spirit when the deadline is just around the corner?... continue reading