Zero Punctuation: Yakuza 4

[Ironic Pirate]

Hehehe, but then again, Japanese ARE into some weird shit

Okay. There are at least two things about that statement that are problematic. First, it's too general. It insinuates that all Japanese people are "into some weird shit" or in other words they all have the same tastes. That's quite frankly getting borderline racist.

And second it's worth noting that there is probably a decent chance that many people in Japan think similar things about people who live in other countries, if you catch my drift.

Japan being weird is something of a running joke on the internet, steak sauce. And it wouldn't be racism, I think. Strikes me more as Xenophobia, if I had to put a name on it.

Even then it's not really that. There are just some national stereotypes that people use, and most are utterly harmless and have slight truth, like this one. Others of note being fat Americans, polite Canadians, etc.

 

[Sbuiko]

I want devil-darwin on a shirt that says "Leave them to darwin"

 

[DanHibiki]

Why are Japanese games full of weird reaction noises? Wah? Huh? I've always thought they were there because of the translation from Japanese to English, but if they're in the Japanese VO as well? Could somebody explain?

Similar to how American movies go What?RUN!and shiiiiii-!.

or "Nononononono NO!!!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IXCK1EyP4s

 

[MrDarkling]

How could you not enjoy shirtless muscle men fighting on top of a building?

NA-NI

or a big ass warship?
(MGS4 hehe)

 

[A1]

Hehehe, but then again, Japanese ARE into some weird shit

Okay. There are at least two things about that statement that are problematic. First, it's too general. It insinuates that all Japanese people are "into some weird shit" or in other words they all have the same tastes. That's quite frankly getting borderline racist.

And second it's worth noting that there is probably a decent chance that many people in Japan think similar things about people who live in other countries, if you catch my drift.

Japan being weird is something of a running joke on the internet, steak sauce. And it wouldn't be racism, I think. Strikes me more as Xenophobia, if I had to put a name on it.

Even then it's not really that. There are just some national stereotypes that people use, and most are utterly harmless and have slight truth, like this one. Others of note being fat Americans, polite Canadians, etc.

I get what you're saying. And I did already acknowledge that perhaps racism may not be the best word to use. Prejudice may be a better fit and as you indicated xenophobia also probably works.

And yes at least some stereotypes appear to have at least some basis in reality, like taking a characteristic of an individual or a certain number of individuals within a group and attributing it to the entire group. But of even if there is a small basis in reality that doesn't excuse stereotyping or make the practice any less unfortunate or problematic. And wether or not stereotypes cause harm is probably open to debate. As I understand it there is evidence that suggests that stereotypes can have negative psychological effects on people. But in any case many people find stereotypes to be offensive and as such it's generally preferable to avoid them.

 

[Oktanas]

fantastic review

 

[A1]

Bwahahahaa -- nice opening loved it! "Japanese are into some crazy shit!" right after a heartfelt balanced statement over the recent tragedy -- ah Yahtzee you cheeky bastard -- Another good quote "sumptuous fruit basket for your fist" -- Milk. Nose. Mess. I wasn't going to buy this game anyways - having watched the earlier Escapist review -- but now I am definitely not. I don't want to read the bottom of my tv for the sake of "realism". Realism where I am a kung fu god single handling kicking the ass off of everyone as long as I am in the right place to do it. Pshhhfft. Meh.

It's not about "realism" as few if any video games are truly realistic, it's about authenticity. When a game takes place in Japan it's only logical that the people actually speak Japanese.

And Kung Fu is Chinese, not Japanese.

Kung fu is the generic term for all matial arts. Therfore Karate is a form of kung fu.

That's not exactly true. Kung Fu is a generic term for all Chinese Martial Arts. It doesn't include martial arts from other places like Japan, Thailand, or Korea to name a few.

Fair nuff, not what I was told but what the hey!

bye the bye, karate was brought to japan from china and refined.

That's not entirely accurate either. What was brought to Japan (Okinawa to be more specific) from China were Chinese martial arts. Over the course of centuries the people of Okinawa developed Te from these arts. And later still these Te styles were eventually developed into Karate by the people of Okinawa. Karate was ultimately invented by Japan and as such it's generally not considered to be a Chinese martial art.

 

[Gaming King]

Lots of truth as usual. Especially about the stupid things Japanese people like, LOL.

 

[DMajorBoss]

Hmm...I wonder if someone really will make that remix of reaction sounds.

 

[13lackfriday]

'Nani' means "What?" In Japanese, it's not quite a reaction noise.

He just means the dialog's a bit overburdened with interjections that don't really add to the conversation...

Imagine if, after every new sentence you spoke, I interrupted with, "Wait, WHAT???"

Yeah, that'd get old fast.

And unlike me, you can't slap Japanese media and tell it to stop.

 

[riprino]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiJAHpYspjg
I built Yahtzee in Fortresscraft a minecraft clone on the Xbox live Indie market.

 

[OtherSideofSky]

I've always found the best way to enjoy the plot of a Yakuza game is to have a friend with you and laugh together through all the cutscenes. It's absolutely mind-boggling how insane the stories can get without the writers ever seeming to notice.

Oh, and the whole "visual novel" thing makes much much more sense when you realize that they're supposed to be digital choose-your-own-adventure books rather than games. People who play them always insist to me that some of them have really good stories, but I remain skeptical.

I would recommend that you pick up Phantom of Inferno from Amazon.com if you ever decide to try out a Visual Novel, especially with the recent Anime adaptation of Phantom of Inferno. The translation of the Visual Novel is a just a little bit iffy (although still perfectly understandable) but the story is intriguing, interesting, engaging, and surprisingly realistic. The characters are also interesting and/or likable.

So there's my two cents for what they're worth. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Thanks, but my Japanese is good enough now that I don't need to bother with text translations. I'll definitely keep that title in mind if I ever feel like reading one, though.

 

[MiloBMofo]

inspired end comment 'rose coloured' jell beans lol tastic !

 

[carcinoGeneticist]

and yet yahtzee said NOTHING! when haiti was destroyed by an earthquake


sorry i just had to let that out of my chest, a lot of people are doing that nowadays

yeah i know he was karma compensating but still...

 

[LittleWask]

Gah! I was hoping I could be the cool guy who gets to suavely comment on the Pixies reference from this week's video, but I saw someone said something about it on page 4. I've got to start watching these things earlier. Now I have to share my sense of smugness with another.

Truly-A-Lie, you are the son of incestuous union.

 

[Idlemessiah]

I would totally play Constable Blimey Chips.

 

[Dertysan]

Good as ever.

 

[JohnsonIV]

Man Yahtzee, I really dig the rodent teeth you used for illustrating japanese men.

It's truly such a shame that the British didn't colonize Japan, they could have introduced the only normal culture in the world (i.e. western) and the only proper language (i.e. English) to them.

Wouldn't have to listen to their annoying moonspeak articulations anymore and they could start selling commemorative chinaware with faces from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha like all normal people do.

Oh wait, those hypocrites are called "Windsors" now.