Shadow and the Confusing Chinese Title
Bruno de Figueiredo -- the Portugese writer behind Antagonism and Continuity, a fantastic essay exploring the design and meanings of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus -- recently picked up the Chinese edition of SotC after hearing it described as the definitive edition, seeing as it includes subtitles in Chinese, Japanese and English.
He compared his new Chinese copy to the Japanese release, Wanda To Kyozou (Wander and the Colossus), and found that the titles printed on their manuals didn't quite match:
Yes, the Chinese title, Shadow and the Colossus, sounds more like the U.S. name, but it doesn't make sense at all! The same baffling text was also printed on the game's disc, dropped in after the break.
"I remind you that this is an official product with a proper Sony serial number, not some knock-off from a Hong Kong dealer," says de Figueiredo. "If that had been the case there would be no reason to take this seriously." Strange that no one noticed this until three and a half years after the Chinese edition's release!
Comments
I actually noticed this weeks ago while browsing scans here: http://www.z-o-g.org/gallery2/ico/ . (Those art cards are so pretty. I have one stretched as wallpaper currently.) Didn't think it was worth mentioning, especially 3 years late. Meh, it's China, what do you expect.
Posted by: Alex Kraus | April 22, 2009 8:20 PM
I still think that "Wanderer and the Colossi" would have fixed the grammar without having to bring an adolescent "darkest shadow" type name into the proceedings.
Posted by: Sinnerman | April 23, 2009 1:50 AM
Grammar wasn't really the issue. "Wander" is a character's name.
Posted by: Nicola Nomali | April 24, 2009 8:05 AM