Square Enix $600,000 lawsuit.

[Guild_Premier_Ghaleon]

So last year at one of my annual anime conventions I had every intention of buying a Buster Sword replica. I know a majority of you guys aren't fans of Final Fantasy VII, but I thought it was a decent game and the sword design was awesome. I was psyched to add it to my collection, had my money in hand, walked up to the vendor and... No buster sword. Apparently, Square Enix had a fit because they didn't approve of the sales of these replica's, likely because they weren't getting any cash from it. Now I can understand this to a point. Your franchise, your material, you want to profit from it. Cool. But they didn't just have them take their product down, they took them to court. They received $600,000 from several sources for the sale of their product. I think this is excessive for several reasons. One, they make a fortune already, being one of the leading gaming industries in the world, and two, it's just a fan service. People enjoys the games and want a piece of it for themselves. I'm already not a fan of the way they do business, and I know I may be being unreasonable but... I dunno. Just aggravated me.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20 ... rd-sellers

[Nobiyuki77]

If Square-Enix really cared about stopping people from making money off of their properties, they'd go after the insane number of doujinshi artists who continue to make Tifa porn on a monthly basis.

Stores selling replicas were simply the easier target.

[Angelalex242]

If they went after Tifa porn, they'd collapse the prison system with overcrowding, mostly likely.

Not including me, however, I prefer Aerith.

[Nobiyuki77]

I like Tifa myself, but I can't stand the fanart (h or otherwise) I see that draw her where her breasts are, literally, twice the size of her head. Each.

That just bugs the living daylight out of me.

[Werefrog]

Not including me, however, I prefer Aerith.

Personally, I prefer Aeris.

[Sonix]

Personally, I prefer the air.
Oops, somethings wrong...

[Nobiyuki77]

Personally, I prefer Aeris.

HEATHEN!

[Werefrog]

I refuse to acknowledge Aeris as "Aerith." It just doesn't sound right. From what I understand, either Romanization is fine (correct me if I'm wrong, Kiz). And think about it from the other angle. How would you feel if everyone started calling Sephiroth, "Sephiros?"

[Guild_Premier_Ghaleon]

Pshaw! Yuffie is where it is at.

[phyco126]

Not including me, however, I prefer Aerith.

Personally, I prefer Aeris.

Aye, same here.

As for the topic, I do not see anything evil about it. Square Enix has a right to file a claim for lost profits from licensing. I mean, if I made a game and someone else made lots of money off of it, I want a share of that too. Sure its greed, but it is their legal right.

[Werefrog]

There's also the fact that they have to set a precedent. I mean... if they don't stop it now who knows what people will try to counterfeit next. Gunblades? Keyblades? Time machines that take to medieval times (not the restaurant) when a girl with a mysterious pendant steps on? (Wait... does something count as a time machine even if it takes you back in time by mistake?)

I've heard that Disney has lawyers whose only job is to search out counterfeited merchandise (Mickey Mouse is the most counterfeited image).

[brightshield]

I refuse to acknowledge Aeris as "Aerith." It just doesn't sound right. From what I understand, either Romanization is fine (correct me if I'm wrong, Kiz).

Aerith has ALWAYS been her official name. Aeris is a translation error. Square has even officially confirmed her name to be Aerith.


And think about it from the other angle. How would you feel if everyone started calling Sephiroth, "Sephiros?"

Sephiroth has always been his official name. Sephiros would be a translation error.

[Werefrog]

No. Prove to me that Aeris and Aerith were not perfectly acceptable translations. Merely stating that Square said it was a mistranslation will not be enough. They were perfectly fine with it when the game first came out.

You're also missing my point about calling Sephiroth "Sephiros." The point is that many of us have gotten used to one name and the other just sounds weird. You're used to the name Sephiroth. Would it make any difference to you whether Square said it was a mistranslation?

[brightshield]

No. Prove to me that Aeris and Aerith were not perfectly acceptable translations. Merely stating that Square said it was a mistranslation will not be enough. They were perfectly fine with it when the game first came out.

No they weren't. In the Japanese version she was called Aerith. Hell, on the Japanese soundtrack(released in 1997) they even spell her name in English, and it was spelled as Aerith. Aeris is a translation error that Sony made. FF7 wasn't translated by Square, hence the piss poor job.


You're also missing my point about calling Sephiroth "Sephiros." The point is that many of us have gotten used to one name and the other just sounds weird. You're used to the name Sephiroth. Would it make any difference to you whether Square said it was a mistranslation?

Yes. If I suddenly found out that his official name had always been "Sephiros", I'd start calling him that.

[Werefrog]

No they weren't. In the Japanese version she was called Aerith. Hell, on the Japanese soundtrack(released in 1997) they even spell her name in English, and it was spelled as Aerith. Aeris is a translation error that Sony made. FF7 wasn't translated by Square, hence the piss poor job.

So... we should trust every time a Japanese company spells out a name in English? Fine. I'm going to watch Raputa: Castle in the Sky. Hey, they spelled it out in the original Japanese version: it must be correct. Hint: Japanese companies write their games in Japanese first for a reason: the majority of the workers don't have the same level of language proficiency as a native English speaker.

I'm not saying that the Aerith vs. Aeris is as bad as the Laputa example since both are perfectly acceptable (whereas Raputa is incorrect English). But, using Aerith shows a lack of knowledge of certain sociolinguistic factors, namely the fact that this sound is associated with a lisp. People do not like making this sound when they feel the correct sound is s. For example, studies have shown that Americans have trouble learning the Castilian theta (voiceless th sound) for this very reason. (Granted, this negative association only occurs due to the fact that she was once called Aeris, so it feels like we're pronouncing an s like a th)

Maybe, it was a mistake to call her Aeris in the first place, but now it doesn't make sense to change it. First, it makes it feel like we're speaking with a lisp. Second, it doesn't really add anything to the game. I read on Wiki that "Aerith" is almost an anagram of Earth. Almost anagrams don't count. I heard a much better reason for naming her "Aeris" because it sounds like heiress like she's the heiress to the ancients.

[meg]

So... we should trust every time a Japanese company spells out a name in English? Fine. I'm going to watch Raputa: Castle in the Sky.

i dimly recall reading that "Laputa" got in a lot of trouble in spanish speaking countries, because "la puta" means "the whore."

i'm perfectly fine with "aerith." i kinda like how it ends the same as sephiroth--lends another connection between the two characters.

as to videogames weapons--i want the masamune. and the master sword.

[brightshield]

So... we should trust every time a Japanese company spells out a name in English? Fine. I'm going to watch Raputa: Castle in the Sky. Hey, they spelled it out in the original Japanese version: it must be correct. Hint: Japanese companies write their games in Japanese first for a reason: the majority of the workers don't have the same level of language proficiency as a native English speaker.

That's not the same thing. Laputa was pronounced "Raputa" since the Japanese don't use the letter L. It was confirmed to be Laputa in English though. Aerith was confirmed long ago to be the correct translation of her name in English. It's always been her official name dude, arguing this fact is pointless.


I'm not saying that the Aerith vs. Aeris is as bad as the Laputa example since both are perfectly acceptable (whereas Raputa is incorrect English).

Aeris isn't acceptable though, it's flat out wrong. Just because lots of people are used to calling her Aeris doesn't make it correct. Your argument doesn't even make any sense. You're saying that Sony Computer Entertainment of America has just as much say on FF7 as Square. Square confirmed it to be Aerith, and every other game/movie in the FF7 compilation has called her Aerith(since translations were done by Square themselves this time), so that's it. Aeris 100% is wrong, and always has been.


Maybe, it was a mistake to call her Aeris in the first place, but now it doesn't make sense to change it.

How doesn't it make sense to fix something that is flat out incorrect?


First, it makes it feel like we're speaking with a lisp.

The same could be said of Sephiroth then...


Second, it doesn't really add anything to the game.

That still doesn't mean that poor translations shouldn't be corrected. For example, take a look at how many name changes were in the FF Tactics port. Square is fixing all the mistakes that Sony made with the original translations.


I read on Wiki that "Aerith" is almost an anagram of Earth. Almost anagrams don't count. I heard a much better reason for naming her "Aeris" because it sounds like heiress like she's the heiress to the ancients.

Wiki isn't exactly a reliable source, however the Earth thing is correct. The creators flat out stated that Aerith's name was always supposed to sound somewhat like "earth". So yeah, her name was always intended to be Aerith.

[Werefrog]

You missed the part where I said that the problem isn't she was named Aerith (It was in parentheses, so it's honestly understandable. It was more of an afterthought) The problem is that she was renamed Aerith after the majority of us called her Aeris. It's not the same as Sephiroth because Sephiroth was never known as "Sephiros." We're now hearing something that we always perceived as an /s/ with a /theta/ (or is it a delta phoneme. I can't remember if it's voiced or voiceless). That's why it now sound like a lisp. It's like if you heard people say "bas" your whole life instead of "bath" before telling you that it was "wrong" and that everyone else says "bath." Is this going to sound weird for a while? Yeah, probably.

Seriously, I'm not arguing this anymore. I don't even like this game. You can go ahead and call Terra from FF6 "Tina" for all I care. I won't as I won't call Aeris "Aerith"

Edit: Also, it would be pretty awesome to have the Master Sword, especially if you could use it to go back in time like in OoT. Masamune from CT would be cool as well.

[brightshield]

The problem is that she was renamed Aerith after the majority of us called her Aeris.

That's the thing. Square didn't "rename her Aerith". She was always called Aerith. Sony just screwed up the translation miserably. I don't see the point of keeping a translation error just because most Americans are "used to it".


You can go ahead and call Terra from FF6 "Tina" for all I care.

Why would I do that? Her official English name is Terra. Square decided to keep that one apparently as she's listed as such in FF6 Advance(which was translated by Square).


I won't as I won't call Aeris "Aerith"

You can call her Cindy, and no one can stop you. However, I'm just making the point that Aeris wasn't changed to Aerith. Aerith has always been her official name, and the one that Square set as canon ever since 1997.


Edit: Also, it would be pretty awesome to have the Master Sword, especially if you could use it to go back in time like in OoT. Masamune from CT would be cool as well.

A fan of the broad swords hm? Swords lost a lot of their "magical" appeal to me since I use them all the time at work. Still the Master Sword is nice, definitely one of the cooler swords in gaming.

[phyco126]

You are both wrong. Her name is エアリス! SAY IT! Its Earisu! AAWRHRHWR

By the way, your are lucky that webcomic seems to have gone down... it has my answer to this problem.

Edit: HAH! Found it, only took 30 minutes of browsing archives. http://loserzcomic.comicgenesis.com/d/20021016.html