Fan-translation of Kojima's Policenauts nears completion

***wraggster*** · February 7th, 2007, 18:11

via joystiq

While most American gamers know Hideo Kojima as the man behind the blockbuster Metal Gear Solid franchise, the two games he worked on before breaking out with MGS are considered forgotten masterpieces. One, Snatcher, saw a limited U.S. release on the ill-fated Sega CD. The other, Policenauts, has never been available in English.

That seems poised to change, though, as Kojima fan-site Junker HQ has just announced the completion of a five-year project to translate the game's text. Only some technical work remains before the translation is released as a patch on the newly relaunched policenauts.net, currently targeted for the second half of 2007.

Theoretically, the patch will require a CD-R, an official Japanese version of the game and a modded PlayStation to work, but emulator-compatible ISOs are sure to leak out for the less scrupulous among us. While you wait, check out the game's Wikipedia entry to get some idea of what made the game so special.

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**Chuthbert** · February 7th, 2007, 18:55

Badass. Snatcher is one of the best games ever made, so I've always wanted to try this.

**robocelot** · February 7th, 2007, 20:27

Originally Posted by Chuthbert

Badass. Snatcher is one of the best games ever made, so I've always wanted to try this.

Agreed. This is a semi-prequel to Snatcher, but it's the same style of game (more like a choose-your-own adventure).

Why Kojima refuses to retanslate and update Snatcher for modern consoles I'll never know. They keep dropping Snatcher references in the latest Metal Gear games (like the MG Mark II helper robot, and the 'disaster' that supposedly made part of Neo Tokyo uninhabitable)