DELTAHEAD is a small, privately owned business specializing in Japanese-to-English translations. Our primary work involves translation within the video game industry, though we are also open to work within other venues.

We are devoted to clear and unambivalent English communication of the varied meanings carried through an original Japanese text. Because of our personal interest in establishing clarity, our work exceeds the quality of translations provided by the overwhelming majority of corporate and private translation companies.

Translation companies typically add extra fees to their base charge amount. These extra fees presumably secure the readability and accuracy of the client's translation. DELTAHEAD believes that such an approach is licentious and dishonest. The attitude implied by such a policy undermines the very ethics of translative writing. These hidden fees portend to serve as the equivalent of the fast-food litany, "Would you like fries with that?" In reality, they amount to a meaning closer to, "Would you like that meat cooked?"

We have liberal minds at the service of a conservative work ethic. We therefore do not charge extra for good work.

PRICES

Our standard translation price is 230 USD (United States Dollars) per 1000 English words translated from Japanese. This is equivalent to .23 USD per English word. Our price for words over the 1000 word limit is .12 USD.

We offer a competitive price in our field. Since Japanese-to-English translation is more difficult than English-to-Japanese translation, J-E translations are traditionally more expensive. However, we offer J-E translative work at E-J prices.

OUR PHILOSOPHY

The typical attitude regarding English versions of Japanese gaming information is that non-Japanese reading audiences are stuck with the dregs. Often a Japanese-proficient gamer will inform players of a game's English language release: "Yeah, you generally got the same game--but this is what the game really said."

Consider Japanese information within the gaming culture as fresh water flowingfrom the source of a river. By the analogy, English language information becomes water at the river's mouth: salty, brackish, and used by those living upstream. Yet only at the mouths of rivers will a fertile delta form. We endeavor to turn the delta into a new riverhead and provide readers with aesthetically strong writing that clearly communicates the meanings of the original Japanese text. 

The video game medium has become a strong influence on popular culture. As members of the generation who came of age with video games, we have seen the graphics improve without due attention to the language incorporated into gaming culture. Many factors contribute to the inattention. Purely literal translations from Japanese into English, cultural ignorance, and genuinely bad writing all hinder gaming culture from blossoming into greater affluence. DELTAHEAD strives to meet this problem face-to-face and restore respect for quality language in gaming culture.

We can help bridge the gulf between cultures by making Japanese ideas more accessible to an English language audience. We can foster the wonderful exchange that transpires daily between Japanese and English language cultures through video games.

ORIGINAL CONTENT

DELTAHEAD understands that videogames differ from traditional media, and we know that text assumes a different purpose when it appears in an interactive context. Localization will improve as we recognize the ways in which deliberately constructed videogames achieve their particular effects. We offer the following original site content to help show how certain videogames impact players through their formal structure.

PAST PROJECTS

DELTAHEAD has translated the official weblog of Hideo Kojima, head of Kojima Productions at Roppongi Hills in Tokyo. For nearly half a year Hideo Kojima shared some of his most candid thoughts on both his daily life and insights as a world-renowned creator of video games. In order to better serve his role at Kojima Productions, Hideo Kojima eventually shifted over to audio format, starting a program called "HIDECHAN Radio". From that point on, Kojima Productions' International Manager Ryan Payton created Ryan's Report as HIDECHAN's English language counterpart. Please click the appropriate language below to peruse the archives of either the English or Japanese versions of HIDEOBLOG.

DELTAHEAD has translated the website of Konami's Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence for the Playstation 2. Click the appropriate language to view either the English or Japanese version of the website.

DELTAHEAD has also translated both the Metal Gear AC!D² online comic guide and character data pages. Choose the card corresponding to the appropriate page below.

For the E3 2006 event in Los Angeles DELTAHEAD translated articles for Konami's ShowMaybe? magazine-pamphlet hybrid distributed on the show floor. Also featured are pieces written by our own Head Editor, James Clinton Howell. Click below for full scans of the ShowMaybe?

In early 2007, Kojima Productions released the spiritual successor to its unique hit series Boktai. To coincide with its release, DELTAHEAD translated its official website. Click the appropriate language to view either the English or Japanese version of the website.

PSP smash-hit Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops returns as Portable Ops Plus. DELTAHEAD translated its official website. Click the appropriate language to view either the English or Japanese version of the website.

To help express the Kojima Productions message at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show event, DELTAHEAD translated promotional materials including content provided in a 52-page pamphlet covering the world of Metal Gear Solid 4 as of the time of the event, and content for the Metal Gear Solid 4 Integrated Site. For trailers, screens, character information, or anything else related to Metal Gear Solid 4, click below to explore the Integrated Site.

CONTACT