International version

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In video games, an international version is a relocalized version of a previously released title in its native territory that has gained additional features and contents in foreign releases. While the concept of "international versions" in North American, European, and Australian games is very rare (and virtually non-existent), it is quite popular in Japanese games, where games are often given additional features by the developers when they are exported to the Western market.

A few, if not most, developers are content with simply adapting the foreign version domestically (even if the only difference is relatively superficial, such as translating text and voice dialogue into a local language).

[edit] History

The earliest known "International Version" of a game in Japan was the arcade title Mikie: High School Graffiti (released in 1984), which was a relocalized version of a game released in the Mikie, which in turn was an Americanized version of a previously released Konami game titled Shinnyûshain Tôru-kun (新入社員とおるくん, "Freshman Employee Tôru").

Konami conducted a similar practice in 1987 with the rerelease of the arcade title Salamander in Japan under the title of Life Force (the title previously used by the North American version of the same game). While the Japanese version of Life Force featured a similar premise and included voice samples like the American version, it also featured different graphics and the inclusion of the power meter from Gradius.

In 1992, Nintendo released the Western version of Super Mario Bros. 2 (a localized version of Doki Doki Panic) under the title of Super Mario USA in Japan for the Family Computer. This might be the first instance where a home console game was rereleased in Japan with the changes from the foreign version.

International versions became commonplace in the Japanese video game market during the 32-bit era, when voice acting became norm in games, resulting in developers having to compose a different language track for the Western versions.

[edit] List of International versions of games in Japan

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