PSP blindsided by hack attacks

Sony's portable game console, the Play Station Portable (PSP), was the focus of the gaming world's attention well before its launch. Now, six months after its debut, a slew of programming hacks are coming out of the woodworks, allowing PSP owners to download free videos, music and about 3,000 Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) titles that can all be played on the device. These cheats, however, can only be played on first generation models of the PSP. As a result, only secondhand PSPs are selling, leaving sales of PSP's newer models in quite a lurch. With Sony's performance slumping, Fuji took a look into these backdoor modifications that threaten to drag Sony down even deeper.

1. I like the title! I’ll be picky and suggest that it would be better to have “emulator” in the plural since there are many emulators out there wreaking havoc on the gaming industry.
2. I think there are two problems here. First, the Japanese states that hacks are starting to pop up all over the place, but it doesn’t specify who is developing them. Second, “people” is just far to general of a term here. The good news is you used “hack” for 裏ワザ which is right on the money. So, instead of people, how about “hackers” or even “programmers”?
3. OK, while “predecessor” is a perfectly good word to use I don’t think it makes it clear to the reader what exactly it is. I would consider using “1st generation model” or even “older PSP models”.
4. the → a
5. Here’s your chance to let your creativity shine! “Circumstance” in this case is too flat and weakens your sentence. Sony has been driven into a corner. That reads well. And what drove them into that corner? Hacks, bootlegs, etc. Try to take the circumstances involved and create a sentence without using “circumstance”. Or, you could just delete “circumstance” and make this one sentence. “…little demand, driving Sony into a corner.”
6. Good.
7. Very good. Nice way to close out the paragraph and lead into the body.

1. cracking program よりも hacks の方が適切と思う。crack を使うのなら hackers find a new way to crack the PSP のように動詞として使うと効果がある。
2. この文章は原文にない。
3. much を挿入。
4. 1 センテンスで unauthorized を2回も使わない。

1. 原文は世間の耳目が集まっていることをもっと強く言っている。そのニュアンスが出ていない。
2. in を削除。
3. just を削除。free content のためだけにあるように聞こえる。
4. titles を追加。
5. tricks を hacks に変更。
6. deadlock はおかしい。jam または bind ならわかる。
7. another を more または further に変更。
8. 修正されてはいなかったが、セッションで明らかになったように「中古品」とは限らない。

1. Sony would not be happy with you. As I think you know by now, PSP stands for “PlayStation Portable”, not “Personal Station Portable”.
2. I like what you have done with this sentence very much. Very natural sounding and flows well despite the length and complexity of the sentence. My only gripe would be the use of “cool tricks” rather than “hacks” because “cool tricks” sounds benign and almost implies that Sony is allowing this whereas “hacks” immediately makes it clear that bad intentions are involved in trying to deliberately thwart Sony.
3. a 挿入。
4. the → this
5. tricks を hacks に変更。
6. this bootleg wizardry

1. Uh-oh. If this was a translation for cool judo techniques, then I would say it would be OK to use urawaza as is in Japanese. In this context, however, your readers simply aren’t going to understand the meaning of urawaza and beyond that, there are many outstanding words that can be used in English to define this term, such as “hacks”, “modifications”, “cheats”, etc. It appears urawaza stumped you. Yet, in the first paragraph you used game cheats so were right on target. Why didn’t you stick with it?
2. “Mobile game machine” is perfectly fine but Sony officially calls the device a “portable game console”.
3. Let’s change the order around. “Sony’s eagerly anticipated portable game console, the PSP (PlayStation Portable), finds itself facing an unexpected challenge.”
4. at → for
5. only the early version PSPs are hot sellers in the secondhand market
6. gather dust on the shelf
7. We investigated the hacker underworld that might pose another challenge for a company

○ 裏ワザ
hack, modification, cheat, workaround, trick, bootleg wizardry…

「裏ワザ」はもともと柔道の用語。

「真正面から挑んだのではなかなか攻略できない」という意味が一人歩きしている。パソコンソフトやゲームの世界ではメーカーやプログラマーの「裏をかく」ことの表現によく使われる。

○ hack
While the word “hack” connotes a rather high level of technical sophistication, it has a nuance of sinister, evil, or mischievous (not really bad) intentions.

hack は名詞、動詞の両方で使用でき、knack (know-how) に通じる意味もある。

名詞の例：”I can’t stand the Asahi Shimbun. Their writers are a bunch of hacks.”（へぼ記者）
In the print media, a hack is someone who writes lots of boring nonsense with no originality or creativity.

動詞の例： How to Hack TIVO
このように名詞が動詞になった例として古くは Xerox、今では Google があり、I googled you last night. というように使われる。

TiVo （ティーボ）とは PVR （パーソナル・ビデオ・レコーダー）と呼ばれているもので、EPG （電子番組表）とセットで提供されているDVR（デジタル・ビデオ・レコーダー）。日本のメーカーがハードウェアとしての DVD-HDD レコーダーを販売しているのに対し、このTiVoは番組情報提供サービスとHDDレコーダーを月額サービス料金の徴収というカタチでビジネス化しているところがミソらしい。宣伝によれば、「最近では TiVo のサービスを受けているユーザーの 96% 以上が TiVo DVR なしでは生活できないという調査結果がでているほか、40%以上のユーザーは TiVo を操作するとき携帯電話をオフにすると言っています」とのこと。

○（突然）次々と出現
coming out of the woodwork

○ 中古、旧型、新古
中古： used, secondhand
旧型： older model, first generation, first version, first batch
この場合は、PSP version 1.0 という表現も可能。
新古：discontinued but still in stock

「新古」は一見 oxymoron だ。

● oxymoron（Gr. 鋭い + 鈍い） ＝ 矛盾撞着語法
Ex. an open secret、a young-old man、a deafening silence、a mournful optimist

“This is a way to kill a wife with kindness.” (The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare)
“Killing Me Softly With His Song” (Lori Lieberman, Roberta Flack)

Unlike the Nintendo DS, the PSP's external memory is multimedia friendly, allowing for greater interactivity with the PC and also lets users listen to their favorite tunes or watch a movie. A game programmer notes, however, that, "There's not much out there for movie and video software that's compatible with Sony's exclusively developed optical UMD (Universal Music Disc) technology. You can't transfer music and video files from your PC to the PSP if you don't purchase them through Sony, so the PSP's add-ons are a bit lacking."

Furthermore, the PSP was understocked at its launch, resulting in total sales as of the end of July of approximately 1.58 million units sold whereas rival Nintendo has already sold 2.54 million units, giving Nintendo the lead in the handheld gaming wars. (Data from Famitsu magazine)

Amidst all this, in early spring, as the PSP was trying to overtake the DS, hacks were developed that are now poised to slow Sony' momentum to a grinding halt.

PSP gamers can now play hit games dating back to almost 20 years ago from the NES. These games, known as "emulators", are bootlegs made by anonymous hackers and distributed over the Internet as freeware.

1. Not bad. I would, however, let the readers know what UMD stands for - Universal Media Disc.
2. over PSP’s 1.58 million units sold
3. data → Data
4. I like this. Nice way to approach the simple, yet frustrating そんな中に.
5. Great away to approach 何者. I really want to talk about this in class. How do we know whether it was one gamer or many gamers? I would venture that it was multiple gamers, or hackers, that were creating these codes.

1. on を削除して、available for とする。
2. (Universal Media Disk) を挿入。
3. ほとんど使わない。敢えて言うなら mediocre。
4. has fallen とする。
5. totaling とする。
6. PSP’s とする。
7. an を挿入。
8. これでは「20年前に発売されてヒットした」という意味にならない。

1. of PSP を with the PSP に変更。
2. shortcomings を its lack に変更。
3. UMD が Universal Media Disc のことであることを説明したほうがよい。
4. writer を programmer に変更。
   とあるが、programmer ではないのでないか。訳者注
5. introduction を launch に変更。
6. been so far selling を to date sold に変更。
7. In such a situation を Faced with this situation に変更。
8. この位置だと、Nintendo をこの春から追撃しているように聞こえる。
   
そのとおりです。原文の読み違えです。訳者注
9. an を追加。
10. software を titles に変更。
11. ハッカーは１人ではないのではないか。

1. Outstanding word choice! I wish I had used it.
2. is → was
3. “Wizardry stuff” sounds awkward and vague. Some of the terms I brought up in class like “backdoor modifications”, “workarounds” or “coding hacks” would sound better in this context.
4. It’s a bit more graphic, but the expression “cut the legs out under” would be the better choice, and sound more natural than pulling the legs off Sony.
5. classic → classics

1. In contrast to
2. to connect to
3. Using the verb “attain” for a machine sounds unusual. The PSP can’t “attain” additional function. A much simpler way to express this is by saying the PSP comes “equipped” with additional functions or, “its extra functions serve as a music/video player.”
4. just lack something
5. available for
6. exclusive
7. as of the end of July 挿入。
8. 削除。
9. launch
10. take the lead in total sales
11. Ah-ha! You did use “hack” after all which is exactly the right terminology to use for this industry. Why, then, did you continue to use urawaza throughout the translation? If you didn’t have confidence that words like “hack” and “cheat” were correct, do a few quick Google searches like “hack + PSP” and see what comes up. You’ll know pretty quickly if the terminology is standard within the industry or not.
12. overtake 挿入。

Good work in this paragraph. Did you know that free software has a special term within the software industry? It’s called “freeware”.

○ イマイチ
It just doesn’t cut it.
The add-ons are a bit lacking.
It just doesn’t quite have it.
It’s a bit of disappointment.
Something’s missing.

○ 足を引っ張る
drag down Sony, slow down Sony, hinder Sony’s efforts, stop their momentum

pulling one’s legという表現はあるが、意味が異なる。

○ 不正プログラム
ここで「不正」には bootleg が使える。密造酒のことだが、その昔、長靴の胴中に隠して酒を密輸したことに由来する。

○ 何者か
unknown hackers（複数にするのが自然）
訳例にある computer game gurus や a computer geek もよい。

○ ネット上で無料配布
distributed for free on the Internet （for を抜かすのは自然でない）

○ ＰＳＰユーザ
PSP users や PSP owners でもよいが、PSP gamers が広く使われている。

"There's somewhere in the range of 3,000 NES titles that run on the PSP. These old-school games are a huge hit with the core demographic of PSP buyers, namely those in their 20s to early 30s. It's got to be making a dent in sales of PSP-licensed software." suggests the game programmer.

As homebrew coding continues to evolve, a wide selection of videogames can easily be played for free, including classics from Game Boy, Super Nintendo and Sega.

While it would seem that the hack craze would generate sales of the PSP, just the opposite has happened. "It hasn't contributed at all to sales of the newer models", explains a videogame store employee in Tokyo's Akihabara district. "In late March, Sony released a version 2.0 PSP that prohibits the play of emulators. When the first version was launched, it was blasted by garners and critics for its numerous flaws but once it was discovered that Nintendo games could run on it, we can't keep them on the shelves. Used models are priced for at least as much, if not more, than newer models." What an unexpected twist - only older models of the PSP are selling.

1. Well, yes, compared to today’s consoles the games are primitive. Yet, primitive is not the best word for レトロゲーム。The most commonly used terminology would be “old-school” games. I would venture that you could even call them “classics”. In this context, “primitive” has a bit of a negative nuance and these games are well-loved by those in the 20-30 age range.
2. would 挿入。
3. the 挿入。

Nice work here to wrap up the translation. We’ll talk in class about some other cool words you can use for “emulator”.

1. old school とする。
2. units と複数にする。
3. of を挿入。
4. can run games from the に変更。
5. booming の方が自然。

1. items を titles に変更。
2. targeted を the PSP’s core audience/market/demographic などに変更。
3. been more advanced such that を advanced to the point that に変更。
4. retro games でもよいが、old-school games, classics のほうがベター。
5. rush を rushed に変更。
6. needs はちょっとおかしい。demands くらいであろう。
7. 修正されなかったが、話に出たように licensed, exclusive, proprietary などの方がよい。

1. Perfect verb for this context. Very nice.
2. I appreciate the extra effort here. I tend to play it too safe with “約” because when you’re dealing with numbers accuracy is often crucial. But your approach works here. Even if they have 2,975 titles, which is less than 3,000, it’s perfectly fine to say “3,000”. When the situation calls for it, I’ll experiment a bit with “約” and find more creative ways to approach it. Thanks!
3. players → gamers (alt.)
4. old-school games
5. the 削除。
6. A little wordy here. (it’s just the opposite)
7. How about, “They’re flying off the shelves.” or “We can’t even keep them in stock.” Or, if you want to get very colloquial, may I introduce to you “They’re selling like hotcakes.”?
8. better → higher

1. PSP-licensed games
2. of → from
3. gamers in their 20s to 30s
4. the emulator has further developed
5. retro game titles from Game Boy, Super Nintendo, and Sega
   “Retro games” works fine in this context but there are some other cool expressions you can use as well, such as “old-school” games and “classics”.
6. would stimulate
7. On the contrary
8. Sony upgraded the PSP
9. Look out for repetition in this sentence. If you see yourself using the word “initial” twice in the same sentence then go back and find some other alternatives you can use for smoother sounding sentence.
10. exceeds
11. a price premium on even the secondhand

○ レトロゲーム
retro games で何も悪くはないが、他にもよい言い方がある。
例えば、classics、old-school games。

この old-school について日本語の辞書には適切な訳がないが、古きよき時代を思い起こさせてくれるものに相応しい表現。

○ 純正ソフト
exclusive, proprietary, licensed, genuine, Sony-brand software などが使える。
その反対としてhomebrew coding はゲームの世界でよく使われている。

○ 3,000 本
3,000 kinds of video games でＯＫだが、3,000 titles がよい。

○ 開発
これをただ development としてはつまらない。かといって、malicious development とすると少し強すぎる。私は evolve を使った。

裏ワザの開発
code hacking こまる（メーカー）
emulation development ありがたい（せこいゲーマー）
evolve = undergo development なるほど（傍観者）

● WIRED という月刊誌がある。この雑誌では最新技術の用語など有用な英語表現が見つかる。http://www.wired.com/wired/

● このテキストに引用されているコメントが「アキバ系」のカジュアルな表現になっているかどうかをチェックする。自分で書いた文章が英語らしいかどうかを確認するために音読が有効。