North American Version has less language options

[Mint]

You're correct, I only heard the problems in regards to purchasing from different countries on the same account. Due to the required Nintendo online membership for online play, I guess a second account needs it's own subscription if you plan to play online, so you'd also have to account for that.

Another subscription isn't needed as the game can be played on the primary account. A lot of streamers did this with Pokemon SWSH - they bought the Australian version so they could play earlier and were able to play online.

 

[Dacroze]

Another subscription isn't needed as the game can be played on the primary account. A lot of streamers did this with Pokemon SWSH - they bought the Australian version so they could play earlier and were able to play online.

Oh, I didn't know this, thanks for clearing that up! That's great news then, I thought you'd need another subscription for it.

 

[Mint]

Alright. So I got kind of overwhelmed by the complexity of the option of switching to a different region and etc. And I was curious about this so I went to try it out on Mario Kart 8, which I also own.

I stayed in my US region account, I went into the eShop to look at the listing for Mario Kart 8. It says the same: "English/French/spanish". But it gives options for Russian and Japanese/etc in other regions, of course. Same as ACNH. And then I went and changed my language to Russian in the system, just in the settings. And I clicked on Mario Kart 8 and lo and behold, the title screen and options were all in Russian.

Of course the "Mario Kart 8!" Mario voice that sounds off was still saying that in his English. But on the results of the race I ran, everyone's name is in Russian. As was the text and instructions and etc.

I am hopeful and curious about this then -- perhaps it's not advertised as compatible with all of the other languages that it actually is, but it's still in its system?

I am wondering if anyone knows if this does mean that ACNH will be in those other languages too if you switch your system. Like, surely since there is no actual English dialogue in the game (it's all animalese), and it's just the text bubbles and etc, it would be the exact same as Mario Kart 8 was in this instance?

This is very promising!

I tried it with Katamari Damacy. I have a North American version which advertises as English, Spanish and French only. I switched the console's language to Japanese and it changed over to Japanese.

 

[satine]

This is very promising!

I tried it with Katamari Damacy. I have a North American version which advertises as English, Spanish and French only. I switched the console's language to Japanese and it changed over to Japanese.

Ahhh yes!!! I'm sure if it's working with two other games with similar situations then it'll hopefully work on ACNH too! I think it's very promising indeed!!

 

[jiojiop]

I suppose it does make sense to manufacture one variant of the cart with all language profiles on it to distribute in all regions. Much more efficient than trying to make different versions for different territories. That way, if there's a shortage in one region vs another, they can just redirect a shipment to the region that has a demand for it.

This might be a good way to practice another language. If the game gets boring in English, I will switch it over to French or Japanese and work on my proficiency!

 

[Mint]

Ahhh yes!!! I'm sure if it's working with two other games with similar situations then it'll hopefully work on ACNH too! I think it's very promising indeed!!

I've got my fingers crossed that ACNH will work the same way for you. It'll save a lot of hassle.

 

[Zanreo]

Many Switch games will automatically switch to the language the console is set to, so maybe this is the case here... and the NA store just doesn't list the other languages for whatever reason

 

[Mint]

I wonder if Latin American Spanish and Quebec French will be tied to the region + language settings.

Region set to the Americas + Spanish/French = Latin American Spanish and Quebec French
Region set to anything else + Spanish/French = European Spanish and French

Which then makes it more likely that languages not listed will still show up on the NA version and the possibility of other regions accessing Latin American Spanish and Quebec French.

 

[DylanMcGrann]

Well Nintendo has updated games in the past with more language options, so hopefully they can do that with this game.

The United States does not have an official language, so all languages should be supported.

I definitely agree more languages is always good, but while it?s true the federal government of the United States has not declared an official language, that?s mainly because the constitution makes doing so both difficult and unnecessary. Most states in the U.S. have declared American English the official language. Also, most define official language simply the language in use by a state power?s official documents, which is undoubtably is American English in the U.S. However it is also certainly true that the U.S. is somewhat multilingual and increasingly so. The term ?official language? is kind of inherently flawed and very politicized honestly. People will just speak what they know and most of the time the powers that be eventually have to adapt to it.

 

[oath2order]

The United States does not have an official language, so all languages should be supported.

De jure, it does not. De facto, it's English.

 

[LokiBoy]

Why would they not just make all languages available to all versions? Seems kinda odd to me...

 

[jim]

Why would they not just make all languages available to all versions? Seems kinda odd to me...

i've had this hypothesis for a while, but i think it's because each region will have its own regional exclusives in animal crossing new horizons. if that is true then because the nintendo switch let's you play games from any region it is possible you will not need an entirely separate switch to maintain multiple islands.

this seemed to be hinted at a few months ago when we got information from a latin american twitter user that the version of new horizons available in mexico will have its own latin american translation (different from the dialect of spanish from spain) including clothing AND holidays that reflect mexican heritage. this was when we saw that girl with eyebrows in a long flowing dress.

traditionally animal crossing games have been released across the world with their own special version for each region (NA, EU, JP). there would sometimes be different items or holidays only available in each region. even on the original nintendo DS, which was a region free handheld console, a copy of animal crossing from one part of the world would be considered a different game with different save data compared to a copy from another part of the world. (save data was also stored on the cartridge but that's besides the point.)

if animal crossing new horizons is also split into regions then i think it means that we will have a situation similar to splatoon 2. although it is technically the same game and you can play with anyone across the world who owns the game via online, if you insert an NA cart of splatoon 2 and a JP cart of splatoon 2 your switch displays them as two different games with their own save data, even if you use the same nintendo account. this is because each region had its own in-game events, localizations (translations), and DLC specific to that region alone (though there were crossovers when it came to worldwide events).

if animal crossing is region split, then why has nintendo made the one switch one island rule very clear?

i'm guessing it's because the vast majority of players will buy the game for their own region. only the hardcore or travelers or foreigners in your country are likely to import games from other regions. to avoid confusion nintendo has probably tried to hammer home the one console one town thing. but if animal crossing new horizons really is region split then we will not have to buy a new switch to play a second town. thank god importing a game isn't as expensive as buying a whole new console.

anyways that's just my hypothesis. the fact that the language options displayed on the eShop page vary across regions seems to strengthen it.

 

[oath2order]

i've had this hypothesis for a while, but i think it's because each region will have its own regional exclusives in animal crossing new horizons. if that is true then because the nintendo switch let's you play games from any region it is possible you will not need an entirely separate switch to maintain multiple islands.

this seemed to be hinted at a few months ago when we got information from a latin american twitter user that the version of new horizons available in mexico will have its own latin american translation (different from the dialect of spanish from spain) including clothing AND holidays that reflect mexican heritage. this was when we saw that girl with eyebrows in a long flowing dress.

traditionally animal crossing games have been released across the world with their own special version for each region (NA, EU, JP). there would sometimes be different items or holidays only available in each region. even on the original nintendo DS, which was a region free handheld console, a copy of animal crossing from one part of the world would be considered a different game with different save data compared to a copy from another part of the world. (save data was also stored on the cartridge but that's besides the point.)

if animal crossing new horizons is also split into regions then i think it means that we will have a situation similar to splatoon 2. although it is technically the same game and you can play with anyone across the world who owns the game via online, if you insert an NA cart of splatoon 2 and a JP cart of splatoon 2 your switch displays them as two different games with their own save data, even if you use the same nintendo account. this is because each region had its own in-game events, localizations (translations), and DLC specific to that region alone (though there were crossovers when it came to worldwide events).

if animal crossing is region split, then why has nintendo made the one switch one island rule very clear?

i'm guessing it's because the vast majority of players will buy the game for their own region. only the hardcore or travelers or foreigners in your country are likely to import games from other regions. to avoid confusion nintendo has probably tried to hammer home the one console one town thing. but if animal crossing new horizons really is region split then we will not have to buy a new switch to play a second town. thank god importing a game isn't as expensive as buying a whole new console.

anyways that's just my hypothesis. the fact that the language options displayed on the eShop page vary across regions seems to strengthen it.

God I seriously hope that it's not region-specific stuff. Let me experience everything smh.

 

[Aniko]

ACNL had Portuguese as well. I wish there was more options. I started New Leaf in French but switch to English because it was too complicated to find help or items on forums without knowing all the English names.

Ah no it's the console languages! Sorry my mistake.

 

[MysteriousSpirit]

What languages does the Japanese version have (English translation)

 

[Mint]

What languages does the Japanese version have (English translation)

Japanese version has all of the languages the Australian version has plus Portuguese.

 

[KhalidPrecious]

Does the Japanese copy has English in it?

- - - Post Merge - - -

Japanese version has all of the languages the Australian version has plus Portuguese.

This answers my question.

 

[pocky]

This is really depressing to me. I saw on the German box art that Russian was available and I was extremely excited. That is my other language and it would be very dear to me that I could play in it on my favorite game. I'm really saddened by that. I wish there was something I could do to get a version that has its compatibility. I have no idea why this makes sense for them to do that. It really baffles and disheartens me.

And it doesn't make sense for this to be good news at all -- there are many people whose native tongue or favorite gameplay language is now not an option for them in the US/Americas (an area with many immigrants from many different corners of the earth).

The Switch is Region free so I believe that you should be able to buy a digital copy from another region directly from the eShop. Hope this helps!

 

[StarlitGlitch]

This is great news for me! Not for everyone else..

I live in Japan and am buying the Switch bundle here. I know Japanese so if I didn't have the option to change the language it'd be okay but since I grew up with the English version and because I want to share content online with English speakers this is great for me.

So I guess in the game my region will be Japan, so I'll get those events, but I can still play in Japanese.

Also the accounts thing is a bit confusing to me haha. Also I don't own a switch so I'm confused, are Nitendo accounts linked to eShops? Meaning to access a different eShop I need to make a new Nintendo account? And it's one Nintendo account per Switch profile? It's all very confusing to me.

 

[jim]

Also the accounts thing is a bit confusing to me haha. Also I don't own a switch so I'm confused, are Nitendo accounts linked to eShops? Meaning to access a different eShop I need to make a new Nintendo account? And it's one Nintendo account per Switch profile? It's all very confusing to me.

you've got it correct. the eShop account that your nintendo account is tied to is based on which version of the nintendo site you sign up for. so if you're on the japanese nintendo site you will be making a japanese account. once you log onto it with your switch you will be able to play physical game cartridges from any region, BUT you will only be able to buy digital games available in that region's eShop.