IQue, Ltd. (partially found cancelled Chinese localizations of Nintendo video games; 2000s)
iQue, Ltd. is a Chinese video game localization and console manufacturing company located in Suzhou. It was founded as a joint venture between Taiwanese-American scientist Wei Yen and Nintendo that was created in an effort to skirt the Chinese government's ban on video games. The company manufactured and distributed official Nintendo products in mainland China until 2018. This halt in distribution was due to Nintendo wanting to expand into partnerships with other third-party companies like Nvidia and Tencent for distribution in mainland China. During their tenure, they released versions of the Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo 3DS, and intended to also release versions of the GameCube and Wii.[1][2] Due to the brand's general lack of success, the increasing PC and mobile gaming market, rampant video game piracy, and to a lesser extent interference from the Chinese government,[2] many of the company's localizations have never been released.
Known Cancelled Localizations
iQue Player
English Name | Chinese Name | Genre | Game Modes | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask | 塞尔达传说-魔力面具- | Action-adventure | Single player | Found |
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time* | 塞爾達傳說:時光之笛 | Action-adventure | Single player | Found |
*While Simplified Chinese version of this game was officially released, this version is in Traditional Chinese.
iQue Game Boy Advance
English Name | Chinese Name | Genre | Game Modes | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|
Advance Wars | 陆海空大战 | Strategy | Single player, multiplayer (1-4) | Found |
DK: King of Swing | 摇摆森喜刚 | Puzzle-platformer | Single player, multiplayer (1-4) | Found |
Donkey Kong Country | 超级大金刚 | Platformer | Single player, multiplayer (1-4) | Lost |
Famicom Mini Collection* | 红白机合集 | Compilation | Single player | Found |
Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade | 火纹战记: 封印之剑 | Tactical role-playing | Single player | Found |
Golden Sun | 黄金太阳 | Role-playing | Single player | Lost |
Golden Sun: The Lost Age | N/A | Role-playing | Single player, multiplayer (1-2) | Lost |
Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land | 星之卡比:梦之泉 | Platformer | Single player | Lost |
Kuru Kuru Kuruin | 转转棒 | Puzzle | Single player, multiplayer (1-4) | Found |
Kurui Paradise | 转转棒天堂 | Puzzle | Single player, multiplayer (1-4) | Found |
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga | 马力欧与路易吉RPG | Role-playing | Single player, multiplayer (1-4) | Found |
Mario Kart: Super Circuit | 马力欧卡丁车超级赛道 | Kart racing | Single player, multiplayer (1-4) | Found |
Mario vs. Donkey Kong | 马力欧对大金刚 | Puzzle-platformer | Single player | Lost |
Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire | 精灵宝可梦弹珠台 | Pinball | Single player | Lost |
Pokémon: Ruby and Sapphire | 精灵宝可梦:红宝石·蓝宝石 | Role-playing | Single player | Lost |
Polarium Advance | 通勤一笔 | Puzzle | Single player | Found |
The Legendary Starfy | 斯塔非的传说 | Platformer | Single player | Found |
The Legendary Starfy 2 | 斯塔非的传说2 | Platformer | Single player | Found |
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past / Four Swords | 塞尔达传说:三角力量/四支神剑 | Action-adventure | Single player, multiplayer (1-4) | Lost |
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap | 塞尔达传说:神奇小帽 | Action-adventure | Single player | Lost |
Tomato Adventure | 番茄酱王国大冒险 | Role-playing | Single player | Found |
WarioWare: Twisted! | N/A | Action | Single player | Lost |
*The Famicom Mini Collection contains the Classic NES Series versions of:
- Balloon Fight
- Clu Clu Land
- Donkey Kong
- Dr. Mario
- Excitebike
- Ice Climbers
- Mario Bros.
- Metroid
- Super Mario Bros.
- Super Mario Bros. 2
iQue DS
English Name | Chinese Name | Genre | Game Modes | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|
Big Brain Academy | 大脑科学院 | Edutainment | Single player, Multiplayer (1-8) | Lost |
Daigasso! Band Brothers | 大加索! | Music | Single player, Multiplayer (1-8) | Lost |
Electroplankton | 电浮游生物 | Music | Single player | Lost |
Kirby: Canvas Curse | 柯比:帆布诅咒 | Platformer | Single player | Lost |
Metroid Prime Hunters | 银河战士黄金猎人 | Action-adventure | Single player, Multiplayer (1-4) | Lost |
Ridge Racer DS | 山脊赛车手DS | Racing | Single player, Multiplayer (1-8) | Lost |
iQue Wii
Wii Software
English Name | Chinese Name | Genre | Game Modes | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games | 马力欧索尼克北京奥运会 | Sports | Single player, multiplayer (1-4) | Lost |
Mario Kart Wii | 马力欧卡丁车Wii | Kart racing | Single player, multiplayer (1-4) | Lost |
Super Mario Galaxy | 马力欧银河 | Platformer | Single player, multiplayer (1-2) | Lost |
Wii Play | Wii玩 | Party | Single player, multiplayer (1-4) | Lost |
Wii Sports | Wii运动的 | Sports | Single player, multiplayer (1-4) | Lost |
Wii Virtual Console
English Name | Chinese Name | Genre | Game Modes | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mario Kart 64 | 马力欧卡丁车 | Kart racing | Single player, multiplayer (1-4) | Lost |
Cancellation and Availability
iQue Player
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
A Simplified Chinese translation of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask was planned for release in 2004.[3] The translation was very late into development, even being featured on the back of the iQue Player's box, but was cancelled due to technical issues with battery saves[2] and the company's limited workforce being shifted to work on the iQue Game Boy Advance.[4] The game was found and recompiled by Internet Archive user atomic_ in September 2021.[5]
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Traditional Chinese)
While a version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in Simplified Chinese was one of the iQue Player's launch titles, a Traditional Chinese translation was discovered as a cache file located on iQue@Home's CDS. The translation was later dumped by iQue Player homebrew group Suxxors, claiming that their iQue Player unit is perhaps the only one that contains the ticket for it. It's unknown why iQue would make a Traditional Chinese translation as mainland China's standard script is Simplified Chinese. It's possible that iQue considered moving to other regions that use Traditional Chinese like Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan after the system greatly under performed in mainland China.[1]
iQue Cube
Originally, there was meant to be a follow-up to the iQue Player, that would have been able to play GameCube games. Like its predecessor, all of the system's components would have been housed in the controller. Even though it made it to the prototype phase but it was cancelled due to the Player's poor sales, and no localizations were made.[1]
iQue Game Boy Advance
Despite only 8 games being released, over 20 games were fully translated, with over 10 additional games being almost finished. It's unknown why so many games were never released, but it's possible they were scrapped alongside the NC Card. The NC Card was a GBA flashcard with network capabilities developed by iQue that would allow users to download games from the internet, similar to the iQue@Home service for the iQue Player. It would also allow users to play with others online in games such as Mario Kart: Super Circuit and Pokémon: Ruby and Sapphire. Even after 4 years of development, the team couldn't get this feature to work well, so the project was scrapped entirely.[2]
At ChinaJoy 2005, iQue announced a few upcoming iQue GBA game which included the unreleased titles WarioWare: Twisted!, Advance Wars, Kuru Kuru Kururin, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, and Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land.[6]
On March 25, 2019, iQue ROMs of Advance Wars, DK: King of Swing, Famicom Mini Collection, Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, Kuru Kuru Kuruin, Kururin Paradise, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Polarium Advance, The Legendary Starfy, The Legendary Starfy 2, and Tomato Adventure were dumped and released by Forest of Illusion member togemet2 after being purchased from a seller on the site Chinese auction site TaoBao. Complete unreleased iQue copies of F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, Metroid Fusion, Metroid: Zero Mission, Super Mario Advance 1, 2, and 3 as well as Wario Land 4 and WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! were included in the listing but weren't available for purchase.[7]
iQue DS
At ChinaJoy 2005, iQue announced their library plans for the DS which included the unreleased games Daigasso! Band Brothers, Ridge Racer DS, Metroid Prime Hunters, Electroplankton, and Kirby: Canvas Curse.[6]
Later, an unreleased Simplified Chinese translation of Big Brain Academy can be seen in a trailer for the iQue DS Lite.
iQue Wii
The iQue Wii (sometimes known as the iQue Interactive Video Player) was a scrapped localization of the Nintendo Wii for mainland China. Even though the console had been approved for release in Qingdao as a test market, the system was met with resistance from the newly formed Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, ultimately leading to its cancellation.
10 games were planned to launch alongside the console but only four were officially announced. The games officially announced were, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Super Mario Galaxy, Wii Play, and Wii Sports. Wii Play and Wii Sports were later released in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan but they lack any Simplified Chinese translation, indicating that they are entirely separate from the iQue translations.[2][8]
Mario Kart 64 can be seen playing on TV as apart of an iQue Wii display lending credence to the possibility that iQue Player games may have been available on the system via the Wii's Virtual Console.
Remnants of a Simplified Chinese translation of Mario Kart Wii exist in the data of the game's Korean release, suggesting that it was another one of the console's launch titles.[9]
Simplified Chinese translations of Mario Kart Wii and Super Mario Galaxy were later released for the Nvidia Shield in 2018, however, no iQue staff are credited within the translation, meaning these are likely brand new translations.[8][10]
A localization of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was also planned but no work was done on it.[4]
Gallery
Images
iQue Player
iQue Game Boy Advance
iQue DS
Videos
External Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 《记录》第17期:神游中国(上)by 大狗 on ChuApp. Retrived 16 Feb '22
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 《记录》第17期:神游中国(下)by 大狗 on ChuApp. Retrieved 16 Feb '22
- ↑ The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask page from the official iQue website archived on Wayback Machine. Retrieved 16 Feb '22
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 AMA with former iQue employee "hide" on the TGFC Lifestyle forums. Retrieved 16 Feb '22
- ↑ Zelda Majora's Mask - iQue builds on the Internet Archive. Retrieved 6 Feb '22.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Daigasso! Band Brothers, Ridge Racer DS, and More Were Almost Released in China by Iggy for NintendoSoup.Retrieved 31 Mar '23.
- ↑ Unreleased iQue Game Boy Advance Titles are Being Sold for USD7500 by Iggy for NintendoSoup. Retrieved 31 Mar '23.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 iQue Localization Time and Staff Merged spreadsheet by Chinese Nintendo on Google Spreadsheets. Retrieved 17 Feb '22
- ↑ Scrapped Mario Kart Wii Chinese Localization Offers Users “Healthy Gaming Advice” by Iggy on NintendoSoup. Retrieved 17 Feb '22
- ↑ Nvidia Shield Shutting Down Nintendo Wii Game Downloads In China by Liam Doolan on Nintendo Life. Retrieved 17 Feb '22