バイオハザードは海外ではどうして Resident Evil という名前なの？ [Update]
2013/10/14
2013/10/13
カプコンのゲーム「バイオハザード」は海外では「Resident Evil」と呼ばれている。どうしてそう呼ばれているのか調べてみたら答えらしきものがあった。
GR Asks: Why was Biohazard renamed Resident Evil? | GamesRadar
GR Asks: Why was Japanese series Biohazard renamed Resident Evil when it was released elsewhere?
Answered by: Chris Kramer, Senior Director of Communications and Community at Capcom US
In late 1994, Capcom Entertainment in the US was starting to ramp up marketing plans for the game that would eventually become known as Resident Evil in the US. Capcom Japan had let us know that the name of the game was going to be ‘Biohazard’ in Japan, but I pointed out to the person who ran marketing at the time that it would be next to impossible for Capcom to register the name in the US.
As an example, I pointed out that a crappy DOS-based game had just come out in the US called ‘Biohazard’ (not to mention the New York hardcore band of the same name) and that we’d never be able to secure the mark. As a result, the head of marketing held a company-wide contest to come up with a new name for the game.
After combing through a huge list of entries, the marketing group decided that ‘Resident Evil’ was the best, as it was a clever pun – the first game was set in a mansion, get it? I voted against the name – I thought it was super-cheesy; can’t remember what I felt was a better alternative, probably something stupid about zombies – but the rest of the marketing crew loved it and were ultimately able to convince Capcom Japan and Mikami-san that the name fit. The person who actually came up with the name was a designer in Capcom Digital Studios, Capcom’s first US-based development group.
答えているのは Capcom US のシニアディレクターなので信憑性は高い。つまり、アメリカでは "Biohazard" という名前の DOS ゲームが既にあって、同じ名前の「バイオハザード」では商標登録が難しかった、と。それで会社でコンテストを開き、新しい名前を募集した。そして決まったのが「Resident Evil」。
この名前を clever pun(うまい洒落) だと書いてあるのだけど、私には理解できなかった。「(館に) 住んでいる悪」。うまい…？
追記
DOS ゲームの "Bio Hazard" がまだインターネット上にあった。こちら。
現在はゲーム名が「Bio Menace」になっている様子。ゲームのダウンロードもこのサイトから出来る。
ちなみに、このゲームを作った Apogee Software は「Duke Nukem」なども作っているようだ。となると、DOS ゲームの「Bio Hazard」は意外と有名なゲームなのかも知れない。
