Retroarch emulator frontend will automatically translate Japanese games

Everyone’s favourite emulator frontend Retroarch is a fantastic way to easily play your legal backups on pretty much any platform that allows homebrew software. (Or without modding on Xbox One!) With the new version of this awesome emulation frontend, players will be greeted to automatical translation of Japanese games.

As of the game’s new RetroArch 1.7.8, the new RetroArch AI Service will translate Japanese text to English audio. Utilizing Object Character Recognition and text-to-speech, players will be able to experience Japanese only titles through literal translations.

For those who don’t want the text to be robotically spoken aloud, the Retroarch AI service will allow on-screen English overlays. Personally, we’d probably go for the latter.

Of course, the translations provided by the AI service are not going to be accurate, although compared to some NES/SNES era translations, this may bizarrely be a better option. Nevertheless, with many Japanese-only retro games not likely to get an official translation, this may give players an option that no other service can.