Review of FUNimation’s new contest “Tell Us More” Terms.
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Some points of interest in the legalese:
“preference center must have at least one field updated.”
“Potential prize winners consent to the use of his/her name, likeness, biographical information, and voice in advertising worldwide”
My likeness, biographical info, and voice potentially used for advertising worldwide? Really? No thank you. Seems to me that this is a contest run out of Flower Mound, TX. How is it that (magically) there is some sort of global reach with my information? I would imagine that (ideally) information should be constrained primarily to information center(s) in Texas.
“Potential Grand Prize winners will be notified by Funimation by phone…”
My questions become, if (when they call) it connects to a message machine, will they leave a coherent message with a call-back number OR are they not required to leave a message? In speaking for myself, if a random unknown number comes up in the caller ID, i will not pick up the phone until i can verify the veracity of the call. Further, in other contest terms i have examined through the years, usually, you will be able to request a list of contest winners. Is that the case with this contest? Suffice it to say, i am highly skeptical of Publisher’s Clearing House (laughs)
“Grand Prize winner will be required to sign and return (except where prohibited) a notarized Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability/Publicity Release and a W-9 tax form (the “Paperwork”) within fourteen (14) days of the Notification.”
Good luck with that. I swear, with all the “hoops” they make you jump through, you’re better off just saving your money and buying a PS4 yourself.
“By participating in this Sweepstakes, Entrants, and prize winners release the Sponsor and each and all of the Sweepstakes Entities, from any and all liability, damages or causes of action (however named or described) with respect to or arising out of participation in the Sweepstakes, and/or the receipt or use/misuse of any prize awarded, including, without limitation, liability for personal injury, death or property damage.”
Not entirely sure that they will be exonerated in the event that death should occur for whatever reason. Although in Strange v. Entercom Sacramento LLC the idea was floated that, “it was a contest and there was no coercion…” a court of competent jurisdiction (very unlike what we recently witnessed in the Steinle Case) found that Entercom Sacramento LLC was fully liable and a payout of $16,577,118 was made to Jennifer Strange’s remaining family. Granted, the contests are nothing alike, however, precedent has been established with respect to if death should occur. There is also a provision (curiously not found in FUNimation’s contest terms) that would usually read, “Some States do not allow for the limitation or exclusion of certain liabilities, so the abovementioned [basically the previous paragraph where a company thinks it can go “scot-free” on every accord] may not apply to you…”
Some other thoughts-
Will the grand prize be a PS4 or PS4 Pro? Surprised the grand prize is a PS4. Would that have been more relevant maybe even a year or two ago? Perhaps it should have been an Oculus or Nintendo Switch? Then again, FUNimation anime say like Hyperdimension Neptunia/ Senran Kagura are on PS4, so, maybe from that stance, makes sense. Also, will runners-up receive anything?
Concluding- This contest may be fine for you, at least for me, seems like more work than worth. Moreover, i guess i just don’t appreciate the general notion of revealing more information about yourself; i.e., update a preference etc. and, i would imagine, with things in the vein of “beacon tracking” and “single pixel gifs” then they will (undoubtedly) be able to amass more of a profile on you. Sometimes i think too much has already been disclosed - - the less information they have, the better.
Regards,
P.J.
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Well, I would think if it was a PS4 Pro, they would specify that, but they say the retail value is $400. The regular PS4 is $300 these days and the PS4 Pro is $400
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Hello Hoof Fan,
Interesting...
I have the regular PS4, never really saw the necessity for the PRO, not as if i deal in "4k" anyway. I mean, essentially the games i have are anime related, and, it's like how much more sharper do we have to make cartoons? (laughs) As it is, it's a miracle if i find the inspiration to even play my PS4, consoles seem to be going the "way of the wind" for me. I'm lucky if i even play my STEAM games. At this point, i really have no ambition to even get the Switch, more and more i'm just playing on either my DS or 3DS for convenience. I think what would revive the PS4 experience for me is if a comedic school-life visual novel perhaps like a D-Frag would be released on the platform. Not too long ago, i was hoping that Natsuiro High School could have been localized in English for the PS4. (roars) That would have been epic. As crazy as this sounds, even though i can't stand the XBOX, if they brought us a romcom school-life visual novel (without quests) and just branching storylines with plentiful choices to make friendships with the characters, i would actually consider buying the new XBOX. Would be nice if Sekai Project could work with any one of the "big three" to make this a reality. I feel as though this could be such a huge market that is not being fully looked into. I mean, don't get me wrong, there are some that seem to be going down this path (enter Blue Reflection) but, even in B.R. i think they included a quest. At least me, i'm tired of quests.
Sorry for the rant, in other news, i noticed that under your profile, it indicates that you joined a couple of months ago, however, have you been a subscriber to FUNimation for longer?
Best,
P.J.
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I do not now, nor have I ever subscribed to FunimationNow.
The picture in the e-mail they sent is of a launch model PS4...even with the glossy hard drive cover. They haven't even made that model in 2 or 3 years.
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@P.J. You mention anime related games for platforms, and have read several other threads where you discuss Japanese anime style games. I'm curious if you have any recommendations for computer based games along these genres. Since Rewrite was mentioned on the forum a couple of months ago, I've adapted my reading practice to imported games, and even a couple of translated just for the sake of reading them without the hassle of having them sent. However, I'm nowhere near being well-versed on the topic, and am starting to run out of games which I haven't finished. I honestly wish there were a centralized reference site which kept up-to-date on these releases, but haven't found anything like that yet.
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Hello once again Pleco Breeder,
Sorry for the delay, a number of different things going on...
I do have (in my opinion) a decent reference source for VNs, at the same time, the site may contain content deemed not suitable for all audiences, so, i am hesitant to post the link... Perhaps if we had the pm feature, i could send it to you via that.
Regards,
P.J.
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Understandable, but do wish the info was more readily available. I get some info from Japan, but a lot of the games there are nearly impossible to get sent.
My first time going to Akihabara I managed to get lost in one of the buildings which had everything from manga to games to figures to doujin. That's pretty much the normal for the shops there as they usually just rent out a floor of a building which can be anywhere from 6-10 stories. Lucky me, I spent a solid hour just trying to find the exit from a floor which specialized in doujin and indie VN. Even though I know that everyone on that floor, except me, was there shopping through the selection of items that would make the devil himself blush, it was more than a bit awkward ending up on that floor.
I can fully understand what you mean by "the site may contain content deemed not suitable for all audiences".
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Pleco Breeder explains,
“I spent a solid hour just trying to find the exit…”
Sorry to hear that you went through that…
Side note- Certain words i will see an extra u? Hontou/ Honto
Is it a safe bet that if you can master the usages for wa, ga, and ka you will have at least a starting framework for learning Japanese? What would you think if you started a forum thread where you could start teaching people basic precepts of the language for those interested?Asu e no namida,
P.J.
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@P.J. The adventure makes for a good memory, but was a bit frustrating at the time. The layout of the buildings often have escalators or elevators which only go one way, so you have to get off at one floor and find the next on the other side of the floor. Makes for a lot of extra walking, but interesting all the same.
There was a thread started shortly after I got back from Japan to discuss the language, but it seemed to have died pretty quickly. I don't mind giving responses to questions to help out, but don't think there's really enough people studying the language to devote a constant thread to the topic.
With regards to the double vowels, just think of it as an extension of the first. The language really doesn't have the compound sounds associated with English, such as ai in paint, but does have these. When you see the u following an o, it gets pronounced as such. In the end, it sounds like you're saying o twice, but anyone familiar with the language will hear the sound difference. As a rule of thumb, except in the case of wa as in watashi wa and he used to imply where you're going or came from, Japanese kana will always use the same sound.
Once you get used to the sounds associated with them, and recognize the different meaning of the particles (you mention wa, ga, and ka, but there are quite a few more) it gets easier to recognize what is happening between the nouns and verbs in a sentence.
For example (in romaji):
I can say watashi wa, and it implies that I am the subject of the sentence which follows.
I can use watashi no, and it implies that I own something.
If using watashi ga, it implies that I am the subject of the statement, but my presence in the statement is new information not previously used in the conversation.
If I say watashi mo, it's the same as saying "me also"The particles don't always hold the same meaning, but are actually associated with the noun or verb immediately preceding or following them. itsu is usually used to ask a question about time. Most normally can be thought of as translating to "when". However, I can say itsu ka and it would translate to "someday". itsumo is "always".
"mo" can be a bit of a tricky particle also. Even though itsu mo means always, you can't assume that the particle always holds that all inclusive meaning. If I say dare ka, it would still come through with a similar meaning as itsu ka and means "somebody". However, dare mo (rather than having the all inclusive meaning of itsu mo) actually means nobody.
As a beginner, it's a lot easier to get used to how the particles match up to various phrases. A lot of verbs have a single particle which will always be used with them. The first that comes to mind is sumu (sumimasu and sunde are the most commonly used conjugations). This verb will ALWAYS be preceded by the particle ni without exception. Those associations are important when you start trying to speak the language freely (not reading from a page) because you can create some rather messy/contradictory sentences if the wrong particle is used.
Best advice for particles is to get used to what they mean when compounded with each of the associated words. There are a lot of exceptions, but once you get a feel for what each means (and recognize the need for exceptions) it gets a lot easier.
A LOT of anime translations get screwed up when it comes to particles, and especially the older shows. Even now, watching To-Love-Ru currently, watching the romaji subs of the opening theme (I like the song, so listen to it at the start of every episode) I see A LOT of phrases which are actually 3-4 words ran together into one long word because the translator didn't realize that what they were seeing was a phrase. If a new learner were to see this, there's no way on earth they would be able to look up those printed words and get an actual definition. Recognizing the particles and conjugation (and how to switch to dictionary form) anybody would be able to translate the song and recognize where mistakes were made in the actual translation.
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Very informative post that i could easily see myself going back to for future reference. I would imagine that took a "chunk" of your time of which you're not required to share the knowledge that you worked so hard for (especially with the likes of me, lol) and, it's not as if you're being financially compensated on this forum. Then again, in your mind, is it all for the better raising the "collective knowledge" of those who have a desire to learn regardless if money is involved? Could you see yourself either working with Seven Seas for translation, or, publishing a series ranging from beginner to advanced on learning Japanese? I love how my original topic has been diverted (laughs) but, i presented what i desired to present, and, the language subject is very interesting, so, the derailment is not a problem at least from my perspective.
Once again, sincere thank you for your time and imparting your knowledge of the language,
P.J.
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I wouldn't dream of calling it anything so noble as trying to "raise the collective knowledge". It's a hobby, and I enjoy talking about it. Not sure at what point it became a hobby rather than just wanting to know more about it myself, but it really is that simple from my perspective.
I've actually considered trying to get into manga translation because it's A LOT easier to find work than anime (which I would consider a dream job). Seven Seas is almost always looking for translators, and Yen Press posts job listings a couple times a year. At the same time, I've only ever seen a single listing from CR (for a total of four positions in Tokyo) about a year ago. I was only a couple weeks from beginning my position in Tokyo at the point I saw the listing, so couldn't reasonably apply.
Most manga translation is done by the job, so a translator will work on a single series as it runs. The pay is not what I would call lucrative, and deadlines are constant. There's also the consideration that once a translation is "complete" there's a chance you'll have to revisit the volume if the writer (story and translation are done separately) needs/wants to write a specific way. If the writer puts anything too far from the original there's a chance of conflict in later story lines. The translator (or their supervisor), because of having access to further story line, will usually be the one expected to know this.
With all that amount of work, and being contracted for a specific run, it couldn't be considered a livable wage, and is usually done by people that already have other full time jobs to support themselves. In my case, I'm already working 60 hours a week, and although I would like to do it at least once just for the sake of bragging rights (gotta admit it would be cool to know that I translated a manga), I just don't have the time to dedicate to a project like that.
On top of my already hectic schedule, I'll apparently be taking a full course load of classes beginning next month (haven't been a full-time college student in 18 years although i tend to take 2-3 classes a year for professional development) as well as an 8 hour a week certificate program. I got told last Friday that there's a VERY good chance I'll be going back to Tokyo next year, and have to have these classes for the position.
In the end, regardless of what I think would be cool, my schedule wouldn't allow me to devote the time to any sort of outside translation work.
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(thinks to self) interesting...
Best of luck with all your upcoming projects,
P.J.
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Just received another e-mail from FUNimation that they hadn't heard from me pertaining to this contest...
"But that was by design my dear"
