Japanese App Store Game Gets the 'Shaft' in Botched Google Translation
Article originally posted here.
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No, it isn't the name of Congressman Anthony Weiner's forthcoming autobiography. Instead, it appears that the name of an iOS game in the Japanese App Store somehow got lost in translation when viewed via the usually reliable but sometimes hilariously-wrong service we all know and love - Google Translate.
Thanks to the not-so-smooth translation from Japanese to English, the App Store is now home to a hot new game you may be unfamiliar with - "The Penis Keeper." Judging by the corresponding game description and soccer-style graphics, I'm guessing - and I could be wrong - the game is supposed to be called "The Goal Keeper." However, wherever there are balls involved, a penis can't be too far behind. So there's really no telling from my vantage point if the developers at MocoGame actually meant to give this game the name we're seeing. But what's more likely is that they are simply unaware of their game's unflattering title when translated into English.
Now, given our penchant for research here at MMi, we poked around this perilous penis predicament to see if there are any other possible explanations for this unfortunate title mishap. In case you're wondering, the Japanese word for penis is "Inkei." The Japanese word for "goal" is "Mokuhyō." All told, our exhaustive research only served to erect more hard questions than it answered. But one thing is clear, it's unlikely Apple would ever authorize such a title for the App Store - at least not unless it was called the iPenis.
Although it's most likely that a simple Google Translation error is responsible for the mix-up, one can't rule out a playful prank either on the part of the game's developers or someone else who managed to give the game's name a one-eyed-monster makeover. Perhaps we'll never know.
