Kitty-Collecting Game Neko Atsume Gets English Language Update

It’s time to start jumping up and down and making excited kitty noises: Neko Atsume, the virtual cat-collecting game, just received an update that lets you play the game in English.

I started playing Neko Atsume earlier this year with the aid of online translation guides, and I subsequently wrote an essay about why going through all the bother of playing a game in Japanese was worth it. But if the language barrier was keeping you away from Neko Atsume, you’ve run out of excuses. It’s time to tend to some cats.

If you’re like me and you have an extensive cat collection (not to mention their gifts), fear not: You don’t have to start over again. When you download the English translation (which is provided by the localization wizards at 8-4), it’s applied automatically to your game. That’s good, because I’m not going through the nightmare of waiting for Cream-san all over again.

And if you get nostalgic for the “authentic” version of Neko Atsume, you can switch back to the original Japanese text whenever you like.

Neko Atsume’s project manager, Yutaka Takazaki, told The Verge that the game’s popularity outside of Japan took him by surprise. “When we made the game we weren’t thinking about foreign users — we were only thinking about the Japanese audience,” he said. “It’s very helpful that the community is helping each other out.”

Never underestimate the universal bond between cat-lovers, Mr Takazaki. Neko Atsume is now available in English on the App Store and Google Play.

[Image via The Verge]

Nadia Oxford

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In the early aughts, Nadia fell into writing with the grace of a brain-dead bison stumbling into a chasm. Over the years, she's written for Nerve, GamePro, 1UP.com, USGamer, Pocket Gamer, Just Labs Magazine, and many other sites and magazines of fine repute. She's currently About.com's Guide to the Nintendo 3DS at ds.about.com.