For an indie, Japanese computer game that’s seven years old, Cave Story has carved quite a place for itself in the hearts of gamers. If you try it, it’s easy to see why. The solid story, gameplay and quality of even the original release are what makes it such a memorable adventure. While the basic fundamentals are relatively simple, there are plenty of secrets that make the original worth playing. Meanwhile, the more modern adaptations also have their own little hallmarks that have helped endear this surprising game to a new audience.

It’s a wonderful thing when video game companies are willing to listen and work with their fans, and the latest news from Rising Star Games is particularly heartwarming. See, in Europe Rising Star Games is releasing the Wii game Fragile Dreams: Ruins of the Moon. The company was going to only release it in english, until DSWii.es asked if it would be possible to put together a Spanish translation of the game with the help of volunteers.

And so, a great endeavor began. 50 DSWii.es fans have begun working with Rising Star on a Spanish translation of Fragile Dreams: Ruins of the Moon! The 35,000 word script has been handed over to the fans, and once the fans have completed the Spanish translation and localization Rising Star will use that to release an official translation.

There’s no word yet on when this remarkable feat will be accomplished. However, Rising Star has stated that once it has been finished, the translation will be released as a free, digital download through the company’s website…

Sometimes video game companies just don’t listen to what fans want. It’s understandable. Publishers are focused on making money and working on games that will give them some kind of guaranteed return, and that often means games that people desperately want don’t get picked up for worldwide releases because financial success isn’t guaranteed.

That’s when fans step up, and get to work on fan translations. Ordinary people who happen to be fluent in Japanese, or know a bit about hacking, take on the task of preparing games for an English speaking audience. While actually getting to play the fan translations may be a questionable act (Piracy is very, very bad. Support your developers and publishers.), there are some situations where it is the only way to play a game that will never, ever see a worldwide release.

This week in Important Importables, we’re looking at some particularly notable fan translations that have either been completed, or are currently being worked on. Most of the headers below also double as links to the translation project or translation group’s pages, so you can read more about their endeavors…

There’s good news for fans of otome games, dating sims for girls, that don’t speak Japanese. A group of devoted Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side: 1st Love Plus fans are working on an English, fan translation of the DS game. Since it seems like Konami will never release the Tokimeki Memorial games outside of Japan, this is fantastic news!

The Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side: 1st Love Plus fan translation is being worked on right now by translators named Jewel, Miruki and Elaine, with Jewel heading up most of the translation work on the project. It seems to be going quite well, as the official website already has some translated screenshots uploaded, like the one at the right, and has a Translation Progress that is constantly being updated with the project’s status.

There haven’t been any Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side: 1st Love Plus English patches released yet. However…

Were you one of the many Wii owners disappointed that Nintendo and Tecmo had let you down and left Fatal Frame 4: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse a Japanese exclusive that you’d never get the chance to play? Well, there’s a ray of sunshine today! If you have the funds and the means, you can purchase a Japanese copy of Zero: Tsukihami no Kamen, pop it in your Wii and play it in English without any region conflicts. Even better, you don’t need to mod your Wii with the Homebrew Channel to do it!

The staff at the Fatal Frame 4: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse Translation site took care of everything for you. They completely translated the game, and created a patch that works on any Wii, regardless of firmware or region. They have everything you need. There are patch loaders for Wiis running all versions of Nintendo firmware, a patch loader for people with modded Wiis, the actual patch with all the necessary data and an additional costume pack. There is also a comprehensive set of instructions to guide you through the patch installation process, whether your system is online or off. Best of all, the patch can easily be uninstalled if necessary.

Basically, it just involves putting the patch, loader and costumes onto an SD card, popping it into your Wii and running the data to install it. Uninstalling is as simple as running the patch data from the SD card again and choosing the install option when it pops up.

The final piece of the puzzle though is the game. You’ll have to purchase a copy if you want to make good use of the patch…