Daniel "Dan" Owsen is an American video game translator at

Nintendo of America is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade playing cards. ...

(NOA), best known for his role in the translation and localization of many Nintendo video games, playing a large role in the translation of ''

The Legend of Zelda ''The Legend of Zelda'' is an action-adventure game franchise created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, although some portable installments and re-rele ...

'' series. He is also known for his now-discontinued "Ask Dan" column on Nintendo's official website. As of 2015, Owsen lives in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

Career

Owsen started at NOA in 1989. He started in Consumer Service during the days of the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in America ...

, and has since moved from department to department, first going to Publications, then to Product Development, then back to Publications as the

on-line In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" or ...

manager. He has worked with

Shigeru Miyamoto is a Japanese video game designer, producer and game director at Nintendo, where he serves as one of its representative directors. Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential designers in the history of video games, he is ...

's R&D team, writing screen texts for ''Legend of Zelda'' titles ''

A Link to the Past ''The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past'' is an action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the third game in ''The Legend of Zelda'' series and was released in 1991 in Japan and ...

'', ''

Link's Awakening ''The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening'' is a 1993 action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. It is the first installment in ''The Legend of Zelda'' series for a handheld game console. ''Link's Awakening'' is o ...

'' and ''

Ocarina of Time ''The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time'' is an action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was released in Japan and North America in November 1998, and in PAL regions the following month. ''Ocarina of Tim ...

''. Owsen is one of the first English-language voices used in any Nintendo console, as his voice can be heard at the beginning of '' Super Metroid'' – "The last

Metroid is an action-adventure game franchise created by Nintendo. The player controls the bounty hunter Samus Aran, who protects the galaxy from Space Pirate (Metroid), Space Pirates and other malevolent forces and their attempts to harness the powe ...

is in captivity... the galaxy is at peace." Owsen had translated around 10 percent of the script of ''

EarthBound ''EarthBound'', released in Japan as is a role-playing video game developed by Creatures (company), Ape Inc. and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The second entry in the Mother (video game s ...

'', including some of the game's "most iconic phrases", before handing over the project to Marcus Lindblom and moving on to a different project.

Credited games

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Owsen, Daniel 20th-century American translators Japanese–English translators Living people Nintendo people Video game localization Year of birth missing (living people)