The goal of this thesis is to examine the changing influence and role of the audience in the localization of Japanese video games. I examine the history of Japanese video game translation, honing in on Japanese Role-Playing Games, including the influence of Nintendo of America’s polices and how they shifted from translating games to localizing games. I also explore the shift in which the internet and social media has allowed for increased interaction between localizers and fan bases. This can allow for localizers to have a more in-depth knowledge of the expectations of the intended audience of the video game, but has also further fueled the debate of whether or not localization constitutes censorship. Lastly, I do a close analysis of two long running game series and how they are adapting to the new changes with the introduction of social media.