Gamelist-Translator

Translate game descriptions in gamelist.xml files from EmulationStation / RetroBat using Google Translate.

This project is a fork of the original Gamelist-Translator script created by Schmurtz.

The original project and its historical version information have been preserved, while this fork adds several features to make the translator safer and more suitable for large RetroBat collections.

Features

• Interactive source language selection
• Interactive target language selection
• Support for:
  • English
  • French
  • Spanish
  • German
  • Italian
  • Portuguese
  • Japanese
• Automatic source language detection
• XML validation before processing
• UTF-8 / BOM handling
• Automatic backup of the original gamelist.xml
• Translation cache to avoid translating the same description multiple times
• Empty descriptions are automatically ignored
• HTTP 429 handling
• Progress saving during translation
• Resume after an interruption
• Periodic progress saving
• Final translation summary
• Original descriptions are kept if a translation fails

Interactive language selection

The translator does not force a specific target language.

When the script starts, the user can select the source and target languages:

========================================
Select source language
========================================
1. Auto detect [auto]
2. English [en]
3. French [fr]
4. Spanish [es]
5. German [de]
6. Italian [it]
7. Portuguese [pt]
8. Japanese [ja]

========================================
Select target language
========================================
1. English [en]
2. French [fr]
3. Spanish [es]
4. German [de]
5. Italian [it]
6. Portuguese [pt]
7. Japanese [ja]

This allows the same script to be used for different translation directions without modifying the source code.

Usage

Open PowerShell and run:

powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File ".\Gamelist-Translator.ps1" "C:\RetroBat\roms\ports\gamelist.xml"

For example:

powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File ".\Gamelist-Translator.ps1" "C:\RetroBat\roms\mame\gamelist.xml"

The script will then ask for the source and target languages.

Backup

Before modifying the gamelist.xml, the script creates a timestamped backup.

Example:

gamelist_2026-08-26_130138.xml

The original file is therefore preserved before translation begins.

Translation cache

The translator maintains a local cache of completed translations.

This prevents the same description from being sent to Google Translate again when the same source language, target language and text are encountered.

The cache is stored as:

.gamelist-translator-cache.json

The cache is generated automatically and should not normally be committed to the Git repository.

Progress and resume

For large collections, translation can take a significant amount of time.

The translator periodically saves its progress.

If the process is interrupted, it can resume from the last saved position when the same gamelist.xml is processed again.

The progress file is:

.gamelist-translator-progress.json

Example:

Previous progress found.
Resume from game index : 5

This is particularly useful when working with large RetroBat collections.

HTTP 429 handling

Google Translate may temporarily reject requests with HTTP 429 (Too Many Requests).

The translator detects this situation and protects the current progress by saving the cache and XML before stopping when necessary.

The original description is kept if a translation cannot be completed.

Empty descriptions

Games without a description, or with an empty <desc> element, are automatically skipped.

For example:

<game>
    <name>Example Game</name>
    <desc></desc>
</game>

will not generate a translation request.

Translation summary

At the end of a translation, the script displays a summary including:

************ Translation summary ************
Translated descriptions : 12
Cached translations     : 4
Empty descriptions      : 2
Failed translations     : 0
Total source characters : 12345

The final paths of the modified gamelist, backup and cache are also displayed.

Supported XML

The translator is designed to work with standard EmulationStation / RetroBat gamelist.xml files.

Only game descriptions are translated.

The following information is not intentionally translated:

• game names
• paths
• images
• videos
• ratings
• metadata
• other game fields

Original project

This project is a fork of the original Gamelist-Translator created by Schmurtz.

The original version dates from April 20, 2022.

Original version history:

V1.0 - 2022-04-20

• You can change the target language inside the script.
• Create backup of the original gamelist.xml before modification.
• Should support accents / UTF8 in the right way.

V1.1 - 2022-04-20

• Count the total number of characters sent for translation.

The original authorship and historical information are preserved in the PowerShell script.

Current project status

This project is currently being developed as a PowerShell-based fork.

The current development priorities are:

1. Stabilize the PowerShell version.
2. Test with real RetroBat gamelist.xml files.
3. Verify translation reliability on large collections.
4. Define the final translation workflow and behavior.
5. Consider a future C# implementation.

Disclaimer

Always keep a backup of your original gamelist.xml files.

Translation quality depends on the translation service used and the original descriptions.

This project is not affiliated with RetroBat, EmulationStation or Google.