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In fact the game, which has been pointlessly renamed Eledees, isn’t due for release until April. But that’s nothing compared to the six months we waited for the GameCube, or the ten months we tapped our feet for Pokémon< or the two years it took for Animal Crossing to come out. Indeed, watching the world play games and consoles weeks, months and even years before we get to, is a bane we European gamers have had to bare since the market began.
Publishers blame these delays on the translation. There are so many European languages that it takes time (although not as long as publishers would like you to think) before games are translated into every one. So before we in the UK get our hands on the software, we must await its translation into French, German, Spanish, Italian and so forth. And this is despite the fact we speak the same language as our American friends.
However, the real problem I have is not with the delays, that I can cope with, it’s with lazy translations.
Last year I spent some time working for Partnertrans, a video game testing company that specializes in testing languages. Therefore I know first hand how much effort developers put in when trying to get that German version of Splinter Cell just right. So then why are these developers incapable of getting the English version just right? Who is this “Mom” I speak to in Pokémon? Why is “autumn” called “fall” in Harvest Moon? And as for the Gameboy Color, well that was just an embarrassment when it first hit UK shores.
You may think this is just pettiness, and in many respects it is. But if I have to wait months or years for a game to get translated then why is my copy still in American? Why do the French get a nicely translated video game whilst I am left with some American code shoe horned into a PAL disc? It is no wonder that importing is so popular over here when you can buy the exact same game earlier (and for less) from the United States.
I know developers can translate their games properly. It took Nintendo eight months to release Majora’s Mask in England, and in that time they gave the game to some plucky young Brit who translated it perfectly. He even introduced quintessential English terms, such as “Blimey”, into the mix, additions that did not go unnoticed.
The eight months we waited for Majora’s Mask was not so the Greeks or the Italians could have a nice personal version of the game… it was so we could as well, and it soon became my favourite (not favorite) Nintendo 64 game.
But this didn’t catch on and don’t expect things to change in the future. Elebits will still take another two months to come out, it’ll still feature a heavy dose of American prose and it’ll still have that ridiculous new moniker. But you know what? Who cares? What is two different variations of the same language really? And you know I can always entertain myself in the mean time by playing Excite Truck.
That game that was released two months earlier in the states.
This article isn't about delays. And if you read it you'll notice I comment on its pedantic nature. All I'm saying is that it is appreciated and nice when a game is correctly translated, with Majora's Mask as the example.
This is blatently a GAD attempt, although it was originally produced for Nintendojo. I don't get a discussion on Nintendojo however. So I post here.
I would be around to chat, if anyone had anything nice to say. Instead I'm continually slated for writing too much and that, 2 years ago, I went on a bit about a bad time in my life. Once upon a time I had friends here and enjoyed my time writing. Now I am the butt of the jokes, ripped into whenever I post anything about anything. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's just annoying. So I go to forums where I'm treated better and folk like to actually talk about games.
And not fires.
As for the Criminal Record, it has been spent.
> Oh lets get personal shall we? I've been writing for years and my
> portfolio has led to several interviews, the writing fella at my
> university put me in touch with IGN UK as well. Sadly there is
> very little money being a staff writer.
And as i've already said more power to you (though all i'm reading is interviews and no actual job offers) i can only assume you don't put anything you have in your portfolio on here and we just get the dregs.
> This article isn't about delays. And if you read it you'll
> notice I comment on its pedantic nature. All I'm saying is that
> it is appreciated and nice when a game is correctly translated,
> with Majora's Mask as the example.
And it took you that many words just to say that? Yes it may be "nice" but a games developer isn't for the most part going to use time and manpower on the development schedule to do a proper British translation just because people find it "nice". There's far more important issues with a game to address.
> This is blatently a GAD attempt, although it was originally
> produced for Nintendojo. I don't get a discussion on Nintendojo
> however. So I post here.
>
> I would be around to chat, if anyone had anything nice to say.
> Instead I'm continually slated for writing too much
Well i can't comment for others but i slate you because the articles bring absolutely nothing new to the table on topics that have been covered to death. There's a difference between writing alot that's interesting and writing alot that sends people like Garin to sleep.
Also please don't insult our intelligence that you'd be here more if we were all happy chappies who skipped in the field of daisies together but because we're too harsh on you you don't stick around. Your posts are for GAD's, pure and simple.
>
> Well i can't comment for others but i slate you because the
> articles bring absolutely nothing new to the table on topics
> that have been covered to death. There's a difference between
> writing alot that's interesting and writing alot that sends
> people like Garin to sleep.
Agreed, he misses the mark with his over-enthusiasm.
don't insult our intelligence that you'd be here
> more if we were all happy chappies who skipped in the field of
> daisies together but because we're too harsh on you you don't
> stick around. Your posts are for GAD's, pure and simple.
Don't be a prat. I used to vote fot Notables, chat in the general forum, discuss other peoples posts, enter Ortega's football competitions... in fact I was several times the top poster for the past 30 days.
The fact is I used to write these "GAD attempts" and those that found them uninteresting or nothing to do with them would ignore them.
I mean if I wasn't the author of the post you'd have ignored it. But because I wrote it you felt you had to make some comment that ranges from "Boring" to "did you steal it?"... Why? Other than to self-inflate your own ego?
This post was written for an American audience. My spec was "Write a bi-weekly article covering various aspects of the UK video game market"... this topic may have been done to death for you, but for the readership of Nintendojo it was new. As I had already produced the article I thought I may as well enter it for Gameaday.
If you didn't care... why reply?
We both know the answer to that question... and that's why I post more regulary elsewhere.
Because, simply, you don't like me.
The article may well have been intended for nintendojo.com. In fact I looked at it there and it does fit better. But this is Freeola chat forums and the requirements are different I think. That it was a GAD attempt doesnt really change that.
I'm not making it personal but I'm saying that his enthusiasm for a topic makes him over look the fact that no-one else is really interested in it.
Something I'm occasionally guilty of (in that all you fools really should watch The Unit! Although I didn't write an essay about it!)
Despite what your ego may think i don't sit around waiting for the next Dringo "masterpiece" ready to pounce with a standard "boring" response just because it's you, if it's any good i'll say it's good and if it's boring i'll say it's boring. If you're serious about your writing then i suggest you learn to take criticism because me saying off the cuff "Oooh the latest edition of Edge must be out" is nothing compared to what you'll actually get in a competitive environment where your work will be criticised from every angle.
Soon as you write something good i'll say it's good, until then then yes i'll keep saying it's boring and, as has been said in this thread already, i'm not exactly alone in that sentiment so obviously it's not just me picking on you because you're you, there's something wrong with your writing. I suggest you address that instead of going "Oooooh mean Kawada, you're only saying it's bad because it's me, it's awesome really"
> He didn't reply to my one.
>
> I'm not making it personal but I'm saying that his enthusiasm
> for a topic makes him over look the fact that no-one else is
> really interested in it.
>
> Something I'm occasionally guilty of (in that all you fools
> really should watch The Unit! Although I didn't write an essay
> about it!)
I didn't reply because I guess you're right. It really isn't suited here. But I thought I may as well post it. I mean what was the harm?
Then there are issues of readership. Perhaps I should not post a direct replica of what I have produced for a different audience. But you know, I thought I may as well. Someone may have found it interesting. My previous article on violence was a request by a magazine. I wrote it in their style and for their audience...
But you know, next time I'll know better (or not... who knows).
My problem isn't with the criticism. It's with the reasons behind it. If you scroll through everything (every last thing) I have produced for this website in the past year you'll see at least two people crop up with something malicious to say. It could be about the writing itself, or something that isn't even relevant. It's what happens here all the time. I get it over at Pocket Monkey, although I'm left alone in the Nintendo forum.
Anyway, I didn't post this here to get criticised, I posted it here for a discussion (or a game... or both). If someone writes something I'm interested in discussing I'll discuss it. If not I'll not discuss it. I won't think "right, I'll offer criticism".
I'd understand it in the creative writing forum, or the reviews forum... but in a chat forum... no... sorry I don't understand why you have to say anything at all.