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As soon as I saw Elebits< I knew it was destined to be one of the most refreshingly original games for Nintendo’s Wii. And I couldn’t wait. Reviews across the web praised the title for it’s unique and satisfying approach to gameplay. And it is for this reason that I cast an envious eye over my American cousins. Because, for us poor UK gamers, the game isn’t out yet.
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.
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.
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As soon as I saw Elebits< I knew it was destined to be one of the most refreshingly original games for Nintendo’s Wii. And I couldn’t wait. Reviews across the web praised the title for it’s unique and satisfying approach to gameplay. And it is for this reason that I cast an envious eye over my American cousins. Because, for us poor UK gamers, the game isn’t out yet.
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.
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.
Latest edition of Edge must be out :-)
You're just mad because he ripped on Americans for their incorrect spelling.
heh yea because i neverrrr take the mick out of Dringo and his posts do i?
I am proud of this one. Even if it was originally targeted at an American audience.
Ah you ripped it off GameInformer, maybe 1Up then? :-D
Why would Americans give a Apricot Sundae about the plight of the European gamer and the delays of games due to translation issues and that when it does finally come out the majority of it is still in American-English? They're too busy actually playing the game which has come out in America. It'd be like the Europeans caring about how long the Australians have to wait for a game and it not having stuff like "strewth" and "barbie" in or the Japanese caring about anybody else really.
If you think game developers are going to waste a bunch of time adding U's into words just to appease the few pedantic people that cream themselves in fury when they see things like "Armor" then you're going to be disappointed as there are numerous things the development team can actually spend their time on changing and working on stuff that actually matters.
Europe, or rather more accurately Britain, have gotten the shaft when it comes to gaming ever since the Japanese (and now Billy boy) started to dominate the home console market, it's always been the way and probably will always be the way, that's why i began importing back in the PSX days and why i always buy a game off Play-Asia if it's region-free on the 360 instead of waiting and buying it here.
It'll also be the reason i couldn't care about Steve in Rotherham having to wait 6 months for a game to come out as i'll already be playing it and finishing it, playing another game that's out way before its European release. It's also the reason no one in America cares as they're all too busy playing the games, just like how young Hideki won't give a damn about poor Hank in Alabama when he's playing Final Fantasy XIII 9 months to a year before his American counterpart gets his hands on it.
Why would Americans give a Apricot Sundae about the plight of the European gamer and the delays of games due to translation issues and that when it does finally come out the majority of it is still in American-English? They're too busy actually playing the game which has come out in America. It'd be like the Europeans caring about how long the Australians have to wait for a game and it not having stuff like "strewth" and "barbie" in or the Japanese caring about anybody else really.
If you think game developers are going to waste a bunch of time adding U's into words just to appease the few pedantic people that cream themselves in fury when they see things like "Armor" then you're going to be disappointed as there are numerous things the development team can actually spend their time on changing and working on stuff that actually matters.
Europe, or rather more accurately Britain, have gotten the shaft when it comes to gaming ever since the Japanese (and now Billy boy) started to dominate the home console market, it's always been the way and probably will always be the way, that's why i began importing back in the PSX days and why i always buy a game off Play-Asia if it's region-free on the 360 instead of waiting and buying it here.
It'll also be the reason i couldn't care about Steve in Rotherham having to wait 6 months for a game to come out as i'll already be playing it and finishing it, playing another game that's out way before its European release. It's also the reason no one in America cares as they're all too busy playing the games, just like how young Hideki won't give a damn about poor Hank in Alabama when he's playing Final Fantasy XIII 9 months to a year before his American counterpart gets his hands on it.
Nintendo and several other developers have, from time to time, localised a game properly for us. So yes, developers do care. They have entire teams and special companies dedicated to changing the language into French or Spanish, there are even testing companies dedicated to it. So why not translate it into our English language? Hmmmm? What's so hard about that?
Besides Americans have cared. This article can be read at Nintendojo.com and I have received a large response to it.
As for your apparent jibes about me writing articles based on ones I have read... so what? I like to write a response to magazine articles. Sometimes I agree to an extent and most of the time I disagree. This is no secret. A lot of the time I start by saying "I was reading the latest article in Games TM". What's the problem? The majority of what I write however is not influenced by anything I've read. This one came from playing Excite Truck.
Besides Americans have cared. This article can be read at Nintendojo.com and I have received a large response to it.
As for your apparent jibes about me writing articles based on ones I have read... so what? I like to write a response to magazine articles. Sometimes I agree to an extent and most of the time I disagree. This is no secret. A lot of the time I start by saying "I was reading the latest article in Games TM". What's the problem? The majority of what I write however is not influenced by anything I've read. This one came from playing Excite Truck.
Dringo wrote:
> Nintendo and several other developers have, from time to time,
> localised a game properly for us. So yes, developers do care.
Wow 1 game every now and then out of the hundreds that get released as is, i take it back they obviously cherish the British gamer very much.
> They have entire teams and special companies dedicated to
> changing the language into French or Spanish, there are even
> testing companies dedicated to it. So why not translate it into
> our English language? Hmmmm? What's so hard about that?
Because they're totally different languages to English, having to go through an Epic RPG's script just to change things like Fall to Autumn and adding U's into words is pointless as it makes no difference whatsoever, you still understand what is being said whereas Miguel in Barcelona who doesn't speak English wouldn't have a clue what is being said if the game was in English and so wouldn't buy it.
Maybe you'd like to go through pages and pages of game script to appease a very small, very pedantic issue but i doubt most games developers want to.
> Besides Americans have cared. This article can be read at
> Nintendojo.com and I have received a large response to it.
>
> As for your apparent jibes about me writing articles based on
> ones I have read... so what? I like to write a response to
> magazine articles. Sometimes I agree to an extent and most of
> the time I disagree. This is no secret. A lot of the time I
> start by saying "I was reading the latest article in Games
> TM". What's the problem? The majority of what I write
> however is not influenced by anything I've read. This one came
> from playing Excite Truck.
It's not a problem if it's actually a response but given most of the time you're going over the same points and coming to the exact same conclusion is when it starts to become slightly tiresome. In the event you actually write something original it's on a topic that's been covered to death ages ago (like this for example, Europeans having to wait ages for games, oooh cutting edge and up-to-date, only about 10 or more years old though granted that's pretty good for a topic by you :-D) and quite obviously a GAD attempt whereas the rest of the time you're nowhere to be seen is where i begin to not give your topics any respect.
If that's the standard required of a X360 writer (that criminal record portion of the interview will be quite interesting :-D) then i'm glad i don't waste my money on the rag but hey if you get the job, more power to you, maybe in the future some other person will be plagerising one of your articles.
> Nintendo and several other developers have, from time to time,
> localised a game properly for us. So yes, developers do care.
Wow 1 game every now and then out of the hundreds that get released as is, i take it back they obviously cherish the British gamer very much.
> They have entire teams and special companies dedicated to
> changing the language into French or Spanish, there are even
> testing companies dedicated to it. So why not translate it into
> our English language? Hmmmm? What's so hard about that?
Because they're totally different languages to English, having to go through an Epic RPG's script just to change things like Fall to Autumn and adding U's into words is pointless as it makes no difference whatsoever, you still understand what is being said whereas Miguel in Barcelona who doesn't speak English wouldn't have a clue what is being said if the game was in English and so wouldn't buy it.
Maybe you'd like to go through pages and pages of game script to appease a very small, very pedantic issue but i doubt most games developers want to.
> Besides Americans have cared. This article can be read at
> Nintendojo.com and I have received a large response to it.
>
> As for your apparent jibes about me writing articles based on
> ones I have read... so what? I like to write a response to
> magazine articles. Sometimes I agree to an extent and most of
> the time I disagree. This is no secret. A lot of the time I
> start by saying "I was reading the latest article in Games
> TM". What's the problem? The majority of what I write
> however is not influenced by anything I've read. This one came
> from playing Excite Truck.
It's not a problem if it's actually a response but given most of the time you're going over the same points and coming to the exact same conclusion is when it starts to become slightly tiresome. In the event you actually write something original it's on a topic that's been covered to death ages ago (like this for example, Europeans having to wait ages for games, oooh cutting edge and up-to-date, only about 10 or more years old though granted that's pretty good for a topic by you :-D) and quite obviously a GAD attempt whereas the rest of the time you're nowhere to be seen is where i begin to not give your topics any respect.
If that's the standard required of a X360 writer (that criminal record portion of the interview will be quite interesting :-D) then i'm glad i don't waste my money on the rag but hey if you get the job, more power to you, maybe in the future some other person will be plagerising one of your articles.
Sorry, boring article. The topic isnt too bad, but I was asleep half way through.
However I would be curious to know what happens with british games and if they bother localising them for the american market.
However I would be curious to know what happens with british games and if they bother localising them for the american market.
They should just translate games into real english.
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