Demian Smith had the (mis)fortune to get a job working as a translator on the very first Yakuza game for the PS2. If you haven’t played it, know that for a game set in Japan and called Yakuza, it wasn’t that Japanese.
“Gnhhh!” … “Whhhhaaaah!” … “Bah….ah…gahhhhhh”… “Hmmmf!”… “Ehiehhh” … “Mhaemm!”.. These grunts, sighs, squeals and miscellaneous other vocalisations compose roughly one-quarter of the dialogues in the early hours of Final Fantasy XIII.
Yes, Famitsu narrowly gave Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 a perfect score, but Japanese gamers do not appear happy with the Japanese version. Here’s why:
Times have sure changed from when I was a kid. Back when I was growing up, Russia was an evil empire hell bent on my country’s destruction, but now I’ve grown up, and the rest of the world has grown up, and Russia is just another big area filled with potential gamers. Gamers Codemasters is planning on catering to as they announce full Russian language localisation for three of their biggest titles – Rise of the Argonauts, Damnation, and Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising. “Codemasters has targeted Russia as a front-line territory, key to our overall EMEA strategy” said Axel Herr, Senior VP Publishing, EMEA, Codemasters. “Localisation and tailoring of content is key to our emerging market strategy and Codemasters is keen to continue leading the charge in these fast-evolving markets.”
Hey people who live near Washington D.C.! There’s a groovy exhibition over at The Kennedy Center called, “Japan! Culture + Hyper Culture.” It features things like music, anime, fashion, blah, blah, blah. Sorta exciting! Know what’s really exciting? It feature toy robots from the collection of video game localiser Matt Alt. Check the exhibit out if you’re in the area. It wraps up this weekend. Japan! Culture + Hyper Culture [Official Site]
