Poll: Do you want or need localisation?

[SoreWristed]

I just realised most of my english speaking and reading skills came from watching disney movies with my mom translating next to me, and most of all, from playing pokemon blue and gold when I was a kid. So much so that when I finally started learning english at school, I never had any use for these lessons because i was allowed to quietly read harry potter over in a corner while everyone else was learning 'my name is..' and 'I am thirteen years old'. When I came over to my friends house, they asked me to translate what the guy in front of the gym was saying in some town in Pokemon, because they didn't know what to do. I don't mean to brag about my learning skills here, because I don't find them to be extraordinary.

Some time ago, my nephew(9 at the time) was over at my house and he wanted to see a movie. All of our movies from when I was a kid were in english, so I put one in and left him to it. Normally, he'll just sit through the movie quietly. Now, he's back after ten minutes asking why they're all speaking english. He won't even try to understand or watch the movie, even though he's seen it before in Dutch and knows at least the gist of what's being said. Later, he's (12) and he's playing GTAV. Besides the fact he shouldn't be playing it anyway, he skips all dialogue and text boxes. When I was over there, he was bugging me to come up and help him with a mission he was stuck on. He was stuck on a mission because he couldn't figure out what to do. He couldn't figure out what to do, besides at least two forms of explanation having totally passed by on screen, because he won't bother to try and read it. I have two of these nephews, same problems on both, despite being totally different people.
I blame localisation.

There is such a gap between children's games and teen/adult games, in that there is a sudden and jarring transition between a localised and non localised games. We expect teens to have mastered the english language basically overnight. And it is my opinion that if localisation did not exist, these issues would not exist and we would all have an easier time in school and professional environments later on.

So, do you like or need localisation? Did you have localised games or movies? Would you have liked to have them?

I realise this issue only really exists, if english is not your primary language. But in that case what if most pop culture existed in another language?

Worst part was, I was super excited to hear about professor layton and the curious house. So I walk into my local game store trying to find it, only to realise there aren't any versions in english... I couldn't get it without having it imported from the UK.

 

[nesbitto]

For the record, I am a native English speaker, so all of this is just my opinion on the matter from a some what outside perspective.

I don't have any problems with localisation. I'd expect as a consumer that a video game be available in as many different languages as the developer can provide. Limiting the language choices translates to limiting your audience, and is inherently anti-consumer.

Your main argument seems to be that there is a lack of localisation in adult games, and to solve this we should scrap localisation in children's games. In effect, you want to force everyone to play through English. I don't believe this to be a proper solution, we should call for full localisation support, not drop it entirely. Like I said before, you should be able to choose your language, not have one forced on you.

Power to you for playing through on a non-native language, it's probably a great way to learn and improve. But you can't decide the same for everyone.

 

[Recusant]

Goodness, yes; I've been bitten by this enough times to see the need. See, it's not just about language; it's about the whole situation in a given country/area. Back in 1988, I found myself (as did many, many others) stuck fighting a particular enemy in The Legend of Zelda which, as it turned out, could only be harmed by the use of console peripheral that Nintendo never actually released in the US- a fact which the game never mentioned in any way whatsoever (I suppose I could've gone online and looked it up, but this was 1988; it never occurred to me that the internet would be used for something frivolous as video games, plus it was in the pre-web days, when things were much more... limited... than they are now). At the time, the gamer population of the US simply shrugged it off; nowadays, the consequences would be much more severe. That needs to be avoided.

 

[GundamSentinel]

I'm of two minds about it. On the one hand, I learned most of my English watching English movies (with subtitles) and playing English video games. I firmly believe that being exposed to foreign languages from a young age is a good thing. On the other hand, when people simply cannot enjoy a product because of a language barrier that's silly. Text translation and subs, yay! Dubs, nay!

Also, I remember when I first played InFamous and the game defaulted to Dutch audio (and could not be changed without a patch), the horror!

 

[Vivi22]

So, do you like or need localisation? Did you have localised games or movies? Would you have liked to have them?

I realise this issue only really exists, if english is not your primary language. But in that case what if most pop culture existed in another language?

Considering I'm one of many English speaking gamers who grew up when Japanese games dominated the market, yes, localization is pretty awesome and was absolutely necessary for me since I don't speak Japanese and had no way of learning it when I was growing up.

 

[Sleepy Sol]

Considering many of my interests game-wise fall into the Japanese-made games sphere, yeah, I'm very grateful for any localization opportunities today. For certain games, I can usually read menus in Japanese quite easily, but for anything that requires more effort than learning katakana (just understanding the story in anything), I'm sort of up a creek if a company chooses not to localize a title I want.

 

[Mutant1988]

All I need is English subtitles. Nothing else. In fact, I would prefer to keep the native voice tracks at all costs. I don't even care what language it is. I want the original, as designed, voice cast and sound design.

I do however greatly appreciate region free consoles and games and I enjoy importing games. But the language barrier that exist does limit what I can actually play. Good thing it's mostly fighting games I want to import then.

There's a whole lot of Japanese games I'm still waiting to be localized (God Eater 2, Valkyria Chronicles 3, Yakuza Kenzan, various PS3 fighting games).

Again, all I want is text translations. Nothing else. You don't even need to ship it here. Just add the option to the Japanese version and I'll buy it, with shipping, taxes and all.

I have played through some Japanese games though, but the language barriers of those have been minimal. Specifically, I've imported and played EX Troopers and Earth Defense Force 4 (EDF 2025).

I also had to import the US version of 3D Dot Game Heroes because the EU version didn't get the latest patch. Thanks Atlus and From Software, that was really nice of you to just neglect to fix the version in my region - Super convenient.

I also have a US copy of the game Folk Lore, which is a curse since all the DLC is region locked. Why is all the DLC region locked, you jerks? So there's a ton of fun free stuff I can't use, since the EU content won't work for my copy and I can't download from the US store with my account.

Region locking digital content is a dick move. Yes, I know prices differ from region to region, but I'm not asking for the same price everywhere. I'm asking for "availability", the ability to purchase, everywhere.

 

[CaitSeith]

Don't blame localization for bad gaming habits or lack of interest in learning English. I also learned English as a kid because of videogames; but I played a lot of games in japanese too, and I really didn't learn much out of it (I skipped dialogues in those games). I have mixed opinions towards localization. I like to hear the original voices in some cases (original jokes and slang can make dialogues memorable), and sometimes the translations are awful or iconic things get lost in the localization; but in others is more relaxing or fun to have the translated versions (animated movies to watch with the whole family, for example).

I don't need games translated from English because the lack of translated versions when I was a kid encouraged me to learn it. Only a handful of them I got them translated (The Secret of Monkey Island series), and today I enjoy more those versions just because of nostalgia.

 

[Elfgore]

I need subtitles and that's all. Keep the original language, for the love of all that is holy. Hearing English words come out of Japanese character designs confused me. When I first played Sengoku Basara I groaned when I heard the English voice-over. None of the voices match the characters and they're all awful! I actually have to mute the game when I play it.

 

[Islandbuffilo]

I'd like both original audio and translation, I tried to play games in Japanese a couple of times, and they would inconsistently have extremely long pauses between sentences, it got annoying and pretty much made the audio pointless, but I've told sometimes original language can change how the characters are perceived so I'd still like the option to be available even if I don't use it often.

 

[freaper]

Hah, I'm guessing you're in your early twenties as well.

I learned English in pretty much the same way you did, through TV and Pokémon. Some of the translation mistakes I made I still remember, like thinking "one of a kind" had something to do with children (kind means child in Dutch), or that was pronounced /'babj&#601/ instead of /'be&#618b&#618/. Like you said, most of our movies and games were localised through subtitles at best, but that's partially because Dutch isn't such a widely spoken language, but also because in Belgium Dutch is only one of (technically) three official languages.

I don't want to use the trite argument of "today's youth is spoiled" -because that would be hypocritical- but learning a language tangentially because of the things you like to do is something amazing to me. Localisation is fine, but motivate your kids, everyone. Languages are really important.

*2 AM spelling+grammar immunity is in effect*

 

[senordesol]

I'm all for localization. Increases your reach and makes it more accessible. If someone *can* learn a new language playing videogames; great, more power to 'em --but that's not what they're designed to do.

I want to understand what's being said at all times when I play my games, and I don't think that's too much to ask if you're selling it in my country.

 

[PsiChaos]

Since I like a lot of Japanese games and have almost zero knowledge of the language, I do appreciate localisation, though subtitles and a menu screen is sufficient enough. There's been times where I've went without localization, though. Many great doujin games go without translation, and every GOOD mecha game hardly ever makes it State-side, so I've either had go trial-and-error to learn certain menu options or consult a wiki with a bare bones translation, not to mention I'm generally left in the dark about plot progression and I certainly feel I'd enjoy those games a lot more than I already do if I knew why things were happening. It's when localization teams censor stuff because they feel a game's content is too risque for a western audience is when I have a problem with localisation. If a team believes they have to censor content to get it sold on shelves in the West, (which in a day and age of digital distribution seems like a rather silly thing to worry about) then they shouldn't even waste their money.

 

[elvor0]

mm, I dunno, even speaking as an English person, being forced to learn English so you can enjoy stuff is rather unfair. I know English is the language everyone is expected to use, but they should be allowed to enjoy stuff in their native language. Voice acting and everything might be too much (though nice I'm sure) but they could at least stick in subtitles to accomidate the counties they're selling it in. "Special Nordic editions" of most games don't even come with Nordic language options on them, how rediculous is that?! Copy of Pokemon here, blurb in Finnish, but the supported languages? Certainly not Finnish, fuck off children, you can't enjoy THIS childrens game.

However, localization is good, but it needs to be done right, you've got to actually LOCALIZE it, not just direct translate. Final Fantasy 12 springs to mind, now THAT was a great localization, mainly because it was overseen by a Shakespearean scholar, so it works excellently.

It's the only game I've seen that uses old English /properly/, none of those random thees and thous which just clash with everything there. It flows really well and feels extremely natural to listen to, because the writer actually knew what he was doing and didn't just use old english as a crutch for...oldness.

 

[CrystalShadow]

Yes. Absolutely essential. No matter how good you are with languages and things there are always limits. I can understand English and dutch fluently, And German if I concentrate.

But beyond that I'd be lost. And learning more languages, while interesting, is a time consuming, challenging task.

Without localisation a lot of people would be forever cut off from some games.
(even native english speakers, given the prevalence of japanese games)

While I've seen a few more literal fan translations of games that make me wonder what was changed beyond the language when translating, overall it's a positive thing.

(can be amusing to compare localisations at times though. Often european game releases had at least english, german and french...)

I recall with some amusement that a 'top 5 books' list in the library in Zelda : minnish cap had 'Prinzessin Zelda's Tagebuch' As the number one entry. (princess zelda's diary), Which I'm guessing references bridget jones's diary.

The English list was completely different. (but I forget what it contained)

 

[balladbird]

Sure, I enjoy the whole localisation caboodle. dubs, subs, whatever the budget can allow. it wasn't really a concern when I was a young child, but toward the end of my middle school years, when the PS2 became the market king and voices became common, if I was going to have any luck convincing friends who weren't already fans of JRPGs or anime to give a game a try, it would have to come in english.

Artificially shrinking the market for your product out of some sense of elitism is a bad move, yo! With the exception of budget concerns a game should be as localized for each region as much as possible.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

I grew up in a nation where "localization" and "dubbing" was done only for programs aimed at very young children who could not yet read well enough to enjoy subtitled media. Due to this I only like things in their original form with subtitles. I am big into anime and I can't stand it when anime or anime-like games get the localization treatment and inject Americanized BS into the previously Japanese-themed material.



I find that everyone who is fine with localizations is fine with it cause localizations happen to take place in their own native language. I'm pretty sure one would not watch a dub of a thing in a foreign language. Well, that's what ALL dubs/localizations are to me. They're things which begun in a foreign language and then they got localized into another foreign language. That being the case, why would I pick the foreign language that is NOT the original one?

Also, as you can see I speak English, I also happen to speak Japanese, while neither of those languages is my native one (that would be Greek) so the vast majority of things which are Japanese and get localized, I can't enjoy in their localized form if there is no dual audio. I can speak it well enough to play games like FFXIII's imported Japanese version (without subtitles) so...yeah. No thanks to localizations.




As for the kids not reading what the game tells then. No, that's not due to localizations. Some people just are like that. Some people skip all the story and don't pay ANY attention to anything. Hopefully they will grow out of it.

 

[FPLOON]

Localize the shit out of everything! I don't care how as long as anyone on the globe can get a chance to experience the game... That basically how I feel about localization...

Other than that, I appreciate the option of switching between various language audios... I had fun playing Jak 2 and 3 in Spanish...

 

[Beliyal]

Subtitles and menu screens only.

Since I learned English in the same way you did, OP, I'm actively against dubbing. Everyone I know learned English mainly through watching cartoons and playing video games. It was never an obstacle for any of us, having a thing in another language didn't bother us when we were kids and it helped immensely with learning a new language. I cannot thank lack of dubbing enough, it singlehandedly allowed me to start school already knowing English. My parents put me in an English class since first grade, so I can perfect it, but I never, not once, had to do any homework or practice or even pay attention in the class. I finished that class 4 years later with a diploma saying "Best pupil in the group". Never touched a textbook.

Also, I played Pokemon Crystal in Italian, and for the few months playing that, I learned more Italian than in any of my 11 years of learning it in school. Just hearing/reading the language, interacting with it and connecting the words with pictures or actions works wonders. Way more wonders than slogging through the textbooks. At least for me. I'm kinda sorry that I didn't get better with Italian, but if I decide to go back to it, I'll most certainly go back to it by listening/reading stuff in Italian.

Of course, video games don't serve just to teach young kids new languages, but I'd still opt only for subtitles and menu screen localization. Mostly because original voices are always the best match for lip syncing and for the overall feel of the media in question. I dislike dubs a lot; they always sound fake and forced, never matching the actual stuff that I see. The most recent example that I can remember was when I started watching the movie The Raid dubbed. I couldn't stand it for more than 3 minutes, it felt weird, out of place and hilarious in English. Subtitles are enough and the original language always sounds best.