Poll: OST Localization Ruins Games

[jisouserious]

Don't pity me. Obviously there are things that are worth getting upset over, the soundtrack of a video game however isn't one of them.

Who said you were being pitied? and please understand your opinion has been taken into account, I just don't feel it's a very strong one, I'm very open minded, but like all intellects I get to then choose how justified an opinion is and how weighted it is to me. It's the beauty of free speech, an effect to which you have also been capable of.

Well it sure came across as pity and more than a little condescending too. And BTW, when I said "ignorance is bliss" I meant in this situation only, not everywhere. Obviously it pays it be well informed when it matters.
And ok, I'll admit sometimes it really sucks when they go and change the soundtrack from the original. An example of a changed soundtrack that I can't stand is Dragon Ball GT (yeah yeah, shut up) I first watched the show on YTV which featured a dub done by Ocean which kept the OST mostly intact, then I wanted to get the episodes on DVD so I found several while shopping down in the states and started watching and found the soundtrack was not only different, but some horrid hip-hop type thing. I couldn't even get past the intro. So I don't entirely disagree with you, but one has to consider how much of a big deal it is. For me, yeah it sucks, but it's not worth wasting bandwidth over, esp if the replacement soundtrack is good too.

I get where you're coming from mate. It's understandable too. I can genuinely relate all the same with dragonball GT especially. Canada's ocean dub was better than the standard funimation dub, though funimation have recently redubbed to the original soundtrack after fans complained which was a nice gesture, they didn't have to, but it was nice to see, and they seem to be following through with this mindset in their one piece dubs too.

 

[CManator]

Game intros and soundtracks are changed for very specific reasons. The main one being that the origional soundtrack does not fit with their intended audience. Most people dont want to listen to some annoying japanese ***** sing. They would rather hear something in their own native language that they can actually understand. More often then not from what I have seen the only reason some people like the japanese versions is because they cant understand the words and how bad the song actually is.

Music can often be very culturally specific and will not fit in very well with a different audience.

Either way, to me, games are an art form, an expression of the production team's goal when making the product, and it just feels so tainted when it's changed. Everything in a game was put there for a reason; what if somebody gave Japan a game like skyrim, but then worried the chanting OST would lose cultural interest? do we go pay a few japanese artists to make a more eastern OST?

I REST MY CASE YOUR HONOR!!! GOODNIGHT!!!

Now that is the biggest load of shit I have heard in a long time.

This. Most people dont want to hear something they don't understand.

Tbh what offends my ears more is when the song is the same, but translated. The lyrics get fudged to fit the melody and it's especially bad when it's the same artist trying to sing in bad engrish. I'm too lazy to find a link, but Tales of Graces F intro song is the most recent example i can think of. English version is HORRIBLE.

If I seem inconsistent it's because I hate lyrics in general. Very few musicians have anything worthwhile to say and many songs are better off without them. At least if it's in another language I can't tell what bs the singer is spewing out.

There's also the fact that not all OSTs have anything to do with artistic vision, sometimes it's just songs the devs thought would be catchy at the time. Dragon's Dogma intro for example.

...Er, yeah, localization ... Whatever the case, whatever the reason, it's a choice the devs and localizers have to make. Sometimes it's a good idea, sometimes not. It's a bit arrogant to claim that nothing should be changed ever when being introduced to a culture that may not appreciate it though. Remember, games are a product first, entertainment second, with art being a distant third.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Don't pity me. Obviously there are things that are worth getting upset over, the soundtrack of a video game however isn't one of them.

Who said you were being pitied? and please understand your opinion has been taken into account, I just don't feel it's a very strong one, I'm very open minded, but like all intellects I get to then choose how justified an opinion is and how weighted it is to me. It's the beauty of free speech, an effect to which you have also been capable of.

Well it sure came across as pity and more than a little condescending too. And BTW, when I said "ignorance is bliss" I meant in this situation only, not everywhere. Obviously it pays it be well informed when it matters.
And ok, I'll admit sometimes it really sucks when they go and change the soundtrack from the original. An example of a changed soundtrack that I can't stand is Dragon Ball GT (yeah yeah, shut up) I first watched the show on YTV which featured a dub done by Ocean which kept the OST mostly intact, then I wanted to get the episodes on DVD so I found several while shopping down in the states and started watching and found the soundtrack was not only different, but some horrid hip-hop type thing. I couldn't even get past the intro. So I don't entirely disagree with you, but one has to consider how much of a big deal it is. For me, yeah it sucks, but it's not worth wasting bandwidth over, esp if the replacement soundtrack is good too.

I get where you're coming from mate. It's understandable too. I can genuinely relate all the same with dragonball GT especially. Canada's ocean dub was better than the standard funimation dub, though funimation have recently redubbed to the original soundtrack after fans complained which was a nice gesture, they didn't have to, but it was nice to see, and they seem to be following through with this mindset in their one piece dubs too.

Well Ocean's dub wasn't perfect, but I sill enjoyed it more than Funimation's, even after the restored soundtrack. For one thing Master Roshi's final line in Ep. 64: "So long, Until We meet again." Made much more sense in the Ocean dub. In the Funimation he says "Tell Shenron thanks for the dragon balls Goku..." (there's more to it than that, but that's the important part) whereas in the Ocean dub he says "Tell Shenron thanks for his help all these years." which makes much more sense.
But I'm derailing your thread here.

 

[ten.to.ten]

Any current Japanese videogame development company that creates games with the intention of releasing them to markets outside of Asia would in most cases be conscious that there's a strong possibility that things will be tweaked for the international versions of their games, including the soundtrack.

In addition, unless a videogame is developed by a handful of people in a basement, even the strongest of artistic intentions from the creative force behind a game will become watered down and compromised along the way by factors of practicality and commerciality. For all you know, a few new songs for the Western release of a game could be one of the least significant compromises of the game creators' original artistic vision, if they had an artistic vision to begin with.

For me personally it can go either way, depending on each individual case. Using two examples that people have mentioned already, on the whole I preferred the original Japanese/PAL Sonic CD soundtrack to the American one. One of the most crucial elements to the Sonic series at the time was the style and the music. The year that Sonic 2 was released was the year that the composer of that game's band, Dreams Come True, released what became up until that point the highest selling Japanese album of all time (which incidentally featured a fully fleshed out vocal version of Sonic 2's theme song), and while neither of Sonic CD's soundtracks were as good as Sonic 1 or 2's, Sega in Japan would have been very conscious of the importance of music in Sonic and people's expectations of that, and the original Japanese/PAL soundtrack delivered. While the American one wasn't bad, it was a bit flatter and less lively and colourful, and I didn't think it was an appropriate soundtrack for a Sonic game at the time.

On the other hand I thought that the original Japanese theme song to FFXIII was just another tragically boring, sappy J-pop ballad, while the Leona Lewis song was much, much better, but also not so different to the original Japanese song that it felt like it shouldn't have been there.

 

[jisouserious]

Any current Japanese videogame development company that creates games with the intention of releasing them to markets outside of Asia would in most cases be conscious that there's a strong possibility that things will be tweaked for the international versions of their games, including the soundtrack.

I feel that being conscious of art or design being changed is a little counter productive if this is the case though. I know at the end of the day games are a business and have to have certain practices to support this; but techincally art IS a business too, and sells for ridiculous amounts, and is valued for it's creativity and individuality. If we change a general sound, we regretfully change the voice of the maker. To a lot of people it sounds like a little, but how weird would it be if a film or a movie's soundtrack was localized? what if parts of scott pilgrim or batman, were given this same change because of a business practice and knowledge of international reception? It's a very deep rabbit hole, and sadly easily shrugged and avoided by minor justification and swayfilled understanding.

As games grow as old as film is now, I feel this kind of discussion will become more important.