Language / Localization

[LazyWolf]

Hello, world...
I'm curious to know if there will be local versions released or if it will be a multilingual version on DVD (like many other games which were released on DVD)...

To make my wish more concrete: I have horrible visions of a German localized version where the Allies speak pure German whereas German soldiers get some strange dialect or something. There were so many games screwed up during the attempt to locilize them, so I really suggest to leave it or at least release the game multilingual! :P
Some games in the past managed that quite nicely: AoE III made the cultures talk in their own language, so did Civ IV. Everything else was managed by menu tooltips, subtitles and (if neccessary) narrator voice, which definitely should be chosen with care!

Maybe someone has a hint on what THQ/Relic is up to. Anyway, it would be also nice if someone responsible read this and took the matter into concideration!

Farewell...

[Yarbo]

I think it would be awesome if the germans actually spoke german.

[Tiresias]

Singleplayer germans speak german, multiplayer they speak accented english. No word on localisations iirc

[LazyWolf]

Huh? Why on earth should Germans speek accented English in multiplayer?

[Tiresias]

because when you're playing as them you want to understand what your troops are saying at you

[Mogolov]

Because in MP, unless your fluent in German, you wont understand a word said to you. :D

[Finaldeath]

Of course, if you play it in Germany with German localisation (which I am sure will happen) the voicework will all be in German, with American accented German for the English, of course.

[Kemita]

Same happens with Spanish localized games. THEY STINK. Most Game Companies do translation of the voices with very poor quality, there is not enfasis in what they say if you compare it with an English version it sounds like a joke and it breaks that little inmmersion you have when you play a game.

It's stupid hear an englishman/german speaking Spanish with an English/German stupid accent and not fun at all and absolutely annoying. Yet, they keep translating voices in most of the games.
And the funniest thing is that most of the people don't like it but Game Companies keep doing it!

Even if that wasn't enough, I ALWAYS KEEP LISTENING THE SAME BAND OF RET** IN ALL GAMES I BUY. Doesn't matter the game you play, here in Spain all games have the voices from the same translators.


I hope THQ don't screw it up with localized version, with subtitles and text translatation is far enough.

[LoneWolf666]

I think Allies should speak german with an american accent.

[LazyWolf]

As I always mentioned: Other games have done it and it works. In AoE civilizations speek latin or old english (don't know if that's the correct term) - nearly nobody speaks it, but it doesn't matter.. So did Sudden strike, featuring Allies, Axis and Sowjets. And they all talked in their native language without any accent.
One does not need to know what the troops exactly are responding if you give them orders. Usually you can get the meaning by the sound of the voice.
Another thing is that it is most likely to be not too hard to understand a bunch of German words, because in RTS they usually say things like "Los! Los! Los!" or "Verstanden", so don't tell me you never heard any of that! :P

It is annoying having bad voice actors in the localized versions.
But it is even more annoying to have bad voice actors speeking with some stupid accent.
It isn't a video game problem; last thing I remember is French accent in "The Davince Code"... man, that was bad. Either let them speak French and subtitle or let them speak German! Why do I have to listen to poor German instead?
But video games tend to have bad local voice actors apart from stupid translations and annoying accents.

I know lots of people who tended to buy games from the UK only to get English voices. But now they stopped shipping to other European countries so now German gamers depend on the developers to release their games multilingual or to localize only the text.
I read every month in magazines that games get rated less than thei would have been if the publishers didn't screw up local voices. I read every month that subtitles would have been absolutely appropriate. Lots of games have made it right (Deus Ex [subtitled], AoE, Civ 4 [localized text], Fahrenheit / Indigo Prophecy, UT [multilingual]), so why not learn from it?

[DatonKallandor]

And unlike other RTS, you units give you situation dependant info. Aka "enemy in a house" "we are being outflanked", "Press up,down,left,right, A, B to unlock extra ammo", etc.


Daton

[Commissar[PT]]

Kemita (http://member.php?u=74717) LOL... didn't know that... i knew that you translate ALL your movies, series, etc... and dont use subtitles (we use subtitles. here in Portugal), but games?? dam...

[ceejayoz]

LazyWolf, my understanding is that Company of Heroes has a lot more in-depth voice cues than the average RTS - that knowing what they're saying is vital in many cases.

[LazyWolf]

Okay, that in fact makes a transation some kind of neccessary, as far as the vital information is spoken by the troops and not printed on the screen.
Well, maybe they manage to release a multilingual version, so people may decide on their own. As you probably may have noticed there are a lot of English speaking people in the gamers community...