The Evolution of Translating Games

As we’re currently shifting from the seventh generation of consoles to eighth, games are getting more complex, requiring more money, time, and effort to develop.  The 8-bit consoles, such as the Nintendo and Sega systems, has the first games to feature “credits” at the end.  Try beating Contra or Rampage, and you’ll see a list of about 20 or 30 names scroll up the screen, from Lead Designer to QA Team.  Now, after clearing seventh generation titles like Uncharted or Gears of War, sit back and wait 5 to 10 minutes as the credits scroll, equivalent to having finished a movie.

But graphics and level design aside, even the effort Japanese companies put into translating those lucky titles exported overseas have been evolving as well.

Back in the day of 8-bit games, most companies like Konami or HAL didn’t bother with professional translators who were fluent in both languages.  After all, these are just games played by kids, right?  Who cares if there’s an error or two, as long as children have fun playing the game.  So, they’d find someone among their Japanese staff who was confident enough with their English abilities after studying in high school.  This person would sit down with a Japanese-English dictionary, and set to work.  The result?  Some pretty bizarre Engrish text.

Konami’s Metal Gear on the NES, despite spawning one of the most successful game series after Hideo Kojima took the reigns, had some of the worst English in any title.  From the very first level, you have a soldier saying, “I feel asleep.”  Move down and enter the nearby vehicle, and Solid Snake says, “Uh-oh! The truck have started to move!”  Also, take the game title Gradius.  What’s a “gradius?”  Well, a “gladius” is an ancient Roman sword, a weapon, much like the ship in the game.  But the Japanese language doesn’t have a distinction between the letters “R” and “L,” and so we ended up with Gradius, a word that means nothing.

As games became progressively more complex, moving into the 16-bit and disc-based games such as the PS One, Japanese developers started hiring professional translators who were actually fluent in English.  Despite a few titles with some serious wording issues, such as the famous line from Taplan’s Zero Wing, “All your base are belong to us!” the majority of titles showed a vast improvement in translations once this aspect of development was taken seriously.

But wait, games were now featuring voices!  They weren’t just translating text, but the tone and emotions of the characters, as well.  Not to worry – as long as the English makes sense, gamers won’t care how it sounds.  So, rather than hiring professional voice actors, Japanese developers grabbed any English speaker off the street, handed them a script, and told them to read into the mic.  Anyone who’s played Capcom’s Resident Evil on the PS One will understand the lack of effort put into the character’s voices.  Aside from the corny lines, the characters seem to be either over-acting, or under, making it sound like a B-movie.  The first time Chris sees a zombie, rather than freak out and wonder what the hell it is, he replies in monotone, “Don’t worry, I’ll handle this,” like he’s about to wipe-up some spilled juice.

But this all evolved as well, and by the time we entered the sixth generation, characters in translated Playstation 2 games were starting to feature professional voice actors who spoke natural English.  A whole lot more pleasing to the ear, thereby enhancing the gaming experience.  After all, games aren’t all about graphics.  Like any novel or film, they need care put into the translation of the stories, as well.

written by Damon Finos