Did I tell you about the lizard? - June 6, 2000 - Chris
Jones
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this column are those of
the participants and the moderator, and do not necessarily reflect those of the GIA. There
is coarse language and potentially offensive material afoot. 55th anniversary of D-Day
today, and that's no joke. Thanks much to the vets involved. Don't say we didn't warn you.
I admit it, I kinda shortchanged you guys today. I should have written this column, or
most of it, coming back on the plane from Chicago today. But I didn't, just read some more
Tim Powers and slept a bit. I could have also checked my email before I started this, but
I didn't, so I'm just going to be working with what got sent to me before about 10:20 AM,
CDT. If you sent me something later than that, fear not, it'll be under consideration for
tomorrow.
This column is also about 2-3 hours later than usual, but that's because I was spending
time with my family, and I'm not gonna apologize for that. However, I'm going to Austin
tomorrow and should remain there for several months, so hopefully updates should be more
uniform from here on out.
Onward.
| One or many, it's all the same in the end |
| To Chris and any of those who were actually believing B2's little tirade
on the ending FMV in FFVII yesterday, please kindly disregard what B2 said. I own a
copy of the Japanese FFVII and have tried beating the game all four of the ways described
by B2. There was and is only one FMV ending. I distinctly recall an interview with one of
the directors or producers (the name escapes me at the moment, perhaps Mr. Sakaguchi?) in
which this point was addressed. The director explained that neither Vincent nor Yuffie
were in the ending because of space constraints on the disc, and could not render and
store movies on the disc for each of the possible party options: with Yuffie, with
Vincent, with both or with neither. Neither character was meant to play a major role in
the game, and both could be completely passed up during gameplay. As a result, both of
them were left out of the FMV.
Also, even if the other endings did exist, wouldn't translating the extra dialouge for
Yuffie and Vincent take only, perhaps, an extra hour or two for the localization team?
Heh... I won't be surprised if this isn't posted, but it just burns me to see people
sending false information such as B2 did...
~Phonbu,
happy to set the record straight. |
If there's any blame resulting from this, it should fall on my shoulders and not anyone
else's. The multiple endings thing in FF7 is something a letters columnist at this site
should probably know, or at least be able to research. Normally I would have been able to
find out the truth of the matter in about 5 seconds on the staff IRC channel, but as I've
been saying for a while now, I'm away from net access at the moment.
However, that's no excuse. I still can't confirm or deny that FF7 has multiple endings,
but based on the multiple emails I've gotten so far, I'd tend to say there's just the one.
And I still stand by my assertion that it doesn't matter if there are multiple endings or
not, given what ultimately happens.
| My brother's keeper |
| Chris, Luigi's name is Luigi Mario. I'm not kidding, it's actually in
the (awful) Super Mario Brothers movie.
Brian Sebby |
I can't imagine that'd be very good for Luigi, to always be linked to the name of a
more famous brother. In fact, I'd think Luigi would slowly develop a murderous rage toward
his sibling, which would finally cumulate in his complete dismemberment of Mario and
several innocent bystanders.
Hey, you don't think that's what Miyamoto was referring to in his statement about a
"more adult" Mario game on the Dolphin, do you? "American Mario?"
| Don't like Tactics? Yup, you've got a problem. |
| Hey Chris, I think I have a problem. For some reason, I can't get the
hang of Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy VI (FF Anthology), or Final Fantasy Tactics. I say
that because I can't seem to tolerate it. When I played Final Fantasy V, I didn't feel
like learning about the job system because I didn't know how often you had to change jobs
(lazy) When I played Final Fantasy VI, I got to a certain part of the game and just
stopped because it seemed like my levels weren't high enough (and I think I got pretty
far) On top of that, the plot twists were predictable from what I had played. When I
played Final Fantasy Tactics, I didn't really understand the concept of a strategy RPG
(y'know... the part about taking 45 minutes to decide where you want to stand just to
realize that you screwed up and have to start over?) and so I was like "What the hell
is this???" I realize that I should probably be shot or at the other end of
Squall"s Gunblade, but hear me out...
I didn't start playing RPGs until Secret of Mana came out in '92. I was 9 at the time,
saw the game at a movie rental store, and checked it out for a night. I was definitely
blown away after only because exposed to Street Fighter 2 and Final Fight (which I
couldn't even play when my sister was around 'cause it was hers) and anything with Super
Mario Bros. on it. To this day, SoM is on my alter : ) After that, I played Chrono Trigger
in '95 and worshipped that, too. But for some reason or sick twist of fate, I never really
played Final Fantasy II (IV) or III (VI) I tried renting them once, but I just wasn't
interested in them at all (IV has an excuse, but VI...) So the series disappears out of my
life for a couple of years, but then it pops up on the Playstation as FFVII (so I'm
thinkin' "What the hell happened to 4, 5, and 6?") I play it and I immediately
become a Squaresoft whore, addicted to the graphics, music and storyline. When you think
about it, it's kinda sad, because it looks like I've gone commercial or something. At
least I have good taste ^-^
If only you can help me, Chris! Maybe one day I'll understand the true meaning of
happiness when I actually sit down and play FFT.... unless somebody else wants my copy?
(???) (?)
Yatta, who'll be too busy graduating before she can play Vagrant Story or Legend of
Mana
BTW, Luigi's last name is Mario and Princess Jemmy rocks!!! |
NOTE: You have my guarantee this reply will not degenerate into an "I hate menus
rant."
This letter interests me because of what it says about gameplay tastes and Secret of
Mana, specifically that games like SoM act as stepping stones to more in-depth
entertainment. I'd always thought that it was simpler RPGs that led to more complex games
(for me, FF1 -> FF4 -> FFT, a learning curve in battle mechanics) but perhaps it's
other factors that lead people into playing deep games. SoM has comparatively exuberant
and accessible graphics, music and gameplay, perhaps these are what people are actually
are after when they play other RPGs, while merely putting up with the more intricate
battle systems.
If true this may go some distance toward explaining the dichotomy between old school
gamers and fans of Square's more recent work. When old school gamers complain that more
recent games lack the depth of FF6, perhaps they're merely confusing plot and gameplay
with the comparatively more straightforward look and feel of the game. This isn't a value
judgement - I love the more cinematic graphical and narrative features of modern games,
but I can't deny that along with that cinematic approach comes a lot of baggage in the
form of increased demands and expectations, all of which could get in the way of someone
looking for the quicker, purer gaming fix an FF6 or Lunar provides.
Or not. It's late, what do you want from me at this hour? Coherency?
| Jemmy wrong, millions distraught. Film at 11. |
| The line sounds like a B5 Delenn line to me, but darned if I can place
it. Ah well. Now there's a series that always struck me as having similarities to anime
themes. Ah well. As to the localisation debate - Princess Jemmy forgot to add that it
does cost quite a bit more to localise a title for Europe than for America. If you're
translating it, you've got around four languages to translate to (Italian, French, Spanish
and German, generally). You've got to reengineer your output for PAL, and I have been
assured that this is more complicated a task than you might think. You've also got to
advertise - and bear in mind TV advertising over does cost more in general than the US,
possibly because we have 1/10 of the number of channels (and about the same number of good
shows - go figure. But, as with games, generally at least a month behind). And there's
still a certain amount of prejudice against RPGs over here - one magazine in particular is
constantly deriding the genre. (Mind you, that self-same mag'd give 9/10 to a PSX
tic-tac-toe game featuring Lara Croft, so who are they to judge?) Add in a lower fanbase
(most people over here would be more into PC RPGs) and I'm surprised (and grateful) we get
any games at all.
And now the question - I'm told Vagrant Story's translation is so good it actually
improves the dialogue big-time. Could this possibly be the start of a new trend?
Ciaran Conliffe |
The odd thing is, your sourcing of B5 is somewhat correct. I still don't know the exact
source of the line, but I'm starting to suspect it's one of the Arthurian retellings, like
The Once and Future King or something. B5 is not an Arthurian retelling, although
it does borrow from the Arthurian mythos and have a similar epic quality to it.
You're dead on with most of your points regarding the difficulties in releasing console
RPGs in Europe, and undoubtedly each of those is something companies are fighting to
overcome in their European marketing campaigns. But I don't think the additional
translations are as big a factor as you suggest, if it's done right. As various people
made clear a few columns back, the big divide is between Japanese and the European
languages. Once you've got a solid English (or German, Spanish, etc.) translation, moving
into the others should be relatively painless and cheap.
I'd love to suggest that the US is finally getting some great translations to make up
for years of "Off course!" but at this point it's probably not wise to regard
VS's translation as anything but a fluke. However, you should keep your fingers crossed,
just in case.
| A man with a plan |
| I'm getting Legend of Mana. |
Boy-howdy, we got ourselves a rebel here, folks! Way to buck the trend there, nameless
person!
Closing Comments:
Ok, gotta cut this short because if I don't get to bed soon I'm gonna be sleepy on the
drive tomorrow, which is not a good thing when you're doing 500 miles solo. (And before
you suggest caffeine, I should tell you my current tolerance for the drug makes it near
useless.)
No topic for tomorrow, but hopefully I can get myself back up to speed pretty quickly
when I've got a data feed again. Take it easy, until next time.
-Chris Jones, wants to be Bobby Shaftoe, less the heroin addiction |
|
|
|
