Reeves explains why Europe has to wait News

Learn to play in English I say. And if localization is such a problem why the hell doesn't it happen simultanously. It's not like graphic artist 1 is really recording those Spanish voices now is it. I call bullshit. They are the ones who want stupid translations, let them wait. Just give us the US copy.

Luckily PS3 games are region free so I'll get US ones.

So what?

They'll be be waiting anyway... give us stuff day 1, this waiting crap is silly.

How do others manage it then?

Please ask him about the DS3 & when will it be included in the retail PS3 box, instead of the useless sixaxis pad.

Well done Killa. How well reasoned, how insightful.

so we're not getting the games earlier not to be biased against the rest of Europe, when you're biased against the whole of Europe anyway?

So they only reason we don't get games at the same time as the US is to appear 'fair' to the rest of Europe? That's a pretty piss poor excuse really, I think they can understand that having the same language as the US means we don't have to bother with localisation.

So how do MS do it for all their games (almost) including third party games?

I don't understand the logic of that.

Now, i don't have a sony machine, but if i did, i'd be really angry to hear that games are being delayed in the UK (and Ireland, cause, you know, WE DO SPEAK ENGLISH) just to make sure that Germany and France don't insult sony.

From what i understand, as well, the UK market is central to the PS3 European strategy, and i know Ireland had the highest per head install base of PS machines in Europe.

This seems like a slap in the face

If any of you actually worked in a games company [that dealt with localised versions], you'd all STFU.

Absolute bull MS seem do to it OK, Sony show all the time that they don't NEED to make the effort here. They know Europe is still half their install base even after being treated so badly.

By the way Mr Reeves was language the delay in DS3 here as well? Knob!

Silly argument. They should just release the English version first and then the localised versions later. Many Europeans speak English anyway and they would have the choice of getting it earlier or waiting. The French and Germans can complain all they want. As long as they complain in English.

It's all about them thinking we like it up ye olde chuff.

What a load of crap. MS basically proved that Europe can be treated equal as long as there is the will to do it.

EDIT: Equal launch date + equal release dates for games.

The only way around this other then is if English speaking EU countries get their own store.

Which isnt going to be happening. :(

Well, I'm from Holland, but I want to play my games in English. The only games that should be localised are games like Wii Fit, Brain Training, Nintendogs, Eyetoy, Buzz, etc. Games for the whole family. All other games in English please. I HATE the waiting.

Bartacus: when the manual's been localized. ;)

The source of the problems lies with the governments of the countries that require everything to be localized to their language. Remove that rule, and we'll get games quicker, as less developers will be willing to localize. As it stands now, the developers are forced to localize their games, and to keep a healthy market, they have to release the game at the same time across europe. Unless we want the local shops to stop taking in games, we really want to support them by buying them in store (at least occasionally). By releasing the game in the UK (and countries that doesn't require localization) first, many of not most of the gamers will just order from there, and thus deprive your local stores of a sale - and if this becomes the norm, they will simply stop offering games.

I am sure most EU countries would like the option to go with the English Language version from day one too.

Does this explain why Europe doesn't get the 80gb bc PS3?

Once they bring out Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiidge Racer, I'm sure everything will fall into place for them.

Or not. PS3lol.

I know! Maybe Sony could invent a proprietary language that all of us could learn. Problem solved.

'"But even if you talk to Guerilla, Namco, Square Enix, they all do it in English to begin with and then think about localisation later.'

No, Namco and Square Enix do it in Japanese to begin with, then localize it into English. So why not localize it into the other languages at the same time? Shouldn't be to hard if you try. In fact, it should be much easier doing it all at the same time.

If we have to wait while they localise these games for the European market, why do we have to put up with the awful American voice acting in some games. Why can't they use the time to improve the voices, add some 'U's and exchange some 'Z's for 'S's. We're getting the short end of the stick.

"How do others manage it then? "

I agree completely.

It's not surprise or news that localisation is the main reason for delays (especially on PSN releases) but if they Sony, and their partners, can't cope with it, then stop making this a requirement and release in English. Seems to work just fine for Microsoft. Idiots!!

@prolific8 : Old

That explains why doing European versions adds delays (obviously) but it doesn't explain why they'd still go ahead and release the US versions early. If they wanted to, they could release simultaneously by delaying until all versions are ready, and thereby avoid pissing off anyone. They just don't want to.

Considering the quality of some translations it's a wonder it takes more than two days of work.
Exception: Nintendo. Always brilliant translations.

And, of course, what about the games coming out in Europe 6 months after the initial release overseas... WITHOUT TRANSLATION!!?

Just because it's old doesn't mean he should be allowed to forget it. We're still talking about the same console here.

Does this explain why Europe doesn't get the 80gb bc PS3?
Well duh, do you know how long it takes to translate "backwards compatibility"!?

This is one of the reasons why I've supported the Xbox more than any other system; they don't treat us like crap.

Sony seems to think we don't mind waiting and then getting lesser stuff, but Nintendo just seems to be pointing and laughing at us. I love Nintendo, I love the Wii and I love the DS, but I'm really struggling to support them this time around, especially after Smash Brothers. Almost every single one of my DS games is an import, and next time they release a console, I think I'll just get a US one, and import all the games.

"How much can I get for a Dutch version of the game?"

Bad example. Most (if not all) Dutch gamers understand English really well. And we usually experience Dutch translations as kiddy or annoying.

I recently bought Half-Life 2. At first there was no option to install it in English, so I had to go with the Dutch version. The translation (just text) was terrible. Luckily I quickly found out how to switch to English.


But I can imagine it's different with French/Spanish/Italian/German translations...

New EG headline -

*ADD gamers in lack of patience shock*

How long does it take to translate a Dualshock 3?

They choose to release games across the whole EU region for various reasons (logistics, ratings, advertisement etc.) and since they -rightfully- support localization, but cannot manage/influence/force it simultaneously, then we have to wait.

I'm afraid they won't start releasing games to UK first, just because you want them to. You may find it easy to look down on German or French markets, but no real businessman would pass on the opportunity to capitalize on them.

It would be more feasible to ask Sony to take a lesson from MS on this one :)

PS. Isn't it ironic that you complain about having to wait for the games, yet you didn't complain actively (with your wallets I mean, assuming Sony's European sales claim the other day is correct) having to wait for the console itself?

Hm, I think I see what would happen here. The UK would get the english speaking games in, those who want to from Europe would import from the UK, the software houses would think "why bother spending money on additional EU language support since a big part of the market is gone already" and then non-English speaking countries lose out.

Its a pain, and the best solution so far has been to head off to the good old US for games instead. English and ahead of the EU!

Well, I'm from Holland, but I want to play my games in English. The only games that should be localised are games like Wii Fit, Brain Training, Nintendogs, Eyetoy, Buzz, etc. Games for the whole family. All other games in English please. I HATE the waiting.

This is something that I've heard an awful lot from other EU countries.

As an example, how much 'localisation' did Everyday Shooter require? A few lines of text? and yet it was nearly six months behind the US.

Going back to the comment above from notorious_roy, I'd like to see an experiment. Release ONE non localised game on all the EU stores at the same time as the US version. Have a statement on the non-English stores saying "Please note: this is the ENGLISH version. A French/German etc version will be released at a later date. Please do not download unless you want the ENGLISH version."

I bet an awful lot of people would grab it, as the percentage of English speaking in the EU is very high. Also, as with Everyday Shooter, it doesn't matter what language it's in.

How hard would it be to release an English version, then a free 'language patch' later on?

The localisation EXCUSE is simply that - an excuse.

"How long does it take to translate a Dualshock 3? "

You have to consider that the controller rumbles in different frequencies for different European counties... that's common sense :)

I m laughing, as you see Europe is Sony' best market and a runaway success over X360 but still do not count enough to get localisations done on day one of dev?! Sony could influence for this to happen?

I did always wonder why we have six months, a year delay for 'localisation' when we could have been given option 'US English version is ready if you want that?'

Oh my god! It's rumble is last gen all over again..., it's hopeless these guys are compulsive liars.

And I'm NEVER buying a stupid Dutch version EVER. They translate some trailers into Dutch and it's the worst thing I ever heard. STOP DOING THAT!

Now explain to me why England has to wait.

whats a bit funny about his example is that here in holland you usually only get english games, only kids games get dutch translations - for the rest, 99% of the time, you don't even have an option for dutch.

what a silly man.

I am a localisation engineer :) (admit it, you all wanted to know that ;))

guess what. it's difficult to do UNLESS the producer of the game plans for the localisation in the first place it will be difficult to extract the text. Resource files usually do the trick (MS). that stores all of the strings in a separate file and makes it easy to localise. however there is testing involved. You may have noticed (or maybe not) that French/German is about 30% longer than English. Japanese is shorter. So unless the developers consider (know) that (which they don't most of the time), the strings will be cut off. Cut off strings is no use really. Testing costs a lot of money and is not taken seriously either by the way. you may have noticed that most of the "old" games work out of the box, whereas everything new works ... eventually after several patches have have been applied to it.

EA does tests on an 8 week* basis and 24/7 at that. As soon as the time is up the game is released, whether it works or not. it will then be patched accordingly.

Also, there is a difference to US English and UK English. Maybe that's the reason why it takes some time to "localise" the game to UK english, especially if it's being developed in the US. It's preference really. but trust me if I say that software is translated from US english to UK English or vise versa quite a lot of times.

Overall it's the developers own fault. Most companys that develop software (not games) don't think about any other market than the US market. If they do remember that we live in a globalized economy it usually comes at a stage where localising costs outweigh the benefits.
So the simple solution is to re-write the software for the next release and then release the multilingual version.

sorry for the long post.

*Not sure about exact number of weeks, could be more/less depending on game

Screw you i don't want a dutch version. Keep sending english towards the netherlands. I hate it when my games are in dutch

The problem with European gamers importing US versions is that it articficially inflates US sales figures and thereby the value of the US market and artficially deflates European sales figures and the value of the European market. This means that there's even less incentive for developers to put time, effort and money into localisation, or even to release certain games in Europe at all. Importing just makes the whole situation worse for everyone.

I thought Sony were stopping this localisation bullshit.

Import.

The world is a very small place nowadays and their is plenty of on-line stores that deliver sometimes quicker than some UK retailers and the price is usually a couple of quid cheaper...

I have had my DS3 for about 6-7 months now. I got it cheaper than the Probable UK RRP.

Same with the PSN Store its sooooo easy to set yourself up with a US/Jap/HK PSN account there is nothing stopping you getting any of the demos or games release elsewhere...

I don't care if my games are german or not... I ALWAYS play them in english! F*ck that... release that sh*t on time and be done with it...

You don't want to tell me, that Pain took half a year to translate... Or that FFXII needed 9 months (or whatever)? Especially since most of those games aren't even dubbed, but only subbed!

Thank god, the PS3 is region free!

lets face it, English is heading towards being a global language anyway, like Esperanto failed to do, and if it isn't someones first language, wisdom dictates that its the second. obviously i'm biased, being an English English-speaker, but it would still be true if I wasn't.

Perhaps it would be best for all if games just came out in English. it would be an incentive to learn the language and good practice for anyone who cant pull themselves away from the video games to pick up an English text book and do their homework anyway.

Plus it would be another thing the English can throw in the face of our French and German cousins, in the spirit of competitive friendly racism that pretty much permeates everything since world war 2.

2 world wars and 1 world cup and all video games ever etc.

isn't it ironic, we invented the ENGLISH language and then the Americans get the games in English before us.

No offence, but if we speak English there is no reason we shouldn't get it at the same time, if the other countries are going to have to wait for a localised version then that's a problem with the developers, but if its already ready to go in our country, making is wait is just plain idiotic.