First glimpse at the german dub

[Harald B]

Following gamesload.de giving Culture Shock away to new members (http://www.gamesload.de/gc2007/), some guy has posted a short glimpse (http://youtube.com/watch?v=EKKsaLkfXHc) on YouTube. I must say I'm not impressed, so here's hoping it sounds better when playing it yourself. The way the cutscene-music towards the end doesn't connect properly anymore is especially disappointing...

[Marzhin]

Adventure-europe (http://www.adventure-eu.com) also has a few .wav files from the french dub (http://www.adventure-eu.com/fr/index.php?option=com_repository&cat_id=3&game_id=57&file_id=73). It's indeed Jean-Claude Donda who is reprising the roles of both Sam and Max. OK, his voice aged a bit, but listening to this I feel like Hit the Road was only yesterday :o

[taumel]

I found the german voices not convincing too. Much better played in the original or if you want good german voice actors then go with Jack Keane instead.

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

The original italian dubber of Sam/Glottis/more recently died, so I can't even hope to feel closer to HTR. Anyway the italian version of Season One won't be dubbed, so there aren't any problems. Too bad!

[Harald B]

And a second glimpse. Adventure-Treff.de acquired the opening cutscene of the german Culture Shock (http://www.adventure-treff.de/specials/video.php?id=285) at the Leipzig GC. Interesting, but I'm still not impressed..

[Bruno83]

oh dear
Sam sounds like some kind of snob I'd say.
And Max voice actress showed much more enthusiasm in hit the road, or when she doese Bart Simpson. (She's just perfect for Bart)
And Jimmy Zweizahn??
then they'll surely call Harry Harry Maulwurfmann.
It's not so bad that I have bought the whole season before I knew, that there was going to be a german dubbed version after all, since now I found out, that I can really do without.
though I'd still like some german subtitles for my english version.

Edit: I also got the impression, that the voice actors didn't really know what the other person was saying or doing, before their sentens.
But I sometimes got that feeling in some other old adventures too.

[Diduz]

I am not the best person to judge, but I'd say the French actor is doing a better job than the German cast.
Jean-Claude Donda seems to have got the crazy energy of the characters, whereas the German actors sound too... polite and calm.
Aw, I wish I could analyze MY Sam & Max. JoWood, why didn't you produce an Italian dubbing? Why?!?!? Oh, the shame, the shame... :(
...but now I'm used to Nowlin & Kasten and wouldn't want them replaced. :D

[Bruno83]

I just realised, that there has already been a "Maulwurfmann" in hit the road.
There have even been more then one.

[Jekill]

how could they possibly translate "patience is a sharp razor to swallow" into "you need a lot of patience for patience" :eek: this is gruesome

[S3BR4]

Wow, I feared it might be bad, but this is just unbelievable. Max with the german voice of Bart Simpson is already a horrible miscast, but Sams voice... wow, he sounds like a total snob but also like a total pansy. Oh and the translation... well... babelfish would probably yielded a better result. Thank the lagomorphic gods I will never ever have to endure that painful dren again...

[Bruno83]

hmmm
I've never played the english version oft hit the road.
I woudn't have understand a word back then, when I got that game.
The german voice actors have been the same in hit the road, and I liked them.
I think if i wouldn't have played the game with the english voices already, then I probably wouldn't dislike the german voices that bad.
But some translations are really bad. And you don't even get, that Jimmy is throwing up that phone
now maybe I should get the english version of htr

[patters]

hmmm
I've never played the english version oft hit the road.
I woudn't have understand a word back then, when I got that game.
The german voice actors have been the same in hit the road, and I liked them.
I think if i wouldn't have played the game with the english voices already, then I probably wouldn't dislike the german voices that bad.
But some translations are really bad. And you don't even get, that Jimmy is throwing up that phone
now maybe I should get the english version of htr

it couldn't hurt (much)play.com (http://www.play.com/) have it for £8 and ship to germany (not sure if it free postage overseas but it could well be) and according to guybrush(no underscore)threepwood it works perfectly on vista so will work on xp without the need for ScummVm

[Hero1]

how could they possibly translate "patience is a sharp razor to swallow" into "you need a lot of patience for patience" :eek: this is gruesome

:eek::eek::eek:

[DDshoeshowz]

I don't understand a word of it, but I can't be the only one who finds Sam's German voice oddly soothing?

[Zeek]

The auto lip-sync really shines with these international dubbings. No need to try and time the voice to the lip flaps! Too bad I can't say the same thing about some of the cutscenes where timing is practically everything.

[Jake]

Some of the cutscenes seem to work better than others, from what little I've seen...

[Chomping-Nazgul]

Oh my god!:eek::eek::eek:

I already thought they can't manage to translate the jokes into german(e.g. you don't say "Ratte" to a traitor in germany) but this is... gruesome... absolutely horrible... I can't believe this is the same voice Sam had back 1993 in germany... The guy aged over the years...
And Max... well his voice is a little bit better than Max's, but not half as good as in the german hit the road, or even the english voice.

You also hear the voice actors don't have any enthusiasm.

"I wish I could unsee that"(lol) -> "Musste das sein? Hätt ich doch bloß nicht hingekuckt."...O.o
"You know I have the memory of a dried trout!" ->"Ich hab so viel Gedächtnis, wie ein halbes Pfund Stockfisch."...o.O

And what the crap is a "Indertatleidernaermusshierirgendwoindiesemraumsein"???:(
(@germanguys: Habt ihr gemerkt, wie schnell Sam das spricht? Der Synchronsprecher hatte KEINE Ahnung, was dieser Text zu bedeuten hat)

PS:
The whole first german minutes in the game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7v34U9dRUY&NR=1
The translation is REALLY bad.
"Hey Schlappohr, dein Partner macht mich krank!"
-"Du sagtest etwas von Kopfweh..."
(it's like "Hey, Dog! Your partner makes me sick!"
-"You mentioned a headache.")
...sense? O.o

[Bruno83]

(@germanguys: Habt ihr gemerkt, wie schnell Sam das spricht? Der Synchronsprecher hatte KEINE Ahnung, was dieser Text zu bedeuten hat)

Genau das meinte ich, das klingt, als wollte er ein vorangegangenes "leider" bestätigen. Blöd nur, dass da keins war.

"Hey Schlappohr, dein Partner macht mich krank!"
-"Du sagtest etwas von Kopfweh..."
(it's like "Hey, Dog! Your partner makes me sick!"
-"You mentioned a headache.")
...sense? O.o

that's right, it's like the translators just tried to translate evry line and didn't know the whole plot.
And why is the name of the Bowlingboal Luise?

"Ich hab so viel Gedächtnis, wie ein halbes Pfund Stockfisch." is really not the worsed translation.
althoug in that case they could have just translated every word:
"Du weißt, ich habe das Gedächtnis einer getrockneten Forelle."

errr... why did they change the font?!

[tabacco]

I believe we have to change our fonts for some languages because the font we normally use doesn't have any accented characters.

[Diduz]

I believe we have to change our fonts for some languages because the font we normally use doesn't have any accented characters.

This is still a tiny problem in the Italian versions of the Bone games. The accented characters are there, but they're not clear enough. Accent is VERY important in some European languagues, it can even change the meaning of some words.

[chrisff1989]

God, I loathe dubs. I'm glad Greek isn't a popular dubbing language because it means I don't have to endure shitty dubs on games I love.

[Laserschwert]

I really don't understand why you criticize the German dub that much, especially when you've played "Hit the Road" before... translation-wise it's no better or worse than HTR was, and both Sandra and Hans-Gerd sound and act just like they did back in 1993. I even must say, that Sandra's Max is a little better in S1, since she differs more from her Bart voice, while her acting in HTR was pure Simpsons. Sure, the translations are (sadly) a little too soft for S&M, but I had to laugh at their takes on a couple of lines.

I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get this, though when it get's cheaper a bit, after all I've already got S1 from here.

[Bruno83]

I was already waiting for your opinion Laserschwert, because knew. that you've been very happy about Sandra doing Max.
I am too, it's cool to have the old voice actors back.

But from what I have seen,
I really liked the german dub of hit the road better.

But I gotta admit, that I really haven't seen much of the english version of HTR.
And of course, I haven't seen much of the german dub of season one.

Bur I don't think that Hans-Gerd sounds and acts like he did in HTR now.

Of course, this isn't the worsed dubbed game I've ever seen.
It's actually quite good compared to most other games.

Games are very often dubbed bad, here in Germany. (My opinion)
I am alway happy when they only feature german subtitles.

well after all it's up you, if you play it in german or english.
It's good to have that opportunity.
Some dialogues are very hard to get in the english version, if its not your native language,
especially Sams : Holy jumpin... whatever
and I didn't understand all of them.
So it's nice to be able to play it in german.

[Laserschwert]

Games are very often dubbed bad, here in Germany.

Are you serious about this? Especially in the last years German dubs of games were of astounding quality... though the LucasArts adventures started this, especially games like "Black Mirror", "Ankh", "The Moment of Silence" and "NiBiRu" clearly set a new standard for the German market (and revived the adventure genre along the way)...

[Chomping-Nazgul]

Are you serious about this? Especially in the last years German dubs of games were of astounding quality... though the LucasArts adventures started this, especially games like "Black Mirror", "Ankh", "The Moment of Silence" and "NiBiRu" clearly set a new standard for the German market (and revived the adventure genre along the way)...I just want to add that Ankh(as well as Jack Keane) is a german game, so it's only natural that the german dubs or at least the dialogues were good ones. There's no german translation to mess up with and the gags were written in german.

[Quuux]

The translation (into English) of Ankh 1 & 2 is pretty stilted at times and the voice acting leaves a little to be desired. Hooray again for TTG for nice voices and good writing.

[Bruno83]

to be honist, I haven't played one of the games you mentioned Laserschwert, so I don't know.
(Don't have much time anymore, to play new games.)

The last german dubbed game I've played was Tron 2.0 and I didn't like the voice acting. I've never seen the english one though.

Metal Gear solid was dubbed very bad.
It's been funny how the guards where always lisping every time they said: Hää?.....Hää Fußspuren? (huh?....huh? footprints?)
They sounded so stupid that way, I really got to laugh at that when I first played the game.
I'm glad they didn't dub MGS2 and 3.

[Chomping-Nazgul]

Metal Gear solid was dubbed very bad.
It's been funny how the guards where always lisping every time they said: Hää?.....Hää Fußspuren? (huh?....huh? footprints?)
They sounded so stupid that way, I really got to laugh at that when I first played the game.
I'm glad they didn't dub MGS2 and 3.That's coz in Japan "Häää" is an expression of surprise and a feeling of being overwhelmed.

Unfortunately this "Hä?" in germany has exactly the same meaning as "Huh?" and some translators are so bad, they don't even know this.(I don't speak japanese but a few words and even I know this "Hä"-Stuff!)

ok, back to topic Sam&Max:
Sam&Max rulz!
Sam&Max english dubbed r0xx0rs!
Sam&Max german dubbed is kinda kewl, but not as good as english subbed!
...:D

[Emily]

At least JoWood is putting all the languages on the same DVD, so people who buy it and don't like the German dub can play the English instead.

About the voice actors, it's interesting to see how people feel about the same actors who played these characters 14 years ago. Makes me wonder if the reaction would have been the same if we'd cast the guys from Hit the Road as the English voice actors...

[Zeek]

About the voice actors, it's interesting to see how people feel about the same actors who played these characters 14 years ago. Makes me wonder if the reaction would have been the same if we'd cast the guys from Hit the Road as the English voice actors...
I wouldn't mind. It's better than the Sam "I apparently started smoking between HTR and the cartoon series" voice and the Spaztic-Yell-at-Everything Max. Though I'm quite fond of that spaztic yelling...

[sirilluminator]

I tested all of the German games a few times each...the German Max is enough to drive you crazy!

[Bruno83]

That's coz in Japan "Häää" is an expression of surprise and a feeling of being overwhelmed.

Unfortunately this "Hä?" in germany has exactly the same meaning as "Huh?"

correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't "Huh?" an expression of surprise too?
as well as Hä?
well I'm sure "Hä?" is an expression of surprise.

I actually meant the word "Fußspuren" that sounded so stupid. Because the voice actor obviously had a speech defect and got a lisp.

[tobar]

"Huh?" is more of an expression of confusion but can be used as an expression of surprise.

[tobar]

About the voice actors, it's interesting to see how people feel about the same actors who played these characters 14 years ago. Makes me wonder if the reaction would have been the same if we'd cast the guys from Hit the Road as the English voice actors...

I would have been extremely more excited but I love the current voices. What I'd really love to hear some day is some of the dialog from Freelance Police if they had gotten that far along in production. Which I think they did.

[Stoney]

Well the first few minutes in "Culture Shock" are a bit "choppy" here and there. But at least its going upwards quality wise, it seemed to me as if the voice actors just started to get into their role.

Sure, some of the jokes can´t be transported 1:1 to another language (Soda Poppers got renamed to Limo Lausers?) Boscos Inconvenience being renamed to Boscos-Null-Service-Shop which doesnt sound as weird imo and a few other little things every now and then.

About the Rat Thingy: Yeah, "Rat" is not associated with traitor that much, but imo it still works. If you´ve watched a few Mafia Flicks you might enjoy Sams "Wo ist die Ratte?", which kinda sounds like Robert De Niro speaking it, a bit more. Although in the Sam/Max/Rat Dialog the Rat says something like "aber ich sag nix" which sounds misplaced. I would have rather used "aus mir bekommt ihr keinen Piep raus" (you know the character being a rat and all ;) )

About "Patience is a hard razor to swallow" well, how would you have translated it? "You need a lot of patience for patience" is probably not the best solution i agree, but its hard to find alternates. But yeah, there is a joke going down the drain.

I havent played the german version that much (only Culture Shock a bit) because i have rather limited time at the moment, but its not as bad as some of you are trying to make it. I´ve seen much much worser dubs done on Hollywood Movies with a much larger budget.

With the original language to choose from you can´t go wrong with buying the european DVD from Jowood, but the german dub somehow feels good too. :)

Job well done. :)

[Bruno83]

About "Patience is a hard razor to swallow" well, how would you have translated it? "
First og all it's sharp not hard, nut never mind.
It's not easy, but I got a few suggestions
"Geduld bedeutet eine scharfe Rasierklinge zu schlucken"
"Geduld schluckt sich wie eine scharfe Rasierklinge" (probably the best one)
"Geduld ist eine zu schluckende scharfe Rasierklinge"
"Geduld ist als wolle man eine scharfe Rasierklinge schlucken"
Ok most of them aren't that good. But I still think the second one is better then "Für Geduld braucht man ganz schön Geduld"
But you're right, there are much worse dubs.

[Stoney]

Alright my bad. ;)

Well first we need to determine the meaning of the sentence:

"Patience is a sharp razor to swallow"

For me it basically means "Patience is a virtue" or "Geduld ist eine Tugend" its just far more over the top.

I would basically use one of these:

Geduld ist eine rasiermesserscharfe Tugend die sich in deinem Hals festsetzt, kleiner Freund.
Geduld ist eine rasiermesserscharfe Tugend, kleiner Freund.
Geduld kratzt in deinem Hals wie eine Rasierklinge, kleiner Freund.

The Problem is that "swallowing" is not used this way in the german language. iE there are other terms like "Swallow your pride" etc.

[Badwolf]

I just saw it as "Patience is hard and painful"

[Bruno83]

Your last one is pretty good Stoney
I don't think it really means Patience is a virtue
OK in some ways it does.
But I think it's more like "To be patient isn't much fun" or "It's hard to be patient"
Like badwolf said

Swollowing really isn't used (much) in germany like in your example (Though if you translate it too "schlucke deinen Stolz" people would understand what is meant)

But Sam dosen't say somethimg like "swollow your patience"
It's more like a comparison... Patience "feels" like swollowing a sharp razor.

Maybe someone should start an interpretation topic.:D

[Stoney]

If we get to the bottom of it, it means: "Having Patience is difficult". Well we could start an translation thread but what good would it do? It´s translated already by more pro guys then we are, but i´m open for discussing as its an interesting topic.

A good bet would be this: "Geduld .. sie ist wie das Kratzen einer Rasierklinge in deinem Hals" but that sounds pretty harsh in my opinion. I think its not ment to be that brutal, but on the other hand, hey .. its Sam & Max. ;)

Any other phrases open for discussion? It´s a good way to have Sam & Max doing something educational. ;)

[Bruno83]

hehe
yeah, it's an interesting topic and it's fun to come up with your own Ideas.
I've only seen the videos, that where posted here, so I don't know any other phrases that should get a better translation.
But: "Just you, me and the authority of seven states. But those where quieter times" shouldn't be translatet too "Nur du, ich und die Polizei von sieben Bundesstaate. Und das war der ruhige Teil"
The first sentence is OK. But the second one shoud be "Aber das waren ruhigere Zeiten."

[barchetta]

Oh Mein Got, and you're still dissecting the first act of the first episode of the first season... :eek:

BTW, we - the Dutch - are used to reading subtitles, almost none of the American (and British and for that matter - the German and French, etc) shows are subbed. Just a handful of toddler programmes (Teletubbies comes to mind, also Bob the Builder).
In fact, even if I'm watching a DVD or something on, say, the BBC, then I'm inclined to turn on Teletext (Closed Captioning) to read (in English) what they're saying, even though it's not in my native tongue. I'm just used to reading along!

Marc

[Bruno83]

Hey, I had dutch for three years at school... but since I don't really use it anymore, it's hard for me to speak. I still understand most of it though (if you speak slow enough;))
I know you dutch people are used to subtitles.
I'm pretty used to subtitles in games as most of my games are not dubbed.
I also like to wath DVDs with original tone, as long it's english. (or german of course). Most of the time I don't really look at the subtitles.
and yes
I am still dissecting the first act of the first episode of the first season
becaus (like I already said) it's fun to do so. (Not to degrade the original)
And I've already said multible times, that the german dub isn't that bad.
I guess that most people just had very high expectations.
After watching the videos multible times, you kinda get used to the voice actors.
Maybe I'll even get the german version, when it's becoming cheaper. But I don't really have to buy it.

[lerenwe]

If someone got some other stuff about the French dub, please warn me! :p

I'm waiting for amazon.fr to ship the game, buuut... A video of the episode 1 introduction will just be nice :p

I know, you can select the language for the European version, so... if you can capture a little video and host it on youtube or anything else :p

Thank you :)

[Astro Gnocci]

don't know anything about the french voices in season 1 (ordered the dvd at telltale before even knowing the localisation was on its way, and don't care much about it anyway), but i do know that max's french voice was awfull in Hit the road. As far as i remember i had always played the us version until an english-hater friend of mine got the french one... Sam sounded okay, but they had given max some horrible "silly-child-that-makes-you-wanna-throw-up-and-sitck-loads-of-X-rated-stuff-up-his-damn-nostrils's voice which was nerve-breaking AND totally out of character.
So i sure hope they won't do the same this time.