Telltale Games

lerenwe · 09/30/2007, 07:11 am

Hooray! I've got the French Retail!

Well I got it, but... I've never seen a translation and a voice-acting that were so baaaaaad! There are a lot of orthography faults, typing faults... In the subtitles. The voices are cut at the end of the sentences, the subtitles are sometimes cut too.... The way the sentences are said don't match with the context, the soda poppers got voices that don't match with their personnalities...

In episode 3, Bosco has got a SPANISH accent! Sam and max ask him WHY he is disguised into a SPANISH GUY!

I am very disappointed, I thought the translation and the dubbing were a lot better...

Telltale, don't thrust JOWOOD, they're killing Sam and Max in France!!!

Guybrush Threepwood · 09/30/2007, 07:47 am

It's a shame it hasn't been translated very well. Do you think you'd be able to record some of it to show us?

lerenwe · 09/30/2007, 07:50 am

Yeah, I will record a video, but I must warn you: It's... HORRIBLE O.O !

Harald B · 09/30/2007, 07:58 am

Wow, between this and the badly received german dub that's a serious blow for JoWooD, especially considering how much money they spent on these localizations.

Kitmit13 · 09/30/2007, 08:16 am

I want to see D8 sounds bad

Emily · 09/30/2007, 10:08 am

Here's a question for the French (and also any German and Italian) customers who are unhappy with the translations. Would you consider these localizations much worse than other localizations of adventure games that originally came out in English, or about the same? What are some examples of really good localizations of English adventure games that we could take a look at for comparison?

Thanks.

Mel_O_Die · 09/30/2007, 11:03 am

Hi! I got the french version too, and, personnally i found the dubbing very great, and performed by the original dubber of HtR (he makes himself Sam's AND Max's voice almost perfectly, just the max part who is slightly different than his work on HtR, i regret this a little bit) others characters are good too for a french game, the voices fits the original english version

But the darkside of that localisation is the technical aspect (like lerenwe says) sentences cutted hardly, bad mix, errors in subtitles and, the worst episode is sadly reality 2.0 this one is crippled by localisation bugs (hahaha)
For example, the recording device is a bug (or a cockroach) and in france we says "cafard", the translation of it is "c'est un cafard informatique" (it's a cockroach informatique) and not "c'est un bug informatique"
Another thingy on this episode is the COPS motivation song: awfull! the english voices aren't removed and french voices are superposed on it (and not all lyrics have been recorded in french) not synchronised and the subtitles aren't synchronised too, it's a big mess and that great song is killed by it :s
There is still many other technical problems on this localisation, these onces are the worst for me

In any case the game is allways the same, and after doing it in english i'm happy to replay all these episodes in french, many jokes are conserved and the spirit of Sam & Max is still there!

I can't wait for season 2 on telltale's and i hope that the future localisation will be better technically than this one

Diduz · 10/01/2007, 05:51 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emily

Here's a question for the French (and also any German and Italian) customers who are unhappy with the translations. Would you consider these localizations much worse than other localizations of adventure games that originally came out in English, or about the same? What are some examples of really good localizations of English adventure games that we could take a look at for comparison?

Thanks.

Some examples of well-executed English-into-Italian translations:

LOCALIZED BY JINGLEBELL COMMUNICATIONS
Agatha Christie - Assassinio Sull'Orient Express (Murder on the Orient Express)
Agatha Christie - E non ne rimase nessuno (And then there were none)
Syberia (1 & 2)
Still Life
Paradise
The Black Mirror
Keepsake
Leisure Suit Larry Magna Cum Laude (great localization for such a bad game!!!!)
Half-Life (okay, it's not an adventure game but it's a big title)

LOCALIZED BY SYNTHESIS srl
Fahrenheit (a.k.a. Indigo Prophecy)
Broken Sword 1-2-3

All these titles have been translated & dubbed and are regarded among the best localizations ever. And - yes - they're way better than Season One translations....

Marzhin · 10/03/2007, 01:11 am

Yes unfortunately the french version has issues... As far as I'm concerned, the actors themselves are really good, but the translation itself often misses the joke. The "computer bug" Mel_O_Die mentionned is only one of the many many examples. For instance in episode 4 it seems the translator(s) didn't get there were jokes with the double meaning of "to date" in english... It's not a bad translation per se, it's just, as lerenwe said, off context far too often.

But there are also some good things too. For instance "Midtown Cowboys" becomes in french "Nature, chasse et métrosexuels" (Wildlife, Hunting and Metrosexuals) and this one made me laugh out loud.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lerenwe

In episode 3, Bosco has got a SPANISH accent! Sam and max ask him WHY he is disguised into a SPANISH GUY!

Lol, obviously they couldn't give Bosco a french accent in the french dub... And it is actually very funny.

Yohmi · 10/03/2007, 02:19 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marzhin

Lol, obviously they couldn't give Bosco a french accent in the french dub... And it is actually very funny.

As it has been done in Shrek for Robin Hood, they could give him a countryman's accent, or I don't know, an exagerated south one...

Diduz · 10/03/2007, 03:40 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marzhin

But the translation itself often misses the joke. [...] But there are also some good things too.

Yeah... the same goes with the italian version. I have the strong impression that the translation hasn't been tested. It seems... schizophrenic. Sometimes there are avoidable embarassing mistakes - such as typos, occasional misinterpretation of idioms, different translations for the same item throughout the episodes, singular/plural or male/female errors - whereas some other sections are incredible.
"Abe Lincolm Must Die!" has been translated very well. And the "Reality 2.0" final section (no spoiler) blew me to stitches. Perfect.
In addition, some signs in the street are not always translated in each episode. E.g. the Bosco's front sign is translated only in Episode 1, but it remains in English in episodes 2-6.
I wouldn't bash JoWood completely, but it seems to me that, their intentions being good, they didn't manage to deliver the high standard they were aiming to. They got mixed up along the way?

CWallaby55 · 10/09/2007, 06:40 am

I wonder if Still Life and Syberia were translated so well into Italian (and hopefully into other languages) because, afaik, they had to be translated into English, having originally been made in French. So, because they had to translate for one large market, they might as well do good translations for others? I don't know.

Yohmi · 10/09/2007, 10:02 am

hmm... the only adventure games well translated I can think of are Curse of Monkey Island and Grim Fandango. Sorry, it's a bit old...

CWallaby55> I don't know how is the Syberia's translation, but I finished Syeria 2 several months ago, and the french version is not very good.

For Sam&Max, I read two tests of the french translation (made by pro websites) and they find the translation great. The only real complaint is not about actors, but about bugs (typo, cut, untranslated sentences).
I watched a short video of the cheese episode, translated in french, and it appears to be a very great job to me

Harald B · 10/09/2007, 01:56 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yohmi

I watched a short video of the cheese episode, translated in french, and it appears to be a very great job to me

Where? I'm still trying to find a video of that dub.

lerenwe · 10/10/2007, 03:09 am

Well, okay, I maybe have a little bit exagerrated, the translation is not SO horrible, it's just irritating sometimes...

Here's the beginning of episode 1 in French, by jeuxvideo.fr:

http://www.jeuxvideo.fr/video-sam-ma...-8163-0-0.html

Jay33e · 10/10/2007, 03:14 am

Wow, the translated voices don't sound right for the characters. Sam's voice reminds me from that old guy from the casino in Grim Fandango.

Murray the Chao · 10/10/2007, 02:23 pm

The voices weren't TOO bad, try listening to Sam's voice in the TV series.

Jay33e · 10/10/2007, 03:24 pm

Wait there's a TV series? Why wasn't I informed sooner?

tobar · 10/10/2007, 05:10 pm

I think the real question is, why weren't you paying attention?

Gresman · 10/11/2007, 12:09 am

I watched the vid. I don't understand a word because it was in French but the voices sound better than the german ones.

The german translation is absolute crap. They missed so many good jokes and the actors sound a like they were not really into it. Another example for a good game ruined by bad translation and voice acting.

09/30/2007, 07:11 am	#1
lerenwe Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 47	French Translation: Oh my god! Hooray! I've got the French Retail! Well I got it, but... I've never seen a translation and a voice-acting that were so baaaaaad! There are a lot of orthography faults, typing faults... In the subtitles. The voices are cut at the end of the sentences, the subtitles are sometimes cut too.... The way the sentences are said don't match with the context, the soda poppers got voices that don't match with their personnalities... In episode 3, Bosco has got a SPANISH accent! Sam and max ask him WHY he is disguised into a SPANISH GUY! I am very disappointed, I thought the translation and the dubbing were a lot better... Telltale, don't thrust JOWOOD, they're killing Sam and Max in France!!!

09/30/2007, 07:47 am	#2
Guybrush Threepwood You fight like a cow! Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: England Posts: 2,228	It's a shame it hasn't been translated very well. Do you think you'd be able to record some of it to show us? __________________ Sign here for Bone 3! (with 701+ signatures!)

09/30/2007, 07:58 am	#4
Harald B Egregious Philosopher Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 1,448	Wow, between this and the badly received german dub that's a serious blow for JoWooD, especially considering how much money they spent on these localizations. __________________ although we do still have a time machine, so I wouldn't completely rule out the possibility. Forgot what T.H.E.M. stands for? Need the lyrics to the War Song? Visit the Sam & Max wiki!

10/10/2007, 03:14 am	#16
Jay33e Monkey!! Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: England Posts: 71	Wow, the translated voices don't sound right for the characters. Sam's voice reminds me from that old guy from the casino in Grim Fandango. __________________ You crack me up little buddy....

10/10/2007, 03:24 pm	#18
Jay33e Monkey!! Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: England Posts: 71	Wait there's a TV series? Why wasn't I informed sooner? __________________ You crack me up little buddy....

09/30/2007, 07:50 am	#3
lerenwe Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 47	Yeah, I will record a video, but I must warn you: It's... HORRIBLE O.O !

09/30/2007, 08:16 am	#5
Kitmit13 Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 232	I want to see D8 sounds bad

09/30/2007, 10:08 am	#6
Emily Formerly of the Telltale Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: San Francisco Posts: 4,549	Here's a question for the French (and also any German and Italian) customers who are unhappy with the translations. Would you consider these localizations much worse than other localizations of adventure games that originally came out in English, or about the same? What are some examples of really good localizations of English adventure games that we could take a look at for comparison? Thanks.

09/30/2007, 11:03 am	#7
Mel_O_Die Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 8	Hi! I got the french version too, and, personnally i found the dubbing very great, and performed by the original dubber of HtR (he makes himself Sam's AND Max's voice almost perfectly, just the max part who is slightly different than his work on HtR, i regret this a little bit) others characters are good too for a french game, the voices fits the original english version But the darkside of that localisation is the technical aspect (like lerenwe says) sentences cutted hardly, bad mix, errors in subtitles and, the worst episode is sadly reality 2.0 this one is crippled by localisation bugs (hahaha) For example, the recording device is a bug (or a cockroach) and in france we says "cafard", the translation of it is "c'est un cafard informatique" (it's a cockroach informatique) and not "c'est un bug informatique" Another thingy on this episode is the COPS motivation song: awfull! the english voices aren't removed and french voices are superposed on it (and not all lyrics have been recorded in french) not synchronised and the subtitles aren't synchronised too, it's a big mess and that great song is killed by it :s There is still many other technical problems on this localisation, these onces are the worst for me In any case the game is allways the same, and after doing it in english i'm happy to replay all these episodes in french, many jokes are conserved and the spirit of Sam & Max is still there! I can't wait for season 2 on telltale's and i hope that the future localisation will be better technically than this one

10/09/2007, 06:40 am	#12
CWallaby55 Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 1	I wonder if Still Life and Syberia were translated so well into Italian (and hopefully into other languages) because, afaik, they had to be translated into English, having originally been made in French. So, because they had to translate for one large market, they might as well do good translations for others? I don't know.

10/09/2007, 10:02 am	#13
Yohmi Papapishu Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Taipei Posts: 317	hmm... the only adventure games well translated I can think of are Curse of Monkey Island and Grim Fandango. Sorry, it's a bit old... CWallaby55> I don't know how is the Syberia's translation, but I finished Syeria 2 several months ago, and the french version is not very good. For Sam&Max, I read two tests of the french translation (made by pro websites) and they find the translation great. The only real complaint is not about actors, but about bugs (typo, cut, untranslated sentences). I watched a short video of the cheese episode, translated in french, and it appears to be a very great job to me

10/10/2007, 03:09 am	#15
lerenwe Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 47	Well, okay, I maybe have a little bit exagerrated, the translation is not SO horrible, it's just irritating sometimes... Here's the beginning of episode 1 in French, by jeuxvideo.fr: http://www.jeuxvideo.fr/video-sam-ma...-8163-0-0.html

10/10/2007, 02:23 pm	#17
Murray the Chao Lover of Chao(+ Lungfish) Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 446	The voices weren't TOO bad, try listening to Sam's voice in the TV series.

10/10/2007, 05:10 pm	#19
tobar Blue Blazer irregular Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 694	I think the real question is, why weren't you paying attention?

10/11/2007, 12:09 am	#20
Gresman Master of Desaster Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vienna, Austria Posts: 165	I watched the vid. I don't understand a word because it was in French but the voices sound better than the german ones. The german translation is absolute crap. They missed so many good jokes and the actors sound a like they were not really into it. Another example for a good game ruined by bad translation and voice acting. __________________ "Reality is just an illusion created by absence of alcohol!" - Irish proverb

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