Bears, the Pope and amateur game translators

It’s kind of nice to see the industry grow up. I have been localizing video games for more than five years, a German language professional for almost 20 and a gamer for about 30 years. Our approach to localizing has changed quite a bit since then (if you are waiting for the obvious example, you will be disappointed). Just to give you an example: While it was Excel files not too...

Where have all the zombies gone?

When you work in video game localization, you should play a game once in a while, or so I hear. So the beautiful wife and I picked up Resident Evil 5 (not the German version though) and I exchanged my translating tools with the PS3 controller. Having played all previous installations of this adeptly called “survival horror” title, we were looking forward to some nicely...

Games to know: Gothic

Roleplayers come in many flavors. Some swear by the elegant wackiness that is Final Fantasy, others insist on the rules and regulations laid out in Dungeons & Dragons and brought onto the screen in games such as Neverwinter Nights. Then there are the Germans – and their obsession with an unnamed hero in the Gothic series. Even though Gothic II (widely hailed as the best...

Games to know: Half-Life (FPS)

I am often asked which games I can recommend for translators new to the gaming industry. These games set standards in their respective genres. Half-Life was developed by Valve Software and released in 1998. In the tradition of Doom and Quake, Half-Life is an FPS (First Person Shooter). A drastic upgrade of the Quake graphic engine enabled players of Half-Life to experience then unknown...