Play to stay in touch

So how do you stay in touch with your mother tongue and culture as a translator living abroad? The answer comes easy to me: I play MMOs! I do all the other things my unfortunate colleagues do, those who don’t localize video games but translate business reports or medical examinations. O how I pity them. I watch German TV. I have German friends. I visit Germany and am surprised as...

Unknown games, possibly funny stuff and a louse

1. Not every great game makes it across the ocean (pcgames.de) A popular topic when gamers from different cultures, countries ore continents are sitting together with a cup of coffee: How come a game such as Anno 1404 is so popular in Germany while nobody knows of it in the US? Nice compilation by German magazine PC Games, no need to speak German, just click through the gallery. 2....

No such thing as a free MMO?

I posted in February of 2009 a list of MMOs offering free trials to help out translator colleagues who had never played any and wanted to get into game localization. Interestingly enough, two of the games on the list will be F2P very soon (in noob language: free to play). Instead of paying a monthly subscription, the companies rely on microtransactions. Need a bigger bag? $3.50. Want to...

Führer leaves WoW

If there were an award for the best continuous localization for an MMO, World of Warcraft would get it. While others release games without even the tutorial and tool tips localized (I am not going to point fingers, don’t want to suffer the Wrath of Kahn), Blizzard’s in-house localization team is doing a great job, year in, year out. Now they made a mistake . They translated...

Lego Universe: Best MMO trailer ever

Dear Lego, I want to localize your new MMO “Lego Universe” into German. Real bad. I would do it for free. Hell, I’d pay you money for it. Most probably. While awaiting your response, I shall be watching the trailer below over and over again. Kind regards, Patrick P.S.: I would not use words such as “hell” in my translation....

Roleplayers set the standards we strive for

Finally! The wretched dwarf slain, his Fiery Axe of Demolition stashed safely in the sack of plunder. Rhuman, the good-hearted warlock, returned to the quest giver to claim his prize. “O mighty prince, here is the axe you desired,” he said, his hands still trembling from the battle. “Thanks man, that’s great, here is you’re reward, cu soon.” Immersion has...