If you would like lessons in how not to handle JRPG localization for the West, try taking a page out of Sega's book. They like to remove features, under-promote their good games in favor of promoting their bad ones (see Valkyria Chronicles vs. Golden Axe: Beast Rider), and spend far too much time translating projects that should have been started ages ago.
Well, Sega is back this week with yet another example of what not to do, as shown in their first official English Sands of Destruction (really called World Destruction) trailer.
For starters, they simply took the CG animation from the beginning of the game, made sure to keep all the boring parts, removed the game's theme song in favor of some generic stock music, wrote the character's names, and put up a truly uninspired tag at the end in what appears to be Times New Roman font.
Wow. Whatever they paid the people who worked on this trailer, it was way too much. I think at least a dozen YouTubers have already done a better job at mocking up an English trailer. (Note that I don't consider YouTube to be the most intelligent community on the internet, so that isn't saying much.)
Honestly, if Sega doesn't want to try with their JRPGs, why don't they license them to someone who will give a crap?
Sands of Destruction will be available on Nintendo DS sometime this fall in North America. It is already available in Japan as World Destruction: Michibikareshi Ishi.
2 comments:
Times New Roman is the only font I use...errr, about the game...looks bad, and it sad because so many other good RPGs ar comming out on the DS.
if you liked Xenogears, World Destruction isn't terrible. the story is pretty cool, but the game itself is kind of "take it or leave it" in my book. (way too many random encounters.)
that said, the idea of the game is pretty cool, and marketed correctly, could definitely attract a decent following (similarly, again, to Xenogears).
but if this is the most effort Sega is going to put into getting out the word, only the hardest-of-hardcore RPGamers are going to spend their money on it when there is so much else to choose from on the DS.
...not that I ever really understand 3/4 of the things Sega does.
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