Not 1 hour? 15 Minutes? Japanese chickens and a Capcom master

Localisation Testing as Product Manager at Virgin

I really loved my job at Virgin Interactive because I could finally work on video games. As a product manager, one of my jobs was to check the localisation of a game, especially the German version.

To do this, I had to check all the texts of the game for correctness of content after the translation with a playable version and the corresponding text files (txt, xls etc.). Texts for international publications, for example, are first translated from Japanese into English and then translated from English into another language, in this case. German. It is not uncommon for the translators to have no pictures or a playable version available. 

So it can easily happen that the English word 'tank' is translated into German as 'armored fighting vehicle' instead of 'oil tank'. When you are standing at the corresponding place in the game, you are totally confused as a player as to where this fighting vehicle is supposed to be that the character is talking about. This can go from unpleasant to unsolvable. ... bad translations such as "A Winner is You!" is enough to spoil the fun.

The MDK 2 joypad killer level

I had done the German localisation testing for some games. The most demanding test for me was MDK 2 by BioWare. I got the Dreamcast version, but no cheat codes to make the game easier (although some were later published in magazines). I only had one weekend to play through all the texts in the game. I found it really hard and almost threw my console and pad out of the window because of this level:

MDK 2 Level 8, from minute 18:50 jetpack action with intermediate landings on retracting/extending platforms to climb a high tower.

BioWare vs. Capcom

In 2000, I had the incredible luck to be responsible for two great games at the same time: Baldur's Gate 2 by BioWare and Dino Crisis 2 by Capcom. The only problem was that the localisation testing had to be done onsite. So not at my office/home like with MDK 2, but directly at the developer's site, and in this case that meant Canada and Japan.

But it wasn't Canada and Japan, it was 'or'. Because unfortunately both games had to be tested in exactly the same period. That was very annoying for me, because I would have liked to visit both studios. So I had to decide with a heavy heart!

Japan fascinated me and I couldn't miss the chance to travel to the motherland of all video games. So I had to hand over the testing of the epic Baldur's Gate 2 to my colleague Lukas and signed up for a visit to Capcom in Osaka.

The Tokyo Game Show!

JAPAN!!! Oh, it started off great! We flew from London to Tokyo on Virgin Atlantic. A great airline with a safety video so well produced at the time that I have to mention it here years later. I flew the flight with my French colleague Christopher. Several films later, we arrived in Tokyo. 

It really couldn't have come at a better time, because the Tokyo Game Show was taking place at the same time, and our host Capcom gave us tickets to the show as a gift - yeah!

The show was awesome, I was just ecstatic to be there. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time because we had to go on to Osaka. 

Excuse me, where is the Tokaido Shinkansen? Hello?

We were chauffeured to Tokyo Central Station after the show and told to take the Tokaido Shinkansen. A fast train to Osaka, where Capcom has its headquarters. It wasn't easy at all to find the train on our own, because the signs are all in Japanese and the express train wasn't even easy to spot on the signs. So we had tried to ask the people in the station for directions, but no one stopped to answer us. They had simply ignored us! Eventually we found the right platform and were on our way to Osaka.

Do you serve meat? Chicken? Bock, bock, bock, bock, bobooooock!

When we finally arrived in Osaka, we went straight to the hotel. In the meantime, it was evening and we were hungry as hell, as we couldn't get used to the strange-looking snacks on the train. Virgins International Localisation Manager Harald S. had arrived shortly before us and was already waiting. There was nothing at the hotel, so we set off on foot to find the nearest restaurant.

We opened the door and were greeted in a loud and friendly manner by the waitress, who even shouted a Japanese welcome from the kitchen. We were shown to a free table and given a menu each. The menu was in Japanese, contained no pictures and there were no pictures of dishes anywhere in the restaurant. Ok, no problem: let's order in English.

But nobody spoke English in the whole restaurant! This presented us with a real problem. We were really hungry and didn't know how to order food. We tried to describe everything with words and hands, but the waitress just laughed sheepishly and then just left us alone again. She didn't understand what we wanted to order. None of us was smart enough to bring a dictionary and smartphones didn't exist yet. So we had to imitate the animals. We imitated animals in movements and sounds, it was an abstruse scene. 

But it worked, because the waitress now had an exclamation mark on her face and said: "Ah...Yakitori?!". And we rejoiced like little children at that bit of understanding. "Yes, Yakitori!!!". After 5 minutes she came back with a small plate with 4 mini chicken skewers for 3 hungry grown men... Not quite the success we had hoped for.

Japanese toilets have heated seats...some even have a docking station

Finally in the hallowed halls of Capcom Osaka

The next day, we went straight to work. We received a short introduction and were taken to the department where Dino Crisis 2 was being developed. Each of us was assigned a programmer who was supposed to help us correct the texts directly in the game code. There were no Excel or text files in which we could have changed the texts. No, the text was integrated into the game code, and therefore could only be changed by a programmer experienced with the code.

My programmer was called Tori. He had studied German for 8 years, but unfortunately refused to exchange even one word in German with me. So Tori-san and I communicated again with hands and looks.

Speedruns and deadly apocalypse text errors.

I had to speedrun the game several times and check all the onscreen texts. If I found a mistake, I had to point it out to Tori-san, who then searched for it in the code, so that I could then briefly take over his keyboard. That sounds quite simple. The changes were usually made by me in 3 seconds, but the whole process took much longer, so again slowly:

Once I had found a mistake, I approached Tori-san. He turned to me and had an almost emotionless question mark on his face. I explained that I had found a spot where we needed to change something. 

Oh-oh! End of the world!!! 

Tori-san slapped his hands over his head. A mistake? In the game? A mistake in his game? How could this happen? He shook his head. Mumbled something into his hand in front of his mouth. He looked down, wondering if he would be held accountable. Was this the downfall of the game? Of Capcom as a whole? What could be the solution? Where is the mistake? He looked for the appropriate place in the code and handed me the keyboard. I put the missing comma and thanked him.

This sequence of events repeated itself in this procedure every...single...time! It was a whacky routine.

But it was topped: because every now and then the producer came into the room. As soon as he was present, everything became even more dramatic. If I had a passage that needed to be changed, I again addressed Tori-san. But Tori-san did not react as usual. Now Tori-san called his producer for help. At least he spoke English:

He: "Yes, please? Is there a problem?"

Me: "I am very sorry, but I would need to change a text sequence for the German version."

He: "Is this really necessary?"

Me: "It's an incorrect wording and can lead to misunderstanding of that sequence."

He: "I see, but is it really necessary to change that."

Me: "Yes, unfortunately." (I had always tried to show the right politeness in the intonation)

Him: "This is problematic as it could effect our schedule and we cannot afford any delays. So, is your change really necessary?"

Me: "I am very sorry, but I have been sent here to correct any incorrect translations. For the German market it's really important to get the translation in the best way possible, it could affect revenues."

Him: "I understand. Tori-san will help you."

He turned to Tori-san and instructed him accordingly. I was handed the keyboard and quickly made my adjustment.

This procedure was also repeated!

It was not unusual for Harald in the office to get loudly upset, and rightly so, because we were so severely delayed by these procedures in the first place. 

In fact, the whole thing only got worse when there was an error in an FMV scene, a pre-rendered video scene. Because this change then actually had to be made in the video edit.

Osaka. Arcades. Not one hour!

One evening Tori-san offered to show us the arcades. Yeah! A Japanese arcade. How kind of him!

I tried a dance game, moved my arms a bit cramped and got kicked out in the first round. Then a Japanese took over and 'danced' one for us, after which I understood how to play such games in the first place. 

After the arcade, Tori-san wanted to go karaoke singing with us. I don't remember why at all, but we didn't share the enthusiasm for karaoke. So my French colleague tried to ask if, instead of 1 hour of karaoke, we just wanted to do 15 minutes of karaoke and then move on to a bar. We shouldn't have done that, we should have pulled ourselves together and gone through with the hour of karaoke. But the dialogue that ensued between Tori-san and Christopher is still one of the funniest ever!

Christopher: "Tori-san, would it be ok for you if we'd do karaoke for 15 minutes only and then go to a bar?"

Tori: "?"

Christopher: "Karaoke, not one hour...only fifteen minutes!"

Tori: "Not one hour?"

Christopher: "Yes, instead of one hour karaoke, only 15 minutes!"

Tori: "15 minutes?"

We weren't sure if we had understood each other correctly here. So Christopher took his watch to help and showed the meant hour in a circle of his dial and then again the distance of the hand for 15 minutes.

Tori: "Not one hour? 15 minutes?"

Christopher: "Yes!"

Tori: " ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ??"

This conversation was a whacky endless loop of the word sequences "Not one hour" and "15 minutes". 

I had to laugh to myself. It got so bad for me that I had to turn away and laugh silently but with all my body and tears in my eyes. Oh my God...we are going to hell for that rude but hilarious scene! Why didn't we just go to that karaoke bar? I don't know anymore...

Picture says it all: Party Time!

Japan standard

The days went by according to the same pattern. Our daily attempts to get something to eat remained particularly eventful. We often went to Mc Donalds, because at least there we knew what we would get.

 

The Japanese procedure for ordering in shops is also something I've never experienced before. You stand in line and as soon as it's your turn, the waitress gives you a long monologue in Japanese. It didn't matter at all to the waitress that I obviously didn't understand a word and couldn't answer correctly. She finished the procedure for the sake of the procedure. I was just glad that there were photos of the menus so that I could simply make my selection with my finger and read the price on the cash register display.

View from the Capcom office over Osaka

It's done when it's done!

Endless discussions about change requests later, we were done. The localised versions of Dino Crisis 2 were finished and we headed home with the master discs in hand.

Game Over! You win!

We took the Tokaido Shinkansen back to Tokyo and had one more night to wait in Tokyo before our departure. We used the time to go shopping.

In the evening, back at the hotel, we realised that we were pretty exhausted from this trip and our experiences. So we sat down on the couch in the hotel room and watched Japanese TV. 

A kind of game show was on. We didn't understand a word, of course, but watched the action. The game show contestant was a man and in one room he was apparently being shouted at, pushed and had even received a slap in the face at one point. It was a very strange scene, which only culminated in the house in which the contestant was standing collapsing! We were really scared. Something must have gone terribly wrong, because the ceiling collapsed on him! There was a lot of dust, but the contestant got up again from the rubble. Two presenters came up to him and pressed a big cheque into his hand...he had apparently survived the show!

PS: I like Japan and Japanese very much and I hope that the tenor is not too much to the detriment of the Japanese through my narrative. Otherwise, I would like to apologise.

PPS: Horse racing games are very popular in Japan. A particularly interesting example is this game here: