Alexander O. Smith on localizing games for Square
by JC Fletcher 
{ Nov 16th 2009 at 11:00PM } 
"We would get a copy of the game," Smith told Gamasutra about working on Final Fantasy VIII, "and we would say, 'Well, what about files?' And they would say, 'Oh, I don't think you need those.' So we all bought Game Sharks." Smith called the situation "very sad." He compared it to Final Fantasy XII, for which the team got full gameplay footage.
The interview covers not just work for Square, but Smith's subsequent move into freelance with Joseph Reeder, and a lot of inside information about the localization work (and surprise musical careers) of both.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith-ATDF Co-Founder @ Nov 16th 2009 11:07PM
to get butt fucked?
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith-ATDF Co-Founder @ Nov 16th 2009 11:07PM
Well, that explains a lot!
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith-ATDF Co-Founder @ Nov 16th 2009 11:19PM
Dude...you so did not just accuse me of being bitter.
*waves hand*
You will never come here again.
ThorSkaagi @ Nov 16th 2009 11:22PM
That's weird... here I am.
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith-ATDF Co-Founder @ Nov 16th 2009 11:23PM
I guess he's so stupid the Force doesn't work on him...
ATDF,
*does Captain Picard pose*
Engage!
ThorSkaagi @ Nov 16th 2009 11:27PM
*tries his best to avoid Star Wars reference* *fails* I guess The Force is not with me...
ThorSkaagi @ Nov 16th 2009 11:29PM
*tries his best to avoid a Star Wars reference* *fails* I guess The Force is not with me...
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith-ATDF Co-Founder @ Nov 16th 2009 11:29PM
Stupidity fail, first fail, double post fail.
It's a trifecta of Fail!
aristokrat @ Nov 16th 2009 11:33PM
I guessed I missed this (not everyone can spend as much time on JS as Darth), but what is this AT you are defending?
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith-ATDF Co-Founder @ Nov 16th 2009 11:34PM
Anti-Troll Defense Force...
We've got quite a few members. Kotick, Traceur, The Goddamn Batman, Cheezy, Blank-Mage, etc
Traceur_Ryuk [Founder of The Anti-EMCB(tm) and co-leader of ATDF] (PSN: Ryuk_shinigami) @ Nov 16th 2009 11:37PM
Yeah, but I just like to subtly make fun of them. They don't even realize it.
HighFiveJesus @ Nov 17th 2009 12:25AM
next we'll see the dark lord branish the other guy with a plastic lightsaber and we will all be officially stupid.
aristokrat @ Nov 17th 2009 2:34AM
Nice, I've been scratching my head that past couple days trying to figure it out. Keep fighting the good fight.
...but who watches the watchmen?...
=P
aristokrat @ Nov 17th 2009 4:26AM
Also, as of writing this, Darth has 17 of 60 comments on this article. With that level of commitment, you are definitely the man for the job when it comes to leading the ATDF. No one can slip past your watchful eye. Strong work.
I hope your better at getting work done simultaneously with posting on Joystiq (for surely you must work sometime) than I am, as I just managed to postpone the completion of my ever-exciting paper on the Cantabrian brown bear populations until an inexcusable 4:30 in the morning. I am truly doing it wrong.
Cj @ Nov 16th 2009 11:09PM
Vaann is one sexy man
Reuben @ Nov 16th 2009 11:21PM
I always thought the bunny-women were oddly attractive.
I can't be the only one.
Torque_AOD @ Nov 16th 2009 11:22PM
Wait... Vaann is a man?????????
Traceur_Ryuk [Founder of The Anti-EMCB(tm) and co-leader of ATDF] (PSN: Ryuk_shinigami) @ Nov 16th 2009 11:35PM
Yeah, personally Fran is my favorite in FF XII, I love her voice actor. (Also she is basically just wearing a thong, I always put her in the back of my party ;)
Reuben @ Nov 16th 2009 11:18PM
We don't take kindly to your type in here.
Sly @ Nov 16th 2009 11:18PM
If you want it up the booty, clap your hands.
If you want it up the booty, clap your hands.
If you want it up the booty, and you wanna do it fruity, then bend over and start clappin your hands.
sorry, i heard someone singing that today and that reminded me of it.
Sordid State of Eclairs @ Nov 16th 2009 11:19PM
+1 Darth, that sincerely made me lol.
Now.. care to share the secret behind your mind-meld with the joystiq comment system? It both frightens and intrigues me....
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith-ATDF Co-Founder @ Nov 16th 2009 11:20PM
An infinite mystery, the Force is. Teach you I can, but have talent first, you must.
Special Agent Steve @ Nov 16th 2009 11:22PM
Oh, you son of a bitch Thor. I just called first in the last post. Why the FUCK did you have to take my first.
I guess this is yours *holds out the "first" trophy*
YOINK! SUCK IT
ThorSkaagi @ Nov 16th 2009 11:24PM
Actually... it's my first 'first' ever. You can have it if you want...*gives back 'first' trophy*
Misanthropic Gamer @ Nov 16th 2009 11:25PM
Don't remind me of XII... Worst plot of the FF series. Disappointing gameplay too.
Traceur_Ryuk [Founder of The Anti-EMCB(tm) and co-leader of ATDF] (PSN: Ryuk_shinigami) @ Nov 16th 2009 11:33PM
Lolwut? I guess you are just too fond of whiney emo teenagers, huh? And disappointing gameplay? It was one of the most innovative, intuitive entries in the series. Truly an under appreciated gem.
Misanthropic Gamer @ Nov 16th 2009 11:51PM
I assume you're referring to VII and VIII. I'm not a huge fan of those either, but at least those games *had* a plot. My favorite is VI, and there were no "emos" there. XII offered a dreary story that focused on a vague political conflict rather than on the major characters, who were themselves quite uninteresting. Not to mention the awful villains, and the nonsensical turns the plot took towards the end of the game.
XII's gameplay was flawed, in that it promoted quickening spam, and simply levelling three characters to have the same skills and equipment. The summons sucked too. The "international" edition addresses a lot of these issues, but it'll never see the light of day in English. XII was ultimately a disappointment. It's still a better game than most, but not up to standard for a Final Fantasy game.
RogueJedi86 @ Nov 17th 2009 12:07AM
Please stay on topic. This is about translating the games, not the games themselves. FFXII had a great translation, regardless of the quality of the game itself. It had an even better dub than FFX. Please take your arguments of "X-game is better than Y-game!" to 4chan.
LokeSTL @ Nov 17th 2009 12:13AM
@Traceur_Ryuk
Being innovated doesn't make the game good. It went far beyond the natural evolution of the FF series, so far that the only thing FF about it were monster, item, and spell names. They introduced AI, which sucked since we liked controlling all of the characters. They gimped character development, which left you wondering why they would travel with each other in the first place. The lack of character development killed what little of a convoluted story they had. In all areas exept graphics, FFXII was the worst FF ever. I'd rather give FFII another go than ever play that bag of crap FFXII again. Hopefully they will redeem themselves with FFXIII, if only just a little.
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith-ATDF Co-Founder @ Nov 17th 2009 12:14AM
@Jedi
Besides the fact that you're on the wrong side...we're hardly ever on topic. I mean, the PS3 FW 3.1 post degraded into a flame war over the PS3 and 360 and Facebook in general.
This is tame by comparison.
deaftly (PSN,LIVE,STEAM) @ Nov 17th 2009 10:10AM
I literally just started FF12 last night. Picked up a ps2 for 20 bucks and went nuts at gameslop. $10 friggin bucks for the collectors edition. So far I'm liking it alot the battle system isn't as mindnumbingly boring as the real time shit so its more like an action rpg. Gotta love the bunny chick in a thong also.
mystiles_ribbon @ Nov 18th 2009 5:11PM
just keep playing, all of you. you'll hate it as much as i do.
the gameplay is boring once you realize that gambits do all the work for you.
the story is event-driven and political rather than character-driven like the past FF.
there's nothing at all FF about FFXII except the name.
game sucks, end of story.
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith-ATDF Co-Founder @ Nov 16th 2009 11:26PM
He doesn't get it, does he?
He really doesn't.
Reuben @ Nov 16th 2009 11:27PM
No, Darth, it doesn't look like he does.
*Brandishes broken bottle*
ThorSkaagi @ Nov 16th 2009 11:30PM
What don't I get?
Traceur_Ryuk [Founder of The Anti-EMCB(tm) and co-leader of ATDF] (PSN: Ryuk_shinigami) @ Nov 16th 2009 11:30PM
No, no, guys. We haven't had a "First" in a very long time. We were due for one.
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith-ATDF Co-Founder @ Nov 16th 2009 11:31PM
That's what the ATDF is supposed to stop!
MystileArmor @ Nov 16th 2009 11:36PM
Get the straps, the bowling ball, the crowbar and the blowtorch guys... lets show this here boy what we do with First Firsters.
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith-ATDF Co-Founder @ Nov 16th 2009 11:37PM
I'll use Force crush on certain areas...assuming this Firster even has them...
ThorSkaagi @ Nov 16th 2009 11:41PM
She doesn't...
Asmerom (PSN: neon6plz) (XBL: reo6) (Waiting for NMH2) @ Nov 16th 2009 11:42PM
So Square was a bunch of cheap assholes 10 years ago?
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith-ATDF Co-Founder @ Nov 17th 2009 12:18AM
Pretty much.
Or they just didn't care.
koehler83 @ Nov 17th 2009 12:23AM
Was? 10 years ago?
I believe what you mean to ask is "How is it possible that Square were even cheaper assholes 10 years ago?"
Asmerom (PSN: neon6plz) (XBL: reo6) (Waiting for NMH2) @ Nov 17th 2009 12:47AM
Well, I always hear about how Square gives preferential treatment to Japan, releasing games only for Japan and other games at an earlier release date (though this could be for translating time):
FFXIII Japan: 12/17/09 US/EU/AUS: 3/9/10
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith-ATDF Co-Founder @ Nov 17th 2009 12:56AM
A lot of it is translation delays (like Bayonetta). They're pushing out FFXIII much faster than usual, however.
Asmerom (PSN: neon6plz) (XBL: reo6) (Waiting for NMH2) @ Nov 17th 2009 1:11AM
Translation delays? I saw a video of the Japanese versions of Bayonetta (both PS3 and 360) and the text I saw was in English. I thought the text language changed depending on your system's settings. I also thought we were past this.
Bobjohnson @ Nov 17th 2009 7:01AM
If I recall correctly, the Japanese version of Bayonetta is English voice acted much like Resident Evil and then subtitled in the Japanese language. So that's not a good example.
If changing the voice language and subtitle language based on your systems settings then try playing a game on your PS3 or PSP, if you have one, and change the system settings to Japanese. Does it work? Not at all.
Hence the reason why some people complain about not having the original Japanese voices on the disc when it's released in America.
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith-ATDF Co-Founder @ Nov 16th 2009 11:42PM
I was referring to the brain...but whatever. I'm glad you can admit you don't have one.
ThorSkaagi @ Nov 16th 2009 11:44PM
Uh, no you weren't. Since when is a brain referred to as 'them'?
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith-ATDF Co-Founder @ Nov 16th 2009 11:46PM
I have to admit, I'm kinda facepalming here.
But you can't blame me for assuming every person on the Internets is a guy.
And the women usually have enough sense not to "First"