INSIDER: Could you briefly tell us your background and history with Square-Enix, leading up to your current responsibility?

I joined Square Europe Ltd (now Square Enix Ltd) in May 1999 as a part-time localization technician. I was then a Law student, specializing in Human Rights and International Law. Square’s European operations had been set up only a few months previously, and there seemed to be good opportunities to learn and progress within the company. I became a full-time employee shortly afterwards, led the French team for a while and then became head of the Production Department just about three years ago. My Department is in charge of providing support for all localized content in the five main European languages for in-game text, manuals, websites, strategy guides, etc.

INSIDER: Do you call yourself a gamer? If not, have you ever been in that category? How important is it for you to be a game player for your work?

I probably would, yes. I do not play constantly, but I have pretty much always been a fan of RPGs (Role Playing Games), the Final Fantasy series in particular. To tell you the truth, even five years on, there are still moments when I have to pinch myself to realize how incredibly lucky I am to work for my favorite video game company!

With regards to my role within the company, I believe that being a gamer is definitely a plus. My overall understanding of the project is often helped by the fact that I can “assimilate” information quicker, and hopefully appraise and react to situations more effectively.

INSIDER: How important is it for the games localizer to also be a game player? When you recruit a new localizer, what is the quality you most seek?

Ultimately, the most relevant quality is probably to be a good linguist. You can learn to play video games much quicker than you can perfect your linguistic skills. It is a difficult balance to strike: a good gamer will quickly understand the “gaming” references and terminology that end users expect to see, while a good linguist will transcribe the original dialogue in an idiomatic manner while respecting the source. Ideally of course, you want a successful mix between the two, but if one skill should really prevail, it would be language.

INSIDER: Square is most known for the Final Fantasy (FF) series of games which sold in excess of 60 million units world-wide. What do you think is the appeal of the FF games, particularly to the non-Japanese audience? What differentiates FF from the rest of the RPGs (Role Playing Games)?

I believe that the FF series is particularly successful because the creative people behind each new installment purposefully change the “recipe,” take risks and produce something genuinely innovative. Ultimately, and when it comes to this particular franchise, I don’t think there are that many differences between Japanese and Western gamers: we all enjoy the beautiful graphics, the intelligent game system, the rich storylines and characters, the music, etc. Timewise, the international appeal of the FF games seems to coincide with the explosion of the video game market itself. Final Fantasy VII is our first worldwide success, and this title was released on the Sony PlayStation. As you know, Sony’s first console changed the industry from a fairly successful medium, but somewhat limited in its appeal, to a social phenomenon, generating revenues equivalent to the film industry. Editor’s Note: For all of you FF fans, Final Fantasy VII is scheduled for release as a full-length feature film in February of next year.

As for the difference between Final Fantasy and other RPGs, I actually would not be able to tell you… I have personally played and loved many other games, but as a player, few franchises manage to carry on generating the same type of excitement.

INSIDER: What should be the “ultimate goal” of games localization?

To successfully manage striking a good balance between being faithful to the source text and having a translation which works naturally for the targeted audience. Clarity and consistency are also essential goals. I suppose these targets are common to all type of localizations.

INSIDER: The link between the sales of a localized game and good quality localization seems obvious, and yet there seem to be few data available in the industry to support such a statement. Do you have any comments on this?

Although I strongly believe that a properly localized game will enhance the pleasure of the player’s experience, good video games do not rely solely on text and/or voices. Don’t get me wrong, I am a fervent advocate of good localizations. But games do not necessarily depend on their localized content to be entertaining. A good gameplay is ultimately what will make the success of a particular title. For RPGs, however, the amount of localized content is such that a bad localization can prevent the user from actually enjoying or even understanding what is happening on their screens.

Localization is really part of a whole: fundamentally, you would hope to get an excellent game, be able to localize it well into as many languages as possible and market it properly.

It is, of course, a question of image too; poorly localized titles attract a lot of criticism from the fans.

I only have five years of experience in the games industry, but the improvements in terms of localization are obvious, regardless of the companies involved.

INSIDER: How do you think the games industry views “localization?” Is it something like a necessary evil or much more positive than that?

It is in the industry’s best interest to expand, and taking localization seriously is definitely part of any possible growth. If you localize your game in only one language, you cannot expect to reach the same type of audiences or achieve a similar success, than if the title is available in dozens of idioms. Localization in video games is an additional step in the development, so per se it generates more work, but I can assure you that everyone sees the value of going through this process.

INSIDER: My impression is that games localization is being developed independently of the software localization industry whose knowledge and experience would be relevant and useful to the former. Am I right in thinking this, or is your perception different?

I am not very familiar with software localization, but I would tend to agree. It seems that software localization is more methodical in its approach, but as far as I can tell, it is difficult to adopt a systematic attitude to video games localization. Each project is quite different, and methods used on one title will not necessarily function with the next one.

We are working internally to try and establish a certain methodology, to apply and improve from one project to the other. But this can only work to a certain extent. A video game involves a lot of creativity, standards and/or “laws” are not necessarily easily applicable. Here again, it is a difficult balance to strike, but an interesting challenge altogether. The whole concept of localization needs to be considered from the early stages of development. We’re lucky at Square Enix in that we have extremely good development teams in that respect.

INSIDER: Square does its own localization in-house as opposed to outsourcing. Is this a conscious decision ? If so, what is the reason for it?

A priority in Square Enix’s approach to localization is quality. Few developers take care of the localization process in the same manner as Square Enix does. Trying to use the same people from one project to the next enables us to generate a certain degree of consistency. We outsource our translations, but we try to work with the same localizers as much as possible. This applies to our translators as well as our editors; a solid work relationship between them can help quality and productivity to a great extent.

INSIDER: Can you tell us what makes games localization particularly difficult and unique? Carmen Mangiron talked about the elements of screen translation as one of the unique features of games localization in her recent article, Bringing Fantasy to Reality – Localization Final Fantasy. However, subtitling for games may be somewhat different from that for feature films. Could you elaborate on this?

In a film, the user normally cannot decide when to move on to the next line of dialogue. In contrast, most of the time, the player has this choice in a game. The reading pace is different, and I suppose you could say that a game’s localization offers more room (in the literal sense) for adaptation. “Context” is a major challenge. How do you respect the source while recreating content which contains clear and obvious cultural references?

INSIDER: In the software industry, the pre-localization process called internationalization is now commonly being implemented. For example, allowances are made in the original design of software for foreign character set support (particularly for localizing into Asian languages), date/time convention changes, target text expansions, etc. At Square, is the internationalization process commonly applied? If so, in what aspect? If not, is there any particular element available (e.g. images, storyline etc) that can be changed to accommodate for local differences? Does re-engineering often have to be done to reflect market-specific elements?

More and more so. Language-specific requirements and code format issues need to be addressed at different stages within the title’s development. If the procedure is planned early enough, the whole localization process benefits from it.

Localization and marketing are probably much closer than one might think at first. Understanding what the market requires is obviously important. One of the successes of our European operations is our willingness to communicate between all the different Departments. We keep each other aware of what everyone is doing and as a consequence, the flow of ideas increases. We can keep the teams back in headquarters informed of the trends and progress made, which then allows them to incorporate new ideas and procedures for future titles.

A systematic approach to localization in video games is an aim. However, it has to be adaptive enough to accommodate the creative mechanics used by our development teams.

INSIDER: Some countries such as Germany have a specific set of requirements for video games. How does Square deal with these regulatory requirements?

Such specific requirements are always related to the game’s contents and how they relate to age rating. They are actually linked to the appropriateness of certain subjects. For example, a certain degree of violence is tolerated if you wish to release your title for people aged 12 and above. You also need to consider that the more realistic the graphics are, the more seriously the rating agencies will consider problematic content.

We very often check content-related issues, sometimes at the storyboard level. We then determine the likely rating and provide feedback accordingly. Depending on the target audience, the team can then adapt the scenes and graphics as necessary.

This type of verification is common place and enables us to remain responsible toward our public, while taking into account cultural sensitivities.

INSIDER: Sony is to announce its PlayStation3 prototype in 2005. This kind of rapid development of hardware (console) obviously affects the development of the games (content), but does it make any difference for games localization?

I do not know a lot about PlayStation 3. The changes I have witnessed (mostly from PlayStation to PlayStation 2, and the disc format change from CD to DVD) are all positive when it comes to localization. We now have enough space to include voices or multiple languages on a single disc. FFIX (PlayStation) took all of four discs while FFX (PlayStation 2) fits onto one single DVD. The future is an exciting perspective for the video games industry in general. This idea works for games’ localization, too.

INSIDER: In comparison with games developed in Europe and the USA, what do you pick as characteristic differences from the games developed in Japan?

I am not knowledgeable enough when it comes to the technicalities of a game’s development. Therefore I can only answer from a user’s perspective. Though it may appear shallow, I am principally attracted by the look of Japanese video games. The universes created are often familiar to a Western audience (medieval references, classic fantasy worlds, etc.). Yet they often possess a distinct feel and look, without caring so much about the accuracy of the references, mixing existing legends to produce new substance.

INSIDER: I understand recent FF games are all localized directly from the original language (Japanese). Has this always been the case? Are you aware of particular advantages and differences for going directly from Japanese as opposed to using the English version as the source?

Whenever possible, we localize from the original source language. This allows for a more faithful translation, as there are less filters involved. But things change even in that respect. For instance, with games such as the European version of FFX, the text source files were Japanese, but the voice source files were English. The translators had to adapt their work accordingly.

From a project perspective, going directly from Japanese to foreign languages is normally a gain in terms of quality and time. The only obvious constraint relates to budget issues.

INSIDER: One interesting difference between software localization and games localization is that the source language for the former is predominantly English; whereas for the latter, Japanese is another major source language in addition to English. Has Square had any difficulty finding good localizer/translator talent who can translate from Japanese?

I believe it is difficult to find a good localizer, full stop. Finding good translators is hard and finding good translators from Japanese to European languages is an even more formidable task. On the other hand, more universities offer Japanese courses today, and people know there is a growing market. The trend will hopefully continue.

Katrin Darolle is a French national who was born Rekjavik, Iceland. She joined the London office of Square Europe in May 1999 and is currently the Production Department Manager at Square Enix Ltd.