[Sowilo]

There are a few English words in the German game (its original German) like the bloodfly scroll (The Animal is named "Blutfliege" why the scroll is in an other tongue?) or the scavenger (funny, many young German don't know, that this is English and thought that this word was invented by the developers).
A few German player arn't happy abou that. But at the other hand many Germans prefer to play games in English or look movies in English cause they say that the English voice output has a better quality/atmosphere.
This may be the case because English dubbing artists/actors earn more money and r more professionel than German one. But imho the German language itself has more potential as the English one but its more difficult to deal with it.
Cause a few of u have the German addon with English subititles. Do u "like" the German tongue? Does it fit to the atmosphere, or is is just blah? Do u like some words? In one thread a user wrote "jawohl" I know that he played Enemy Territory cause the accent rocks^^.
If u have the English original u know the English voices too, r they better?

One posted in this forum a few sound samples of the English versions and they r really good. But not much better than the German one. The only problem is, that a few NPC's have the same voice.

[Iron Mouse]

A few German player arn't happy abou that. But at the other hand many Germans prefer to play games in English or look movies in English cause they say that the English voice output has a better quality/atmosphere.

I don't think it's because of that. Most people who do this want just see/play/read the *original*, not something that has been "changed" by some translation studio or something.
I don't think these people would prefer the english version of a german movie or game...

I really didn't like the english monsters in Gothic. They didn't fit, and it destroyed a par of the atmosphere. There weren't even an explanation in the game why these monsters had english names...it seemed that the developers just tried to make the game look more "cool".

[Sektenspinner]

I did like the English names in Gothic.

IMO it does neither destroy the athmosphere nor does it spoil the game in another way.

And I don't think that German sounds better than English or the other way round, but I think that a game or a film loses a lot of quality if it is translated into another language. Therefore I prefer to see German films in German an English films in English.

[keida]

The english translations were for the most part good...some made no sense, however...it was like listening to the Rainman.

If I watch a foreign made film, I would rather watch sub titles then sit through a badly dubbed movie..it doesn't fit.

As far as names of NPCs and creatures in a game I don't mind the odd name here and there, I believe that the makers of games should make the game for it's immediate market then translate for other markets..But since the G3 makers are looking for an international launch...I don't know.

An ogre is an ogre is an ogre in any language..

So if it means a few odd monster names..knock yourselves out! If it doesn't translate..just make something else up.



I don't see what the big deal is...I had no problems or complaints with names..just that some of conversations didn't make sense.
The voice acting was alot better(G and G2) then most of the games I've played lately...even ones made here (US)
This post makes no sense..sorry!

[Sowilo]

Can u give an example 4 a non sense sentence? Cause in the German version r a few too (joke).

[Jammer]

well as far as the translation goes... i see no sense in having different release dates for different language versions. in most cases when games go multilingual they get released as a whole, not having 1 year gaps between releases. i must admit that the way the publisher or whoever is to be blamed for TNOTR, sees no other thing that money.

concerning me and flicks, i'm used to prefer non-dubbed movies, in fact i have a firm opinion that one must be exposed to the language in order to learn it. therefore, i think that german, italian and spanish (plus some east-europeans) are quite less fluent in english due to the mass dubbing. also theres the problem of acting. who is going to replace rocky balboa while he shouts "Adrian! Adrian...", or eddie murphy acting the donkey in shrek? why dub eddie murphy? because people can't read? what purpose has a multi-million cast crew in a movie when they get replaced by a bunch of self-proclaimed voice actors?

ok i've gone too far from the topic. to sum up, i don't oppose multilanguage games, but keep those release dates togeather ffs.

over and out.

[MercSteff]

the dialogs are much better in english, but that's just my opinion. german is a very difficult language. i know, 'cause i tried to learn it, as my mother is half german.

[Arthur Dent]

Tough one. I haven't played any of the Gothic games in English, bar the demos, so I would be hard pressed to make a comparison. The first thing that struck me when playing was the same strange TV commercial type quality that films and TV programs seem to have that have been dubbed into German in the past 15 or so years. When I was still living in Germany I did not notice it (in films) obviously and now that I have grown accustomed to it in Gothic again, I no longer detect it. Go figure.

I heard that they used unusual American accents, like strong southern or Chicago gangster type voices, in the English version. Certainly a change from the plain High-German voices in the original (with the honourable exception of Greg in NOTR). Many a reviewer has been turned off by it, but I'd love to try it out myself. Why not break the mould of ye olde English for a medieval setting when so much modern language is in the game as it is.

I really don't see a problem with English names for creatures in a German game. IIRC the name "lurker" was also used in the German version. Let's face it, both the RPG and the games world in general are heavily influenced and expanded by the English speaking world. Why force a clumsy translation of certain things when they work so well already? If you can come up with a good new name in your own language, then let's go for it, but the issue shouldn't simply be decided on a matter of principle.

Regarding films and other media, I always prefer the original language. If I don't understand the language, then I'd rather have subtitles than dubbing. A Japanese warlord yelling at his troops can only work in one Japanese IMO. Also, as mentioned, I despise the way German dubbing sounds in recent Films etc. Especially if you know what the actors sound like in the original version. I saw the first Cape Fear in German the other day and it wasn't half as bad as recent films.

On rare occasions a translation can improve on the original. I personally prefer Christian Ezensberger German rendition of "The Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carrol.

[Dez]

Games or movies, i would rather play them with language it was meant to be.By the way did you germans dub the whole LOTR-trilogy?
I can't imagine what did those guys missed when christopher lee's performance was replaced by some german actor Or i can't even imagine how lost in translation felt without orginal voice from bill murray..

It is really hard for me to understand why do you german go dubbing films.I am able to understand why children movies are dubbed, but every adult can read allright, so why make all the trouble for hiring german actors to translate everything, if they could just add subtitles.Can you imagine the effort an actor has put to get his character feel alive on the screen. Or how much work the director did to find that actor to make his vision come true.In worst scenario some amateur actor replaces him, her.IT is like raping and destroying a very fine piece of art.

IF the movie is made in french, i want it french with subtitles ofcourse and so on.

[Sowilo]

Before I see a movie with subtitles I learn the language...

[Auroc]

When someones is going to sale a product in foeign countries it must be clear to translate the necessary interface aka language.

That's my point of view.

But this doesn't mean that I always prefer to see translated movies or games.
For example it is much easier for me reading a book in english than in german.

Not the same with movies:
I always try to get the whole visual effect. And that's not possible if you have to look on the subtitles all the time.
2nd time you see the movie you can turn off the subtitles and enjoy what you see.
So, a dubbed movie is a (great) alternative.

Personaly english movies excluded. Easy language...

By the way: Many of our dubbers/translators (whatever) are doing a splendid job.

[Dez]

Here, where i live (Finland) hardly anything gets dubbed.Only those movies, which are aimed for kids, but usually even then there is an alternative watch it with english track(or what ever it was made with).Other than that, i don't know single foreign movie that was dubbed.No matter was the language french, german, japanise,chinise, spanish, english, the spoken language stays allways the same.We only add finnish subtitles.And i don't know single person who would like to watch godfather without orginal voice from Marlon brando.

[Iron Mouse]

By the way: Many of our dubbers/translators (whatever) are doing a splendid job.

That's true. The german dubbings are usually great, with the exception that special jokes or so are often not easy to translate. So, funny movies sometimes lose some of their humour and are better watched in the original language (if you can understand it ).
But overall, most of the the movies don't really lose much...

For subbings, I don't like them...not that I'm too lazy to read, but I *have* to read them, and in this time, I can't really concentrate on the movie itself. However, I prefer a sub over a bad dub. Especially in Anime, you have often to deal with really crappy dubs, US and German ones alike.

[Arthur Dent]

It is really hard for me to understand why do you german go dubbing films.

People are lazy and few would willingly chose to watch a subtitled film if they can listen to it in their language just the same. Once you are used to it you can't tell the difference anyway, so hardly anyone will be willing to switch to subtitles. Besides, even if you wanted to you'd have a hard time finding main stream films that are not dubbed. Some small cinemas show original language, subtitled or english subtitled films.

The reason why films aren't dubbed in Finland is that it's not economically viable. There are ~100m native speakers of German plus a few millions more that understand it adequately.

Many of our dubbers/translators (whatever) are doing a splendid job

I disagree. As I said, I did not used to be able to tell the difference, but once you haven't heard it in a while you can tell that there is quite a difference. Of course most of the problem isn't the speaker's fault. If you know an actor's voice, you won't believe another one as true. The mouth is not at all synchronous with the spoken words. Worst for me is the funny super-clarity that makes it sound like an advert.

Just my opinion. Don't take it the wrong way.

I generally have no problem with following subtitles, but there was one notable exception. Either they were badly placed or I wasn't up to it for some reason, but I missed a lot of the facial expressions in Crouching Tiger Hidden dragon. I found the film a bit over-hyped though, so it's not that tragic really.

[Nethbek]

Names like Scavenger or lurker are ok. I think they sound good in the game and that'S the most important point.

By the way: Many of our dubbers/translators (whatever) are doing a splendid job.

2 Examples for strange dubbings/translations:
Matrix (when neo catches morpheus falling out the helicopter) in english: "Gotcha" ( slangy for: I Got you) in german "Gut so" (="It'S Good")
or
in the GermanVersion of Rainbow Six (the book) the "flashbang" is translated with "blitzknaller" (thats an one-to.one translation without sense, the right german word is "Blendgranate")

[Sowilo]

Blitzknaller?

Generell the German voices of the the Simpsons r better than the English one. But there r a few very bad scenes.

For example: Bart is kidding Lisa: Lisa said "go to bed" and Bart got a bread. In German Bett and Brot arn't very similar.

[Bartacus]

My two cents: I would say that every movie or game is better left in its original language, but at the other hand I would only play very few games then. I don't like listening to a Japanese or Chinese dialogue, cause I can't make any word out. That's why those Chinese movies usualy pass me without getting noticed. So for me there are exceptions, but I'd prefer a remake then a dubbed version. (Watch Bruce Lee movies and you will know)
Another one of those exceptions should be made for childs. When a 6y old wants to see a cartoon (movie, not a short one), it's better in the dubbed version. The reason is quite simple, a 6y old can't read.

Oh yes, an example of bad dubbing: The A-team. Both the French and the German version of Mr. T. is just ridiculous. (And I know he's ridiculous in English too, but that has another reason )

[MercSteff]

and there is also the economical aspect of things. english broaders the market, whilst german limits it to germany!

[Bartacus]

and there is also the economical aspect of things. english broaders the market, whilst german limits it to germany!

That's not exactly true, is it? Austria, part of Belgium, part of Switzerland and I'll bet there are more examples. English has become the language to communicate with people from a different language area. The German market however is big enough for a developer to make a game only in German and still be profitable. This goes also for the French market.

[Sowilo]

In a few African regions they speak German too (cause colonies), in Elsaß-Lothringen, which got France after the 2. WW, in Preußen, Posen, Pommern which get Polen after the 2nd WW, in northern Italy, in southern Denmark and in eastern Europe many learn German cause Germany has strong economic relations to these countries.
Particulary u can meet persons who speak German in the Iraq und in Turkey because many of them worked in the past in Germany.

But he's right, a German version limit the market. Otherwise it is payable to translate movies etc. in German (Norwegian not, too few who speaks it so u have subtitles there).
On the one hand a translation has a lower quality than the original but on the other hand u have to understand the language because if u read the subtitles u can't be concentrated on the movie.