MAC: Were there any changes between the English and Japanese versions that were problematic?
TS: Vocal fans on the internet often complain about translators "changing" things in the English versions of games. This always amuses me, as we're very often working alongside the team to help name those things in the first place. For example, on Final Fantasy XIII, we were asked to help with the naming of the roles--Medic, Synergist, Ravager, and so on. We were intending to use different names in Japan and the US/EU from the start, and we (the English translators) brainstormed and proposed both sets. For the Japanese version, they needed English words that (A) sounded cool when rendered into Japanese, and (B) would be understood by non-English-speaking Japanese players, so we worked with the writers to come up with a set of consistent-sounding terms that met those criteria. For the localized version, our focus was on creating names that would have a more sci-fi feel to a native speaker's ear, and also abbreviate to three letters in a way that looked natural and made the short forms quickly and easily distinguishable from one another. We didn't "change" anything; we just generated two different sets of names for two different audiences.
Retroactive integration of the English translation into the Japanese version happens on projects quite often as well. For example, we were asked to come up with a translation for the names of the transporters in the Nautilus theme park. The Japanese name at the time was not something that really worked for us, so we went with "Nautilift." A few weeks later, that started popping up in the Japanese script. That kind of thing is always a huge compliment. It's a collaborative process. No one is going out stomping all over each other's work just for the heck of it.
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I feel that the primary goal of localization should be to produce a game that can be enjoyed as if it had been created domestically for the audience playing it. If it feels natural, immersive, and culturally appropriate, then you've succeeded. Games are supposed to be fun. I am always extremely respectful of the source material, but there is a lot one can do to make a translation come alive without changing the underlying meaning of the text. When changes do need to be made, it comes down to judgment calls. Lightning's real name in the English version of Final Fantasy XIII is not Éclair, because to an English-speaking audience, that is a pastry. The name was phoneticized differently from the dessert in Japanese, so the problem didn't exist for a Japanese audience, but rendered into English, it's very much a chocolate-covered treat. The director understood and agreed with our concerns, and now her official name in English is Claire.