[ATMachine]

The Whispered World. Gray Matter. A Vampyre Story. Simon the Sorcerer 4. Ankh.

What do all these adventures have in common? That's right, German publishers.

Twenty years ago, the USA was the place where most adventure games were created. These days, however, it seems that honor has gone to Germany.

The evidence is everywhere. More and more German studios are investing in the adventure genre. Telltale Games' partner in Germany spent more on hiring German voice actors (and ones with greater star power) than Telltale could afford for the English version. Even here in Adventure Gamers, all the latest articles are mere translations from a German adventure news site.

Personally, as a native English speaker with almost no German, I'm worried about the localization issue. Consider the case of Simon 4, where the English translation has been delayed for months while the German release came out on time. Or, even when localizations are released, there's always the issue of mistaken or even incompetent translations, not to mention the difficulty of translating humor.

Perhaps I'm spoiled, as I remember the days when the US release was the first and best. Still, I'd like to get at least a few games these days where the English-language release is on par with the original (or better yet, natively made in English!).

Your thoughts?

[Nelza]

I'm the same. I hope they don't make FMV's anytime soon, the dubbing would be awful.

[Dale Baldwin]

Originally Posted by ATMachine

Even here in Adventure Gamers, all the latest articles are mere translations from a German adventure news site.

That's kinda due to GC being in Leipzig at the moment though

[Jackal]

Originally Posted by ATMachine

The Whispered World. Gray Matter. A Vampyre Story. Simon the Sorcerer 4. Ankh.

Why stop there? So Blonde, Mata Hari, A New Beginning, Overclocked, Jack Keane, Undercover, Belief & Betrayal, Everlight...

France has got a pretty healthy stake in the genre right now, also, but there's no question Europe is where it's at these days. This isn't really new, though. You don't need to go back 20 years, but it's been a while since the US has dominated.

Or, even when localizations are released, there's always the issue of mistaken or even incompetent translations, not to mention the difficulty of translating humor.

If this is a concern, bear in mind that some are being written in English: Gray Matter, AVS, So Blonde, Mata Hari spring to mind. The German versions will probably still be done first, but translation issues shouldn't be a problem.

[Israfel]

I, for one, welcome our new German overlords.


Actually, wrt localization, having the games originally written in English may be even worse than dealing with translations. Unless their name is Vladimir Nabokov, the odds that a person can have any sort of pizzazz when writing in a non-native language is pretty darn slim.

[Squinky]

I, personally, think that German games (or any non-English games, for that matter) should simply be subtitled rather than fully localized. That way, I can enjoy them in the same way I enjoy a good foreign film: not as a second-class imitation of North American (or British or Australian or what-have-you) culture, but as something completely different and perhaps better in many ways.

*waits patiently for Run Lola Run: The Adventure Game to get released*

[NemelChelovek]

Unless their name is Vladimir Nabokov, the odds that a person can have any sort of pizzazz when writing in a non-native language is pretty darn slim.

Joseph Conrad. :-P

[Israfel]

Originally Posted by Squinky

I, personally, think that German games (or any non-English games, for that matter) should simply be subtitled rather than fully localized.

I'm with you all the way. This is becoming more common in Japanese games, but I don't think I've ever played a European game that wasn't redubbed, or originally recorded, in English.

[QFG]

Originally Posted by NemelChelovek

Joseph Conrad. :-P

+1

Samuel Beckett

[Melanie68]

If the game really was written originally by a German and/or was set in Germany, subtitling would be cool. For me it would really depend on the game.

Martin Gantefoehr is German, but if it weren't for his last name, you'd never know. His English is better than mine, I think. So I have a lot of faith in the translations of House of Tales games.

Russia also has released quite a few adventure games, but very few of them make it to English speaking markets.

That said, I don't need my games to be from a particular place. If the U.S. were still a big developer of adventure games, you might get a similar complaint from European gamers (and maybe they did have a similar complaint and they're praising the fact they get games first nowadays). I think the biggest obstacle, regardless of where they're made, is distribution in a timely matter to all markets. Having downloadable games is one way to go.

[MoP]

Well, those mandatory "Deutsche Sprache" hours in highschool might come in handy after all...

[Marek]

Iäm at GC right now (my first GC) and the Germanization of the genre really cant be more obvious when you walk around here. Germany is the global adventure game hotbed, no doubt about it.

Its kind of weird how big and semi mainstream (for lack of a better word) adventure games are at this show, actuallz. At the train station this morning there were these ads for a soft drink lining the walls of a hall, and just as I walked around the corner the soft drink ads rotated out and Sam and Max ads appeared all over the place. I was like, holy crap.

Adventure game press conferences are also a prettz big deal here.

(Typos in this post courtesy of weirdo German keyboard. Too lazy to fix.)

[Squinky]

Originally Posted by Melanie68

Martin Gantefoehr is German, but if it weren't for his last name, you'd never know. His English is better than mine, I think. So I have a lot of faith in the translations of House of Tales games.

Good point. Still, it's not just the language, but also the culture and the sense of time and place. I'd rather see more German games set in Germany with people speaking German, because it just feels more authentic somehow. *shrugs*

Originally Posted by Marek

(Typos in this post courtesy of weirdo German keyboard. Too lazy to fix.)

Haha, reminds me of when a friend of mine went backpacking around Eastern Europe and blogged about his trip. All the entries were filled with "daz" instead of "day" and the like. (and words like "yay" became "zaz", tee hee hee.)

[Jackal]

The current popularity suggests, at least in theory, that Germany never really had a "golden era" of adventures. Not necessarily that they never had access to some of the big LucasArts/Sierra games, but that the genre was never really mainstream back then. This all strikes me as a culture who's discovered a new toy and finds it novel and fun, while anyone who's already played that toy to death and moved on is bored by it now.

Or... maybe Germans just like adventures more. Anyone from Germany that can comment on the genre's popularity back in the day?

Originally Posted by Israfel

Actually, wrt localization, having the games originally written in English may be even worse than dealing with translations. Unless their name is Vladimir Nabokov, the odds that a person can have any sort of pizzazz when writing in a non-native language is pretty darn slim.

All of the games being written in English (at least, the ones I mentioned) are by native English speakers.

[cwapitm]

Hmm...Perhaps I should move to Germany.

[KFMN]

It is horrible, Germany and France dominating the adventure genre... What will be next...

[After a brisk nap]

Originally Posted by Jackal

All of the games being written in English (at least, the ones I mentioned) are by native English speakers.

Historically, the most high-profile exceptions I can think of are The Longest Journey and Dreamfall, written in English by (the Norwegian) Ragnar Törnquist.

Was Fahrenheit originally French or English?

[tomplaneswalker]

I don't really think people should have that much to fear, be glad that at least these Germans are investing the money needed to actually produce the games we all love to play (kinda reminds me of WWII when the opposite happened with movie directors, but of course under much different circumstances). US production companies are frankly just not interested in the genre anymore, so why be so paranoid about a nation that does think these games are a big deal?

[Ksandra]

I have no problems with games made in Germany except for the issues mentioned by the OP: poor translations and delays in the English-language release. I lived in Germany for a 9 months and was amazed by how many adventure games I saw on the shelves. I actually ended up buying Runaway there as it was never released in the UK. A few months ago I was on holiday in the Black Forest and saw Simon the Sorceror 4 in shops - now I wish I'd bought that as well, as there's still no word on an English release.

[ozzie]

Man. I'm glad to be german.

Originally Posted by Jackal

The current popularity suggests, at least in theory, that Germany never really had a "golden era" of adventures. Not necessarily that they never had access to some of the big LucasArts/Sierra games, but that the genre was never really mainstream back then. This all strikes me as a culture who's discovered a new toy and finds it novel and fun, while anyone who's already played that toy to death and moved on is bored by it now.

Or... maybe Germans just like adventures more. Anyone from Germany that can comment on the genre's popularity back in the day?


All of the games being written in English (at least, the ones I mentioned) are by native English speakers.

It seems that adventure games were always more popular here in Germany.
There was an interview with Hal Barwood recently on Adventure-Treff.
He said that production of Indiana Jones and the Iron Phoenix was canceled because the storyline seemed to be too controversial for Germany. It dealt with Nazis that persisted after World War II. Germany was always an imporant market for adventures.
And no, we're not just behind the current trends, we're just different.

I second Squinky. I wished some games wouldn't be so americanized.
Not that I have anything against american culture, but I'm not sure why we should copy when we can do it our own way.
But of course, there are some unique exceptions like TLJ, Syberia and Black Mirror (the german version is good, really! ).
Okay, these are only from Europe, not Germany.
I'm not sure if Germany ever produced a truly original title. Overclocked may be a good game, but I have the feeling that the aesthetic is copied from Hollywood...
The Moment of Silence looked like Hollywood-style. Jack Keane is definately inspired by Monkey Island.
Secret Files:Tunguska isn't also very original as a conspiracy thriller.
Okay, I'm honest. I never played those games, so correct me when I'm wrong, but I had the impression of those.

I think there were some unique adventure games from a studio called Weltenschmiede (not to confused with the new Weltenschmiede which produces Ceville atm). But they weren't that great according to reviews.

Was Fahrenheit originally French or English?

Quantic Dream is a french studio, but I'm not sure if it was either produced in french or english initially.

It is horrible, Germany and France dominating the adventure genre... What will be next...

Um.....Kasachstan??