42 réponses à ce sujet

[Napoleonicus]

This idea came to me yesterday because I wanted to play the spanish version of DA:O to brush-up on my language skills. I imagine there are also a lot of expatriates who live outside their region of origin who would love to play your games in their mother tongues, and countless other reasons to desire access to other languages for the games.

 

I understand that there is only so much space on discs for physical editions, and that unlike Steam, Orgin (The EA client) does not support the downloading of language packs with a click.

 

How about putting out the language packs as free DLCs, so we can play in any language we fancy?

[Fast Jimmy]

Well, the thing to consider is that DLC is not free for developers. Even if it was an issue where Bioware had all of the recording done and completed and it just wound up on the cutting room floor due to disc space (a big if, but let's just entertain it), if they offer anything as a DLC, it has to go through a difficult (and expensive) certification process with both Microsoft and Sony to be able to put on XBL or the PSN for download.

Not saying Bioware wouldn't do it, but there would be more involved with them than saying "oh, let's give out free DLC," even if they were so inclined.

[Napoleonicus]

I don't know about that really.

 

I'm in Quebec and I bought a physical copy of Skyrim here. By default, the game is in french because of localization, but Steam allows me to download the language pack of my choice with a click of the mouse. Surely if Steam and Bethesda can do it, EA and Bioware could.

[Fast Jimmy]

I don't know about that really.
 
I'm in Quebec and I bought a physical copy of Skyrim here. By default, the game is in french because of localization, but Steam allows me to download the language pack of my choice with a click of the mouse. Surely if Steam and Bethesda can do it, EA and Bioware could.

Steam is PC. There isn't a certification process for PC games. There is for anything downloaded through the XBL or PSN. It is tedious and pricey. And Bioware would not offer such a feature only to their PC gamers and ignore their (much larger) console gaming market.

[Napoleonicus]

By that standard, PC players shouldn't have had the deveopment tools to make their own adventures with DAO, should not have access to better graphics/framerate out of better hardware, there certainly shouldn't be current-gen and next gen versions of the game, everybody should get the same.

 

What to say of the modding community, who did amazing things with the support they got from Bioware?

 

I'm not about to go "PC Master Race" on you, don't you worry, but what it comes down to is, let everybody go at the game with the possibilities their platform gives them. PCs offer more fexibility, why be shy of using it?

[dutch_gamer]

I don't quite understand why EA always has to make it that difficult to be able to play any of their games in the language people prefer. I am really glad I live in a country they don't want to do voice overs for so I always automatically get the game in the English language. I hope EA will some day stop with the practice of making it so hard for some countries to not get the dubbed version automatically and instead make it a choice. I have seen other companies do this and yet for EA it is a problem. It is even a problem on the PC with Origin where customers have to jump through hoops for something which should be under the control of customers.

[addiction21]

I don't know about that really.

 

I'm in Quebec and I bought a physical copy of Skyrim here. By default, the game is in french because of localization, but Steam allows me to download the language pack of my choice with a click of the mouse. Surely if Steam and Bethesda can do it, EA and Bioware could.

 

I think there is a bit of confusion going on. The example you give is not "free DLC" but it is easy access to the localization the publisher/devs have already provided. Is that something difficult or not possible with Origin?

 

Or are you asking for new all together language packs to be made and then given for free?

[Napoleonicus]

I think there is a bit of confusion going on. The example you give is not "free DLC" but it is easy access to the localization the publisher/devs have already provided. Is that something difficult or not possible with Origin?

 

Or are you asking for new all together language packs to be made and then given for free?

 

What I mean is that Origin, unlike Steam, does not have a feature that allows you to change languages, so making them available as DLCs would allow to go around that missing feature.

[Fast Jimmy]

By that standard, PC players shouldn't have had the deveopment tools to make their own adventures with DAO, should not have access to better graphics/framerate out of better hardware, there certainly shouldn't be current-gen and next gen versions of the game, everybody should get the same.
 
What to say of the modding community, who did amazing things with the support they got from Bioware?
 
I'm not about to go "PC Master Race" on you, don't you worry, but what it comes down to is, let everybody go at the game with the possibilities their platform gives them. PCs offer more fexibility, why be shy of using it?

There's not going to be a modkit for DA:I, either.

If you were a console player making this same request and Bioware said "we'll do it for PC, but not for you, console player," would that not be frustrating and seem unfair?

I'm not saying they won't do it for PC instead of console, I'm just trying to explain why it's low on their list of priorities. If they can't do it easy in console, then it's gets bumped to a lower bracket of concern.

[Napoleonicus]

 

If you were a console player making this same request and Bioware said "we'll do it for PC, but not for you, console player," would that not be frustrating and seem unfair?

 

When buying anything at all, a wise consumer should always consider the upsides and downsides of their choices.

 

It has been true for a very long time now that PCs have had an edge on consoles on certain points. It used to be that online games were a PC exclusive. Not true anymore, but it did not stop companies back then producing console ports without an online component or with splitscreen instead. It still didn't have remote multiplayer. The same is true of dev and mod kits (not saying DAI will have one), which have been common to PCs and have spawned large and creative communities but are unavailable to consoles due to practical issues. Overall performances have been better on PC as well due to better hardware being available.

 

Now it seems distribution methods are more efficient on PCs (see Steam for example) than on consoles. That's just the way of things.

 

Having a console is a choice, and one I avoid because I feel it's like buying a car with the hood welded shut. I don't see why something that is easy to implement for one should be denied because another made a choice that does not make it available to him.

 

Look at it this way. If my foot hurts, will you limp as well just because it would be unfair to me? Of course not.

[Fast Jimmy]

Having a console is a choice, and one I avoid because I feel it's like buying a car with the hood welded shut. I don't see why something that is easy to implement for one should be denied because another made a choice that does not make it available to him.

Look at it this way. If my foot hurts, will you limp as well just because it would be unfair to me? Of course not.

Bah. This is nonsense.

You are looking at it from the consumer's point of view, which is irrelevant here. We are talking about a demand made to the developer. They will view that request through their lense - what is the value of the request, how big is the audience, what is the cost and what do we lose by providing this?

In all cases, Bioware as a developer loses when giving extra services to PC over console. Not only is it work for the smallest subset of their consumer base, but it runs the risk of offending their larger (by far) market.

[Zatche]

Bioware's not releasing anything for DAO right now (or probably ever). They're not going to take resources away from DAI and put it towards a language pack that could only amount to the smallest bit of goodwill.

[Napoleonicus]

you choose PC knowing the console limits, you shot yourself in the foot and made yourself limp, you were not forced

 

lol whut?

 

Choosing PC because I know the console limits, is a buyer's choice. The other is an allegory which nowhere mentions shooting. I'm sad you didn't get the point tho, Caladin. It's meant to say that people shouldn't have their options cut just because some others cannot get them.

 

 

In all cases, Bioware as a developer loses when giving extra services to PC over console. Not only is it work for the smallest subset of their consumer base, but it runs the risk of offending their larger (by far) market.

 

Strange that it always has with the Dragon Age series. *points to dev kits* Did you stop buying their games? I don't think people will mke that much of a fuss over it.

 

Bioware's not releasing anything for DAO right now (or probably ever). They're not going to take resources away from DAI and put it towards a language pack that could only amount to the smallest bit of goodwill.

 

I posted this in the DAI section because I'd like it considered for DAI, not DAO. I only said the idea came when trying to get DAO to work in another language.

[Fast Jimmy]

 
Strange that it always has with the Dragon Age series. *points to dev kits* Did you stop buying their games? I don't think people will mke that much of a fuss over it.

Did you stop buying DA games because DA2 and DA:I WON'T have the dev kits? This is a bit of a flimsy argument.

[Napoleonicus]

Heck, make it a microtransaction. Handle it as a DLC and charge a 2$ for it or something. We know a lot of people would like to have an english version in their country. Maybe if it were profitable that'd make EA budge and make it viable for release  across all platforms. My concern is really not PC vs. console. That was nowhere in my original post. The idea here is really to offer languges where they currenty aren't avilable.

[Napoleonicus]

Did you stop buying DA games because DA2 and DA:I WON'T have the dev kits? This is a bit of a flimsy argument

You're making my point Jimmy. That option was not a dealbreaker for me and neither should a language pack be one for you or other console gamers Besides I'm not asking for exclusivity. It was nowhere in my original post. I'm all about giving people, whichever system they use, more options for their buck.

[Zatche]

lol whut?

 

Choosing PC because I know the console limits, is a buyer's choice. The other is an allegory which nowhere mentions shooting. I'm sad you didn't get the point tho, Caladin. It's meant to say that people shouldn't have their options cut just because some others cannot get them.

 

Strange that it always has with the Dragon Age series. *points to dev kits* Did you stop buying their games? I don't think people will mke that much of a fuss over it.

 

I posted this in the DAI section because I'd like it considered for DAI, not DAO. I only said the idea came when trying to get DAO to work in another language.

 

Whether you think it's fair or not doesn't have much meaning on to whether a console player would find it fair. Bioware still needs to take under consideration the console players would find it unfair. They also have to take into consideration their relationships with Sony and MS.

 

DA2 didn't have a dev kit. DAI will most likely not have one either.

 

Then wouldn't you just want the languages as part of the vanilla game. Or an extra install disc. Either way, still not sure how great an investment this would be for Bioware from a cost/benefit perspective. How much extra goodwill would they really get from this?

[Napoleonicus]

Then wouldn't you just want the languages as part of the vanilla game. Or an extra install disc. Either way, still not sure how great an investment this would be for Bioware from a cost/benefit perspective. How much extra goodwill would they really get from this?

 

You make an interesting point Zatche I'd love nothing more than to have the languages on vanilla install but I'm a bit more realistic than that. I don't think the extra dics would be a good move in terms of production costs. Download over the net is probably cheaper nd would not break their established regionalized releases. And ask around. There are likely a lot of people who would prefer an english version over say a forced polish, russian or dutch version or french in my case. The point is to give a choice over your game experience

 

Edit:  My experience of Skyrim benefitted a LOT from that option in Steam

[addiction21]

Well this went a weird place.

 

Nap (I am going to call the OP nap because I will murder that spelling) you talk about steam and being able to switch language easily. Well that's more of the service provider thing then DLC how that works. Having easy and free availability to the locals the devs/publishers had already done. Which I believe the consoles should have.

 

When you say DLC that is a whole different can of worms. That would mean the devs/publishers made it separate to the core product and for consoles (yes pc gamers get a advantage here) has to go thru a certification process and to my understanding that cost goes on the developer/publisher.

[ReveurIngenu]

Okay.... Back to the original question, if you buy the console version of the game, most likely spanish text will be included.  The only versions besides english getting voice overs are french and german versions, so spanish version only has text.  If you buy the game in the US, it will have spanish text because the US version is the same version as the one sold in Mexico and South America.  And if you live in the UK or Europe, the european release will have spanish text for Spain.

 

Language selection is done by setting your console to that language, so all you'd have to do is change your console language to spanish.

[Napoleonicus]

Well this went a weird place.

 

That, it really did

 

Nap (I am going to call the OP nap because I will murder that spelling)

 

Please  do!

 

 

 

You talk about steam and being able to switch language easily. Well that's more of the service provider thing then DLC how that works. Having easy and free availability to the locals the devs/publishers had already done. Which I believe the consoles should have.

 

 

There is no such option in the EA client that allows direct change/download of language packs. But if on the game's page the language packs were available as DLCs, it would go around the issue of Origin not having that functionality built-in. Does that clear-up the confusion for you?

 

 

When you say DLC that is a whole different can of worms. That would mean the devs/publishers made it separate to the core product and for consoles (yes pc gamers get a advantage here) has to go thru a certification process and to my understanding that cost goes on the developer/publisher.

 

I understand that much, but I think it could actually be worth it. Heck, I'll gladly pay a small fee for getting any language I like.

[Sylvius the Mad]

If you were a console player making this same request and Bioware said "we'll do it for PC, but not for you, console player," would that not be frustrating and seem unfair?

No it would not, and to perceive it as such would be irrational.

[Napoleonicus]

Okay.... Back to the original question, if you buy the console version of the game, most likely spanish text will be included.  The only versions besides english getting voice overs are french and german versions, so spanish version only has text.  If you buy the game in the US, it will have spanish text because the US version is the same version as the one sold in Mexico and South America.  And if you live in the UK or Europe, the european release will have spanish text for Spain.

 

Language selection is done by setting your console to that language, so all you'd have to do is change your console language to spanish.

 

I remember having seen spanish voiced versions of DAO and DA2 for PC. I may be wrong about it, but hat's what led me to think there may be a localised version of DAI for spanish also. It would make sense too, considering how many sanish speakers there are in spain and south america.

 

Still, the wider point is that should I want to play in German, should  the english version be shoved down my throat?

[ReveurIngenu]

No, none of the DA ever had spanish voices.  None of the Mass Effect games either.  You must be thinking of Skyrim which had localized voices in spanish.

 

As for your original post, I would totally support that idea.  I love comparing different language versions and find that it is generally difficult to find out what languages a game has been localized in.  Each language group generally only concerns itself with their own language, so it's hard to get an accurate list of localized voices and localized text a game has been localized in (for example, french sites will only give information on the existance or not of a french version, german sites only on german, etc.).

 

I use OGDB which is not always very accurate but at least gives some information.

 

So yeah, having all languages as DLC would allow me to find out exactly what languages a game is available in, and compare or even play in another language just to change things up.  Sadly, it doesn't seem like there is much of a demand for that.  Most only care about the original version (usually english), and even languages getting localized voices, many complain that they would rather have the english voices.

 

Just for information, game companies that usually have a lot of localized voice overs are Sony Computer Entertainment, Ubisoft, and Microsoft Studios.  Series like Uncharted, God of War, Assassins Creed, etc. all benefit from a bunch of localized languages, both in text and voices.