Issue #2: THE NAMING OF STUFF

05-30-2008, 03:38 PM

Ever wonder where quirky names like "Illgaze" come from, or why items in some games resemble cheesy personalized license plates (e.g., "DTHSWRD")?

What's in a name? Aside from letters (and possibly a hyphen), it doesn't look like much at first glance. But much like the names of people in the real world, names for characters, items, and spells in video games can have a great deal of hidden meaning, especially in the localization process. Join us, why don't you, as we take a closer look at "naming stuff."

READ ISSUE #2: THE NAMING OF STUFF!

Take care, Faithful!

Master Zombots · 05-30-2008, 03:46 PM

Wow, I have always wondered about this kind of stuff. Thanks for creating this!

Bid · 05-30-2008, 03:48 PM

Nice, informative article there. I never knew how much work and research went into choosing suitable names for characters, equipment, spells etc.

Voodoo · 05-30-2008, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AtlusAram

Ever wonder where quirky names like "Illgaze" come from, or why items in some games resemble cheesy personalized license plates (e.g., "DTHSWRD")?

I just thought you guys were stoned out of your minds

DamnedToBeFree · 05-30-2008, 04:12 PM

Holy crap that seems like tedious work.

OptimisticPessimist · 05-30-2008, 04:28 PM

Actually, this was quite expected. We can't expect nice-sounding names all the time with the system limitations in place.

I should know... because I used to agonize over the names of my characters... I even looked up the meaning behind names just to name them individually. XD

DMG · 05-30-2008, 05:19 PM

Interesting little write-up. I'm really liking the production diaries; keep up the good work!

Flußkönig · 05-30-2008, 07:48 PM

Another cool article. I think Der Freischütz is my new hero. I will definitely have to order EO II after I beat EO, whenever that happens.

NuclearConvoy · 05-30-2008, 07:58 PM

Hmmmm, it really does play to understanding older games even more tha newer ones. Especially in the context of the drastic limitations present in localizing something with a much more "potent" writing system for "enclosed spaces".

tross · 05-30-2008, 08:12 PM

Good job finding names that work. Sounds like you put a lot of effort into it. I always wondered why shields were called aspis. Seriously though, I thought I had a tough time finding a name for one of my medics because I couldn't use the name I wanted(9 letters, pfft), so you must have had a lot of trouble trying to find names for absolutely everything. Atleast you're paid for it, lol.

PLA · 05-30-2008, 11:46 PM

I love name-history, allusions, and such.

VMan · 05-31-2008, 06:14 AM

That was a bit of eye-opener. I'm studying Japanese, myself right now and I never thought about the idea of character limitations in terms of translating X-character limited names that may be in Kanji to X-character limited names using the english alphabet. I guess this issue may have even existed back in the old days of NES when (I'm assuming), only hiragana and katakana were used, and considering romanization typically requires the use of two letters for every kana, modifications may have had to be made even then. Pretty interesting.

I'd first gotten an eye-opener on the research that often accompanies the localization of a character through the Final Fantasy XII development documentary. The translator, for example, studied Balthier's background before even beginning to translate his dialogue so that he could model it with a style of speech that did not necessarily stay very true to the original Japanese dialogue. It was sort of the idea of, "Ok, this is what the text literally says, but how would a person like Balthier, with the background he has, coming from the type of area he's from, say it in his own words?" Background research also was key to deciding (which I guess is obvious) the characters' accent, and ultimately, which actor's voice was best fit for him/her.

Great article guys! Good stuff to know!

Matman · 06-01-2008, 12:41 AM

Interesting.

So, how did you guys come up with "Etrian Odyssey"?

I study English, so looking into a word's origins or roots taken from other languages and then looking and that word's origins and roots (it's history, I guess) fascinate me to no end.
Slang is another story altogether.

Chronis · 06-01-2008, 08:23 AM

^^That's actually a really good question... Now I'm wondering about this. Well, Atlus! What say you!

Futomimi · 06-01-2008, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matman

Interesting.

So, how did you guys come up with "Etrian Odyssey"?

I study English, so looking into a word's origins or roots taken from other languages and then looking and that word's origins and roots (it's history, I guess) fascinate me to no end.
Slang is another story altogether.

The translation of the Japanese title is "Yggdrasil Labyrinth," but Atlus didn't want the title to be confused with an earlier release on the GBA called Yggdra Union. The game takes place in Etria, so they took a cue from that for the title.

The mods may be able to add more since you're interested, but that's the basic story that I've read before.

Sayckeone · 06-01-2008, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inzaghi

Owner of the Malicious Glare

That name is awesome. Can you give us a few other translations of monster names, Inzaghi? The Japanese give their monsters some really good names. It sucks that it's so limited when it comes to naming in English.

System_Error · 06-01-2008, 09:45 AM

wasn't because they didn't want people to think it was a sequel to that crap Deep Labyrinth too?

Sayckeone · 06-01-2008, 09:53 AM

^I've never heard that one. What Mimi said came straight from Atlus.

System_Error · 06-01-2008, 10:03 AM

Ah, ok. I must have been mistaken.

Inzaghi · 06-01-2008, 10:47 AM

It was both. And sure, I'll paste a few more original translations of the names when I get into work later.

Sayckeone · 06-01-2008, 11:09 AM

Awesome. Thanks!

Master Zombots · 06-01-2008, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inzaghi

It was both. And sure, I'll paste a few more original translations of the names when I get into work later.

Nice! That would be great to see what some more of the shortened names originally came from.

Inzaghi · 06-01-2008, 01:34 PM

Here's five more cool names (and what they are in EOII):

Caller of the Underworld -> Riptor
Furious Horned Deer -> Furyhorn
Mokeirembenbe (an African reference we didn't have space for) -> Sauromar
Invasive Confuser -> Invader
Richly Colored King -> Huelord

Master Zombots · 06-01-2008, 02:03 PM

Those are certainly some interesting choices. Particularly, I think Huelord is a cool name.

V0LK0V · 06-01-2008, 02:26 PM

Huelord, heh thats awesome.

NuclearConvoy · 06-01-2008, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inzaghi

Here's five more cool names (and what they are in EOII):

Caller of the Underworld -> Riptor
Furious Horned Deer -> Furyhorn
Mokeirembenbe (an African reference we didn't have space for) -> Sauromar
Invasive Confuser -> Invader
Richly Colored King -> Huelord

While I "don't get" Riptor or Sauromar, that's likely because I'm trying to associate solely based on text on a page. The other three seem like good choices, with Huelord distictly standing out as witty and intelligent.

Isun · 06-14-2008, 01:48 PM

Fascinating. I think Huelord sounds very cool too!

Are the localization and translation team in contact with the developers to consult them about any historical or mythological references?