[We kicked off this careers series with a look at the field of game music composing. Now we're putting our laser sights on video game localization, and we'll have many more career profiles to come. Also be sure to check out our new careers section sponsored by GameRecruiter.]
IndustryGamers picked the brain of Kenji Hosoi, Localization Manager for XSEED Games, which brings often niche Japanese games to the U.S. market. Hosoi oversees this (sometimes difficult) process. Somebody's got to do it, and we certainly don't need to see anymore "all your base belong to us" translations.
IndustryGamers: What attracted you to the game industry and localizing video games in particular?
Kenji Hosoi: Well, it seemed more fun than wearing a tie and pleated pants for the rest of my life. Just kidding. About the tie anyway.
Honestly though, I’ve always enjoyed playing video games, and although I wouldn’t call myself a hardcore gamer per se, I have been playing them all my life. You could even say that gaming sites/mags actually gave me the motivation to seek it out. One day, I was surfing through one of the game sites and reading up on Yakuza (Japanese version) and Indigo Prophecy (both awesome games by the way), and I realized that there were people out there who do exactly what I was doing; surfing and looking at game reviews for a living.
This was back when I used to work in the Import/Export business, and though I was genuinely interested in what I was doing, just like many people out there, it never really called out to me, so I took a bit of a gamble. I thought, hey, if I like it enough to sneak around and look at game sites (against company rules) at my non-gaming job, then I might as well try and look for a job in the industry.
As for the localization part, it was just natural. I’ve lived half of my life in the U.S. and the other half in Japan so I can read/write/speak (and swear) fluently in both languages. I also thought I might be able to save the states from too many more badly localized titles. I’m still working on that last one…
IG: What's your day-to-day like?
KH: Not as much surfing as I had hoped for…
In actuality, even though it may sound like fun and games (literally) to work in the game industry, it’s still work and for the most part I don’t usually get to play the games.
You could say my average day breaks down like this:
8:58AM – I enter the office to find no one there but the President and 10,000 emails to address.
8:59AM – Marketing and the localization crew bum rush the door trying to squeak in before 9AM. Minor injuries relating to the squabble for the door are treated and we discover that the intern has been crushed underfoot. Whoever has a working car this week takes her to the hospital.
Pre-lunch – I take care of emails and do lots of research. Usually the research part is done together with our localization team but the surfing for LOLCat videos is purely my territory.
Lunch- Who has time for that? I eat some instant ramen and pray that our Mac doesn’t crash under the weight of all the ESRB footage we’ve been doing. During this time of relative peace I also deal with any technical questions that Japan has and talk to Sony or Nintendo to ensure communication is flowing smoothly. At the same time, I’ll be checking on progress of all the other titles we’re handling and make sure everyone/everything is on time. If it’s not, I get out the wiffle bat. (I had to downgrade from a real one because our HMO doesn’t cover serious head trauma.)
Post-Lunch to 10PM is usually going though rows and rows of Excel sheet with game text trying to find mistranslations or issues that the development team has. Sometimes I download new ROMs or check manuals/walkthroughs. Other daily duties tend to include keeping the editors from overusing “Pinky and the Brain” quotes and ensuring that when one translator breaks down and is crying in the bathroom, the other picks up the slack.
Overall, to do this job you need attention to detail, patience, and some form of blunt object.
IG: What kind of education is required to become proficient at localizing games?
KH: This all depends on what your role is in the localization process. For our company, to get your foot in the door you first need a BA (in just about anything though) and some knowledge of Japanese/games. If you have that, we then look for these skills…
For translators we look for people A) who are especially skilled in Japanese, B) who know what
means, and C) don’t mind squinting at rows and rows of tiny text for 10 hours a day.
If you’re editing, we look for people who A) take a perverse delight in finding typos, B) have creative writing skills, and C) know how to use “tintinnabulations” in a sentence.
If you want to be an intern and work for free…we’ll take anyone who is breathing and can write their name.
So it depends on what your focus is going to be.
