Master Kirby
16th August 2006, 09:52 PM
Hi everyone. This week, Nintendo has been having its annual Camp Hyrule (http://www.camphyrule.com/) event. It is an interactive virtual online summer camp all about Nintendo and gaming.
They have been having live chats with various people who work for Nintendo, and afterwards one of the NOA counselors has been posting them on a message board. For those of you who missed registration, or just would be interested in reading them, I will post the Chats here. When there are more chats, I will try to add them too. Enjoy.
8/15 Chat with Nintendo.com Producer Kent Miller
NOA_ANDY: Chat with Nintendo.com producer NOA_Kent will begin in five minutes.
NOA_ANDY: Note that this is a moderated chat. Only special guests and NOAs can type freely. Please submit your question and wait for it to be reviewed.
NOA_ANDY: Hi everyone, and welcome to our very first show in the Amphitheater at Camp Hyrule 2006!
NOA_ANDY: I'm pleased to introduce Kent Miller, Senior Online Producer at Nintendo.com. Kent is currently working on websites for Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, Elite Beat Agents, Yoshi's Island 2 and Children of Mana. Welcome, Kent!
NOA_KENT: Hey everyone!
NOA_ANDY: Welcome back to Camp Hyrule Kent.
NOA_ANDY: Let's get right to the questions.
DIGIPEN89: For those interested in getting a job in NOA's online department what kind of degree should they get in college?
NOA_KENT: It's great to be here. (saves Children of Mana progress)
NOA_KENT: degree? Depends. I have a liberal arts degree.
NOA_KENT: I think that's the basic background. We have an engineering person too
NOA_KENT: but they don't do any engineering
NOA_KENT: I'm not sure what our designers studied
NOA_KENT: I'd say a good well rounded education, English, math, art, business ...
NOA_KENT: and of course a minor in video game playing ....
NOA_KENT: next quest?
NOA_ANDY: OK ...
LINK17000: What's your favorite site that you've made?
NOA_KENT: that's a tough one.
NOA_KENT: I enjoyed Mario Dance Dance Rev, I guess
NOA_KENT: it was a different kind of game, plus I got to work with some fun guys
NOA_KENT: the Animal-Crossing WW site was a lot of fun too. It's always great to work with avid gamers. Next question?
KAYIN: Is the Elite Beat Agents song list very good?
NOA_KENT: the song list is still up in the air, not quite finalized.
NOA_KENT: But the songs they're considering are very good. I, myself, am a huge fan of Walkie Talkie Man
NOA_KENT: But the important thing is ...
NOA_KENT: the whole gameplay experience of EBA, which is totally innovative. It's not a conventional music game in any sense at all. If you focus just on the songs, you lose sight of just how cool and different this game is.
NOA_KENT: Next question?
THEFIRESTORM: What programs do you use to create the websites for Nintendo? (Macromedia Dreamweaver, Adobe Photoshop, etc.)
NOA_KENT: I'm not a techie guy at all.
NOA_KENT: Typically we hire outside agencies that excel in t hese programs. Flash, PhotoShop, etc.
NOA_KENT: Myself, I pretty much just use Word. And I map out sites with Visio, which is good for flowcharts.
NOA_KENT: and we do lots of email of course!
NOA_KENT: next question?
RHINE: How long does it take you, on average, to complete a website?
NOA_KENT: that is a good question. I'd say, two months, start to finish?
NOA_KENT: There are a lot of variables, but for example, next week I kick off the Children of Mana website. And that site will be up by Oct 30, when the game is in stores.
NOA_KENT: Plus I'll probably have what we call a 'teaser site,' something to whet your interest while we are working on the full site.
NOA_KENT: next question?
BLACKYOSHI78: Will Yoshi's Island 2 play like the SNES classic, or is it going in a totally different direction on the DS?
NOA_KENT: It builds on the SNES game, which is good -- it's my all-time fave platformer.
NOA_KENT: However, it makes very brilliant use of the DS. For example, bosses that take up two screens!
NOA_KENT: The art style is very much like the original, which is all to the good, in my book.
NOA_KENT: the big innovation is that you get to 'use
NOA_KENT: whoops. le't's say work with Baby Mario, Baby Dk, Baby Peach, etc
NOA_KENT: they give you special powers.
NOA_KENT: next question?
MISTERINVIZ: Do you work closely with the game developers on the sites you create, or is it mostly just done within the marketing department?
NOA_KENT: depends on the game. For example, right now I am working on Mario vs DK 2: March of the Minis. The developres are right across the street!
NOA_KENT: So last week, I went over and got sounds from the composer/sound guy. I complimented him on his work -- it's one of the most original scores I've heard for a Mario game. Jazzy stuff, etc
NOA_KENT: but other games are developed in Japan, which poses language and distance challenges. I typically work with a group here, the Treehouse, that works directly with the developers.
NOA_KENT: next q?
ACE_OF_BLADES: What was the first website you made for a Nintendo game?
NOA_KENT: I can't remember, honestly. maybe, Jet Force Gemini for the N64?
NOA_KENT: still one of my fave games. I hope it's on the Virtual Console.
NOA_KENT: next q?
TORCH665: Hey Kent, first I'd like to say thanks for taking some time off to talk to us today. Second, my question is, describe a typical day at your job.
NOA_KENT: well, like today, first thing is I picked up a preproduction copy of Children of Mana. It's important to play a game thoroughly so I know it in and out.
NOA_KENT: then, I got some designs from the agency working on the Mario vs DK 2 website. And I will look at them and work with my design director to provide feedback to the agency.
NOA_KENT: and, since I am just starting Elite Beat Agents and Yoshi's websites, I am talking with the design leads on those games.
NOA_KENT: The design leads helps give direction to the agency on how the site should look, what fonts to use, etc.
NOA_KENT: a lot of details in this job. something as seemingly little as a font selection can make a big difference in a site.
NOA_KENT: plus, I ready about the industry and other games online. Gives me a feeling for trends, etc.
NOA_KENT: next q?
KINOPIO: What can we expect from the Elite Beat Agents website? I really loved Ouendan, and I can't wait to see what happens with this version of the game. Do you know when we could see a teaser site for the title?
NOA_KENT: I would really really love to get a teaser up next month. You are right, Kinopio, this game will be very cool. I really want to get the word out early because it is so different.
NOA_KENT: BTW you should check your DS Downnload stations. I believe a demo will be in there, possibly in a month.
NOA_KENT: but, back to EBA, it has great characters, great energy, a great storyline. Communicating that will be a challenge though because it's such an unusual game. But challenges like that are what makes this job fun.
NOA_KENT: plus, it really helps that I really luv the game!
NOA_KENT: next q?
KAKASHI_THE_COPY_NINJA: What was the hardest website for a Nintendo game that you had to design?
NOA_KENT: I'd have to say DK Jungle Beat. In which you controlled DK useing the bongos
NOA_KENT: the problem was the site didn't capture the energy of the game, so we had to practically redo it the week before the game launched.
NOA_KENT: I did Donkey Konga 2 with an agency in Los Angeles. Working with an agency that far away is tough. I just prefer working with local agencies, because then they can come in and talk, and it builds great rapport, which is very important in this line of work.
NOA_KENT: next q?
SIRVENOM: Is a college degree really required for a job at NOA? What if instead the subject was good at what he did without college?
NOA_KENT: I couldn't say absolutely, because you could work in the Call Center without a degree, I think. Plus of course there are many non-video related jobs here. Every business has security, right?
NOA_KENT: but on our end, I would say a degree def. helps.
NOA_KENT: my degree was in philosphy! Which obviously doesn't come into play too much, although it helps me look at things differently, which is a big help in a creative job like this. Also, it helped with my writing.
NOA_KENT: next q?
GMNINTENDO: I was wondering what does it take to design a gaming website, for instance such as a DS game where you would use the stylus to control it, do you have to be as innovative with the website to match whole feel of the game itself?
NOA_KENT: yes, GMNintendo, we ask that same question of ourselves a lot.
NOA_KENT: If you look at the WarioWare: Touched! website, you'll see one clever solution we came up with.
NOA_KENT: in which your cursor becomes a stylus
NOA_KENT: but communicating that 'touch' feel on the web is very difficult and always a challenge for us
NOA_KENT: next q?
BUSTER83: Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2. Online map-sharing. Any integration with that into the website? Any chance of a featured-map, or something like that?
NOA_KENT: for technical reasons it wouldn't be on mariovsdk.com (which is now a teaser site for the game, BTW)
NOA_KENT: but the game will def. be highlighted on Nintendowifi.com
NOA_KENT: We are still working on good ways to promote this feature. You can only share maps with people on your Friends list, so we have to take that into consideration
NOA_KENT: next q?
CHAINCHOMPMASTA30: About Yoshi's Island 2. Will the game utilize the Touch Screen as in touch control or will it just be used to show the game on two screens?
NOA_KENT: Only a few levels are done and playable (at least on my version)
NOA_KENT: but so far, it's mostly a D-pad game
NOA_KENT: I need to play it more before I give you a definiitive answer, but I think it will be mostly D-pad, not so much touch control
NOA_KENT: next q?
NOA_ANDY: We have time for one more question ...
METROIDHUNTER777: Whats your favorite part about your job
NOA_KENT: cool
NOA_KENT: well, I really like the people I work with. We have a very good relationship
NOA_KENT: everyone here is very hard working and very creative and, perhaps most importantly, has a great sense of humor!
NOA_KENT: It helps to be able to laugh at yourself when you're talking about video games/
NOA_ANDY: Kent, thanks a lot for stopping by Camp Hyrule 2006. Before you return to NOA, be sure to stop by the decompression chamber. And watch out for the Space Viruses.
NOA_KENT: thanks, the Viruses ate me up when I played earlier, maybe now I will have more luck!
NOA_KENT: thanks everyone!
NOA_ANDY: Adios, everyone, and thanks for participating!
8/15 Chat with Raymond Yan, Senior Vice President of Operations for DigiPen Institute of Technology
NOA_ANDY: It is my extreme pleasure to introduce Mr. Raymond Yan, Senior Vice President of Operations for DigiPen Institute of Technology. Welcome to Camp Hyrule!
RAYMOND_YAN: hi guys
NOA_ANDY: Before we get started, I've seen many questions from campers wondering exactly what it means to be a " Senior Vice President of Operations." Could you please give us a brief overview of your duties at DigiPen?
RAYMOND_YAN: sure...
RAYMOND_YAN: basically...
RAYMOND_YAN: it's a fancy title that comes with LOTS of headaches
RAYMOND_YAN: i oversee things like computers...
RAYMOND_YAN: and all of our outreach programs like the summer workshops..
RAYMOND_YAN: where we teach kids about game development
NOA_ANDY: Cool! Let's get started with some questions ...
JSR: Hi Mr. Yan. What's the average day of a Digipen student like?
RAYMOND_YAN: it's very loooong
RAYMOND_YAN: the students here at digipen are studying a lot of courses...
RAYMOND_YAN: for the programming students they are focusing primarily on math...
RAYMOND_YAN: physics...
RAYMOND_YAN: computer science
RAYMOND_YAN: and of course....
RAYMOND_YAN: each semester the students are working on game projects
RAYMOND_YAN: for the artists...
RAYMOND_YAN: they spend their days studying topics such as drawing...
RAYMOND_YAN: color theory..
RAYMOND_YAN: anatomy
RAYMOND_YAN: film techniquest
RAYMOND_YAN: acting
RAYMOND_YAN: and they have to draw a lot ...
RAYMOND_YAN: about 50-100 sketchbook pages a week...for four years...
NOA_ANDY: Wow. So it's not all fun and games!
RAYMOND_YAN: lol
RAYMOND_YAN: definitely not
ASHTR: What careers can you go into after graduating from Digipen?
RAYMOND_YAN: most people come to digipen because they want to work in the game industry as programmers and production artists
RAYMOND_YAN: so...
RAYMOND_YAN: being located in seattle...
RAYMOND_YAN: which is one of the largest game development communities in the country...the world actually
RAYMOND_YAN: many grads work for local companies....
RAYMOND_YAN: including nintendo software technology
RAYMOND_YAN: microsoft xbox..
RAYMOND_YAN: we have grads at Valve
RAYMOND_YAN: Bungie
RAYMOND_YAN: etc...
THEFIRESTORM: People know about programmers, artists, and musicians. But what other positions do you think people should think about when considering a career in game development?
RAYMOND_YAN: making today's games is much like making a movie....
RAYMOND_YAN: in addition to programmers and artists...
RAYMOND_YAN: there are musicians...
RAYMOND_YAN: writers...
RAYMOND_YAN: producers
RAYMOND_YAN: directors
RAYMOND_YAN: testers
RAYMOND_YAN: people who keep the computers working
RAYMOND_YAN: it's very multidisciplinary....
RAYMOND_YAN: and when you just look at programming...
RAYMOND_YAN: there are many types....
RAYMOND_YAN: programmers who have to deal with artificial intelligence..
RAYMOND_YAN: physics...
RAYMOND_YAN: character animation systems
RAYMOND_YAN: camera control..
RAYMOND_YAN: for artists...you will find artists who deal with character modeling
RAYMOND_YAN: animation
RAYMOND_YAN: then there is the user interface stuff....so graphic design...
RAYMOND_YAN: then lighting artists...
RAYMOND_YAN: artists that make the game props....
RAYMOND_YAN: etc.
NOA_ANDY: A quick follow-up ... What types of degrees does Digipen offer?
RAYMOND_YAN: good question...
RAYMOND_YAN: we have three different tracks....
RAYMOND_YAN: as an accredited college, students can come to digipen to earn a bachelor of science degree in real-time interactive simulation
RAYMOND_YAN: this is a fancy way to say "game programming"
RAYMOND_YAN: then we also have another science degree in computer engineering...which deals with hardware...
RAYMOND_YAN: and finally, a bachelor of fine arts degree in production animation...
RAYMOND_YAN: actually...we also have a master of science in computer science degree
ZELDAMSTR447: Since I am entering High School, do you reccomend any specific classes I may take to be ready for a school like this. I am already enrolled in some Honors classes, and I am taking Graphic Design as my elective; but are there any other classes I should consider?
RAYMOND_YAN: good question...
RAYMOND_YAN: if your goal is to be a programmer...
RAYMOND_YAN: then the focus needs to be on mathematics....trig, geometry...
RAYMOND_YAN: take as much math as you can....and really understand it...
RAYMOND_YAN: if you can take honors/AP math...go for it
RAYMOND_YAN: then...
RAYMOND_YAN: you may also want to consider physics....
RAYMOND_YAN: most games are simulations of some type of world...even a mario world
RAYMOND_YAN: so...
RAYMOND_YAN: you need to understand physical science...things like momentum...
RAYMOND_YAN: velocity..
RAYMOND_YAN: you can also take computer programming classes...
RAYMOND_YAN: this will help you to see if you even like programming...
RAYMOND_YAN: for art
RAYMOND_YAN: drawing...
RAYMOND_YAN: more drawing...
RAYMOND_YAN: and...
RAYMOND_YAN: drawing
RAYMOND_YAN: learning to paint is awesome
RAYMOND_YAN: sculpting
RAYMOND_YAN: acting
RAYMOND_YAN: photography
RAYMOND_YAN: graphic design
RAYMOND_YAN: and...
RAYMOND_YAN: drawing
RAYMOND_YAN: did i mention drawing?
RAYMOND_YAN: and finally...
RAYMOND_YAN: i'm sure many of you are interested in game design
RAYMOND_YAN: we all have game ideas right?
RAYMOND_YAN: well..
RAYMOND_YAN: if this is your goal...to be the next miyamoto-san...
RAYMOND_YAN: you need to learn everything....both technical and creative....
RAYMOND_YAN: most designers typically start out as programmers...
RAYMOND_YAN: or artists..
RAYMOND_YAN: i'd certainly recommend going this route...
RAYMOND_YAN: if for no other reason....
RAYMOND_YAN: to be a good designer....
RAYMOND_YAN: you need to understand how a game is made...
RAYMOND_YAN: it takes much more than just having a good game idea...
RAYMOND_YAN: most of you have probably played games that weren't all that great...
RAYMOND_YAN: in many instances...the reason the game is not that good is not that the idea is bad...but that the designer did not understand the structure of how a game is really put together.
SIRVENOM: How many years does one have to spend in Digipen for a good education in programming and production art?
RAYMOND_YAN: it really takes our students about 4 years...
RAYMOND_YAN: and...
RAYMOND_YAN: that's for each discipline...in other words...
RAYMOND_YAN: they focus on either art...or programming over the four year period
NOA_ANDY: I have a question here about your experience in game development. Before I present it, can you please give a brief overview of some of the games you've worked on?
RAYMOND_YAN: well...
RAYMOND_YAN: before i joined digipen a few years back....
RAYMOND_YAN: i was the head of the art department at nintendo software technology....
RAYMOND_YAN: which is a first party development team located right next to digipen
RAYMOND_YAN: so...
RAYMOND_YAN: during my time with nst...
RAYMOND_YAN: i made a couple color gameboy games...
RAYMOND_YAN: one called "Crystalis" (RPG)
RAYMOND_YAN: another called "bionic commando" (adventure/platform)
RAYMOND_YAN: on the N64...
RAYMOND_YAN: i worked on a game called "Pokemon Puzzle League"
RAYMOND_YAN: another called "Ridge Racer 64"
RAYMOND_YAN: for the gamecube..
RAYMOND_YAN: i worked on a launch title for the system called "Waverace:Bluestorm"
RAYMOND_YAN: i was also involved with 1080 Avalance....
RAYMOND_YAN: and finally...
RAYMOND_YAN: i was on the original development team for a AGB game called "Mario vs. Donkey Kong"
NOA_ANDY: One word: Poliwhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirl ... Thank you for PPL. That's one heck of a list! OK on to the question.
RAYMOND_YAN: lol
OF_DESTRUCTION: Hi! This is just a personal preference question. Given you used to work on the development of games, did you have more fun making games or do you enjoy teaching new students how to develop games more?
RAYMOND_YAN: that game still is one of my favs
RAYMOND_YAN: great question...
RAYMOND_YAN: why did i leave nst?
RAYMOND_YAN: i LOVED the job...
RAYMOND_YAN: i've been a gamer all my life
RAYMOND_YAN: i still have my game and watch's
RAYMOND_YAN: anyhow...
RAYMOND_YAN: game development, particularly for companies that are tyring new things...
RAYMOND_YAN: is very difficult...
RAYMOND_YAN: very challenging...
RAYMOND_YAN: trying to come up with something new for the player...
RAYMOND_YAN: and..
RAYMOND_YAN: it ends up taking a LOT of time...
RAYMOND_YAN: it's not a 9-to-5 job...
RAYMOND_YAN: for me....
RAYMOND_YAN: i "grew up" a bit...
RAYMOND_YAN: got married...
RAYMOND_YAN: started to have kids...
RAYMOND_YAN: and then....
RAYMOND_YAN: realized that I was working all year...
RAYMOND_YAN: all day...
RAYMOND_YAN: with no time for my family
RAYMOND_YAN: so...
RAYMOND_YAN: making one of the most difficult choices in my career...
RAYMOND_YAN: i decided to leave...
RAYMOND_YAN: and join digipen
RAYMOND_YAN: where i get to still be involved somewhat...
RAYMOND_YAN: and where i can help future game developers get trained...
RAYMOND_YAN: so to answer your question...
RAYMOND_YAN: i really like both...though if i had to choose...
RAYMOND_YAN: i think i'd be right back at NST
RAYMOND_YAN: maybe when my kids grow up!
REVOLATION: For the summer workshops, is their a certain age limit, What is the youngest age you can be to go to the summer workshop? Also will you be adding a Masters and PHD program for Computer engineers and Realtime interactie simulation degrees. Since currently there is only bachelor for those degree programs.
RAYMOND_YAN: for our workshops...
RAYMOND_YAN: the youngest is about 9 years old
RAYMOND_YAN: the oldest...up to around 18
RAYMOND_YAN: regarding the masters/phd question...
RAYMOND_YAN: we're definitely moving in that direction
RAYMOND_YAN: when you look at how complicated today's games are...
RAYMOND_YAN: there is a TON of material that we need to continue to learn...
RAYMOND_YAN: to research
RAYMOND_YAN: think about the artificial intelligence players want in a game....
RAYMOND_YAN: this is a big topic
RAYMOND_YAN: with lots of research left to do...
RAYMOND_YAN: so yes, i expect we'll eventually offer that high level of degree
ILOVETOPLAYNESGAMES: Does digipen offer any scholarships, and if so how do you get them? I would love to go to Digipen, but my parents are worried about the money. What do you recommend?
RAYMOND_YAN: we're starting to look at that and do offer some scholarships....
RAYMOND_YAN: we're a private school...
RAYMOND_YAN: so everything we have is paid for by tuition
RAYMOND_YAN: i would expect that as we continue to grow (we'll have about 800 students total this September)...
RAYMOND_YAN: more scholarship opportunities will c ome up
MIG31: Was there a game that influenced your choice of career? And if so, which one?
RAYMOND_YAN: oh man...
RAYMOND_YAN: it's wierd....
RAYMOND_YAN: i never thought as a kid i would grow up to make games...
RAYMOND_YAN: and especially game development with nintendo...
RAYMOND_YAN: but i'd have to say that Donkey Kong was what really got me hooked...
RAYMOND_YAN: it was like fate....
RAYMOND_YAN: playing donkey kong...burning my allowances at the arcade...
RAYMOND_YAN: and then many years later....
RAYMOND_YAN: sitting in japan...
RAYMOND_YAN: across the table from the man (miyamoto-san) who made this game....
RAYMOND_YAN: talking to him about the games we were making at nst...
RAYMOND_YAN: it's like being an animator...
RAYMOND_YAN: and meeting walt disney
NOA_ANDY: Great story.
NOA_ANDY: I think we have time for two more questions ...
GAMEQBER: Hi Mr. Yan! How often do students graduate from Digipen and go straight to working with Nintendo?
RAYMOND_YAN: it is actually a minority of our students that go on to actually work for a nintendo team...
RAYMOND_YAN: that said...
RAYMOND_YAN: i'm pretty sure i can say that at least half the team at NST is made up of grads...
RAYMOND_YAN: so..
RAYMOND_YAN: if you REALLY want to work for Nintendo, we're certainly a good option....
RAYMOND_YAN: no guarantees...
RAYMOND_YAN: and expect that Nintendo only wants the best....
RAYMOND_YAN: which is not easy at a school like ours
MOZZARELLA: What seperates DigiPen from other schools that offer classes in game design?
RAYMOND_YAN: hmm...
RAYMOND_YAN: i think it is important to understand the philosophy of what the different schools are offering...
RAYMOND_YAN: our philosophy is that we want our grads to be "creators of technology" and not just "users"...
RAYMOND_YAN: the best way to explain this would be to think of something like a word processor...
RAYMOND_YAN: they're very easy to use...
RAYMOND_YAN: doesn't take long to learn...
RAYMOND_YAN: but...
RAYMOND_YAN: if you do NOT know how to write....
RAYMOND_YAN: the word processor will not do anything to help you be a great novelist
RAYMOND_YAN: so...
RAYMOND_YAN: for programming...
RAYMOND_YAN: it's not about learning C++....or java...
RAYMOND_YAN: it's about understanding the math...the physics...the computer graphcis theory...
RAYMOND_YAN: for the artists...
RAYMOND_YAN: it's not about 3DS Max...or photoshop...
RAYMOND_YAN: it's about understanding good design...animation techniquest....color theory
RAYMOND_YAN: as a result...
RAYMOND_YAN: i think there are many good schools...
RAYMOND_YAN: it's up to you to do the research to understand what the school is trying to do.
NOA_ANDY: That makes a lot of sense.
NOA_ANDY: So study up campers!
NOA_ANDY: Thank you so much for taking the time to visit Camp Hyrule. This was an extremely informative chat!
RAYMOND_YAN: my pleasure....
RAYMOND_YAN: good luck to you guys...
RAYMOND_YAN: hopefully we'll see some of you at DigiPen...and if you want to check out our programs....
RAYMOND_YAN: or even better...
RAYMOND_YAN: play some of the student games...
RAYMOND_YAN: go to www.digipen.edu
NOA_ANDY: Thanks for the link!
RAYMOND_YAN: cya later!
NOA_ANDY: Thanks again!
NOA_ANDY: Chat with George Harrison, Nintendo's Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications at 11:00am Pacific, Wednesday 8/16.
8/16 Chat with George Harrison, Nintendo's Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications.
NOA_ANDY: I'm very happy to introduce George Harrison, Nintendo's Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications. Welcome, George!
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: Hi everybody ... glad to be hear today.
NOA_ANDY: Welcome to Camp Hyrule!
NOA_ANDY: Before we begin, could you please explain what it means to be the Vice President of Marketing and Corp. Communications at Nintendo?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: Basically, I do all the advertising and promotions, as well as all the merchandising and PR activities and am responsible for the online and publications groups.
ZELDANATOR: So George whats a average day at Nintendo for you, what type of tasks you do on a daily basis?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: The average day is far too many meetings and not enough game play time.
RODRIGUEZJR: Hello, I wanted to know if there is any news about the Nintendo Wii, such as release date or price.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We're not ready yet to announce the release date and price.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We'll being doing that in the not too distant future.
MODESTMR.GREEN: Mr. Harrison, thanks so much for spending time talking to us. I was just curious, what has your personal experience with Wii been like thus far?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: I am not a really experienced game player and like many people the games have become too complicated for me recently.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: So, when I experiened Wii for the first time, it was instantaneous fun!
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: You may have seen me on the stage at E3 playing with Mr. Miyamoto.
GRETZKEYR99: How is Nintendo's status with third party developers changing with the Wii?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We made an effort to begin working with the 3rd party publishers much earlier on Wii than we did on GameCube.\
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: After E3, many of them were so excited they initiated additional projects for titles that will launch in 2007.
GAMEHUNTER101: Do you think nintendo can meet the demand for the Wii?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: It's hard to know what the total demand for Wii will be.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We'll do our best to supply as much as possible, but there are many consumers around the world who are also hoping to get a Wii this holiday.
JSR: Hi Mr. Harrison! There are a lot of cool looking DS games coming out later this year, but I think that many of them will be lost in the Wii's hype. How does Nintendo plan to keep the DS on gamers' minds?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We have very aggressive marketing plans for DS hardware and software.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We know that we will probably sell many more DS units this holiday and have a lot of great titles to tell the consumers about.
TSA: Hi. What is up with the release status of Twilight Princess - is it coming out on GCN everywhere, or just here? Also, will we be able to use the GCN controller for the Wii version?"
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: Zelda TP will be releasing on both GCN and Wii on the same day as the launch of Wii.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: The GCN controller will be able to play the GCN version on the Wii console, but will not be able to play the Wii version.
SUPERHYPERMARIO128III: How do you decide on a marketing campaign, like "Who are you?" or "Touching is good"?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We provide creative direction to our advertising agency and they typically give us several alternatives. In the case of Wii, we are now testing some of those concepts before we decide on our direction.
RAYQUARIAN: Have you made plans for a Wii commercial yet?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We are developing several TV concepts and, once we select a direction, we will produce 3 to 5 different spots. While TV is important, we are increasingly looking to online and other advertising outlets to reach the game fans and the expanded audience.
MARIOISAWSOME3233: In your opinion, what has been the most successfull marketing campaign in Nintendo history?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: I've been with Nintendo for almost 15 years, and we have had many successes. I think certainly the launch of Nintendo 64 was a phenomenal experience that we hope to replicate with Wii.
SHADOWLINK19: Hello. With the DS going strong, and the Wii coming out very soon, will the GBA still be receiving anymore games? I can understand third party games will probably come for it, but will Nintendo be focusing on producing anymore first party games for the GBA handheld?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: GameBoy is still a very exciting and appealing product, but developers have limited resources and increasingly are focusing their attention on the DS, so the number of new GameBoy games will begin to shrink in 2007.
W34V3R: When it comes to advertising Nintendo-style, what do you think makes Nintendo stand out? What do you look for when it comes to advertising, oh, say, a Mario game? Do you look for a certain feature to make that advertisement shine in a certain light? Thank you very much for your time, and I look forward to hearing from a true pro.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: In the video game industry, it's easy for all commercials to look the same. We certainly use our characters to help us stand out, but we also try to find an advertising approach that is unique. If you think about the GameBoy advertising which we referred to as FreeBoy, it was a unique way to present the player and the game experience.
VIDGAMEPLAYA: Hello, Mr. Harrison! I live in an area where most kids play shoot em up games, and buy consoles based on graphics. I was wondering how you might plan to advertise to this group of consumers.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: First, the Wii will be able to deliver dramatically improved graphics over the GameCube. But, if all the player is concerned about is graphics, we may not win them over. Our best chance is to show them the sheer fun of our games.
LOGIEDAN7: Do you think that many people will utilize the Virtual Console to buy their old favorites?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: Certainly, we hope many people will take advantage of the virtual console games that they love from the past., but we also hope that people who have never experienced these games will enjoy them for the first time. Remember, there are other secrets of the virtual console that we won't reveal until we get closer to launch.
SMASHMANIAC: Since I am currently interested in creating a new small software company, I was wondering how much Nintendo is ready to help new third-party developers to create videogames with innovative ideas. Thank you very much.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: By showing examples of products like Nintendogs and Brain Age, we hope that developers will recognize that there is an opportunity for unique types of software. The virtual console also offeres the possibility of introducing a new game idea without having to develop the entire game before finding out what its appeal might be.
ENCELADUS: Hello, I have a lot of friends who refuse to buy Nintendo consoles due to the "kiddy" games and image Nintendo has according to them. Will this image change a lot with Wii in comparison with the Gamecube?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: I would say the "kiddy" image is in the eye of the beholder. These same people probably don't hesitate to watch the Cartoon Network and enjoy a good laugh, so all we can do is make the games as fun as possible and hope that consumers don't worry so much about what other people think. We need all the Nintendo fans to stand up and support us and lead the way.
NPC: If the Wii becomes a huge sucsess is there a chance we could see more Nintendo stores like the one in New York?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: NWS is a one-of -a-kind store that is really designed to help us communicate marketing messages. It is in an exciting location where we have had Mr. Miyamoto and other guest appearances that we probably couldn't replicate if we opened several stores.
ZYKE_HYBRIX3: Were you glad to see that there was a 5+ hour wait to use the Wii at E3?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: I was surprised and excited, but I felt for the people who had to spend their whole day just to spend a few minutes with Wii. This Fall, when Wii goes on sale, hopefully everyone will have at least one friend who finds one and can play it at their home.
.SHY: Are they any plan for new (non-classic) Virtual Console games from Nintendo?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: Virtual console offers the possibility for us to create new games, but our focus right now is in getting the Wii hardware launched and new games from Nintendo on the virtual console will be coming sometime after the launch.
NINTENDO_GAL: Why is the marketing decision made for certain games to make it over here to this market (the US) while other games are left in the dust? Will there be a shift towards bringing more Japanese titles over as the popularity of quirky fun games rises due to the DS and quite possibily Wii?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: Basically, we have an internal product review team that screens all the software produced in Japan and makes a recommendation on if there is a market opportunity here. Some games are liked by a small core of people and are difficult to introduce them broadly to all the retailers. We are always open to considering software from Japan if we believe there is enough consumer interest.
NOA_ANDY: We have time for a couple more questions.
0GLASS: What's the stance on going to public gaming conventions like the penny arcade expo to promote the Wii?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We are actually planning to attend the Penny Arcade Expo and recently were at the Comicon convention.
NOA_ANDY: ... and one final question ...
KIRKINOUT: What is the hardest or most stressful part of your job?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: During any hardware launch, there are thousands of details that need to be managed and also a close coordination with other territories around the world. But, in the end, the successful launch wipes away any of the stress.
NOA_ANDY: Awesome! Thank you very much for taking the time to visit Camp Hyrule 2006!
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: Goodbye ... great to be with you today. Hopes everybody gets the product of their dreams this holiday!
8/16 Chat with Nintendo's Localization Team
NOA_ANDY: Hi everyone! It is my pleasure to introduce Nintendo's Localization Team, also known as The Treehouse! Please welcome NOAs Bill, Nate, Ann, Reiko, Tim, Ramtower, and Erik to Camp Hyrule 2006. Hi guys!
NOA_REIKO: Hello!
NOA_ANN: Hey!
NOA_ERIK: 'Sup!
NOA_RAMTOWER: Hello, I say. Hello.
NOA_BILL: `I want to say a big hello to NOA_DANO... The OG-Localization man!
NOA_NATE: Hi! And Bill's not here.
NOA_RAMTOWER: Wait, yeah he is.
NOA_ALAN: Hey. Andy didn't welcome me, but i'll just crash it.
NOA_RAMTOWER: He's just stealthy.
NOA_BILL: Way to go, Nate.
NOA_ANDY: Sorry Alan!
NOA_RAMTOWER: Shhh... Bill, we can see you.
NOA_ANDY: Before we begin, could you please give us a top-level view of what your team does at Nintendo?
NOA_NATE: Shouldn't you be translating?
NOA_BILL: I am translating as we speak. Er... type.
NOA_RAMTOWER: Seriously. Any game delays? That's Bill's fault. As of now.
NOA_ALAN: We translate games. Tim sits in the corner and goes crazy.
NOA_ANN: Hee hee hee!
NOA_TIM: Oops! Got ahead of myself
NOA_TIM: Grrr!
NOA_RAMTOWER: nimble fingers there, Tim.
NOA_ALAN: OK, basic overview. We get games from Japan, translate them into English, then make it all pretty.
NOA_ANN: Yes, what he said.
NOA_ANDY: Alan, the voice of reason.
NOA_NATE: We also record cast and record voices!
NOA_ALAN: That's the only time andy will ever say that
NOA_ANDY: OK, I have a question here for ya ... Let's just get this one out of the way ...
NOA_NATE: typooooo
ZERO_13: Are there any plans to bring the MOTHER 3 game to USA?
NOA_BILL: Was there a question Andy? Haven't seen one yet!
NOA_RAMTOWER: Alan already answered it.
NOA_RAMTOWER: He's got me beat for speedy fingers.
NOA_ALAN: Mother 3 plans?
NOA_NATE: What's Mother 3?
NOA_ALAN: Um...
NOA_RAMTOWER: There's a Mother 3?
NOA_TIM: We translate, rewrite, edit, advise, record voices, name stuff, travel to Japan, stay chained to our desks, etc.
NOA_ALAN: Yeah. We don't know. About Mother 3.
NOA_ANN: Yes, and Tim goes crazy...
OF_DESTRUCTION: Hey everyone! Last year I was playing through Advance Wars: Dual Strike (great game, by the way :p). When I reached the end, I noticed there was a lot of text "cutscenes" where the dialogue had to support actions with little visual aid. I think you did a great job, especially with the finale. But my question is this, are situations like that in Advance Wars: Dual Strike hard to write for? Or have you had more difficult times in other games?
NOA_NATE: I've had more difficult times, but only because I didn't work on that game.
NOA_RAMTOWER: Alan, Tim, Erik, and I all worked on the last Advance Wars title together. It was a blast, really. We broke up who handled each character, which helped us bring more life to each of 'em.
NOA_RAMTOWER: It wasn't too hard for us, really, because we're all fans of the series, and we have those characters in our heads pretty well.
NOA_RAMTOWER: Heck, they're talking to me right now... Telling me to burn things.
NOA_ALAN: I think it's harder to match text to cutscenes when the cutscenes are active (like in Fire Emblem: POR). It's a little easier when you're working with still images.
NOA_ALAN: Flood control to major tom...
NOA_TIM: Wars is only tough when we don't know what's happening on screen. ('Course that's true for every game.) This is one of the difficulties of shorter developmen cycles.
NOA_RAMTOWER: True, true, but Intelligent Systems does a great job of helping us understand what to expect as we're working, and those games are so character driven that the characters practically do all the work for us -- they're a blast to write.
NOA_ERIK: We really try to make those long conversations between the characters exciting, funny, or dramatic - Alan was the one who actually wrote that last finale scene and I think he did a great job.
JSR: Hey guys. I've noticed that in recent years, games have been translated much faster, sometimes even debuting in North America first. How early in a game's development cycle do you start getting involved?
NOA_TIM: Yeah, Alan!
NOA_ALAN: The hardest part of AW:DS was Jake. That;s why we made Erik write him.
NOA_ANN: Well, our team has gotten a lot bigger.
NOA_TIM: Depends on the title. Some very, very early. Some not until the last minute.
NOA_RAMTOWER: It all depends on the game -- Animal Crossing takes a long time, because we have SO MUCH writing to do on those games. For Advance Wars: Dual Strike, we had maybe a month or so for all the writing, if that.
NOA_BILL: For Animal Crossing Wild World, we were in early while the game was still in development.
NOA_NATE: Some games, reaaaaaally early. We got involved with Zelda TP before the unveiling 2 years ago.
NOA_ALAN: Getting involved early helps, because you can suggest changes. But it's also a bit of a problem because you're working with unstable code.
NOA_TIM: Of course, the sooner the better for us.
NOA_BILL: Ann And Reiko were translating and writing on AC before the team even finished writing all the Japanese text.
NOA_BILL: Nate and I are doing that right now with Zelda, too.
NOA_RAMTOWER: The more linear a game is, the easier it is to work on, in a lot of ways, because you've got a straightforward story to work on. But something really open-ended, like AC, well, you've got to work hard to make all the conversations come together, to give character to everybody.
NOA_NATE: This is ridiculous, Rich must be copying and pasting.
NOA_BILL: And when I say right now, I mean am switching between this chat and one of my Zelda text files.
NOA_REIKO: And we wrote some text for the soon to be release Clubhouse Games from scratch!
NOA_ANN: Woo! Clubhouse Games!
NOA_ALAN: Bill and I spent two years writing Magnetica.
NOA_RAMTOWER: Remember: any delays? They're Bill's fault. Because of today.
NOA_RAMTOWER: EPIC!
TSA: Tetra's Trackers never made it out of Japan, and I've always wondered why that got axed from Four Swords Adventures outside Japan. This also has me concerned about Tingle RPG (what's the official title of it, btw?). It seems like that game has almost no chance of coming out outside of Japan. What are its chances for coming out outside of Japan?
NOA_BILL: Sorry! I'm busy translating right now...
NOA_NATE: Kooloo limpah!
NOA_RAMTOWER: I CALL NOT IT!
NOA_BILL: Actually, there were a number of different factors involved in the Trackers decision.
NOA_BILL: Part of it was simply trying to localize the voice cues they had in that game, which were all based on Japanese.
NOA_ALAN: Go, Bill, go!
NOA_ERIK: Here comes Bill's all-business voice.
NOA_TIM: I type so slowly the questions are answered by the time I've gotten started. So sad...
NOA_BILL: It would have taken much longer to get that game out had we kept it, so in that sense, any decision on Tingle would be based on entirely different citeria.
NOA_RAMTOWER: Bill used a big word.
NOA_ANDY: Who named Tingle?
NOA_ALAN: Tingle is a big word?
NOA_ERIK: Criterewhat?
NOA_BILL: The Zelda team named Tingle.
NOA_BILL: Duh...
NOA_RAMTOWER: Nice, Bill.
NOA_ANDY: :(
DIGIPEN89: Has the Treehouse ever had their "All your base are belong to us" kind of translation mistake before?
NOA_NATE: That WAS us!
NOA_RAMTOWER: We try to sneak them into OTHER people's games when they're not looking.
NOA_ALAN: No, but we were the first people to use the phrase "smackdown soup"
NOA_RAMTOWER: So, in that sense, we're pioneers.
NOA_TIM: Computer died. What's happening? HELP!!!
NOA_ALAN: Some of the early Nintendo games had...less than perfect translation, but we usually avoid that kind of stuff.
NOA_ERIK: Don't forget "righteous hindspanking"
NOA_BILL: We'd like to think we're perfect, but I think we're the only ones who think that...
NOA_ALAN: Although i tried to put the phrase "Watch in amazement!" on the back of the Fire Emblem box before Rich yelled at me.
NOA_RAMTOWER: Seriously, though, localization's come a long way since those days. We've got a staff of rock-solid writers, testers watching out for us, all sorts of safety nets to stop us from making fools of ourselves. And right now? All those nets are GONE, GONE, GONE!!!
NOA_NATE: Oh my goodness, Rich is so cuddly!
NOA_RAMTOWER: I yell good.
NOA_DANO: Yeah those kinds of things only happened when I was workign in localization.
GREATMIZUTI: In SSBM why were Marth and Roy's voices in japanese?
NOA_ALAN: He's yelling at me right now
NOA_RAMTOWER: Ha! Awesome, Dano!
NOA_ALAN: Because Marth and Roy aren't bilingual
NOA_BILL: They were in deed. They both talked about kicking a$$ and taking names.
NOA_RAMTOWER: "A dollar signs"? What are you saying, Bill?
NOA_DANO: Did Bill just censor bypass?!
NOA_TIM: I tried to get the to use my voice, but was denied.
NOA_ERIK: PERMABANNED!
NOA_ALAN: Cry more n00b!
NOA_ANDY: I'm impressed you know our termonlogy!
NOA_DANO: OMGZ
NOA_BILL: NOA_BILL HAS BEEN FLUSHED DOWN THE TOILET...
RETRONINTENDODUDE7: When developing a game that has voice overs, how do you decide who will voice the part in English?
NOA_ALAN: We get people to audition, then listen to them and pick the best ones
NOA_ANN: Some characters have established voices attached to them, like Mario.
NOA_TIM: We check the personalities of the characters and have auditions.
NOA_BILL: Sometimes we decide to the voices ourselves...
NOA_RAMTOWER: Back when SSMB came out, the games hadn't been localized. We didn't have preestablished voices for them, and because, at that point, there were no plans to release FE in America, we felt we'd just better let 'em be. That's my take, anyway. I may be totally wrong.
NOA_BILL: No. Seriously...
NOA_NATE: We either use legacy actors (like Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi) or cast for new actors.
NOA_RAMTOWER: Seriously, we draw straws.
NOA_BILL: Legacy actor for Shy Guy? NOA NATE
NOA_ERIK: Sometimes they let me scream in pain in front of a microphone!
NOA_TIM: Voice recording has become a pretty major part of what we do. We use a professional studio, professional actors, etc. Do you like?
NOA_ALAN: We punch erik in the gut and he makes funny noises
BREAD_KO: Hey Localization Team! I was wondering about how many games you guys work on at a time, and which games you enjoyed working on the most. Thanks for your time!
NOA_BILL: Too many...
NOA_NATE: Uh...anywhere from 1 to 6, maybe?
NOA_TIM: Usually 2 or 3 at any given moment. (That's per person.)
NOA_RAMTOWER: I -love- Fire Emblem and Advance Wars. I also had a blast working on Minish Cap. Those are some of my favorite titles.
NOA_BILL: That sounds about right, Nate.
NOA_RAMTOWER: Oh, and Animal Crossing.
NOA_ANN: Animal Crossing: Wild World, probably.
NOA_ALAN: My favs: Fire Emblem: POR, AW:DS, Animal Crossing (although i didn't do much), and maybe sorta kinda Brain Age. Just for the historical value.
NOA_ERIK: I know us writer types love to work on the games with a ton of character and personality. Animal Crossing, Paper Mario, etc.
NOA_BILL: For me, the original Animal Crossing was by far the most fun to work on.
NOA_ANN: I liked working on Fire Emblem too.
NOA_RAMTOWER: Yeah, I've had as many as six projects going on at a time. Those are...dark times.
NOA_REIKO: We have a white board that currently has 7 lines, one line for each project the group is working on at any given time... lately, there's been A LOT of overspill.
NOA_TIM: Hmm... FE, AW, AC and currently a new title, Hotel Dusk is promising to be fun.
NOA_TIM: It's always nice to have a break from text heavy games, too.
NOA_BILL: I also really enjoy working on the Zelda games, including Twilight Princess, which I just translated another message for two minutes ago.
CUBE_FAN90: Hey guys. One thing I'd like know: Do any Japanese gamers, developers, publishers, etc. object some of the changes you make?
NOA_RAMTOWER: Those messages? "ARG!" and "AIEEE!!!"
NOA_ALAN: In Fire Emblem, Ike was originally going to be called "Captain Stoopid!", but the dev team said no.
NOA_REIKO: The development teams are pretty reasonable and trust us to make decisions that are best for our audience. It makes the job much easier and more enjoyable.
NOA_TIM: Sometimes, but we try to explain why we want to make changes, and they generally agree that we know what's best for our market.
NOA_BILL: There was one instance, but it wasn't our fault...
NOA_BILL: We didn't know she was a he...
NOA_TIM: Oh, thanks, Bill!!!
NOA_RAMTOWER: Typically, anything that goes into the game goes in with their blessings.
NOA_RAMTOWER: It's true. Tim's a she.
NOA_ANN: Poor Tim...
NOA_RAMTOWER: KIDDING!
STORMTROOPER88888: How do the voices in Animal Crossing work? It doesn't seem like each and everything they say is recorded... Does it recognize words and try to pronounce them or something?
NOA_RAMTOWER: (Tim's going to kill me. He's much stronger than I am.)
NOA_TIM: Those are the sounds Rich makes when I kick him
NOA_BILL: Actually, if you listen carefully, you'll hear that all they are doing is pronouncing the letters.
NOA_RAMTOWER: We recorded one yelp of pain for each letter!
NOA_TIM: That's right! Listen while you type letters and you'll see how it works.
NOA_BILL: You can tell by putting in spaces between letters when you enter a catch-phrase.
NOA_REIKO: It's a lot clearer with some letter combinations...
GHOSTPIKMIN: Is it difficult translating things such as humor? I've heard some significant parts of Paper Mario for the GCN were changed when it came here because Japanese humor is very different than our own. How do you go about inserting in humor that works in America (such as the 1337 Hammer Bros)?
NOA_RAMTOWER: Sometimes, you can almost make out the word they're saying if you listen closely.
NOA_RAMTOWER: Nate?
NOA_NATE: When we find a joke that won't work, we just try to think up something funny that's somewhat, kinda close.
NOA_BILL: It depends on the kind of humor.
NOA_TIM: Basically we try and find parallels in American English / culture. If there aren't any, we make up new stuff that fits the situation.
NOA_RAMTOWER: Humor's tough, because it can be so culturally dependent, and... oh, wait. Yeah, what Tim, Bill, and Nate said.
NOA_NATE: The l33t bros., I dunno what happened that day.
NOA_ERIK: Making sure a game stays funny is one of the best parts of the job here. A lot of times, stuff that is hilarious in Japanese just doesn't make any sense over here, so we have to come up with our own stuff that's funny AND conveys the same message.
NOA_BILL: Sometime jokes can transfer, but sometimes we just tell the writers "this is a joke about something that smelling really bad. Go to town on it."
AURAKNIGHT1: Do you guys get a wii or get to play the wii before it is released?
NOA_TIM: What's Wii?
NOA_NATE: Yes.
NOA_ANN: Yep.
NOA_BILL: Check. Got one right here on my desk.
NOA_ERIK: Muwahaha!
NOA_RAMTOWER: Ayup.
NOA_RAMTOWER: It's so purty.
NOA_ALAN: SOME OF US HAVE WiiS AT THEIR DESK!!! Some of us have old computers powered by vacuum tubes
DARKMAN.EXE: Has there ever been a time where you were just completely stumped while translation a phrase/conversation?
NOA_TIM: I'm working on DS stuff, but I do get to watch the other folks,
NOA_TIM: Yes,
NOA_BILL: Yes.
NOA_REIKO: Definitely.
NOA_ANN: Yes. Particularly since I don't speak Japanese.
NOA_NATE: Great anecdotes!
NOA_RAMTOWER: Sometimes, I'm stumped by what I just wrote.
NOA_BILL: That's when the unabridged dictionary comes out.
NOA_ALAN: Yeah, every game has a few of those "what in the world?" moments. Luckily, we can usually ask the dev team if it's a real stumper
NOA_BILL: I have had cases where I've had to call Mitsuhiro Takano (the write on the Zelda games) and ask him what in the world people are talking about.
NOA_ERIK: Sometimes I'll know what I want the message to say but I'll have to write it a dozen times before it's perfect.
NOA_TIM: We use lots of dictionaries and lots of personal contacts to figure out the really rough stuff.
NOA_BILL: Usually they just explain it in simpleton terms and then we move along.
NOA_ALAN: Sometimes i call Takano and i'm like "what's up?" And he's like "nothing..."
NOA_BILL: Erik! What was that crazy word from Pikmin 2?
NESSMAN: How often during localization do you have to actually edit the graphics or programming of the game to make sense in the US?
NOA_RAMTOWER: We don't do any of that stuff ourselves. We'll make recommendations for the development team, though.
NOA_REIKO: Ann and I are working on WarioWare for Wii now and we have a working list of graphic change requests.
NOA_NATE: Depends on the game, but we have to ask for it frequently. This is why we request graphic text so early.
NOA_ANN: Yeah, some stuff just doesn't make sense to Americans, like certain types of food.
NOA_TIM: Yeah, sometimes we make suggestions on character design. A lot of the times developers will ask for feedback early on.
NOA_BILL: Depends on the game, too. A lot of teams are used to developing for a world-wide audience, so on most projects that isn't an issue so much anymore.
NOA_ANDY: I think we have time for about one more question ...
NOA_BILL: I can tell you one graphic we missed that we still don't understand...
7THMAGI: What is your favorite game you guys have ever worked on?
NOA_TIM: Like Ann said, anything that's too Japanese and wouldn't make sense needs to be reworke.
NOA_ERIK: My favorite is my first, Pikmin 2!
NOA_BILL: On the bottom of the barrel in Smash Bros. it says 2L84U
NOA_NATE: We didn't miss that!
NOA_ANN: Animal Crossing: Wild World!
NOA_ALAN: FE: POR
NOA_REIKO: I'd have to say Animal Crossing: Wild World.
NOA_NATE: My favorite game, all time, no holds barred, is a secret.
NOA_TIM: Favorite? Much too hard of a question. Ilove the Fire Emblem series. My favorite character I've worked on is Mr. Resetti. SCRAM!
NOA_BILL: I would have to say Animal Crossing (GCN), Wind Waker and METEOSSSSS!!!!
NOA_RAMTOWER: That's a harder question than it ought to be. Even games I haven't totally loved, I've always found SOMETHING special about. Like I said, Fire Emblem is and will always be my precious (we loves it, we does), but I'm so proud of Animal Crossing, AC: Wild World, and Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap.
NOA_RAMTOWER: But Fire Emblem -- all three of those games still mean so much to me.
NOA_ANDY: Alright, well thank you guys so much for stopping by Camp Hyrule ... it's not like it's easy to get here this year.
NOA_BILL: Rich! What about our Golden Sun glory days?
NOA_ALAN: Rich is in LOVE with Fire Emblem! He's going to MARRY it!
NOA_ERIK: Mwamwamwa
NOA_RAMTOWER: Those were good times, but...Fire Emblem. MAN! That game is HAWT.
NOA_NATE: Bye guys.
NOA_TIM: Thanks, Andy! Thanks all! BYE!!
NOA_REIKO: Thanks everyone!
NOA_RAMTOWER: Bye, y'all...
NOA_ALAN: Yeah, thanks.
NOA_ANN: Good chatting with you!
NOA_ANDY: Hopefully we'll see you at Camp Hyrule 2007. See ya!
NOA_ERIK: Later everybody!
NOA_TIM: I'm so glad we've had this time together...
They have been having live chats with various people who work for Nintendo, and afterwards one of the NOA counselors has been posting them on a message board. For those of you who missed registration, or just would be interested in reading them, I will post the Chats here. When there are more chats, I will try to add them too. Enjoy.
8/15 Chat with Nintendo.com Producer Kent Miller
NOA_ANDY: Chat with Nintendo.com producer NOA_Kent will begin in five minutes.
NOA_ANDY: Note that this is a moderated chat. Only special guests and NOAs can type freely. Please submit your question and wait for it to be reviewed.
NOA_ANDY: Hi everyone, and welcome to our very first show in the Amphitheater at Camp Hyrule 2006!
NOA_ANDY: I'm pleased to introduce Kent Miller, Senior Online Producer at Nintendo.com. Kent is currently working on websites for Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, Elite Beat Agents, Yoshi's Island 2 and Children of Mana. Welcome, Kent!
NOA_KENT: Hey everyone!
NOA_ANDY: Welcome back to Camp Hyrule Kent.
NOA_ANDY: Let's get right to the questions.
DIGIPEN89: For those interested in getting a job in NOA's online department what kind of degree should they get in college?
NOA_KENT: It's great to be here. (saves Children of Mana progress)
NOA_KENT: degree? Depends. I have a liberal arts degree.
NOA_KENT: I think that's the basic background. We have an engineering person too
NOA_KENT: but they don't do any engineering
NOA_KENT: I'm not sure what our designers studied
NOA_KENT: I'd say a good well rounded education, English, math, art, business ...
NOA_KENT: and of course a minor in video game playing ....
NOA_KENT: next quest?
NOA_ANDY: OK ...
LINK17000: What's your favorite site that you've made?
NOA_KENT: that's a tough one.
NOA_KENT: I enjoyed Mario Dance Dance Rev, I guess
NOA_KENT: it was a different kind of game, plus I got to work with some fun guys
NOA_KENT: the Animal-Crossing WW site was a lot of fun too. It's always great to work with avid gamers. Next question?
KAYIN: Is the Elite Beat Agents song list very good?
NOA_KENT: the song list is still up in the air, not quite finalized.
NOA_KENT: But the songs they're considering are very good. I, myself, am a huge fan of Walkie Talkie Man
NOA_KENT: But the important thing is ...
NOA_KENT: the whole gameplay experience of EBA, which is totally innovative. It's not a conventional music game in any sense at all. If you focus just on the songs, you lose sight of just how cool and different this game is.
NOA_KENT: Next question?
THEFIRESTORM: What programs do you use to create the websites for Nintendo? (Macromedia Dreamweaver, Adobe Photoshop, etc.)
NOA_KENT: I'm not a techie guy at all.
NOA_KENT: Typically we hire outside agencies that excel in t hese programs. Flash, PhotoShop, etc.
NOA_KENT: Myself, I pretty much just use Word. And I map out sites with Visio, which is good for flowcharts.
NOA_KENT: and we do lots of email of course!
NOA_KENT: next question?
RHINE: How long does it take you, on average, to complete a website?
NOA_KENT: that is a good question. I'd say, two months, start to finish?
NOA_KENT: There are a lot of variables, but for example, next week I kick off the Children of Mana website. And that site will be up by Oct 30, when the game is in stores.
NOA_KENT: Plus I'll probably have what we call a 'teaser site,' something to whet your interest while we are working on the full site.
NOA_KENT: next question?
BLACKYOSHI78: Will Yoshi's Island 2 play like the SNES classic, or is it going in a totally different direction on the DS?
NOA_KENT: It builds on the SNES game, which is good -- it's my all-time fave platformer.
NOA_KENT: However, it makes very brilliant use of the DS. For example, bosses that take up two screens!
NOA_KENT: The art style is very much like the original, which is all to the good, in my book.
NOA_KENT: the big innovation is that you get to 'use
NOA_KENT: whoops. le't's say work with Baby Mario, Baby Dk, Baby Peach, etc
NOA_KENT: they give you special powers.
NOA_KENT: next question?
MISTERINVIZ: Do you work closely with the game developers on the sites you create, or is it mostly just done within the marketing department?
NOA_KENT: depends on the game. For example, right now I am working on Mario vs DK 2: March of the Minis. The developres are right across the street!
NOA_KENT: So last week, I went over and got sounds from the composer/sound guy. I complimented him on his work -- it's one of the most original scores I've heard for a Mario game. Jazzy stuff, etc
NOA_KENT: but other games are developed in Japan, which poses language and distance challenges. I typically work with a group here, the Treehouse, that works directly with the developers.
NOA_KENT: next q?
ACE_OF_BLADES: What was the first website you made for a Nintendo game?
NOA_KENT: I can't remember, honestly. maybe, Jet Force Gemini for the N64?
NOA_KENT: still one of my fave games. I hope it's on the Virtual Console.
NOA_KENT: next q?
TORCH665: Hey Kent, first I'd like to say thanks for taking some time off to talk to us today. Second, my question is, describe a typical day at your job.
NOA_KENT: well, like today, first thing is I picked up a preproduction copy of Children of Mana. It's important to play a game thoroughly so I know it in and out.
NOA_KENT: then, I got some designs from the agency working on the Mario vs DK 2 website. And I will look at them and work with my design director to provide feedback to the agency.
NOA_KENT: and, since I am just starting Elite Beat Agents and Yoshi's websites, I am talking with the design leads on those games.
NOA_KENT: The design leads helps give direction to the agency on how the site should look, what fonts to use, etc.
NOA_KENT: a lot of details in this job. something as seemingly little as a font selection can make a big difference in a site.
NOA_KENT: plus, I ready about the industry and other games online. Gives me a feeling for trends, etc.
NOA_KENT: next q?
KINOPIO: What can we expect from the Elite Beat Agents website? I really loved Ouendan, and I can't wait to see what happens with this version of the game. Do you know when we could see a teaser site for the title?
NOA_KENT: I would really really love to get a teaser up next month. You are right, Kinopio, this game will be very cool. I really want to get the word out early because it is so different.
NOA_KENT: BTW you should check your DS Downnload stations. I believe a demo will be in there, possibly in a month.
NOA_KENT: but, back to EBA, it has great characters, great energy, a great storyline. Communicating that will be a challenge though because it's such an unusual game. But challenges like that are what makes this job fun.
NOA_KENT: plus, it really helps that I really luv the game!
NOA_KENT: next q?
KAKASHI_THE_COPY_NINJA: What was the hardest website for a Nintendo game that you had to design?
NOA_KENT: I'd have to say DK Jungle Beat. In which you controlled DK useing the bongos
NOA_KENT: the problem was the site didn't capture the energy of the game, so we had to practically redo it the week before the game launched.
NOA_KENT: I did Donkey Konga 2 with an agency in Los Angeles. Working with an agency that far away is tough. I just prefer working with local agencies, because then they can come in and talk, and it builds great rapport, which is very important in this line of work.
NOA_KENT: next q?
SIRVENOM: Is a college degree really required for a job at NOA? What if instead the subject was good at what he did without college?
NOA_KENT: I couldn't say absolutely, because you could work in the Call Center without a degree, I think. Plus of course there are many non-video related jobs here. Every business has security, right?
NOA_KENT: but on our end, I would say a degree def. helps.
NOA_KENT: my degree was in philosphy! Which obviously doesn't come into play too much, although it helps me look at things differently, which is a big help in a creative job like this. Also, it helped with my writing.
NOA_KENT: next q?
GMNINTENDO: I was wondering what does it take to design a gaming website, for instance such as a DS game where you would use the stylus to control it, do you have to be as innovative with the website to match whole feel of the game itself?
NOA_KENT: yes, GMNintendo, we ask that same question of ourselves a lot.
NOA_KENT: If you look at the WarioWare: Touched! website, you'll see one clever solution we came up with.
NOA_KENT: in which your cursor becomes a stylus
NOA_KENT: but communicating that 'touch' feel on the web is very difficult and always a challenge for us
NOA_KENT: next q?
BUSTER83: Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2. Online map-sharing. Any integration with that into the website? Any chance of a featured-map, or something like that?
NOA_KENT: for technical reasons it wouldn't be on mariovsdk.com (which is now a teaser site for the game, BTW)
NOA_KENT: but the game will def. be highlighted on Nintendowifi.com
NOA_KENT: We are still working on good ways to promote this feature. You can only share maps with people on your Friends list, so we have to take that into consideration
NOA_KENT: next q?
CHAINCHOMPMASTA30: About Yoshi's Island 2. Will the game utilize the Touch Screen as in touch control or will it just be used to show the game on two screens?
NOA_KENT: Only a few levels are done and playable (at least on my version)
NOA_KENT: but so far, it's mostly a D-pad game
NOA_KENT: I need to play it more before I give you a definiitive answer, but I think it will be mostly D-pad, not so much touch control
NOA_KENT: next q?
NOA_ANDY: We have time for one more question ...
METROIDHUNTER777: Whats your favorite part about your job
NOA_KENT: cool
NOA_KENT: well, I really like the people I work with. We have a very good relationship
NOA_KENT: everyone here is very hard working and very creative and, perhaps most importantly, has a great sense of humor!
NOA_KENT: It helps to be able to laugh at yourself when you're talking about video games/
NOA_ANDY: Kent, thanks a lot for stopping by Camp Hyrule 2006. Before you return to NOA, be sure to stop by the decompression chamber. And watch out for the Space Viruses.
NOA_KENT: thanks, the Viruses ate me up when I played earlier, maybe now I will have more luck!
NOA_KENT: thanks everyone!
NOA_ANDY: Adios, everyone, and thanks for participating!
8/15 Chat with Raymond Yan, Senior Vice President of Operations for DigiPen Institute of Technology
NOA_ANDY: It is my extreme pleasure to introduce Mr. Raymond Yan, Senior Vice President of Operations for DigiPen Institute of Technology. Welcome to Camp Hyrule!
RAYMOND_YAN: hi guys
NOA_ANDY: Before we get started, I've seen many questions from campers wondering exactly what it means to be a " Senior Vice President of Operations." Could you please give us a brief overview of your duties at DigiPen?
RAYMOND_YAN: sure...
RAYMOND_YAN: basically...
RAYMOND_YAN: it's a fancy title that comes with LOTS of headaches
RAYMOND_YAN: i oversee things like computers...
RAYMOND_YAN: and all of our outreach programs like the summer workshops..
RAYMOND_YAN: where we teach kids about game development
NOA_ANDY: Cool! Let's get started with some questions ...
JSR: Hi Mr. Yan. What's the average day of a Digipen student like?
RAYMOND_YAN: it's very loooong
RAYMOND_YAN: the students here at digipen are studying a lot of courses...
RAYMOND_YAN: for the programming students they are focusing primarily on math...
RAYMOND_YAN: physics...
RAYMOND_YAN: computer science
RAYMOND_YAN: and of course....
RAYMOND_YAN: each semester the students are working on game projects
RAYMOND_YAN: for the artists...
RAYMOND_YAN: they spend their days studying topics such as drawing...
RAYMOND_YAN: color theory..
RAYMOND_YAN: anatomy
RAYMOND_YAN: film techniquest
RAYMOND_YAN: acting
RAYMOND_YAN: and they have to draw a lot ...
RAYMOND_YAN: about 50-100 sketchbook pages a week...for four years...
NOA_ANDY: Wow. So it's not all fun and games!
RAYMOND_YAN: lol
RAYMOND_YAN: definitely not
ASHTR: What careers can you go into after graduating from Digipen?
RAYMOND_YAN: most people come to digipen because they want to work in the game industry as programmers and production artists
RAYMOND_YAN: so...
RAYMOND_YAN: being located in seattle...
RAYMOND_YAN: which is one of the largest game development communities in the country...the world actually
RAYMOND_YAN: many grads work for local companies....
RAYMOND_YAN: including nintendo software technology
RAYMOND_YAN: microsoft xbox..
RAYMOND_YAN: we have grads at Valve
RAYMOND_YAN: Bungie
RAYMOND_YAN: etc...
THEFIRESTORM: People know about programmers, artists, and musicians. But what other positions do you think people should think about when considering a career in game development?
RAYMOND_YAN: making today's games is much like making a movie....
RAYMOND_YAN: in addition to programmers and artists...
RAYMOND_YAN: there are musicians...
RAYMOND_YAN: writers...
RAYMOND_YAN: producers
RAYMOND_YAN: directors
RAYMOND_YAN: testers
RAYMOND_YAN: people who keep the computers working
RAYMOND_YAN: it's very multidisciplinary....
RAYMOND_YAN: and when you just look at programming...
RAYMOND_YAN: there are many types....
RAYMOND_YAN: programmers who have to deal with artificial intelligence..
RAYMOND_YAN: physics...
RAYMOND_YAN: character animation systems
RAYMOND_YAN: camera control..
RAYMOND_YAN: for artists...you will find artists who deal with character modeling
RAYMOND_YAN: animation
RAYMOND_YAN: then there is the user interface stuff....so graphic design...
RAYMOND_YAN: then lighting artists...
RAYMOND_YAN: artists that make the game props....
RAYMOND_YAN: etc.
NOA_ANDY: A quick follow-up ... What types of degrees does Digipen offer?
RAYMOND_YAN: good question...
RAYMOND_YAN: we have three different tracks....
RAYMOND_YAN: as an accredited college, students can come to digipen to earn a bachelor of science degree in real-time interactive simulation
RAYMOND_YAN: this is a fancy way to say "game programming"
RAYMOND_YAN: then we also have another science degree in computer engineering...which deals with hardware...
RAYMOND_YAN: and finally, a bachelor of fine arts degree in production animation...
RAYMOND_YAN: actually...we also have a master of science in computer science degree
ZELDAMSTR447: Since I am entering High School, do you reccomend any specific classes I may take to be ready for a school like this. I am already enrolled in some Honors classes, and I am taking Graphic Design as my elective; but are there any other classes I should consider?
RAYMOND_YAN: good question...
RAYMOND_YAN: if your goal is to be a programmer...
RAYMOND_YAN: then the focus needs to be on mathematics....trig, geometry...
RAYMOND_YAN: take as much math as you can....and really understand it...
RAYMOND_YAN: if you can take honors/AP math...go for it
RAYMOND_YAN: then...
RAYMOND_YAN: you may also want to consider physics....
RAYMOND_YAN: most games are simulations of some type of world...even a mario world
RAYMOND_YAN: so...
RAYMOND_YAN: you need to understand physical science...things like momentum...
RAYMOND_YAN: velocity..
RAYMOND_YAN: you can also take computer programming classes...
RAYMOND_YAN: this will help you to see if you even like programming...
RAYMOND_YAN: for art
RAYMOND_YAN: drawing...
RAYMOND_YAN: more drawing...
RAYMOND_YAN: and...
RAYMOND_YAN: drawing
RAYMOND_YAN: learning to paint is awesome
RAYMOND_YAN: sculpting
RAYMOND_YAN: acting
RAYMOND_YAN: photography
RAYMOND_YAN: graphic design
RAYMOND_YAN: and...
RAYMOND_YAN: drawing
RAYMOND_YAN: did i mention drawing?
RAYMOND_YAN: and finally...
RAYMOND_YAN: i'm sure many of you are interested in game design
RAYMOND_YAN: we all have game ideas right?
RAYMOND_YAN: well..
RAYMOND_YAN: if this is your goal...to be the next miyamoto-san...
RAYMOND_YAN: you need to learn everything....both technical and creative....
RAYMOND_YAN: most designers typically start out as programmers...
RAYMOND_YAN: or artists..
RAYMOND_YAN: i'd certainly recommend going this route...
RAYMOND_YAN: if for no other reason....
RAYMOND_YAN: to be a good designer....
RAYMOND_YAN: you need to understand how a game is made...
RAYMOND_YAN: it takes much more than just having a good game idea...
RAYMOND_YAN: most of you have probably played games that weren't all that great...
RAYMOND_YAN: in many instances...the reason the game is not that good is not that the idea is bad...but that the designer did not understand the structure of how a game is really put together.
SIRVENOM: How many years does one have to spend in Digipen for a good education in programming and production art?
RAYMOND_YAN: it really takes our students about 4 years...
RAYMOND_YAN: and...
RAYMOND_YAN: that's for each discipline...in other words...
RAYMOND_YAN: they focus on either art...or programming over the four year period
NOA_ANDY: I have a question here about your experience in game development. Before I present it, can you please give a brief overview of some of the games you've worked on?
RAYMOND_YAN: well...
RAYMOND_YAN: before i joined digipen a few years back....
RAYMOND_YAN: i was the head of the art department at nintendo software technology....
RAYMOND_YAN: which is a first party development team located right next to digipen
RAYMOND_YAN: so...
RAYMOND_YAN: during my time with nst...
RAYMOND_YAN: i made a couple color gameboy games...
RAYMOND_YAN: one called "Crystalis" (RPG)
RAYMOND_YAN: another called "bionic commando" (adventure/platform)
RAYMOND_YAN: on the N64...
RAYMOND_YAN: i worked on a game called "Pokemon Puzzle League"
RAYMOND_YAN: another called "Ridge Racer 64"
RAYMOND_YAN: for the gamecube..
RAYMOND_YAN: i worked on a launch title for the system called "Waverace:Bluestorm"
RAYMOND_YAN: i was also involved with 1080 Avalance....
RAYMOND_YAN: and finally...
RAYMOND_YAN: i was on the original development team for a AGB game called "Mario vs. Donkey Kong"
NOA_ANDY: One word: Poliwhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirl ... Thank you for PPL. That's one heck of a list! OK on to the question.
RAYMOND_YAN: lol
OF_DESTRUCTION: Hi! This is just a personal preference question. Given you used to work on the development of games, did you have more fun making games or do you enjoy teaching new students how to develop games more?
RAYMOND_YAN: that game still is one of my favs
RAYMOND_YAN: great question...
RAYMOND_YAN: why did i leave nst?
RAYMOND_YAN: i LOVED the job...
RAYMOND_YAN: i've been a gamer all my life
RAYMOND_YAN: i still have my game and watch's
RAYMOND_YAN: anyhow...
RAYMOND_YAN: game development, particularly for companies that are tyring new things...
RAYMOND_YAN: is very difficult...
RAYMOND_YAN: very challenging...
RAYMOND_YAN: trying to come up with something new for the player...
RAYMOND_YAN: and..
RAYMOND_YAN: it ends up taking a LOT of time...
RAYMOND_YAN: it's not a 9-to-5 job...
RAYMOND_YAN: for me....
RAYMOND_YAN: i "grew up" a bit...
RAYMOND_YAN: got married...
RAYMOND_YAN: started to have kids...
RAYMOND_YAN: and then....
RAYMOND_YAN: realized that I was working all year...
RAYMOND_YAN: all day...
RAYMOND_YAN: with no time for my family
RAYMOND_YAN: so...
RAYMOND_YAN: making one of the most difficult choices in my career...
RAYMOND_YAN: i decided to leave...
RAYMOND_YAN: and join digipen
RAYMOND_YAN: where i get to still be involved somewhat...
RAYMOND_YAN: and where i can help future game developers get trained...
RAYMOND_YAN: so to answer your question...
RAYMOND_YAN: i really like both...though if i had to choose...
RAYMOND_YAN: i think i'd be right back at NST
RAYMOND_YAN: maybe when my kids grow up!
REVOLATION: For the summer workshops, is their a certain age limit, What is the youngest age you can be to go to the summer workshop? Also will you be adding a Masters and PHD program for Computer engineers and Realtime interactie simulation degrees. Since currently there is only bachelor for those degree programs.
RAYMOND_YAN: for our workshops...
RAYMOND_YAN: the youngest is about 9 years old
RAYMOND_YAN: the oldest...up to around 18
RAYMOND_YAN: regarding the masters/phd question...
RAYMOND_YAN: we're definitely moving in that direction
RAYMOND_YAN: when you look at how complicated today's games are...
RAYMOND_YAN: there is a TON of material that we need to continue to learn...
RAYMOND_YAN: to research
RAYMOND_YAN: think about the artificial intelligence players want in a game....
RAYMOND_YAN: this is a big topic
RAYMOND_YAN: with lots of research left to do...
RAYMOND_YAN: so yes, i expect we'll eventually offer that high level of degree
ILOVETOPLAYNESGAMES: Does digipen offer any scholarships, and if so how do you get them? I would love to go to Digipen, but my parents are worried about the money. What do you recommend?
RAYMOND_YAN: we're starting to look at that and do offer some scholarships....
RAYMOND_YAN: we're a private school...
RAYMOND_YAN: so everything we have is paid for by tuition
RAYMOND_YAN: i would expect that as we continue to grow (we'll have about 800 students total this September)...
RAYMOND_YAN: more scholarship opportunities will c ome up
MIG31: Was there a game that influenced your choice of career? And if so, which one?
RAYMOND_YAN: oh man...
RAYMOND_YAN: it's wierd....
RAYMOND_YAN: i never thought as a kid i would grow up to make games...
RAYMOND_YAN: and especially game development with nintendo...
RAYMOND_YAN: but i'd have to say that Donkey Kong was what really got me hooked...
RAYMOND_YAN: it was like fate....
RAYMOND_YAN: playing donkey kong...burning my allowances at the arcade...
RAYMOND_YAN: and then many years later....
RAYMOND_YAN: sitting in japan...
RAYMOND_YAN: across the table from the man (miyamoto-san) who made this game....
RAYMOND_YAN: talking to him about the games we were making at nst...
RAYMOND_YAN: it's like being an animator...
RAYMOND_YAN: and meeting walt disney
NOA_ANDY: Great story.
NOA_ANDY: I think we have time for two more questions ...
GAMEQBER: Hi Mr. Yan! How often do students graduate from Digipen and go straight to working with Nintendo?
RAYMOND_YAN: it is actually a minority of our students that go on to actually work for a nintendo team...
RAYMOND_YAN: that said...
RAYMOND_YAN: i'm pretty sure i can say that at least half the team at NST is made up of grads...
RAYMOND_YAN: so..
RAYMOND_YAN: if you REALLY want to work for Nintendo, we're certainly a good option....
RAYMOND_YAN: no guarantees...
RAYMOND_YAN: and expect that Nintendo only wants the best....
RAYMOND_YAN: which is not easy at a school like ours
MOZZARELLA: What seperates DigiPen from other schools that offer classes in game design?
RAYMOND_YAN: hmm...
RAYMOND_YAN: i think it is important to understand the philosophy of what the different schools are offering...
RAYMOND_YAN: our philosophy is that we want our grads to be "creators of technology" and not just "users"...
RAYMOND_YAN: the best way to explain this would be to think of something like a word processor...
RAYMOND_YAN: they're very easy to use...
RAYMOND_YAN: doesn't take long to learn...
RAYMOND_YAN: but...
RAYMOND_YAN: if you do NOT know how to write....
RAYMOND_YAN: the word processor will not do anything to help you be a great novelist
RAYMOND_YAN: so...
RAYMOND_YAN: for programming...
RAYMOND_YAN: it's not about learning C++....or java...
RAYMOND_YAN: it's about understanding the math...the physics...the computer graphcis theory...
RAYMOND_YAN: for the artists...
RAYMOND_YAN: it's not about 3DS Max...or photoshop...
RAYMOND_YAN: it's about understanding good design...animation techniquest....color theory
RAYMOND_YAN: as a result...
RAYMOND_YAN: i think there are many good schools...
RAYMOND_YAN: it's up to you to do the research to understand what the school is trying to do.
NOA_ANDY: That makes a lot of sense.
NOA_ANDY: So study up campers!
NOA_ANDY: Thank you so much for taking the time to visit Camp Hyrule. This was an extremely informative chat!
RAYMOND_YAN: my pleasure....
RAYMOND_YAN: good luck to you guys...
RAYMOND_YAN: hopefully we'll see some of you at DigiPen...and if you want to check out our programs....
RAYMOND_YAN: or even better...
RAYMOND_YAN: play some of the student games...
RAYMOND_YAN: go to www.digipen.edu
NOA_ANDY: Thanks for the link!
RAYMOND_YAN: cya later!
NOA_ANDY: Thanks again!
NOA_ANDY: Chat with George Harrison, Nintendo's Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications at 11:00am Pacific, Wednesday 8/16.
8/16 Chat with George Harrison, Nintendo's Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications.
NOA_ANDY: I'm very happy to introduce George Harrison, Nintendo's Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications. Welcome, George!
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: Hi everybody ... glad to be hear today.
NOA_ANDY: Welcome to Camp Hyrule!
NOA_ANDY: Before we begin, could you please explain what it means to be the Vice President of Marketing and Corp. Communications at Nintendo?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: Basically, I do all the advertising and promotions, as well as all the merchandising and PR activities and am responsible for the online and publications groups.
ZELDANATOR: So George whats a average day at Nintendo for you, what type of tasks you do on a daily basis?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: The average day is far too many meetings and not enough game play time.
RODRIGUEZJR: Hello, I wanted to know if there is any news about the Nintendo Wii, such as release date or price.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We're not ready yet to announce the release date and price.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We'll being doing that in the not too distant future.
MODESTMR.GREEN: Mr. Harrison, thanks so much for spending time talking to us. I was just curious, what has your personal experience with Wii been like thus far?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: I am not a really experienced game player and like many people the games have become too complicated for me recently.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: So, when I experiened Wii for the first time, it was instantaneous fun!
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: You may have seen me on the stage at E3 playing with Mr. Miyamoto.
GRETZKEYR99: How is Nintendo's status with third party developers changing with the Wii?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We made an effort to begin working with the 3rd party publishers much earlier on Wii than we did on GameCube.\
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: After E3, many of them were so excited they initiated additional projects for titles that will launch in 2007.
GAMEHUNTER101: Do you think nintendo can meet the demand for the Wii?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: It's hard to know what the total demand for Wii will be.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We'll do our best to supply as much as possible, but there are many consumers around the world who are also hoping to get a Wii this holiday.
JSR: Hi Mr. Harrison! There are a lot of cool looking DS games coming out later this year, but I think that many of them will be lost in the Wii's hype. How does Nintendo plan to keep the DS on gamers' minds?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We have very aggressive marketing plans for DS hardware and software.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We know that we will probably sell many more DS units this holiday and have a lot of great titles to tell the consumers about.
TSA: Hi. What is up with the release status of Twilight Princess - is it coming out on GCN everywhere, or just here? Also, will we be able to use the GCN controller for the Wii version?"
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: Zelda TP will be releasing on both GCN and Wii on the same day as the launch of Wii.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: The GCN controller will be able to play the GCN version on the Wii console, but will not be able to play the Wii version.
SUPERHYPERMARIO128III: How do you decide on a marketing campaign, like "Who are you?" or "Touching is good"?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We provide creative direction to our advertising agency and they typically give us several alternatives. In the case of Wii, we are now testing some of those concepts before we decide on our direction.
RAYQUARIAN: Have you made plans for a Wii commercial yet?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We are developing several TV concepts and, once we select a direction, we will produce 3 to 5 different spots. While TV is important, we are increasingly looking to online and other advertising outlets to reach the game fans and the expanded audience.
MARIOISAWSOME3233: In your opinion, what has been the most successfull marketing campaign in Nintendo history?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: I've been with Nintendo for almost 15 years, and we have had many successes. I think certainly the launch of Nintendo 64 was a phenomenal experience that we hope to replicate with Wii.
SHADOWLINK19: Hello. With the DS going strong, and the Wii coming out very soon, will the GBA still be receiving anymore games? I can understand third party games will probably come for it, but will Nintendo be focusing on producing anymore first party games for the GBA handheld?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: GameBoy is still a very exciting and appealing product, but developers have limited resources and increasingly are focusing their attention on the DS, so the number of new GameBoy games will begin to shrink in 2007.
W34V3R: When it comes to advertising Nintendo-style, what do you think makes Nintendo stand out? What do you look for when it comes to advertising, oh, say, a Mario game? Do you look for a certain feature to make that advertisement shine in a certain light? Thank you very much for your time, and I look forward to hearing from a true pro.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: In the video game industry, it's easy for all commercials to look the same. We certainly use our characters to help us stand out, but we also try to find an advertising approach that is unique. If you think about the GameBoy advertising which we referred to as FreeBoy, it was a unique way to present the player and the game experience.
VIDGAMEPLAYA: Hello, Mr. Harrison! I live in an area where most kids play shoot em up games, and buy consoles based on graphics. I was wondering how you might plan to advertise to this group of consumers.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: First, the Wii will be able to deliver dramatically improved graphics over the GameCube. But, if all the player is concerned about is graphics, we may not win them over. Our best chance is to show them the sheer fun of our games.
LOGIEDAN7: Do you think that many people will utilize the Virtual Console to buy their old favorites?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: Certainly, we hope many people will take advantage of the virtual console games that they love from the past., but we also hope that people who have never experienced these games will enjoy them for the first time. Remember, there are other secrets of the virtual console that we won't reveal until we get closer to launch.
SMASHMANIAC: Since I am currently interested in creating a new small software company, I was wondering how much Nintendo is ready to help new third-party developers to create videogames with innovative ideas. Thank you very much.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: By showing examples of products like Nintendogs and Brain Age, we hope that developers will recognize that there is an opportunity for unique types of software. The virtual console also offeres the possibility of introducing a new game idea without having to develop the entire game before finding out what its appeal might be.
ENCELADUS: Hello, I have a lot of friends who refuse to buy Nintendo consoles due to the "kiddy" games and image Nintendo has according to them. Will this image change a lot with Wii in comparison with the Gamecube?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: I would say the "kiddy" image is in the eye of the beholder. These same people probably don't hesitate to watch the Cartoon Network and enjoy a good laugh, so all we can do is make the games as fun as possible and hope that consumers don't worry so much about what other people think. We need all the Nintendo fans to stand up and support us and lead the way.
NPC: If the Wii becomes a huge sucsess is there a chance we could see more Nintendo stores like the one in New York?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: NWS is a one-of -a-kind store that is really designed to help us communicate marketing messages. It is in an exciting location where we have had Mr. Miyamoto and other guest appearances that we probably couldn't replicate if we opened several stores.
ZYKE_HYBRIX3: Were you glad to see that there was a 5+ hour wait to use the Wii at E3?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: I was surprised and excited, but I felt for the people who had to spend their whole day just to spend a few minutes with Wii. This Fall, when Wii goes on sale, hopefully everyone will have at least one friend who finds one and can play it at their home.
.SHY: Are they any plan for new (non-classic) Virtual Console games from Nintendo?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: Virtual console offers the possibility for us to create new games, but our focus right now is in getting the Wii hardware launched and new games from Nintendo on the virtual console will be coming sometime after the launch.
NINTENDO_GAL: Why is the marketing decision made for certain games to make it over here to this market (the US) while other games are left in the dust? Will there be a shift towards bringing more Japanese titles over as the popularity of quirky fun games rises due to the DS and quite possibily Wii?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: Basically, we have an internal product review team that screens all the software produced in Japan and makes a recommendation on if there is a market opportunity here. Some games are liked by a small core of people and are difficult to introduce them broadly to all the retailers. We are always open to considering software from Japan if we believe there is enough consumer interest.
NOA_ANDY: We have time for a couple more questions.
0GLASS: What's the stance on going to public gaming conventions like the penny arcade expo to promote the Wii?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We are actually planning to attend the Penny Arcade Expo and recently were at the Comicon convention.
NOA_ANDY: ... and one final question ...
KIRKINOUT: What is the hardest or most stressful part of your job?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: During any hardware launch, there are thousands of details that need to be managed and also a close coordination with other territories around the world. But, in the end, the successful launch wipes away any of the stress.
NOA_ANDY: Awesome! Thank you very much for taking the time to visit Camp Hyrule 2006!
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: Goodbye ... great to be with you today. Hopes everybody gets the product of their dreams this holiday!
8/16 Chat with Nintendo's Localization Team
NOA_ANDY: Hi everyone! It is my pleasure to introduce Nintendo's Localization Team, also known as The Treehouse! Please welcome NOAs Bill, Nate, Ann, Reiko, Tim, Ramtower, and Erik to Camp Hyrule 2006. Hi guys!
NOA_REIKO: Hello!
NOA_ANN: Hey!
NOA_ERIK: 'Sup!
NOA_RAMTOWER: Hello, I say. Hello.
NOA_BILL: `I want to say a big hello to NOA_DANO... The OG-Localization man!
NOA_NATE: Hi! And Bill's not here.
NOA_RAMTOWER: Wait, yeah he is.
NOA_ALAN: Hey. Andy didn't welcome me, but i'll just crash it.
NOA_RAMTOWER: He's just stealthy.
NOA_BILL: Way to go, Nate.
NOA_ANDY: Sorry Alan!
NOA_RAMTOWER: Shhh... Bill, we can see you.
NOA_ANDY: Before we begin, could you please give us a top-level view of what your team does at Nintendo?
NOA_NATE: Shouldn't you be translating?
NOA_BILL: I am translating as we speak. Er... type.
NOA_RAMTOWER: Seriously. Any game delays? That's Bill's fault. As of now.
NOA_ALAN: We translate games. Tim sits in the corner and goes crazy.
NOA_ANN: Hee hee hee!
NOA_TIM: Oops! Got ahead of myself
NOA_TIM: Grrr!
NOA_RAMTOWER: nimble fingers there, Tim.
NOA_ALAN: OK, basic overview. We get games from Japan, translate them into English, then make it all pretty.
NOA_ANN: Yes, what he said.
NOA_ANDY: Alan, the voice of reason.
NOA_NATE: We also record cast and record voices!
NOA_ALAN: That's the only time andy will ever say that
NOA_ANDY: OK, I have a question here for ya ... Let's just get this one out of the way ...
NOA_NATE: typooooo
ZERO_13: Are there any plans to bring the MOTHER 3 game to USA?
NOA_BILL: Was there a question Andy? Haven't seen one yet!
NOA_RAMTOWER: Alan already answered it.
NOA_RAMTOWER: He's got me beat for speedy fingers.
NOA_ALAN: Mother 3 plans?
NOA_NATE: What's Mother 3?
NOA_ALAN: Um...
NOA_RAMTOWER: There's a Mother 3?
NOA_TIM: We translate, rewrite, edit, advise, record voices, name stuff, travel to Japan, stay chained to our desks, etc.
NOA_ALAN: Yeah. We don't know. About Mother 3.
NOA_ANN: Yes, and Tim goes crazy...
OF_DESTRUCTION: Hey everyone! Last year I was playing through Advance Wars: Dual Strike (great game, by the way :p). When I reached the end, I noticed there was a lot of text "cutscenes" where the dialogue had to support actions with little visual aid. I think you did a great job, especially with the finale. But my question is this, are situations like that in Advance Wars: Dual Strike hard to write for? Or have you had more difficult times in other games?
NOA_NATE: I've had more difficult times, but only because I didn't work on that game.
NOA_RAMTOWER: Alan, Tim, Erik, and I all worked on the last Advance Wars title together. It was a blast, really. We broke up who handled each character, which helped us bring more life to each of 'em.
NOA_RAMTOWER: It wasn't too hard for us, really, because we're all fans of the series, and we have those characters in our heads pretty well.
NOA_RAMTOWER: Heck, they're talking to me right now... Telling me to burn things.
NOA_ALAN: I think it's harder to match text to cutscenes when the cutscenes are active (like in Fire Emblem: POR). It's a little easier when you're working with still images.
NOA_ALAN: Flood control to major tom...
NOA_TIM: Wars is only tough when we don't know what's happening on screen. ('Course that's true for every game.) This is one of the difficulties of shorter developmen cycles.
NOA_RAMTOWER: True, true, but Intelligent Systems does a great job of helping us understand what to expect as we're working, and those games are so character driven that the characters practically do all the work for us -- they're a blast to write.
NOA_ERIK: We really try to make those long conversations between the characters exciting, funny, or dramatic - Alan was the one who actually wrote that last finale scene and I think he did a great job.
JSR: Hey guys. I've noticed that in recent years, games have been translated much faster, sometimes even debuting in North America first. How early in a game's development cycle do you start getting involved?
NOA_TIM: Yeah, Alan!
NOA_ALAN: The hardest part of AW:DS was Jake. That;s why we made Erik write him.
NOA_ANN: Well, our team has gotten a lot bigger.
NOA_TIM: Depends on the title. Some very, very early. Some not until the last minute.
NOA_RAMTOWER: It all depends on the game -- Animal Crossing takes a long time, because we have SO MUCH writing to do on those games. For Advance Wars: Dual Strike, we had maybe a month or so for all the writing, if that.
NOA_BILL: For Animal Crossing Wild World, we were in early while the game was still in development.
NOA_NATE: Some games, reaaaaaally early. We got involved with Zelda TP before the unveiling 2 years ago.
NOA_ALAN: Getting involved early helps, because you can suggest changes. But it's also a bit of a problem because you're working with unstable code.
NOA_TIM: Of course, the sooner the better for us.
NOA_BILL: Ann And Reiko were translating and writing on AC before the team even finished writing all the Japanese text.
NOA_BILL: Nate and I are doing that right now with Zelda, too.
NOA_RAMTOWER: The more linear a game is, the easier it is to work on, in a lot of ways, because you've got a straightforward story to work on. But something really open-ended, like AC, well, you've got to work hard to make all the conversations come together, to give character to everybody.
NOA_NATE: This is ridiculous, Rich must be copying and pasting.
NOA_BILL: And when I say right now, I mean am switching between this chat and one of my Zelda text files.
NOA_REIKO: And we wrote some text for the soon to be release Clubhouse Games from scratch!
NOA_ANN: Woo! Clubhouse Games!
NOA_ALAN: Bill and I spent two years writing Magnetica.
NOA_RAMTOWER: Remember: any delays? They're Bill's fault. Because of today.
NOA_RAMTOWER: EPIC!
TSA: Tetra's Trackers never made it out of Japan, and I've always wondered why that got axed from Four Swords Adventures outside Japan. This also has me concerned about Tingle RPG (what's the official title of it, btw?). It seems like that game has almost no chance of coming out outside of Japan. What are its chances for coming out outside of Japan?
NOA_BILL: Sorry! I'm busy translating right now...
NOA_NATE: Kooloo limpah!
NOA_RAMTOWER: I CALL NOT IT!
NOA_BILL: Actually, there were a number of different factors involved in the Trackers decision.
NOA_BILL: Part of it was simply trying to localize the voice cues they had in that game, which were all based on Japanese.
NOA_ALAN: Go, Bill, go!
NOA_ERIK: Here comes Bill's all-business voice.
NOA_TIM: I type so slowly the questions are answered by the time I've gotten started. So sad...
NOA_BILL: It would have taken much longer to get that game out had we kept it, so in that sense, any decision on Tingle would be based on entirely different citeria.
NOA_RAMTOWER: Bill used a big word.
NOA_ANDY: Who named Tingle?
NOA_ALAN: Tingle is a big word?
NOA_ERIK: Criterewhat?
NOA_BILL: The Zelda team named Tingle.
NOA_BILL: Duh...
NOA_RAMTOWER: Nice, Bill.
NOA_ANDY: :(
DIGIPEN89: Has the Treehouse ever had their "All your base are belong to us" kind of translation mistake before?
NOA_NATE: That WAS us!
NOA_RAMTOWER: We try to sneak them into OTHER people's games when they're not looking.
NOA_ALAN: No, but we were the first people to use the phrase "smackdown soup"
NOA_RAMTOWER: So, in that sense, we're pioneers.
NOA_TIM: Computer died. What's happening? HELP!!!
NOA_ALAN: Some of the early Nintendo games had...less than perfect translation, but we usually avoid that kind of stuff.
NOA_ERIK: Don't forget "righteous hindspanking"
NOA_BILL: We'd like to think we're perfect, but I think we're the only ones who think that...
NOA_ALAN: Although i tried to put the phrase "Watch in amazement!" on the back of the Fire Emblem box before Rich yelled at me.
NOA_RAMTOWER: Seriously, though, localization's come a long way since those days. We've got a staff of rock-solid writers, testers watching out for us, all sorts of safety nets to stop us from making fools of ourselves. And right now? All those nets are GONE, GONE, GONE!!!
NOA_NATE: Oh my goodness, Rich is so cuddly!
NOA_RAMTOWER: I yell good.
NOA_DANO: Yeah those kinds of things only happened when I was workign in localization.
GREATMIZUTI: In SSBM why were Marth and Roy's voices in japanese?
NOA_ALAN: He's yelling at me right now
NOA_RAMTOWER: Ha! Awesome, Dano!
NOA_ALAN: Because Marth and Roy aren't bilingual
NOA_BILL: They were in deed. They both talked about kicking a$$ and taking names.
NOA_RAMTOWER: "A dollar signs"? What are you saying, Bill?
NOA_DANO: Did Bill just censor bypass?!
NOA_TIM: I tried to get the to use my voice, but was denied.
NOA_ERIK: PERMABANNED!
NOA_ALAN: Cry more n00b!
NOA_ANDY: I'm impressed you know our termonlogy!
NOA_DANO: OMGZ
NOA_BILL: NOA_BILL HAS BEEN FLUSHED DOWN THE TOILET...
RETRONINTENDODUDE7: When developing a game that has voice overs, how do you decide who will voice the part in English?
NOA_ALAN: We get people to audition, then listen to them and pick the best ones
NOA_ANN: Some characters have established voices attached to them, like Mario.
NOA_TIM: We check the personalities of the characters and have auditions.
NOA_BILL: Sometimes we decide to the voices ourselves...
NOA_RAMTOWER: Back when SSMB came out, the games hadn't been localized. We didn't have preestablished voices for them, and because, at that point, there were no plans to release FE in America, we felt we'd just better let 'em be. That's my take, anyway. I may be totally wrong.
NOA_BILL: No. Seriously...
NOA_NATE: We either use legacy actors (like Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi) or cast for new actors.
NOA_RAMTOWER: Seriously, we draw straws.
NOA_BILL: Legacy actor for Shy Guy? NOA NATE
NOA_ERIK: Sometimes they let me scream in pain in front of a microphone!
NOA_TIM: Voice recording has become a pretty major part of what we do. We use a professional studio, professional actors, etc. Do you like?
NOA_ALAN: We punch erik in the gut and he makes funny noises
BREAD_KO: Hey Localization Team! I was wondering about how many games you guys work on at a time, and which games you enjoyed working on the most. Thanks for your time!
NOA_BILL: Too many...
NOA_NATE: Uh...anywhere from 1 to 6, maybe?
NOA_TIM: Usually 2 or 3 at any given moment. (That's per person.)
NOA_RAMTOWER: I -love- Fire Emblem and Advance Wars. I also had a blast working on Minish Cap. Those are some of my favorite titles.
NOA_BILL: That sounds about right, Nate.
NOA_RAMTOWER: Oh, and Animal Crossing.
NOA_ANN: Animal Crossing: Wild World, probably.
NOA_ALAN: My favs: Fire Emblem: POR, AW:DS, Animal Crossing (although i didn't do much), and maybe sorta kinda Brain Age. Just for the historical value.
NOA_ERIK: I know us writer types love to work on the games with a ton of character and personality. Animal Crossing, Paper Mario, etc.
NOA_BILL: For me, the original Animal Crossing was by far the most fun to work on.
NOA_ANN: I liked working on Fire Emblem too.
NOA_RAMTOWER: Yeah, I've had as many as six projects going on at a time. Those are...dark times.
NOA_REIKO: We have a white board that currently has 7 lines, one line for each project the group is working on at any given time... lately, there's been A LOT of overspill.
NOA_TIM: Hmm... FE, AW, AC and currently a new title, Hotel Dusk is promising to be fun.
NOA_TIM: It's always nice to have a break from text heavy games, too.
NOA_BILL: I also really enjoy working on the Zelda games, including Twilight Princess, which I just translated another message for two minutes ago.
CUBE_FAN90: Hey guys. One thing I'd like know: Do any Japanese gamers, developers, publishers, etc. object some of the changes you make?
NOA_RAMTOWER: Those messages? "ARG!" and "AIEEE!!!"
NOA_ALAN: In Fire Emblem, Ike was originally going to be called "Captain Stoopid!", but the dev team said no.
NOA_REIKO: The development teams are pretty reasonable and trust us to make decisions that are best for our audience. It makes the job much easier and more enjoyable.
NOA_TIM: Sometimes, but we try to explain why we want to make changes, and they generally agree that we know what's best for our market.
NOA_BILL: There was one instance, but it wasn't our fault...
NOA_BILL: We didn't know she was a he...
NOA_TIM: Oh, thanks, Bill!!!
NOA_RAMTOWER: Typically, anything that goes into the game goes in with their blessings.
NOA_RAMTOWER: It's true. Tim's a she.
NOA_ANN: Poor Tim...
NOA_RAMTOWER: KIDDING!
STORMTROOPER88888: How do the voices in Animal Crossing work? It doesn't seem like each and everything they say is recorded... Does it recognize words and try to pronounce them or something?
NOA_RAMTOWER: (Tim's going to kill me. He's much stronger than I am.)
NOA_TIM: Those are the sounds Rich makes when I kick him
NOA_BILL: Actually, if you listen carefully, you'll hear that all they are doing is pronouncing the letters.
NOA_RAMTOWER: We recorded one yelp of pain for each letter!
NOA_TIM: That's right! Listen while you type letters and you'll see how it works.
NOA_BILL: You can tell by putting in spaces between letters when you enter a catch-phrase.
NOA_REIKO: It's a lot clearer with some letter combinations...
GHOSTPIKMIN: Is it difficult translating things such as humor? I've heard some significant parts of Paper Mario for the GCN were changed when it came here because Japanese humor is very different than our own. How do you go about inserting in humor that works in America (such as the 1337 Hammer Bros)?
NOA_RAMTOWER: Sometimes, you can almost make out the word they're saying if you listen closely.
NOA_RAMTOWER: Nate?
NOA_NATE: When we find a joke that won't work, we just try to think up something funny that's somewhat, kinda close.
NOA_BILL: It depends on the kind of humor.
NOA_TIM: Basically we try and find parallels in American English / culture. If there aren't any, we make up new stuff that fits the situation.
NOA_RAMTOWER: Humor's tough, because it can be so culturally dependent, and... oh, wait. Yeah, what Tim, Bill, and Nate said.
NOA_NATE: The l33t bros., I dunno what happened that day.
NOA_ERIK: Making sure a game stays funny is one of the best parts of the job here. A lot of times, stuff that is hilarious in Japanese just doesn't make any sense over here, so we have to come up with our own stuff that's funny AND conveys the same message.
NOA_BILL: Sometime jokes can transfer, but sometimes we just tell the writers "this is a joke about something that smelling really bad. Go to town on it."
AURAKNIGHT1: Do you guys get a wii or get to play the wii before it is released?
NOA_TIM: What's Wii?
NOA_NATE: Yes.
NOA_ANN: Yep.
NOA_BILL: Check. Got one right here on my desk.
NOA_ERIK: Muwahaha!
NOA_RAMTOWER: Ayup.
NOA_RAMTOWER: It's so purty.
NOA_ALAN: SOME OF US HAVE WiiS AT THEIR DESK!!! Some of us have old computers powered by vacuum tubes
DARKMAN.EXE: Has there ever been a time where you were just completely stumped while translation a phrase/conversation?
NOA_TIM: I'm working on DS stuff, but I do get to watch the other folks,
NOA_TIM: Yes,
NOA_BILL: Yes.
NOA_REIKO: Definitely.
NOA_ANN: Yes. Particularly since I don't speak Japanese.
NOA_NATE: Great anecdotes!
NOA_RAMTOWER: Sometimes, I'm stumped by what I just wrote.
NOA_BILL: That's when the unabridged dictionary comes out.
NOA_ALAN: Yeah, every game has a few of those "what in the world?" moments. Luckily, we can usually ask the dev team if it's a real stumper
NOA_BILL: I have had cases where I've had to call Mitsuhiro Takano (the write on the Zelda games) and ask him what in the world people are talking about.
NOA_ERIK: Sometimes I'll know what I want the message to say but I'll have to write it a dozen times before it's perfect.
NOA_TIM: We use lots of dictionaries and lots of personal contacts to figure out the really rough stuff.
NOA_BILL: Usually they just explain it in simpleton terms and then we move along.
NOA_ALAN: Sometimes i call Takano and i'm like "what's up?" And he's like "nothing..."
NOA_BILL: Erik! What was that crazy word from Pikmin 2?
NESSMAN: How often during localization do you have to actually edit the graphics or programming of the game to make sense in the US?
NOA_RAMTOWER: We don't do any of that stuff ourselves. We'll make recommendations for the development team, though.
NOA_REIKO: Ann and I are working on WarioWare for Wii now and we have a working list of graphic change requests.
NOA_NATE: Depends on the game, but we have to ask for it frequently. This is why we request graphic text so early.
NOA_ANN: Yeah, some stuff just doesn't make sense to Americans, like certain types of food.
NOA_TIM: Yeah, sometimes we make suggestions on character design. A lot of the times developers will ask for feedback early on.
NOA_BILL: Depends on the game, too. A lot of teams are used to developing for a world-wide audience, so on most projects that isn't an issue so much anymore.
NOA_ANDY: I think we have time for about one more question ...
NOA_BILL: I can tell you one graphic we missed that we still don't understand...
7THMAGI: What is your favorite game you guys have ever worked on?
NOA_TIM: Like Ann said, anything that's too Japanese and wouldn't make sense needs to be reworke.
NOA_ERIK: My favorite is my first, Pikmin 2!
NOA_BILL: On the bottom of the barrel in Smash Bros. it says 2L84U
NOA_NATE: We didn't miss that!
NOA_ANN: Animal Crossing: Wild World!
NOA_ALAN: FE: POR
NOA_REIKO: I'd have to say Animal Crossing: Wild World.
NOA_NATE: My favorite game, all time, no holds barred, is a secret.
NOA_TIM: Favorite? Much too hard of a question. Ilove the Fire Emblem series. My favorite character I've worked on is Mr. Resetti. SCRAM!
NOA_BILL: I would have to say Animal Crossing (GCN), Wind Waker and METEOSSSSS!!!!
NOA_RAMTOWER: That's a harder question than it ought to be. Even games I haven't totally loved, I've always found SOMETHING special about. Like I said, Fire Emblem is and will always be my precious (we loves it, we does), but I'm so proud of Animal Crossing, AC: Wild World, and Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap.
NOA_RAMTOWER: But Fire Emblem -- all three of those games still mean so much to me.
NOA_ANDY: Alright, well thank you guys so much for stopping by Camp Hyrule ... it's not like it's easy to get here this year.
NOA_BILL: Rich! What about our Golden Sun glory days?
NOA_ALAN: Rich is in LOVE with Fire Emblem! He's going to MARRY it!
NOA_ERIK: Mwamwamwa
NOA_RAMTOWER: Those were good times, but...Fire Emblem. MAN! That game is HAWT.
NOA_NATE: Bye guys.
NOA_TIM: Thanks, Andy! Thanks all! BYE!!
NOA_REIKO: Thanks everyone!
NOA_RAMTOWER: Bye, y'all...
NOA_ALAN: Yeah, thanks.
NOA_ANN: Good chatting with you!
NOA_ANDY: Hopefully we'll see you at Camp Hyrule 2007. See ya!
NOA_ERIK: Later everybody!
NOA_TIM: I'm so glad we've had this time together...