Secret Exit

Share your favorite moments from gaming! Accomplishments, characters, stories, music, life lessons - anything and everything you've ever loved and learned from your favorite video games!

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Someday the Dream Will End...

So I’ve made the painful decision to stop this blog. It’s been an amazing two years sharing some of my most favorite moments in video games with such a wonderful community. I’ve been working on some other projects, like writing for Gamasutra (https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MichelleDeco/1011979/) that I regularly update. Thanks for letting me be a part of this, and keep on gaming!

~Michelle

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Game Throwbacks (Part 3)

-The first level in each of the four Sonic platformers (Sonic 1-3 and Sonic & Knuckles) for the Sega Genesis are all grassy, hilly, tree-decked levels. The TV Trope “Green Hill Zone” is a reference to Sonic 1’s first world.

-The third form of the final boss Star Dream in Kirby: Planet Robobot is a Galactic Nova–possibly the same one from Kirby Super Star.

-An example of a game referencing a character from another franchise (though held by the same company): In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, after helping out Gulliver, he’ll compliment you and compare you to Bobbery, one of Mario’s partners from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

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Game Throwbacks (Part 2)

-(Spoiler!) Zidane’s line at the end of Final Fantasy IX references the two previous Final Fantasy protagonists: “No cloud, no squall shall hinder us!”

-In Chrono Cross, the swordsman Glenn, and his Double Tech with Serge, is a nod to Frog from Chrono Trigger. However, the two characters have been confirmed to not be the same being.

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Game Throwbacks (Part 1)

Throwbacks are something akin to nostalgia fuel, especially for older players who understand a reference to a game they played years ago. Most notable of throwbacks is the Final Fantasy series; though each numbered game is a standalone title and has no obvious connections to its predecessor or successor, each game references at least one previous entry in the renowned series, whether it be through enemies, locations, summons, character names, or music. Here’s some of my favorite ones I’ve come across in my video game journeys. I’ll post more in the coming months.

-Naval Piranha is the boss of the jungle-themed world in both Yoshi’s Island (World 3) and Yoshi’s Woolly World (World 4).

-In Super Mario 3D World, Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad retain their jumping and speed stats from Super Mario Bros. 2.

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The “You’re Not Alone” sequence in Final Fantasy IX

What’s truly memorable about the scene is how strongly the theme of friendship shows itself, especially to the friendliest guy in the game. Zidane gets called out for wanting to face Garland alone, but that’s because his friends really care about him, in the same way that he cared for them.

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Understanding why Squall acts the way he does in Final Fantasy VIII

It’s easy to call Squall a jerk (and that’s the politest insult) for seemingly not giving a damn about his party or how he’s treating them. But learning about his childhood sheds a lot of light on how the past can continue to haunt you – a characteristic notable in the real world. Of course, it doesn’t excuse him from his actions, but he starts making up for it about halfway through the game.

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“Evil Forest” theme from Final Fantasy IX

This piece, while initially of no interest to me, is not only really pretty and serene piece, but also haunting at the same time. It seems to lure you into a false sense of comfort before it completely takes over you. Scary, huh?

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Completing a Public Works Project in Animal Crossing: New Leaf

Tom Nook is really out to get you when you expand your house, but he’s not the only one. The PWPs take a huge chunk out of your spending account as well, and if you don’t know how to earn lots of Bells, it’ll take a long time to complete both. Paying them off is a huge achievement, and you get to see your hard-earned Bells put to good use.

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Special Blog Post: Steven Universe

Normally, this blog is reserved for video games only. But a special shout-out goes to one of my now-favorite shows, Steven Universe. 

I’d heard about this show for years but never took the time to watch it. When the New Year rolled around I finally decided to give the show a try - and I’m glad I did. The show deals with tons of common adult issues in an understandable and relatable manner, and isn’t afraid to dig deep with character development and storylines. It’s entertainment, but not necessarily for the sole purpose of entertaining the audience - although the show does manage to sneak in a pun or two every episode. The characters, while not necessarily human, are human with their feelings and insecurities just like the rest of us, and are far from perfect - just like real life. I’d recommend watching this show; it’ll make you laugh, it’ll make you cry, and it’ll make you think.

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The Music of Bravely Default

The game is meant to be a spiritual successor to the popular Final Fantasy series, but nails everything that made Final Fantasy a classic: the gameplay, the storyline, the characters, and the music in particular. From the hopeful and adventurous tune of the world map, to the mystery and secrecy of dungeons, to the adrenaline-pumping rhythms of the battle themes and boss themes, Bravely Default’s music is a force to be reckoned with.

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The Star Dream Final Boss in Kirby: Planet Robobot

There are no words to describe how amazing this final boss is. It’s a departure from the regular Kirby series final bosses in terms of gameplay; you must defeat the boss with the Halberd in a Star Fox-esque space shooter. The graphics are nothing short of breathtaking, and each form the Star Dream takes changes the music, from blood-pumping, to end-of-the-world-esque, to a techno remix of the title screen theme. It’s enough to make you coming back for more. Play the True Arena of this fight, and a little surprise awaits you at the end…

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The Tea Party at the End of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance

The story, per the norm for a Kingdom Hearts game, starts out lighthearted, but easily plunges into the depths of darkness (literally) at key moments. Still, the game manages to be lighthearted and whimsical, exemplified to the fullest during the ending at a tea party with tea, cake…and for whatever reason, Sora wearing a party hat and Groucho Marx-like glasses. Riku doesn’t get it either, but manages to take it in stride.

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The “Bah Bah” Sound Effect in the New Super Mario Bros. series

Starting with New Super Mario Bros, most of the levels’ music has a distinctive “bah bah” sound somewhere in the melody. This sound effect has humorous results on the field; Goombas jump, Koopas break the fourth wall, Fire Flowers hop a little and, underwater, Cheep Cheeps spin. They’re ridiculously cute animations, and at the same time VERY distracting; more than once I’d stare at the hopping Fire Flower for a while until I nearly ran out of time with the level.

(It’s been so long! I must first apologize; I’ve been ridiculously busy with my full-time localization job, voiceover, and other creative side projects. Unfortunately, I am nowhere near close to figuring out the new format in incorporating an academic/research side to video games. However, I will continue to post about positive moments in gaming, interesting facts about localization, and other uplifting moments found in the video game industry as often as I can.) :)

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More Localization! (Wait, from Marvel?!)

Hey everyone! While I'm still figuring out the new format for Secret Exit, I wanted to share some more interesting things about localization, this time approaching it from a non-video game perspective. To use a popular example, I'll talk about a brief but memorable scene from Captain America: The Winter Soldier. In the beginning of the film, Cap (Steve Rogers) is holding a piece of paper containing a list of things he should know about the modern world and events he should "catch up" on. The interesting part? That list has been localized in different countries! Or, to put it more simply, that list shows different points of popular culture in other countries where the movie was shown. So, for example, baseball might be more popular in the US, but football (NOT American football) is wildly popular in Spain and Italy, so baseball would have been replaced by football in those countries. Plus, it would retain its original term "football" and not the more common US term "soccer" (which, by the way, comes from the term "association football"). To my knowledge, that list has been adapted in South Korea @, Spain, Russia, Mexico, Australia, Brazil, England, France, and Italy. Things we can overlook in American culture, like customs, holidays, pop music, trends, and fashion, wouldn't necessarily translate well in German culture and vice versa, for example, so the list was localized in different countries. The more you know! ^_^

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The Ins and Outs of Localization

Hello everyone! I hope you’re all doing well this Friday (which also happens to be Earth Day in America - go green!). 

While I’m still working out the new format of my Secret Exit blog, I wanted to share a bit with you about the field I work in, localization. A lot of people have been asking me what localization is and exactly what I do, so I thought I’d clarify that here and add some helpful links for anyone interested in the topic. This is a lengthy post, so bear with me as I try to explain this as best as I can in plain terms.

Localization, essentially, is the process of adapting a foreign translation to make it appropriate for the target audience and intended market. It’s a bit different from translation, which is translating one language into another one. Localization involves knowing the intended market’s cultures, customs, way of speaking and language (casual, formal, etc.), and traditions, among others. Most localization writers and editors were English or Literature majors in college or similar, but this isn’t always the case (case in point: me). I was a Psychology major, but that still comes in handy when needing to understand characters and character development, especially if you’re localizing an RPG (role-playing game). What you really need is an excellent command of the language into which you’re localizing the game. I’m a good writer, and knowing advanced spelling, grammar, and syntax is crucial. 

Square Enix is based in Japan; they have offices in Los Angeles, where I work, and London as well. Typically, the games are first translated, then brought over to the American localization team to adapt to fit American culture. So some things in the original Japanese – let’s say, a holiday - might be removed from the American localization because American audiences might not understand it. Or it might be replaced by another holiday that’s more familiar. This happens with character names, food, jokes, items, and locations, to name a few. However, localizers keep the original messages and overall themes of the games intact.

Video game localization is probably the most known localization right now, but it’s not the only one. A lot of things which might not fit into the traditional category of localization fit in as well. Localization is also found in anime (though not always referred to as such) where scriptwriters adapt the translation to make sense for Western audiences. Not everything in the original will transfer over well enough for the target audience to understand, so scriptwriters have to make sure that the rewrites are authentic. You hear a lot of this in the “Sub vs. Dub” arguments that spread throughout the anime community, where some people want the original to be exactly translated from Japanese, and some people want an entirely different adaptation.

Localization isn’t just from Japanese to English, though. Games made in the US also get localized in other countries, such as France, Spain, Italy, and Germany. People who do localization in those countries also have to know the customs and traditions of their intended market. A lot of Western companies have teams that do localization from English to Spanish, for example. There are even more specific localizations that can happen between two languages. For example, a game might be translated from English to Brazilian Portuguese – there’s a specific type of localization that makes more sense for Brazilian Portuguese than European Portuguese. There’s even American English and British English for those who don’t know, so words like “lift” in British English are renamed “elevator” in American English. Or “colour” in British English is spelled “color” in American English.

Localization is still an emerging market in the video game industry. It’s relatively small and unknown compared to other aspects of gaming, including development, marketing, and music, but there’s actually a wealth of information I’ve been able to find online. I actually made myself a “Localization Information” manual that contains a lot of articles, research papers, and fun stuff I found, but here’s a Wikipedia link that also gives you the basics of video game localization without getting too much into the nitty-gritty of it.

Thanks for reading! ^_^

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_localization

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Secret Exit Update

Hello everyone! I’ve got an update to share with you. 

I’ll be starting a new job tomorrow (Monday), and coincidentally, it is at a company whose games I frequently post about! I will be working at Square Enix full-time! I’m really excited about this opportunity and where it will take me on my career path.

That being said, unfortunately I won’t have a lot of time to devote to this blog. I am NOT shutting it down, however - I always tell myself that if I can impact at least one person in a positive way, then that’s enough for me. So I will be moving to a weekly or bi-weekly posting, but I WILL continue posting about video games and the positive impact they’ve had on the gaming community. 

I’m also thinking about moving towards longer posts - the short ones are fun and all, but I really want to delve into gaming and their impact, and I love writing. This is still a work in progress in how I format my posts, but I want to share as much information as I can with you all, both from the position as a passionate gamer and as a scholar. (I didn’t get my psychology degree for nothing!)

Thank you all who’ve supported me, and to my followers and everyone who’s read this blog - you keep me going! :)

~Michelle

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Music of March/April: You’re Not Alone - Final Fantasy IX

So...I goofed. I thought yesterday was the 30th and not the 31st, so my last Music of March post was supposed to be yesterday and not today. Sorry!

Anyway, this last Music of March is one of my absolute favorite songs in the history of video games from legendary composer Nobuo Uematsu, “You’re Not Alone” from Final Fantasy IX. In the scene the music plays in, the main character Zidane has learned of his true purpose to be an Angel of Death (i.e. destroyer) of the planet his friends live on. He sinks into a major depression, and it takes all seven of his allies to snap him out of it. The scene is heavy with emotion, displaying the power of friendship and loyalty.