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Localization can be hard but fun: Getting Ace Attorney into EnglishLocalization can be hard but fun: Getting Ace Attorney into English

"I think [Ace Attorney] is really interesting because the translator has to step up, otherwise it's just not going to work. It's great to have projects like that. They keep you sane."

Christian Nutt, Contributor

December 12, 2014

1 Min Read
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"I think [Ace Attorney] is really interesting because the translator has to step up, otherwise it's just not going to work. It's great to have projects like that. They keep you sane."

- Phoenix Wright localizer Alex Smith In a nifty new interview on USGamer, Bob Mackey talks to Alex Smith, the renowned localization expert who handled the translations of Final Fantasy XII and Valkyria Chronicles -- as well as Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, which hit the 3DS this week in remake form. In the interview, Smith talks about the difficulty of rendering the game's pun-filled script into English -- and how satisfying it was to work on a game with good writing for once. "My guess would be that half of the jokes were rewrites based on the characters in the scene as opposed to whatever the Japanese was saying. It's not a problem of translating the wordplay because you're not translating it," Smith says. The full interview is a fun read, and it's up on USGamer now.

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