Siren

[dave heats]

I agree, the half japanese, half inhuman rumblings were great. If I remember rightly from that siren video above, the police offer says something along the lines of "do you really think you can resist?".

Absolutely pathetic.

[Vaipon]

LOL. The English voice dubs sound weak as hell. I'm not going anywhere near that video footage. I'd never be able to look at that cop again without sniggering if I saw it.

Pathetic. If they really must insist on an English dub, at least they could put in the effort. Siren deserves better than a shoddy Fatal Frame-esque dialogue track.

[Concept]

If Siren does feature horrific dubbing (i.e. in the class of Fatal Frame) then SCEE lose me as a customer for good.

Instead of being a pseudo import gamer, I'll abandon the PAL market altogether. Whereas before I didn't, I've simply got the resources to do so now if I want to. At the moment I am just waiting for that one straw which breaks the camel's back, with regards to a highly anticipated game I'm looking forward to, being screwed up for release over here.

Siren is important for me this year. If it's conversion is a mess then quite franky disgust will drive me to completely neglect future SCEE releases.

How can they get it so wrong, so often?

I've mentioned this a couple of times before, but the overall NTSC-to-PAL conversion quality for the PS2 in Europe is dire. SCEE need to get their act together. Are none of them dedicated gamers over there? Now I am sure most in-house European localisation jobs are produced by teams who have close access to source material, so perhaps, just perhaps, SCEE could put pressure or suggest a few pointers along the way? Is there no one of influence who is ever so slightly concerned about the situation?

Sony is being embarassed by the quality of in-house Nintendo and Microsoft conversions. If I sound a little angry then I am. Is it too much to ask that Siren be allowed to keep a large part of its identity intact.

[Square]

I can't see that voice acting being allowed into the final product. It's just too crap.

tbh

[Concept]

When has that stopped them before?

If SCEA/SCEE have spent money on recording English voiceovers, then I doubt they'll throw that investment down the pan, no matter if the results are super ****.

It's happened time and time again.

... So many games which are of an integral high stature get blessed with an out of place English dub, and end up being stiffer than an ironing board sent to the north pole for 300 years.

I know voiceovers aren't considered much throughout most videogaming discussion, but in narrative-based games getting this specific aspect right is vital in my opinion. At least if you want to convey elements such as story and character in a plausible manner. Those things are important in defining and nailing down atmosphere. And personally, I view atmosphere as an underlying proponent when it comes to sustaining compulsion within gameplay.

Nail this aspect on the head, and you can produce some wonderful results. Take the likes of Soul Reaver, Metal Gear Solid, Eternal Darkness, Gregory Horror Show, Jak & Daxter, Vice City, Halo etc. I really do think that gathering the right cast nearly always adds something positive to the mix.

When voice acting is doing it's job properly you often don't notice it there... As it usually just blends into the background and conveys what needs to be conveyed. And personally, while Siren should only be judged for it's merit as a game, if the voice acting is horrifically misjudged then it's going to smash that vibe like a sledge hammer to a daisy.

Getting voices right is a delicate business. Of course there's only limited talent in the voice industry... It costs money to hire the right people, the right casting directors... People's scheduling also have to be on time for the project etc. They actually have to at least show a passing interest in the material their expressing too.

Getting all those elements right is a rare thing. But if they mess up Siren and the atmosphere that's being attempted ends up contradicted or undermined thanks to a poor dub... It'd be so disappointing. A wasted opportunity.

In this instance, I really do think the common sense thing to do would be to leave the original voice track in there. For a start:

1) This is a title already with limited appeal, it would save localisation costs.
2) The fact it's set in Japan means the original dub would enhance believability in locale, having both voice and environment match our geographical expectations.
3) Maintaining the visual/audio link between actor and character, would mean a key innovative feature (in terms of characterisation) is kept in.

And finally...

4) It would perhaps mark and enhance the title out between others in the survival horror genre. The rest (Silent Hill, Fatal Frame, Resident Evil etc.) all seem to have awful voice overs too... But here, we could have a raw stylistic game with an acutely refreshing difference about it.

I can't stress enough, as a player, how important it can sometimes be in hiring the right voice talent when it comes to immersing you in a world. Take Manhunt for example...

It's audio was utterly superb. A large part of the reason that game worked for me was because Brian Cox spat absolute fire, and embodied the dark sleazy atmosphere which so evidently ran through the title in other areas of design. He really conveyed how sick, twisted, warped, demented, saddening, sinister and joyfully nasty his character actually was. Having someone believable who can do the job properly pulls you into the game if you can meld the voice of a character with their on-screen actions performed by the player. Creating that link consistently is incredibly tricky.

There are videogames out there which have superb writing but are let down by the talent which expresses it. Likewise there are videogames out there with awful writing, but waste the talent they have.

For Siren's atmosphere to work in a cohesive and convincing manner... Well nailing the voices down correctly is important in my view.

Otherwise we could just end up having an interesting, slightly disturbing, hammy experience flung into our faces.

[Spatial]

Has anyone thought of petitioning or sending mass emails to SCEA/SCEE and telling them not to commit this crime ?

[Ady]

It can't be worse than Fatal Frame, surely?

It is. I've just watched some of the vid.

I say 'some' beacause I couldn't stomach much more.

A petition is in order and certainly beats us just whining about it on here. Anyone else up for it?

I'm serious. Let's kick this off, people.

[Saurian]

It's worth trying it to at least bring the subject to their attention - if there is no subtitle mode I'll still buy the JPN version. The voice acting ruined Shenmue for me (I had to play it text only - I'm sorry but the character "Tom" was the last straw), I couldnt stomach FFX either - and with no options to speak of I just stopped playing 20hours in and have no intention of playing it again. If they are gonna keep ripping the piss with the conversions I'm giving up adventure games - I REALLY love Drag-On Dragoon! Seriously the game has such an epic atmosphere and dark storyline and truly SUPERB and very emotional voice acting but I know for a fact that the English translation (which I would buy without hesitation if done properly) is going to be wank with no subtitles, I have no confidence with these companies anymore.

[Spatial]

I'm wondering which way would be best

Either :-

Set up on of those on line petition things that are banded around via www.petitiononline.com

This might work but they are so frequent no one would take notice I feel

or

Someone find the e-mail for SCEE or SCEA and get everyone to flood them with e-mails asking for the option. Might be a faster way of getting them to notice

[Garibaldi Biscuit]

Someone find the e-mail for SCEE or SCEA and get everyone to flood them with e-mails asking for the option. Might be a faster way of getting them to notice

Agreed. First thing to bear in mind when you want to get people to notice is that Internet petitions just aren't worth much - your target can simply argue how easy it is for an obsessed person to sign the form with multiple I.Ds, and having a URL rather than a piece of paper you can physically hold in your hand doesn't help.

Do this with E-Mail, or, ideally, Fax. Fax immediatly gives them a piece of paper they have to, at least, read a little of before screwing it up and throwing it away. Deleting an e-mail, which you can almost always tell is from someone wanting to moan ( if not from the subject line, then by the unfamiliar, public ISP ), is far too easy, just two clicks and all your words have gone down the pan.

If you can actually get a load of real signatures on a document then of course that's ideal, but if not then I'd go for fax - by and large it is far more effective.

Of course actually getting SCEE's fax number is another thing entirely ( they don't make it easily available on their website for obvious reasons ) I'm going to PM one of the good chaps at GamesTM and see if they can help out.

[PeteJ]

I have a few contacts I could try, maybe even a phone number.

I'll try and get some sort of official answer over the next few days...

[Zanzaki]

Is there a faq out for this game? I'm pretty tempted to import it but I fear I'll get stuck on something

[Square]

Check the link in Vaipon's post near the top of the page.

[Spatial]

Just checked out the site for the uk release

https://www.forbidden-siren.com

Thats the most I've ever been disturbed by the internet ( and that includes before Snowman was sent packing j/k )

But, it does have Japanese voice overs and subtitles.....

Does this mean there's still some glimmer of hope, or am I still clutching at straws ?

[Concept]

It's (unfortunately) been confirmed several times now by various people who have preview copies, that the game features awfully dubbed English voiceovers and no Japanese language/subtitle option.

I clutched at straws the other day myself, when I saw on GAME's website that the release for Siren had mysteriously been given an uncomfirmed date in March, when everyone else was anticipating it for early Feburary.

But again, this probably just means SCEE are delaying the title to avoid the slow down during the initial months of the year. Honestly, if they had to take time to put things right, I'd be willing to wait as long as it takes.

A choice between an appaling set of voiceovers for Feburary/March, or a delayed re-localisation including Japanese voiceovers/subtitles some time later in 2004... ANY time in 2004, I would accept the wait - As I'm sure many of us here would. But that's not going to happen. I doubt any company reconsiders localisation issues when a title is on the verge of release, no matter how ****ed up some of those issues are.

I'd accept any delay for Siren, as long as it's released how it should be. That is how much I want them to change this decision.

No chance.

As it stands, I won't be picking it up.