Dubbing - Why is it important in localization?

[Hoa Dao]

[just to get this out of the way, no i'm not anti-dub XD]

The whole subject about the dubbing in Arc Rise Fantasia reminded me of something from the Fragile board at GameFAQs.  I'm still too lazy to listen to the videos, but I'll take your words that the dubbing sounds average, if not sub-average.

Anyway, the Fragile topic I'm talking about is this one:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/944059-fragile-dreams-farewell-ruins-of-the-moon/52163656

Aside from the fact that his examples of poor localization are archaic (Persona 1?  Seriously?  And the changing of Rockman to Megaman is so irrelevant), and very lolz (I think he had an adult game as an example... something that most gamers aren't really interested in in the first place and they're not even in department stores *checks*  Family Project, apparently) the thread is very lolz.

I don't know, just read it, it's quite a laugh.

A somewhat related thread, started by the same person, was referenced to by another user in the thread.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/947078-the-wizard-of-oz-beyond-the-yellow-brick-road/47460681

It's quite a laugh too.

Anyway, I'm asking this:  Why is dubbing a very important part of localization?  Don't we get enough from good localization of the text (like, say, Odin Sphere - Excellent text, though I myself have yet to play it with English voices XD)

I pretty much lurk here, but I know that, since this forum was originally a translation community, you folks know the painstaking process of localization better than idiots like the topic creator of those two threads can ever know.

[Joseph]

Dubbing is important for a few reasons:

- If a game has cinemas, as they often do these days, a dub lets you pay more attention to the cinematic elements. This is why Hayao Miyazaki prefers people to see his movies in dubbed form rather than with sub-titles.

- On a similar note, sub-titles can't convey certain spoken nuances.

- If a game uses a lot of voice samples during the game parts, a lot will be lost on English listeners. Examples include the little quips Tales characters make when the player does certain things, like excessively using items. A lot of games these days incorporate important cues/tips into voice clips.

I'm sure there's more, but that's what comes to mind right now.

[Dimentionalist]

I feel that good dubs can make a player feel more emotionally involved in the story. There's always that emotional disconnect when listening to something with subtitles in another language that just lacks the punch of what a good English dub would be like. Of course, on the flip side, some people tend to overestimate that importance and criticize the dub actors for being "emotionless" when not understanding the original line in Japanese.

And, of course, there are always those rare dubs that are just poorly directed. They're not as common as naysayers tend to want to make you believe, but they DO exist.

[Cless]

If this thread turns into a debate at some point, then .

Video games are usually heavily localized when brought over officially. The text in those that are will usually not line up 1:1 with the spoken Japanese. Anime DVDs, on the other hand, usually come with a much more literally translated subtitle track.

If you're going to go full-on localization of all dialogue instead of just translating it, it makes more sense to record a track representing the direction of the localized text than to not. At least, when it's possible...

[pedrocasilva]

Well, the dubs are important to reach a bigger demographic, illiterate people or people without much reading/subtitle training will have difficulty adjusting and of course, familiarity with the language, a lot of people simply dislikes hearing japanese/chinese oriental languages also because they are not familiar with it. That said, I don't think it takes anything from my personal experience, where I live everything minus morning cartoons is subtitled, and I'm so used to it that it feels like I'm not actually reading, it's natural and it's not taking a tool on my capacity of noticing other details; I grew up used to it though, I can understand english people who are used to have all contents in spoken english would rather have it that way and feel that way about it.

With that said I'd argue while it's pretty important to dub a Final Fantasy title, I somewhat doubt shadier titles like, say, Sakura Taisen 5 needed a english dub to be made... or rather, knowing the actual demographic we could actually bet the occlusion of a japanese dub would hamper the sales more than the inclusion of a english one.

I'm not a anti-dub person, although I usually prefer the original version; but some companies should really evaluate... if they aren't gonna give the player an option between languages and are unable to do a good dubbing job, perhaps they shouldn't bother doing it, or rather, shouldn't impose their horrible dub to their clients.

[SlicerSV]

For me, dubbing a video game is far more important than dubbing an anime or drama.  Actually, in some cases, I get distracted by the dub not matching the mouths on dubbed features.

In a video game though, I want my full attention to be on the controls of the game, I really don't want to be having to waste precious time reading when I should be punching my controllers buttons.

I can read and listen and pay attention to little screen details all at the same time no problem - that's all that's involved in watching a subbed feature.  But as soon as you add a tactile element, like punching buttons on a controller, I really can't read long strings of text anymore, so I prefer a dub.

Now we come to what really matters.  When a dub is done well, with GOOD voice actors whose voices sound right for the characters, then I really don't mind it even in an anime/drama.  When a dub is done poorly, with either extremely annoying voice actors that over-act or lifeless robotic voice actors, or any of a whole slew of potential dubbing problems, then I will try to find an option to switch voices off no matter what, and, if possible, use a subtitle track, even if it's a video game and my gameplay will suffer from reading subtitles or lack of voices.

If it's an anime/drama with a bad dub and no option to switch to original language with English subs, then I simply won't watch it.  There are plenty other options for me to entertain myself out there, I don't need to waste my precious free time cringing over a bad dub.

[BassForever]

In simplest terms, dubbing is important because it helps draw in a larger crowd. Sure some people prefer subs before dubs but the "general public" doesn't like to read the plot, they'd much rather hear it. As others have said having the dialogue read to you means you can watch the action without having to jump back and forth between reading what is being said and what is going on.

That being said a bad dub can kill interest in a game/movie/etc. If a game has a "slow opening" most people are more likely to stick with it if you have good voice acting when compared to things like ARF that make you want to stab your ears. Dubbing also can help increase a characters emotions and the impact they leave on the viewer. Basically if a dub is done really well, in can drastically increase the impact a game/movie has, good examples include Tales of Vesperia and the "Assassination" scene and FFXIII "sugar and rainbows" scene. On the flips side MM4's "WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOOOOOOR" turn what should be a strong, somber scene into a hilarious one and FFX "Ha-ha-ha" scene go from being good character development to pain painstakingly annoying.

[Quark]

I am a dub fan. If a game has voices, not to have dubbing would be a little half-arsed. I'll happily admit that I don't really get much out of hearing people yell in a language I can't understand. I could manage with text alone but it's defintely much more engaging when there are accompanying voices. As has been mentioned, it's much more practical as well. At the end of the day, if you're targeting a non-Japanese speaking audience then isn't it just logical to localise it properly?

[Letiumtide]

It really does depend on what they do. Full dubs I tend not to mind, when they cut stuff out it bothers me.   For instance, while I do really love the dubbing done for Tales of the Abyss having unvoiced skits takes something away from the experience.   Listening to the characters emotions and intonation tend to completely change the way I perceive the event.

Probably the best example of this is when Anise and Jade are teasing Guy at the harbour by tickling him.  It was MUCH more hilarious when I could -hear- the characters, even if I don't speak the language the base human emotion comes through and changes everything. That isn't to say that I prefer subs, but that if they plan to remove things like that, I'd rather have all Japanese language rather than partial English.

[SlicerSV]

That isn't to say that I prefer subs, but that if they plan to remove things like that, I'd rather have all Japanese language rather than partial English.

Or at least keep the Japanese voices for the parts they don't intend to get English voices for.  Though still, for me at least, it has to be a well done English dub, or at least not too crappy.

Something that really annoys me when they localize games is when they replace the theme music rather than localize the original.