Halo’s genetically enhanced super-soldier Master Chief and his AI sidekick Cortana in a Castilian Spanish version of the original Halo game can soldier on in the sequel, Halo 2, in their own version of Spanish, thanks to a localization project recently completed by San Fernando Valley-based JBI Localization, Inc.
JBI Localization undertook the project at the request of the French localization firm Exequo, Paris, which holds a multi-year localization contract from Halo Publisher Microsoft Game Studios.
According to JBI Localization President Eliane Barth, the Halo 2 project involved more than 80,000 words of script, including a promotional trailer, and the recording of more than 30 actors reading the lines of the various characters.
In one instance, Barth said, a last minute script change required that 14 actors be rounded up for a next-day recording session. The actors arrived at the studio on schedule and the work was completed that day. Altogether, JBI delivered more than 16,000 audio files, including processing.
“This was an exciting project,” Barth said. “With it, Microsoft and Bungie have reached out to all of the Spanish-speaking people residing in the U.S., Mexico and the rest of the Western Hemisphere in their own vernacular, not Castilian Spanish. This makes for a very saleable product in the Spanish-speaking countries of the Americas.”
Specifications for the project were extremely rigid, Barth said. For example, audio loop lengths were required to be within five percent of their lengths in the English language version.
Halo 2 is more complex than the original, she said. It is a “one-person shooter” but players can also take other parts, including that of the leader of the adversary forces. The sequel also introduces an array of new graphics, new environments and locations, new weapons and vehicles, and it provides full support for Xbox Live multiplayer action. Music of several current rock bands provides the sound track.
The original Halo was released in 2001 and sold more than five million copies. One estimate projects sales of 3,500,000 copies of Halo 2 by year end, 2004.
“We would expect the Latin American Spanish version of Halo 2 to show highly positive sales results as well, although scaled to the size of the gamer communities,” Barth said. “This version has been very carefully localized to play to the specific language characteristics of the Latin American populations. Localizing to this audience is something our company is very good at, and the Southern California area has an abundance of very talented people who have Latin American Spanish as their first language for us to draw on. Exequo recognizes these capabilities in JBI Localization and we are proud and happy to report that they were well pleased with our product quality, service and on-time delivery.”
Based in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, JBI Localization has provided a full array of localization and related services since the mid-1970s, serving such clients as Activision, Disney Interactive Games, IBM, LucasArts, Microsoft, THQ, and others. For information on JBI Localization services and JBI Testing Labs, contact Natascha Helbig at 818-592-0056, or email info@JBIlocalization.com.
