Alone Atlus: Making Contact

By: Andrew Joy

Anyone familiar with the video game industry (which we're assuming you probably are if you are reading this site) has no doubt at least heard of Atlus. Developing and publishing titles for most every major system from the NES to present day, Atlus has brought us such diverse titles as Ogre Battle and Snowboard Kids. They've already made a big splash on the Nintendo DS too, with Trauma Center: Under the Knife (also set to arrive on the Wii at launch) being one of the hardest titles to track down for the system.

Now, teaming up with Grasshopper Manufacture - another company which, being the brainchild of Suda51, also needs no introduction to the hardcore - they are looking to do it once again. While some will certainly flock to Contact when it hits the DS later this month because of its unique style - one part 8-bit Earthbound (the top screen), one part painted backdrop (the touch screen) - that is only the tip of this title's quirkiness. To give you a better idea of what to expect from this strange new title, we've made some contact of our own with Project Lead Tomm Hulett, who's team is responsible for localizing the game for U.S. shores.

Andrew Joy - First off, we want to thank you for the opportunity to speak with you about the upcoming North American release of the Nintendo DS game Contact. Now, for the benefit of our readers, could you tell us who you are and how you are involved in the localization process?

Tomm Hulett - I’m Tomm Hulett, and I’m the Project Lead for Contact. I also wrote all the localized text that you’ll see when you play through the game, as well as read the manual or look at the website. All things I’m sure you will do.

AJ - In Contact, the professor crash lands on a strange planet, scattering his ship’s power source. As a result, he enlists the help of a young boy to help him track them all down. In the game, the professor will communicate directly with the player, who will in turn interact with boy (hence the title), choosing his targets, changing his costumes and equipping him with decals to help him progress through the game. Is there anything you’d like to add to that description?

TH - That sounds about right. Maybe I should be asking the questions. Well, you left out the Professor’s space dog, Mochi—who yearns to one day become a space cat.

AJ - One of the most unusual names in video game development has to be Suda 51 (Goichi Suda), and his studio is the one responsible for this game. How closely is Grasshopper Manufacture/Marvelous Entertainment (the Japanese publisher) working with Atlus on this?

TH - Grasshopper gave us a lot of freedom to localize Contact as we saw fit, which is why we turned it into a Broadway production number with a lot of leggy showgirls kicking their way through song and dance numbers. We didn’t really do that—we kept it close to the Japanese original, as we always do, and I think they probably trusted our judgment on that front. We also worked with Marvelous to use the Japanese website as our own (but in English!).

AJ - On that same note, there can sometimes be a clash of cultures between the two audiences - North American and Japanese. Were there any sacrifices made in order to bring the game here?

TH - We never really make “sacrifices” during localization. I think that’s maybe a weird way to look at it. The job of a localization writer is to find the original intent of the Japanese text (is it funny? Is it serious? Is it ______?) and then translate that intent to English. So if there’s a Japanese joke that would still be funny in English, we keep it (less work for us!) but, if it’s a pun or something that doesn’t work, then we change it accordingly. I keep puns as puns and try to relate whatever the joke is into something SIMILAR in English (if it’s a joke about monkeys, I’ll create some other joke about monkeys), but the joke usually has to change to remain humorous.

I don’t think there were any instances of “clashing cultures” in Contact, but there were maybe some instances where the Professor would refer to something distinctly Japanese (Shinjuku Station, for example) and I’d have to change that into something American so that our audience could relate. *I* know how busy Shinjuku Station is, but I’m guessing you probably don’t—but you might be able to relate to Times Square.

AJ - Surprisingly, the information I have found on this game has been pretty sparse, so we’d appreciate it if you could you talk about some of the gameplay elements a bit. For example, can you give us some of the specific abilities we can get from the Decals and costumes?

TH - We have been purposefully vague about hard details because the Professor filed a cease-and-desist order. It seems Contact is better enjoyed by discovering things yourself, and not having it all spoiled by the gaming media weeks before you ever play the game. But, I will try to give you a small taste of things...

Decals are like your “Summons,” so they might have a drastic effect on all the enemies, or you might call an ally to help. There’s one that requires you to use the microphone, even. As for the costumes, you figure they help elemental abilities. The firefighter increases your water stats and gives you some abilities like “Splash” or things like that. Other costumes enable special abilities; obviously the Thief costume lets you pick locks and steal from people.

AJ - In preparation for this interview, we polled gamers online to see what others wanted to know about this game. Not surprisingly, WiFisland was one of the most popular topics. We know a little about the online aspect of it, such as Friend Codes, but is there anything to do offline on WiFisland, such as customizing the game and that sort of thing?

TH - When you “Contact” your friends using their Friend Codes, they are added to WiFisland as an NPC. You can visit WiFisland in the offline mode and speak to them, where they will increase your abilities or give you items. If you go to WiFisland before Contacting friends, it’ll be a big empty ghost town, since you haven’t brought your friends there yet!

AJ - Another question we received was in regards to the “fourth wall,” the imaginary barrier that separates characters from the audience. Do you know how the decision was made to break it with the professor speaking directly to the player?

TH - The Professor thinks for himself, so I imagine it was his idea. Pretending to talk to the main character while the player hovered over him, controlling everything, probably wasn’t all that appealing—so I imagine he made the decision to break the ice and speak directly to the player.

AJ - A lot of the game mechanics in Contact are not uncommon concepts in video games, but the way they are used here is perhaps unusual. Do you think this, shall we say, uniqueness turned off traditional RPG fans in Japan?

TH - I think Japanese gamers (as a whole) are a lot more open to uniqueness than American gamers (as a whole). The game industry over there is suffering cause there aren’t enough unique games, in fact—everything is the same (you may have heard this in Nintendo’s many Wii presentations). We don’t seem to care all that much here yet, but I think we should get unique games while we can.

I really think that Contact was affected by other similar titles coming out at the same time. There isn’t anything like Contact coming this fall, really, so I doubt that will happen in America.

AJ - Are you at all afraid that the same unusual aspects we’ve mentioned throughout the interview – decals, costumes and the direct interaction between player and characters (essentially creating three main characters, including yourself) – could scare away an American audience that may overlook it altogether?

TH - I would hope not, because that would mean American audiences hated fun, new games. I think Contact has a little something for everyone who takes the time to check it out... and hopefully the Professor begging you to purchase the game will help.

AJ - To finish things off, even though the game was not particularly a success in Japan and unproven stateside, we’ve heard rumblings that a second Contact game is already in the works. Can you tell us anything about that?

TH - Unfortunately, no! You know as much about Contact 2 as I do. Be sure to let me know if you hear anything.

Posted: 09/08/2006