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Funcom hiring community managers, CS reps
Funcom is hiring for seven Age of Conan-related positions -- three in Europe, and four in the United States. The European opportunities are all "community coordinator" positions, and bilingual candidates are preferred. If you're looking for work in the United States, you can apply for one of Funcom's customer service positions. The Durham, NC office seeks CS reps in the English, French, German, or Spanish languages.Funcom is facing some serious community and customer service issues right now, such as exploits and ensuing bans. We don't doubt that the current staff is overwhelmed by all that's going on. Bringing in reinforcements is probably a good call.
Lorebook opens to European subscribers
The Lorebook is one of The Lord of the Rings Online's best features, even though it isn't in the game. It's a community-moderated wiki containing vast amounts of information about LotRO's world and, of course, lore. Unfortunately, European players have never been able to fully participate. They could view the contents, but not edit them.That's changed. European players may now use their login names and passwords to edit Lorebook entries. If you've been itching to take part in the conversation, head on over. But be aware; for the moment only English-language entries are accepted. Also, the Lorebook does not yet contain European server listings. No word has been given on when those will come.
Sketchy English training: officially a trend
Moe and English training apparently go well together, because, as Akibablog reports, another English language learning DS game full of cute anime girls is on the way. Moesta: Moeru Toudai Eigo Juku (Moesta Burn! Tokyo University English Cram School) features 5,000 quiz questions ranging from middle-school level to those found on the Tokyo University entrance exam.Your training is supervised by three angels named Grammar, Idiom, and Word. They're also the subjects of the irritating/catchy music video being used to promote the game, which (of course!) contains transformation sequences that border the indecent. While Moetan DS seemed to be a parody of otaku culture, this appears to authentically pander to otaku's obsessions with magical girls and anime choreography.[Via Kotaku]
Learn English, sort of, with Moetan
Moetan is a series of English lesson books which follow Nao, a high school student, and Ink-chan, an underdeveloped magical girl who is the subject of the moe content. The series combines bizarre, terrible Engrish with inappropriate-looking young girls to create something that is, of course, popular.While we are, of course, fairly disgusted with the depictions of the girls in here (magical girl transformation scenes in particular are always off-putting), we're more worried about what passes for English teaching. Just as in the books and anime, the English text is far from native-speaker quality. An example sentence found in Moetan DS: "They say lunatic people are making the English word book."[Image via ITMedia]
WoW locations based on real-life
This is something that I had never known before about World of Warcraft (and I've been studying this game for quite a while): some of the ingame locations are actually based on real-life buildings and environments. Tree of Life has a terrific post (based on one of our own Around Azeroth screenshots) up showing comparisons of the ingame reproductions and the real-world influences, and some of them are almost perfect recreations.Most of the dances I at least recognized as their real-life counterparts, but other than maybe the Stormwind Castle (and Stonehenge -- duh), I don't think I recognized any of these overtly. Of course, the influences are there -- you can definitely see the Oriental flavor in the Night Elf architecture, and Human buildings are definitely inspired by English and French architecture, but did you know that Durnholde's wreckage compares to a ruined castle in France, or that Zul'Farrak is a take on Macchu Picchu?Very cool finds. Definitely shows you how much Blizzard borrowed from the real world to make this fantasy setting as believable as possible.
English of the Demo
Start your Friday with a bit of an English refresher -- and some zombie-dispatching! Sega has created a short Flash demo for English of the Dead, recreating the multiple-choice training mode. In this mode, a zombie will run out and threaten you with two rubber mallets. Then, a Japanese sentence (our Flash player doesn't have Japanese language support, hence the gibberish) and a partial English translation will appear. It's up to you to choose the correct English word on the bottom screen, and compel the zombie to jump into a trap door!You actually have to wait a long time before the zombie will attack you. Presumably this is more challenging if you don't know English.[Via Siliconera]
D3 teaches Simple English
We knew about the last two volumes in D3 Publisher's Simple DS series: Vol. 39 THE Shouboutai (Firefighter) and Vol. 40 THE Gekai (Surgeon), both of which are games that involve real-world tasks. But the three entries in the series preceding those were unknown to us. They happen to be rooted in the everyday world as well, in a much less game-like way than the others. In fact, they're training non-games for the TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication). Vol. 36 THE Arc de Minitsuku! TOEIC Test Bunpou Tokkun (Master the Arc! TOEIC Intensive Grammar Training), Vol. 37 THE Arc de Minitsuku! TOEIC Test Listening Kyoka (TOEIC Listening Enhancement), and Vol. 38 THE Arc de Manabu! TOEIC Test Hajimete (Study the Arc! Beginning the TOEIC) all focus on different aspects of the English test, which is used to determine English proficiency for business use. We hope they were at least made to a higher standard than other Simple titles, or that nobody relies on them as study aids. If they are actually okay, D3 may be on to something: their usual low budgets would translate excellently to "games" that rely almost entirely on text menus.Read: Vol. 36 THE Arc de Minitsuku! TOEIC Test Bunpou TokkunRead: Vol. 37 THE Arc de Minitsuku! TOEIC Test Listening KyokaRead: Vol. 38 THE Arc de Manabu! TOEIC Test Hajimete
Backpack Identification of the Dead
Hey, look, even more English of the Dead stuff! A lot of the screens in the latest update from GAME Watch showed up in yesterday's bundle of screens, but we think this is worth a look anyway. The new screens are organized by chapter and by mode, for a complete overview of the new training game (which means you can see what the Magician boss, and the others we had yet to see, look like on the DS).Most importantly (to our curiosity), the new screens include this straight-on shot of the new backpack. It's clearly (as clearly as it can be in that resolution) a Japanese Mega Drive in the second model, with the blue button and the red cartridge slot (and the fact that the game is Japanese) distinguishing it from other Model 2 Mega Drive/Genesis systems.
A feast of English of the Dead screens
IGN seems to have developed a hunger for screenshots of English of the Dead, much like we have. We cannot be stopped. We remain unfazed by bodily harm as we wander the Earth endlessly in search of screenshots. "screeeeeeeeeens," we intone in an inhumanly low growl. We are driven by an insatiable desire to direct-feed.They've posted the biggest, most delicious screen update ever for the zombie English trainer, featuring screens of multiple modes and levels, and finally -- sort of -- answering the question of what the dogs of the AMS will wield in the DS game. It looks like maybe a Genesis? The thing in their hands is a big rectangular tablet for writing. And not a Sega Pico, which would have been really funny.
English of the Judo chop
If we lived in Japan and needed to learn English, English of the Dead would clearly be our choice of software. Yet, we're not saying that Paon doesn't have a fun idea for their English training game, too. New Horizon English Training Course DS might not have zombies, but it does have Judo.As you may have guessed, the way in which this title handles its English quizzes is through sports minigames. It's unclear how exactly the Judo game works, but there's also a marathon event (during which players must write out the correct letters quickly in order to run fast), and a weight training game (which has players identify whether or not a translation is correct). Of course, in our hearts, zombies still win -- every time.[Via Siliconera]
New trailer confirms English of the Dead's status as best zombie language game
Sega is really proud of their funny zombie drawings. Of course they have every right to be, since the funny zombie drawings are in fact funny, but we are still surprised by how heavily this trailer for English of the Dead relies upon them. Of course, if you had an excuse to create an animation of a zombie being served your game's modes on separate plates, wouldn't you?In addition to being hilarious and enthusiastic, this trailer provides our first brief look at the game's engine in motion. It's so smooth! Again we must register our disbelief that Sega has ported The House of the Dead 2 down so well, for a training game. [Via Inside Games]
Screenshots of the Dead
Not actual screenshots of the dead, obviously -- that would be horrendous, and would shatter all boundaries of good taste.No, we're actually referring to new shots of Sega's English of the Dead, which just shambled our way from Japanese site Gemaga, and which are now waiting for your fleshy, delicious EYES in the gallery below.Incidentally, the image for this post is taken from a promotional flier for the game (full version viewable here). We just put it there because a zombie in a mortarboard best sums up the inherent hilarity of Sega's game, a title in which gigantic, two-headed serpents can teach us the Japanese word for "bicycle."%Gallery-19510%[Via Go Nintendo]
English (and Zombie Weighing) of the Dead
As if we didn't already have enough reason to love the bizarre English of the Dead: the latest update to the official website reveals this little wonder here. It's one of the ways that the game records your progress -- in addition to an accuracy percentage and medal rankings, there's a measure of the amount (by head weight) of zombies killed. In the screenshot here, it's revealed that 646 zombies weigh roughly the same as one elephant.Assuming a weight of 10,000 pounds for an average elephant, that means that the average zombie head weighs about 15.5 pounds. That's pretty heavy for a head! Ah, we can't wait for the inevitable arguments elephant and human head weight.
English of the Dead from Website of the French
Childishly, we think it's kind of funny that new screens of an English training game for Japanese people were available on a French website. It illustrates the fact that the English learning is not what matters about English of the Dead. It's the zombie killing. It's enjoying the bizarro juxtaposition of edutainment and gore. It's about it being time for the dogs of the AMS to make a move.That's why it is of interest to a website whose operators understand neither the Japanese nor the English text -- the awesomeness of this language game transcends actual language.The box on the bottom screen is a handwriting interface, used for the default style of fighting. Bosses will mix it up, putting pre-printed multiple choices on the bottom screen. But before the bosses, your life depends on your penmanship.
Website of the Dead now live
Speaking of official websites: Sega has put up a teaser site for their absolutely enchanting zombie-shooting/English-training game The English of the Dead. It doesn't contain much in the way of screens, but it does have some wonderful chibi zombie art which is not to be missed. And it's not like you're being cheated out of screens, because Famitsu totally put some up! It might be an academic distinction, but this appears to be a ported version of The Typing of the Dead rather than The House of the Dead 2, in that the axe-zombie guy has his red mallet from the typing game here, and the ranking display looks the same. It's kind of hard to pinpoint the source of a port when both Dreamcast games are the same game running on the same engine. Whichever game it started from, we have to admit that we're impressed with Sega's ability to shrink it down to the DS.We want to learn English now.
Learn English like G did
The latest issue of Famitsu has revealed something bizarre and magical from Sega: English of the Dead. Like Typing of the Dead, English is a conversion of House of the Dead 2 in which players must write words to defeat zombies. In English of the Dead, however, the zombies' words are in Japanese and players must translate them into English in order to score a kill. There's also a listening mode in which the zombies speak English, and boss battles with varying gameplay -- the Hydra, for example, is a multiple-choice translation test. This is a training game we could get very excited about, and we know English.The most amazing thing about this game, to us, is that Sega ported House of the Dead 2 to the DS just to do this. Maybe they're trying to teach English to ... the people who wrote House of the Dead 2's script. They could use the help. Go, Kuarl (past the post break for the full scan)!
Jisho updated again, and discounted for TUAW readers
We've covered Jisho, the Japanese to English dictionary for OS X, a few times in the past, so I'm pretty sure that everyone who wants to translate Japanese to English and reads our site has probably seen it already. But just in case you've been waiting on a decision to buy it, wait no more-- not only has James, the creator, recently updated the app to version 2.2 (with Leopard compatibility, results sorting, and a greatly enhanced zooming function), but he's also putting it on sale for TUAW readers: between now and Sunday, December 9th, use the code "TUAWFTW" during checkout, and get the $15 app for 20% off.Newly updated software and a discount just for you readers? Kirei desu! Sore kudasai!**Note: The author of this post does not know Japanese and does not own Jisho. For all he knows, he just said that "You have a nice chicken."
Massively's Pirates of the Burning Sea character creation videos
Random Appearance and Clothing Coloring System Video When creating a new character in Pirates of the Burning Sea you pick from three nationalities, British, Spanish or French. Or you can choose to be allied with no country but yourself as a Pirate. From there you can customize the look of your seafaring avatar.Overall, the character customization is what we've come to expect from new MMOs: detailed, rich and varied. I'm particularly impressed with the embroidered trim on the clothes and the opportunity to use two color on every option, including hair.I also like that there are Asian faces and African skin tones available. Even though the national options are limited to Western European countries, the races represented visually still span the globe.More videos of each and every character creation option for Male avatars after the jump!
NEC develops real-time Japanese-to-English mobile translation software
We've already seen the idea of data-to-voice translation passed around, but NEC's latest software is far beyond the drawing board. Reportedly, the firm has developed a system that can understand around 50,000 Japanese words and translate them to English text on the mobile's display in just a second or two. The software was made compact enough to "operate on a small microchip mounted in a cellphone," and was designed especially to help users convert common travel phrases. Notably, it would be technically possible to make the English translation vocal, but according to NEC spokesman Mitsumasa Fukumoto, the firm isn't looking into that possibility at the moment. No word on when we'd see this technology hit the masses, nor if any other language combinations were in the works, but this would certainly make touring English-speaking locales a lot less strenuous for Japanese speakers.[Via Physorg]
Lead designer of Pirates of the Burning Sea Q & A interview
The Warcry Network recently had a chance to ask Pirates of the Burning Sea lead designer Kevin Maginn a round of questions about the upcoming Jack-Sparrow-simulator. The interviewer poses queries about launching with both land and ship aspects already in-game (as opposed to a game like EVE which is only now looking to add land-based play), system requirements for the masses, the beta and stress test processes, population balancing and the user interface.Of most interest is the question on populations, regarding the different factions in the game. Players can choose to be English, Spanish, French, or the swashbucklin' Pirate. Maginn notes that, during various phases of the beta, the numbers have remained roughly the same -- 35% choose Pirates, nearly as many choose the English, and then the French and Spanish each take 15%. On this he says, "we are working on some population balancing tools, with two goals: make the game more fair if your nation is underpopulated, and make underpopulated nations more appealing, particularly to large PvP guilds". If the incentives for one race are good enough, it might swing the population the other way entirely. We'll have to wait and see what countermeasures will be employed before the game releases, as the difference in numbers so far sounds fairly staggering.
