Talking Final Fantasy XII's Localisation

In 2015 John Learned of USGamer did a fantastic interview of the translators and voice actors involved in localising Final Fantasy XII. It's great read, but more than that, it's a rare insight into the localisation process. This post collects four interesting points that I gleaned from the interviews, as well as some of my own personal comments.

Early Nintendo Localisation: The Origin Of Mario

A previous post discussed the arcade game Pac-Man, and how localisation defined the game and its titular character. However, the name of an even more prominent character traces back to the arcade scene of the early eighties, the beloved Italian plumber we know as Mario. The character first appeared as the user controlled avatar in Nintendo’s arcade hit Donkey Kong, but was known as Jumpman. Back in those days, gameplay was king and story mattered little, so it’s understandable why Nintendo gave him this utilitarian name to encapsulate his purpose. So what led to him ending up being called Mario?