Quebec Cracks Down On Translated Videogames

Thanks to VE3D for their story revealing that the Quebec government is cracking down on videogames without complete French-language packaging, meaning that game stores in Quebec are having to return or amend significant portions of their stock. The article says that "...the likes of Electronic Arts, Sony and Microsoft have been following this law for sometime, but everyone else has ignored it", and a game store worker on the Gaming-Age forums indicates stores "...can't sell anything that doesn't have a French cover", so this new enforcement means that "...the cover that says 'Only on Xbox' must read 'Seulement sur Xbox'."

Comments

nothing new for quebec

[Blob Pet]

This has been a problem for a while now for merchants in Quebec, and there have been numerous stories. What gets me is that even if you only speak English, your signs and advertising still have to have French in it. Just silly.

Re:Jesus.

[Bastian]

While this is true, the problem doesn't seem to be products that have their packaging written entirely in English so much as products whose packaging is in some amalgam of English and French.

I can understand why Quebec might want to pass a law agains this - prevention of dilution of the language an' all that. Actually, not really dilution of the language - as one of the most spoken languages in the world, French is hardly in any danger of disappearing from the face of the earth. I think the Quebequois are worried that their kids will just start speaking English, which would be a major step toward their disappearance as a distinct ethnic group.

But still, I see two problems with this law other than the knee-jerk "stupid foreigners rejecting the God-Given language of the American People" reaction a lot of folks seem to be spouting on this subject.

First - Does it outlaw a shopkeeper selling imported products which were never meant to be marketed in Quebec in the first place? (I'm thinking video games that haven't been translated into French.)

Second, it seems like it could discourage commerce in Quebec. Requiring 100% of a product's packaging, even the small stuff that doesn't matter like an Official Nintendo Seal of Quality or somesuch, is increasing the bottom line for companies that wish to market products in Quebec, and might succeed in causing some products to simply not be sold there. Here I'm primarily thinking stuff that won't be sold outside of Canada or North America, where the french-speaking population is small enough to make such an increase in bottom line really matter.

Re:Jesus.

[Anonymous Coward]

> The more people that can actually read and understand the packaging, potentially, counts as more people who might buy it.

Unfortunately, that has almost nothing to do with it. At least not in Quebec. How many French Canadians, with gaming systems, do you think there are who only speak French? My guess, about 3. And even for those 3 it's really their kids gaming system.

The reality is that almost everybody there is bi-lingual. And the only reason young people know French at all is that it's been forced on them by schools, government, and maybe parents. They watch English TV, English movies, and play games with English sound. Oh, but wait, now they can buy them with French packaging. Whoopdeedoo.

You can bet that if those Flagrantly English packaged gaming companies thought it would help sales then they'd change the package. You can also bet that if there were truly a demand for French Packages then there wouldn't need to be a law.

This is just another in the long line of examples of French being forced upon the population where it's not wanted or needed.

Imagine if everybody in Hawaii were forced to learn native Hawaiian in order to preserve the culture. "Hey I can speak Hawaiian!"

-"Wow, I'm sorry to hear that. Do we have to label everything that way now?"

"Yes because Hawaiian is cool! Who cares that we all speak English. Who cares that the people aren't behind it. [Insert Government dogma-speak in Hawaiian]!!! "

Ridiculous.

It's not whining, follow the money to see why

[Andy_R]

The problem is that this is a cynical anti-competitive law, designed to make it difficult for other countries to sell products into Quebec.

There clearly is a market for English-only products, or they wouldn't be on the shelves. The removal of these games harms the consumer who can't buy them and the games company who is losing a sale.

The only beneficiary of this restriction on free trade is the Quebec economy.

Re:It's not whining, follow the money to see why

[cgenman]

You've clearly never distributed a game.

The law covers the box, the manual, and "accompanying documentation" which would include that which comes on the disk. A cereal box is about 1 page of text long. The manual for Master of Orion 3 was 159 pages long. With additional QA time, expect the translating job to add roughly 30k to a project. Then there is the cost of new plates at a local factory, pressing the region-specific games with French logos, etc. Add in the overhead of subdividing your Canadian market and the additional risks to you if the game is a failure, and the costs (not to mention, burden on your time) add up. For sake of off-the-cuff numbers, let's call the cost of the whole thing 100,000 US dollars.

The reason Japanese games are translated into English is because there is a rather large english market. How large is the market in Quebec? Well, the 2001 census showed that Quebec has a smaller population than New Jersey... just 7.2 million.

I can't say for certain what percentage of the population there buys videogames... but Sony's PS2 sell-through in North America as of September 6th was 14,170,000 units, spread across the roughly 30 million canadians and 300 million Americans. Ignoring Mexico, that averages to 300,000 PS2 units in Quebec. Now, Metal Gear Solid 2 was a smashing success by anyone's estimations, and remains one of the top selling PS2 games of all time. It sold 5 million units worldwide, including the "greatest hits" line. Let's use that to estimate a successful game selling for an average of 40 dollars to 1 out of 10 people who own the console.

In Quebec then, you would be selling 30,000 units... A right good show. Of the 1,200,000 dollars brought in, 600,000 goes to the retailers. Let's estimate the payment to the development house covers 1/2 of what is left, and promotions / marketing / store displays / shipping cost another 1/2. You are left with a tidy 150k to pocket... Except that you have the Quebec-specific translation / debugging / etc expense to cover, which reduces your profit as a publisher to 50 thousand.

If marketing a game is a pretty good proposition in other places around the world (despite game companies going bankrupt as a matter of routine), it isn't so in Quebec. By this theoretical, off the cuff example, the value proposition is cut by 2/3rds for a successful game, and losses are significantly higher on a failure. An average success in any other major market would be a failure in Quebec thanks to this law.

You can only imagine how this would effect numbers for the X-Box or Game Cube.

Because of this, only guaranteed successes will be available in Quebec... No Rez for you. While this would mean making a trip to the local importer in any other country, in Quebec that too is banned. What you are left with is entirely formulaic expected hits, like Tony Hawk 5, and two-year-old surprise hits from other parts of the world, as if Grand Theft Auto was finally released this year. The customer suffers because the games they desire are not available, and the culture suffers because the games that are available are exactly the type of rehash corporate drivel they are trying to keep out.

One can argue that they have the right to enforce their own laws, but the marginalization of the Quebec Gaming Industry is going to be the result.

Re:Arrogance

[mugnyte]

You are correct. They have a right to pass this law. However, while trying to avoid repeating what's been said here already : They are alienating any manufacturer or business that cannot afford to dual-market theier products.

For example, dual-language markets are always smaller, since businesses have to pick their battles, and multi-language isn't always worth the investment. But in some markets (Southern US), dual markets are great; Spanish/English commercials, labels and instructions attract a wider audience.

Quite frankly, Quebec suffers from a lack of purchasing clout. If/When their population grew in (and stayed agressive in accepting only) the French-only purchasing, we'd see businesses releasing dual-language products from the start. But right now they don't unless Quebec is tied to their survival (CA originated businesses mostly).

Curturally, I enjoy multilanguage environments, if they are ubiquitous. For people who don't know remedial Spanish, a trip to some areas can send them reeling. Same for Quebec; if we had French everywhere, I wouldn't mind, but since I don't know it, when I'm there i'm frustrated as hell to figure out things.

India is a prime example of a multi-language environment. There has been some cronyism and lack of cooperation due to language barriers, but since Hindi survives as a common level, India manages to form a cohesive country. If Quebec became too strict on the French-only rules, they may find themselves locked out of a lot of innovations or products that have no French equivalents.

PS. I doubt they'll ever impose this rule this for medical devices, car parts, or anything else deemed "essential" to their way of life.

mug