Word on the street is that the unfriendly beastie clawing at Jim's cranium in the image above is still in need of a name! Got any ideas? If you've got a good one, it just might make it into the final game! 

Give us your name suggestions in the comments by this Friday at noon (PST), or you can go comment over on the Lost Planet Facebook page, which gives you a great opportunity to start following it if you're not already. So much win!

Concept art after the jump.

With Captivate 2012 behind us, we discuss the latest on Resident Evil 6, DmC and Lost Planet 3, chat about Mega Man, plus reveal the winners of the Fight Stick competition from the last episode.

Download the podcast here, or search for it on iTunes.

Seth telling all other European snacks to "Sit On It," for he's a Fonzie's man

Later, at PAX East, Mega Lady and Proto Lady stopped by the Capcom booth

So yeah, PAX is full of great cosplayers. Such a good show

Community question: Do you value your game collection, or do you trade things in for new titles? Answer in our forum thread for a chance to win a Mega Man patch!

Hot on the heels of yesterday's Resident Evil 6 episode is today's Lost Planet 3 interview with producer Andrew Szymanski and franchise creative director Kenji Oguro. We talk extreme conditions, giant bugs and how this game aims to take the series forward by moving it back in time...

Download the show here, or grab it on iTunes shortly.

Lost Planet 3 arrives in early 2013 for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. 

Our big reveal for Captivate 2012, Lost Planet 3 sees the series return to its extreme condition roots. The chilling ice and unforgiving outdoors make life miserable for new hero Jim, but his determination to uncover pockets of precious thermal energy has him out there every day, braving not just the weather, but also towering akrid.

This cinematic trailer helps set the general tone - one of danger around every corner, be it creature or climate - but some additional details are in order.

The planet of EDN III is home to thermal energy (or T-ENG for you longtime fans). This brand new resource has attracted many prospectors looking to make a quick buck, but our hero Jim is on EDN to scrape together cash for his family back home. While he's here, his mammoth-sized Utility Rig acts as a home away from home, allowing him to explore the wilderness, set up thermal posts and report back to the hub area before the storms (and akrid) do him in. However, exiting the rig and wandering too far away can cut communications (and your HUD), so there's always an element of danger when traveling on foot.

More images in the gallery here, and as with Resident Evil 6 I'll have an interview with the team posting later this week. Also, while the trailer doesn't suggest this, Lost Planet 3 is indeed a prequel, talking place some years before the original game. Plot details are still scarce, but I've heard the connections to the main series will be apparent - plus little nods like setting up the thermal posts seen in LP1 and 2, and the fact Jim's rig is a clear precursor to the Vital Suits.

Details from the official release:

Return to extreme conditions – Taking the series back to its roots Lost Planet 3 returns to E.D.N. III, delivering a dynamic battle field that’s more dangerous than ever before with an ever changing climate that will affect the way you play

Brave the terrifying – Play as blue collar worker Jim, risking assignments in treacherous conditions to earn his hazard pay and return home to his family

Home away from home – Protect yourself from hostile Akrid and the unpredictable ice storms on E.D.N. III with your utility rig. Equipped with an assortment of tools you’ll need to learn to use the rig to your advantage in order to survive

Gameplay Variety – Offering a mix of first person combat in the rig and third person gunplay on foot

Intense, cinematic experience –Developed with the Unreal Engine 3, Lost Planet 3 presents a visually stunning and unique terrain that impacts the gameplay

Killer enemies – The Akrid are back, bigger and angrier and demanding a more tactical approach during combat

Reveal the hidden truths of E.D.N. III – The uncharted world has many secrets locked away. Jim’ search for T-Energy will ultimately reveal further mysteries

Lonely Planet? – Lost Planet 3 will support a full set of multiplayer modes that enhance players experience of the Lost Planet world

Lost Planet 3 launches in early 2013 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

As of today, you can buy several Capcom games, including Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition, for half price on Windows Live.

Dark Void- regularly $29.99, now $14.99
Dead Rising 2 - regularly  $29.99, now $14.99
Lost Planet 2- regularly $39.99, now $19.99
Lost Planet Colonies- regularly $29.99, now $14.99
Resident Evil 5- regularly $19.99, now $9.99
Street Fighter IV- regularly $19.99, now $9.99
Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition- regularly $39.99, now $19.99

Now go forth, brave PC gamer!

Friday, the end of the standard work week, and the start of hopefully good things for your weekend. Being that Friday ususally brings good feelings, we're here to usher in some of those good feelings with some free stuff! As you know, we're going to be doing a give-away every Friday (when we can/remember). One of you will win said prize simply by telling us why it would mean the world to you. 

This week we're giving away a Salamander plushie from Lost Planet 2. In the picture above you can see said creature of grace cutely devouring Vital Suits, of which will then be doomed to be digested in the plush filled guts for 50 years. Leave a comment and tell us why it would mean the world to you! If you win, we'll send Sir Om Nom Nom to you. 

Who won the last give-away? Well, it was none other than Alex! What he said touched our hearts in that special place. No seriously. It did. "This hat is the essence of moisture...and moisture is the essence of beauty…

This hat would actually be given to my younger brother if I won. The two franchises that I absolutely love from Capcom are the Resident Evil and Mega Man franchises.

While I would be more than ecstatic to wear that hat in the morning while making breakfast, walking to class pointing at people incessantly (believing they know the true glory that is my hat), and ultimately walking into chipotle while wearing this hat and my RPD shirt to see if I would qualify for the "police" discount. 
After the likely rejection, I would still eat my burrito while still enjoying my mild cosplay portrayal courtesy of CAPCOM.

While this would be my ideal choice for such a fine hat, I would actually give it to my younger brother because he does not have any resident evil attire nor any collectible items of any kind and because he's my brother, I would gladly give this hat to him for his excitement any day.

Winning the hat would means the absolute world to him and I would guarantee that CAPCOM takes the credit for his happiness. "

Congrats, Alex. 

It has become apparent to us that sitting atop our mountain of Capcom game branded goods is no good. In fact, we should be handing these treasures out to people who will love it, fans, instead of letting it stay cramped in our desks. In the spirit of giving, we're introducing a new contest that, in theory, should re-occur each Friday. Since I cannot currently think of a better name, it's the Friday Give-Away! 

What it is: Every Friday we'll put up some piece of Capcom treasure that can be yours. 

How to win: Leave us a comment in the blog. Tell us why this particular item would mean the world to you. We'll go through the comments, pick our favorite, and send them the prize. 

Simple, right? Today's prize, and in fact the introductory prize, is a very hard to find STARS cap/hat. It's the only one I've seen in the office, and do not even know it's origins. So please, if you want this mysterious STARS head covering to rest comfortably on your noggin, write us in the comments to this blog. 

Next Friday we'll announce the winner, and announce a new item to be given away.

Our Director of Localization, Peter Fabiano, was kind enough to write up a bit about what goes into localizing our games here at Capcom. Not only that, but there's a glimpse at what is expected when looking for someone to hire, if you're intersted in a future job localizing Capcom games. 

_______________

Localization: What is it? This is a difficult question to address as there are many misconceptions and different approaches to the subject. I will base my explanation on the way I run things here at Capcom, in addition to some of the challenges we face.

First off, localization is often equated to mere translation. If it were that simple, you would all be playing games that read and sound like the first Resident Evil. Reduced to its simplest level, localization is the translation of text and terms into the users’ native language (e.g., OS localizations). Context must be taken into account, but the general makeup of the system remains the same.

Game localization, however, is much more complex, and adding to this complexity are the cultural and social idiosyncrasies of Japan and the Japanese language. These are difficult to convert well into Western languages, especially for an American audience. Sometimes, no matter how good the translation, the base concept just doesn’t work.

For this reason, I believe that localization is not where the process of bringing a game to the West should begin. Localization is only one part of the globalization process. It is necessary to plan in advance the way a game should be designed and developed in order to save costs and avoid quality problems that could arise later. This also saves time and works to smooth the localizing effort for each region or country. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen.

Console games have come a long way from their 8-bit counterparts, and they are so infused with story and environments that internationalizing and culturalizing these games is integral. At Capcom Osaka, the Localization Team is actually a part of R&D. We try to integrate the production teams and get them to understand the importance of taking their games and adapting them for the foreign markets. We need to go beyond general text translation and provide them with information that is beneficial to creating a game that is relevant to the target users. Due to a number of internal and cultural factors, this can be quite challenging. 

The original question posed on the forums was, “How does a person get into localization?” Before I address that, I think it might be better to start by letting you know what roles my team and I have here at Capcom.

The Localization Team consists of about 30 people split into 2 main groups: Localization and Communications. The Communications Team has a number of functions, but in general, they are in charge of ensuring that teams are in sync with each other and with our overseas partners by providing necessary information to relevant parties. (That sounds way too much like a job description. Oh, wait...) 

The Localization side is made up of 20 people, including me. As the Director, it’s my job to build business partnerships, negotiate contracts, maintain schedules, perform HR tasks (hiring and team building), supervise team members, interface with teams and producers, resolve disputes and cultural misunderstandings, and try to get the individual dev teams to understand our target markets. But that’s probably the boring part for most people.

The rest of the team is made up of 5 Project Leads, 2 English Editors, 10 European Localization Experts, and 2 Japanese Localization Coordinators. The Project Lead is at the heart of the English and European (FIGS) languages. The process would ideally begin with a kick-off meeting with all parties involved: internal dev team members, key external dev team members, Localization Leads and me. This meeting helps to establish workflows, schedules, budgets, and provide an overall sense of the project goals. 

It’s here where the real creative (read fun) stuff begins. The dev team will provide the Project Lead with as many reference materials as available. We receive game design docs, walkthroughs, game videos, scripts, and the game build. These reference materials are essential to an accurate localization. Unfortunately, there are many times when these materials are unavailable, which leads to context errors and potential mistranslations. I encourage each Localization Team member to keep open communication with the game designers so that we can close any holes in understanding.

Once these materials have been thoroughly reviewed during our familiarization period, the Project Lead begins to either translate the script or review what has been provided from an outsourced translator. If a project is handled entirely within the Localization Team itself, then the script would be passed on to one of our editors. There is a lot of back and forth with the Project Lead, the editor, and the dev teams. Depending on time, budget, and schedule, the project workflow can change drastically.

With more involving projects, a Project Lead will actually be placed on the project team where they constantly “fight the good fight” to create a game that feels like it was developed with the American and European audiences in mind. We are constantly providing feedback on the script, UI, design, and other elements that will vary across markets. Of course, the translator’s main role is still to take scripts and adapt them to be culturally relevant to the market. Depending on the game, the Japanese and target language will differ considerably. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is one such example. We tried to focus on the English text and then Japanese was written afterwards.

The Project Lead is also involved in writing for voice-overs, and when audio is involved, things get even more complicated (audio time-constraints, lip-synching, ADR, etc.). Many of the guys find this to be a fun and rewarding part of the project. If things go well, we are able to choose voice actors for roles and attend the voice recordings to ensure the direction and overall recordings go well and fall in line with our creative thinking.

If you consider the English localization Phase 1 of the project, FIGS would be Phase 2. First the English is completed in order to create a relatable script and game setting, and then it is sent over to the FIGS teams. The Project Lead then has the responsibility of completing his/her own tasks while managing the FIGS localization. The lead is responsible for managing any outsource teams as well as internal ones. At this point, the Project Lead should know the English version better than anyone and will maintain an important role in successfully completing a localization project.

Once translation and editing are complete, we proceed to the Linguistic Testing Phase. At this point we play the game complete with the translated text implemented, in order to spot any errors or oddly placed translations. The details of Linguistic QA can get rather complex so I will skip the boring details, but once everything is checked, implemented, and reviewed for regression bugs, we can finally rest – until we get any bugs back from the first-party check that is.

So that is a REALLY general overview of what we do here. Now I can finally get into what I look for in an employee. 

First and foremost, you have to be a good communicator (mostly in English, but also in Japanese). You aren’t just going to be translating: you are going to need to explain yourself to me, your colleagues and the project dev teams. Sometimes you’ll even get the chance to interpret for producers and directors at events.

Secondly, you need to be a good writer or editor in your native language. If you aren’t a creative writer, your translations may not be appropriate for games. 

Japanese is a requirement for Project Leads, but not a necessity for Editors, and certainly not for FIGS experts.  Attention to detail is a must, as you will be dealing with a number of different file formats that are constantly being updated and changed.

(Our FIGS guys are so good they can find subtle errors in the English scripts!) You’ll need to be able to survive in a fast-paced environment and work well alone as well as with teams. 

So, what do you need to study to get a job?

If you want to be a localization expert, then I suggest studying writing and Japanese. Take courses at school that focus on literature and writing, for example. We ask for writing samples and have a trial exam that we require from all applicants. Being well read also helps, because the subjects of the texts we translate run the gamut from science to literature, history to philosophy.

Project Leads, however, do more than just translate (and many times, they don’t even do this), which makes them all the more valuable. You’ll need to be a project manager and oversee communications throughout the project. 

That is a basic overview of Capcom Localization. I hope it helps give you a clearer idea of the work involved and how you might prepare for a job in this industry.

This week on the PlayStation Store look for some awesome new avatars! We've 8-bittified the Street Fighter IV roster and made cute little avatars for your profile adornment. 

1) SSF4 8bit Avatars (second half)

As I mentioned last week, we have the second half of the 8bit avatars launching this week. They are available individually at $0.49, and as an all-in bundle for PS+ subscribers at $2.99. More photos of the avatars here. 

2) Lost Planet 2 Map Packs

Normally $4.99 each, they are available for only $1.99 this week (60% off)

We are moving full steam ahead to Comic-Con! Or should I say, full STREAM ahead… Ha! We are going to be streaming this year at Comic-Con, and it's going to be the biggest and most elaborate stream to date for Capcom. Building on our E3 improvements, we'll be streaming multiple camera angles, running interviews with producers, directors, designers, artists, voice actors, and much much more. And for the first time ever, we'll be able to stream EVERY game from the booth. In total, we're going to have nearly a dozen separate game and audio feeds, not including our standard cameras. 

Look forward to new trailers, lots of surprise announcements, exclusives, and everything else Capcom related. If it's happening at Comic-Con from Capcom, you'll see it here on Capcom-Untiy.com and our Capcom-Unity Live Stream first! 

Here's a rough taste of the schedule so far, but keep in mind it's still vague as we continue to plan and add fun content:

WED, JULY 206:00 PM-9:00 PM 
6:00pm - 7:00pm Introduction to stream, trailers, booth tour.
7:00pm - 9:00pm Streaming of games and show floor. 

THU, JULY 219:30 AM-7:00 PM 
9:30am - 10:00am Introduction to stream, trailers, booth tour.
10:00am - 11:00am Interview: Jason Leigh, Dead Rising 2: Off the Record
11:00am - 1:00pm Live Tournament
1:00pm - 3:00pm Streaming of games and show floor. 
3:00pm - 5:00pm Live Tournament
5:00pm - 7:00pm Streaming of games and show floor. 

FRI, JULY 229:30 AM-7:00 PM 
9:30am - 10:00am Introduction to stream, trailers, booth tour.
10:00am - 11:00am Streaming of games and show floor. 
11:00am - 12:00pm Interview: Kobayashi, Dragon's Dogma
12:00pm - 1:00pm Interview: Niitsuma, Marvel vs Capcom 3
1:00pm - 2:00pm Streaming of games and show floor. 
2:00pm - 3:00pm Ask Capcom Live with Christian Svensson
3:00pm - 5:00pm Live Tournament
5:00pm - 6:00pm Interview: Seth Killian
6:00pm - 7:00pm Streaming of games and show floor. 

SAT, JULY 239:30 AM-7:00 PM 
9:30am - 10:00am Introduction to stream, trailers, booth tour.
10:00am - 11:00am Streaming of games and show floor. 
11:00am - 12:00pm Interview: Tsuchiya, Asura's Wrath
12:00pm - 1:00pm Interview: Ono, Street Fighter X Tekken
1:00pm - 3:00pm Streaming of games and show floor. 
3:00pm - 5:00pm Live Tournament
5:00pm - 7:00pm Streaming of games and show floor. 

SUN, JULY 249:30 AM-5:00 PM 
9:30am - 10:00am Introduction to stream, trailers, booth tour.
10:00am - 11:00am Streaming of games and show floor.
11:00am - 1:00pm Live Tournament
1:00pm - 3:00pm Streaming of games and show floor. 
3:00pm - 4:30pm Live Tournament
4:30pm - 5:00pm End of show, goodbyes.