When we heard whispers to expect something "soon" from Wideload, I'm sure nobody had this in mind. Translator Dmitri "Goblin" Puchkov, responsible for many of the best quality dubs of Western movies and television programs into Russian, including some hilarious spoof dubs of films like Star Wars Episode One and Shmatrica, a parody of The Matrix, has turned his eyes to Stubbs the Zombie. In Goblin's version, Stubbs the Zombie: Revenge of the King, the protagonist of the game is none other than Michael Jackson, who died of too many plastic surgeries and returns from the grave for revenge.
The Russian website Buka Entertainment (English version) has an entry for the game, which is scheduled for release on February 8, 2007. Below is a translation:
Goblin studio presents:
Brought to death by his endless plastic surgeries and silicone injections into his brain, Michael Jackson has been raised from the dead to revenge himself on money-grubbing plastic surgeons, and in particularly, an ex-citizen of Russia that is the leading silicone oligarch. In pursuit of this goal he wreaks havoc, rips off arms and hands, eats brains and attacks the clinic. The American people all unite to protect silicon boobs and the other achievements of democracy! Military, police and even militia are standing in furious Michael's way; but nothing can stop the wrathful king of pop! All the guilty will be devoured to death, and the innocent will be punished cruelly!Project details:
- Get under a zombie's skin! The original name of the game is Stubbs the Zombie. Now the funny translation by Goblin has truly brought new life to it.
- Bloody vengeance takes place amidst astonishingly original surroundings.
- A rare opportunity to fight for the dead in the epic battle against life and its vivid embodiment: silicon boobs.
- Original fighting system. Believe us: you will have all kinds of opportunities for revenge.
Many of Goblin's works reside in a legal grey area, and limited access to and knowledge of the Russian legal system makes it difficult, if not impossible, for foreign intellectual property owners to enforce their rights there. It is not known whether this version is sanctioned by Wideload or Aspyr.
However, Goblin and his parodies are also very popular, and if this one takes off, Wideload's maiden effort might achieve something no Bungie title has so far: gain notoriety in the former Soviet Union. While the region is awash with pirated PC games, Macintosh computers are rare and Xbox consoles are virtually non-existent, as Microsoft chose never to launch it or the Xbox Live service there, despite the phenomenal growth of the economy, due to questions about piracy. While the Halo franchise might be big in the US and Europe, in Russia it's virtually unknown, whereas PC games like Counter-Strike and the Half-Life series are well-known and available in localized versions, whether official or unofficial.
Goblin's own website has additional information on his other projects. However unknown Halo might be, it does seem as if Bungie's earlier PC and PlayStation offering, Oni, is not unknown. Oni's protagonist, Konoko, has been adopted for promotional purposes by the Russian gaming site OGL.
Kudos to my wife, a fan of Goblin's translations, for finding (and translating) this item.
UPDATE: Since the machinations of the industry that produce localized versions of games for publication in far-off lands are many, varied, and complex, sometimes things happen that even surprise those who originally made a game.
So it is perhaps not surprising that Wideload itself isn't sure if this is the real deal or not. Apparently a Russian translation has been mentioned by publisher Aspyr, but Matt Soell of Wideload reckons that Goblin's "Return of the King" version of Stubbs is unofficial.
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Anonymous (not verified)
Demogorgosha
narcogen
Bears?
In reply to: Demogorgosha[quote=Anonymous]Dear narcogen,
I think u r not quite right, drowin up Russia as a big forest with only bears inside =). Oh, forgot to mention matreshkas and balalaikas. That is always funny to hear and i believe it is not your fault. It's all about the mass media and education system. X-box, X-box 360, PS3 and etc. are widely performed here (especially where i do live). Well... regarding PS3 it's hard to say that it is popular right now though :). All the old and new software (official, legal) can be purchased if not here, then from abroad easely. All the Bungie's games from Myth to Halo are well known. More then that, considering an "economic grouth" you are talking about - to buy a powerful copmuter system is like "easy cake". Macintosh systems are mainly used in specific areas. And to be honest piracy exists in ANY given country (i can say that from my own experience). My apologies for poor english. Good luck :).[/quote]
Rampant for over se7en years.
Thanks for the clarifications. I've only ever been to Moscow in Russia myself, and at the time, finding counterfeit copies of games was much easier than legitimate ones. As for Sakhalin-- I've never been, but I imagine getting goods from Japan would be quite easy :)
Here in Almaty, it's still really tough to find legitimate software. The only place that sells Xboxes is bringing in modchipped consoles from Japan. I had to pay twice as much to bring in a legit box. The only copies of Halo I've ever seen here (the PC version) were pirated. The only other Bungie game I ever saw on sale was Oni (also pirated) as well as some recent copies of Stubbs. The first I saw were pirated, but now they have the real edition on the shelves (it's a three-disc edition).
As for piracy-- it's too easy to say "oh it happens everywhere". Sure, in many countries, people download software and share serial codes. In Russia and the CIS, as well as China and other places in Asia, counterfeit software is sold out in the open at legitimate-looking stores for prices as low as 5% of the real value. It's quite a different thing than you'll see anywhere in the US, where most of the piracy is on the wholesale level. :)