IN GOG.Com celebrated the year of successful work in the Russian market (five million users, thirty million dollars of turnover and almost one and a half thousand games in the catalog). And here is an entertainment game platform from CD Projekt Red unexpectedly replenished its assortment with games in a classic Russian translation "Fargusa". There are already four projects already in stock – Planescape: Torment, Sacrifice, MDK 2 And Kingpin.
Oleg Klapovsky, Senior Vice President GOG.COM for business development explained how everything happens: “We agree with the company that now has all the rights to localize Fargus. Then we go to the copyright holders of these games and say that we have the rights to these localizations, and do you mind if we attach them to your game as additional free material. Usually they agree. There are those that are amazed: wow, our game was once translated?! I have to explain that this is a cult item ".
One of the former employees of Fargus, and the now famous voice actor Petr Ivashchenko (Gennz), was also at the festival GOG.Com And he told a lot of curious about work in the most famous “pirate” company of the nineties, as well as a modern approach to localization of games and cinema.
► GOG office.COM is located in the same building with the headquarters of CD Projekt Red. Which is not surprising.
About the "Fargus" era
– Peter, you are a programmer by education. How it happened that you began to voice games and films?
Peter Glants: True, I began to cooperate with Fargus when I studied at the programmer. In the company he realized himself as a techie and as an actor of voice acting – he did the first experiments then. Then he began to translate rare films for friends that did not officially come out in Russia. I did everything for free, at enthusiasm, and posted the results on the network. At some point I saw that the discs with my translations are sold in every tent. Then I realized that this is valued, that you can earn money on this, getting a lot of pleasure.
– How and how did your friendship with Fargus began?"
Peter Glants: When I was a poor secondary student, I needed to find a part-time job for the summer. Once I walked home and saw people in the basement of one house who sat at computers and played games. At first I thought that this was another game club – there were a dime a dozen of them in those years – but still knocked. A guy of about my age opened me and said that they are being tested here. And for this they even get money. Soon I joined them. This was the Fargus company. Rather, its beginning.
► "Fargusov" translations Full Throttle And Baldur’s Gate Today they are considered classic.
– What else did you do in Fargus?
Peter Glants: First of all, hacked games and made translations. I wrote texts on the covers of the “Fargus” discs: he probably prepared about two thousand covers. Yes, yes, the very texts from which everyone was terribly sick. They are still preserved in my files. All this brought an additional penny. I also did, as it is now called, logistics: when they brought a new toy, it was necessary to distribute the roles – who would break it, who to translate, who to voice, and so on.
– And you know the story of the emergence of the Fargus itself? Who and when founded the company?
Peter Glants: Fargus appeared in the nineties thanks to two businessmen who flew to China and purchased down jackets for resale in Russia. Once they met there with the Chinese owner of the line on stamping CD-Discovers. Seeing that in China the disk costs less than the dollar, and in Moscow ten, they decided to establish this business. First printed games without any translations. Clear, they were all pirate, it never occurred to anyone to licensed something.
► action Kingpin , He "Bratan". When dedicated, the actors were not shy and swearing obscene.
– The laws of doing business in those years, probably, were very different from modern?
Peter Glants: Certainly! Why did we come up with crazy names for games like "Khachi-Tryukachi" (Arcade race Stunt GP 2001. – approx. Ed.) on the cover of the disk? Yes, we were the first localizers in Russia, but we were also forced to compete with Vasya from "7th Wolf". Vasya is our former warehouse manager. Once he was not paid, he was offended and founded his own office. Then it was just.
And who was the first to throw out the circulation on the market, he collected cream. Any circulation, no matter. The first circulation could be translated in Promte, and it was still bought. It was also important to run with a master disk to the factory in Moscow and take the line faster than competitors. I managed – the next morning in all the stalls is your discs.
The time was funny. Controversial issues were resolved very simply. I myself saw, the guys in raincoats and black Gelendvagen helped “Fargus”. When our Ukrainian brothers got used to throwing fake wheels with Fargus Gold logos into Moscow stalls, this caused a terrible junction of Fargus. And these "pessimists" came to the Mitinsky radio market or a "parking", there were not so many points. A pair of broken ribs and broken stalls, and for a while everything fell into place.
At some point, the leadership of Fargus even registered the Fargus-M trademark and began to officially sue with someone there. Laughter and sin: Pirates are sued with pirates due to spiral games!
– You considered yourself a pirate? Or a connoisseur of games that lived and worked in the then realities?
Peter Glants: We really loved what we did. And it is incorrect to say that the translations were "pirate". Yes, they can be called from the point of view of copyright holders. But first of all, they were fan. For example, many older players who played the first and second Fallout With the translation of "Fargus", it is still believed that the later localization " 1c " Made worse.
I am very glad that in gog.COM undertook to reanimate our legacy. They will collect these translations and give them to the players. Some work is really amazing.
About work on films
► A rare frame. In the foreground – sound engineer Grigory. He was responsible for the quality of voicing at Fargus. On the back – a guy known as Ivengo. He hacked all the games and was engaged in translations, and later founded the Aivengo and K team, which broke up after his death in a car accident.
– What is the most exciting for you to work on voice acting?
Peter Glants: The opportunity to live other lives. Sometimes a few lives in one day. I know firsthand with the work of artists, especially theatrical. In the theater, a person plays one role. Yes, at first he finds something new in it, looking for nuances, but by the fifty performance everything begins to “rust”. But in terms of voicing, an endless variety is obtained. And I love it.
– Is it true that certain movie heroes and actors are assigned to you?
► "Halls against the traffic police", it is also Midtown Madness.
Peter Glants: Fixing images was indeed a hard enough ten years ago. Today it all depends on the studio and on the director. For example, there is a Walt Disney Pictures, with which I once quarreled, so now I do not work on any Disney project, regardless of whether it is “mine” or not. Just got into the "black list". Although I consider this approach to be wrong. When I myself work on the film, then the project is called those who, in my opinion, will cope with the role, and not those who I like.
Although, I admit, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and several other actors always “write” me. They get it well, the roles converge. Jerard Butler comes well: he is a healthy sluggish, I don’t even have to play especially. How I “went” once to this role at the invitation of Sony (the film was called "Naked truth" ), so since then they take me to the batler. But other studios processing films with this actor can attract other specialists.
– There is a feeling, possibly false, that all films are now voiced literally the same people. You start watching any new movie and hear familiar voices. Why so?
Peter Glants: The fact is that professional voice actors in our country, and in the world, are very little. Only thirty people in Moscow can write the main roles, the rest simply cannot cope. You can, of course, do as Alexander Vartanov for "Prophet" (2009): Attract people from the street. It was a ribbon about the jailers, and Sasha took the former prisoners to the role of the seiselles, and the homeless from the street from the street.
Another problem is that the deadlines are always settled and simply not up to experiments. In the case of most films, except for large blockbusters, materials for work come in two weeks. What can be in time during this time? After all, it is necessary to translate, voice, reduce – a breakthrough of work, and the film, as a rule, is already in the schedule of shows in cinemas.
► catchy names like "Khachi-Tryukachi" They invented for poor -quality niche games so that the buyer would notice a box Blood Moon Casino among other discs. The names of well -known and expected projects usually did not distort.
About work on games
– And what about games: they are easier or more difficult to voice?
Peter Glants: Games also have Deadlans, of course. But it is still easier with them, because the game is "finished" for a long time. You can make the main work in a short time, and send the remaining trifles during alpha, beta, and so on. In addition, their actors who are not engaged in the cinema work on the voice acting of the games, although there are also few of them, and they are forced to wander from one toy to another.
– If you watch from the position of acting, then it is more interesting to work on games or on films?
Peter Glants: In fact, I have the same approach in both cases. But I get more pleasure, voicing games. Especially when there is little source data. For example, there is a description of a character in two words – “forty -year -old mercenary” – and nothing more at all. I ask the director: “How to do?»He answers me:" As you want!"And then I draw a character in my head in my head. He may start to stutter with me, suffer from shortness of breath, and I can withstand this role in the form that I have developed. This, of course, is more complicated, but much more interesting.
► The story of Fargus is inextricably linked with the fate of another oldest company-publishing house in Russia- " Akelly ". The first revenue from Fargus sales of Piguos was developed the first "Corses".
– Playing the games you voiced?
Peter Glants: I used to play, now there is no time at all. Therefore, occasionally and very selectively.
– Your most emotional and bright work?
Peter Glants: Maybe, Just CAUSE From the last voices. And from the voices for "Fargus" – Fahrenheit And "Black mirror" (quest Black Mirror 2003. – approx. Ed.). Even while working on "Brother" (action Kingpin: Life of Crime 1999. – approx. Ed.) I had to give up.
– But what about the Prince of Persia? One of your noticeable roles. And Herli from the series "To stay alive" a rather curious character. Tell us about them.
Peter Glants: Persia Prince for me is too "sweet" hero. It is not very complicated. This is mainly an enthusiastic boy: (with a breath in his voice) “Ah, princess, where did you disappear?»Herli is more interesting. A clumsy fat guy, as if apologizing for his appearance. I was asked to stand this note.
► A little living Glaneza.
