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Germans - help us!

EmilyEmily Telltale Alumni
edited January 2008 in Sam & Max
We're thinking of running some Sam & Max banner ads on German sites, but would like advice from actual Germans before moving forward with them. A few questions:

1) As a German speaker reading a German site, would you expect an ad for an English game to be in English or German?

2) Are there any particular aspects of Sam & Max / Christmas / Ice Station Santa that you think would be especially appealing or funny? For example, for the English ads we used the lines "He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake", which are from the song "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". Can you think of any comparable German Christmas songs / poems / traditions / etc. that would make a good premise for an Ice Station Santa ad?

Thanks in advance! :D

Comments

  • QuuuxQuuux
    edited December 2007
    With that title to the thread, I couldn't help myself:

    Horst: [threatingly] We Germans aren't all smiles und sunshine.
    Burns: [recoils in mock horror]
    Oooh, the Germans are mad at me. I'm so scared! Oooh, the Germans!
    [hiding behind Smithers] Uh oh, the Germans are going to get me!
    Horst: Stop it!
    Man 2: Stop, sir.
    Burns: Don't let the Germans come after me.
    Oh no, the Germans are coming after me.
    Man 2: Please stop the `pretending you are scared' game, please.
    Horst: Stop it! Stop it!
    Burns: [brief pause, then resumes]
    No! They're so big and strong!
    Man 2: Stop it.
    Horst: Stop it, Mr. Burns.
    Man 2: Please stop pretending you are scared of us, please, now.
    Burns: Oh, protect me from the Germans! The Germans...
    Horst: Burns, STOP IT!
    -- "Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk"
  • MirkoMirko
    edited December 2007
    1) I think most ads on german sites are in german, and I don't think I have seen any ads for games only available in english. But if you did a german ad and i did not know about the game, I would expect that there actually is a german version but there is no such thing yet (unless it is an ad about season 1). Therefore it could be best to do an english ad, i think. Or a german one with a note, that it's only availabe in english.

    On the other hand I disable as much advertising as possible, so I don't really know how common or uncommon english ads are on german sites. I probably would not mind english ads more than german ones. ;)



    2) Sorry can't help you with this one. I can't think of anything right now. Maybe later...
  • jp-30jp-30
    edited December 2007
    You guys need to hire Dr Kierdorf as your German consultant.

    It's been exactly a year...
  • wispwisp
    edited December 2007
    Hmm, advertisment in germany usually is in german, but uses a lot of english phrases. as i would judge it, it would be okay to use the original ad, but a german one would be better. I didn't recognize the text in the ad to be from the song. You hear "Santa Clause is coming to town" here from time to time, but I doubt that most people will know the text.
    The problem is, that officially we don't have Santa Clause in germany. At least not as the main character for christmas. We call him St. Nikolaus and he has his own holiday on the 6th of december. But since they're almost the same and most people know the american Santa, this should not be an issue.
    The essence is still the same, the good kids get candy and the bad get punished.
    A phrase I found is "Nikolaus, hol die Rute raus", which means that Santa should get his twig to beat up the bad kids. So "Santa Claus...hol die Rute raus" might work as well, showing an image of the S&M Santa with his machine pistol.
    But I will see, if I find anything better..
  • LaserschwertLaserschwert
    edited December 2007
    Well, a famous German christmas poem is "Von drauß' vom Walde komm ich her", which is told by St. Nikolaus helper, Knecht Ruprecht (which is by the way the German name of The Simpson's dog "Santa's little helper" as well).

    Anyway the first two lines from the poem are "Von drauß' vom Walde komm ich her, ich muss euch sagen, es weihnachtet sehr!", which means something along the lines of "I come from out of the woods, and I must tell you, it's Christmas time!" (loosely translated). If you use the image of Santa with the machine gun, why not go "Von drauß' vom Walde kommt er her, mit einem automatischen Maschinengewehr!" which rhymes, and means "He's coming from the woods, with an automatic machine gun!" (the German version has a better ring to it... because the first part is so well known, the last part is a nice, edgy "surprise" to the phrase).

    Edit: Or, for a better rhythm "Von drauß' vom Walde kommt er her, bewaffnet mit einem Maschinengewehr!" - "He's coming from the woods, armed with a machine gun!"
  • SmollieSmollie
    edited December 2007
    "Von drauß' vom Walde kommt er her, bewaffnet mit einem Maschinengewehr!"

    Somehow I think this line would have been a great opener for the Battle of the Bulge.:D
  • NHJ BVNHJ BV
    edited December 2007
    wisp wrote: »
    Hmm, advertisment in germany usually is in german, but uses a lot of english phrases. as i would judge it, it would be okay to use the original ad, but a german one would be better. I didn't recognize the text in the ad to be from the song. You hear "Santa Clause is coming to town" here from time to time, but I doubt that most people will know the text.
    The problem is, that officially we don't have Santa Clause in germany. At least not as the main character for christmas. We call him St. Nikolaus and he has his own holiday on the 6th of december. But since they're almost the same and most people know the american Santa, this should not be an issue.
    The essence is still the same, the good kids get candy and the bad get punished.
    A phrase I found is "Nikolaus, hol die Rute raus", which means that Santa should get his twig to beat up the bad kids. So "Santa Claus...hol die Rute raus" might work as well, showing an image of the S&M Santa with his machine pistol.
    But I will see, if I find anything better..

    St. Nicholas (we have him in the Netherlands as well, but on the 5th) is pretty distinct from the American Santa though. I don't think you should advertise with one for the other.
  • wispwisp
    edited December 2007
    You're essentially right, but since the original Nikolaus gets replaced by the "Weihnachtsmann", german for Santa Clause, more and more and there no traditional poems or songs about Santa, this would be the best option.
    Most people will accept this and the younger ones probably don't even know the difference anymore.
  • shurloggshurlogg
    edited December 2007
    I agree, the "Weihnachtsmann" is much closer to Santa Claus in form and function than Saint Nikolaus. But why not take a look at other American commercials having to do with Christmas, it's not as if Telltale are the first to want to translate a Santa Claus commercial to German. For example, the world's biggest cola manufacturer translates Santa Claus as "Weihnachtsmann" as well.

    I just remembered another German christmas song that would actually fit pretty well: "Morgen, Kinder, wird's was geben", which has kind of a double meaning. In its original sense, it would loosely translate to "Tomorrow, kids, there's going to be presents", but in contemporary German the phrase can also be interpreted as a threat with violence. In my opinion, the perfect slogan next to a picture of Santa with his machine gun.
  • LaserschwertLaserschwert
    edited December 2007
    shurlogg wrote: »
    I just remembered another German christmas song that would actually fit pretty well: "Morgen, Kinder, wird's was geben", which has kind of a double meaning. In its original sense, it would loosely translate to "Tomorrow, kids, there's going to be presents", but in contemporary German the phrase can also be interpreted as a threat with violence. In my opinion, the perfect slogan next to a picture of Santa with his machine gun.

    Nice one!

    I guess a good translation of that would be "Tomorrow, kids, you're gonna get some!" Which keeps the double meaning...
  • Guybrush ThreepwoodGuybrush Threepwood
    edited December 2007
    Your slogan can be 'Just kaufen Sam & Max bereits'.
  • LaserschwertLaserschwert
    edited December 2007
    Guybrush Threepwood wrote: »
    Your slogan can be 'Just kaufen Sam & Max bereits'.

    Obviously a Babelfish-translation, that doesn't make any sense at all... ;)
  • Guybrush ThreepwoodGuybrush Threepwood
    edited December 2007
    Laserschwert wrote: »
    Obviously a Babelfish-translation, that doesn't make any sense at all... ;)

    Of course! You think I'm actually good at translating English to German? :D

    (Google translator actually...)
  • LaserschwertLaserschwert
    edited December 2007
    Guybrush Threepwood wrote: »
    Of course! You think I'm actually good at translating English to German? :D

    (Google translator actually...)

    Well... why can't you? I can do it both ways... :p
  • Guybrush ThreepwoodGuybrush Threepwood
    edited December 2007
    Laserschwert wrote: »
    Well... why can't you? I can do it both ways... :p

    I'm better at German to English.

    ...but please don't test me on it. :D
  • joeldeejoeldee Telltale Alumni
    edited December 2007
    So it sounds like the general feeling is that we should go with German text in the ad for the game, even though the game is in English, right?

    What would be the best way to say the call to action in German? In the English language ads, we say "Click here to play now"

    What websites in Germany would you suggest as the best ones to advertise on?

    Thanks again to all for the input!

    - Joel, Telltale Marketing
  • shurloggshurlogg
    edited December 2007
    On the one hand, yes, if you're aiming an ad at the German market, you might as well make it in German, and if only (as has already been pointed out), the lyrics of Santa Claus is coming to town may be unknown to some, while surely everybody in Germany knows "Morgen, Kinder, wird's was geben". On the other hand, it should be clear that the ad is for an English game, because even though lots of people in Germany actually understand English quite decently (especially among the S&M target audience), there are some who don't, or simply prefer playing their games in German. I man, it does take some knowledge of the English language as well as American culture to enjoy S&M to the fullest.

    Regarding websites, the German video blog / internet TV station Ehrensenf (http://www.ehrensenf.de) comes to my mind immediately. Next to the E201 ad, it may also be a nice idea to try and get E104 into their game tips section.
  • LaserschwertLaserschwert
    edited December 2007
    The two biggest gaming magazines in Germany are PC Games (www.pcgames.de) and Gamestar (www.gamestar.de)... so I guess those might be the places of choice.
  • fergusdogfergusdog
    edited December 2007
    Ok, first some clarification about the whole Santa thing.

    St Nikolaus is a holiday traiditionally celebrated in Northern Germany and Netherlands (and other northern European countries). In Dutch he's called Sinterklaas. The origin of this celebration is the Nordic 'great hunt'. St Nikolaus is a protector of seafaring vessels and was popular during the golden age of seatrade on the Baltic Sea in the late middle ages. Dutch emigrants brought Sinterklaas to New York, where early last century Coke has rebranded him as the Santa we know today.

    Martin Luther intoduced the idea of little baby Jesus bringing presents in the protestant culture. Ironically enough this tradition is now celebrated in catholic parts of the world (inlcuding Souther Germany), while the protestant North of Germany has adopted Santa. These days in Northern Germany, St Nikolaus (6th of Dec) and der Weihnachtsmann (Christmas man) happily coexist, although they are in fact the same person. In the south it's still baby Jesus (Christkind) bringing presents, just like in Southern America. Santa has penetrated the German culture though through movies, TV shows and the like, so most Germans will know who he is.

    In regards to banners my inkling would be to go with German text. However, if the game advertised is the English version this could be seen as misleading so I'd clearly state this. I've been living downunder for 10 years, so don't know the current state of affairs, but when I left an English ad would have seemed out of place a bit. Anyway, what I would do is run 2 banners and test which ones give you a higher ROI. That's the only way to really know what works best.

    The "Morgen Kinder wird's was geben" is an excellent idea. The 2 German song classics (at least in Northern Germany) are "Oh Tannenbaum" and "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht". Stille Nacht is the same song as Silent Night. This may work with a shot that is absolutely _not_ silent. Germans love slapstick humour. English songs such as jingle bells are well known, but most Germans won't know the English lyrics.

    "Click here to play now" - not sure what a good call to action would be in German. My brain is just coming up with stuff that doesn't sound good. Maybe do a search through German banner ads?
  • joeldeejoeldee Telltale Alumni
    edited December 2007
    Here's the call to action that we're working with:

    Jetzt spielen – hier klicken

    (based on other localization work here at Telltale and consultation with German speaking colleagues)
  • TelltaleToolTelltaleTool
    edited December 2007
    My mother what?!?
  • LaserschwertLaserschwert
    edited December 2007
    "Hier klicken und sofort losspielen!" = "Click here and start playing right away!"
    (sounds a little more casual... you might get rid of the "Hier" as well)
  • MelMel
    edited December 2007
    Man, my German is so rusty. I haven't used it in years.
  • fergusdogfergusdog
    edited December 2007
    Laserschwert's suggestion as a call for action sounds very good!
  • ErwinErwin
    edited December 2007
    I've worked a lot with Germans in the past. I still can't believe they call their cell phone a "handy".

    --Erwin
  • EmilyEmily Telltale Alumni
    edited December 2007
    Here's what we ended up with. Thanks for the help!

    Click me!
  • wispwisp
    edited December 2007
    ahh, i was again completely useless...:(
    ...anyway, nice ad. congrats laserschwert and shurlogg you just became part of sam&max history.
    Erwin wrote: »
    I've worked a lot with Germans in the past. I still can't believe they call their cell phone a "handy".
    yeah, because it's so handy.:D
    the best part about it is that most people still think it's an english word. we have a lot more expressions like this, mostly for various hightech gimmicks. anyone else calling a video projector "beamer"? i always though thats the thing from star trek..
  • LaserschwertLaserschwert
    edited December 2007
    Nice ad... any idea, where it'll be put up?
  • HaggisHaggis
    edited December 2007
    wisp wrote: »
    anyone else calling a video projector "beamer"?
    Yeah, in Dutch we also call it a beamer.
  • joeldeejoeldee Telltale Alumni
    edited December 2007
    It started running on PCGames.de today
  • wispwisp
    edited December 2007
    i only found the small one..still, this is going to be good. i know a lot of people here that love sam&max, but somehow missed the first season. even i only noticed it when episode 104 was already out..
    Haggis wrote: »
    Yeah, in Dutch we also call it a beamer.
    right, but dutch is more like a german accent anyway..*jumps for cover*:D
    sorry, just kidding..
  • HaggisHaggis
    edited December 2007
    wisp wrote: »
    right, but dutch is more like a german accent anyway..*jumps for cover*:D
    sorry, just kidding..
    Haha, well, the two languages are very similar, and they likely had a common origin, back in the day when we were all still frolicking hand in hand under the rule of the Holy Roman Empire.
  • DjNDBDjNDB Moderator
    edited December 2007
    wisp wrote: »
    anyone else calling a video projector "beamer"?

    I heard that a BMW is called "beamer" in some countries. Does that make any more sense than "handy" for a cell phone? :D
  • patterspatters
    edited December 2007
    DjNDB wrote: »
    I heard that a BMW is called "beamer" in some countries. Does that make any more sense than "handy" for a cell phone? :D

    in the UK both are used and handy does make some sense in the uk we call it a mobile as opposed to a cell
  • TheHuttTheHutt
    edited January 2008
    DjNDB wrote: »
    I heard that a BMW is called "beamer" in some countries. Does that make any more sense than "handy" for a cell phone? :D
    In fact, in Russia a BMW is called a "boomer". :)
  • wispwisp
    edited January 2008
    ..but this sounds more like some kind of nickname. or is it?
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