8-4

8-4 generally gets involved in the localization process midway through a game's development, gaining access to a build of the game and script. Occasionally, they are invited to participate throughout the development cycle, as with the case of Shadows of the Damned. The team cites Richard Honeywood, founder of Square's localization department, as an influence on their translation style. Beyond merely translating the words, 8-4 attempts to convey the same experience as that of the original language version through attention to tone, user interface, and cultural references. Because of their text-heavy nature, most of 8-4's contracts are for role-playing video games such as Eternal Sonata, Tales of Vesperia, and Star Ocean: The Last Hope, which are beyond the capabilities of in-house translation teams. In translating Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation, they inherited Honeywood's Dragon Quest style guide to aid them in keeping consistency between games. In 2022, 8-4 provided the translation for Masahiro Sakurai's YouTube web series, "Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games". ==Games==

8-4 hosts a bi-weekly podcast dedicated to "Japan, video games, and Japanese video games", known as 8-4 Play. The main hosts include Mark MacDonald, John Ricciardi, Tina Carter, and Gabriel Deleone. Former hosts include Sarah Podzorski (now of MinnMax) and Justin Epperson. Being located in Tokyo, 8-4 has the opportunity to attend and share news about many Japanese video game industry events such as Tokyo Game Show, Capcom's Captivate, and Grasshopper Manufacture's Hoppers. As 1UP.com and EGM alumni, they maintain many of their video game journalism connections including James Mielke (now of Q Entertainment), Shane Bettenhausen (Ignition Entertainment), and David Abrams (Cheap Ass Gamer), who make regular appearances as guests on the show. They also occasionally have prominent designers as guests such as Tetsuya Mizuguchi and Akira Yamaoka. Since 2012, episodes of the podcast have been hosted on Giant Bomb. Following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, 8-4 was involved in both Grasshopper Manufacture's Grasstream 2 charity event and Play For Japan: The Album, headed by Akira Yamaoka. ==References==