SFIII Translation Project: Retropalooza SF3 Booth Video and Redux

[legalize freedom]

Here's a quick video I put together with a summary of the SF3 Translation Project booth at Retropalooza.

Also let this thread serve as a place for us to discuss the experience. There are certainly some things I would like to share. Feel free to post anything you're curious about.


Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSx3C5Fah3o

[Chinagonuk]

Bravo, LF. The booth looks awesome.

It's great to see children, too young to have played SF3 when the saturn was current, playing it.

Well done.

[legalize freedom]

There are a lot of kids in the video, but that isn't indicative of the general crowd that visited. For a few reasons:
1. It's a little awkward to take pictures of people in that situation while still trying to capture the natural scene.
2. Kids make for good pictures generally.
3. Most of the pictures and videos were taken on the second day which was a bit lighter and a bit more kids attended.

I will say the kids by far actually played the game more, but that's because the older folks were more interested in conversation, either learning what this was about or building on what they already knew.

[Swalchy]

W00t! Excellent going there LF!

Looks like you managed to get a few more interested in SFIII, both young and old

[knight0fdragon]

We will have to keep an eye and see if any new members join

[legalize freedom]

There was a good mix of people that were aware of SF3 generally and those who weren't familiar with it at all. Then there were the few obvious in the target audience.

You know the ones that walk up with their mouth open and say "Nooo Waaaayyyy!" or "Oh my god!". Those were the most fun obviously since the conversation could go right into specifics of what all the patch does, where it's at in development and those types of things. At that point I'm preaching to the choir. There were probably around 10 of those.

For the folks who were familiar with SF3, a few also knew there was a translation in progress, some even had used the patch at an earlier version. I'd say around 15% of the crowd fell into this group (including the "No way!" crowd.)

Some were familiar with SF3, but either didn't know there were other scenarios or didn't know the translation patch existed. I'd say around 25% of the crowd fell into this group.

There were a good number that were familiar with the genesis games (including Shining in the Darkness), but were not familiar with SF3 at all. This was probably around 40% of the people I met.

There were a surprising number of folks who weren't familiar with the series at all and not just younger folks. I might estimate 20%.

For these last 3 groups, that is to say most everyone that visited, I spent the first part of the conversation educating them about the 3 scenarios and the need for a translation.

I probably gave away 200-300 business cards to interested people. I didn't just hand them out to everyone walking by, so that is a healthy number of people who were interested enough to stop and talk.

We will have to keep an eye and see if any new members join

That would be good. Not only so we get an idea of the impact, but also so our new members don't have to wait too long to be approved.

[Special T]

Thanks for talking about your experience at Retropalooza. Was there any other games or projects that you found interesting at the convention?

[legalize freedom]

One thing that took me a little by surprise (call it me being naïve) was the lack of "hobby" type booths such as ours. There were quite a lot of walk up and play game stations provided by the organizers, but besides those and the YouTube personality panels, everything else was a store.

I do believe we were the only booth in the entire event that wasn't selling something. It makes sense, but it was still a little disappointing. I suppose it highlights the uniqueness of us being there.

I did see a booth with reproductions in classic cartridge form, like a single SNES cartridge that contained Secret of Mana 1&2 for example. So there were a couple of cool things like this that were "hobby" oriented. Keep in mind I wasn't able to really look into everything while minding the booth.

I would hope there is more variety at the larger conventions, but I wouldn't know.

I assume that as these conventions grow in popularity, they can afford to do more to add to the spirit of the event.

[Jmustang1968]

I was very surprised to see the SFIII booth at Retropalooza. Actually my wife saw it first, and pointed it out to me as she knows my love of SF. Nice to have a chat with you and look forward to more SFIII translation goodness. Been following this for many years.

And, been a long time lurker, but finally made my first post lol

[legalize freedom]

I was very surprised to see the SFIII booth at Retropalooza. Actually my wife saw it first, and pointed it out to me as she knows my love of SF. Nice to have a chat with you and look forward to more SFIII translation goodness. Been following this for many years.

And, been a long time lurker, but finally made my first post lol

Very cool! Thanks for stopping by (then and now).

Don't be a stranger. Necro all the threads you want. Your input is valuable.