Canadian Gamecube releases -- bilingual; shrinkwarp

[slapdash]

I have a question... I won a copy of Super Monkey Ball 2 off of eBay, it being both new and not "Player's Choice".

What I got... Well, I'm not sure if I got what I wanted or not! It appears to be a "Player's Choice" version of the game in the cellophane factory seal, but then an extra instruction booklet on the back (presumably in French, though I haven't opened it to see for sure), the game & booklet tucked into a French NON "Player's Choice" insert, then the whole shebang shrinkwrapped.

Is this normal? Or is it possible the seller whipped up this cocktail? I've never seen its like before...

[undead455]

That's how they pack the game releases here in Quebec Canada. So it is probably from here. The game will be in english but it will have the extra packaging so it will be bilingual.

[SlayerOfFurbies]

most canadian releases have the french manual srinkwraped to the back of the case

[CocoVG]

Yup, that's pretty standard for Canadian games unfortunately. Both French and English are our official languages, and as such, the packaging needs to have both by law. The actual GAME isn't required to have French and English, just the box/manual.

I find it more irritating than anything else, because it makes my game cases bulkier and heavier when sticking the French manual inside the case. I haven't been able to close a few of them, so I'm left with an extra manual.

Yarr.

[njiska]

Yeah but they also have a complete extra jacket too and if the game is player's choice so is the extra jacket.

[Mayhem]

Some of the releases I've recently been getting from Canada have been like this. US release shrinked and then a paper insert with dual language wrapped around and a separate French only version of the manual attached and then all of that shrinked on top.

Nintendo and Capcom however seem to specifically print dual English/French sleeves and manuals direct for their Canadian releases with none of this "outside the first layer of shrink" shenanigans.

[slapdash]

Thanks for all the responses, guys...

Yeah but they also have a complete extra jacket too and if the game is player's choice so is the extra jacket.

I have to admit, I've never noticed an extra insert. Also, I would swear that other bilingual games I've gotten have a black & white instruction booklet in French, but this puppy is full color.

And I'll repeat, the inner (English) insert is Player's Choice, but the outer (French) insert is not. If it's always been the same in your experience, how many games has that been? Maybe I have a rarity on my hands. :-)

[jwl]

Same thing happened to me a couple days ago at work, we got in a Monkey Ball and at first glance I was like sweet it's not players choice, but when i picked it up I could slightly see the dreaded yellow coming from under the french wrap, so I just stuck it on the shelf with the others. The outside wrap didn't have the players choice bar on it. Oh well, I'll get mine sometime.

[marcus12024]

What really sucks is that some of the game releases here will actually have french/english directly on the only insert that the game comes with. Plus there'll be a little "french instructions included" seal on the insert, actually part of the insert, not a sticker that can be removed.

My favorite thing though (sarcasm here) is movie DVD releases here - even the goddamn side of the DVD case has both english and french...so I don't own the "Lord of the Rings", rather I own "Le Seigneur des Anneaux". !@#$

[njiska]

Thanks for all the responses, guys...

Yeah but they also have a complete extra jacket too and if the game is player's choice so is the extra jacket.

I have to admit, I've never noticed an extra insert. Also, I would swear that other bilingual games I've gotten have a black & white instruction booklet in French, but this puppy is full color.

And I'll repeat, the inner (English) insert is Player's Choice, but the outer (French) insert is not. If it's always been the same in your experience, how many games has that been? Maybe I have a rarity on my hands. :-)

It's mostly likely not a rarity but rather just them getting rid of some old stock at the packing plant. My greatest hits version of Jak II didn't even have Greatest Hits on any of the packaging, It was just a shrink wrapped in with the french packaging and manual.

[badinsults]

Yeah, most games you get here come with an all-english insert, and a French/English insert, as well as French and English manuals.

[Zing]

I moved to Ontario from Ohio and I absolutely DESPISE how EVERYTHING has French on it. I refuse to "collect" anything with French on it. As was mentioned, DVDs are the most often ruined by having both languages printed directly on everything.

Luckily, PlayStation 1 and 2 games (which are what I own) appear to never have French packaging. The exception to this are Square-Enix games, with their cute little maple leaf icon on the top corner and French packaging. This means I was forced to buy the US versions of the Final Fantasy games from Ebay.

Xbox games seem to be direct US imports and never have French printing. They very rarely have the additional French manual shrinkwrapped to the back of the case.

It would kill me if I was a Nintendo fan, though. Almost every single game release has special French packaging.

[Mayhem]

But as mentioned, most of it where it happens is just removable inserts and manual leaving the English version untouched underneath. I've only noticed Nintendo and Capcom actually specifically just one inlay for Canada that has both English and French on it.

[joshnickerson]

This is very loosely related to the topic, but I've got a question. If the packaging has to be bi-lingual, does that mean the actual game has to be as well? I mean, do they have to insert French sub-titles or voice acting into it?

[Mayhem]

No, only the packaging/manual. If it had to be ingame as well, no one would ever bother selling stuff in Canada

[njiska]

This is very loosely related to the topic, but I've got a question. If the packaging has to be bi-lingual, does that mean the actual game has to be as well? I mean, do they have to insert French sub-titles or voice acting into it?

Technically it's not required to be bi-lingual at all. The only reason that the packaging is bi-lingual is because Quebecistan law requires Quebecois on the packaging for items for sale in Quebec and it's easier to just add binlingual packaging rather then having two seperate versions (however this is not always the case). The law does not require Quebecois text or voice in the game although some games do contain a Quebecois track.

The reason i keep specifically stating Quebecois instead of french is because it's a special derivitive of french and i figure that's why Canadian games don't just get the European french soundtrack.

[Falcon]

Yup, its been going on like this for a while in Canada. I have a little pile beside me with all of the French Manuals and the outer Covers all in flawless condition. It might be worth something for the french collectors one day

Whats happened to me before was that I bought SOCOM 2 for $19.99 and it said Greatest Hits. I opened it up, taking out the French Manual and such, and it was the original packaging, so I was happy.