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Press Release Odynaut Game Company

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odynaut
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Odynaut Games

New Dutch game company releases its first three card games

Life is a game

In an age in which computer games and apps inundate the headlines, the Odynaut Game Company still believes there is great fun to be had with old-fashioned board and card games. In the fall of 2012, the Odynauts -a competitive race of aliens that are the main characters in the company’s games- will have their biggest adventure yet, when they make their debut in the gaming world. At Spiel 2012 in Essen, the Odynaut Game Company will introduce the world to its three first games.

The games

The Odynaut Game Company will enter the gaming market by introducing not one, not two, but three new games: Chipleader, Rule the Roost and Cavemen Playing with Fire.They are three seperate card games, with their own gameplay and themes, but there is one common factor that binds all of them: they were all devised by the Odynauts. And now, everyone can enjoy them! In the addictive game Chipleader, you visit the world’s most famous casinos in an effort to collect the most chips. In Rule the Roost you try to become the biggest, baddest rooster on the farm. In the tactical game Cavemen Playing with Fire, you are a caveman that has to put out her opponent’s fire before they put out yours.

Background

The Odynaut Game Company is an independent game company owned by Steffan Ros that produces board and card games. The Odynauts were brought to life in cooperation with Uco Egmond—most well-known for his illustrations in the Dutch Eppo comics. The storyline, the characters and the adventures are all the creation of Steffan Ros. He believes that his experience as a scenario writer for Dutch television shows such as “Westenwind” and “IC” combined with his passion for playing games assure that the Odynaut games have a unique flavor.

Steffan Ros: “The never-ending search for new games and the adventures of the Odynauts are the starting point for all the new games that they and you can thoroughly enjoy. And enjoyment is precisely the point: the Odynaut Game Company wants the time someone invests in learning and playing a game to be worth their while! That sounds ambitious because I am. The Odynaut game company has already begun to develop new games for the Odynaut series. I am also open to releasing board or card games created by others. At least if they get my approval and that of the Odynauts. I am also thinking about other ways to tell the stories of the Odynauts. For instance, the Odynauts would not mind their own comic or television series. The launch of the first three Odynaut card games is only the beginning as far as I am concerned. It is a begin to be proud of!”

Pro-orders, manuals and more info at www.odynautgames.com

Visit us at Spiel 2012 Essen Germany: booth 4-321

Traz
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oh my goodness....

And I thought the Orientals needed help with their English....

Guys - went to your website and checked you out - your English REALLY needs to be cleaned up! Some of the phrases used are actually comical where you intend seriousness. Not sure who on your staff vetted the English version of your website, but it was obviously not a native English speaker.

Do you have any sales reps or other employees who are native English speakers? If so, I suggest you get your money's worth out of them. You present your designer-in-chief as a serious writer/designer [one who has two popular TV shows under his belt], but the website descriptions of him and his abilities are very difficult to take seriously because of the gaffes in translation. I'm sure your native Dutch is very impressive, but the English version is not helping your reputation.

No disrespect intended - anybody who can write successful TV shows is obviously an accomplished wordcrafter [well - maybe not the guys who write children's shows for Disney or Nick]. I'm just concerned that nobody has taken the time to point out the problems in your presentation.

As an example - here is a small piece about the fellow you're hanging your hat on-

"As a screenwriter he worked on various television dramas such as Westenwind and I.C. For the CliniClowns foundation Steffan is came up with transmedial (internet) concepts. At the moment Steffan is a creative at Tuvalu Media. That all these creative skills are of great value in devising new board and card games is, of course, beyond dispute.

An adder factor is also actually playing the games. As a game lover Steffan likes to be challenged, surprised, frustrated, or tricked to find out for himself what does or does not work."

Any decent copywriter would have caught the half-dozen gaffes in this section... if he was a native English speaker. Your product seems well thought out - I'd hate for your big rollout to not be taken seriously.

dobnarr
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Huh?

I read parts of the site and really didn't find it bad; a couple things I'd change when editing, but I had nowhere near the horrible reaction the previous poster had. If your audience is primarily English natives, it might be worth having a copy editor run over it, catch misspellings and restructure some sentences, but to me, it's not a big deal.

Also, criticizing others' ad copy as inappropriate in a post that opens with a prejudiced statement using an offensive-to-some 1950's era ethnic descriptor ("Orientals") is a bit ironic.

Regardless, the games look cool...

Traz
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dobbie, dobbie, dobbie....

'offensive to some' is just PC to others [which is extremely offensive to me - I personally believe PC is a form of verbal racism designed to inoculate the PCer against all others while being condescending].

That being said - I'm interested... which label would you choose to use lump all of the Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Indonesian attempts to produce English manuals that we all recognize as poor attempts? Probably just showing my age, but 'oriental' just came out - when did 'THAT' hit the PC list? Ah well...

As to my review of the English of the folks at Odynaut, I probably did go a bit overboard - I was just flabbergasted that the focus of the piece on the ABOUT US page of their website spent a lot of time praising the virtues of the owner of the company, Steffan Ros, who is listed as the SCREENWRITER of various television productions, including two different hit series.

It might be just the silliness in me, but if that were my company, I would certainly write my own bio on my own website [he is also listed as coming 'up with transmedial (internet) concepts'.

I'll be the first to stand up and say that I'm as guilty as the next guy of typos [I just finished a 260,000 word novel - you don't want to know], but I'm not working in a different language. I can't imagine what this guy is dealing with.

My point [obviously poorly stated], was that Steffan may or may not be aware that whoever did the English translation didn't do him a big favor. As a *screenwriter* I would expect my presentation to be spot on. Was the website as sad as some of the manuals I've opened? Heck no. But it was NOT as polished as I would expect for a published, popular screenwriter. I have little doubt that the page in its original Dutch was just fine. It's possible that the whole thing was run through a software 'filter' for us English speakers [meh - can't rag on the guy too much for that].

I just wanted to throw a heads up to the poor guy that readers might have a hard time taking him seriously after reading the page. You might not have thought it was that bad, but I found myself cringing for the guy in a number of places because it was difficult for me to keep from laughing out loud.

Bottom line - if he ever comes back to check his own thread, I hope he gets an honest opinion rather than just a pass that leaves him exposed as some guy trolling for attention. A guy that perhaps isn't everything he says he is. I would hope *he* would have something to say, or a few questions to ask. I'd be more than happy to talk to him about it offline or via email.

I may be wrong, but isn't there a way to delete posts once they've been made? I'm not here to slap anybody around for things that [as I perceive them] are not necessarily their fault. I'd happily ask to have all these posts removed if it would help the guy get his English straight. It looks like they've got a decent thing going [they're taking it all to Essen for cryin' out loud], but there's a part of me that worries if his English was that bad, that his German might be worse and his rulebooks could become objects of ridicule instead of triumphant sales figures.

I worry about those things for myself - don't you?

Tj
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Hobbiest Designer living in Holland

Greetings Odynaut Game Company,

I am a hobbiest designer with three designs that will be on display as prototypes at Essen (one with US patent). Will be in Hall 7, Both 203. I also work in the field of education and would be happy to help in editing if you feel a need. Look forward to seeing you there.

odynaut
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Tj wrote:Greetings Odynaut

Tj wrote:
Greetings Odynaut Game Company,

I am a hobbiest designer with three designs that will be on display as prototypes at Essen (one with US patent). Will be in Hall 7, Both 203. I also work in the field of education and would be happy to help in editing if you feel a need. Look forward to seeing you there.

Hi there, I am looking forward to meet you. About the English: we already did some editing. The guy above had a point but was a bit offensive.

odynaut
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dobnarr wrote:I read parts of

dobnarr wrote:
I read parts of the site and really didn't find it bad; a couple things I'd change when editing, but I had nowhere near the horrible reaction the previous poster had. If your audience is primarily English natives, it might be worth having a copy editor run over it, catch misspellings and restructure some sentences, but to me, it's not a big deal.

Also, criticizing others' ad copy as inappropriate in a post that opens with a prejudiced statement using an offensive-to-some 1950's era ethnic descriptor ("Orientals") is a bit ironic.

Regardless, the games look cool...

Thanks!

Traz
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odynaut wrote: About the

odynaut wrote:


About the English: we already did some editing. The guy above had a point but was a bit offensive. [/quote]
Odynaut,
All I can do is point you to my follow up post. My intent was NEVER to be offensive, but informative. I've apologized before, but maybe that got lost in the length of my post. Let me do it again.

I APOLOGIZE IF OFFENSE WAS TAKEN.

It was never offered.

If you would like to discuss this with me personally, I can offer you my direct email address:

cehendrix@sbcglobal.net

I don't hide, and I'm here to help.

odynaut
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No worries mate! Traz

No worries mate!

Traz wrote:
odynaut wrote:


About the English: we already did some editing. The guy above had a point but was a bit offensive.

Odynaut,
All I can do is point you to my follow up post. My intent was NEVER to be offensive, but informative. I've apologized before, but maybe that got lost in the length of my post. Let me do it again.

I APOLOGIZE IF OFFENSE WAS TAKEN.

It was never offered.

If you would like to discuss this with me personally, I can offer you my direct email address:

cehendrix@sbcglobal.net

I don't hide, and I'm here to help.[/quote]

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