Chatting with the man behind the PSP's TalkMan
Is it a bird? Is it a game? Sort of, but mainly it's a chat-up aid for designer Yoshi Yamamoto
Despite what some people would have you believe, the annual E3 games showcase is a great event. And this year the experience was made even better by meeting Yoshi Yamamoto, the man behind the innovative PSP translation product-slash-game TalkMan.
Originally employed by Sony Japan to handle music licensing – previously he'd been a rock band promoter – Yamamoto explains the idea for TalkMan came after he'd met a beautiful girl while holidaying in Italy.
Unfortunately he didn't speak Italian, she didn't speak English, so the pair could only look and smile at each other. Even getting her email address didn't work because he couldn't read her handwriting! The holiday romance thus remained unconsumated, but it did spark his inspiration.
"Back home in Japan, I wanted to speak Italian but I didn't want to learn it," Yamamoto says, in his near perfect English.
He experimented with five electronic dictionaries but they weren't any fun to use: "I wanted something that would make the other person smile."
When the PSP was announced, however, Yamamoto immediately saw its potential to address his needs, and so he spoke to his boss.
"Our company is the sort of place where whoever has the idea, does the idea," he laughs. And so he ended up with his own development team.
As for the TalkMan game (or, more accurately, product), it will be released in different language versions. The European one will handle English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Japanese, while the already-released Asian version does American English, Japanese, Chinese and Korean.
It works by breaking down a pre-set library of 3,000 useful phrases into a dozen or so sections, such as Shopping, Hotel, Emergency and General.
To access a phrase, you choose the appropriate setting and then speak into the supplied microphone, which slots into the PSP's USB port. The in-game avatar – a comical blue bird called Max – then tries to match the spoken phrase with one in TalkMan's library. Finally, Max speaks the phrase in the target language you've chosen, while text is also displayed on the screen.
According to Yamamoto, it's at this point you should hand your PSP to the person you're trying to communicate with; that's why he came with the idea Max as an avatar, especially as you can also add emotions to the way he says the chosen phrase. Max's goofy antics bring more of a game-like atmosphere to TalkMan.
Indeed, while it's designed to be used as a communication device, Sony is keen to stress TalkMan is more a toy than a life-saver. (It has flash screens warning that it shouldn't be used in emergency situations, for example.) And of course it doesn't actually help you to learn a language or understand any replies you might receive.
However Yamamoto reckons his creation does the job in entertainment terms. "I used it in China to get discounts in shops and the assistants loved it," he says. "I had to repeat the same phrase ten times – they thought it was hilarious."
The TalkMan package is rounded out with a couple of limited game modes, as well as some useful travel features such as a currency converter and a friends map where your mates can record short greetings. But perhaps the most impressive thing about TalkMan is Yamamoto's sheer enthusiasm.
"Too many games are about killing and evil," he says. "TalkMan is a happy, peaceful game." With sales of over 150,000 in Asia, let's hope TalkMan will continue to improve international relations when it's released in the UK and Europe in mid-June. (Click "Track It!" to hear how we get on with it then.)
