Pronunciation

There are a couple of names in video games that are kind of controversial for me. Some of them are even used by voice actors in the games, but I’m still not necessarily convinced. (See my entry on the Shannara books for even more disregard to official sources when it comes to pronunciation.)

Metroid

Aran: This one’s not so important to me, but I stress the second syllable in Samus’s last name even though the Federation computer in Prime 3 stresses the first.

Varia: This one gets me. You definitely want to stress the I here, but in Prime 3 they stress the first A. That doesn’t sound nearly as cool.

Ridley: I admit that using a short “i" here would be the obvious choice, but for whatever reason I read it with a long “i" when I first saw it, and it’s hard for me to convince myself to change. My way makes him sound more like a monster and less like a scheming leader (although he is arguably both.)

Gradius

On this one, I’m pretty sure I’m right. I’ve heard this said with a long A, but the A should definitely be short. Think about how you say “gladiator” or “graduate."

Deku

It’s said with a short e. Period.

Ikaruga

I’m pretty sure anyone who speaks Japanese could set this one straight, but I don’t think I know anyone who does – or at least no one who wants to talk about space shooter games. My initial reading was “eye-ka-RU-ga,” but I suspect it’s more like “i-KA-ru-ga.”