SAN FRANCISCO — Want to know what it takes to write "Super Smash Brothers: Brawl," why 2007 is the first year Mario went to Japan, and just who can't keep a straight face when talking about why Solid Snake can't stand Wario?

In what has become an annual tradition, Nintendo localization producer Nate Bihldorff sat down with GameFile to talk about the games he's in charge of writing — or, thanks to a promotion, overseeing the writing of — for this holiday season. Unlike last year, the talk didn't have to do with crying (see "GameFile: Crying Over 'Elite Beat Agents'; Wii, PS3 Not Quite Ready & More"). This year, his wide-ranging update was highlighted by talk of, well, farting.

Bihldorff was serving as one of Nintendo's representatives for the gaming giant's media summit, a top-floor hotel showcase that served as an arcade where reporters could play major upcoming Wii and DS games, including "Super Mario Galaxy" and "Super Smash Brothers Brawl." The latter was announced as being delayed until February 10, but reporters were able to get hands-on with the game.

At a few moments during the two-day event, all but one of the TV screens in the room were turned off to showcase a major game. When one such session began for "Guitar Hero III," Bihldorff agreed to a rapid, 15-minute interview.

He laid out which projects he and the writers he's advising are working on. "We were real busy with 'Galaxy' for a while and 'Link's Crossbow Training,' " he said. "Typical holiday rush. We get all of these games at once. I'm also spending a lot of time on 'Master of Illusion' as well." The last one is a magic-trick program made for the DS. In each case, the games are being developed and initially written in Japan. Translators in the U.S. put them in English. The group Bihldorff works with polishes the writing for an American audience. And that's how they wind up having to deal with, among other things, the farting.

About a month or so ago, Bihldorff explained, he accompanied the voice actors responsible for the main characters in the "Metal Gear Solid" series into a studio to record voices for "Super Smash Brothers Brawl." "MGS" hero Solid Snake is one of the combatants in the "Smash" fighting game, so it was a smooth transition. Snake's opponents, aside from Sonic the Hedgehog, represent a who's who of Nintendo characters. And in fitting with the traditions of Snake's series, a signature "MGS" codec sequence — an audio briefing — needed to be recorded for each character. Snake's superiors would, essentially, be briefing Snake on each of the characters. The "Metal Gear" characters, gruff and serious as ever, play it straight, even when the situation calls for the no-nonsense Colonel to warn Snake that enemy combatant Wario has a lethal farting attack.

The scripts for the exchanges were written in Japan, approved, in this case, by Hideo Kojima, creator of "Metal Gear," and then translated and recorded in English in the U.S. "As [the 'Smash Brothers' developers] were writing them, they knew they were going to be very, very funny. And so the actors took it that way. Going through the Wario sequence where it's the Colonel in this very serious voice telling Snake he's attacking by farting, the [actor playing the] Colonel was just cracking up. The first three or four takes he just couldn't do it. Then he got into character and banged it out there."

Bihldorff said the "Metal Gear" actors were true pros. "They were up for anything," he said. "There was no, 'Hey, I wouldn't be talking to Pikachu like that.' " So what do they wind up saying about Sonic? What would Solid Snake say about the blue hedgehog? Bihldorff wouldn't say but assured GameFile that all the codec sequences would be easy to access in the game. He said Snake reveals a wide range, from "really disliking characters" to, well, in an already-released clip, preparing to flirt with one of them.

Bihldorff is also in charge of the Smash Brothers Dojo, a blog from "Brawl" creator Masahiro Sakurai. That entails Bihldorff getting "chunks" of text bit by bit from Japan, about three or five weeks before they are ready to be published, and then making sure they are translated, written smoothly and passed on for any further translation needed by Nintendo of Europe.

The rest of Bihldorff's "Smash" duties include confirming the language for the game's gallery of trophies, rewards that commemorate characters and moments from Nintendo history and the history of the "Metal Gear" and "Sonic" series. (That compels him to play a lot of old games: "It's a little bit easier in this day and age because of YouTube," he said. "If I want to see the boss battle for something, I can go find it online. Maybe I'm just masochistic, but part of me likes doing the legwork and actually experiencing those games myself because I know Sakurai-san did too."

For "Super Mario Galaxy," Bihldorff took part in naming the galaxies for the game's U.S. version, but the rest of the writing has been handled by others at Nintendo of America. He said the writing is, expectedly, whimsical and that it's very light in dialogue, as has been the tradition with Mario platform games.

Bihldorff said the "Galaxy" writing only kicked into overdrive in the last couple of months. But he said the groundwork for localizing the game was laid a few months ago, when Charles Martinet, longtime voice actor for Mario, went with Bihldorff to Japan to record his lines (yelp included) for the game. "That's the first time we took him to Japan," Bihldorff said, noting that Martinet has only recorded previous Mario lines in the U.S. "This was just a perfect storm sort of a project where we had a lot of different projects that we'd be using his voice in and we thought, 'Why not bring him over there? He's never met a lot of these guys.' " Martinet had met "Mario" creator Shigeru Miyamoto, but not many others. "He was very popular," Bihldorff added. Does that mean a lot of people asked him to say, "It's-a me, Mario!"? Indeed. "He is asked to say that all the time. That's nothing new for him."

Wrapping up the interview, Bihldorff couldn't talk about any of the other projects he and his team of five writers are working on. "Beyond that, there's [2008] stuff that I'm not allowed to talk about," he said. "[Quarter one] is looking pretty good as well."

And with that tease, he wrapped up — perhaps not to talk to GameFile for another full year.

More from the world of video games:

The biggest third-party publisher in games just got bigger. Late last week, Electronic Arts announced that it purchased the game development studios BioWare and Pandemic, two top-flight organizations that had joined forces in late 2005. EA announced that the acquisition may cost the company up to $620 million. BioWare is the respected studio behind the role-playing games "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic" and "Neverwinter Nights," along with the major November Xbox 360 exclusive "Mass Effect." Pandemic broke through on the original Xbox with the military game "Full Spectrum Warrior" and is currently developing a sequel to the open-world action game "Mercenaries." In a conference call for investors regarding the purchase, EA made it clear that it will have rights to the "Mass Effect" series, which leaves Xbox 360's exclusivity to the rest of the "ME" trilogy in doubt. The acquisition gives EA added development muscle in Edmonton, Alberta, and Austin, Texas (thanks to BioWare) and L.A. and Brisbane, Australia (thanks to Pandemic). EA execs assured investors and reporters that the two newly acquired companies will be allowed to retain their identities. It's also been noted, and confirmed by GameFile, that one of the more unusual projects at BioWare — a "Sonic" role-playing game for the DS — will still be developed, even though it's unlikely EA will be able to publish it instead of "Sonic" rights-holder Sega. ...

An old classic is swinging back, though not with the motion-control some expected. Capcom announced this week through Web site GameSpot that the company's 1988 "Bionic Commando" will be returning in spirit as a game for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. According to the GameSpot report: "Where the original 'Bionic Commando' followed players on a mission to rescue a fellow agent named Super Joe, the new game's storyline appears to carry a more cynical edge. After serving his country honorably in conflict with the Imperials, technologically enhanced agent Nathan Spencer is framed for a number of crimes by his superiors and sentenced for execution. Fate intervenes, as an experimental terrorist weapon is detonated in Ascension City on the day Spencer is to be executed. With the city in ruins and Spencer uniquely equipped to handle the many skyscrapers, monorails and suspended roadways, the government reluctantly turns to its imprisoned bionic commando for help."

For much more about Nintendo's big holiday games and other breaking news, check out our Multiplayer blog.