Video game localization

Since the beginning of video game history, video games have been localized. One of the first widely popular video games, Pac-Man was localized from Japanese. The original transliteration of the Japanese title would be "Puck-Man", but the decision was made to change the name when the game was imported to the United States out of fear that the word 'Puck' would be vandalized into an obscenity. In addition, the names of the ghosts were originally based on colors - roughly translating to "Reddie", "Pinky", "Bluey", and "Slowly". Rather than translate these names exactly, they were renamed to Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde. This choice maintained the odd-man-out style of the original names without adhering to their exact meaning. This is an early example of a change in cultural context. For example, the original translation for the Sega Genesis game Beyond Oasis was discarded as the editor considered it nonsensical and an entirely new story was rewritten without any input from the translator. Graphical capability also improved making games more cinematic, so making sure the newly recorded voice lines matched the lip movements of the characters was important. Also, ensuring that visual gestures of animated characters made sense to a different audience was important. Modern video games are becoming increasingly complex in scope. As opposed to their older counterparts, video games can have a large amount of dialogue and voice over, making localization efforts significantly harder. The team in charge of localizing Fable II into five languages consisted of 270 actors and 130 personnel. ==Styles of localization==

There are many styles of localizing a video game. "No localization" is when a game is released in an overseas territory with little to no effort to localize the game. "Box and documentation localization" is when only the manuals and box are translated into the target language, but the game itself is not. This style is mostly chosen if the game is an arcade game or if the target country is expected to decently know the original language. In partial localization, the game's text is translated, but voice-over files are not re-recorded. This style is popular with many new Japanese role-playing games and visual novels. Full localization is when all assets of a game are translated and all voice-over is recorded in the target language. This option is usually undertaken by AAA game companies. Academics in translation studies describe four primary methods for translating video games: foreignization (keeping a "foreign taste"), domestication (translating as game to suit characteristics and cultural standards of the destination), no translation (leaving parts of the game in the source language), and transcreation (creating a new text in the destination language). ==Production models==

Officially produced localization generally fit into one of two categories: "Post-gold" or "Sim-ship". Post-gold means that the game has been released and completed. This usually means there is a gap of time between the release of a localized version and original. The other main model is "Sim-ship". This is when a localization is produced before the original game has been released. This method is more viable as games are prone to be pirated at release so there is a profit incentive to releasing this way. There are two means to go about making a localization that follow one of each of these models: outsourced or in-house. Most game companies in North America and Europe rely on outsourcing as a means of localization. This model is also popular in emerging video game markets such as Chile, Russia, and China. When outsourced, a company that specializes in producing localization is hired to undertake the process. If a localization is outsourced, the developers will usually provide the outsourced company with a localization kit. A localization kit may contain elements such as general information about the project (including deadlines, contact information, software details), resources about the game itself (a walk-through, plot or character descriptions, cheat codes), reference materials (glossaries of terms used in the game world or used for the specific hardware), software (such as computer-aided translation tools), code, and the assets to be translated. Companies may choose to localize in-house. This practice is common for Japanese developers, most notably Square Enix. When localized in-house, the process is completely controlled by the original developers. Although it is common practice to hire freelance translators to work alongside the development team, in-house producers usually have greater access to the original game and to the original artists and authors, who can be consulted about changing art assets or story concerns. Since Japanese companies prefer the post-gold method, in-house translation is favored. In-house productions usually have fewer mistakes and an overall smoother localization. The downside is that this causes a delay between the release of the international and home versions. Another means of localization is through the unauthorized effort of fans. Sometimes, fan interest and fanmade localization is used as a metric of interest. For example, when The Great Ace Attorney was only released in Japan and fans localized it into other languages upon release, it was clear to Capcom that there was enough interest in their game to warrant an international release with an official localization. == Tasks and challenges ==

The major types of localization are as follows: • Linguistic and cultural: the translation of language and cultural references maintaining the feel of the game but making it more appealing for the receiving locale. • Hardware and software: for example the change between PAL and NTSC, re-mapping of hotkeys, gameplay modifications. • Legal: age ratings may differ depending on the country of release. They are controlled by national or international bodies like PEGI (for Europe), ESRB (for US and Canada), ACB (for Australia), or CERO (for Japan). • Graphics and music: some games may exhibit different characters, or the same ones with a slightly different appearance in order to facilitate players identification with their avatar. Music may also vary according to national trends or the preferences of major fan communities. Localization can be affected by the space on the screen allocated for text, which is often set based on the source language. ==Cultural changes==

Often localization changes include adjusting a game to consider specific cultural sensitivities. These changes may be self-enforced by the developers themselves, or enacted by national or regional rating boards (Video game content rating system), but the games are still sometimes released with controversial or insensitive material, which can lead to controversy or recall of the product. Games localized for import into Germany often have significant changes made due to the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle's (USK) strict policies against blood and gore, profanity, and symbols associated with racial hatred, such as Nazi symbolism (until 2019). For instance, the German version of Team Fortress 2 (2007) has no blood or detached body parts as a result of this regulation, which can cause difficulty for players as it is hard to tell if an enemy has been hit or taken damage. As a result, mods known as "bloodpatches" have been created for this and many German games that allow the blood and gore of the original game to be unlocked. Despite a significant overhaul of the graphics, the German localization of the World War II game Wolfenstein (2009) contained a single visible swastika on an art asset. As a result, Raven Software recalled the game. China also has strict censorship rules, and forbids content that endangers the "unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state" or the "social moralities or fine national cultural traditions", amongst other qualifications. As a result, the Swedish PC game Hearts of Iron (2002), set during World War II, was banned because maps depicted Manchuria, West Xinjiang, and Tibet as independent states. Additionally, Taiwan was shown to be a territory of Japan, as was accurate for the time period, but these inclusions were considered harmful to China's territorial integrity, so the game was forbidden from being legally imported. The localization of Football Manager (2005) was similarly banned because Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China were all treated as separate teams, putting them on equal footing. Other localization challenges or controversies arise from material deemed too sexual for the cultural expectations of the target market. For example, when the Japanese game Xenoblade Chronicles X was localized for the North American market, the options to change a protagonist's bust size was removed, as were clothing options including bikinis. This resulted in complaints from American players who had been playing the Japanese version. Some translators of video games favor glocalization over the process of localization. In this context, glocalization seeks from the outset to minimize localization requirements for video games intended to be universally appealing. Academic Douglas Eyman cites the Mists of Pandaria expansion for World of Warcraft as an example of glocalization because it was designed at the outset to appeal to global audiences while celebrating Chinese culture. == Linguistic assets ==

In video games there are a number of different types of texts that require translation. These can be manuals, subtitles and dubbing scripts. There is another type of script that poses an issue to developers of localization. This type of script is in a format common with software like web browsers or word processors. Utility programs like this have a commonality with each other because a user can input any text into it. This is referred to as "interactivity". The interactive element of this type of text makes it difficult for producers of localization because it has an aspect of randomness, for example a user may have to input a command or a message at a certain point. The random nature of this takes away linearity and contextual information that a game has. As a result of this, translators do not have important sources in the translation process and loose both co-text and context in text. When the game is unfinished or an inadequate localization kit has been supplied the team must look elsewhere to draw from. There are many resources which they use to do this. Due to the differences between each of the ways a video game can be produced, there is no standard localization tool that producers use. In modern games it is able to do this in the game engine but older titles do not have this. There are multiple programs that can be used, most popular being Catalyst and Passolo, which allow producers to work directly with the game code. Producers of localizations deal with a variety of different linguistic assets, which include the game itself, the official website, promotional articles, game updates and patches. == Textual types and file formats ==

In a video game there are various types of text. Video games are also multimedia including a variety of different assets like video. Producers of localization's have to be knowledgeable in dealing with these. When dealing with cut-scenes or pre-rendered video, producers have to put effort into ensuring these stay relatively unchanged. The most important challenge is the lip-syncing of newly recorded dialogue, and fitting the subtitles into each part of a pre-recorded or pre-rendered scene. The types of text and files that are commonly found in video games are as follows: • Instruction manual is a document that outlines important details relating to the purchased video game. These can be instructions on how to use the game, a guide on how to complete the game and other information like corporate and legal texts. • Packaging can include the slip inserted into the DVD or CD case the video game comes in, or before optical disks were adopted in gaming, the box that a game came in. Packaging usually features the title of a game, its rating and logos of companies involved. It also features pictures and other points of information relating to a game. The manual is usually found within the packaging. • A Readme file is a file usually included with digital video games. It contains information on how to install the game and run it. • An official website is a website created for the promotion and usually the sale of a video game. The information found on a website is similar to that of a manual. • Dialogue for dubbing is the translated dialogue that is prepared for a voice actor to read out. • Dialogue for subtitling is the translated dialogue that is applied to pre-rendered or pre-recorded video. Most subtitles are hard-coded in to ensure that the video and subtitles are in-sync. • A user interface (UI) is what the player of a video game interacts with. It can contain a variety of different assets that need to be translated. Producers need to ensure that the interface's assets are big enough to contain readable text when translating, as well as confirming that graphics without text convey a clear message in the target market. Additionally, games must be able to support various special characters if the user is able to input text. ==Controversy==

During the 2010s there was significant debate surrounding the localisation of Japanese games, particularly for Nintendo platforms. Some fans consider resulting changes to plot and characterization as marring the original artistic vision, and some object to sexual content being removed or bowdlerized. In the face of Nintendo's unwillingness to communicate about localization, speculation and conspiracy theories circulated among enthusiasts, That initiative was controversial within the Gamergate movement, with some supporters considering it justifiable treatment of an ideological opponent, while others considered the campaign against Rapp to be unethical or not aligned with the movement's goals. Rapp was subsequently fired, though Nintendo issued a statement that the reason was that Rapp had held a second job against company policy. She maintains that her controversial online presence was the true cause. ==See also==