The Benefits of Game Rating Systems for Developers and Localizers
From movies to manga, many entertainment industries rely on ratings systems and boards to help consumers find appropriate content to enjoy. Rating organizations, such as the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) in North America, have come to shape the growth of modern gaming. Love them or not… Game ratings systems have their fair share of […]
Women in Localization: Perspectives from Japanese-to-English Localizers
If you ask the average outsider to picture someone who works in tech or video games, chances are they’ll picture a man. This may be especially true in relation to content from Japan, where women struggle to have their voices heard in the male-dominated workforce. Yet more and more women are becoming involved in tech […]
The Linguistic Art of Transcreation in Video Game Localization
Localized video games would not be fun to play if they used direct translations. Word-for-word translation has its place in certain fields, but interactive entertainment is not one of them. Localizing video games calls for a freer, more creative approach to translation, and that’s where transcreation makes its mark. Rather than merely substituting one word […]
Perspectives on Game Loc: Censorship or Cultural Adaptation?
Video Game localizers have a tough challenge when it comes to adapting content for a new language and culture. If the goal is to create an immersive experience that mimics the feel of the game for a native speaker of the original language, cultural adaptation is necessary. Jokes, pop-culture references, or religious symbolism used in […]
Reaching Local and Global Audiences at TGS 2020
Hybrid Presentation Style. The Tokyo Game Show 2020 took the changes due to COVID-19 in stride as it ran for four days from September 24 to 27. Like most conventions this year, TGS went virtual. Despite new challenges, it managed to showcase some of the biggest Japanese game franchise’s upcoming titles such as Monster Hunter […]
How Games Immerse Players in Worlds Without Words
I recently began playing two games that don’t have much in common on the surface: Untitled Goose Game and Unravel Two. One focuses on a trouble-making goose, and the other on two anthropomorphic yarn beings. While they’re equally captivating and entertaining in their own rights, they share a dearth of spoken words. Both games lack […]
Empathy through Video Games – Building a New Cross – Cultural Society
Though some still maintain that playing video games leads to antisocial behavior, most gamers today tout the community built around their shared virtual worlds. Once ridiculed, gaming is now gaining attention for bringing together people of different ethnicities, backgrounds, countries, and cultures in a way that nothing else can. People who have never (and likely […]
