The world of video games is creative beyond imagination; quite literally so! The Playstation, Game Boy or even a smartphone is like a portal that opens into an astonishing universe. But what is most astonishing is that irrespective of country, creed, colour or fitgirl language, gamers the world over are playing the same games.
Consider the following names: Masaya Matsuura, Hironobu Sakaguchi, Satoshi Tajiri, Hideo Kojima, and Shigeru Miyamoto. Do you know that these five Japanese gentlemen are among the top ten video game designers? Games like Metal Gear and the all-consuming Pokemon are universal phenomena because of the magic of video game translation and localisation.
The second level is to just localise the packaging and manuals but not the game itself. This is possible if the target market has a fair understanding of the original language or if the game does not carry much text or story.
The third level involves translating game text while retaining the original audio files, thus making the game understandable in another language without the additional cost of hiring actors for voice-overs. Sub-titles will help the game along.
The final level is the Big Job of localisation where All the game’s assets will be translated and localised- box packaging, game text, manuals, graphics, audio, etc. This is an expert and expensive task and is the premise of AAA game companies.
Translation of text is a large chunk of localisation. Not just manuals, scripts and subtitles but utility software like word processors or an internet browser that makes the game interactive need translation into the target language.
There will also be a need for company logos, legal labelling requirements, technical information, etc. to be translated. Space provided in the original will have to be suitably altered and utilised to match the target language.
Video games localised for the German market have to consider the country’s strict policies against the depiction of blood, violence, irreverent behaviour and improper language as well as racist symbols like the Nazi Swastika.
Localisation must steer clear of controversy or all that money spent on the process goes down the drain when Big brother cracks down on the finished product. This is probably why most games are set in imaginary lands and worlds!
The post-gold model allows localisers to access a completed game to go about their work. In this case, because the picture is complete, translation errors are few and far between if present at all. But the downside to this model of shipping is that there is a time lag between the release of the original and the localised versions which might open the door to piracy.
The sim-ship (simultaneous shipment) model works towards the simultaneous release of a game across various markets. Though this circumvents the threat of piracy, it is more prone to errors in translation. This is because a completed version of the game may not be made available to localizers resulting in misreading of context. It’s like working to improve a jig-saw puzzle with many of the pieces missing.
Video games have become increasingly sophisticated and complicated. In the 2000s a lone wolf localiser with a phrase book was enough to do the necessary translation/localisation. Today translation and localisation of content into, say, five languages can involve as many as 270 actors and 130 personnel! This is how complex and lengthy the process has become!