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Article published In:
Game Localisation
Edited by Xiaochun Zhang and Samuel Strong
[The Journal of Internationalization and Localization 4:2] 2017
► pp. 141–161

Targeted translation

How game translations are used to meet market expectations

 | Victoria University of Wellington, Japanese Programme
Japanese popular culture in the form of anime, manga, and videogames, enjoys significant popularity with diehard international fan groups, who have often become acquainted with aspects of Japanese culture through fan-translated media. However, this base of knowledgeable fans stands unique amongst standard translation practice, which seeks to iron out cultural specificities to create a text that reads flawlessly for a mass audience. This article therefore sets out to explain how videogame translators adopt targeted translation strategies to make their products more marketable to either a mass audience, the members of which may be ignorant, ambivalent, or even hostile to Japanese pop culture products, or to dedicated niche fan groups whose interest in Japan has been stoked by unofficial translations that frequently position themselves as the only avenue for accessing an “authentic” text. The final releases for eight pairs of Japanese games from the Role-Playing Game genre will be analysed to illustrate how far-reaching translation decisions have been used to make individual games more marketable to either group.
Keywords: videogames, localisation, translation strategy, fan translation, Japanese-English translation
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Translation pressures from the videogame industry
  • 3.The fans of Japan
  • 4.Case studies
    • 4.1Treatment of proper nouns in mass games
    • 4.2Preservation of cultural cues in mass games
    • 4.3Fidelity versus naturalness in mass games
    • 4.4Audiovisual translation in mass games
    • 4.5Treatment of proper nouns in niche games
    • 4.6Preservation of cultural cues in niche games
    • 4.7Fidelity versus naturalness in niche games
    • 4.8Audiovisual translation in niche games
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 26 January 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jial.00006.ran
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Gameography
Game title (publisher, year of first release)
Atelier Rorona Plus: The Alchemist of Arland (Koei Tecmo 2013)Google Scholar
Bravely Default (Square-Enix 2013)Google Scholar
Destiny (Activision 2014)Google Scholar
Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten (Nippon Ichi Software 2011)Google Scholar
Final Fantasy VII (Square 1997)Google Scholar
Final Fantasy X HD (Square-Enix 2013)Google Scholar
Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar Games 2013)Google Scholar
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth (Compile Heart 2013)Google Scholar
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (Square-Enix 2013)Google Scholar
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (Bandai Namco 2011)Google Scholar
Persona 4: Golden (Atlus 2012)Google Scholar
Pokemon X (The Pokemon Company 2013)Google Scholar
Soulcalibur series(Bandai Namco 1996 –)Google Scholar
Star Wars: The Old Republic (Electronic Arts 2011)Google Scholar
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