The present article discusses the notion of translation hacking and attempts to chart the history of this practice in the Arabic context. It also discusses the current practices of translation hacking by examining the work of a well-organized online community of Arab translation hackers called Games in Arabic (GiA). To this end, the study adopts two methods for data collection. First, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the first translation hackers in the Arab world in order to document the history of this practice. Second, a cyberethnographic approach was adopted to collect qualitative data related to GiA, including their translation hacking practices and the technologies used to facilitate their collaborative work. Subsequently, this article attempts to reveal the roles played by the different GiA community members in executing their projects and how they control for quality in their work. Ultimately, the article attempts to provide insights into the practice of Arabic game localization performed by amateur translators, hackers, and gamers, in the hope of adding to current professional and pedagogical practices in Arabic game localization.
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Gameography
Captain Tsubasa II (1990). Tecmo
Dementium: The Ward (2007). Renegade Kid
Devil May Cry 5 (2019). Capcom
Disco Elysium (2019). ZA/UM
Dororo: Blood Will Tell (2004). Sega Wow and Red Entertainment
Dragon Warrior (1986). Chunsoft
Final Fantasy VI (1994). Square
Fire Emblem 1 (1990). Intelligent Systems
Fire Emblem 6 (2002). Intelligent Systems
God of War II (2007). SCE Santa Monica Studio
Hercules (1997). Eurocom and Tiertex Design Studios
Life Is Strange (2015). Dontnod Entertainment
Life Is Strange 2 (2018). Dontnod Entertainment and Feral Interactive
Ninja Gaiden (1989). Tecmo
Ninja Gaiden Trilogy (1995). Tecmo
Pac-Man (1980). Namco
Pepsiman (1999). Kindle Imagine Develop
Pokémon: Ruby (2002). Game Freak
Popeye (1982). Nintendo Research & Development 1 and Ikegami Tsushinki
Resident Evil 3 Remake (2020). Capcom
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999). Capcom
Resident Evil- Code:Veronica (2000). Capcom Production Studio 4
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (2019). From Software
Super Mario Bros (1985). Nintendo
Tarzan (1999). Eurocom and Digital Eclipse
Tetris (1989). Nintendo Research & Development 1
The Dragon (1995). Ramar International Co., Ltd
The Evil Within in (2014). Tango Gameworks
The Last of Us (2013). Naughty Dog
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998). Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (2004). Flagship
The Witcher 3 (2015). CD Projekt Red
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (2011). Naughty Dog
Winning Eleven 6 (2002). Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo
Cited by (5)
Cited by five other publications
Al-Batineh, Mohammed & Moza Al Tenaijy
2024. Adapting to technological change: An investigation of translator training and the translation market in the Arab world. Heliyon 10:7 ► pp. e28535 ff.
Lahiani, Raja
2024. Recreating relevance: translated Arabic idioms through a relevance theory lens. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 11:1
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 8 november 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.