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LOCALIZATION OF VIDEO GAMES

Localization of Video Games

Nihan Çiçeksoy

Boğaziçi Üniversitesi
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Abstract

Purpose of this paper is to give detailed information about localization of video games,

especially in how it is done Turkey. The definition and history of both video games and

localization is given in a short but collected way and with good examples. Starting from the first

game ever, we came to today’s games and the history of video games and localization gets

tangled in the way. Translation of text, dubbing and subtitling, and cultural and legal issues are

touched upon. Also to put light to the subject “localization of video games in Turkey” about

which we have no clue at all. Even though a little unprofessional, it helps us to look into the

volunteer groups of localization in Turkey and how they work. Generally, for those who do not

have time or patience to look through many different sources, this paper is extremely useful with

its literature review and collected examples.

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LOCALIZATION OF VIDEO GAMES

Localization of Video Games

Definition of Video Games

The development of new professional practice calls for new research within

translation studies and a new area of specialization. (Merino, 2007) Localization of video games

are one of these new practices. However, before getting into a detailed analyzation of

localization, it is essential and beneficial to understand video games, which can be also referred

as “computer games”, “digital games,” and “electronic games” (Perron & Wolf, 2009, pp. 6–8).

They can be played on different consoles, such as computers, PlayStation, mobile telephones and

many others. Roughly games can be divided into three main groups by the consoles they are

played:

 Computer games (World of Warcraft, Dragon Age, Minefield)

 Console games (PS2, Xbox games)

 Arcade games, mobile game apps

Lack of published articles about video games makes it hard to find a consensus about

what are video games are and what they are not. Moreover, the fact that many of the published

articles are about video game controversies i.e. video game violence and their contribution on

aggressive behavior in children, shows the biased ideas about video games and explains why the

term video games is still ill-defined.

In his article What is a Video Game? A Short Explainer, Phil Owen claims that there are

two ways to explain what is a video game: the simple way and the complex way. The simple
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definition is that “a video game is interactive digital entertainment that you “play” via a

computer, a game console (like the Xbox or PlayStation) or a phone or tablet”. However, settling

with such a simple definition wouldn’t be fair to every video game producer and gamer in the

world. We can see a million different kinds of video games, different genres and types. To name

a few; action-adventure, role-playing, strategy and sports are first ones to come to mind. And

every one of them can be seen as a unique form of entertainment.

Video games are sports that take place in a computer.

They’re interactive TV shows and interactive movies.

They’re digital board games and card games. They’re rough

simulations of everyday life including, probably, whatever

you do for a living. Some video games are works of artistic

expression. Others don’t know what artistic expression is or

why you would care about whatever that is. (Owen, 2016)

Surely, even a non-gamer can understand difference between “The Sims” which is a life

simulation game and “Warcraft” series which are high fantasy real-time strategy games. They

can see the difference between their graphics, the aim of the games and the profile of the gamers

who prefer one of these games. Another example, more obvious and maybe funny could be

“Minefield”, a game that is included in Windows’ default programs and “FIFA”, a football

game. The difference between their complexity is easy to see, even to the most inexperienced

eyes.
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Moreover, while creating video games, different kind of techniques which are used in

different areas, has to be used. Knowing these techniques can help us understand the complexity

of video games:

 Architecture and sculpture: 3D modelling to create the scenery

 Literature and linguistics: narration, dialogue

 Math and physics: simulation of the environment to give the feeling of movement better

 Cinema and camera work: positioning the camera to enhance drama in the story.

 Telecommunication: fans playing together the same multiplayer games from home.

 Music and special effects: dynamic atmospheric music and sounds adjust to player

actions. (Merino, 2006)

Finally, main point of all these explanations is that video game industry is developing day

by day and video games are getting more and more unique and complex. And there are many

aspects of this industry that is not probed enough. One of these aspects is “localization of video

games”. However, before we start digging today’s large and tangled world of localization, let’s

go back to the beginning of not just localization but also video games.

History of Video Games

The history of video games starts somewhere between 1950s-70s. Just like every “first”

thing in history, it is also hard to say which computer game was first to be made. But general

agreement is in favor of a game called “Tennis for Two”. An American physicist working at the

Brookhaven National Laboratory, William Higinbotham, created Tennis for Two to entertain
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visitors and to present a friendly image. (Rabin, 2009, pp.6) Another examples from this time are

basic ones like the space combat game “Spacewar!” and the tic-tac-toe game “OXO”. Creation

of these prototypes brought many unseen results. In 1960-70s, companies started to seriously

consider the commercial exploitation of computer games. With the Japan’s entering to video

game industry, arcade games had their golden age and so did the Gameboys’. With the Japanese

companies like Nintendo and Sega, the dominance of video game production changed from the

United States to Japan. Video games became largely widespread, changed everyday life of

millions of people and created a multibillion dollar gaming industry. Prof. Dr. Mark Overmars

whose prime focus is game technology, explains the changes in game industry very successfully

in his article “A Brief History of Computer Games”. Budget per game expanded to five million

dollars. Primarily; games were developed by individuals, nowadays there are large teams of

programmers and graphic designers working on a game. There are some games that can be

referred as milestones in the history of video games. “The Sims” was first released in 2000 and is

one of the examples for these milestones. The franchise has sold more than 175 million copies

worldwide. Another important development was the rise of the MMORPG (massively

multiplayer online role-playing game). Surely, the most well-known of these is World of

Warcraft with 5.5 million subscriptions in 2015. (Overmars, 2012) With the addition of mobile

app games like “Candy Crush” and “Angry Birds”, the gaming sector snowballed and is still

getting bigger in every way. In 2015, video games were the third-biggest part of the U.S.

entertainment market, after broadcast and cable TV. (Superdata, 2015).

As I said earlier, there are many aspects of video games that are not probed enough.

History of localization in this area is one of them. Andovar Game Localization, a website of

localization solutions provider, summarizes the history of localization in video game area very
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well and makes it understandable for us. Those first games we talked about were created for the

national market by USA. Because that they did not include much text, they were easily

accessible to every customer in every market. Japanese game producers were first ones to think

about localization as USA market was a huge opportunity and opening for them. Its first and best

example is a game that is still played and well-known nowadays. The game “Pac-man” was

originally a Japanese game called “Pakkuman” and was one of the first games to be localized

into English with both the title and the characters. The acronym EFIGS (English, French, Italian,

German, and Spanish) was coined to describe the minimum default group of languages to

translate. It shows us that video game localization became a more professional area and started to

created its own terms. After a time; titles, texts, dialogues in game and manuals were translated

in many games but there was still a notable problem: audio translation. The first game to feature

human voices was “Dragon’s Lair” released in 1983. But it took approximately 15 years to start

audio translation. It was and still is the most expensive part of the localization. First game to

fully dubbed was Baldur’s Gate. It had several thousand voice files and hundreds of thousands of

words that are translated into Spanish. (Andovar Game Localization, 2015)

Briefly, game-making companies wanted their games to appeal to the customers in every

nation. The demand of the gamers all around the world caused game developers to translate their

product into other languages. After a while, producers wanted to introduce their games in another

countries and to create new markets. Eventually, the game localization was born. Nowadays,

game development and localization teams work together and translators translate the game not

after they are finished and released but in the mid-stages of development. Full localization is now

a common practice and games are available in many number of languages. But the area is still

young and there is much room left for development.

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Localization of Video Games

As I keep saying, video games’ interaction with translation, also known as localization of

video games is not analyzed and probed enough. To do that, firstly we need a definition. What is

localization of video games? The easy answer is, surely, the process of translation into other

languages. But then why we do not use the phrase “translation of video games”?

Merino (2007), a lecturer of game localization and media translation, gives the answer to

this question so perfectly that, it wouldn’t be fair to quote it: “From a game featuring Tiger

Woods to another based on The Hobbit, a World War II strategy game or a science-fiction role-

playing game, it is obvious different areas of knowledge are going to be involved, as well as a

specific set of different skills.” (p.2) In another words, this process can involve; translation of the

text, subbing, dubbing, redrawing and/or modification of graphic, cultural and legal adjustments,

differences in music and software localization. It will be logical to divide these into three

categories.

Translation of Text

Translation of text includes translating every single word in every part of the game.

Packaging, manuals, instructions, readme files, user interface (as in menus, pop-up windows etc.)

are the didactic part of the text. They mainly require technical translation.
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Apart from these, the title of the game is most important part to translate. For some, it

may seem easy as it is just a few words but there are many examples in which the title of the

game is not translated word for word and needed consideration. Above-mentioned game Pac-

man, whose original Japanese name is “Pakkuman” was thought to be translated as Puck-Man.

However, localization team thought that the word “puck” could evoke some improper

connotation and could cause obscene word games.

After the title, perhaps, most important part of the text is the name of the items such as

armor, weapons, potions. Translation of these affects the terminology in the target language and

these terms will probably be used for other series of the game too, so maintaining consistency is

also important. In the game Final Fantasy X, there are approximately thousand different weapon

names and they had to be translated to 15 characters. One of these weapon’s name is Furinkazan,

a word made by four kanjis meaning; wind, forest, fire and mountain. As a literal translation is

not possible, in the English game, the weapon’s name was Conqueror. (Mangiron & O’Hagan,

2006)

Perhaps giving another example will make it easier understand how bad translation can

get. It’s from the German localization of the game The Elder Scrolls – Oblivion where a health

potion is called “Schw.Tr.d.Le.En.W.”, an abbreviation for “Schwacher Trank der

LebensEnergie-Wiederherstellung” which means “Weak potion of life energy restoration”. Later

the phrase was changed to Heiltrank (schwach) to make it more understandable.

Lastly, sometimes the character’s name has to be localized. While there are many

examples that can be given, the most obvious one can be Pokémon. For those who are not

familiar with its history, Pokémon was a Gameboy game, long before it became a cartoon series.

When it started, there were 151 Pokémon. Now, there are 722 and all their names are translated
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from Japanese to English and many other languages. Translation of Pokémon names is a whole

other research area to look at. Many of their names includes hints about their nature, different

puns and word plays. While some countries preferred to use the English versions, some created

their own words and this created a beautiful diversity.

Like every type of translation, mastering both language is pretty crucial. The popular

internet meme “All your base are belong to us” is not the only example of bad translation. There

are many examples coming from gamers who use language patches or localizations. One

example could be from the game Fallout: New Vegas. “Restroom” is such an easy word, isn’t it?

However, in the Italian translation, the translator used the phrase “stanze di riposo” which

literally means, a resting room, or room to rest; not toilet. It should have been translated as

“bagno” or “toilette”. (Gait, 2015)

Subtitling and Dubbing

Even though dialogues are also a part of the text, I believe it is healthier to divide them

into another subheading. Japanese games are generally dubbed into English but subtitled into

other target languages. On the other hand, original English games are dubbed or subtitled

according to the target locale’s preferences. But for obvious reasons such as money and time,

subtitling is a more suitable option for producers. Also, the hardships of dubbing, such as lip

synchronization, translation of script according to time availability and hiring of professional

actors are reasons for preferring subtitling. (Mangiron & O’Hagan, 2006) Furthermore, dubbing

is not only hard for the producer, but also for the translators for similar reasons. There are many
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limitations for the translator while preparing dubbing script such as adapting space and the

number of characters per subtitle and transferring accents, registers or difference in speech.

Dialogues in games are probably the longest part of the text. Complication of this part

can change from game to game. Dragon Age: Origins, a role-playing game which is described as

a “dark heroic fantasy” has over 740,000 words of dialogue, which made for 68,260 lines of

character dialogue. This word count is over War and Peace with the count of 561,304 and a little

under the word count of the Bible which is 1 million. (Reiner, 2010) And this game is not unique

with its longevity, there are countless games out in the market with equally rich storytelling and

captivating dialogues. In fact, this game’s producer company’s motto is “Rich Stories,

Unforgettable Characters, And Vast Worlds”.

Cultural and Legal Differences

A subheading for graphics is unnecessary, because, with the exception of redrawing the

cover page, almost all graphic changes are caused by cultural or legal differences. I, genuinely,

believe that cultural and legal differences are what differentiate localization from translation.

Nearly in every localization, cultural sensitivities must be considered. Controversial materials

could affect the views of gamers negatively. Not only getting negative feedback, but cultural

differences can even cause a game to be recalled or re-writing of scripture.

In the process of localization, evaluating the history of the country and looking up legal

obstacles can save the future of the game. An example is that; USK, organization for video game

ratings in Germany is very strict about blood, gore and symbols associated with racism such as
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Nazi symbolism. The German localization of the World War II game Wolfenstein contained

visible swastikas. As a result, Raven Software recalled the game. (Owen, 2009)

Now, as you know, Japan is occupying a very large place in the game sector. And as in

their anime and manga, they are also very bold and risk-taking in their video games, too. There

are many examples of censorship, especially of nudity, in the process of localization from

Japanese to English. Japanese game developers love childish, teenage girls, wearing bikinis and

fighting with their long swords. However, all countries have their own sensibilities, and guessing

Japan’s shouldn’t be hard. In the game Fallout 3, the quest “The Power of the Atom” was

changed in the Japanese version. In other versions, the player is able to detonate the bomb. But in

the Japanese version, you either ignore or defuse the bomb. Also in the Japanese version, a

nuclear weapon named “Fat Man” was changed to erase the reference to Nagasaki. (Ashcraft,

2008)

With the legal, cultural and traditional issues, also religious problems come into mind,

too. The game Fallout 3, did not just caused problem in Japan. Game was supposed to come out

in India, but suddenly it was cancelled. There was not an official statement but it is said that the

game had parts that were offensive towards Indian culture. In their religion Hindu; cows are

sacred and in the game, Indian’s sacred cow Brahmin is targeted and shot by players. It is easy to

see why Indian would not approve that, so game was not released in India. (Lee, 2013)

Up to this point, we worked on definition of video games and their history, and came to

localization and its stages. Briefly, video games are complex product that require specific skills

to translate. Localization process is more than translation of words but includes many aspects.

What about Turkey? How does the localization of video games work in Turkey?
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Localization of Video Games in Turkey

Localization of video games in Turkey is, unfortunately, shaped around the fact that

Turkish players does not prefer to buy the official game. Sales figures of video games in Turkey

does not meet the satisfactory quota because of the pirate downloading, and this factor makes

Turkish gaming market less appealing for companies. But still, there are some volunteer gamers

who localize games into Turkish. While collecting information about localization in Turkey, I

came across a localization group called Oyun Çeviri and joined this group as a translator. All the

knowledge about these volunteer groups comes from my interactions with other group members.

Oyun Çeviri was founded in 2009. Today, they have approximately 30 translators and a few

programmers. Programmers are needed to break the language files of games. Members are

generally university students. Firstly, a subject that many people are curious about; they do not

receive any money, even in official localizations. This, also comes from game developers’

indifference to Turkish gaming market. But even though many of the localizations are unofficial,

there are gratitude and congratulation mails from game developers. From this day, they’ve

translated over 100 games and also have 4 official translations. Other groups in market has close

numbers and there is a competition between these groups about especially which game they will

choose among other things. Oyun Çeviri also supports official games, by making their patches

not able to work on pirate copies.

As for the translation part, there are some measures about which games they decide to

translate. Firstly, there shouldn’t be any other localization group working on that game.

Secondly, language files should be openable. Moreover, the game should meet the expectations

of Turkish gamers and should be expected among gamers. And lastly, they prefer games that
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they can do an official translation. As they are a volunteer group, they are not extremely

organized. Working with different people, especially students with exams, prevent them from

putting strict deadlines. The main aim of the group is the quality of the translation. As there is 5-

10 people working on a project, determining terminology and finding proper translations is

important for consistency. They have a finished dubbing project of Call of Duty MW3 which is

a pretty outstanding accomplishment in their professionality level. Furthermore, their localization

of the game Skyrim has opened a new point of view in Turkish localization. Turkish gamers,

even though they want the Turkish translation, do not want to see familiar names in Turkish. It is

very common for gamers to see an item in their own language and feel weird about it. So

generally, terms, names of items and places are not translated. Oyun Çeviri made a terminology

dictionary for the game and translated everything. The main reason was the wish of developer

firm that everything should be translated in every language. So “Solutide” becomes “Issızkent”

and “Whiterun” becomes “Akçay”.

To sum up, there are enough enthusiasm and work to get somewhere better in localization

of video games in Turkey. There are more than one volunteer group working for the pleasure of

Turkish gamers. I said localization area is still young. But in Turkey, it is much younger than

many other countries. There is much room to grow and develop.

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