Chapter 10 | Game Localization: A Critical Overview and Implications for Audiovisual Translation

 

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Publication date: 13 September 2018
Copyright date 2019
Hardback ISBN: 9781138859524
E-book ISBN 9781315717166
You can order this volume on the Routledge website

 

 

 

 

 

Research on game localization may serve as a catalyst pushing the boundaries of current translation studies research. In the process of game localization, translation takes place within an interactive digital medium which is dynamically pushing towards further enhanced user engagement: through VR units, game players enter the immersive multimodal environment to experience the virtual world. This is likely to add further complexity to any potential application of a UCT approach to the study of game localization, although some elements of the immersive experience may not be directly related to localization issues.

This chapter shows that game localization has widened the remit of translation concepts to focus on the user experience of a game world that demands all-encompassing culturalization. Yet, there needs to be a balance between preserving the original gameplay experience and taking steps to harness the voices from the heterogeneous user base. Indeed, one of the most unpredictable yet potentially significant developments regarding game users concerns the evolution of user communities around activities such as fan translation and translation crowdsourcing in the ever more participatory and collaborative digital landscape. Collecting big data from such communities may help researchers gain a better understanding of user behaviour and preferences concerning game localization.

 

 

Minako O’Hagan is Associate Professor in the School of Cultures, Languages and Linguistics at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Her main research interest lies in the intersection between translation and technology with her current work focused on ethics of technologies and research methodologies involving new technologies.

 

 

The Routledge Handbook of Audiovisual Translation Studies provides an authoritative and straightforward overview of the field through thirty-two specially commissioned chapters written by leading scholars in the field.

This state-of-the-art reference work is divided in four sections. The first part focuses on established and emerging audiovisual translation modalities, explores the changing contexts in which they have been and continue to be used, and examine how cultural and technological changes are directing their future trajectories. The second part explores the interface between audiovisual translation and a range of theoretical models that have proved particularly productive in steering research in audiovisual translation studies. Some of these models are associated with disciplines that have long intersected with audiovisual translation, while others are drawn from areas of knowledge that are only now beginning to make their presence felt in the audiovisual translation literature. The third part surveys a range of methodological approaches supporting traditional and innovative ways of interrogating audiovisual translation data. The final part addresses a range of themes pertaining to the place of audiovisual translation in society: these include the institutionalization, academization and technologization of audiovisual translation, as well as its role as a force for social change, both within and outside the industry. This Handbook gives audiovisual translation studies the voice it needs to make its presence felt within the Humanities research landscape.

 

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