Norms governing the localization of video games

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamid Sharifi

Garshasp: Temple of the Dragon (2012) is a 3D, 3rd person action-adventure hack ‘n’ slash indie game developed by Dead Mage for English gamers and Fanafzar Sharif for local use. It was one of the early Persian forerunners to be majorly localized and distributed throughout the English community. It takes a mythology that westerners are probably not familiar with and presents it in a third person action setting that most audiences can understand (MetaCritic 2012). This and more is what Garshasp offers from its home country demonstrated through its lovely art design, pompous music, and a great narrator (GameSpot 2012). The present research investigates the norms governing the ‘language’ of Garshasp: Temple of the Dragon; a prequel to its 2011 Garshasp: The Monster Slayer. Toury (1978/2000) proposed various categories of norms among which ‘initial norms’ is our concern. These norms represents the side translators subject themselves to; source (adequacy) or target (acceptability). In other words, the initial norm refers to “the translator’s (conscious or unconscious) choice as to the main objective of his translation, the objective which governs all decisions made during the translation process” (van Leuven- Zwart 1989, 154). Van Leuven-Zwart (1989) also contents that, as is the case with most other norms, the initial norm is not directly observable, but may be inferred by identifying the shifts contained in target text. Using Toury’s categorization (1978/2000) and a modified Vinay and Darbelnet’s model (1958/1995), we found that the language of the video game under study tends to be more acceptable than adequate.

Author(s):  
Pedro Cardoso-Leite ◽  
Morteza Ansarinia ◽  
Emmanuel Schmück ◽  
Daphne Bavelier

This chapter reviews the behavioral and neuroimaging scientific literature on the cognitive consequences of playing various genres of video games. The available research highlights that not all video games have similar cognitive impact; action video games as defined by first- and third-person shooter games have been associated with greater cognitive enhancement, especially when it comes to top-down attention, than puzzle or life-simulation games. This state of affairs suggests specific game mechanics need to be embodied in a video game for it to enhance cognition. These hypothesized game mechanics are reviewed; yet, the authors note that the advent of more complex, hybrid, video games poses new research challenges and call for a more systematic assessment of how specific video game mechanics relate to cognitive enhancement.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 107
Author(s):  
SF. Lukfianka Sanjaya Purnama ◽  
SF. Luthfie Arguby Purnomo ◽  
Dyah Nugrahani

This paper attempts to propose ergodic as an approach for video game translation. The word approach here refers to an approach for translation products and to an approach for the translation process. The steps to formulate ergodic as an approach are first, Aarseth’sergodic literature is reviewed to elicit a basis for comprehension toward its relationship with video games and video game translation Secondly, taking the translation of Electronic Arts’Need for Speed: Own the City, Midway’s Mortal Kombat: Unchained, and Konami’s Metal Gear Solid, ergodic based approach for video game translation is formulated. The formulation signifies that ergodic, as an approach for video game translation, revolves around the treatment of video games as a cybertext from which scriptons, textons, and traversal functions as the configurative mechanism influence the selection of translation strategies and the transferability of variables and traversal function, game aesthetics, and ludus and narrative of the games. The challenges countered when treating video games as a cybertext are the necessities for the translators to convey anamorphosis, mechanical and narrative hidden meaning of the analyzed frame, to consider the textonomy of the games, and at the same time to concern on GILT (Globalization, Internationalization, Localization, and Translation).KeywordsErgodic ; Translation Approach; Video Game Translation ; Textonomy; Anamorphosis


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 112-129

Political claims about the real world are abundant in video games, and the medium persuades uniquely through procedural rhetoric, the rules of behavior contained in computational code. The transnational scope of the video game industry makes it productive ground for interrogating how a game’s persuasion might influence international audiences with nationally situated politics. The 2012 third-person shooter Spec Ops: The Line, produced by the German studio Yager Development, depicts the international concern of a fictional conflict in the Middle East and the atrocities of failed military intervention. The game’s core procedural rhetoric, which tasks players to push ahead at all costs, cautions an international audience about the futility of deploying military power abroad, a warning that mirrors particularly German political anxieties. The game’s depiction of extreme violence—and the player’s participation in it—raises further questions about the cultural status of the medium in the country and abroad.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 107
Author(s):  
Sf. Lukfianka Sanjaya Purnama, Sf. Luthfie Arguby Purnomo, Dyah Nugrahani ◽  
SF. Luthfie Arguby Purnomo ◽  
Dyah Nugrahani

This paper attempts to propose ergodic as an approach for video game translation. The word approach here refers to an approach for translation products and to an approach for the translation process. The steps to formulate ergodic as an approach are first, Aarseth’sergodic literature is reviewed to elicit a basis for comprehension toward its relationship with video games and video game translation Secondly, taking the translation of Electronic Arts’Need for Speed: Own the City, Midway’s Mortal Kombat: Unchained, and Konami’s Metal Gear Solid, ergodic based approach for video game translation is formulated. The formulation signifies that ergodic, as an approach for video game translation, revolves around the treatment of video games as a cybertext from which scriptons, textons, and traversal functions as the configurative mechanism influence the selection of translation strategies and the transferability of variables and traversal function, game aesthetics, and ludus and narrative of the games. The challenges countered when treating video games as a cybertext are the necessities for the translators to convey anamorphosis, mechanical and narrative hidden meaning of the analyzed frame, to consider the textonomy of the games, and at the same time to concern on GILT (Globalization, Internationalization, Localization, and Translation).


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 107
Author(s):  
SF. Lukfianka Sanjaya Purnama ◽  
SF. Luthfie Arguby Purnomo ◽  
Dyah Nugrahani

This paper attempts to propose ergodic as an approach for video game translation. The word approach here refers to an approach for translation products and to an approach for the translation process. The steps to formulate ergodic as an approach are first, Aarseth’sergodic literature is reviewed to elicit a basis for comprehension toward its relationship with video games and video game translation Secondly, taking the translation of Electronic Arts’Need for Speed: Own the City, Midway’s Mortal Kombat: Unchained, and Konami’s Metal Gear Solid, ergodic based approach for video game translation is formulated. The formulation signifies that ergodic, as an approach for video game translation, revolves around the treatment of video games as a cybertext from which scriptons, textons, and traversal functions as the configurative mechanism influence the selection of translation strategies and the transferability of variables and traversal function, game aesthetics, and ludus and narrative of the games. The challenges countered when treating video games as a cybertext are the necessities for the translators to convey anamorphosis, mechanical and narrative hidden meaning of the analyzed frame, to consider the textonomy of the games, and at the same time to concern on GILT (Globalization, Internationalization, Localization, and Translation).KeywordsErgodic ; Translation Approach; Video Game Translation ; Textonomy; Anamorphosis


2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 499-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Gazzard ◽  
Alan Peacock

By moving away from a model of ritual that focuses on magic and fantasy worlds, this article seeks to broaden the discussion of ritual actions, performances, and objects in first- and third-person video games. Ritual will be understood through the idea of a “ritual logic” that enables the wider associations of ritual in the virtual as opposed to the real world to be analyzed, and through the key element of repetition in game play. In part derived from the intertextuality of video game genres and associated popular culture artifacts such as films and novels, ritual logic contributes to the players’ knowledge and understanding of what ritual is and what ritual does in the game, and how ritual can be used to progress its narrative and play trajectories.


Author(s):  
Seong Choul Hong

The present study explored the relationships between the tone in news presentations and the third-person effect. It investigated whether news stories about violent video games changed viewers perspectives based on the positively or negatively portrayed messages presented by the media. Overall, this study examined how news stories encouraged or discouraged viewers from supporting government regulations of violent video game content. An online survey of 388 American adults served as the main source of data collection. The study found that presumed media effects decreased on both others and self when viewers were exposed to positively presented news coverage. Subsequently, their support for regulating violent video games was reduced. However, no changes were found in third-person perception. In addition, those who were exposed to negative news coverage showed no significant changes in their perceived media effects on self, others, and support regulations on video game contents.


2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-70
Author(s):  
Petr Květon ◽  
Martin Jelínek

Abstract. This study tests two competing hypotheses, one based on the general aggression model (GAM), the other on the self-determination theory (SDT). GAM suggests that the crucial factor in video games leading to increased aggressiveness is their violent content; SDT contends that gaming is associated with aggression because of the frustration of basic psychological needs. We used a 2×2 between-subject experimental design with a sample of 128 undergraduates. We assigned each participant randomly to one experimental condition defined by a particular video game, using four mobile video games differing in the degree of violence and in the level of their frustration-invoking gameplay. Aggressiveness was measured using the implicit association test (IAT), administered before and after the playing of a video game. We found no evidence of an association between implicit aggressiveness and violent content or frustrating gameplay.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Zendle

Loot boxes are items in video games that may be paid for with real-world money, but which contain randomised contents. There is a reliable correlation between loot box spending and problem gambling severity: The more money gamers spend on loot boxes, the more severe their problem gambling tends to be. However, it is unclear whether this link represents a case in which loot box spending causes problem gambling; a case in which the gambling-like nature of loot boxes cause problem gamblers to spend more money; or whether it simply represents a case in which there is a general dysregulation in in-game spending amongst problem gamblers, nonspecific to loot boxes.The multiplayer video game Heroes of the Storm recently removed loot boxes. In order to better understand links between loot boxes and problem gambling, we conducted an analysis of players of Heroes of the Storm (n=112) both before and after the removal of loot boxes.There were a complex pattern of results. In general, when loot boxes were removed from Heroes of the Storm, problem gamblers appeared to spend significantly less money in-game in contrast to other groups. These results suggest that the presence of loot boxes in a game may lead to problem gamblers spending more money in-game. It therefore seems possible that links between loot box spending and problem gambling are not due to a general dysregulation in in-game spending amongst problem gamblers, but rather are to do with specific features of loot boxes themselves.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Zendle

A variety of practices have recently emerged which are related to both video games and gambling. Most prominent of these are loot boxes. However, a broad range of other activities have recently emerged which are also related to both gambling and video games: esports betting, real-money video gaming, token wagering, social casino play, and watching videos of both loot box opening and gambling on game streaming services like Twitch.Whilst a nascent body of research has established the robust existence of a relationship between loot box spending and both problem gambling and disordered gaming, little research exists which examines whether similar links may exist for the diverse practices outlined above. Furthermore, no research has thus far attempted to estimate the prevalence of these activities.A large-scale survey of a representative sample of UK adults (n=1081) was therefore conducted in order to investigate these issues. Engagement in all measured forms of gambling-like video game practices were significantly associated with both problem gambling and disordered gaming. An aggregate measure of engagement was associated with both these outcomes to a clinically significant degree (r=0.23 and r=0.43). Engagement in gambling-like video game practices appeared widespread, with a 95% confidence interval estimating that 16.3% – 20.9% of the population engaged in these activities at least once in the last year. Engagement in these practices was highly inter-correlated: Individuals who engaged in one practice were likely to engage in several more.Overall, these results suggest that the potential effects of the blurring of lines between video games and gambling should not primarily be understood to be due to the presence of loot boxes in video games. They suggest the existence of a convergent ecosystem of gambling-like video game practices, whose causal relationships with problem gambling and disordered gaming are currently unclear but must urgently be investigated.


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