The days of the Cold War are long gone and have been replaced by the hottest topic of global warming. “Colonization” and “superpower” may have become dirty words these days when global harmony and fair play are the mantras for our planet’s survival.
However, in recent years, there has been a slowly but steadily rising new entity of power on the horizon: Enter the Super Power App Store!
In 2014, Japan and South Korea made big strides and surpassed the US in revenue on Google Play. The reports rank China in third place for revenue in Apple’s app store. Southeast Asia is a HUGE emerging market – Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam account for nearly all of the gaming revenue in this area of the planet.
What is the conclusion of all this?
1. Language is not a barrier.
2. The appeal of games and mobile games is a worldwide phenomenon.
3. There is a lot of money at stake and this means fierce competition and careful planning to power successful applications and games.
4. The internationalization and localization of games and applications drive mobility in applications and games.
5. Not least, human beings’ quest for easy entertainment is now literally in the palms of their hands, holding the mobile phone. Never has the opposable thumb been used so vigorously.
The game must go on!
A stationary stone accumulates moss
The driving force behind any business is profit. The world of video games is no different. This is a highly competitive world and the gaming market is incredible. To survive, evolve and take home the bacon, apps and games don’t just need to be entertaining for the neighbor – they need to capture new platforms and markets. And they need to be fast and furious about it or stay on track.
How can they do this?
Internationalization and localization
This two-step process is what allows a game to adapt to different regional and linguistic cultures. Must include:
Review the regional and language settings that will determine which location is used, as well as the date, time, and number formats.
Adapt the user interface
The code must handle text in multiple languages.
The locale (not the language) should drive data formatting, as multiple countries can use the same language, as can the same person traveling through different countries.
The user interface must be “mirrored” while using right-to-left languages; the only exception here would probably be phone numbers.
You also need to test your internationalized application or game for automatic layout issues and strings that are not part of the internationalization-localization process.
The enjoyment MUST be stress free
The games are to be enjoyed; the player cannot be subjected to a frustrating and confusing experience. There is also no place to be culturally and politically inappropriate or downright offensive. The localization of the game must also ensure that the translated, internationalized and localized version is faithful to the original.
Many players take their games very seriously. Game localization, including those on mobile platforms (iOS or Android localization), should allow players to fully immerse themselves. The whole enjoyment of the games is to transport the player to a fantasy world more attractive than reality, where lives can be replenished in battles with strange creatures in unknown exotic lands. Nothing should interrupt this “voluntary suspension of disbelief.”
The location must be of the word GO
Game localization cannot be an afterthought and game developers would benefit from ditching the “let’s see” attitude. Successful developers have understood that video game localization is an integral part of the development cycle alongside coding, design, or writing. In the early stages, when games were designed and played on limited and limited platforms, this ‘afterthought state’ might have been acceptable. But with the proliferation of mobile technology and the growing demand for games across linguistic, cultural and geographic boundaries, the location of video games has grown in importance.
Location – NO translation
By now it should be very clear that the internationalization and localization of games is not just about language. It encompasses cultural symbols, costumes, values, the environment … everything that goes up to make civilizations, in fact!
There are many pitfalls to avoid:
Concerns about piracy and the importance of timely capture of markets can drive translations of incomplete games. The context must be clear when translating the text, whatever the stage of game development. The whole picture must be taken into account.
Location should be a consideration early in game development, as cultural concepts should be clear from day one. For example, scantily clad female characters can be a problem in some countries. If this is not considered early in the design cycle, it could turn into a costly and intractable headache when the game has to move to more socially conservative markets.
Games must evolve with current events. Consider the example of how a series of pedophilia cases in Belgium discouraged the use of the word “pedometer” in a weight loss game because of the negative connotation of that prefix.
Separate text files make the game modifiable and the translated versions can be pasted into the localized version.
A text freeze or cutoff date for text changes is a very good idea to control translation costs and keep the game running on schedule.
Be aware of cultural issues, taboos, and sensitivities early on.
Accents are important for voiceovers. A cowboy with a Texan accent is ridiculous in a video game intended for the Chinese market.
Who does the location?
Game developers for millions in game development. So there is no point in taking shortcuts when it comes to video game placement to break into new markets.
Cheap translations aimed at cost control can result in total failure and make the developer an international laughingstock.
Whether it is artwork, translation, marketing, packaging, or bridging the culture gap, it is highly skilled work that is the domain of skilled and talented professionals.
Timing is of the essence in capturing the mood of the markets.
Discretion and trust are absolutely necessary to combat the evil threat of piracy that looms over intellectual property.