Cover not available

Article published In: Game Localisation
Edited by Xiaochun Zhang and Samuel Strong
[The Journal of Internationalization and Localization 4:2] 2017
► pp. 141–161

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Targeted translation

How game translations are used to meet market expectations

 | Victoria University of Wellington, Japanese Programme
Published online: 26 January 2018
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jial.00006.ran
Abstract
Japanese popular culture in the form of anime, manga, and videogames, enjoys significant popularity with diehard international fan groups, who have often become acquainted with aspects of Japanese culture through fan-translated media. However, this base of knowledgeable fans stands unique amongst standard translation practice, which seeks to iron out cultural specificities to create a text that reads flawlessly for a mass audience. This article therefore sets out to explain how videogame translators adopt targeted translation strategies to make their products more marketable to either a mass audience, the members of which may be ignorant, ambivalent, or even hostile to Japanese pop culture products, or to dedicated niche fan groups whose interest in Japan has been stoked by unofficial translations that frequently position themselves as the only avenue for accessing an “authentic” text. The final releases for eight pairs of Japanese games from the Role-Playing Game genre will be analysed to illustrate how far-reaching translation decisions have been used to make individual games more marketable to either group.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Translation pressures from the videogame industry
  • 3.The fans of Japan
  • 4.Case studies
    • 4.1Treatment of proper nouns in mass games
    • 4.2Preservation of cultural cues in mass games
    • 4.3Fidelity versus naturalness in mass games
    • 4.4Audiovisual translation in mass games
    • 4.5Treatment of proper nouns in niche games
    • 4.6Preservation of cultural cues in niche games
    • 4.7Fidelity versus naturalness in niche games
    • 4.8Audiovisual translation in niche games
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (40)
References
Aarseth, Espen. 2001. “Computer Game Studies, Year One.” Game Studies 11. [URL]
Bernal-Merino, Miguel. 2006. “On the Translation of Video Games.” The Journal of Specialised Translation 6(1) [URL]
Boxofficemojo.com. n.d. “2016 Domestic Grosses.” Retrieved from: [URL] [last accessed August 2017]
Carlson, Rebecca and Jonathan Corliss. 2011. “Imagined Commodities: Video Game Localization and Mythologies of Cultural Difference.” Games and Culture 6(1): 61–82. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carroll, Noel. 1997. “The Ontology of Mass Art.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 55(2): 187–199. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cubbison, Laurie. 2005. “Anime Fans, DVDs, and the Authentic Text.” Velvet Trap 56(1): 45–57. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Entertainment Software Association. 2017. “Essential Facts about the Computer and Video Game Industry.” Retrieved from: [URL] [Last accessed August 2017].
Galbraith, Patrick. 2017. “The Lolicon Guy: Some Observations on Research Unpopular Topics in Japan.” In The End of Cool Japan: Ethical, Legal, and Cultural Challenges to Japanese Popular Culture, edited by Mark McLelland, 109–133. Oxon: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Inose, Hiroko. 2012. “What Fan Translators Learn in the Informal Learning Environment.” In The Proceedings Books of ISLC 2012, 73–84.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Iwabuchi, Koichi. 2002. Recentering Globalization: Popular Culture and Japanese Transnationalism. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2010. “Undoing Inter-national Fandom in the Age of Brand Nationalism,” In Mechademia 5: Fanthropologies, edited by Frenchy Lunning, 87–96. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kerr, Aphra. 2006. “The Business of Making Digital Games.” In Understanding Digital Games, edited by Jason Rutter and Jo Bryce, 36–57. London: SAGE Publications. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lefevere, André. 1992. Translation, Rewriting, and the Manipulation of Literary Fame. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mangiron, Carmen and Minako O’Hagan. 2006. “Game Localisation: Unleashing Imagination with ‘Restricted’ Translation.” The Journal of Specialised Translation 6(1) [URL]
McGray, Douglas. 2002. “Japan’s Gross National Cool.” Foreign Policy 130(1): 44–54. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McLaughlin, Martyn. 2013. “New GTA V Release Tipped to Rake in £1bn in Sales.” The Scotsman. Retrieved from: [URL] [last accessed November 2016].
McLelland, Mark. 2017. “Introduction: Negotiating “Cool Japan” in Research and Teaching.” In The End of Cool Japan: Ethical, Legal, and Cultural Challenges to Japanese Popular Culture, edited by Mark McLelland, 1–30. Oxon: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Miller, Laura. 2017. “Scholar Girl meets Manga Maniac, Media Specialist, and Cultural Gatekeeper.” In The End of Cool Japan: Ethical, Legal, and Cultural Challenges to Japanese Popular Culture, edited by Mark McLelland, 51–69. Oxon: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pearson, Dan. 2014. Bungie COO: “We Came to Activision with the 10-year Plan.” Retrieved from: [URL] [Last accessed November 2016].
Seidensticker, Edward. 1964. “The Reader, General and Otherwise.” In The Journal-Newsletter of the Association of Teachers of Japanese 2(1/2): 21–27. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy December 19, 2012. “Concepts of God.” Retrieved from: [URL] [Last accessed November 2016].
Tavinor, Grant. 2009. The Art of Videogames. Oxford: Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Venuti, Lawrence. 1998. The Scandals of Translation. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wesley, David and Gloria Barczak. 2010. Innovation and Marketing in the Video Game Industry: Avoiding the Performance Trap. Surrey: Gower Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gameography
Game title (publisher, year of first release)
Atelier Rorona Plus: The Alchemist of Arland (Koei Tecmo 2013)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bravely Default (Square-Enix 2013)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten (Nippon Ichi Software 2011)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Final Fantasy X HD (Square-Enix 2013)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar Games 2013)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth (Compile Heart 2013)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (Square-Enix 2013)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (Bandai Namco 2011)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pokemon X (The Pokemon Company 2013)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Soulcalibur series(Bandai Namco 1996 –)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Star Wars: The Old Republic (Electronic Arts 2011)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (4)

Cited by four other publications

Fontolan, Marina, Janaina Pamplona da Costa & James Wilson Malazita
2024. The Cake is a Lie. Digital Translation 11:1 ► pp. 25 ff. DOI logo
Ashok, Pratiksha
2023. Game localization: A comparative case study of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG Mobile) in India and China. Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds 15:2 ► pp. 129 ff. DOI logo
Mangiron, Carme
2021. Found in Translation: Evolving Approaches for the Localization of Japanese Video Games. Arts 10:1 ► pp. 9 ff. DOI logo
O’Hagan, Minako, Julie McDonough Dolmaya & Hendrik J. Kockaert
2019. Pandemic, localization and change of guard. The Journal of Internationalization and Localization 6:2 ► pp. 69 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 13 november 2025. 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.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue