Business

Videogame localization is the process of adapting videogame software for different cultures and languages. While it may seem unnecessary to translate the language per a particular market, the truth is that such transcriptions make a huge difference in terms of foreign sales figures. It appears that foreign nationals want to be engaged by the stories of the video games–not just by the graphics.

This is a fascinating result, as it is in many ways counterintuitive to conventional sensibilities. After all, video games are primarily visual–for instance, you dont need to understand the internal crisis motivating the protagonist of Halo to play out his conflict. However, what these sales figures suggest is precisely the opposite–when a participant feels engaged by a games storyline, he wants to play the game more.

Thinking about Videogame Localization
This lesson in translation suggests several things for companies attempting videogame localization. For one, market research in the source country may not be effective in terms of determining foreign patterns of buying. Second, while its still critical to focus on the graphic design and software code, perhaps more attention to story coding could help boost sales–both abroad and domestically.

Thirdly, since videogame fan clubs are in many ways international, it may behoove software companies to develop products which dont rely so heavily on language in their story lines. That way, it will be easier to relocalize games in the event that a particular program surges in popularity. In addition, contracting the language based storylines may force programmers to tell more interesting visual stories.

More efficient web page translation methodologies free programmers to work on more important software problems. Of course, assessing your translation capabilities can be difficult to do, especially if you do any work in-house. Thats why many medium-size businesses are choosing to contract out their language translations to professional transcription services.

After all, even though programs exist to assist companies with transcribing technical terms into other languages, these programs are far from optimally efficient. Indeed, it often takes editors a huge amount of time to proofread transcribed copies for errors. Especially when dealing with bulk copy, it may be faster simply to send the work to a third party.

Evaluating Web Page Translations
So what should you expect from a professional web page translation service? Generally, these services are evaluated by two metrics: turnaround time and accuracy. If youre doing business with numerous overseas partners, you may not have time to proofread all of your technical specs. An advantage of partnering with a professional is that consultants can store your most used technical terms in a highly accessible online vault.

This allows you to retrieve and update glossary terms without interrupting translations already in process. Given that your international accounts dont necessarily go through simultaneously, this can be a huge boon to business, as it allows you to tabulate results individually. In other words, you wont have to rush a translation simply because one client is finished.