Creativity is one of the most highly debated topics in translation not only because of how it relates to authorship but also because of the unavoidable cultural ramifications and the business implications for all the parties involved. Identifying the parameters within which creative translation operates in entertainment media requires a complex process that comprises a large amount of variables beyond the linguistic ones. Semiotics is suggested as a robust analytical tool to study the layering of meaning-making in entertainment products, in other words, their polysemioticity. Multimedia interactive entertainment software (MIES), a. k. a. video games, adds levels of complexity never seen before in translation due to their functional requirements. In order to identify the features that separate other entertainment products from MIES, this article analyses also the translation of novels, comics and films. The concept of playability is utilised as a way of isolating the pragmatic challenges of video game localisation.
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Ludography
Animal Crossing
(Nintendo 2001-present)
Assassin’s Creed: Unity
(Ubisoft 2014)
Batman Arkham City
(Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment 2011)
Buzz!
(Relentless Software 2005–2010)
Dance Central
(Harmonix 2010–2014)
Diablo III
(Blizzard 2012-present)
Gran Turismo
(Sony Interactive Entertainment 1997-present)
Hearthstone
(2014-present)
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge
(LucasArts 1991)
Overwatch
(Blizzard 2016-present)
Pokémon
(Nintendo 1996-present)
Scribblenauts
(Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment 2009-present)
SingStar
(Sony Computer Entertainment 2004-present)
The Bard’s Tale
(InXile Entertainment 2004)
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt
(CD Projekt 2015)
Tomb Raider
(Square Enix 1996-present)
Wolfenstein: The New Order
(Bethesda Softworks 2014)
Cited by
Cited by 4 other publications
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.
Bernal-Merino, Miguel A.
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O’Hagan, Minako, Julie McDonough Dolmaya & Hendrik J. Kockaert
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 1 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
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