Videogame localisation, spelling errors and player reception
Positioned against the backdrop of the booming videogame industry, the study sheds light on the relationship
between player experience and localisation. The experimental manipulation involved spelling errors serving as a proxy to examine
how much reception is reshaped by specific characteristics of the target version. The findings indicate that deficient spelling
has no traceable effect on player cognitive load, enjoyment or comprehension. From a complementary perspective, while the author
of the target version with typos is deemed less diligent than the one in the typo-free condition, they are not perceived as less
experienced or less likely to be considered to be a professional translator. On the other hand, spelling errors result in lower
translation quality estimations. The discussion is supplemented by results on typo identification and related to findings from
film reception.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 1.1Videogames—a growing industry
- 1.2Translation & game localisation—some key notions
- 2.The present study
- 2.1Hypotheses
- 2.2Materials
- Ease of installation by the participants
- Low gameplay complexity
- Low minimal system requirements
- Modifiability of in-game texts
- Additional benefits of using Distraint as study material
- 2.3Procedure and participants
- 3.Results—discussion of the findings and conclusion
- 3.1Cognitive load
- 3.2Enjoyment
- 3.3Comprehension
- 3.4Translation and translator perception
- 3.5Typo identification rates
- Indirect elicitation of typo identification rate
- Direct elicitation of typo identification rate
- 3.6Summary of findings
- 4.Discussion
- 4.1The status of translation—Distraint as a case in point
- 4.2Typos research and translation studies
- 4.3Further research
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
-
References
References (34)
Bavelier, Daphné, Rebecca L. Achtman, Merry Mani & Julia Föcker
2012 “
Neural bases of selective attention in action video game players.”
Vision Research, 611, 132–143.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bernal Merino, Miguel
2016 “
Creating Felicitous Gaming Experiences: Semiotics and Pragmatics as Tools for Video Game Localisation.
Signata,
7
(1), 231–253.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Boland, Julie E. & Queen, Robin
2016 “
If You’re House Is Still Available, Send Me an Email: Personality Influences Reactions to Written Errors in Email Messages.”
PLOS ONE, 11 (3), e0149885.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Clement, Jessica
2021 Video game market value worldwide 2023. Accessed 3 January 2022.
[URL]
Clement, Jessica
2022 Number of active video gamers worldwide from 2015 to 2024. Accessed 23 May 2022.
[URL]
Deckert, Mikołaj
2021 “
Spelling Errors in Interlingual Subtitles: Do Viewers Really Mind?”
GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
DeShazo, Jonathan, Lynne Harris, Anne Turner & Wanda Pratt
2010 “
Designing and remotely testing mobile diabetes video games.”
Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare,
16
(7), 378–382.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Di Giovanni, Elena & Yves Gambier
Díaz Cintas, Jorge & Pablo Muñoz Sánchez
2006 “
Fansubs: Audiovisual Translation in an Amateur Environment.”
The Journal of Specialised Translation, 61.
[URL]
Duda, Bartłomiej
2022 “
O mnie” under Ikskoks.pl. Accessed 5 February 2022.
[URL]
Figueredo, Lauren & Connie Varnhage
2005 “
Didn’t You Run the Spell Checker? Effects of Type of Spelling Error and Use of a Spell Checker on Perceptions of the Author.”
Reading Psychology, 26 (4–5), 441–458.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Flis, Gabriela; Adam Sikorski & Agnieszka Szarkowska
2020 “
Does the dubbing effect apply to voice-over? A conceptual replication study on visual attention and immersion.”
The Journal of Specialised Translation, 331.
[URL]
International Trade Administration
2020 Media & Entertainment Video Games Sector (Industry Overview under Video Games Sector). The Department of Commerce, USA. Accessed 3 January 2022.
[URL]
Khlystova, Olena; Yelena Kalyuzhnov, & Maksim Belitski
2022 “
The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Creative Industries: A Literature Review and Future Research Agenda.”
Journal of Business Research, 1391, 1192–1210.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Knežević, Sara & Mlađan Jovanović
2021 Simulating a questionnaire on the framing effects in decision-making processes in a serious game. Cornell University, ArXiv Preprint
ArXiv:2110.15011. Arxiv.org/abs/2110.15011
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kruger, Jan-Louis; Esté Hefer & Gordon Matthew
2014 “
Attention distribution and cognitive load in a subtitled academic lecture: L1 vs. L2.”
Journal of Eye Movement Research, 7 (5), 41, 1–15.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lai, Tingming & Jinkun Zhang
2021 The Influence of Signaling on the Disfluency Effect in Multimedia Learning.”
Frontiers in Psychology 121: 755804.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Larsen, Lasse Juel
2017 “
Play and Gameful Movies: The Ludification of Modern Cinema.”
Games and Culture, 14 (5), 455–477.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lv, Zhihan; Alex Tek, Franck Da Silva; Charly Empereur-mot, Matthieu Chaven & Marc Baaden
2013 “
Game On, Science – How Video Game Technology May Help Biologists Tackle Visualization Challenges.”
PLoS ONE, 8 (3). e57990.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Makkonen, Jesse
2015/2017 Distraint/Distraint Deluxe Edition (software, PC).
[URL]
van de Meerendonk, Nan; Peter Indefrey, Dorothee Chwilla & Herman Kolk
2011 “
Monitoring in language perception: Electrophysiological and hemodynamic responses to spelling violations.”
NeuroImage,
54
(3), 2350–2363.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Min, Kyongho; William Wilson & Yoo-Jin Moon
2000 “
Typographical and Orthographical Spelling Error Correction.”
Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (
LREC’00). European Language Resources Association (ELRA) Greece.
[URL]
O’Hagan, Minako & Carmen Mangiron Hevia
Perego, Elisa, Fabio Del Missier & Sara Bottiroli
2015 “
Dubbing versus subtitling in young and older adults: Cognitive and evaluative aspects.”
Perspectives, 23 (1), 1–21.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Romero Fresco, Pablo
2020 “
The dubbing effect: an eye-tracking study on how viewers make dubbing work.”
The Journal of Specialised Translation 331.
[URL]
Schloneger, Rachel
2016 “
Is This Author Intelligent? The Effect of Spelling Errors on Perception of Authors.”
Linguistics Senior Research Projects, 21. Cedarville University.
[URL]
Skorupska, Kinga; Manuel Núñez; Wiesław Kopec & Radosław Nielek
2018 “
Older Adults and Crowdsourcing. Android TV App for Evaluating TEDx Subtitle Quality.”
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 21 (CSCW), 1–23.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Slade, David director; Brooker, Charlie writer; McLean, Russell
(producer) 2018 Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (T. Kearns, House of Tomorrow & Netflix) [Interactive Film]. Netflix.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Szarkowska, Agnieszka & Olivia Gerber Morón
2018 “
Viewers can keep up with fast subtitles: Evidence from eye movements.”
PLoS ONE, 13 (6), e0199331.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Szarkowska, Agnieszka; Jorge Díaz Cint; & Olivia Gerber Morón
2020 “
Quality is in the eye of the stakeholders: what do professional subtitlers and viewers think about subtitling?”
Universal Access in the Information Society, 201.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Tal-Or, Nurit & Cohen, Jonathan
2010 “
Understanding audience involvement: Conceptualizing and manipulating identification and transportation.”
Poetics, 38 (4) 402–418.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Travkina, Ekaterina, Pier Luigi Sacco & Benedetta Morari
2020 Culture shock: COVID-19 and the cultural and creative sectors. Edited by
K. Maguire. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
[URL]
Cited by (1)
Cited by 1 other publications
Deckert, Mikołaj & Krzysztof Hejduk
2024.
Can video game subtitling shape player satisfaction?.
Perspectives 32:1
► pp. 59 ff.
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 5 july 2024. 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.