The following article has been written by English to Italian translator Valentina Ambrogio
The use of Italian accents and/or dialects in games is quite tricky, if you ask me, as the association with certain stereotypes is almost inevitable. In general, southern Italy is portrayed as a poorer and more ignorant part of the country (not to mention the mafia situation), whereas northern Italy is generally considered richer, and therefore posh and educated. I come from southern Italy, and I know that this is absolutely not true, at least there’s more to it than that. That is to say that the use of certain regional accents/dialects in Italian may cause an undesired comic effect, which some players may actually see as racist or purposely offensive.
I have never used dialects in my translations, at least not yet. The kind of games I usually translate are set in fantasy worlds, with magic and monsters, wizards and evil overlords. We all know that a game localiser has to recreate the same feel as the original game, but to me it is paramount first of all to respect the context and the imagery of the game, and the geography and the environment of the game world. I would never find a fairy or a dwarf speaking with an Italian regional accent – say, Calabrian, my dialect – believable, because it would create a link to my reality which just doesn’t work, it would feel out of key.
“In Italy, regional dialects are kind of standalone languages”
Another reason I would never use dialects is that, in Italy, regional dialects are kind of standalone languages. I cannot speak Neapolitan, other than the odd words I learnt on television. I live in Rome, but I cannot speak whatever they speak here, and, when I try, it usually comes across as a total mockery of them – I am not believable, it is not part of my language identity. I know that should I attempt to translate and use a Neapolitan dialect, I would for sure end up creating a stereotypical character, with all the implications this may have. I would rather use bad grammar for an illiterate character, particular sentence structures and made-up vocabulary for – for instance – ‘alien’ characters, foreign accents, and other similar solutions, rather than using a regional Italian accent – unless of course the game has a neutral context, or the story is set in Italy, or has elements of our tradition and history.
The use of English accents is a totally different story – again – to me. The sort of implications that I just listed do not really apply to an Italian audience, simply because there is no or little link to our reality. They simply do not thrust the gamer out of the game’s context.
I think that accents and dialogues have their own place in certain settings and situations, so their use has to be carefully weighed up. I try to walk in both the localiser’s and the gamer’s shoes and decide accordingly. Would I feel offended? Would I find it disruptive? If the answer is yes, then I don’t need to look for answers any further.
Thank you for your contribution, Valentina!
Do you agree with Valentina? Let us know in the comments!
Whether you are a translator or a translation client with frequent translation needs, you have probably been acquainted with the term “minimum rate” or its slightly more negative equivalent “minimum fee”. And as a translation buyer, you might have asked yourself—and your translator—why you should pay a fixed price of 15, 20, or even 50 bucks for as little as 56 words you conveniently sent your translator or project manager directly in the email.
It is a question that constantly weighs on the game translator's shoulders: To localize, to translate, or to leave as is?
Finding the right person you can trust with localizing your game into a language you don't understand can be like jumping off a cliff—you just won't know if you'll break your neck or have the time of your life.
You are about to develop your game. Your family is prepared to see little to nothing of you for a long time. Nights will be long while your budget is not. But when you finally finish your game, you'll want to take over the world, with localization. Here are some tips from a game translator's point of view.
There is no question that translating games is fun and being a game translator is about the coolest job one could have. But is it good for you? Here are 7 reasons why I think that translating games can be an unhealthy career choice.
![[VIDEO] Adventures in Game Localization](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547215f7e4b0fbcd35a00b21/1510414634486-TOIPWJS363SIZ6GMO1AD/Concentration-Color-Cube-Play-Puzzle-Magic-Cube-378543.jpg)
In April 2016 I was invited to give a talk at the Berlin Game Scene Talk & Play event. Spontaneously titled "Adventures in Game Localization", I talked about a few of the challenges we game translators face when localizing a game for our respective markets.
The use of Italian accents and/or dialects in games is quite tricky, if you ask me, as the association with certain stereotypes is almost inevitable. In general, southern Italy is portrayed as a poorer and more ignorant part of the country (not to mention the mafia situation), whereas northern Italy is generally considered richer, and therefore posh and educated.
In video games, we get to meet characters who are larger than life, caricatures of real people. They dress in a very specific way, have their own strong personality and are sometimes further differentiated by having a nationality, an ethnicity, real or not, which can be associated with a corresponding accent.
"Almost died first year I come to school and et them pecans—folks say he pizened ‘em and put ‘em over on the school side of the fence."
What impression does this line give you? Does the speaker sound male or female? Young or old? Asian or American?
This was a line by little Walter of one of my favorite books, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, and the boy was speaking in a Southern American accent.
Just as in books and movies, whenever we meet characters in a video game, we automatically try to make sense of their background based on different cues: hair and skin color (hello, orc!), way they dress (are you a troll or a hobo?), weapons they carry (is this a scimitar you got there, or are you just happy to see me?), and the way they communicate.
Plenty of great advice has been published on the best practices for game localization and how to make a game localization-friendly. But what if you don't want to be friendly? What if you're an adventurer, a fierce rebel who couldn't care less how your game sells in other countries and how cumbersome the whole localization process will be? Combine several of the following to enjoy the worst possible result for all parties involved. Oh, and don't try this at home.
You probably, hopefully know that there is more to being a game translator than knowing two languages and owning an Apple device. But I bet there are many skills you do not expect us to need in order to do our job. Let me tell you, we are not JUST translators.
We are an endless array of quirky personas. And we morph into several of them in the course of a single translation project.
Meet my top 8 translation superheroes!!
It's LocJAM time again! LocJAM is a yearly game localization contest for both newbie and experienced translators. It’s free, and open to everyone. You have two weeks to translate a game that would normally take a day or two to finish, and you might even win a small prize.
No piece of writing is good without a proper round (or three, or ten!) of editing and proofreading. Ideally, someone else will polish your writing, but even then it's advisable to give your own work another check. Whether it's your own work or someone else's—I've gathered some tips to help clean up written words and listed them in no particular order.
One of the many things I will miss about Berlin is the Computerspielemuseum. So I thought I should share my impressions with you. I am not affiliated with the museum in any way. However, I love museums, I love games, and I love supporting the cause of learning about games.
"The translated version of a game is never as good as the original."
"The German version of this game sucks!"
"The text does not fit in the textbox! Why did the translator not write a shorter text?"
"I know for a fact that these kanji mean 'fire' and 'mountain'! Why has it been translated as 'volcano'?!?"
We all heard them, many of us said them.
If you're an aspiring game translator, you might have heard of the LocJAM, the game translation contest. It is a video game translation competition that is now in its third year. And it's getting bigger and more and more popular, with new languages being added every year. The cool thing is that—unlike in the usual game translator's projects—you have the chance to see your translation in-game immediately. This means that not only can you see your translation in context, but are also able to adjust your text accordingly and fix text bugs right away.
Steffen and I were colleagues for only two weeks. Unfortunately—because he is a pro when it comes to audio localization and I would have loved to learn more about these procedures. Luckily, he agreed to answer some questions I've had for a long time. And he does so very bluntly.
I met Sabine at the Berlin Game Forum. She held a very moving talk about diversity in the games industry. What she said really made me think. I feel more people should hear what she has to say.
First impressions matter. You don’t go on a date with food in your teeth. You don’t go to a job interview in ripped trousers (heavy metal drummer interviews excluded, of course). You don’t meet your in-laws hungover from the previous night. And you don’t put your app for sale in local app stores with a machine translated app description. Especially not in Germany.
There are countless possible settings in which to place the action in a video game. It could take place in China during the Ming dynasty, any real or imagined galaxy, grandma's garden, some fictional 2D cartoon world, post-war Europe, or Salt Lake City after a zombie apocalypse (real or imagined).
I met Stephen in Málaga in 2012 when I worked there as a localization tester. Stephen is an awesome guy and knows the video game industry quite well. I am happy he agreed to be thoroughly questioned as the first guest in the People in Games interview series.
Before I worked in game localization, I did not realize how many strings had to be pulled to make a video game happen before I could finally enjoy it on my couch. And even now I don't really know.
There is no set order of steps in a game translation project, but this is how my game translation projects go these days.