Localization advice

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by metalbean, Mar 28, 2012.

  1. metalbean

    metalbean Well-Known Member

    Mar 18, 2012
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    We are wrapping up coding and will start with post coding (dirty) stuff. :)

    We are translating our app into several languages. Am hoping to get some feedback regarding localization.

    American English and British English. Does it make sense at all to have two version just to let users (brits) know we care?

    Spanish. Will it be alright if we use a single Spanish version for Spain and Spanish-speaking countries. Same goes for Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese.

    game title. Should we translate that too? Say our game is angry bird, should we have, say, French title? Or along amongst latin language we just stick with English title while languages like chinese we just give them Chinese name? This will influence AppStore search SEO, I believe.

    Also, I know some of u have used great translation company. I have some friends native to our target language but not really gamers. Do you think they will do a good job?
     
  2. smuttlegiaco

    smuttlegiaco Well-Known Member

    Aug 19, 2010
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    hey metalbean,


    we translated our game "Nosferatu - Run from the Sun" into several languages and always used only one language (spanish for spain and latin america, brazilian portuguese for both portugal and brazil etc.). I guess people living in those countries will notice a difference but are still able to understand everything.

    as to the game name: we work with a very good company (fast response times, good pricing): http://www.noinktranslation.com/ and Hugo, my contact person helped me out in my decision of where to translate the game name (example: he said in china it's better to translate the name, but in japan it sounds cooler if we leave it in english etc.)

    as always, it's a matter of trust. so if you trust those native guys doing a good job, do it. if not, get a professional company.

    hope that helps!
     
  3. Silver Josh

    Silver Josh Well-Known Member

    Oct 12, 2008
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    British and American, especially for games, is exactly the same thing.
    It depends on the contents, but you'll have to change max. 3 words out of 500 words.

    A single Spanish version for Spain and all the Spanish speaking countries would be fine. Of course, if you have money to invest, translating it into Mexican would be even better, but Mexican won't find it strange to read standard Spanish.

    Same for Portuguese-Brazilian. A Brazilian speaker won't find it hard, probably wouldn't even notice, to play with a game translated into (EU) Portuguese. As said, we're talking about games, not medical instructions.

    Translating the title of your game into another language would likely make it sound awkward.
    Unless the title of your app is descriptive (say "Currency Converter", "Calculator", "Secret Diary"), there's no reason to translate it. One of your goal should be creating a "brand", a "logo", and allowing the people to recognize your product, and your product must be international. Angry Birds is Angry Birds everywhere. An option would be transliterating the title in order to allow all the people to read it correctly (in Japanese, Korean, Chinese).

    On the other hand, if the title of your game is descriptive (say "Shoot the Bird", "Hit the Frog", etc.), then translating it would be fine.

    If you have native speaker friends and the text to translate is not complicated, then let them help you. Translating words like "Play", "Achievements", "Options", etc. is not that hard. If the contents are a bit tricky, then it's better to hire professional translators. Highly recommended: DYS Translations.

    Regarding translation firms, so far I can say I'm satisfied with DYS (partner of Chillingo) and MyGengo.

    Almost four years have passed, but this topic about localization services remains interesting: Localizations.
     
  4. metalbean

    metalbean Well-Known Member

    Mar 18, 2012
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    I will follow u on that. Spanish for Spain and LatAm and Brazilian Portuguese for both portugal, brazil and others.
     
  5. metalbean

    metalbean Well-Known Member

    Mar 18, 2012
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    Thats so true, how could I have overlooked that. Brand recognition. Using a single theme for all Latin countries, and transliteration/translation for Arabic and Chinese. I might stick with english for Japan since smuttlegiaco says Japanese prefer English names. I wonder if I should do it for Korean as well.
     
  6. smuttlegiaco

    smuttlegiaco Well-Known Member

    Aug 19, 2010
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    be careful. we didn't translate the game's name in japanese because I was told it would sound very strange, but with your game it might be perfectly ok.

    btw, in korean we have the whole name translated (just like in simpl. chinese).
     
  7. lvergani

    lvergani Member

    Mar 12, 2012
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    As a brazilian, I disagree with you.

    All brazilians will notice that a text was written on Portuguese (EU) and most of them will find it harder to read. We would prefer an english version than a poorly translated.
     
  8. pintro

    pintro New Member

    Apr 3, 2012
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    PAX Boston meetup?

    PAX East is a three-day game festival for tabletop, videogame, and PC gamers. We call it a festival because in addition to dedicated tournaments and freeplay areas we've got nerdcore concerts, panel discussions, and an exhibitor hall filled with booths displaying the latest from top game publishers and developers. Even with all this amazing content the best part of PAX East is hanging out with other people who know their shit when it comes to games.
     
  9. metalbean

    metalbean Well-Known Member

    Mar 18, 2012
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    Thanks Ivergani, didn'r realize that.

    When you say 'we', do you mean the IT savvy educated bunch, or most brazilians? Today mobile games cut across such a huge segment that we have to consider a 8-year-old to 50-year-old, which sometimes behave quite differently from the 20-something-year-old gamer.
     

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