Humor in Game Localization : A Case Study on League of Legends Video games have significantly developed in scale and quality for the last four decades and now become one of the most popular leisure activities and entertainment in our life, just like film, music and so on. And this development and su...
Humor in Game Localization : A Case Study on League of Legends Video games have significantly developed in scale and quality for the last four decades and now become one of the most popular leisure activities and entertainment in our life, just like film, music and so on. And this development and success of the game industry is partly due to the globalization of games, which enables people around the world to play and enjoy games from other countries. In this process, game localization―the process of modifying an original game, translating it and adapting it to another locale in order to sell it in a different market―has played a key role (Mangiron 2010). In spite of the importance of translation in game localization, studies on this field from translation studies perspective have not been sufficient, especially studies on the translation of humor in video games. The purpose of this study is to explore types of humor in video games and translation strategies applied when humor is translated into a localized version. The main focus is on Verbally Expressed Humor (VEH) which is spoken by characters in the game. The role of VEH in games is to give fun and pleasure to the players, which is the same as the main function of game itself. Furthermore, it helps ease players' tension felt often in gameplay due to too much concentration and thus helps the players keep playing the game. League of Legends (LoL), one of the most popular online games around the world, was chosen as the subject of this study because it has plenty of VEH which is repeatedly playable whenever players want. The research questions of this study are: first, 'How can VEH in games be categorized and by what strategies be translated into the Korean version?' and second, 'Are there any constraints in translating VEH in games? If so, what kind of constraints exist?' To answer these questions, I look into VEH in LoL, categorize it according to techniques used to achieve humor effects, analyze translation strategies applied when the VEH is translated into Korean version, and discuss constraints present in the process of translation. This study intends to combine two elements: VEH and video game localization. In order to do so I reflect on what game localization and VEH are and how research about them has been conducted to date. I also describe what the game localization entails and the role of VEH in video games. Finally, I present a case study about the translation of VEH in LoL. It was found that VEH in LoL is categorized into four types according to techniques: VEH based on cultural references (including films, songs, books, video games, celebrities), VEH based on wordplays and puns, VEH based on idioms and fixed expressions, and VEH based on characterization. And each type of VEH is translated through mainly three strategies: to leave VEH unchanged, to replace VEH, and to omit VEH. In this analyzing process, I found that there are several constraints in translating online games like LoL. For example, in the case of LoL there was a lag of about two years between the launch of the original game (in North America) and the localized version (in South Korea). But because many Korean players had already been playing LoL through the NA server before the official launch in Korea, it is possible that some of them are familiar with the original version of VEH. Also, owing to growing e-sports tournament, whichever country online games are exported and translated into, they need to be consistent in contents such as VEH based on background stories and relationship among characters of LoL. Research on translation of humor, especially on translation of humor in video games should not settle for text analysis. It is also important to examine how humor in ST is created or delivered to TT, that is empirical research on how translation affects audience reception of humor. Therefore, in the future further research work should be conducted through interviews or comparative questionnaire surveys of source- and target-culture game players on whether they understand the intended humorous elements in each version.
Humor in Game Localization : A Case Study on League of Legends Video games have significantly developed in scale and quality for the last four decades and now become one of the most popular leisure activities and entertainment in our life, just like film, music and so on. And this development and success of the game industry is partly due to the globalization of games, which enables people around the world to play and enjoy games from other countries. In this process, game localization―the process of modifying an original game, translating it and adapting it to another locale in order to sell it in a different market―has played a key role (Mangiron 2010). In spite of the importance of translation in game localization, studies on this field from translation studies perspective have not been sufficient, especially studies on the translation of humor in video games. The purpose of this study is to explore types of humor in video games and translation strategies applied when humor is translated into a localized version. The main focus is on Verbally Expressed Humor (VEH) which is spoken by characters in the game. The role of VEH in games is to give fun and pleasure to the players, which is the same as the main function of game itself. Furthermore, it helps ease players' tension felt often in gameplay due to too much concentration and thus helps the players keep playing the game. League of Legends (LoL), one of the most popular online games around the world, was chosen as the subject of this study because it has plenty of VEH which is repeatedly playable whenever players want. The research questions of this study are: first, 'How can VEH in games be categorized and by what strategies be translated into the Korean version?' and second, 'Are there any constraints in translating VEH in games? If so, what kind of constraints exist?' To answer these questions, I look into VEH in LoL, categorize it according to techniques used to achieve humor effects, analyze translation strategies applied when the VEH is translated into Korean version, and discuss constraints present in the process of translation. This study intends to combine two elements: VEH and video game localization. In order to do so I reflect on what game localization and VEH are and how research about them has been conducted to date. I also describe what the game localization entails and the role of VEH in video games. Finally, I present a case study about the translation of VEH in LoL. It was found that VEH in LoL is categorized into four types according to techniques: VEH based on cultural references (including films, songs, books, video games, celebrities), VEH based on wordplays and puns, VEH based on idioms and fixed expressions, and VEH based on characterization. And each type of VEH is translated through mainly three strategies: to leave VEH unchanged, to replace VEH, and to omit VEH. In this analyzing process, I found that there are several constraints in translating online games like LoL. For example, in the case of LoL there was a lag of about two years between the launch of the original game (in North America) and the localized version (in South Korea). But because many Korean players had already been playing LoL through the NA server before the official launch in Korea, it is possible that some of them are familiar with the original version of VEH. Also, owing to growing e-sports tournament, whichever country online games are exported and translated into, they need to be consistent in contents such as VEH based on background stories and relationship among characters of LoL. Research on translation of humor, especially on translation of humor in video games should not settle for text analysis. It is also important to examine how humor in ST is created or delivered to TT, that is empirical research on how translation affects audience reception of humor. Therefore, in the future further research work should be conducted through interviews or comparative questionnaire surveys of source- and target-culture game players on whether they understand the intended humorous elements in each version.
주제어
#게임 번역 게임 로컬라이제이션 유머 번역 verbally expressed humor VEH
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