This study explores suitable applications of culturalization in the case of educational games for children, specifically in relation to the Chinese market. Culturalization, in the context of video games, are design choices and adjustments applied to a product in order to cater to the needs of different cultural environments. The characteristics of both this genre, and this target locale, determines to which aspects of the product culturalization should be applied. Using three commercial educational games as a basis for discussion, the research was conducted through a series of expert interviews with pedagogues, localizers and game researchers in China. By analyzing the data gathered through these interviews, a series of aspects to consider for culturalization was defined. These were: usage of cultural references; the branding of the product; educational utility in relation to the local school curriculum; choice of gamification design.

Os videogames são hoje uma das formas de entretenimento mais populares em todo o mundo. Muito desse sucesso só foi possível graças à tradução, a qual, por meio de versões localizadas para os mais diversos idiomas, contribuiu decisivamente para que os videogames alcançassem um número cada vez maior de mercados e chegassem a milhões de lares ao redor do planeta. Esta dissertação, de caráter eminentemente historiográfico, tem por objetivo examinar a relação entre a tradução/localização e os videogames desde seu início até os dias de hoje. Além disso, pretende também, por meio da análise de alguns jogos, traçar um panorama acerca de como se dá esta relação sob o contexto brasileiro, abordando as características e especificidades que a localização de games tem apresentado no Brasil ao longo do tempo. A análise desses jogos está fundamentada sob duas perspectivas: a) uma perspectiva histórica, em que se buscará situar as épocas em que foram lançados às etapas de evolução dos videogames e sua relação com a tradução/localização em cada momento; e b) uma perspectiva descritiva, em que se realizará uma análise dos aspectos acerca da tradução/localização observados nesses jogos, fundamentada sob as bases teóricas utilizadas nesta dissertação: o conceito de domesticação/estrangeirização (Venuti, 1995), a teoria funcionalista do Skopos (Vermeer, 1986) e o conceito de Gameplay Experience (Souza, R.V.F., 2014). / Video games are today one of the most important forms of entertainment worldwide. Much of this success was only made possible due to translation, which, through localized versions into various languages, contributed decisively for video games to achieve a growing number of markets and reach millions of homes across the globe. This dissertation, of an eminently historiographical nature, aims to examine the relation between translation/localization and video games from their beginning until the present day. Furthermore, it also intends, through the analyses of a number of games, to provide an overview on how this relation works under the Brazilian context, addressing the characteristics and specificities that video game localization has been showing over time. The analysis of such games is founded upon two perspectives:a) a historical perspective, which will seek to situate the times when they were released to the stages of evolution of video games and their relation with translation/localization in each moment; and b) a descriptive perspective, which will undertake an analysis of translation/localization aspects observed in such games, founded upon the theorical basis utilized in this dissertation: the concept of domestication/foreignization (Venuti, 1995), the functionalist Skopos theory (Vermeer, 1986) and the concept of Gameplay Experience (Souza, R. V. F., 2014).

Os videogames são hoje uma das formas de entretenimento mais populares em todo o mundo. Muito desse sucesso só foi possível graças à tradução, a qual, por meio de versões localizadas para os mais diversos idiomas, contribuiu decisivamente para que os videogames alcançassem um número cada vez maior de mercados e chegassem a milhões de lares ao redor do planeta. Esta dissertação, de caráter eminentemente historiográfico, tem por objetivo examinar a relação entre a tradução/localização e os videogames desde seu início até os dias de hoje. Além disso, pretende também, por meio da análise de alguns jogos, traçar um panorama acerca de como se dá esta relação sob o contexto brasileiro, abordando as características e especificidades que a localização de games tem apresentado no Brasil ao longo do tempo. A análise desses jogos está fundamentada sob duas perspectivas: a) uma perspectiva histórica, em que se buscará situar as épocas em que foram lançados às etapas de evolução dos videogames e sua relação com a tradução/localização em cada momento; e b) uma perspectiva descritiva, em que se realizará uma análise dos aspectos acerca da tradução/localização observados nesses jogos, fundamentada sob as bases teóricas utilizadas nesta dissertação: o conceito de domesticação/estrangeirização (Venuti, 1995), a teoria funcionalista do Skopos (Vermeer, 1986) e o conceito de Gameplay Experience (Souza, R.V.F., 2014). / Video games are today one of the most important forms of entertainment worldwide. Much of this success was only made possible due to translation, which, through localized versions into various languages, contributed decisively for video games to achieve a growing number of markets and reach millions of homes across the globe. This dissertation, of an eminently historiographical nature, aims to examine the relation between translation/localization and video games from their beginning until the present day. Furthermore, it also intends, through the analyses of a number of games, to provide an overview on how this relation works under the Brazilian context, addressing the characteristics and specificities that video game localization has been showing over time. The analysis of such games is founded upon two perspectives:a) a historical perspective, which will seek to situate the times when they were released to the stages of evolution of video games and their relation with translation/localization in each moment; and b) a descriptive perspective, which will undertake an analysis of translation/localization aspects observed in such games, founded upon the theorical basis utilized in this dissertation: the concept of domestication/foreignization (Venuti, 1995), the functionalist Skopos theory (Vermeer, 1986) and the concept of Gameplay Experience (Souza, R. V. F., 2014).

Cultural adaptation and free translation strategies are more common to use within the field of video game localization although they are still not recommended too veruse in translation studies. Free translation strategies are commonly used invideo game localization to make video games ready for a targeted audience. As free translation is mostly target-oriented in video game localization, the original source text often loses its meaning because of culturally adapting and modifying the text to fit to the target culture. This study aims to analyze 10 chosen cutscenes of the video game Lost Judgement, to find how frequently cultural adaptation and free translation strategies were used for pragmatic (proper names, cultural termsand expressions, allusion) and interlingual (regional dialect and slang) translation problems and how these problems were solved. The result and analysis of the study demonstrate examples of these translation problems within chosen cutscenes. The examples prove that depending on translation problems, both free translation and cultural adaptation can be used in combination with a literal word-for-word translation strategy. It also indicates that the video localization of Lost Judgement implied to use both domestication and foreignization approaches to achieve a higher satisfaction for the players of the game who can choose their favorite version. Another important factor was that the localization of the videogame focused on a functional approach whose purpose was to keep loyalty to the original text, the source text.

Using the Otome game Amnesia and its localized version Amnesia: Memories as a case study, the phenomenon of Otome games was explored from a translation- and Japanese studies' perspective. This paper investigated how translation choices shape character personality, and, as such, Western views. Toma, the most popular character from the Amnesia franchise according to Japanese popularity rankings, was received differently by the Western audience. This study aimed at exploring how translation choices might be related to this difference in reception. As such, it posed the questions: In what respect could changes that occurred during the localization process have led to an alteration of Toma's personality? How could these changes explain the discrepancy between player reception in Japan and the West? Upon analyzing the scripts, a connection between the effect created by certain translation strategies and Western player reception became apparent. Effects identified included the erasure of entry points for "self-inserting" players, the creation of a distorted first impression and the infringement of the players' spaces in ways not present in the original. The connection between character personality and the creation of an "equivalent gameplay experience" was explored. It resulted in the confirmation of the hypothesis surrounding their overall inseparability in an Otome game context, with the exception of a minority of justifiable cases where personality alterations were conducted in favor of a culturally equivalent gameplay experience. The impact of pre-filled gaps in the text led to decreased opportunities for players to contribute to the creation of meaning, while the presence of mistranslations sparked feelings of confusion regarding the character's sanity. Taking the role of the translator, the player and the virtual love interest into consideration, this paper suggests an approach derived from acting as a tool for future character personality preservation in Otome game translation.

This study examines the censorship guidelines and translation techniques used in the localization of Mother 2 (1994) (English title: EarthBound), a video game developed originally by Nintendo of Japan and released in North America in 1995 by Nintendo of America. Having extracted 50 dialogue lines which are considered to include topics subject to censorship, the study analyses the prevalence of censorship and translation techniques, as well as the consistency of the localization with Nintendo of America's guidelines. The results show that adaptation and modulation were the most favoured translation techniques, used in 36% and 40% of the cases, respectively. Furthermore, censorship appeared to be more prevalent in categories related to graphic violence and religious themes. However, inconsistencies in the localization suggest that the guidelines were not always followed strictly. These findings align with some previous studies on censorship and localization in media and entertainment, although every product has a different distribution of themes, which in turn affects the type of censorship found. The study concludes that further research on censorship and translation techniques in video games, as well as other forms of media, could provide useful insights into the process of localization.