Post by Evie ❤✿ on Jan 18, 2024 9:26:41 GMT -5
(Inspired by this YouTuber who is an Arab and covers the subject in English. A game in Arabic might be called a لعبة فيديو عربية/luebat fidyu earabia, but I don't really know anything about the language. At least that's nice for scratcing the surface.)
When people think of video game localisation (regardless of whether you're from West or East), only a few seem to be mainstream; English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional). (But games from other languages also exist, including Tetris in Russian/Тетрис and the capitalist idea conflicted with the state during its origins and spread). There are also many video games in languages other than those select few or Russian (but a lot like the above might be fan translations).
For Arabic, many people speak it (something like 25 countries officially), though even a lot of franchises with international presence do not have Arabic options. Apparently, this is not so bad outside of Nintendo, for platforms like Sony PlayStation, but Arab gamers apparently are most familiar with a few; games like FIFA, and Call of Duty and various mobile games (nonetheless, a game might not be so personal to their culture; or even contain potentially offensive themes that the localisers would be wise to remove; not just for first-person shooter games, but considering if The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was localised into Arabic; it might not be wise to include anything that might represent Ganondorf as a negative 'desert man' stereotype. On the other hand; it's an opinion and not everyone will agree). A multinational game company might not choose to invest for financial reasons, and the fact that Arabic speaking people may already be multilingual, so may understand a game already in English. In fact, there is an English language newspaper in Saudi Arabia called Arab News.
Also relevant is a huge point that state of Saudi Arabia once banned video games, in particular it didn't like Pokémon:
www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-once-banned-videogames-now-it-wants-to-export-them-ec61f7e1
A lot of video games (including those played by people in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the other 23 or so countries regard Arabic as an official language) may also be those which could carry prejudice against them (such as Islamophobia based on terrorism; the misconception that all such nations are the same/and the shadow-banning of the Muslim faith) or certain games such as Prince of Persia may carry positive themes about Persia's past; but not so much relevant to modern day Arabic speaking countries; where quality of life has improved (as with other powers) and they have access to technology such as smart phones and computers just like we do.
Another point are issues such as this (polarisation) - Do certain ideals simply clash where it wouldn't make sense to localise particular Arab media without severely censoring it? As an analogy, it would be likely merging fire and water and invoking steam? (but please forgive me for my own naivity):
www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2018/7/1/the-outrageous-racism-that-graced-arab-tv-screens-in-ramadan
^ On one hand, certain things like this from Arab culture with blackface as a caricature (not necessarily as harm, but nonetheless polarised) and the response from scriptwriter Ahmed Mohy "[the team] do not aim at insulting part of the Egyptian people, because we are all one people".
Personally, I'm from the West and am aware of both my self and shadow-self (I believe in the idea about being sensitive on how you portray media and LGBT) but my shadow-self is exactly that - that we might worry too much, and it's sometimes good to detach; to embrace owning 'negative' depictions against you ; I admit however, I can never qualify to really understand another culture.
We can see a polarisation in how the article is presented above; a conflicting ideal that such things are not permitted at all; that they are 'exploitative', and that Mohy's defense isn't valid.
As food for thought; another relevant culture is for Muslim women to wear veils (where non-close men are involved). It still unfortunately leads to a projected shadow from the West; particularly conservative often older people from fundamentalist Christian backgrounds might reject this (just as there is Muslim-inspired terrorism, there is also Christian-inspired terorrism). Are we really ready to take those additional steps of globalisation and localisation?
(Stressing, I'm not qualified to speak about these things beyond the general idea but it will be interesting if an Arab gamer sees this. Also I don't want this to inspire any heated debates, and we should stay neutral.)
When people think of video game localisation (regardless of whether you're from West or East), only a few seem to be mainstream; English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional). (But games from other languages also exist, including Tetris in Russian/Тетрис and the capitalist idea conflicted with the state during its origins and spread). There are also many video games in languages other than those select few or Russian (but a lot like the above might be fan translations).
For Arabic, many people speak it (something like 25 countries officially), though even a lot of franchises with international presence do not have Arabic options. Apparently, this is not so bad outside of Nintendo, for platforms like Sony PlayStation, but Arab gamers apparently are most familiar with a few; games like FIFA, and Call of Duty and various mobile games (nonetheless, a game might not be so personal to their culture; or even contain potentially offensive themes that the localisers would be wise to remove; not just for first-person shooter games, but considering if The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was localised into Arabic; it might not be wise to include anything that might represent Ganondorf as a negative 'desert man' stereotype. On the other hand; it's an opinion and not everyone will agree). A multinational game company might not choose to invest for financial reasons, and the fact that Arabic speaking people may already be multilingual, so may understand a game already in English. In fact, there is an English language newspaper in Saudi Arabia called Arab News.
Also relevant is a huge point that state of Saudi Arabia once banned video games, in particular it didn't like Pokémon:
www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-once-banned-videogames-now-it-wants-to-export-them-ec61f7e1
A lot of video games (including those played by people in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the other 23 or so countries regard Arabic as an official language) may also be those which could carry prejudice against them (such as Islamophobia based on terrorism; the misconception that all such nations are the same/and the shadow-banning of the Muslim faith) or certain games such as Prince of Persia may carry positive themes about Persia's past; but not so much relevant to modern day Arabic speaking countries; where quality of life has improved (as with other powers) and they have access to technology such as smart phones and computers just like we do.
Another point are issues such as this (polarisation) - Do certain ideals simply clash where it wouldn't make sense to localise particular Arab media without severely censoring it? As an analogy, it would be likely merging fire and water and invoking steam? (but please forgive me for my own naivity):
www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2018/7/1/the-outrageous-racism-that-graced-arab-tv-screens-in-ramadan
^ On one hand, certain things like this from Arab culture with blackface as a caricature (not necessarily as harm, but nonetheless polarised) and the response from scriptwriter Ahmed Mohy "[the team] do not aim at insulting part of the Egyptian people, because we are all one people".
Personally, I'm from the West and am aware of both my self and shadow-self (I believe in the idea about being sensitive on how you portray media and LGBT) but my shadow-self is exactly that - that we might worry too much, and it's sometimes good to detach; to embrace owning 'negative' depictions against you ; I admit however, I can never qualify to really understand another culture.
We can see a polarisation in how the article is presented above; a conflicting ideal that such things are not permitted at all; that they are 'exploitative', and that Mohy's defense isn't valid.
As food for thought; another relevant culture is for Muslim women to wear veils (where non-close men are involved). It still unfortunately leads to a projected shadow from the West; particularly conservative often older people from fundamentalist Christian backgrounds might reject this (just as there is Muslim-inspired terrorism, there is also Christian-inspired terorrism). Are we really ready to take those additional steps of globalisation and localisation?
(Stressing, I'm not qualified to speak about these things beyond the general idea but it will be interesting if an Arab gamer sees this. Also I don't want this to inspire any heated debates, and we should stay neutral.)