Editorial

In her interview, Current Trends in Games Localization (premium), Chandler provides an industry insider’s insight into this lesser-known domain of localization. One thing I wish to mention here is the use of terminology – video games (sometimes spelled as one word). This usage is common within the localization circle, while the games research community seems to prefer the term digital games, as in the case of Digital Games Research Association (DIGRA). The unstable terminology only illustrates the relative newness of this domain and perhaps its dynamic nature.

In her article, Terminology: Getting Down to Business (public), Kara Warburton, Chair of the LISA Terminology SIG and Terminologist at IBM, issues a call to action to all of us who claim that we’re committed to terminology. We are waffling, while other stakeholders in knowledge management are moving ahead without us in developing and applying standards to which we may have to adhere. It’s time to act, and the LISA Terminology SIG shows us how.

It was opportune timing that Changing Views: Worlds in Play, the international conference on digital game research, DiGRA 2005, took place just ahead of this issue of the Globalization Insider. It was DiGRA’s second conference; the first being in Amsterdam in 2003. While writing this editorial, I was interested to read in the Taipei Times (July 8) the following quote from a report on the Japan Forum on International Relations:

"These cultural assets [manga, anime and video games] are now considered a part of Japan’s strength, as is evident from the expression now being bandied about: Japan’s Gross National Cool.”

This corresponds to a presentation during DiGRA that discussed how the Japanese government is only now recognizing the need to establish games research in academia. DiGRA 2005 showed that in the U.S. and parts of Europe, games research is in the process of becoming mainstreamed, albeit not entirely without their existing some residual prejudice against this subject matter.

In Asia, Korea seems to have a head start with the government’s Korean Games Development & Promotion Institute promoting all facets of digital games, supported by the country’s well-developed broadband infrastructure. Seventy percent of all digital games in China are of Korean origin! As mentioned in the conference report, however, there is a downside for this advancement: Korea is the first country to face unique cyber crime issues, arising specifically from online games environments. For more details, read DiGRA 2005 - Changing Views: Worlds in Play (premium).

Many games localizers, project managers and developers could greatly benefit from attending the LISA Forum Europe 2005 that will be held this year in Zurich, Switzerland from November 7-11. It’s the one place to find clear guidelines, best practice and standards (all in one place), to enable people to deliver on their international objectives. The theme this year will be Succeeding in Global Markets, and when you register early, you will receive an Early Bird Discount for the Forum, as well as an additional discount when you register for the Forum and any workshop. Read LISA Forum Europe: Succeeding in Global Markets (public) and learn how to plug into the worldwide network of globalization professionals.

I must admit that it is nerve-wracking doing conference reports these days, thanks to the combination of blogs (web-based personal journals open to the public) and the connectivity offered by WiFi at cafés, stations or even while flying to and from conferences. The technology sets the expectation that conference reports will be available almost immediately as an event unfolds. Adding to the pressure in this instance is the fact that games people are very savvy with digital technology (similar to those in the localization circle!). DiGRA was indeed well-served by technology, with the immediate and public availability of conference content, including the symposia streamed onto the web and the proceedings accessible via the website and on CD/DVD for all participants.

Thus, the conference reporter’s dilemma: when everything is there, what's left for a reporter to report? It can only be a personal take of the event. Indeed, I must include a disclaimer that mine is colored by my own particular interest areas and perhaps the perspective of someone relatively new to games research.

In spite of these challenges, István Lengyel, Head of Business Operations for Kilgray Translation Technologies and a member of the local organizing committee for the 10th annual EAMT Conference, provides conference highlights for Practical Applications of Machine Translation in EAMT Graduates to the Conference Circuit: User Orientation Comes into Focus (premium).

On a personal note, I’ve had a particularly interesting few weeks lately, traveling from Vancouver, where DiGRA 2005 was held, to Porto in Portugal where I joined Bert Esselink to teach at a translation technology summer school. I am mentioning this because it was even more exciting to hear the news from “the horse’s mouth,” so to speak, when Lionbridge acquired BGS to create the largest GILT firm on the globe! In turn, Professor Anthony Pym, who had organized the above summer school, also talked about the excitement (?) of back-to-back technology demos given by SDL and TRADOS in the wake of their recent announcement of an imminent marriage. All in all, it has been an amazing month! Read Money Talks - Acquisitions Prove That We’re Not Averse to Change (premium) for how these acquisitions will affect open standards and future language technologies.

As I head off to New Zealand where it's mid-winter, I wish our northern hemisphere readers a great summer!

Dr. Minako O’Hagan
LISA Asia Pacific Editor
Lecturer in Translation Technology
School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies,
Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland