Videogame localization. A case study: Final Fantasy XII

Globalization has influenced all economic sectors and the demand for translation services has increased like never before. The videogame industry has become a worldwide phenomenon worth billions. Many people around the globe, male and female, children and adults alike, choose this leisure activity and enjoy it like reading or watching a film. It is a global phenomenon capable of producing as much revenue and anticipation as the film industry. Most games are developed in Japanese or English and the new global market requires this product to be translated into many other languages. The scenario has brought about a new field of specialization in translation studies, commonly known as videogame localization. The emergence of this new field calls not only for a review of translation studies, but also a shift in the role that some translators and translated products are expected to play within a globalized world. The aim of this dissertation is to provide an overview of videogame localization and its challenges under the guidance of a professional translator such as Alexander O. Smith, who agreed to provide counsel through several Skype interviews. This provided a first-hand insight into how translation decisions are carried out by game translators. Alexander O. Smith was a former translator for Square Enix, one of the biggest Japanese videogame developer, publisher and distribution company in the market. He now works as an independent translator and in 2003 he founded the localization agency called Kajiya Productions with his friend and fellow translator Joseph Reeder. Together with Alexander O. Smith, the twelfth installment of the Final Fantasy series by Square Enix has been chosen as a very good example of the issues and challenges brought on by videogame localization. The game which revealed itself to be one of the most fun, challenging and rewarding professional experiences of Alexander O. Smith.

Wilfred Von Oven, “Un «nazista» in Argentina”: primi risultati di una ricerca sulla figura dell’addetto stampa personale di Joseph Goebbels

L'elaborato si incentra sulla figura di Wilfred Von Oven (1912-2008), addetto stampa personale di Joseph Goebbels che, a guerra finita, si trasferì in Argentina, dove lavorò come giornalista e visse fino alla morte. Il ritratto di Von Oven che viene presentato si basa su due principali documenti: un'intervista in lingua spagnola realizzata per la televisione argentina e conservata nell'Archivio Storico dell'Istituto Luce Cinecittà a Roma e la sua autobiografia in lingua tedesca, consultata presso la sede di Francoforte della Biblioteca Nazionale Tedesca. A partire da queste fonti, e da altri documenti, l'elaborato ricostruisce la biografia di Von Oven e analizza tratti della sua personalità e mentalità, con particolare riferimento alle posizioni nazionalsocialiste e revisioniste del suo pensiero. L'elaborato, in mancanza di documentazione in lingua italiana su Wilfred Von Oven, si propone di presentare i primi risultati di una ricerca su questo personaggio storico, ricerca che non può dirsi conclusa dati i molti punti interrogativi che rimangono intorno ad alcuni aspetti della vita e della mentalità di Von Oven.