Mia Consalvo
The cross-cultural interactions of Japanese videogames and the West, from DIY localization by fans to corporate strategies of “Japaneseness.”
In the early days of arcades and Nintendo, many players didn't recognize Japanese games as coming from Japan; they were simply new and interesting games to play. But since then, fans, media, and the games industry have thought further about the “Japaneseness” of particular games. Game developers try to decide whether a game's Japaneseness is a selling point or stumbling block; critics try to determine what elements in a game express its Japaneseness—cultural motifs or technical markers. Games were “localized,” subjected to sociocultural and technical tinkering. In this book, Mia Consalvo looks at what happens when Japanese games travel outside Japan, and how they are played, thought about, and transformed by individuals, companies, and groups in the West.
Consalvo begins with players, first exploring North American players' interest in Japanese games (and Japanese culture in general) and then investigating players' DIY localization of games, in the form of ROM hacking and fan translating. She analyzes several Japanese games released in North America and looks in detail at the Japanese game company Square Enix. She examines indie and corporate localization work, and the rise of the professional culture broker. Finally, she compares different approaches to Japaneseness in games sold in the West and considers how Japanese games have influenced Western games developers. Her account reveals surprising cross-cultural interactions between Japanese games and Western game developers and players, between Japaneseness and the market.
PUBLICATION DETAILS
LANGUAGE | BINDING | EDITION | ISBN | YEAR | PAGES |
English | Hardcover | | 9780262034395 | 2016 | 272 |
English | Paperback | | 9780262545761 | 2022 | 272 |
English | eBook | | N/A | 2016 | 272 |
TAGS
Authors: #MiaConsalvo
Publishers: #MITPress (The MIT Press)
Languages: #English
Format: #Hardcover #Paperback #eBook
Accessibility: #TextToSpeech #ScreenReader #EnhancedTypesetting
Genres: #GameStudies #GlobalPerspective #Homebrew #Localization #Mobile #Modding #RPG #TheologyMythologyPhilosophy
Companies:
#Capcom (Capcom)
#CarpeFulgur (Carpe Fulgur)
#CloverStudio (Clover Studio)
#Eidos (Eidos)
#Kairosoft (Kairosoft)
#Level5 (Level-5)
#Nintendo (Nintendo)
#RockinAndroid (Rockin' Android)
#SquareEnix (Enix, Squaresoft, Square Enix)
#Taito (Taito)
#YoshitakaAmano (Yoshitaka Amano)
Public Figures:
#BrendaRomero (Brenda Romero)
#BrettDouville (Brett Douville)
#ChaimGingold (Chaim Gingold)
#ClydeMandelin (Clyde "Tomato" Mandelin, The Starmen)
#DougWilson (Doug Wilson)
#EricZimmerman (Eric Zimmerman)
#HironobuSakaguchi (Hironobu Sakaguchi)
#JasonRohrer (Jason Rohrer)
#JenovaChen (Jenova Chen)
#JohnRomero (John Romero)
#KeitaTakahashi (Keita Takahashi)
#NickFortugno (Nicholas 'Nick' Fortugno)
#NobuoUematsu (Nobuo Uematsu)
#PhilFish (Phil Fish)
#RichardRouseIII (Richard Rouse III)
#RobinHunicke (Robin Hunicke)
#ShigeruMiyamoto (Shigeru Miyamoto)
#SteveMeretzky (Steve Meretzky)
#YujiHorii (Yuji Horii)
Games:
#9Hours9Persons9Doors (999: 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors, Zero's Last Reward)
#AceAttorney (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney)
#ChronoTrigger (Chrono Trigger)
#DevilMayCry (DmC: Devil May Cry)
#DragonQuest (Dragon Quest)
#FinalFantasy (#FinalFantasyI [Final Fantasy 1, FF1, FFI, Final Fantasy I], #FinalFantasyII [Final Fantasy 2, FF2, FFII, Final Fantasy II], #FinalFantasyIII [Final Fantasy 3, FF3, FFIII, Final Fantasy III], #FinalFantasyIV [Final Fantasy 4, FF4, FFIV, Final Fantasy IV], #FinalFantasyV [Final Fantasy 5, FF5, FFV, Final Fantasy V], #FinalFantasyVI [Final Fantasy 6, FF6, FFVI, Final Fantasy VI], #FinalFantasyVII [Final Fantasy 7, FF7, FFVII, Final Fantasy VII], #FinalFantasyXI [Final Fantasy 11, FF11, FFXI, Final Fantasy XI], #FinalFantasyXIV [Final Fantasy 14, FF14, FFXIV, Final Fantasy XIV],
#FireEmblem (Fire Emblem: Awakening)
#GameDevStory (Game Dev Story)
#Katamari (Katamari Damacy)
#KingdomHearts (Kingdom Hearts)
#LostPlanet (Lost Planet)
#MegamiTensei (#Persona [Persona series])
#Mother (#Earthbound [Earthbound], Mother series)
#NiNoKuni (Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch)
#Ōkami (Ōkami)
#Pokémon (Pokémon series)
#Recettear (Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale [RECETTEAR〜アイテム屋さんのはじめ方])
#ResidentEvil (Resident Evil series)
#SilentHill (Silent Hill series)
#SpaceInvaders (Space Invaders)
#TheAdventuresOfHouraiHigh (The Adventures of Hourai High)
#TheWorldEndsWithYou (The World Ends With You)
Misc:
#AGTP (Aeon Genesis Translation Project)
#Doujin (Doujin)
#Magazines (Magazines, Nintendo Power)
#NES (Famicom, NES, Nintendo Entertainment System)
#RHDN (RHDN, Rom Hacking Dot Net, RomHacking.net)
#SNES (SNES, Super Nintendo Entertainment System)
#Steam (Steam)