Ben Wibberley
By Ben Wibberley
DIRECTOR, GAMES
Back in the dotcom era, there was a mantra that content is king and you hear a lot of people talking about that in games today.
The fact of the matter is that a title can sink or swim based on the refinement of its content. Testing that content is crucial too as any title riddled with bugs will inspire negative customer reviews and result in lower revenues as customers vote with their feet.
Keep Your Enterprise Collaboration Platform in Tip-Top Shape
Keith Prunella
By Keith Prunella
VMC DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Imagine if you were hooked up to a tool that can monitor your health 24/7. You would never have to call the doctor, as he or she would know when you’re getting sick before you’d even feel it.
Windows Intune does just that for enterprise collaboration platforms.
The VMC Weekly Round-Up is a recurring digest of articles that we’ve found particularly noteworthy and/or interesting in the last week. We cull from our Twitter accounts (here and here) throughout the week and picked out the most popular tweets and the ones we liked the most*.
We recently caught up with two localizations managers and picked their brains on how they overcome challenges in their work. We also asked them about what they’re looking for when scouting for localization talent.
Galina Kramer
Galina Kramer is the Senior QA Manager of Localization at Zynga games, which reaches nearly 300 million monthly. Zynga is perhaps best known for its FarmVille 2, Texas HoldEm Poker, CityVille 2, CastleVille and Empires & Allies games. Galina has 14 years of software testing experience and joined Zynga in 2010. She is originally from Russia.
Alvi Islamaj
Alvi Islamaj is a Localization Project Manager at VMC Game Labs, a leading partner for games quality assurance and support. Alvi has more than 16 years of experience in QA and is fluent in 7 languages (and currently learning Hindi). He is originally from Albania.
The VMC Weekly Round-Up is a recurring digest of articles that we’ve found particularly noteworthy and/or interesting in the last week. We cull from our Twitter accounts (here and here) throughout the week and picked out the most popular tweets and the ones we liked the most*.
Today, we learned that VMC Game Labs (VMCGL) was nominated for the 2013 Develop Industry Excellence Awards in Services, a category that Develop magazine describes as one that “celebrates studios and companies that have demonstrated impressive technical innovation in games development.” Notably, VMCGL took home the prize in 2012.
VMC Game Labs team members holding the 2012 Develop Award for best service provider
In the last year, VMCGL has embraced new business models like Free To Play, with live games support. We’ve built test automation services to further assist with live games development. We created comprehensive support with QA and localization, player support and live game operations — for better quality and improved time and cost efficiencies. And, we’re proud to have created an Independent Game Developer program to support indie developers with a consistently high level of service.
Chuck Hobart
By Chuck Hobart
VMC ENGAGEMENT MANAGER
Much like a mortgage broker or an insurance broker, a “cloud broker” is an unbiased third party that sifts through the growing number of cloud service providers and seeks the best deal for the customer, matching the customer’s wants and needs with the best solution available.
Cloud computing is a fast-growing industry, with such a high number of providers offering platform as a service, infrastructure as a service, software as a service, and other specializations. This is a challenge for any company —the more services an organization incorporates, the more exponential the challenge grows. The value of cloud brokerage is to advocate for the customer, helping the customer make a guided decision when moving into the cloud. Continue reading
How advancing mobile technologies, digital platforms, and new consoles are pushing QA and localization to new reachesBen Wibberley
By Ben Wibberley
DIRECTOR, GAMES — VMC
One of the biggest challenges we currently face in the games industry is how fast it’s moving and changing. New game companies appear every week; established models are being challenged, blurring the lines between the traditional roles of development, publishing, and distribution.
This growth is being accelerated by the effect of growing broadband penetration and mobile, which in turn, is driving many forms of new online content, companion apps, DLC, and community management. This presents a unique challenge to those in games QA and localization.
(Video source: GameSpot Spotlight on YouTube)
When asked about whether Quality Assurance (QA) is one the “coolest” routes to break into the games industry, VMC Game Labs’ Senior Test Manager Scott Ferguson said, “Definitely one of the coolest ways to get in. [You get to experience] lots of games from different development stages, different aspects — to see the ins and outs of the industry. You get to make a lot of network connections. You kind of get to see things from early concept stages to that final post-post-release stage and [support] it.”
Scott discussed this with GameSpot during the Game Developers Conference (GDC), which took place in San Francisco from March 25 to 29 this year. Scott’s career began seven years ago, as a tester at VMC Game Labs.
“How easy was it? It was as easy as applying,” Scott said. “There’s always a need. It’s a growing industry as long as you have an interest and an aptitude for the industry. The career path is very streamlined. … It’s something I have a passion for. It’s something I have an interest in. And it’s something that’s given back as much as I’ve given to it.” (end)
At the end of the clip, Scott offers a trivia question: “Name me a system that can play games on its handheld- and console-based version, from the 80s.” Stumped? According to Scott, it’s the TurboGrafx 16. The systems — console and handheld — shared the same HuCard game-card reader. More info here. |
To those interested in applying for a career in games QA, visit this page at the VMC Game Labs website. For more videos from GameSpot Spotlight, visit their YouTube channel.
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When Juliet Capulet meets her true love Romeo Montague, from a warring family, she says, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” pointing out that she believes their last names to be artificial and meaningless. With respect to the star-crossed lovers, VMC Localization Project Manager Alvi Islamaj says that terms actually matter significantly in localization.
In the last blog, I discussed how localization testers examine tone and context of a game. It’s also important to note that testers also examine subtler linguistic nuances that might not translate well between two disparate cultures. Key to the quality of localization is being really informed about the target audience. Most people realize that language in children games cannot be vulgar – but going a level down, the localization team also needs to be careful not to put in terminology that teaches something bad.
We use specialists to do the translation in children’s titles. You’d be surprised at how difficult it is for to translate and write from the point of view of a child. It’s widely acknowledged that translators who have rarely translated children’s game will have a very hard time with it and will likely do a poor job. Children’s games can be very technical and detailed; we are challenged to convey concepts in very few words. We are careful not to use words that are not in the target audience’s vocabulary. Also, some younger age groups are not fast readers, so there’s an ideal rhythm and flow in a good translation.
All the countries have their own rating system, which is something our localization team is very aware of. To be able to release a children’s game, a client has to pass certification. A good localization team can bring their expertise to the table be an ally in getting certified.
Here’s a funny story: Our localization team was translating a children’s game from English to French. Acorns had a big presence in the original game. Translating acorn from English to French proved very difficult, because any way you translate it, acorn in French is slang for part of the male anatomy, which is very inappropriate in a children’s game. We caught that and made acorn another nut. It’s an imperfect solution because there were picture of acorns all over the game and acorns look distinctive, not like any other nut. The lesson we passed onto our clients is to never have acorns appear in children’s games.
Oftentimes, the human perspective and experience digs out nuances and that machines and those with less experience overlook. When it comes to localization, what lengths will you go through to ensure that there are no unfortunate double entendre in your title?
Alvi Islamaj can be reached at alviis@vmc.com. Go here for more posts about localization.
