Culture Clash
We talk about the geographics of video games in such broad strokes: "Western (North America/Europe)/Japanese/Korean". Often this terminology is used to describe game styles and expectations, tied to cultural norms. The localisation of games revolves around this.
The problem for the "Western" area is that culture, as a whole, extends far beyond simple politeness principles. Literature, music, fables and such are all different in different countries. Game development used to embrace the cultures of their birth: the UK development scene in the 80s gave rise to Python-esque games littered with British humour that simply didn't translate elsewhere. The GTA series are perhaps the last games to make any "British-style" jokes.
As an example of the disjoint, the above video for the canned Acclaim version of Juiced appeared on Digg some time ago, under the title "One of the worst video game intros. Ever. 3:36 of pain." As per usual on Digg, the comments were vitriolic and merciless, mainly from North Americans. However, Acclaim's marketing team probably thought they were doing the right thing! The video tapped into UK grime, a popular underground movement at the time. While the actual composition of the video is poor, the music itself would have been well received. In the UK.
All games are now positioned to take on a global market, which, thus far, has lead to a drastic homogenisation of what it means to be a "Western" game, mainly towards what appeals in the United States. The UK largely escapes this unscathed, with a culture that is rapidly becoming much like the US. However, countries like France and Spain must fare worse.
Is it too much to hope that companies may begin to culturally localise games within the Western territory? Must we, yet again, place our faith in indie development on XBLA and PSN to bring "niche" games that carry greater appeal to certain countries?
As an example of the disjoint, the above video for the canned Acclaim version of Juiced appeared on Digg some time ago, under the title "One of the worst video game intros. Ever. 3:36 of pain." As per usual on Digg, the comments were vitriolic and merciless, mainly from North Americans. However, Acclaim's marketing team probably thought they were doing the right thing! The video tapped into UK grime, a popular underground movement at the time. While the actual composition of the video is poor, the music itself would have been well received. In the UK.
All games are now positioned to take on a global market, which, thus far, has lead to a drastic homogenisation of what it means to be a "Western" game, mainly towards what appeals in the United States. The UK largely escapes this unscathed, with a culture that is rapidly becoming much like the US. However, countries like France and Spain must fare worse.
Is it too much to hope that companies may begin to culturally localise games within the Western territory? Must we, yet again, place our faith in indie development on XBLA and PSN to bring "niche" games that carry greater appeal to certain countries?
