作者：Damien Yoccoz

对于本土化，如果你不能在此投入努力，玩家便可能察觉出来并因此感到沮丧。

以下则是确保所有玩家都能感到满足的有效方法：

revenue(from gamasutra)

本土化游戏描述意味着更多收益

就像我在之前《5个代价最昂贵的本土化问题》中所说的，游戏描述能够有效提高下载量，但却成为了经常被忽视的一个问题。和游戏截图一起，这是所有潜在游戏玩家在浏览全新游戏时都将看到的内容。

根据案例研究，苹果App Store中的前100名游戏都带有本土化描述。这便是为什么你的游戏描述本土化（面向Steam，Google Play或苹果的App Store）如此重要的原因。

你只有一次机会去制造第一印象，而游戏描述便是帮助玩家决定是否该下载你的游戏的第一要素。

但你所追求的不只是下载量。你希望玩家能够不断回来玩你的游戏，在网上谈论你的游戏并将其推荐给其他人。而适当的游戏本土化能够将那些喜欢游戏的玩家变成你的免费市场营销机器—-也就意味着你能够因此获得更多玩家和更多收益。相反地，如果你创造的是一款基于糟糕本土化的游戏，很快地它便会让玩家感到失望并因此为你的游戏招来负面报道。

说谎并不算本土化

本土化游戏描述和截图说明固然重要，但是你却不能利用它们去欺骗潜在的游戏下载者。

当你基于特定语言发表描述时，用户总是会认为你的游戏面向该语言进行了本土化。所以千万不让玩家在下载了游戏后却发现事实并非如此！确保你的游戏拥有和描述中所使用的语言相同的语言。如果你做不到这点也必须让玩家清楚你之后的本土化计划。

以下便是Google Play上一款游戏虽然很完美但却因为缺少法语版本而收到了这样的评论：

“如果有法语版本和手动战斗模式就更完美了！”

了解你的目标市场的语言差异

当你在一个国外市场发行电子游戏或应用时，你最主要的任务便是打破可能阻碍人们玩你的游戏或应用的所有障碍。我们已经说过本土化游戏描述能够有效提高下载量，但你同时也需要在你的游戏中提供语言选择。

使用本土化检测去预设语言便是一个不错的起点，但也有例外，就像在美国并不是所有人都将英语当成母语。单单西班牙便拥有4种不同的语言，所以在你考虑面向这个市场发行游戏时你就需要考虑世界各地的西班牙语的差异（游戏邦注：例如在墨西哥，哥伦比亚，阿根廷等地方的西班牙语）。

语言差异的列表是无止尽的。而你的任务便是去决定你需要去迎合的个体市场并让他们自己做出选择。千万不要使用国旗去代表语言，而是列出你所提供的每种语言与方言的翻译名称。

虽然从表面看来是关于语言但却很容易扯上政治问题。你肯定不希望通过迫使巴西人去选择葡萄牙国旗才能理解你的游戏吧。

在全球电子游戏市场中，本土化游戏及其相关内容不再像以前那样是一种奢侈的服务，这反而变成了一种必要性。单单你的游戏描述便能够在任何特定市场为你吸引到数百万玩家，并且比起内容翻译，你还有更多需要进行本土化的东西。通过了解你想要进入的每个市场，你便可以避免昂贵的重复工作并专心呈献给玩家你最棒的游戏。更重要的是，你将能够因此触及更广泛的用户并传达能够吸引新玩家并保证用户留存的出色游戏体验。

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转发，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Why you should care about localization as much as gamers do

by Damien Yoccoz

The thing with localization is, when you don’t make the effort it really shows – and that’s when gamers get upset.

Here are some useful tips to keep everyone happy.

Localized game descriptions mean more revenue

As we saw it in our previous post on the 5 Most Expensive Localization Mistakes, game descriptions are vital for maximizing downloads but often overlooked. Along with the screenshots taken from your title, this is all potential gamers have to go on when they browse casually for new titles.

Case studies have shown the top 100 games in Apple’s App Store are dominated by titles with localized descriptions. This is why the localization of your game description – be it for Steam, Google Play or Apple’s App Store – should be an absolute priority.

You only get one chance to make a good first impression and your game description is the first (and maybe only) thing that will help gamers decide whether your game is worth downloading or not.

It’s not only downloads you’re after, though. You want regular players who keep coming back to your game, talk about it online and recommend it to everyone they know. A properly localized game will turn your aficionados into free marketing machines for you – which again, means more players and more revenue. On the other hand, deliver a title with poor game localization and it won’t take long before disappointed gamers make bad press of your game.

Lying doesn’t count as localization

Localized game descriptions and screenshot captions are important, but don’t use them to deceive potential downloaders.

When you post descriptions in a certain language, users tend to think that your game is localized for that language, too. So don’t let gamers find out it isn’t after they’ve downloaded! Make sure your game is available in the same language as the description. And in case it isn’t yet, let players clearly know about your future localization plans (if you haven’t got any yet, contact us!), or you and everyone else will hear about it in your reviews.

Here’s an example of a title on Google Play getting an average review because of the lack of a French version, while the game is otherwise really well received:

“A FR version and a manual battle mode would be good. It would be perfect then.”

Know your market’s language variations

When you launch your video game or your app in a foreign market, it’s vital to break down every barrier that could prevent people from playing it. We’ve already said how important localized game descriptions are for maximizing downloads but you also need to offer language selection from within your game.

Using location detection to preset the languages is a good place to start but not everyone in the US, for example, speaks English as their first language. While Spain has four different languages spoken across the country – before you even consider the differences of Spanish spoken around the world (Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, etc.).

The list of language variations is almost endless. Your job is to decide which languages your individual markets need catering for and allow people to choose for themselves. And never use flags to symbolize languages – print the translated name for each language and dialect you offer (eg: espa?ol, not Spanish).

This is as much a political issue as it is linguistic. You don’t want to tell people from Hong Kong they’re Chinese or force Brazilians to select a Portuguese flag to understand your game.

This is how much some users of the language learning application Babbel can get offended by the wrong use of flags to represent languages.

In a global video games market, localizing your game and the content related to it isn’t the luxury service it used to be – it’s an absolute necessity. Your game descriptions alone can add millions of players in any given market, but there’s far more to localization than content translation. By understanding each market you venture into, you can avoid expensive reworks and focus on showing people the best of your game. More importantly, you get to reach the widest audience possible and deliver a gaming experience that attracts new gamers and keeps them coming back for more.（source：gamasutra）