Localization and culturalization for a history-based game
The case of Detention
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19165222 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Hao Hsu (0000-0001-5003-2500, National Taiwan University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 1-2 |
| Pages | 28-48 |
| Publication date | 2020-11-12 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Internationalization and Localization (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2032-6904 • E-ISSN: 2032-6912 |
| Publisher | John Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1075/jial.20007.hsu |
| OpenAlex | W3098546729 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 3 |
Released in 2017, the game Detention by the Taiwanese indie developer Red Candle Games gained great domestic success and made a name for itself among gamer communities worldwide. Providing an English-language localization upon its release, the 2D point-and-click horror game is set in the 1960s during Taiwan’s “White Terror” era. The story follows a ghost girl bound to the school she attended and unravels her tragic story. With such a specific temporal and spatial background, the game has a wide range of cultural references, potentially preventing non-Taiwanese players from being immersed in the game. This paper aims to examine industry practices within the theoretical framework of translation studies and understand, with the case of Detention , how culturalization operates at different levels. Through the lens of loss and gain, this paper also discusses how certain cultural connotations are lost in localization to retain the immersive game experience as an overall gain
Advertising · Business · Game art design · Game design · Game Developer · Indie film · Media studies · Multimedia · Sociology · Video game · Asian Culture and Media Studies · Computer Science
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |