The next two examples concern the inadvertent use of a taboo/discriminatory word especially when the term was not present in the original version but introduced in the localized versions. While the case of neutralising or omitting such words is more common in most other types of translation, the opposite may happen in game localization. The PAL English version of the brain training game MindQuiz (2007) released for Nintendo DS and Sony PSP contained the phrase "super spastic" whenever the player's performance failed to reach a certain level. Following a complaint on BBC talkback radio by a user of the game who had a disabled child, the issue was brought under public scrutiny and led to the product's recall by the game's publisher Ubisoft (Richards 2007). Shortly after this incident, Wii Mario Party 8 (2007) was also recalled due to its use of the same word "spastic" as part of the blue wizard's incantation in the game, primarily intended for rhyming effect rather than its meaning. These incidents illustrate a number of game-specific translation issues.
First, the original Japanese games did not contain an equivalent discriminatory word. However, given the nature of the product, translators often take a broad adaptive approach in their translation, including the use of less formal language. Second, in this particular case, the word in question in the TL turned out to be one of the most offensive expressions in the UK's list of discriminatory words against disabled people whereas it was not the case in the US; Wii Mario Party 8 (2007) had been published in the US earlier in the same year without causing any issue and the game had sold well. Nintendo usually adapts US English to UK English during the process of NTSC to PAL conversion, but this particular case clearly had fallen through their check. That may have been partly due to the way in which the word was used in the game; it appeared in the wizard's spell: “Magikoopa magic! Turn the train spastic! Make this ticket tragic!" Its usage therefore clearly differs from the case with MindQuiz. Nevertheless, these examples point to the potential risk of translation strategies which take extensive liberty, inadvertently introducing in the target product a negative factor which was not present in the original. This example also underscores the fact that in certain cases the difference between being creative and offensive may not be as clear-cut as one may expect when the product crosses different varieties of the same language.
A functionalist perspective applied to game translation strategies highlights the main challenge involved in game localization to be a difficulty in catering to the needs of all target users, who are often part of a heterogeneous group. Nevertheless, thinking about translation strategies typically used in game localization helps to point to translation norms which translators gradually come to understand in negotiating a complex combination of factors. The next section presents a mini case study to further portray contemporary game translation operations by focusing on the game localization process undertaken by a major game company with a substantial experience in localizing AAA titles which often sell millions of units in international markets.
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