Vol/51 No/4 2012AUGUST/SEPTEMBERTheLinguist17CREATIVE TRANSLATIONrange from glosses to explain obscurecultural references to 'prologues' at thebeginning of the programme to outline thetranslation choices and acknowledge thename (or nickname) of the subtitler -something that very often does not appearon commercial DVDs.The main problem is that the readingspeed becomes extremely high, and takingin all this information can be very hard. This is partly because freeware programs are farless sophisticated than professional ones and most lack a feature indicating thereading speed. On the plus side, however,this sort of subtitling is much more innovativeand creative. Considering the number of yearscommercial subtitling has been around,innovations are conspicuous by their absence and, increasingly, a number ofvoices are highlighting the possibleadvantages that could come from somesynergy between the professional andamateur worlds. Fansubbing might become'a rich source of inspiration for professionallycreated audiovisual translations,' says AlinaSecara.1'Conventional subtitles are boring',states Jorge Díaz Cintas, adding thatfansubbers' creativity could bring fresh air to'the sobriety of traditional subtitling'.2Traditionally, subtitles were meant, likeVictorian children, to be discreet. Fansubbersare bold and happy to do away with theinvisibility of subtitles and subtitlers alike.Although they exist in a legally grey area -often their position has been challenged andsome websites have been closed down -they flaunt their identity. They place subtitles all over the screen anduse a variety of orthotypographic means toconvey additional features. Capitalisation andphonetic spelling, for instance, allow them toincorporate paralinguistic features in theirtranslations. And last but, in my view,definitely not least, their use of glosses toexplain cultural references allows them toproduce subtitles that are more foreignisingthan traditional ones, giving greater access tothe culture of the original programme.The two aspects discussed in this article -technological advances on the one hand,and the world of fansubbing on the other -might well be seen as unrelated. However, Ibelieve that the innovations brought aboutboth by technology and by fansubbing mightcome together in contributing to the creationof a new subtitling modality, one thatincorporates the needs and expectations of21st-century industry and audiences alike.Notes1Secara, A, 2011, 'R U Ready 4 New Subtitles?Investigating the potential of social translationpractices and creative spellings' in LinguisticaAntverpiensia10, 153-1742Díaz Cintas, J, JosTrans17, January 2012,www.jostrans.org/issue17/int_cintas.phpThere is, however, another side to thestory. While the advantages of the latesttechnological developments are apparent,state-of-the-art subtitling software can beexpensive and therefore inaccessible. But the internet era has yielded anotherpossibility: the world of freeware - freesoftware, accessible to all and easilydownloadable. And while subtitling freewareis far from ideal for professional subtitlers, ithas not escaped the attention of amateursubtitlers or 'fansubbers'. Although its earliest manifestations dateback to the 1980s, fansubbing has onlyrecently become established as a widespreadphenomenon that looks set to stay. There aretwo main reasons for its exponential growth:the dwindling quality of commercial subtitleson DVDs and the desire to offer a subtitledalternative to programmes that, in somecountries, are only dubbed. Fansubs differ from traditional subtitles in anumber of ways - most, if not all, resultingfrom the fact that, not being constrained bythe demands of the industry, fansubbers arefreer to experiment with content and format.While traditional subtitles tend to stick to onefont, one colour and a maximum number ofcharacters and lines per subtitle, fansubsdisplay a variety of fonts, sizes, colours andlines of text, they sometimes usecapitalisation and emoticons for emphasis,and at times resort to phonetic spelling. Moreover, they flout another basicconvention of subtitling: no additionalinformation or footnotes are allowed in asubtitled programme; subtitles translate onlywhat is said in the dialogue and/or displayedon the screen. Fansubs, on the other hand,tend to add a number of elements, whichFansubbers are bold,and happy to do awaywith the invisibility ofsubtitles. They flaunttheir identity

Essential skills:Creativity and adaptability,the ability to deal with technical issues,familiarity with gaming terminology and thedifferences between platforms. Gamestranslators must play games. Qualifications:MA in Translation, preferablyon a course that includes audiovisualtranslation and games localisation.Professional experience:An in-house jobwithin a games company is preferred.Companies such as Blizzard and NCsofthave in-house translation teams; most havelocalisation testing departments. Useful websites:For in-house work trywww.aswift.com and www.datascope.co.uk.Games companies' websites often publicisevacancies, and there are LinkedIn groupsdedicated to jobs in the games industry.Essential reading: The Game LocalizationHandbookby Heather Maxwell Chandler.OUT OF CONTEXT: Blizzard's fantasy role-play game Diablo III (above). In Tales ofMonkey Island (right) the word 'Save' wasgiven in Spanish as Salvar, not Guardar18 TheLinguistAUGUST/SEPTEMBERwww.iol.org.ukCREATIVE TRANSLATIONSilvia Ferreroon the challenges for localisers, as gamingexpands into diverse markets and on to new platformsGames localisation, despite being a fairlyyoung industry, is acquiring more popularityrecently, perhaps because the games industryis growing faster than any other entertainmentsector. This is a positive change and it meansthat there is more information than everavailable for those interested in the profession.So what makes games localisation differentfrom other disciplines, and what specialisedskills are needed on the part of the translator?The first thing that needs to be consideredis the huge variety that exists in the gamesindustry. In a few years, games have evolvedvery quickly and the stereotype of young malegamers no longer applies. Companies areconstantly branching into new markets andreleasing products that defy the traditionaldefinition of a videogame. There are gamesyou can sing along to, games that help you tokeep fit and even ones that teach you how tocook. And then there is the social gamingboom, which is popular with women, who nowmake up nearly 50 percent of gamers.This variety requires a lot of adaptability onthe part of localisers. Some games, includingflight and driving simulators, contain verytechnical vocabulary, which can be extremelyhard to translate. Other games, such as fantasyThe rules of the gamerole-playing games (RPGs), require a lot ofcreativity, as translators encounter the strangeforms of speech of orcs, elves and pirates. Andthere are also extreme cases -pop culturequizzes, for example, with questions about TVshows, songs and celebrities -in which thewhole game has to be transcreated so that thecontent reflects the local culture.For these reasons, localisers have morefreedom in the games industry than in anyother field. They can adapt character names tosuit the local culture, convert an accent into atarget equivalent, or make a character speak ina particular way for characterisation purposes.After all, games localisation is not abouttranslating words, but translating experiences. Games companies areextremely protective.The translator oftenhas to work withoutseeing the product GETTING STARTED