The English version of Xchange 2 is a port of the Japanese version of Xchange 2, but the English one is a localized version of the Japanese one, not a ported one, right? I’m trying to figure out which adjective to use. I believe ‘port’ in this context is a abbreviation of something like ‘portable,’ and isn’t even the same as the noun ‘port,’ am I correct? The definition of port as a verb, according to the dictionary, is ‘to carry, bear, convey, bring.’ Please help.
Well traidtionally for all forms of media a localization is simply exchanging the words/vocals with ones for the country it’s being brought into.
A ‘port’ is a more recent term dealing mostly with games/video from japan to foreign markets. & is closest to meaning “to bring into” refering to how it is altered to fit the cultural it is being brought into… Ports also often involve localization, but they go beyond that to help fit the source into the cultural context of the foreign destination. This can also involve porting code to fit other eexpectations of hardware than the original location…
I posted at another BBS, and this is what they had to say about ‘port’ and ‘ported’:
Edited: Apparently this post was meant to be a joke, but it sounded pretty convincing to someone like me who doesn’t know the etymology of the words.
[This message has been edited by bokmeow (edited 06-06-2003).]
Getting more discussion on ports and localizations:
quote:
but yeah… port refers to a piece of software that is moved (translated/emulated/re-coded/whatever) to another piece of hardware other than the one it was intended to be on originally. hence making them inferior (in some’s mind) since there code isn’t using the full potential of a piece of hardware and other reasons people bring up.localized is when a company (say Working Designs or whatever they are called) brings a title to the states(or any other country other than it’s original release country) and/or makes it accessible to the states (or whoever) (i.e.: language changed, added fixes, english voiceovers, etc.). neo games are ready from the start because of the multi-langauge capability and such, so they need no further localization . but say if kof '02 is put out on dreamcast that is a port.
i assume you actually new this cause i re-read the question, but yeah none the less i’m pretty sure black spy is incorrect. ported is used probably because: say each system is a different country and software travels to the other country over water (the reprogramming process) all the time learning the language of the country they are going to (language=code). in the end they’ve learned the language sucessfully (or semi-sucessfuly) and dock in another country’s port. hence games are ported .
And then another member had this to say on localized and ports:
quote:
the truth is localize means to bring from one market to another on the same platform (ie taking a japanese game, changing the text cover art etc and releasing it in america)a port is taking code written for one platform and making it run on another, (imo without emulation) (ie motw from neo to dc, ut from pc to dc, mgs2 from ps2 to xbox etc.)
I think what you’re trying to say is “should the translation be more literal or should it be more contextual?”
quote:
Originally posted by Quasi Dogma:
I think what you're trying to say is "should the translation be more literal or should it be more contextual?"
I highly doubt that, as that seems to be a different issue (i.e., the "translation vs. transliteration" argument).
Porting a game refers from one system to another – two incompatible systems.
Localization (which is one of my other jobs) is translation into another language, but more than just that. It also includes making it work on similar systems that might be slightly incompatible (i.e. Japanese lang OS to English lang OS). While you could certainly argue that this is similar to porting, I think the difference can be seen in this example sentence: "X Company is porting their latest PC hit to Apple, and then localizing it for Japanese Apple players too."
Best regards,
Made in DNA