スイカ ゲーム Nintendo vs IGN (Project 1)

Our group members consisted of Lyn, Shane, Faith, and Simona.

Introduction:

We analyzed an article from the IGN Japan website, and an article from the Nintendo Japan website. First was the IGN Japan article, this article is a translation of an IGN America article and it was about an unofficial Suika Game suddenly appearing on the Playstation store. The second, from Nintendo, promoted the sale of the original game on the Switch console. As both sources covered roughly the same content, it is illuminating to see the difference in script usage and how it changes tone based on promotional strategy.

Methodology:

To start, Japanese is context-dependent. The aesthetic and imagery should fit somehow if the promotional strategy is successful; if the site aesthetic exudes a particular feeling it should be noted. There is a different advertisement format on the English IGN site, with the Japanese site containing many targeted ads that are well-tailored. The English site has a very plain feeling, missing social media buttons and a fancy wallpaper, but there is a tech-saavy theme at work for the Japanese site whereby it appears heavily optimized. Ads such as a Jack-in the box ad, or wigs and other miscellaneous products show on the English site of same article, when direct links to the Amazon store to buy the watermelon game are provided on the Japanese site.

『スイカゲーム』の模造品と思われるタイトルがPS Storeに現れる IGN

フルーツを成長させてスイカを目指す。『スイカゲーム』をご存知ですか？ | トピックス | Nintendo

Context of Article 1:

IGN Japan Article Analysis:

The Japanese language produces a nice contrast to the Japanese site theme with all the shapes found in the writing systems hiragana, katakana, and kanji. They’re used as rich elements and the balance consequently becomes sophisticated and modern. Breaking down the elements contained in the Japanese IGN article, we see a somewhat different picture from the traditional ideals of beauty. Sino-Japanese is said to be more formal and more desirable for objective analysis. Percentage wise, though Sino-Japanese is still the most prevalent here, it’s not by a wide margin at 36.4 percent. It would make sense that site-surfers are a more trendy and younger audience. Rather than exclusive reliance on Sino-Japanese and Native-Japanese, we also see some “cool” and “modern” branding for Nintendo with its romaji spelling, among other brand names. Parts like “eショップ” seem like odd choices, if not for search optimization.

IGN is a gaming news information source, and the grammar itself still shows an objective narrative with short verb patterns like, “されて” and “いる” and “である.” There isn’t a native-Japanese script preference with “friendly” tone, instead the fruits *(1)サクランボ n., *(2)イチゴ n., *(2)ブドウ n., *(1)デコポン n., which are all native Japanese become katakana scripts. The katakana transformation is aesthetic stylization of the native Japanese. It is both easy to read and showcases the simple addictive nature of the gameplay, as a cool new trend. The sino-Japanese (4) *スイカ n. is written as katakana too, with one exception (1) 合成大西瓜 n. (the original name). The exception is another Suika title on the Chinese market, therefore written in sino-Japanese kanji characters to show Chinese origin.

A sentence from the article here shows the article’s balanced and diverse use of the three Japanese script-types and English alphabet:

本作はAladdin Xが手がけたゲームであるが、PS Storeにある商品のアートデザインは、Switchの商品ページにあるものとは少々異なっている。

This sentence has one native-Japanese word without kanji もの, that could be due to avoidance of kanji-associated connotations. Foreign loanwords like アートデザイン, ゲーム, ページ are obviously of English origin and direct transfer. Art design, game, and page have connotations in English that are easy to comprehend for native-speakers. English is often used to facilitate business and these terms seem to fit that purpose. Culturally, the script diversity would indicate a broader target audience than just Japanese people interested in Japanese culture.

Context of Article 2:

Nintendo Japan Article Analysis:

This article is about the recently popular『スイカゲーム』and seems to be promoting the game as well as explaining its mechanics. Based on word analysis and proportions of native Japanese that’s been included in this article, it is meant to come across as less formal to the reader and is likely targeted towards a younger audience. The usage of Sino-Japanese is considerably sparse in comparison to Native Japanese, with the Sino-Japanese serving as content words for specific occurrences in the game such as 成長(せいちょう) and 同士(どうし, typically following the term フルーツ), which stand for the growth of the fruits as two of the same kind touch, and the fruits that are together. Using the word, 成長 is more specific and better conveys the gameplay rather than simply saying that the fruits become big (フルーツが大きくなります）. Native Japanese words in this article are simple, grammatical, and supplementary, such as the use of ゆっくり(slowly) and 落とす (おとす, to drop). These words convey the manner of happenings in the game and simple actions among other things.

One such sentence that highlights the proportions of scripts and their functions is as follows:

小さなフルーツから順番にくっつけていけばいずれできるだろう……とお思いになるかもしれませんが、やってみると一筋縄ではいかないんです。

As shown by the sections highlighted in yellow, the main components of the sentence are Native Japanese vocabulary, followed by two Sino Japanese in green, 順番 and 一筋縄, and one Foreign Loanword, フルーツ, in magenta.

It is interesting to note that most of the fruits are in ひらがな such as りんご and もも while fewer are in カタカナ such as スイカ and メロン. This contrasts the IGN article in which most if not all fruit names are in カタカナ. Nintendo likely used the script that each respective fruit appears in naturally to create familiarity. When it comes to loan words, they are sparser than Sino-Japanese words and are used most when it comes to game terms such as プレイヤー(player), スコア(score), and ゲームオーバー (game over). Based on the frequent use of Native Japanese and succinct use of Sino Japanese and loanwords, this article’s purpose is likely to act as a friendly and accessible guide to this new and popular game.

It’s not only the choice of vocabulary that makes this article accessible to the audience; there’s also targeting. The article is also written, not as a report like the IGN article, but as a review. This notion is exemplified by the article being broken up with images and videos of gameplay. In the conclusion of the article, the word おすすめ is used; the author is making a personal recommendation of this game to the reader. The tone, choice of primarily Native Japanese words, usage of large amounts of ひらがな, even for words that could be written with common kanji, indicate that the author is looking to make this game as appealing and easily accessible to as many people as possible; which in the context of trying to sell a game on the Nintendo Switch platform, makes a lot of sense, especially with the abundance of colorful cutesy graphics in game.

According to Philip Seaton in his 2001 article, Shampoo for Extra Damage, ひらがな is often used in promotions aimed toward children, who may not have learned a lot of kanji yet, and カタカナ, usually used for foreign loan words projects the sense of being foreign and “cool.” Because of this, the primary use of ひらがな, Native Japanese words, and カタカナ when necessary, was, we believe, chosen to appeal to a younger more casual gaming audience than the IGN article analyzed above.