蜗牛创始人兼CEO石海谈《九阴真经》进军北美

　　Snail Games USA used New York Comic-Con to showcase its popular Chinese free-to-play online game, Age of Wushu. The company has established its U.S. headquarters in Los Angeles with plans to bring Age of Wushu and other online games to North America. Snail Games Founder and CEO Shi Hai explains how he’s working with international film star Jet Li and details his plans for American gamers in this exclusive interview.

　　蜗牛北美子公司在纽约动漫展上展出了中国最受欢迎的F2P网络游戏，《九阴真经(新手、门派、轻功、奇遇)》。蜗牛已经在洛杉矶建立了美国子公司，并且计划把《九阴真经》和其他网络游戏带入北美市场。蜗牛创始人兼CEO石海在本次独家采访中，谈到他与国际巨星李连杰的合作，以及美国玩家拓展计划。

　　蜗牛创始人兼CEO石海

　　How did your background as an entrepreneur lead to the creation of Snail Games?

　　你是如何以一个创业者的身份建立游戏蜗牛的?

　　I originally studied graphic design, and then started my career in advertising. I was sidetracked for a while: I did some house remodeling, and even opened a Karaoke bar. Then, in 1998, the Internet truly took off as a global phenomenon. Since I was already in the service industry, I thought it would be good to create a service for the internet. My background in art and my long interest in gaming naturally led to the creation of original content for online consumers. We founded our company as early as 2000, and our first product, an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game), was called “Voyage Century” in China. This is how we started.

　　我以前是学美术设计的，之后投身广告事业。不久，我又转向设计装饰，甚至还开了KTV。1998年， 因特网在全球普遍流行起来。我就考虑，既然我已经从事了服务行业， 不如就在网络上建立服务。我出身艺术，热爱游戏，这让我不由自主地有了给网上消费者创造新事物的想法。于是在2000年创立了公司，做出了第一款产品，MMORPG游戏“航海世纪”，这就是我们的开始。

　　When it comes to Snail Games, where did the name come from? What does it mean?

　　提到游戏蜗牛，这个名字的出处是哪里?有什么寓意吗?

　　I believe many companies come up with their names not through a rigorous analysis, but in a moment of sheer inspiration. Snail just sounded right at the time. Once we have it, we are reminded of a saying that only two creatures can ever make their way to the top of a pyramid: an eagle, and a snail. I also remember a movie in which someone said that a snail can crawl along the edge of a serrated knife. A snail’s survival instinct is most extraordinary. It is our metaphor for starting out small, and yet aspiring to achieve the impossible.

　　我相信很多公司的名字都不是经过精心思考的，更多都只是一时的灵感启发。蜗牛就是靠这种纯粹的灵感而来。古语说世上只有两种生物可以爬到金字塔顶：一种是老鹰，另一种就是蜗牛。我还想到某部电影中有人说过，蜗牛是可以沿着锋利的剃刀爬行的。蜗牛的生存本能是最寻常的。蜗牛的寓意就是从小做起，胸怀大志完成常人无法完成的事情。

　　What games are you localizing for American gamers?

　　你们在为美国玩家进行那个(些)游戏的本土化?

　　This year we are introducing Age of Wushu, which we believe is the first game of its kind to achieve an authentic presentation of Chinese martial arts. No other game has truly portrayed the historical setting as well as the actual fighting styles of real martial arts. We’ve created a game with its traditional features intact, and completely refitted it with a brand new skin.

　　今年我们向北美输出了《九阴真经》，这是中国第一款真武侠游戏。没有任何一款其他游戏可以像九阴一样真正地体现历史背景和原汁原味的武术打斗风格。由此，我们打造了一款融合了传统功能系统与全新界面感受为一体的游戏。

　　Can people learn the martial arts in some capacity through playing this game?

　　玩家通过玩这款游戏可以了解中国武术吗?

　　With respect to the game as a whole, the player will gain a deep, profound understanding of Chinese martial arts. This is achieved in a great part by our exhaustive motion-capture of real martial artists. Of the eight different Schools, or disciplines, of martial arts we present in the game, such as the Shaolin or the Wudang, we’ve invited actual practitioners who carry on those traditions to demonstrate their skills. We’ve also localized a large volume of text we’ve written to bring an ancient culture to life. In all, through this game, we’ve essentially presented a systematic review of Chinese martial-arts lore in its entirety.

　　就整个游戏而言，玩家可以对中国武术获得一个深入、深刻的了解。这大部分要归功于我们对武术家的真实动作捕捉。游戏中八个不同的武学门派，如少林、武当等，我们都请来了精通该门武学的真实武术家，来演练动作并捕捉进游戏。同时，九阴中也创作了大量的文本把古代中国的文化带到游戏中。总之，通过《九阴真经》这款游戏，我们系统地展现出了中国武侠文化的精髓。

　　What are the challenges of bringing these games over to the U.S. audience?

　　把这些游戏带给美国玩家将要面临的挑战是什么?

　　The original Chinese audience have read, and watched, many books and movies about the martial arts. All that provided a rich cultural context for them when they play the game, so that they understand all the things people do — things like acupuncture, the gathering of Chi or internal energy, and so on. All this context is not immediately available for the American audience. However, American gamers do play fantasy-based role-playing games, and they have also read many books, seen many movies related to this genre. They will surely appreciate how an entire exotic culture is channeled into this game.

　　中国的玩家都读过武侠小说，看过武侠电影。所以在他们玩游戏时，对武侠文化已经有了较为深刻的认识，他们熟知游戏中的一切元素---比如穴位，聚气或内功，等等。但是这些概念对于美国玩家而言就稍显晦涩了。好在不少美国玩家也玩过许多玄幻类RPG游戏，有一些甚至也读过不少类似的小说、看过许多类似风格的电影。所以他们当然会非常乐意去体验这款富有中国的武侠文化色彩的游戏。

　　Moreover, there is another aspect of this game that can be very meaningful for the North American clients. They can, at last, decipher the mystery they perceive to be the martial-arts culture in China. Though their understanding may start at a relatively low cost, the means by which they gain such an initial understanding is decidedly more interesting. It’s not so plain as to open a book, or so ephemeral as to watch a movie. By playing this game, they will experience the culture via repeated encounters. This will provide tremendous value for our clients.

　　此外，游戏中还有一点对北美玩家也是非常有意义的：那就是通过这款游戏，他们可以最终领悟中国武侠文化的奥秘。虽然他们理解的起点比中国的玩家低，但他们体验在游戏中慢慢地建立初步了解和学习这种侠文化的过程将会更加具有趣味性。这个过程不会像是简简单单翻一本小说，或者短暂地看一部电影那么枯燥乏味。通过玩这款游戏，他们可以反复咀嚼中国的文化。这给我们的用户提供了巨大文化价值。

　　In addition, this is what we can predict for our American clients, who may not be as many as our player base in China. Indeed, they will find it a very different culture. That said, because this is an online game, it is but inevitable they will meet new friends even here in America — say, martial-art enthusiasts from Taiwan or the mainland who come here to study. This will foster greater communication and mutual understanding between our two great civilizations.

　　最后一点，这也是我们可以预见到的，美国的玩家基础没有中国这么大，他们会有比较大的文化差异感。但毕竟这是一款网络游戏，所以他们总会在其中结识一些比较新鲜的朋友---比如说，某位来自台湾的武侠迷，或者某位来自中国大陆的留学生。这种交互行为无疑将会促进中美文化之间的相互交流和相互理解。

　　What are the challenges of bringing these games over to the U.S. audience?

　　把这些游戏带给美国玩家将要面临的挑战是什么?

　　The original Chinese audience have read, and watched, many books and movies about the martial arts. All that provided a rich cultural context for them when they play the game, so that they understand all the things people do — things like acupuncture, the gathering of Chi or internal energy, and so on. All this context is not immediately available for the American audience. However, American gamers do play fantasy-based role-playing games, and they have also read many books, seen many movies related to this genre. They will surely appreciate how an entire exotic culture is channeled into this game.

　　中国的玩家都读过武侠小说，看过武侠电影。所以在他们玩游戏时，对武侠文化已经有了较为深刻的认识，他们熟知游戏中的一切元素---比如穴位，聚气或内功，等等。但是这些概念对于美国玩家而言就稍显晦涩了。好在不少美国玩家也玩过许多玄幻类RPG游戏，有一些甚至也读过不少类似的小说、看过许多类似风格的电影。所以他们当然会非常乐意去体验这款富有中国的武侠文化色彩的游戏。

　　Moreover, there is another aspect of this game that can be very meaningful for the North American clients. They can, at last, decipher the mystery they perceive to be the martial-arts culture in China. Though their understanding may start at a relatively low cost, the means by which they gain such an initial understanding is decidedly more interesting. It’s not so plain as to open a book, or so ephemeral as to watch a movie. By playing this game, they will experience the culture via repeated encounters. This will provide tremendous value for our clients.

　　此外，游戏中还有一点对北美玩家也是非常有意义的：那就是通过这款游戏，他们可以最终领悟中国武侠文化的奥秘。虽然他们理解的起点比中国的玩家低，但他们体验在游戏中慢慢地建立初步了解和学习这种侠文化的过程将会更加具有趣味性。这个过程不会像是简简单单翻一本小说，或者短暂地看一部电影那么枯燥乏味。通过玩这款游戏，他们可以反复咀嚼中国的文化。这给我们的用户提供了巨大文化价值。

　　In addition, this is what we can predict for our American clients, who may not be as many as our player base in China. Indeed, they will find it a very different culture. That said, because this is an online game, it is but inevitable they will meet new friends even here in America — say, martial-art enthusiasts from Taiwan or the mainland who come here to study. This will foster greater communication and mutual understanding between our two great civilizations.

　　最后一点，这也是我们可以预见到的，美国的玩家基础没有中国这么大，他们会有比较大的文化差异感。但毕竟这是一款网络游戏，所以他们总会在其中结识一些比较新鲜的朋友---比如说，某位来自台湾的武侠迷，或者某位来自中国大陆的留学生。这种交互行为无疑将会促进中美文化之间的相互交流和相互理解。

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