大圣的神话能否继续书写？ | 经济学人文化（英译中）

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写在前面《黑神话：悟空》：中国游戏产业的里程碑之作《黑神话：悟空》作为中国首款AAA级游戏，于2024年8月20日发布，引发了全球玩家的热烈反响。游戏基于中国古典名著《西游记》改编，以孙悟空为主角，展现了高水准的制作质量。尽管中国游戏市场庞大，但此前一直未能推出世界级的3A大作，原因包括移动游戏市场的主导地位、硬件限制和盗版问题。《黑神话：悟空》的成功不仅标志着中国游戏产业的重大突破，也被视为中国文化输出的典范，有望激励更多中国开发者挑战高品质游戏制作。
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Culture | Monkey business文化| 猴哥闹市英文部分选自经济学人20240831期文化板块

Culture | Monkey business
文化| 猴哥闹市
“Black Myth: Wukong”is China’s first blockbuster video game
《黑神话：悟空》：中国首款大制作游戏
Will there be more?
大圣的神话能否继续书写？
YOU ARE thrust into the heat of battle—a clash so violent it has “disturbed heaven and Earth”and “alarmed both demons and gods”. Playing as Sun Wukong, aka the Monkey King, you wield the jin gu bang (a fabled staff weighing eight tonnes) and face down Erlang, a three-eyed warrior-god. You must be wily, not to mention nimble: Erlang’s axe can cleave entire mountains in two. (And you thought your day job was stressful.)
转眼你便陷入一场恶战——对决之激烈足以“惊天地、泣鬼神”！你化身美猴王孙悟空，挥舞着八吨重的金箍棒，直面三眼二郎神。二郎神巨斧一挥就能劈开大山，因此你不仅得身手敏捷，还要足智多谋。（这不比你每天的工作刺激多了？）
“Journey to the West”has been adapted many times: it is the most famous novel in Chinese literature and among the country’s most successful cultural exports. But “Black Myth: Wukong”, released on August 20th, is special. The video game is the first blockbuster release from a Chinese studio. In industry lingo, “Black Myth”is a “AAA”game—a label that denotes big budgets and high production values.
《西游记》曾多次改编，是中国文学史上最著名的小说，也是中国文化输出的典范。不过，于8月20日发布的《黑神话：悟空》在众多改编中可谓是一枝独秀。这是首款由中国本土工作室制作的“大片级游戏”，业内称“3A游戏”，即超高预算、超高价值的大型游戏。
China is a country of gamers. By 2027 there will be more than 700m players there, and the market will be worth $57bn—up from $45.5bn in 2022—according to Niko Partners, a market-research firm. Many Chinese have bemoaned their country’s inability to produce a video game as thrilling as “Grand Theft Auto”or “World of Warcraft”(which originated in Scotland and America respectively). They are hoping “Black Myth”marks the arrival of a new player in the AAA arena.
中国是一个“游戏大国”。根据市场研究公司Niko Partners的数据，到2027年，中国的游戏玩家数量将突破7亿，市场规模将从2022年的455亿美元增至570亿美元。不少中国玩家都曾抱怨，苏格兰有《侠盗猎车手》（Grand Theft Auto），美国有《魔兽世界》（World of Warcraft），为什么中国就做不出这么劲爆的电子游戏呢？而眼下《黑神话》问世，人们希望它标志着中国成为杀入3A游戏市场的一匹黑马。
Why has China been so late to log on? One reason is that the country has been focused on winning the mobile game war. China made four of the ten highest-grossing mobile games of 2023, including the top entry, “Honour of Kings”. Mobile games “monetise much faster”, explains one game producer in China, which counts against designers who want to spend time and money on something more expansive.
那么，为什么中国这么晚才加入大制作游戏的赛道呢？原因之一是中国一直专注于手游市场。2023年收入最高的十款手游中，有四款来自中国，其中包括排名第一的《王者荣耀》。按照一位中国游戏制作人的话来说，手机游戏“来钱更快”，这种理念和那些想把时间金钱花在更大规模游戏上的设计师背道而驰。
Nor did it help that gamers did not have the right hardware. From 2000 to 2014 China banned imports of PlayStations and Xboxes, citing concerns for youngsters’ mental health. After the ban was lifted, Chinese studios lacked the expertise to make games for those consoles; it has taken a long time to catch up. China’s game technology is “backwards”, says a developer at a major Chinese gaming firm. “Black Myth” was made with a 3D graphics creation tool called Unreal Engine from an American company, Epic Games.
此外，游戏玩家没有配套的硬件也是原因之一。2000年到2014年间，中国禁止进口PS（PlayStations）和Xbox主机，理由是担心影响青少年心理健康。禁令解除后，中国的游戏制作公司又缺乏为这些游戏主机制作游戏的专业技术，花了很长时间才迎头赶上。中国一家大型游戏公司的开发人员说，中国的游戏技术“落后”了。《黑神话》使用美国史诗游戏公司（Epic Games）出品的3D图像制作工具虚幻引擎（Unreal Engine）制作而成。
Perhaps the biggest reason for the lag is that Chinese gamers are not in the habit of paying to play. Copyright protection is often scant and software piracy rampant. That has made making elaborate games financially unviable. China is richer now, but with the rise of mobile games—which are typically free-to-play and make their money from selling in-game benefits—the habit has stuck. Some Chinese netizens were nonplussed when the pricing for “Black Myth” was announced at 268 yuan ($38).
造成这种落后的最大原因可能是中国玩家没有付费玩游戏的习惯。版权保护常常匮乏、盗版猖獗，精心制作游戏投入产出比太低。中国现在富裕了，但随着手游的兴起，免费玩游戏的习惯已经在玩家心中根深蒂固。因为手游通常是免费的，公司通过出售游戏中的福利来赚钱。当《黑神话》宣布定价268元（38美元）时，一些中国网民震惊了。
GameScience, the maker of “Black Myth”, based in Hangzhou, is hoping to reboot that attitude. Feng Ji, its boss, abides by the motto “Move oneself first, then find alignment with the market.” GameScience studied the best titles and historical material to create a game world that would feel true to “Journey to the West”.
位于杭州的《黑神话：悟空》制作公司游戏科学表示，他们希望能转变这种观念。公司老板冯骥信奉的座右铭是：“先打动自己，再与市场对齐。”为了打造一个忠实于《西游记》的游戏世界，游戏科学深入研究了大量优秀的相关文学作品及历史资料。
The process took six years, but the determination has paid off. In the day after its launch, “Black Myth” enjoyed 2.2m concurrent players on Steam, a gaming platform—the second-highest figure of any game on record. Most of those players were from China, but it has proved popular abroad, too. In the week after its release, it has been the top-selling game on Steam in America, Germany and Japan. “Black Myth” has earned positive reviews on the platform from 96% of Chinese players and 93% of English-speaking ones.
游戏研发历经六年，但一切坚持得到了回报。在游戏发布后的第二天，《黑神话》在游戏平台Steam上同时在线玩家人数高达220万——荣升Steam榜单记录的第二位。虽然大多数玩家来自中国，但这款游戏在国外也很受欢迎。游戏发布后一周内成为美国、德国和日本的Steam上销量最高的游戏。《黑神话》在该平台上获得中文玩家和英语玩家的好评率分别为96%和93%。
With “Black Myth” the Monkey King has reaffirmed his reign over Chinese content. The game has already been promoted as a source of nationalist pride. Xinhua, an official news service, says “Black Myth” has succeeded in “telling China’s story with world-class quality”. A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, delighted at a positive news story about China, has argued the game’s approval overseas “reflects the appeal of Chinese culture”.（这段请自行翻译）
Some analysts believe that China’s gaming industry will not give up its preference for mobile even if “Black Myth” becomes the stuff of legend. But others are more optimistic. The game’s success proves the viability of blockbuster games in China, they say, and encourages other developers to think big. GameScience has accrued the experience to make subsequent projects easier. Mr Feng asserts that “There will be more Chinese games that can vie with those overseas.” That will come as good news to those who like to monkey around on gaming consoles. 
一些分析认为，即使《黑神话》成为传奇之作，中国的游戏行业也不会放弃对手游的偏爱。但其他人则更为乐观，他们认为这款游戏的成功证明了中国有能力打造大制作游戏，并鼓励其他开发者要有大格局。游戏科学已经积累了经验，后续项目开展起来会容易一些。冯骥表示：“未来会有更多能够与海外游戏媲美的中国游戏。”这对于那些喜欢在主机游戏上扮演大圣的玩家来说无疑是个好消息。