 Lebanese actress Nadine Njeim will voice Lara Croft of "Tomb Raider" in Arabic. (AFP PHOTO/ANWAR AMRO)
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Treasure-hunting heroine Lara Croft will be joining the growing number of video game characters localized into Arabic, as Tomb Raider publisher Square Enix announced it had secured Nadine Njeim, The Voice host and Miss Lebanon 2007.
Putting a game through translation and localization means attention must be paid to linguistic complexities -- especially where longer Arabic words and sentences affect not only subtitling but also user interface design -- and acknowledgement of diverse and sometimes opposed cultural norms across the globe.
Nevertheless, more and more publishers are seeing the value in tapping the Arabic world.
THQ title Wall-E made waves as one of the first English-language titles to appear in Arabic, soon joined by the likes of Travian, Sony's Start the Party! and Electronic Arts' recent Need for Speed: Most Wanted and FIFA 13.
Other confirmed voices of Lara include French actress Alice David (Bref), Polish actress Karolina Gorczyca (Usta Usta, the Polish version of Cold Feet), and German Nora Tschirner (Girl on a Bicycle). The English voice actress is Camilla Luddington of Gray's Anatomy, True Blood and Californication.
Tomb Raider blog: tombraider.tumblr.com/post/41272308429/tomb-raider-to-be-first-square-enix-title
Official website: tombraider.com
