Do you look up EVERY SINGLE unfamiliar word in games?

[DragonmasterX]

I usually do. But sometimes, I get tired of it and get lazy for a few words.

Also in games where the text scrolls by automatically even if I don't press the button(like the long-ass movies in Xenosaga1, 2, Suikoden V), the text is gonna keep scrolling by as I look for a word. So it's not convenient to do so in these cases.

Do you make flashcards? Vocabulary lists? I used to do this when I was a nub and had to literally look up EVERY SINGLE WORD. Perhaps it was useful in the heyday, but I don't find it so useful anywhere. It's better to hope the word comes up again in another sentence. I generally find it easier to remember that way.

If you know or can guess the definition, do you bother looking it up for the pronounciation? Even if you can make an educated guess on the pronounciation, do you still check a dictionary to confirm?

[zalas]

I don't look up every word, because some words can be figure out from context. For instance, if you read:

"That is a splendiferous array of flowers you have there!"
"Well, the weather was treating me really nicely this season, and hence the vast field of rainbow you see before you."

and you didn't know what splendiferous meant, you could probably figure out the general meaning from context. Stopping to look up every unknown word is usually overkill if you just want to read through and enjoy the story and you're getting unknown words every other line. Now if you're translating a piece, that's a whole different matter, since you are required to know exactly what the author wrote.

[Talbain]

Uh... zalas, what is a "vast field of rainbow?"

[Haeleth]

I don't usually bother; as zalas says, the meaning is generally clear from the context, and often when it's not it's still possible to determine whether the unfamiliar word is carrying any important information or not.

There are some cases where this is particularly true - for example, if I'm faced with a kanji with the "grass" radical in a context where I'm expecting the name of a plant, I'm very unlikely to bother to look up precisely what species is being referred to. ^_^

On the other hand, if it's something very important, I'll generally confirm the meaning and reading, so as to be able to discuss the important points conveniently in Japanese. For example, when I first played AIR many years ago, I ran into the unfamiliar word 結界 in "SUMMER" and didn't bother to look it up, because it was clear enough from the context roughly what it referred to. But when I encountered it again in Fate/stay night, it was obvious that it was a more important concept in that game, so I did bother to learn it.

As an aside, there was nobody more grateful than I when they finally worked out how to add furigana in games...