I think it is a good idea, but the problem is you still are not selling these games or this industry by selling edited versions even if the patch can be picked up later, you are selling perhaps some excellent games that have great plots and are emotionally moving, but they are not this industry or these games.
These games have sex in them, they have nudity in them, it’s just their nature. Some might have very deep and moving plots like Kana or Crescendo that have people weeping for days after some of endings, especially from Kana, but even with those types of plots these games had sex scenes as you are aware.
I remember a while back when they we were all talking about I think it was the PS2 or Saturn System or some other “edited” version of Kana that was coming out without the sex scenes if the game would have had the same emotional affect on all of us without those scenes. I am still not sure if it was ever decided one way or another about those scenes and what their removal might mean to the game overall, but personally without them I think the love that is seen in the game might not have come across as clear and the endings still emotional but not as emotional since, within Kana, those scenes seemed more to do with the love felt between the characters then placed in the game to have them in the game, such as most of them from DYLHB. So in that case and perhaps also in some of the, if not all of the, Crescendo endings to remove them might have removed some of the emotional affect of the game and then you are not giving them the same emotionally moving games.
Basically I fully agree these games need to find wider promotion but even within those with scenes which can be removed, such as the two aforementioned emotional games, and perhaps even Private Nurse, is removing them changing a key aspect of the game and in essence making it a different game that might not have the same effect on people is a key question to ask and when asking also see if that means they are not getting a true taste of these games which is what is needed to allow the industry to flourish.
Then there are games such as Amusement Park which without those scenes seem to have every single girl’s route the same minus different endings. So first it is a matter of finding what games you can edit from then seeing if the editing changes people’s impression of the game, which could alter sales and also the opinion of this industry.
Also how can you can you prevent people from pointing to say Kana or Crescendo minus the sex scenes and not have someone try to compare it(perhaps one of those parents with massive amounts of time and misplaced concern who are out to rid the world of all “evil”) to the one with the sex scenes and in that way sink sales of the edited version?
Secondly, is the nature of the choose your own adventure, that cannot, nor should it be changed, but it involves a lot of reading and most people seemingly would rather have a target to shoot at then to read a story that might have them so engrossed they feel the endings and cry.
Third, won’t the same problem or a larger one arise when these smart kids with computers start hacking into those scenes, making their own patches of sorts and their parents find out?
Still I agree there has to be a way to get wider promotion of these games but short of altering the rather archaic views many societies still hold about sex I am not sure how to get society to loosen up enough to allow these games to be sold in places like Target, Wal-Mart, etc, where the masses will see them and might start to get interested in these games meaning more profit for them and more games and a larger variety for us.
[This message has been edited by SCDawg (edited 06-03-2004).]
