well i was surprised!
august 2004 page 22 'Lust in Translation’
They define the term bishoujo.
and they give short (SEX > plot) descriptions of a few games, Kango Shicyouzo, Transfer Student, Tottemo Pheromone, and Divi-Dead
They didnt mention any of the websites where they can be bought tho, and its not exactly bad(somethingawful), but its not exactly good either, kinda a neutral stance.
still, any publicity is good eh? especially in a mainstream adult magazine like Playboy
I don’t know, publicity is good, neutral publicity is far better then no or bad publicity, it is a good source for people who subscribe to Playboy to perhaps hunt out these sites and start buying games, thus increasing the market profits, but at the same time the source is not one that is likely to help the image outsider people already have of these games. Personally I would rather have had, as unlikely as this is to occur before the launching of the first Starship, the Life section of The New York Times, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Chicago Tribune or some other major regional or national/international paper carry a neutral review.
If one of those types of sources starts to carry neutral reviews then I think the industry is making massive inroads. Still it is good to see a review that might draw more interest to these games and get more people buying and a larger market to perhaps increase the chances to get a lot of the games in we have been discussing in other threads. Yet once more is the fear that given the source people might be more convinced all of these games are “porn”, when all of us know the truth about these games. Oddly, or perhaps ironically, many of those that oppose sex being disturbed in any form of media, such magazines and these games will probably all know by August such an article is in Playboy and might be using it as further “evidence” of what these games must truly be and why they are “harmful”. Then again maybe I have just been reading too many posts of people calling these games porn recently and am getting paranoid.
[This message has been edited by SCDawg (edited 07-21-2004).]
Actually, I had some of the same thoughts: “Well, it’s nice that a major publication had an article about bishoujo games, but it would have been better if it were something like People magazine…” and “Hmmm… being reviewed in Playboy isn’t going to help the sex-for-sale image of bishoujo games…” But, as SCDawg more-or-less said, any publicity that isn’t bad publicity is better than nothing, and even though Playboy is past its zenith, there is always the chance that the article might bring in a few more people to the bishoujo market–which is always a good thing.
Too bad they didn’t list sites selling the games. That way, some people might go straight to the webshops and buy one, instead of having to search for them on the web, and maybe finding a site where they are easily downloaded. Piracy is easy, and it can be very hard to stop doing once you get used to it (I know).
[This message has been edited by AG3 (edited 07-22-2004).]
This is very interesting, especially considering that playboy is putting out it’s own (non-bishoujo) pc game in the fall.
Bah… 99.9% of Western adult games are trash. I’d be surprised if it were anything worthwhile. I personally agree that it would have been nice if they’d have listed the sites where the bishoujo games could be purchased.
Getting Playboy to publish URLs for the b-game distributors might actually be feasible. Most magazines list errata and addenda for previous issues. If enough people contact Playboy asking how to ‘get ahold of one of those new-fangled dating games’, they might print something about the vendors.
An effective strategy would be to just ask for the information, rather than suggest that it be published. Editors don’t like to feel they’re being manipulated by special interest groupies.
That’s possibly not a bad idea…
quote:
Originally posted by perigee:
An effective strategy would be to just ask for the information, rather than suggest that it be published. Editors don't like to feel they're being manipulated by special interest groupies.
... so we must manipulate them so well they think it's their own idea?
Excellent.
quote:
Originally posted by Nandemonai:
... so we must manipulate them so well they think it's their own idea?Excellent.
Sounds like one of your plans...
Today I was able to see the text for this article, not sure what if any pictures went with it though so not sure how they will influence thinking. After reading it I am also not sure it does the industry that well after all since while it does not have a don’t play them attitude and while they do call bishoujo “pretty girl” and not porn, they also say “… horny video gamers go for bishoujo, or ‘pretty girl’ games…” That part is not going help the image of the industry, us game players, or these games.
[This message has been edited by SCDawg (edited 07-23-2004).]
“Horny video gamers”? Why do they classify people like that? It reminds about Alvril Lavign. Alvril shows her detests pop in every interview, yet her songs are full of pop music. Then, she classifies herself as a rocker. She says she’s a hardcore. Hardcore of what? Some people find it disturbing that she fakes her image. They set up the anti-Alvril clubs. With the Alvril style classification, all readers of American women’s magazines should be called horny readers. Isn’t it.
quote:Since the article is directed at readers of Playboy Magazine and not the more conservative elements of society, I don't see how it can but help promote the industry. Don't forget that a lot of the adult male population is not even aware of bishoujo games. If it only makes a few of them curious enough to learn more, that could lead to a whole lot of new business.
Originally posted by SCDawg:
they also say "... horny video gamers go for bishoujo, or 'pretty girl' games..." That part is not going help the image of the industry, us game players, or these games.
Other parts of the article also focus more on the sex parts of the game as exoarchaeologist mentioned. However to me at least seeing how they did it gives a very poor image to the female characters in these games making each of them sound like one dimensional sex craved nymphomaniacs.
Of course in the process that further seems to give us playing the games a worse image, not to mention some of the games seem to come off sounding like different games, here is part of Tottemo Pheromone as an example “…you’ve gone to live with a woman named Silk, who turns out to be a naked witch …” Interestingly there is no mention of her being a relation to you through marriage to your uncle, nor of anyone but her being in the house.
So the more I think about it the more it seems it was neutral in so far as not outrightly saying anything against these games, and perhaps in their eyes positive in how they portrayed the games and players, but at the same time to me at least perhaps more negative then previously thought because of how they portrayed the games and players even given the source and the more perhaps liberal thinkers reading the article.
[This message has been edited by SCDawg (edited 07-23-2004).]
quote:
Originally posted by perigee:
Since the article is directed at readers of Playboy Magazine and not the more conservative elements of society, I don't see how it can but help promote the industry. Don't forget that a lot of the adult male population is not even aware of bishoujo games. If it only makes a few of them curious enough to learn more, that could lead to a whole lot of new business.
Perhaps so, and beggars cannot be choosers, we all desire this industry to grow, but if they bring the element that is looking for the games as the article says they exist, and in are the type of game players the article says play the games, are we not then becoming the very image we are fighting against in order to have the industry grow?
This article is starting with a more liberal crowd but it will spread, the image and the news, and eventually the more conservative, not to say they are the only reason these games do not get released, will find the article and might show it as proof of the type of people the industry is at least trying to attract, even if that is not the true intent which I think we all know it not to be in reality. Remember ads are always target based, so if an article shows gamers as "horny" it does not seem to be targeting a crowd that might just find the games fun, who might find them fun but also might in fact be scared to be tied to the image of the "horny gamer", even if that image is not true.
[This message has been edited by SCDawg (edited 07-23-2004).]
I’ll just say this, because I didn’t really read all the posts, or most of them anyway. A lot of posts have been getting too long lately. They have to appeal to their target audience, so if they emphasize the sex part in a sex magazine and basically leave out the storyline, that’s good enough for the audience to get interested. If it’s people like us, then we’re more interested in the storyline. It’s like that Eddie Murphy movie, The Distinguished Gentleman, where he goes through different neighborhoods using whatever method is best for that are. Like a gangsta style in the black neighborhoods, and a primm and proper approach in the white neighborhoods. So it’s all who the audience is.
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精神 の 神
Yes, but that image of these games is already out there, or so it seems, if this helps the industry that is good, but let’s just hope in helping it, it does not shrink the future crowds to draw from in order to further help. If it seems overly negative thinking my fear is just in anything that will be a short gain but overall harm for industry growth.
Does Playboy have some kind of readers column or something, where people comment articles and such? If so, an open letter asking for a more accurate/less one-dimensional article of adult bishoujo games might be in order, or maybe writing a commentary describing the games more fully yourself (fully, but brief enough to enter the column)?
I’d like to think there is more to these games than just the sex, 'cause if it eventually turns out that “100% sex”-games are the only adult b-games being translated, I can just as well download the CGs from some website when the game is released.
Sex sells, sure, but few people like to pay $50 just to see CG pictures of naked women (there are, after all, plenty of cheaper alternatives). Unless it’s made clear that there is something more to the games, I doubt too many will be convinced to try them. Or at least pay to try them, after all; if none of the new “recruitings” ever pay, we’re back to square one. Of course, that requires translators to get over games that ARE more than just sex. I’m still waiting anxiously for Gun Shield Warrior SAKIGAKE…
Pointing out that they have more than just sex (at least a good ero-game SHOULD have more than just sex, IMO) might be necessary to get more people to try them.
Well, any PR is better than no PR, but still…
[This message has been edited by AG3 (edited 07-23-2004).]
I am not sure about the advertising being as much a problem as thought, if the issue is pushed. I mean come on they have “male enhancement,” “female prolongation” and beer commercials on most television stations (Sci-Fi for one History Channel and SpikeTV for two others), ones kids are could be and probably are watching at the time. Yes they might not know fully understand what is being advertised, but if you avoid showing nudity in the magazine advertisements and word it in such a fashion that parents can feel safe, rightly or perhaps delussionally so, in thinking kids would not understand what is meant I think most gaming magazines could “safely” (i.e. no major backlash should take place) carry advertisements for these games. Would they is still the question to be asked and maybe with enough pressure they would carry such advertisements.
breaks out of lurk mode
Woodelf and SCDawg touch on a very important point. The US games industry is currently under flak from the government due to the advertisement of M rated games in magazines that have a large audience that is under the age of 18. Members of the industry are responding by pointing out that just because a lot of minors read magazines like Nintendo Power (that was the one magazine specifically mentioned), it doesn’t mean that they’re the only target of the magazines. After all, these magazines do cover M rated games. Games in general are still disenfranchised by mainstream society, even if they’re now more acceptted as something adults can partake in. So there’s really two layers of perception that need to be pierced IMO and now may not be the best time to try advertising in magazines given the general scrutiny of game ads.
[This message has been edited by Steel Angel (edited 07-24-2004).]