I heard somewhere that a few years ago, they removed the Japanese censorship law in Japan. Is this true or are they just blowing smoke up my ass?
i work in the industry, but last time i checked, they still have censorship, but it did get lighter
There’s been no change that I’m aware of. Basically, censorship is still in place as it always was, although after Tenmei magazine in 1994 started showing pubic hair in their magazines for purposes of “art” and stared down the police on the issue, live action (non-penetration) photos have been okay. Games, animation, and anything hardcore still has the mosaic. A lot of this is actually self-censorship by sof-rin, the software morality group, to head of any legislation about the nature of their products.
I also heard that they are going to ban lolicon as well. An organization, I forget what they’re called are trying to ban it after a little girl was kidnapped and murdered.
I’ve seen some discussion on the matter, to say the least. No one expects it to go anywhere, not even the anti-lolis.
It’s quite interesting though. I didn’t even know that a lot japanese men had that kind of fetish
On the other note of censorship, that’s too bad. Because I like to collect HCGs and it just ruins the great artwork with mosaics. I wouldn’t mind if they just didn’t draw anything but the mosaics just are terrible. But why censor animation though? Don’t they have freedom of expression?
quote:
Originally posted by tiger_of_the_wind2040:
It's quite interesting though. I didn't even know that a lot japanese men had that kind of fetish
People in Japan are fixated on the image of the youthful schoolgirl (and not necessarily just sexually). Just look at how often it pops up in anime and b-games. Then look at American entertainment and porn. In porn especially, there's a decided preference for a mature, experienced, "sexy" sort of woman. The "ideal" woman is a hooker, basically. The Japanese image of the "ideal" woman (cute, sweet, demure, etc.) is quite probably one of the qualities of the "anime" medium that drew me in.
What DS said is true…As mentioned I work in the industry And Japanese customer tends (of course not all, but majority basis) to purchase loli type girls such as Hiyori Shiraishi, Cherokee, Kari Sable, Mai Haruna and so on as for US, they get movies from such performers such as Belladonna, Terra Patrick, Jessica Drake, Risa Kintani and so on. Sales of ¬Åggorgeous/classy¬Åh type women for both are about the same in both counties (girls such as Jesse Jane, Kaylani Lei, Sakura Sakurada, Rei Kanzaki).
You can say the same for game genres:
A lot of American people love FPS, but Japanese hate FPS.
A lot of Japanese people like RPG, but not many Americans do.
A lot of Americans love Xbox, but not many Japanese do
A lot of American people is graphic over story, while Japanese is opposite.
When an old guy picks up a high school/college (basically young) girl, itfs ok
But if you do it in the states, people look at you weird.
Itfs cultural difference >.>
An old guy picking up a college girl is okay in the States. An old guy picking up a high school girl had darn well better be her dad! It isn’t ok if its non-plutonic. Why? Most high school girls range in age from 13 to 17. Most kids at 17 in the US still have trouble finding their head with a map and a Sherpa guide. Can’t imagine why most adults would think something is amiss with an adult trying to hook up with something that young.
The vast majority of my friends that play console games, like RPGs. Although most like FPS as well.
I prefer story over graphics myself. But great graphics are always welcome.
quote:
Originally posted by Teagan:
You can say the same for game genres:
A lot of American people love FPS, but Japanese hate FPS.
A lot of Japanese people like RPG, but not many Americans do.
A lot of Americans love Xbox, but not many Japanese do
A lot of American people is graphic over story, while Japanese is opposite.
I don't know about some of this. RPG's and their spin-offs seem be growing in popularity in America lately, due in large part, I think, to the success of such venues as Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.
Also, I wouldn't break it down so cleanly as to say Americans prefer graphics over story, and the Japanese vice versa. The most popular games in both gaming markets are ones that combine great graphics AND story (just look at Warcraft and the Final Fantasy series, for example). I would say the preference would be better stated like this: Americans prefer more open-ended games (often to the detriment of the story), while the Japanese prefer more linear, plot-focused games (and thus open-endedness and the ability to roleplay freely suffers).
Graphics are more of a separate issue. Americans love their super-realistic 3D, while the Japanese still cling tightly to the 2D medium, even as they continue to explore the possibilities of 3D. Again, this seems to mirror the American demand for realism in their entertainment, while the Japanese are content with the surreal and otherwordly escape that 2D, and specifically anime-style 2D, provides.
[This message has been edited by Dark_Shiki (edited 01-26-2005).]
In a semi-related note, the governing software censorship committee loosened its stance on a number of taboo themes recently, with the most major one being bestiality.
It used to be a big no no to show any scenes with it (although it was okay to refer to it), they changed their minds about sometime this year and there’s already been a trickle of titles with some beatiality scenes released already.
Of course, the committee is still strict enough to recall an Ail game released back in April, but it’s interesting to see that its stance changed in some other areas.
As for the gaming tastes in the US and Japan, a lot of it has to do with the generation gap in the 2 countries.
The average gamer is older in Japan (mostly due to the small birth rate) so most of the heavy buyers are in their 20s and 30s…and the popular genres reflect that. Hell, look at how big the H gaming scene is.
It’s also sorta interesting that a number of Japanese software makers are scaling back their operations and/or merging with other companies due to the dwindling market. It wouldn’t surprise me if the US game developers overtook Japanese ones over the next 10-15 years.
[This message has been edited by Ex-S Woo (edited 01-30-2005).]
Well that’s news to me (regarding both the censorship relaxation and industry scale-backs). Has the Japanese software industry really hit on hard times? I wonder if such a trend would generally encourage diversification to other shores, or discourage it?
Well, it’s no where near a huge crisis just yet, but most companies have been seeing dwindling profits over the past few years.
The large giants (Konami, Capcom, etc) will survive of course, but expect a lot of the mid-sized companies (I’m referring to PS2 and GC developers) to be swallowed up over the next few years.
Enix and Square merging last year is just the tip of the iceberg. Atlus recently announced massive scalebacks as well (they’re having Konami publish their games instead of doing it themselves)…so who knows what will happen next?
Yeah, also many Japanese anime companies are also off sourcing their animation to be drawn in Korea because animators in Japan don’t get paid much and many are not willing to work for so little of course. I think that is about right but I could be a little off.
Personally I never liked FPS either. Always been a fighting game and RPG fan.
US game companies have also been hit pretty hard too. A few years ago, you probably wouldn’t have guessed that Acclaim and 3DO would go bankrupt. Well, the whole world has been in a economic slump for the past few years anyways.
[This message has been edited by Sousuke (edited 01-30-2005).]
quote:The rpg statement might have been true 10 years ago, maybe even almost 5 years ago, but FF7, BG2 and Morrowind changed a lot of people's minds.
Originally posted by Teagan:
You can say the same for game genres:
A lot of American people love FPS, but Japanese hate FPS.
A lot of Japanese people like RPG, but not many Americans do.
A lot of Americans love Xbox, but not many Japanese do
A lot of American people is graphic over story, while Japanese is opposite.
Your right FPS is still above RPGs, but even most FPS people now want some descent rpg elements to their games.
And it also depends on where you live as well in the US. In St. Louis RPGs are almost impossible to find unless they are new and mass produced (FE: FF series, Morrowind, BG). For everything else its quite hard becuase people here, myself included, tend to horde their rpg games. The fact that 9/10 hard-to-find games in the area are rpgs, most of them not underproduced, should tell you something.
Also to the Xbox, most people here who have both it and a PS2, say they prefer their PS2 because there aren't enough games, especially rpgs and stretegy games, but really overall. And most of them don't really like the gamecube either. There are still a descent number who are Xbox all-the-way, but its not as clear as you think.
Tales of Symphonia and Skies of Arcadia Legends for GameCube only rock.
quote:Yea, but its the same here as well.
Originally posted by Ex-S Woo:
Well, it's no where near a huge crisis just yet, but most companies have been seeing dwindling profits over the past few years.The large giants (Konami, Capcom, etc) will survive of course, but expect a lot of the mid-sized companies (I'm referring to PS2 and GC developers) to be swallowed up over the next few years.
Enix and Square merging last year is just the tip of the iceberg. Atlus recently announced massive scalebacks as well (they're having Konami publish their games instead of doing it themselves)...so who knows what will happen next?
quote:
Originally posted by Jinnai:
And it also depends on where you live as well in the US. In St. Louis RPGs are almost impossible to find unless they are new and mass produced (FE: FF series, Morrowind, BG).
Yes, but local "scarcities" like that hardly deserve the term, considering you can mail-order games from anywhere in the U.S. at same as or cheaper than the price you'd find if you went to an actual store (shipping cost and tax tend to cancel each other). In that case, the scarcity doesn't even really exist. For all you know, RPG gamers in St. Louis simply prefer to mail order their games instead of buying them at stores. Personally, I don't buy any games at stores anymore, because there's too much of a tendency to impulse buy.
Yea, but its the same here as well.
Well, I think they’re a bit different. A lot of the US companies that have been shutting down are the 2nd tier publishers publishing for mostly medicore titles in an expanding game market. Japan’s gaming market is shrinking and Enix and Atlus are popular companies with multi-million unit sellers to boast about…yet they were still forced merge or scale back.