I want this message to also be at least read and taken a bit seriously by the peach princess staff. I want you guys to hear something I have to say.
So everyone whos reading please read carefully. If you can prove me wrong on some of these facts go ahead but only after you read everything word for word. Prepare for a long post.
At the moment I know for a fact that the bishoujo game industry is rather small… Selling 3000 copies at least is considered a very big sucess.
In my opinion I believe that there are several obstacles that stand in the way of major success of bishoujo gaming in the united states.
1. The lack of new ideas… As I play many games they stick to one tried and true philosphy and rarely go above it. The lack of freedom in games is definitely a major upset. Although most of us don’t really care if the industry is to flourish and grow more original ideas need to be done… Brave soul is definitely a step in the right direction. I breaks all of the rules and grants you freedom as well as some action and adventure with good story.
Because all sex and no stroy and character development makes a bad hentai game… The girls in question should have feelings and shoulnt just have sex with you at the moment you confess love to them. So the addition of a bit more romance and love in games is a welcome addition.
Also when I say freedom I mean that every choice you make actually makes an effect on the game… Im sick of what the old games do where you are given a number of choices of what to do in a situation but you can only do one of those choices and the others are just there “for fun” every choice should make a difference and that is the true freedom.
2. In the north American market (dont forget canadians they play bishoujo games too!) market there is a huge taboo on bishoujo games… To the misiniformed it is considered sick and completely gross. Especially since in some games there is a lot of S&M and rape content… Personally in my opinion I don’t like S&M and rape and I am sure a lot of us also don’t like it. So wed have to start out slow and remove S&M for a bit. As for rape you should at least have an option to avoid it.
3. The American government. If the bishoujo industry grows large there will be people in the American government who will oppose its actions.
You will note famous mainstream games like Soldier of Fortune 2 and GTA 3 have been under some major government crtisism for their violent content… I predict the same for bishoujo games… There will probably be senators and congressman who will want to pass a bill to censor these games or to have them banned period.
The government critisism comes from misinformation and pure speculation. These people are all over 40 to 50 years old and have not grown up on video games. Natrually they don’t understand them and believe that they promote violent behaviour. In fact it is known for violent video games to reduce violent behaviour because your letting it all out on the game and not on the street.
So the urge to sexually rape someone might also be satisfied by a romantic bishoujo game where u still have a chance with that lovely girl u always wanted.
4. Priacy… I know for a fact that piracy has hurt bishoujo gaming EXTREMELY. Many would rather download these games than buy them and although with changes in isp rules and the increasing size of the games stops the piracy a little its still there. I know that many bishoujo game fans are desperate for games. If they don’t have a place to download them chances are they WILL buy these games to get their fix.
5. The ignorance in Japan… The men in suits down in Japan believe that their bishoujo games won’t have much of an impact on the North American market… Thats where they are wrong… Most of the american public doesnt even know games like these exist. The bishoujo game fans are like only 10 to 20% of north american people. So North Americans should have some means of finding out about these by more than just word of mouth… Non Adult advertising for peach princess games will do them some good.
Now here Is what I think we should do in order to make the bishoujo game industry grow into a significant profitable industry in north america.
1. The IDSA. Companies like jast and peach princess need to take their case to the IDSA. Show them what the whole bishoujo gaming industry is about. The IDSA will fight for you when the government critises your games. They will also fight for you in the area of piracy. The IDSA have used their power to shut down hundreds of piracy sites. Now the only way you can pirate games is via p2p sharing networks. It is extremely important that you let the IDSA notice you guys and what your trying to do. They will help you as they have many hundreds of other companies… Because companies like Peachprincess DESERVE to have a chance to set up a booth in the huge expo like E3. Which leads me to my next point.
2. The bishoujo industry cannot afford to be a small and therfore one of the best ways for it to grow is to enter the mainstream market. In my opinion Mainstream integration shall make you a lot of money… To have Bishoujo become a genre in the mainstream video game industry will help immensely. It will become a huge force.
But for that to sucessfully happen ideas from games like brave soul and TCI would have to be improved upon greatly. The mainstream gamers mostly don’t know about bishoujo gaming but many of them will gladly play these games. In order to sucessfully entice the mainstream gamers to play bishoujo games you will need a dramatic overhaul on the style of development done in these games.
First off the freedom issue I addressed earlier should be taken into consideration. The bishoujo games of tommorow should have the following mixture in order to be a huge success. They need a rich and detailed twisting plot like Eve burst Error or the main stream game Deus Ex.
Deus Ex featured multiple endings and a conspiracy thrill style story that combined action in the process the story was very rich and well developed and the game was quite long and graphically detailed. Now you combine the excellent plot with length…
Mainstream games are usually long and last up to months of fun gameplay. Most of us finish bishoujo games in less than a day and sometimes even a week. So they need to be a bit longer. Also replay value nees to be taken into consideration. Instead of always knowing taht a girl will show up in the same place at the same time random events should be added to the games for more different gameplay each time you play.
So now you have an excellent long plot with your bishoujo game. If you don’t you should try asking your fans for ideas. I know many people who are extremely creative in creating a story that would make an excellent bishoujo game.
On this one particular forum people were talking about their fantasies based on anime and hentai. Many people loved to read those things. So creative fan ideas should at least be CONSIDERED by the bishoujo game companies for good sucess. I am loaded with such ideas and you can ask me for some if you wish.
Ok the good plot thing I explained earlier is only one ingredient in the important mixture for the bishoujo game of tommorow. Freedom is the other thing so loads of different endings and random events is also important.
Next you need to think about diveristy in the actual characters that will be in the game. To sucessfully create a good bishoujo game you will also need some good character development. So the girls you speak to will be realistic and actually have their own personallity.
Like in a dating sim. They will also be hard to get. I dont like sex in the very begninning of the game… I also sure as hell don’t like the unavoidable rape of certain girls. I hate it when they just make crappy reason to have sex its dumb. I should EARN the right to do it with them. So they arent just dolls I screw all day.
So combine great story with great character development and you are almost done. Finally you must have action like in brave soul. Also you can cosider make it first or 3rd person action like game ONI.
There you have it… That is the ultimate bishoujo game of tommorow at least thats what I believe based on opinions I have collected. It would take a lot of work but if you have successfuly made yourselves more known to the games industry you will make HUGE sales with this sorta game.
3. Finally you must somehow make these games available on store shelves. Your sales will jump at this as many dont like ordering from the internet. Also considering getting advertisement deals with magazines like PCGAMER. This will further make bishoujo grow into a huge industry. However when you design these adverts and game boxes that would be shipped to stores like Electronics boutique. You should make sure the game box doesnt contain actual adult content. Same should be done with the adverts. I don’t believe this should be done immediately but once you make a significant profit from the overhauls and won the IDSA’s trust this is an unavoidable step that should be taken.
4. Appeal to the fans. I mentioned earlier I don’t like to see sexual content right away for really crappy reasons and that id rather win the trust and love of my bishoujo girl of choice in the game. Some others have a different opinion about this.
Therefore all bishoujo game fans and future fans are actuall divided into 3 groups.
Fan A and Fan B and Fan C
Fan A like adult content. He wants to have sex with those lovely girls. He wants it fast so he usually skips dialogue and doesnt bother to do much till he gets to the good parts.
Fan B is into stories and romance. This fan likes to get girls the slow romantic way. He likes to experience the story and the excitement as well as some love with the eventual part where he has sex.
Fan C love action and fantasy. Games like brave soul give him this. He doesnt really care about the story but reads it anyway to understand why hes fighting. To him the sex is icing on the cake just like fan B.
I belong to fan B section. But I also enjoy some good action gameplay.
The idea is to make the game appeal to all fans. So you create girls that like sex and will do it with u quicker. Thats for Fan A along with that u also have the better girls which will take some time to get those are for fan B. Next you add a gameplay element and thats for fan C who doesnt care who he gets to do it with.
Now these are just suggestions and ideas. You folks at jast and peach princess owe me nothing. I pay and you deliver so im not complaining. But you guys should really READ and THINK about what I said. I believe you owe it yourselves to try to do something…
What you folks did with brave soul broke the ice though. Brave soul is a huge step in the right direction. It is games like these that will put Bishoujo gaming on the map.
But anyways you guys really should talk to the IDSA. They will help you greatly.
But the idea is that some time. In the distant future. Bishoujo games will look something like unreal 2 pictured in this screenshot.