For those of you keeping up on the Jewel Knights thread, you know I wrote about a passage in Playstation magazine concerning gal games that really upset me…
I just wrote them a response and want your opinions on if you think i got my point across without leaving myself too open to ridicule:
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I think your comments concerning Japanese gal games in last month’s issue were very unfair and ignorant. I am a dedicated player of these games (and female, I might add), and I also do freelance editing work for one of the companies that translate these games to english.
Yes, I am the first to admit that sometimes there are young-looking characters in these games, and yes, some of the games are all about having copious amounts of sex. But it is ignorant to lump all gal games (or more properly, bishoujo games) into these stereotypes. There are many of these games that focus primarily on a very deep, romantic, and touching storyline. I can quote two wonderful examples, games released by G-Collections (http://www.g-collections.com) called Crescendo and Kana. Both of these games have elicited tears and deep emotion from 95% of its players in both Japan and America. I dare you to play Kana through to the end without shedding a tear.
Yes, some of these games can be rather perverted or deal with very disturbing ideas (teenage sex, rape, etc), but is it really any more disturbing than the grotesque visuals of cutting someone in half, gunning down lots of people, or running over innocent pedestrians by the dozens? The majority of these games are either very thought-provoking and romantic (Kana, Crescendo), or light-hearted and comical (Kango Shicyauzo, Amy’s Fantasies). And even the ones that ARE ‘perverted’ or deal with rather ‘out-there’ fetishes…well, I’d rather someone play a game about it than go do it in real life, just like most people feel about their violence in games: it’s a fantasy, a chance to do things you never would in real life.
I believe America needs to wake up and realize that sex is not an evil thing, it is a natural part of life, and playing a game that incorporates this part of humanity into it does not make a person a pervert. I am personally more upset and angered by people enjoying horribly violent games like Grand Theft Auto and Postal than I ever would be by someone playing a playful and comedic sex romp game like Do You Like Horny Bunnies?, where the characters involved are willingly having fun and enjoying themselves without there being gore and blood stains involved. It’s sex. So what? Get over it.
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