I know many people would rather play non-adult ones than adult ones, it’s perfectly understandable, took me a while to get over it too although I’ve always been curious about bodies and thumbed through Medical Encyclopedias dedicated to reproduction. If you think only females object to the ‘adult content’, which should imply ‘all situations pertaining to adult situations that children are unlikely to encounter, i.e. Getting Married, Getting Fired, Drinking in Bars, etc.’, think again. Males object to the ‘adult content’ just as much as females do. Part of it is reflexive, to protect themselves from conveying the impression that they are ‘perverts’ as so many people are inclined to call us Bishoujo gamers, and the other is entrenched ideology. One of my friends couldn’t watch even Sakura Diaries with us because he said it made him physically ill, those who’ve watched the series know this is pretty light U-jin fare. Support of the current Bishoujo gaming market is commendable, but what this scene really needs is word of mouth support. Please help us spread the word on the game, tell people about it, just buying and not telling is akin to enjoying it by self and not sharing it with other people. No one will understand Bishoujo games if they’ve never played them. And if the only Bishoujo reviews only reinforce the perception that Bishoujo games is just a vehicle for sex just as they would believe Pornography is just a vehicle for sex, then by that line of reasoning Bishoujo Games=Pornography, and people don’t think too highly of Pornography. I would not object to this convoluted line of reasoning if it wasn’t for the terrible light in whch Pornography is perceived. I’m reserving my judgement until I do check out more than just the usual fare at my local video store. For more on unflattering reviews on Bishoujo games, especially one that doesn’t even have sexual content per se, check out Animerica’s review a month ago, the April 02 issue, on Phantom of Inferno, p.61. This reviewer committs two sins of ‘Freedom of Speech’:
1. Doesn’t research his information: “These anime porno CD games are for a relatively small market in Japan” I can’t cite my sources since I don’t remember where I found it, but 25% is no small percentage, and if you break down games into genre, hardly any genre I imagine comprises 50% and more, if ‘Dr. Brown’, the alias of the reviewer, considers that a percentage for a 'relatively large market.'
2. Likes to make sweeping generalization and commits Sociology’s infamous ill of coloring statements with ethics and morals of the predominant institution: “Japanese gamers don’t play PC games (except for the perverts)” and "Japanese are experts at making things cute and also experts at making things that are perverted."
Needless to say, this guy should be no friend of anyone’s. I think I’ll mouth off about this on my website, I think it’s something that needs to be done.
