Well, if their games end up pirated more than bought, they have no one to blame but themselves
‘end up’? ALL games are pirated more than bought. Pirated a HELL OF A LOT more than bought. Sometimes even by people who have no intention of playing the games and just like to collect.
I mean, I know what point you were trying to make, but… If piracy were actually less than or equal to purchases of ANY game EVER made, we game-makers would be a lot less pissy.
(While we’re at it, buy Science Girls. 
)
All the Japanese government needs to do next, is outlaw the export of eroge sales from Japan (like how the US outlaws the export of firearm sales to nations that don’t allow firearms). Sucks for eroge importers, but it’s currently the best measure Japan can use, without further censoring their domestic eroge market.
Japan can defend their domestic eroge market, in the same way other countries defend their armaments and medication sales - that it’s ONLY for their native population. Foreigners deal with their own government for smuggling violations.
Sounds good. Has strong legal precedence. Can be passed without much political challenging. After all: why should Japan stand up for foreign gamers? Apathy flows both ways.
minori, Yuzusoft, Moonstone, Ciel, Visual Antenna. That’s 5. I’m going to bet all the companies in VisualArts are going to follow soon…
Well damn… there goes any chance I had in brainwashing Peter to localize [url=http://www.erogereview.com/2008/01/06/futari-de-hitotsu-no-koigokoro]Futari de Hitotsu no Koigokoro[/url]…
OMG! I just figured it out!
This fiasco is really just one big anti-twincest conspiracy!!! :shock: :evil: :shock: :evil: :shock: :evil:
I knew it… I knew the Forces of Evil were moving against the Precious. It’s war people! The End Times are upon us! The Denial of Twincest is a sign of armageddon in the holiest of holy books, The Teachings of Two!
" PLEASE PLAY THE GAME OF YOUR COUNTRY IF YOU PRAY FOR THE WORLD PEACE!:-)?"
That’s what Visual Antenna said.
What i will do if the games of my country SUCKS?! 
Even if i can play North-American games, they’re not the same. I hate those stupid let’s-kill-them-all shooting games or the Grand-Theft series. Besides, i don’t see how playing crime & war SIMs will help to promove the world peace.
And 90% of the non-H RPGs/SLGs we like to play - like Persona 3, Persona 4, Final Fantasy, etc. - are originally from Japan, too. We need to stop playing them, too?!
We all know that playing games where the goal is to fall in love is against world peace as soon as the sex you have with the girl is explicitely shown wereas playing games where the goal is to murder, steal, and commit crimes help world peace, in proportion with how graphic, gory and realistic it gets.
In the former, it’s because it’s so taking you soon mix reality and fiction, whereas in the latter, it’s because it’s so taking you can but dissociate reality and fiction.
If the “best measure” in this situation is scapegoating, then yes. Not to say that scapegoating isn’t an effective way of solving political problems.
I’ve actually seen some pretty effective arguments on 2chan, so it seems like the scapegoat just eventually goes round circle over and over again. Whatever. Foreigners say it’s the Japanese fault. Japanese say it’s the foreigners fault. Basically there needs to be a final answer: and they’ve found one that works for them. In politics one doesn’t get what they want without sacrificing something, unless you’re the absolute dictator. If cutting off foreign access is a sacrifice the native gamers have to make, you’re seriously not going to hear them complain or fight against that. It’s actually a good sacrifice, given how little foreign sales impact the eroge market. Furthermore it puts the ball in foreigner’s court, since seizure of contraband is a Customs level initiative… and it’s not like Japanese eroge suppliers, are going to lose a sizable infrastructure investment. The only one who gets screwed are foreign erogers: and the Japanese fans are not going to lose sleep over that. Their market stabalizes to a normality, Western Customs has another bullet for legal prosecution, and the feminists claim a campaign victory.
The only one seriously complaining about these IP bans and the idea of a possible eroge export ban, are Western erogers. And yea… I totally agree that part would be the Japanese’s fault, but seeing how win-win it would be, I really can’t see why they shouldn’t do it.
You speak like a ban on exports, or even a ban on foreign IPs enforced on all eroge sites, is inevitable. I wouldn’t say that…yet. Really, the rational way of implementing this strategy would be to ban exports of games containing certain content to countries where importing games with such content is illegal (along the lines of the gun trade you mentioned earlier). Of course, obscenity law is incredibly vague, and how you deal with that is up in the air. The most sweeping way would be to completely ban export of games containing insert current proposed categories for censoring here. There’s no need to ban exports of EVERY erogame when only a select few are attracting negative attention from or are considered legally obscene in other countries. Unless of course you’re scapegoating.
Few weeks ago, people were saying the same thing about hardcore rape titles. Look how that turned out. It’s not inevitable - but it’s clearly a viable and very attractive option.
Not really. Doing a total ban is much better. Japan loses like what? At most 5% of eroge profit? Probably the bulk of that online sales, thus having no impact on the Akihabara scene. A total export ban would do next to nothing to the economic part of the equation. Doing a total export ban is indeed drastic: it makes a huge political feather for the politicians and feminists. The move also does next to nothing to the native Japanese customers and voters. The legislation would also be much easier, because as you say, the whole obscenity thing is so vague. Too many loopholes, too much work on the Japanese side of the house to determine what’s bad and what’s not. And when things do slip through the cracks, it puts a target on the Japanese again. Not worth the hassle really. A blanket ban solves the problem quickly, effectively, and without much work on the Japanese side. Simplicity is its own elegance. Also what’s bad in one country is fine in another. Case in point: Canada’s porn laws are more strict than American porn laws, and things find their way into Canada from America all the time.
Don’t get angry because you don’t like the sound of it: that would be scapegoating. I’m stating a possible chain of events that benefits the Japanese gamer, and were I Japanese, approve of in totality because it solves the problem. I don’t like it anymore than you do, but it’s a plan that can work, and work quite brilliantly if pulled off right. I’m not accusing anyone of anything: just giving a realistic solution. Sucks for us; works for them.
You know, even though the decisions and moves came from inside Japan, the people pushing for such decisions gained more and power because of external pressure, such as the ONU, some anti-child porn associations, UNICEF, and even the Queen of Sweden, so I’m not sure it’s any “scapegoating”. That being said, considering the general support from Western fans sound to be “It’s not my problem”/“It’s not my fault”/“I don’t see why I’d do anything”, if banning such games from Western view solves the problem, I fail to see why Japan wouldn’t do it.
If you don’t consider it your problem, nor is willing to try anything to help, then you don’t have any right to complain when it’s removed from your hands.
That’s just it: it doesn’t solve the problem. The reason the whole Rapelay incident spawned a firestorm in the first place is that the Japanese media picked it up, and the Japanese public picked up the newspaper and actually gave a damn. The Rapelay incident was the spark, but the kindling for the fire was already in place within the Japanese community. So, let’s use the metaphor of a lightning strike providing the spark. Banning exports is like removing one source of spark (say, putting up a lightning rod on a barn full of rotting hay), while ignoring the rotting hay (latent Japanese public opinion) that let the spark smoulder and spread. Sure, it puts the problem off for a while, but it doesn’t solve the problem, it just diverts attention and gives one the satisfaction of pointing fingers, saying “aha!”, and the false reassurance that the quick fix solved the problem without having to break a sweat. The true people the eroge industry needs to convince (that eroge shouldn’t be censored or regulated) are the Japanese public, not foreigners. Foreigners don’t make Japanese law. Japanese do.
I should qualify what I’ve said before however–just because a measure is rational, does not mean it’s the most expedient way of dealing with the situation. Superstition is often borne of expediency. That doesn’t make it rational.
A right to complain? Since when I do need a right to complain? 
What’ll happen to me if I complain without the right to complain?
Jokes aside, I’m not complaining about the prospect of exports being banned (that was you, not me). I’m complaining about the rising xenophobia that seems to be gaining momentum among Japanese eroge fans.
He’s actually pretty famous. Magician and commentator.
No they don’t. That’s what you’re overlooking. You make it sound like it’s also the Japanese job to save eroge for the world. It’s only their job to save eroge for Japan. Pure and simple.
Imposing an export ban solves the problem, because it politically no longer becomes a Japanese problem. If cops find an eroge in some house in West Virginia, then they can’t blame the Japanese for it being in West Virginia if Japan has banned sale of it outside their country. Its contraband - the fault lies with the person who violated the ban. And quite frankly, WV law enforcement and anti-porn movements would be quite happy with a scenario like that, because it’s a surefire win for them in such cases… which is honestly what these foreign censors really care about: THEIR OWN BACKYARD. They could careless about Japan - their political movement shows it in every way.
In the event someone does try to bring this problem back up again, Japan can easily cite how THEIR country has an incredibly low sex crime rate, and how THEIR ero games don’t influence or impact THEIR nation in a negative fashion. However if THEIR games are causing problems in OTHER countries, that’s why THEY banned them for sales OUTSIDE of Japan. To put it bluntly: Japan’s shit stinks more, when it comes to porn. They might not be flushing, but they are closing the door to their bathroom so no one else smells it, and putting a sign that says: “Don’t open. I’m taking a dump.” If someone opens the door, that’s the person’s fault for opening the door.
Plus it takes no effort to for some pro-eroge politician to generate a smokescreen tactic like mentioning how American firearms are not only causing havoc in America, but other countries as well (just ask Mexico), and that’s a reflection of how poor American customs are. If guns can sneak in and out of the US, no wonder eroge does too. See how that works? Deflection of blame. It’s how Japan justifies its whaling and pollution dumping, so it’s not a huge media magnet anymore.
It’s called fending for yourself: which is the position Japanese erogers are in now. They’ve got no one to rely on but themselves, so of course they’re going to purse an isolationist posture. What are Western erogers doing for them? Nothing. What incentive do they have for helping Western erogers? None. Apathy only breeds an apathetic response. What else did you expect? Japanese erogers are only being concerned for themselves, because that’s how their seeing it. They don’t have to do ANYTHING to prove themselves otherwise, because it has no real impact on what they want.
That would be our job.
Not to the Japanese politicians and erogers: to them it sends the message that Japan recognizes their eroge has a “negative influence” on other countries, and they’ve taken serious action into preventing that.
I’ve been posting on 2chan since this mess started, and NOT ONCE have I seen someone insult Western eroge fans. The only thing they’ve demanded, is Western eroge write to Japanese politicians to help disprove the illusion that all foreigners hate Japanese eroge. THAT’S IT. They’re not doing it to be jerks - just as one measure to save eroge. They are hateful of feminist movements - but they aren’t hateful of Westerners. Far from it.
Exactly what many feminists and Western law enforcement want - to clean out what they don’t want in their own country.
We’ve both pretty much said what we want to say regarding the rest, but this I can’t let go because you’re obviously trying to turn my own statement against me. Apathy and selfishness (fending for oneself regardless of the consequences to others) are two completely different things. Apathy is lack of motivation to do something. Apathy taken to the extreme results in stagnation, not namecalling or conflict. Xenophobia goes beyond selfishness in my opinion, because it’s actively trying to shift blame onto others, whereas the harm to others resulting from selfishness is indirect and not necessarily intended.
I never said apathy is selfish. I said apathy has generated an undesired (for us) and justifiable response from Japanese erogers. Because there’s been no major support from the other side of the ocean, they’ve come to a conclusion they’re on their own. Thus if they’re own their own, why should they expend resources on wasted efforts? They’ve got to save eroge for the Japanese because it appears ONLY the Japanese care. That’s what apathy has brought. There’s no selfish mentioned anywhere. It also explains the xenophobia. They think their alone, and until someone proves otherwise, that’s the only truth they’ll see.
If your worried for the future of eroge, DO SOMETHING about it. Apathy isn’t going to do anything. Otherwise, watch as the Japanese do something about it – and not like the possible answer.
Actually the import of obscene porn is illegal many nations (I know for certain that it is in US, Canada, and Mexico). Which is why erogers fear their Customs so much - may not be automatic prison time, but it does get seized.
Which quite frank is yet another reason why an export ban works for Japan. The feminists and law enforcement would take that victory and be VERY happy with it. They can pursue on contraband charges - which are a lot simpler than general porn and obscenity charges - if such a thing occurs.
I’m arguing for the sake of argument (it’s what I do best). You’re arguing for a cause. Let’s leave it at that.