Anime 'Visual Novel' Game DVDs Debut In West

Thanks to Insert Credit for pointing to a Namako Team story revealing new Japanese 'visual novel' DVDs coming to the West via publisher Hirameki. Insert Credit explains: "Hirameki has been slowly releasing English-language ports of Japanese dating sims in the US. They play basically the same on a PC, DVD player, PS2 or Xbox [using Dragon's Lair style branching narrative], which is the appeal of the format." The new "Summer 2004"-due DVD releases include the wonderfully named Tea Society Of A Witch, as well as Hourglass Summer, apparently "A summer vacation that crosses the boundaries of space and time."

Re:Interesting

[foidulus]

3. Many of the "good ones" are those that actually have interesting stories and it's known that in most cases, western customers prefer a straight to the point experience and don't care to get involved with the story.
Yeah, because Shakespeare was Japanese....please
I love Japan, spent 6 months over there doing R&D and cannot wait to go back, but statements like this just aggrivate me. Have you ever been to Japan? Have you seen the massive amounts of really bizzare dating-sim esque porn?
Seems to me that the Japanese are just as likely to indulge in some story-less fun as people in the west.
I hate this "Anime is the highest form of human art attainable" attitude. Yes, anime is great, but so is the Simpsons, so is Fight Club, so is The Illiad, so is Saving Private Ryan
Have you ever actually watched Japanese TV? It is, for the most part, more inane than American television....

Re:Interesting

[bugbread]

I mean I get the impression that if any of these things actually happened (for example: *gasp* an unwed couple living together), those involved would be run out of town faster than a Southern Babtist preacher can say "Praise the Lord".

Admittedly, my analysis of Japanese culture *may be* rather flawed (seeing as how I've never actually *been* to Japan), and my *entire* analysis is based on the anime I have watched.

Sorry, but you're right, your analysis seems pretty darn flawed. Nothing at all wrong with unmarried couples. Definitely less of a fixation on remaining a virgin until marriage than in America (not that anyone in America is a virgin at marriage, but at least the expectation exists). Cheating on your mate is also far less stigmatised than in America. There are parts of Japan that are more straightlaced than America (office politics, relations with in-laws, etc.), but there are other parts that make up for it with a lot more freedom than there is in America. So it's a draw overall.