magusgs wrote:Derid wrote:Wha people are missing, is the HUGE female reading community that is into urban fantasy, paranormal romance, sci-fi/sci-fi romance etc. From what I have observed this same demographic plays lots of casual games, and some significant degree of MMO. If you have paid attention to the anime/fansub community over the past few years, you should not but helped have noticed some overlap there as well.
While galges as such certainly would not have much appeal to this demographic, the well written mystery/paranormal mystery/urban fantasy ( F/SN is actually an archtypical urban fantasy btw) with limited or tasteful eroge components ( eroge would likely be OK be fine in many cases, as long as it is not misogynistic/derogatory toward women ) and priced at or less than the cost of a hardback book could do amazing things in this market.
A correction on terminology first: "galge" is equivalent to "bishoujo game". They're games for guys about girls. The words you're searching for are "otome game".
What you're ignoring here, however, is that many Americans view Japanese culture, as depicted through the window of anime, as misogynistic on a very fundamental level--down to even the character archetypes. The entire concept of "moe" is supposedly misogynistic. Seen from that light, the medium innately repels the audience you suggest it should appeal to. If you take a good look at anime culture in the US, it mostly attracts guys. Sure, females gather in certain fringes, but it's dominated by guys. Marketing appropriate games to females would require a 180 turn in the current market--a very specific set of games (otome games are rare in Japan), willing localization companies, and a new way of marketing. This is even less likely to happen than the current male-oriented visual novels spontaneously catching on.
No, my use of "galge" was correct - because I was referring to the VN as a medium and "galge" type is, as you say, what has thus far caught on "the most". So discussions regarding the topic involve that particular genre.
You are also right about "moe" but IMO moe is crap anyhow. Was amusing for all off of Lucky Star, and to me at least has been boring since. Luckily moe isnt everything made in JPN, even though the VN writers and anime producers sure seemed to be giving it their best shot to do so for a good while.
I disagree about your appraisal of females in anime/manga fandom though, my experience and observation apparently differs from yours in that regard.
As far as what you say about changed marketing and etc, well.... thats pretty much exactly what I was saying. As for chances of it happening... well, hey I am pessimistic about it as well. But at the same time, all it takes is one executive in the right spot to connect the dots, and suddenly everything could change.
It is really not hard to "reposition" products in the public eye, as long as the base material is more suitable for the new position you are trying to find for it. Simply because consumer impressions of things they do not have direct contact with tend to be vague. You pay lots of attention to the current VN world, so perhaps VNs of different types seem inseparable to you. I would assert that isn't the case for someone who had no or little previous exposure, and their first real exposure was properly marketed toward genres that would interest them.
