Games with mysterious popularity

[Tupin]

I'm not talking about your Call of Duties or Battlefields, I'm not even talking about Maddens or Halos.

I'm talking about games like Katawa Shoujo and Recettear. Games that are rather small productions, and ones that rarely have official English releases. Is it just a tie-in to otaku culture that these games have become so popular? Especially with the former. I never thought visual novels would actually do well outside of Japan unless you added some sort of interaction ala Heavy Rain or Fahrenheit.

I've played and loved the latter, but cannot honestly "get" the former. Any other games that appear to be widespread only in certain sections?

[kupomogli]

Japanophiles.

[IHatedSega]

Visual Novels are like books, but you get to interact and you can find different endings, which make them more advanced than books sort of. So if you like to read theyre a great type of game to pick up.

Otaku culture can fuel a product very well, I havent heard of those games you listed, but that would be a reason.

Sports games are the only games I dont understand people buying so much. Even FPS I understand, cause I do like DOOM, I just dont get why there have to be so MANY that look exactly the same and are bland as hell.

[Robocop2]

Visual Novels are like books, but you get to interact and you can find different endings, which make them more advanced than books sort of. So if you like to read theyre a great type of game to pick up.


So kind of like a modern take on the Choose your own Adventure books of the old days?

[Tupin]

So kind of like a modern take on the Choose your own Adventure books of the old days?
Yeah, but instead of choosing what to do when there's a threat of your spaceship decompressing or something, you have to choose to spend time with the double amputee girl or the deaf girl.

[IHatedSega]

So kind of like a modern take on the Choose your own Adventure books of the old days?

Yup, but with pretty girls to look at. Theres so many different types out there too. Mostly romance, but a lot of others. Ill see if I can find a article about one that caught my eye.

Nm.

[JSoup]

The two games you gave as examples have pretty simple explanations behind them. Katawa Shoujo wasn't orignaly going to be a game, it was meant as a concept some guy came up with. The various chan boards took a liking to the idea and so it got made. It's also a visual novel, something western gamers seem to like, I assume due to the lack of them in the market.

Recettear is pretty much a simple RPG, but with the item building/selling aspects people came to enjoy in newer JRPGs, like the Atelier series. This is also the reason I was interested in Recettear.

[Gameguy]

There's plenty of Visual Novels that aren't dating sims, stuff like Snatcher, Policenauts, Phoenix Wright, Hotel Dusk, etc. They've been around in the west for a long time but they've never been overly popular, not until Phoenix Wright got released and that kind of died down in recent years. I like the style of games though, they're adventure games like graphic adventures which I usually enjoy unless they're really poorly made or badly written.

[IHatedSega]

Oh yeah. DATING SIMS! I guess though theyre popular in Japan because guys want to practice before they try dating the real things.

[Aussie2B]

Katawa Shoujo is popular because it's basically 4chan: The Game. It's also supposedly pretty well-made, and it has an interesting gimmick. And it's free.

[JSoup]

Katawa Shoujo is popular because it's basically 4chan: The Game. It's also supposedly pretty well-made, and it has an interesting gimmick. And it's free.

I've never liked dating sims or visual novels, but I sat down with Katawa Shoujo and....found it rather charming.

[substantial_snake]

I found the idea of playing as an RPG item shop both pretty funny and unique so that combined with positive reviews convinced me to pick it up in some steam sale quite a while ago. I don't regret it either as the game's mechanics are fun and can easily suck you into a "one more turn" cycle. I'm not sure if its intentional but the character interactions and the universe presented strike me as a big satire of the whole JRPG genera as everything is just so stereotypical that I find it hard to believe it wasn't intentional. Don't know what to tell you about the Dating Sim other then what other people have mentioned.

[StealthLurker]

Sports games are the only games I dont understand people buying so much.


What I don't understand is why people don't understand fans of sports games.

For example every year I get the new version of the NBA2K series. Been doing that since Jordan vs. Bird on the PC XT and the Lakers vs. Celtics series on the Genesis.

I've always liked playing basketball and watching basketball. I think it's a fun escape to also be able to play a game as your favorite player/team.

Trades happen in the off season, blah blah blah and it's nice to be able to have rosters in line with the actual league. 60 bucks for a year's worth of entertainment isn't so bad.

Despite all that stuff, I also like the lesser known hardcore/retro stuff. Gunhound EX, Shmups, the Ni No Kunis of the world, etc etc.

.

[IHatedSega]

What I don't understand is why people don't understand fans of sports games.

For example every year I get the new version of the NBA2K series. Been doing that since Jordan vs. Bird on the PC XT and the Lakers vs. Celtics series on the Genesis.

I've always liked playing basketball and watching basketball. I think it's a fun escape to also be able to play a game as your favorite player/team.

Trades happen in the off season, blah blah blah and it's nice to be able to have rosters in line with the actual league. 60 bucks for a year's worth of entertainment isn't so bad.

Despite all that stuff, I also like the lesser known hardcore/retro stuff. Gunhound EX, Shmups, the Ni No Kunis of the world, etc etc.

.
Yeah, you can either watch the actual games for free and have an exciting time watching a real game with real results and consequences, or you could go out side and play it yourself with friends and get a work out.

[StealthLurker]

Yeah, you can either watch the actual games for free and have an exciting time watching a real game with real results and consequences, or you could go out side and play it yourself with friends and get a work out.

But what if I actually like doing all three because I like the sport (which I do)?

1) actually playing basketball
2) watching real games (live and on tv)
3) playing a basketball videogame, with the added bonus of playing as my favorite players/teams

.

[IHatedSega]

But what if I actually like doing all three because I like the sport (which I do)?

1) actually playing basketball
2) watching real games (live and on tv)
3) playing a basketball videogame, with the added bonus of playing as my favorite players/teams

.

Theyre just boring video games to me, theyre basically the same every year, and roster changes could be DLC. It just pushes the "we gotta have life like realistic graphics" crowd. When I play a video game its to do stuff I really cant do in real life. Theyre boring video games to me.

[kedawa]

Virtua Tennis and Mario Golf are masterpieces.

The only thing I can't stand about sports games is that it seems like every developer is only interested in recreating the experience of watching sports on tv rather than playing the sport.
I always turn all the extraneous shit like replays and commentary off.

[StealthLurker]

Well, I'm not trying to persuade you guys into rethinking sports games and finding a way to enjoy them for yourselves.... I'm just trying to show that it's not so strange for other people to like them. Sorry if I came off that way. I believe it's a perfectly valid genre in its own right.

In terms of being able to do things you can't do in real life, I'll be honest ... I can't do a tomahawk dunk on 2 guys in real life. So it's pretty satisfying in the videogame world haha.

.

[danawhitaker]

Well, I'm not trying to persuade you guys into rethinking sports games and finding a way to enjoy them for yourselves.... I'm just trying to show that it's not so strange for other people to like them. Sorry if I came off that way. I believe it's a perfectly valid genre in its own right.

In terms of being able to do things you can't do in real life, I'll be honest ... I can't do a tomahawk dunk on 2 guys in real life. So it's pretty satisfying in the videogame world haha.

.

I think those are definitely valid points. I loved NBA2K and 2K1 on the Dreamcast. I haven't played many sports games past then. Every year I keep saying I'm going to and then I get sidetracked by some other game.

If I had to pick one "popular" genre that boggles my mind, I guess it would be a sub-genre of sports games - Wrestling games. But I think that's mainly because I also never understood the popularity of WWF or WWE or whatever it is now. And when I've played the games, the controls always feel so clunky, and the characters seemed to take forever to respond. I could never understand the appeal.

[kedawa]

The only wrestling game I ever really enjoyed is Midway's crazy Wrestlemania Arcade, which all the rasslin' fans hate.

[IHatedSega]

But I think that's mainly because I also never understood the popularity of WWF or WWE or whatever it is now. And when I've played the games, the controls always feel so clunky, and the characters seemed to take forever to respond. I could never understand the appeal.

I played one demo once and it was ok, but arent they trying to recreate matches? I dont see the point of that, Ill just watch Puro. Even if its a fighting game, I dont even see the point of playing UFC games, just stick to NEO GEO or Capcom ones.

[kedawa]

I don't entirely agree with that. UFC for Dreamcast is hilarious.

[Robocop2]

Yeah, but instead of choosing what to do when there's a threat of your spaceship decompressing or something, you have to choose to spend time with the double amputee girl or the deaf girl.

I think I would rather have my ship decompress.

[BlastProcessing402]

I think those are definitely valid points. I loved NBA2K and 2K1 on the Dreamcast. I haven't played many sports games past then. Every year I keep saying I'm going to and then I get sidetracked by some other game.

If I had to pick one "popular" genre that boggles my mind, I guess it would be a sub-genre of sports games - Wrestling games. But I think that's mainly because I also never understood the popularity of WWF or WWE or whatever it is now. And when I've played the games, the controls always feel so clunky, and the characters seemed to take forever to respond. I could never understand the appeal.


Colorful characters beating the shit out of each other. Same reason superheros are popular.

[Az]

What I don't understand is why people don't understand fans of sports games.

I don't understand why sports games consistently defy most economic standards of any other games in any genre due to their own fans.

They're the bane of collectors; it's cheaper to buy boxed sports games just to get an empty cases, and that says a whole lot. They're less valuable than every pack-in game for any system that has been produced.

Take any other big selling title with lots of sequels, for instance the Call of Duty series. Modern Warfare 1 is what, 5-6 years old? It still sells new copies at $20 each and used for not a whole lot less. You'd be hard pressed to give away sports titles from 6 years ago.

It's as if everyone that consistently buys sports titles is in agreement that their $60 purchase will be worth nothing next year, even to fellow sports fans.

[kedawa]

Look on the bright side; sports games will go through the transition to digital distribution completely unscathed.

[mailman187666]

I've never liked wrestling games myself, but I wouldn't pass up a chance to watch the real thing live (not on TV, in person). The only sports games I've ever played and enjoyed were baseball games. I liked the Bigs because they had that homerun derby pinball which was pretty addictive for a while. I'd say that I like at least a handful of games for every genre that out there. I'm not so keen on flight sims though.