Some of the topics this week gets a bit lengthy, as we talk about Sony’s driving force behind their content guidelines and the two sides of the Tokimeki Memorial franchise.

Kick-Flight Beta Test

I’ve talked about it on the podcast before, but Kick-Flight is a cool looking arena fighter where you fight in a completely 3D Space. You rarely, if ever, touch the ground. The Rodea: The Sky Soldier fan inside me wants to say it looks similar to that game. But honestly, it moves at a much slower pace and mechanically doesn’t really have any similarities. I do really like the aesthetic of it, though.

They’re finally launching a Beta test this May. I’m not planning on trying to participate, but I’m still crossing my fingers for a US release.

(Source: 4Gamer Kick-Flight Beta Test Information)

Sony’s Content Guidelines Driven by #MeToo Movement and Streaming

There’s nothing really new here beyond Sony citing the #MeToo movement as well as video game streaming as driving factors for greater restrictions on sexual content in their games.

I’ve been pretty vocal in the past about being bothered about Sony throwing their weight around in regards to censoring or blocking releases from Japan.  Despite that, I recognize it’s a difficult predicament. As the world becomes more globally connected, we start mixing cultures that don’t necessarily see eye to eye. 

Obviously in the west we have some tension regarding Japan’s media favoring of high-school settings. As far as I understand, that’s viewed as their prime of youth, so a lot of content gets centered around that age range. AKA 16. AKA skeevy for sexual content in America at least. Culturally, we’re definitely more concerned about this for females rather than males.

Is it right to have sexually suggestive actions for characters that are under 18? From a western perspective, it’s pretty frowned upon. What even are the Japanese cultural intricacies surrounding this? If it doesn’t match our feeling, should America force their values and rules on another country because of our influence? 

It also brings in the whole reality vs. fiction problem and what effect it has on our perceptions of real life and how we treat others.

I think the real answer is that most of us, including anyone in games media, are probably unqualified to have meaningful and educated conversation about this.

Today, I believe art should always be largely unrestricted. That goes for TV, video games, books and anything else. If you’re not directly hurting anyone, you’re clear in my eyes. But obviously others don’t see it that way. Even if I don’t agree, I think their feelings of concern are legitimate.

I think for fans of the games affected, it’s too early to panic too much about it. Unfortunately, I think the current answer is “vote with your dollars” and buy whatever version has the least restrictions. Even if that means forgoing a physical version on PC or getting an inferior product on another console.

(Source: Siliconera)

The Two Sides of Tokimeki Memorial

I’ve never played the Tokimeki Memorial series. All I know is that the original 1994 release comes up frequently in terms of the most influential Bishojo games. But the series actually has like two sides to its history.

What I didn’t realize until a few years ago is that the Otome “Girl’s Side” games I had been watching come out on DS over the years was actually a part of the Tokimeki Memorial franchise as well.

Consistent entries in the Bishojo side seemed to have puttered with the third release in 2001, a year before the first Girl’s Side release. At which point, the Otome entries continued strong until 2010.

Oddly enough, around the time the Girl’s Side series had it’s last major release before its hiatus, the main Bishojo series had a new mainline entry put out on PSP. Since, the entire franchise has been largely quiet outside of some re-releases and spin-offs.

Finally, in this year of 2019, Girl’s Side is back with its fourth entry. While the mainline Bishojo series still remains dormant, it kind of lives on through a different franchise.

Konami’s Love Plus is quite different in its structure than I believe what a traditional Tokimeki Memorial is. Even so, I wonder if in some ways Konami feels like it’s somewhat of a successor to the series. Even the chibi character art style is shared between Love Plus and Girl’s Side.

Love Plus went on its own hiatus in 2014, but is also back with Love Plus Every.

I guess Konami’s back in the virtual dating scene.

Caravan Stories Coming to the West

Not much to say here, but it looks like Caravan Stories is finally getting localized. I really like the aesthetic of it, but I have my doubts that I’ll ever put any amount of substantial time into a Free to Play MMORPG these days.

I can finally uninstall the Japanese release I never touched.