Eroge

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Erogē with anime-style pornographic representation.

As eroge ( Jap. エロゲー ; phonological vocabulary from English. Ero tic ga me) are Japanese video or computer games with erotic and pornographic designated content. Alternative names are also, mostly only in Japan, Adult game ( ア ダ ル ト ゲ ー ム , adaruto gēmu ), Jūhachi-kin game (18 禁 ゲ ー ム , Jūhachi-kin gēmu , German " 18+ game") and Etchi game ( H ゲ ー ム ) or hentai game in common. For the games of the male target group, the term Bishōjo game ( 美 少女 ゲ ー ム , dt. "Pretty girl game") is often used, especially by the manufacturers of such games . Although this can also include games without erotic or pornographic content, this use is rare. Such adult games are more commonly referred to as Galgē ( ギ ャ ル ゲ ー , gyarugē ), short for Gal game ( ギ ャ ル ゲ ー ム , gyaru gēmu , German "girl's game").

There is a large market for such games in Japan, but a large part of the games is produced and distributed by fans for fans (see Dōjinshi ), so that statistics on this vary greatly.

history

The original eroge of the 1980s had a simple plot of raping women passing by . They made the PC-88 popular, but soon customers were no longer willing to pay 8,800 yen (about € 60) for such simple and identical games. As a result, eroge was created for other genres , such as ASCII's Chaos Angels , a computer role-playing game , and the inspired Dragon Knight by élf and Rance by AliceSoft . The plot was no longer just sex, but unwilling women continued to be raped.

1992 élf published Dōkyūsei . The main innovation of Dōkyūsei was that instead of simple pornography, the player had to win the affection of one of the main female characters. This text adventure is also seen as the founder of the genre of Ren'ai games (Eng. "Games about romantic love"). This genre had its breakthrough in 1994/95 with the Ren'ai simulation Tokimeki Memorial and the Ren'ai adventure Dōkyūsei 2 .

Also in 1992, the horror adventure Otogirisō - itself no eroge - was published for the Super Famicom ; this game was a great success. The special thing about Otogirisō was that playing through it several times opened up further storylines. This concept was called Sound Novel by the manufacturer .

In 1996, the game developer Leaf used this concept, including the gloomy basic theme, for an eroge called Shizuku and shortly afterwards Kizuato . Leaf called this series Leaf Visual Novel Series in order not to have to use the protected term Sound Novel . Both still had the typical rape theme. In 1997 the completely opposite To Heart was published. To Heart had a warm high school love story that became the standard of modern eroge and started the genre of visual novels . The music contained was also of high quality, so it was built into karaoke machines across the country , which usually only contain the latest chart hits.

In addition to the warm love story, To Heart had a very dramatic farewell and tearful reunion towards the end of the game. In 1998 Tactics took over this plot structure, consisting of a funny first half, a warm love story to the middle, followed by a tragic separation and finally an emotional reunion, for the game One - Kagayaku Kisetsu e . Since this game was very well received, other manufacturers followed suit, and the genre of Nakigē ( 泣 き ゲ ー , dt .: "tearful game") was founded.

Following the general direction of eroge development, from games with a simple rape plot to games in which the plot became more and more important and romantic, some members of Tactics broke up with the question of how much plot an eroge needed and founded Key . Key brought out the game Kanon in 1999 , in which the erotic part was almost completely removed in favor of a complex plot. Kanon entered the sales charts with a 2nd place and was represented in 2002 in its original version at place 45.

species

Anime-style eroge with etchi representation

In general, an eroge can belong to any genre. The most common, however, are Ren'ai simulations (dating sims) and Ren'ai adventures including visual novels . Further categories are:

  • Strip versions of traditional games such as mah-jong , pachinko , poker , chess or blackjack . Many adult arcade games fall into this category.
  • Common computer game genres, such as role-playing games, that have a sexual element in their plot.
  • "Conditioning games" in which the player lets the mostly female main characters repeatedly perform various sex acts in order to increase their statistics and thus unlock certain things.
  • Interactive videos, which are essentially eroge that can be played on a DVD player. They are also known as " DVDPG " (DVD Player Game) .
  • "Sex simulators", mostly in 3D, in which you can determine every action during foreplay and during the actual sexual act.
  • Puzzle games with erotic wallpapers.
  • Ero-cha , an online sex chat with voice actors. This system uses 2D eroge figures and a point-and-click system.

Usually Erogē Bishōjo games ( 美 少女 ゲ ー ム , bishōjo gēmu ), i.e. H. Games with pretty girls (bishōjo) intended for men . However, there are also games for women, on the one hand those in which women have sex with men, so-called otome games ( 乙 女 ゲ ー ム , otome gēmu , dt .: games for / with young women ) or, on the other hand, men with men, so-called boys love games ( ボ ー イ ズ ラ ブ ゲ ー ム , bōizu rabu gēmu ).

The quality of the games as well as the pornographic content varies greatly from game to game, from romantic dating games with rather harmless nude scenes to hard pornography, fetishes, incest or rape scenes. The games are often criticized because they contain underage characters (which is then changed in translations). Due to the laws in force in Japan, however, pubic hair and penises are not shown, which sometimes leads to images that appear strange ("phantom penises").

Almost all of the games use anime-style graphics .

Perception outside of Japan

Erogē are often viewed as abnormal outside of Japan because of the frequent portrayal of young girls and the breaking of various taboos due to the wide range of topics in Japanese pornography in general.

In contrast to western computer games for adults, the characters are usually shown with an individual to complex personality, including quirks and everyday worries. Many games focus on immersion in a particular environment and social relationships among characters.

Due to the lack of will of Western companies to locate or sell eroge, these games are almost non-existent in these markets. If localizations are made, it is usually only for the US, with the girls usually raising the age to at least 18. A German localization was Knights of Xentar .

Eroge and anime

Erogē also served as a template for anime with various degrees of eroticism, from harder hentai ( Bible Black ) to soft hentai ( Dōkyūsei ) to the complete renunciation of erotic content or only its hint as in Air , Comic Party , DC - Da Capo , Fate / stay night , Green Green , Kanon , Kimi ga Nozomu Eien , School Days , Lamune , Mizuiro , Shuffle! , Soul Link , To Heart , Tsukihime and Wind - a breath of heart .

However, the reverse is also possible.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ PC News No. 102: Zenkoku bishōjo soft uriage ranking ( Memento from December 27, 2005 in the Internet Archive )

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