It is that time of year again: time to celebrate another Valentine's Day with mass amounts of chocolate, cheesy greeting cards and those cute little candy message hearts.
In order to look past the sickening sentimentality that comes with the territory of the holiday, we have to recognize those who have no significant other to cuddle with. For the single crowd, I have just what cupid ordered, and it comes in the form of video games. Pick up your controls or optical mouse, pour yourself a glass of wine and prepare to be welcomed into the world of virtual dating.
Video game trends in America versus those in Japan are extremely different when it comes to the genre of dating simulation games (or re'nai shimyureeshon geemu in Japanese). Here in the states, we only see a small portion of the titles in this genre. Of the games that do reach our shores, only a tiny fraction even hint at dating themes, much less devote the entire title to trying to win over a member of the opposite or even same sex. But over in the land of the rising sun, it is commonplace in Tokyo districts such as Akihabara (famous for electronics shopping) for game stores to devote multiple levels of their buildings to dating sims.
Maybe you are curious as to what players actually do in these games. Well, my friends, the answer is fairly formulaic and is the premise for an untold number of releases. Players assume the role of a single, attractive anime guy who is most likely in the latter years of high school. Lucky for him (and the gamer), the character is surrounded by a myriad of anime vixens just waiting to fall victim to his charms.
The charm part is where many of the games get complicated. To impress any number of girls, our hero has to go around and find simple bits of information about his lady of interest. Fine, that's easy. However, some of the tasks get exponentially more complicated. For instance, to complete the game for certain characters, players will often have to take into account what kind of clothes the characters are wearing, what time of year (in game time of course) is best for love, or any number of other obscure details. Players have to use the knowledge they acquire to answer trivia-like questions from the girls, and earn points to win her over. Some games even have the characters go on dates and answer questions in "Choose your own adventure" book style, or choose a gift to give and pray for a positive outcome. The date can end in something simple like a kiss, or take a slightly more, shall I say, graphic turn, depending on the audience the game is targeted at.
Gameplay always has a time limit for seduction. It could take anywhere from mere months to a couple of years to win over the object of your affection. When the game ends, there are usually several different outcomes. Simply put, the characters can find true love or be rejected.
An immensely popular dating sim in Japan is the "Tokimeki Memorial" series. Originally released in 1994 as a PC game, it has since grown to a library of six titles, not including ports of the same title to other systems. "Tokimeki" is known for being extremely open-ended in gameplay and for having high replay value. Titles in the series can have upwards of 12 characters to win over, complete with three different endings for each. Once aspiring Romeos have conquered the hearts of these characters, they can unlock secret characters to fall in love with.
Fans of "Tokimeki" in America are forced to import the games from various online shops, as they were never translated and marketed in the states. Unfortunately, this means they come at an outrageous price. "Tokimeki" titles can sell for about $75 for a single PlayStation 2 disc. Other games in the genre go for more than $100. If it weren't for the replay ability of the games, dating sims could easily become a very expensive habit.
Are you curious but don't want to foot the bill or maybe just want to sample what the genre has to offer? Well fear not, there are a few American titles that may pique your interest.
Many of you might be familiar with the "Harvest Moon" series. In various incarnations of the title, players move to a town, start a farm and then find someone to marry. Yes, it is more complicated than that, but that's the basic CliffsNotes version. Yes, the prospect of marriage and starting a family is all fine and dandy, but the game is nowhere near as complex as "Tokimeki." In "Harvest Moon," if you say something nice to one of the girls, she will immediately fall in love with you. Love and livestock is the name of the game here, and this title should not realistically be considered part of the dating sim genre. But it is a start.
My personal favorite dating sim to reach American shores is a Nintendo DS exclusive series called "Feel the Magic: XY/XX." In this series, players assume the role of a somewhat geeky guy trying to impress his lady by completing zany mini-games. They include, but are certainly not limited to, riding a unicycle across the ocean while trying to avoid being eaten by sharks or holding the girl's hand while shooing away bees bent on stinging her. Successful players will be rewarded with heart points, which allow the story to advance.
This was an innovative title when it was released, as it made really great use of the DS hardware, relying heavily on the stylus and even the microphone. For instance, the final mini-game involves using the stylus to massage the girl's heart and blowing into the microphone to simulate giving her CPR. There was a second installment in the series called "The Rub Rabbits," but it never made it to wide release in America. Though I do think if they had kept the original Japanese title "Akachan wa doko kara kuro no?" ("Where do babies come from?"), it would have had greater success.
It is indeed clear that dating sims will really never be as big of a deal here as they are in Japan; we don't have the mentality that causes armies of teenage girls to wait impatiently for the next installment of a favorite series. So until the day when "Tokimeki" hits our shores, or American über-fans revolt and demand the right to import free virtual dating, I hope each and every one of you finds a special someone this Valentine's Day who is not cell-shaded. But if all else fails, import and indulge: The girls of "Tokimeki" are just waiting to be turned on.
And game consoles need loving, too.
Justin Voss is a sophomore majoring in Japanese. E-mail any questions, comments or video-game love letters to [email protected].
