Game Girls Go!

[Luke]

I am flummoxed, however, that so many people seem to have an aversion to women in skimpy outfits. They're there in popular music videos, on stage, on TV, in movies and in games, comic books, manga, anime, etc etc etc. It permeates popular culture. They're all around. Same goes for hunky, musclebound, shirtless (and sometimes less) men.

Allow me to de-flummox you.

You use phrases like "hardcore gamer" and "popular culture". The guys around here are more in a sub-culture (ugh) where they aren't your target demo. A lot of us are educated, married *with children* (clang), over sixteen years of age, and could give two tips of a hat about little girls playing games we know they don't give a crap about.

...and it is also safe to say, save for Burning Doom, we don't care about fake shirtless dudes either

Is there a market for your show? Of course. Are we your target market? No. no no no no. Seeing anyone simply playing a game, no matter how cute, holds no interest for the majority of this sites members.

As crazy as it might sound to you. most of the guys here would rather read a forty page write up on the Ninja Gaiden Trilogy than see an "idol" toy with a game.

But again, don't let that stand in the way of what you'd like to do. Adam Sandler movies still make movies, so who knows?

[HCK]

You might not label yourself as porn, but you are selling the shit out of sex.
I think the point you should be taking from this thread, is that people who use this forum seem to be your target audience. No one seems that interested in the premise.

Selling the shit out of sex is a common practice across all demographics for almost all product types in all parts of the world. We're breaking no new ground there.

And the one thing I've learned having found success in a market that's EXTREMELY xenophobic to foreign involvement (Japan) is that success comes through perseverance. The people who truly succeed in life are those who keep at it when it looks like there's no way out, no way forward. They're the ones who truly make a difference when everyone else has given up.

Jim Henson pitched the Muppets over and over again, and was told repeatedly for years that no one wanted to see a "puppet show".

Walt Disney almost lost everything several times over his career because people felt no one wanted to see feature length animation, or music pared with sound to produce an artful entertainment experience.

The inventor of Jello labored for more than 10 years trying to get his product to take off.

Steve Jobs was fired from the company he founded because people believed his ideas had no merit.

Jon Lasseter was canned from Disney because his ideas for merging computers and animation were a waste of time, and that line of thinking was unproductive.

There were all people with ideas that were dismissed at the time, for one reason or another. Just because 18 vocal people on Racketboy don't care for my idea doesn't mean it's a bad one. God bless you all, but although this forum does contain some of my target demographic in the west it is not indicative of the world market as a whole.

[Luke]

Some person with an Idol game show concept just compared themselves to Steve Jobs, Jim Henson, and Walt Disney.

[HCK]

I am flummoxed, however, that so many people seem to have an aversion to women in skimpy outfits. They're there in popular music videos, on stage, on TV, in movies and in games, comic books, manga, anime, etc etc etc. It permeates popular culture. They're all around. Same goes for hunky, musclebound, shirtless (and sometimes less) men.

Allow me to de-flummox you.

You use phrases like "hardcore gamer" and "popular culture". The guys around here are more in a sub-culture (ugh) where they aren't your target demo. A lot of us are educated, married *with children* (clang), over sixteen years of age, and could give two tips of a hat about little girls playing games we know they don't give a crap about.

...and it is also safe to say, save for Burning Doom, we don't care about fake shirtless dudes either

Is there a market for your show? Of course. Are we your target market? No. no no no no. Seeing anyone simply playing a game, no matter how cute, holds no interest for the majority of this sites members.

As crazy as it might sound to you. most of the guys here would rather read a forty page write up on the Ninja Gaiden Trilogy than see an "idol" toy with a game.

But again, don't let that stand in the way of what you'd like to do. Adam Sandler movies still make movies, so who knows?

Well, I do still like Racketboy quite a bit and consider it one of the shining resources for people exploring the wonderful world or retro gaming.

And I welcome all opinions, whether I agree with them or not. I think everyone should have the chance to be heard, and I appreciate all of the posts on this topic. They're helping me to craft a better message, and a better show.

[HCK]

Some person with an Idol game show concept just compared themselves to Steve Jobs, Jim Henson, and Walt Disney.

You forgot the inventor of Jello.

What I'm saying is that if those folks had just thrown in the towel when the going got tough, you wouldn't even know who they were.

[noiseredux]

let's not go on a witch-hunt with HCK. Many of us are probably not familiar with the whole idol thing, living in the West and all. I know I don't really understand much about it myself. I'm just glad he seems to be sticking around, chatting with those with feedback, and has even ventured into other areas of the RB forum. I'll take that over random spammers who post their shit and never respond to a question.

HCK, was always curious on the Other Side of Catherine... how does that work? Did you guys get licensing from Atlus to make that?

[Valkyrie-Favor]

I like your idea, or at least my idea of your idea.

[HCK]

HCK, was always curious on the Other Side of Catherine... how does that work? Did you guys get licensing from Atlus to make that?

We didn't need a license for the our Catherine film because we skirted around the lines of the game in such a way that it fell under parody law. It's a common practice in Japan to make cosplay videos featuring popular game characters, and none of the companies that do so get licensing.

Atlus was aware of the production as we made the film, and we would have been more than happy to engage them if they had any problems with it, and pull the plug completely if that's what they wanted.

I think I said it waaaaay back in the first post, but Happy Chicken is staffed by a LOT of serious retro gamers. We hold gaming with the upmost respect, and so it was important for Atlus to be cool with what we were doing. Unfortunately the finished product was not the film I intended to make, although there are aspects of it I really like. We were plagued with problems from the get-go, one of which was working through a summer of rolling blackouts created by the 3/11 earthquake.

With Game Girls, we're working closely with game companies to make sure their properties are shown in the best light possible. Because of this, the content of Game Girls Go! has to meet their standards of decency above all. That's not to say we ever wanted the show to be indecent, but companies like Sega and Sun Soft would never let their titles appear on a show that tarnished the company image.

[Xeogred]

@HCK, the issue you are having here is that the idea of Japanese idols and the West do not mix. Most people will not even understand what an idol is. It is kind of strange that you would not realize this given how into this stuff you seem to be.

Yeah, I knew that going into this. We've been slooooowly trying to gain Japanese idol acceptance in America over the last 4 years, and we've had some pretty big successes.

Why?

[Luke]

let's not go on a witch-hunt with HCK.

HCK can obviously spot a friendly ribbing and is a bright bulb kindly seeking advice.

I'm conveying the fact that some of us will never be comfy with "idols". To me the concept of an idol is grosser than an Miley MVA performance.

I don't think any of us here fit her demo. We hate terms like "hardcore gamer" and are tired of every silly youtube game review. An "Idol" won't change that.