Game Girls Go!

[Xeogred]

Dunno, I'm all about anime and watching some JDrama lately, but still don't get the idol thing at all. Seems very alien to me.

Do they end up in sex scandals and tabloids later in life?

[dsheinem]

Even after reading all that, I don't think I understand the argument of the project or the logic of your strategy, but I wish you the best of luck.

Thanks!

It's actually really simple: Japanese Idols play Retro Games and either win a prize or get punished.

The logic of having an idol play a game is the same as having a TV show that's been on for 10 years where a comedian plays a game (Game Center CX). Because it will be entertaining to watch.

BUT maybe you really have to get Japanese TV and entertainment in general to understand the appeal.

i get all that. Based on my limited understanding of Japanese TV and GC CX, I can see it working there.

I don't get what any of this has to do with selling games to Western audiences. Maybe nothing?

[HCK]

Dunno, I'm all about anime and watching some JDrama lately, but still don't get the idol thing at all. Seems very alien to me.

Do they end up in sex scandals and tabloids later in life?

God, I hope not!

[HCK]

I don't get what any of this has to do with selling games to Western audiences. Maybe nothing?

There's no direct correlation, only that I've been told by Japanese developers that they thought the idea wouldn't fly in America simply because Americans don't like Japanese games; not because of objecting to idols.

[Erik_Twice]

Do they end up in sex scandals and tabloids later in life?

Having a boyfriend is considered a huge scandal and treason to your loyal followers so yes, the world of "idols" is pretty fucked up.

[Luke]

Best of luck, but I won't support anything that reinforces stereotypes of what makes teenage girls "cute".

[KDub]

I'm with everyone else, the concept doesn't match the presented outcome.

Trying to get a western audience accustomed to more Japanese games is a fine idea and could make for a fun show if done right. But right now it just sounds like any other generic Japanese game show, except with video games. Random "hot" idol of the minute tries to meet a challenge, likely fails, and then something embarrassing happens to them.

Personally the better show would be having a wide variety of personalities on there, including random people from the street. A real treat would be having developers come on and try to beat old games. Picture Miyamoto trying to play Super Mario Bros 2 aka Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels on TV. That would be classic.

[Gunstar Green]

I'm not really surprised such a project exists given the extent of Japanese idol worship among their otaku fans. It should be a smash hit there but I see very little value in it to a western audience.

To be frank I find the idol culture over there incredibly creepy. Not that ours is any better/worse but I digress, it's creepy.

The reason Game Center CX works to some extent is because he's a comedian and even so it's not like it's immensely popular here and super-profitable or anything.

The purpose of that show is to make you laugh. I feel like the purpose of this show would be for people to watch cute Japanese girls play video games and pretend they're geeks just like them.

As for popularizing Japanese games here, using an even more niche Japanese subculture to do it probably isn't a likely avenue of success.

[Menegrothx]

Having a boyfriend is considered a huge scandal and treason to your loyal followers so yes, the world of "idols" is pretty fucked up.

To be frank I find the idol culture over there incredibly creepy. Not that ours is any better/worse but I digress, it's creepy.

I'd rather have idols that try to set some kind of moral standard, than having people worshiping degenerates like we do. Either way, all idol worship is harmful to the human race in my eyes, as long as people are idolized for their looks and "glamorous lifestyles", rather than achievements. Why the most useless people are chosen to be celebrities, when our cultures could praise scientists, inventors and other people who make an useful contribution to society and advancement of human race? Atleast athletes, internet celebrities, eSports players, actors, comedians and other people like that provide us with entertainment that requires skills to produce. Even that is far better than worshipping people who are famous because they're rich, look pretty or worst of all, star in some idiotic reality TV show like Big Brother.

[Valkyrie-Favor]

The world of idols is creepy, and maybe the singers aren't top-tier, but those girls work themselves to the bone. I think they deserve more than the one minute of recognition they get. I guess the problem with being an idol is that your destiny is decided by marketing agencies.

I'm not big into idols and I don't know who's current, but I'm basically the target audience. I play old Japanese games. I like Japanese TV and I like Japanese girls. They have nice eyes. A 17 or 18 year old idol is in my age range. Convince me, HCK.

So, why is this game show better than other game shows (which I don't watch)? I'm not going to watch a show to find out about videogames, I'm going to look at sites like Racketboy, HG101 and Insomnia.

Will the show even be in English? How many of your idols can speak English? Your target audience won't care, but their friends and families will. Even we have trouble reading subs and watching games at the same time.

Don't get me wrong - I don't hate the idea. I kind of like it. But it'll have to be a very, very good game show to succeed. It's cool that you're trying to get your show internationally known, and I'm all for spreading game culture around.