Otome game

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from GxB)
Jump to: navigation, search
Part of a series on
Dating sims and
visual novels
Distribution
AnimePlay
Dōjin soft
Genres
Dating sims
Erotic games
Visual novels
Gender target
Bishōjo games
Otome games
Merge arrow
 It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into dating sim. (Discuss)

An otome game (乙女ゲーム otome gēmu?) is a video game that is targeted towards a female market, where the basic goal is to develop a romantic relationship between the player character (a female) and one of several male characters. This genre is most established in Japan, and otome (乙女?) literally means maiden in Japanese. The label includes both visual novels and simulation games. As of 2007, the most representative otome game title available in English is Hirameki's Yo-Jin-Bo for the PC. This genre is also referred to as GxB games by Western fans (Girl player and Boy characters).

Contents

The first otome game is generally acknowledged to be Angelique, released in 1994 by Koei in Japan for the PC. In 2002, Konami released its very successful Tokimeki Memorial Girls Side, which brought many new fans to the still-new genre. In 2006, Famitsu's listings for the Top 20 selling love games included seven otome games.

Though there are no English-developed otome games available commercially in 2007, McKenzie & Co(1995) from American Laser Games and Girl's Club (1992) from Philips Interactive were simulation games for girls developed and released in the US.

The genre has many style elements in common with shōjo manga, although plotwise they are similar to harem manga. There are also games targeted towards females that are focused on romance between males, called boys' love games (ボーイズラブゲーム bōizu rabu gēmu?), and sometimes there are boys' love elements in otome games, but the two genres are usually kept separate.

Otome games are usually targeted towards the teenage market, and thus have little sexuality in them. This is also due to the fact that many otome games are released for the PlayStation 2 platform, on which no pornographic content is allowed by law. Some games that were originally released on a PC platform with some sexuality (e.g. Dessert Love), were later toned down and re-released for the PS2.

Other common elements in otome games are the importance of voice acting, CG stills, and a small epilogue or set scene at the end of the game when a character is successfully finished.

The goal of these games is to have your desired partner fall in love with you (with a confession of love or proposal at the end) and have a relationship with them, but the requirements for gaining a 'good end' differ from game to game.

While the plots of otome games differ greatly, there is always a single female main character, and several good-looking males of varying 'types'.

In the visual novel examples of the genre, the player proceeds in the story by selecting dialogue or action choices which affect their relationships.

In simulation otome games, there is also other gameplay which affects the plot, either by playing minigames or by raising stats. The main character (the player) often has several parameters, such as looks, style, intelligence, talent, etc., that can be raised through various activities in normal gameplay. The potential partners usually require a certain parameter or parameters to be at a certain level for them to fall in love with you.

There is also usually a pure dating aspect of gameplay. This involves asking or being asked on dates by the love interest, doing an activity with them, and responding to their questions or comments. The player has a choice of responses, and a correct answer will raise your standing with that character.

One feature of otome games that has become a feature is 'full-voice', or having voice acting throughout the game, not only at major plot points. The love interests are often voiced by well-known seiyuu or voice actors, and sometimes having well-known voices takes precedence in the development(and budgeting) stage over interesting characters, polished graphics, or an engaging plot.

At certain points, or when the player passes certain requirements, special events can occur, often with a 'CG' (computer graphic) as a reward. This CG is a set picture featuring the love interest and sometimes the main character in a pose, and some dialogue.

Otome games have strong links with shoujo manga, with popular titles often spawning a manga series (e.g. Harukanaru Toki no Naka de and Meine Liebe) or short story, and popular manga series getting adapted to videogames (such as Nana and Lovely Complex). Some examples of simultaneous releases of a manga and otome game also exist such as Angelique and Full House Kiss. It's also common to find doujinshi featuring popular characters from otome games.

Very popular games may also be adapted to anime OVAs or series, as Angelique has.

  • GxB English-language games on the Ren'Ai Archives: original English-language visual novels with female protagonists pursuing male characters
  • B's Log: Japanese language magazine focusing on female-targeted games
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otome_game"
Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.