Game Consoles Beat Down Piracy in Hyperdimensional PS3 JRPG

[A1]

So total propaganda then?

Yeah this. I genuinely don't understand why people are mainly responding favourably to this game given that the most salient feature as reported here is that it's against copyright infringement. I honestly couldn't care less what the developers' opinions on copyright infringement are (as long as their opinions don't end up negatively affecting my gaming as they try, inevitably in vain, to battle copyright infringement), I care whether or not the games that they create are worth playing.

So bravo, developer, you've got a moral opinion on something, just like everyone else on the planet. That's not a good premise for a game.

I think both you and the previous poster have the wrong idea about this. The key distinction here is parody [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parody]. When I looked at the wikipedia page of the game I was laughing as some of the allusions the the modern console generation.

The game has "Players take the role of Neptune, a goddess who must defend the world against the attack of the evil goddess Majikonne (Arfoire)." The main character is reference to the planned Sega Neptune that ended up being cancelled.

Along the way she meets the "Black Heart", "Green Heart", and "White Heart".

The Black Heart is "Hardworking and honest, it is said she is ideal as a goddess. On the other hand, she is the type to try too hard" She is reference to the PS3, a powerful gaming console that can be hard to work with [http://news.cnet.com/sony-ps3-is-hard-to-develop-for-on-purpose/].

The Green Heart is "famous for her gentle nature and feminine demeanor, but she rarely appears. She has an unrivaled love for games and parties to the point of ignoring official business." I laughed hard at the mock of the 360. Her demeanor references that the 360 is easy and smooth to use, when its working right, as well as pointing out the 360 mindset.

The White Heart is "rarely seen in public maybe because she is shy, but she is a reliable goddess who precisely handles things that have to be done." I didn't understand this until I realized that this was exactly the opposite of what the Wii is, a very popular console with rather imprecise controls.

So the story is essentially:
The lost hero Neptune has come back to save the world from piracy with the help of the 360, PS3 and Wii. Along the way the hero also meets; Compa, a nursing student who supports and joins Neptunes journey (the developer/publisher Compile Heart); Nippon Ichi, a hero of justice who appears to people in trouble (NIS, who is localizing the game for NA/EU); among other characters in the journey to defeat the R4DS (representing piracy) and her minions.

Just the concept of this game alone has put the PS3 much higher on the list of things I need to buy. I will wait to see how good the game actually ends up being before I make up my mind, but I see a lot of potential humor and satire in this idea.

I definitely see where you're coming from. Although to be perfectly honest I'm not really sure if parody is the best word to use when describing this game. Parody is, in essence, ridicule by imitation. And I'm not sure if there is much actual ridicule in play here.

I've actually been following this game for a while and I can say that there is a lot of light-heartedness, a lot of humor, and a lot of charm. Nevertheless I think it has been demonstrated that a story can take a humorous, light-hearted approach to storytelling without being parody. I think Uncharted 2 is a good example.

Personally I think allegory is a better word. Allegory is symbolic narrative. Simple symbolism in other words.

More specifically in this particular case it would seem to be symbolism with humor, charm, and light-heartedness.

Oh, and by the way I don't mean any disrespect or anything along those lines but I feel like pointing out a few more things with regard to symbolism.

In the game, Noire (Black Heart) has a strong attachment to Neptune while Vert (Green Heart) and Blanc (White Heart) are generally hostile toward her. I believe that this is meant to serve as a representation of the fact that the game is a PS3 exclusive.

Also, I've mentioned this before but of all the goddesses Blanc is hands down the youngest looking one. I get the impression that this is meant to reflect the general child-friendly nature of the Wii.

And while I understand that the Wii-Remote might not be as precise as the Playstation move it still generally places more emphasis on precision than the more classic video game controllers. And besides, there is also the Wii Motion plus to take into account. I think it's a distinct possibility that the "precisely handles things" description is a reference to this.

However having said all that I can't help but find it peculiar that Vert, the "xbox" goddess, has the biggest breasts and the most revealing outfit. I can certainly venture a guess or two with regard to what the designers might mean with this but I'd rather not post anything publicly out of fear of possibly insulting someone.

I suppose it's possible that Hyperdimension Neptunia can be viewed as a kind of fusion of allegory and parody. Nevertheless I personally think that the word allegory is an at least slightly better descriptor here.

Even so I can still definitely see where your coming from and I greatly respect your maturity and insightfulness.

 

[ZodiacBraves]

snip

I will admit most of my information is taken from the wikipedia page on the game, I did a little searching, but haven't found much information on the actual story.

However, from what I read it seems to me depending on the style of humor and the take on the story, it could very easily be either parody or direct allegory.

In the link to parody in my previous post it uses one definition of parody as "a work created to mock, comment on, or poke fun at an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation".

When I was reading the wikipedia page on the game I saw tons of parody mocking or making fun of the different consoles.
* A character supposedly representing a console that was never released is the savior to fight piracy.
* The 360 character loves parties and games, putting business second (I think this is reference to both the stereotypical 360 gamer and the console being marketed for games and movies). She is also described as being gentle and feminine (I felt this was drawn from its easier [to me] to use interface and the "curvy" console) but rarely appears (xbox 360 failure rate?). The description of her demeanor made me laugh because the Japanese take on the 360 would probably annoy the average Halo or CoD fan.
* I had heard the character representing the Wii was much younger, which is the general stereotype of the Wii target demographic. I felt that based on the description of the character they were poking fun at the Wii by being opposite of what the stereotype of the Wii is, I have no experience with the motion plus so I cant make a statement on that. I could be looking too much into it though.

With the relationship of the various characters to Neptune, I saw this as a mix-up of current events and past relationships. From what I read, the Wii character is the most confrontational of the group, while the xbox character is hostile but indifferent or doesn't provoke anything. Sega vs Nintendo used to be the big console war in the past, and Sega was out of the game by the time Microsoft stepped in. Sony did compete with Sega for a while but never had heated competition. I agree that the Black Heart being attached to Neptune is due to the exclusivity, along with PS3 being one of the biggest Sega publishers.

I see why it could be seen as straight allegory, however, I still feel it is parody. I guess in the end it may depend on the tone of the story. If the issue of piracy and the console war is taken seriously, than it may be allegory, regardless of how humorous it is; but if it openly mocks and comments on all issues, even if the overall message is anti-piracy, then I would consider it parody. Parody doesn't have to insult the original inspiration to exist.

In the end, I am debating a point that doesn't really matter. The main point of my previous post is that I don't think the game was made to change anybody's mind about piracy, only to comment on it and make a fun humorous game about it.

 

[A1]

snip

I will admit most of my information is taken from the wikipedia page on the game, I did a little searching, but haven't found much information on the actual story.

However, from what I read it seems to me depending on the style of humor and the take on the story, it could very easily be either parody or direct allegory.

In the link to parody in my previous post it uses one definition of parody as "a work created to mock, comment on, or poke fun at an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation".

When I was reading the wikipedia page on the game I saw tons of parody mocking or making fun of the different consoles.
* A character supposedly representing a console that was never released is the savior to fight piracy.
* The 360 character loves parties and games, putting business second (I think this is reference to both the stereotypical 360 gamer and the console being marketed for games and movies). She is also described as being gentle and feminine (I felt this was drawn from its easier [to me] to use interface and the "curvy" console) but rarely appears (xbox 360 failure rate?). The description of her demeanor made me laugh because the Japanese take on the 360 would probably annoy the average Halo or CoD fan.
* I had heard the character representing the Wii was much younger, which is the general stereotype of the Wii target demographic. I felt that based on the description of the character they were poking fun at the Wii by being opposite of what the stereotype of the Wii is, I have no experience with the motion plus so I cant make a statement on that. I could be looking too much into it though.

With the relationship of the various characters to Neptune, I saw this as a mix-up of current events and past relationships. From what I read, the Wii character is the most confrontational of the group, while the xbox character is hostile but indifferent or doesn't provoke anything. Sega vs Nintendo used to be the big console war in the past, and Sega was out of the game by the time Microsoft stepped in. Sony did compete with Sega for a while but never had heated competition. I agree that the Black Heart being attached to Neptune is due to the exclusivity, along with PS3 being one of the biggest Sega publishers.

I see why it could be seen as straight allegory, however, I still feel it is parody. I guess in the end it may depend on the tone of the story. If the issue of piracy and the console war is taken seriously, than it may be allegory, regardless of how humorous it is; but if it openly mocks and comments on all issues, even if the overall message is anti-piracy, then I would consider it parody. Parody doesn't have to insult the original inspiration to exist.

In the end, I am debating a point that doesn't really matter. The main point of my previous post is that I don't think the game was made to change anybody's mind about piracy, only to comment on it and make a fun humorous game about it.

It may come down to whether or not the game is actually making fun of something or simply symbolizing an idea that just happens to be funny (perhaps an admittedly thin line).

As for the story, the Japanese entertainment industry does by all accounts have a real knack for crafting stories that basically take themselves seriously but also skillfully interject humor, light-heartedness, and charm whenever they get the chance. Titles like Naruto and Bleach are probably two of the best known examples. I think there's a good chance that Hyperdimension Neptune (or Neptunia) is the same way. One of the things that gives me this impression is the fact that Neptune is cheerful and childish (but probably lovable as well) most of the time but becomes calm and sharp in her transformed state.

But I guess you're right. There really wouldn't seem to be any point in debating whether the game is allegory, or parody, or some combination of the two because we really don't realistically have any way of knowing for sure until we actually experience it for ourselves when it comes out.

But I suppose one thing that we can both agree on is that either way it's definitely worth checking out (and besides I personally like JRPGs).

Incidentally it occurred to me a little while ago that Blanc's youthful appearance could also be a reference to how the Wii's specs are generally much lower than those of the PS3 and the 360.

 

[ZodiacBraves]

It may come down to whether or not the game is actually making fun of something or simply symbolizing an idea that just happens to be funny (perhaps an admittedly thin line).

As for the story, the Japanese entertainment industry does by all accounts have a real knack for crafting stories that basically take themselves seriously but also skillfully interject humor, light-heartedness, and charm whenever they get the chance. Titles like Naruto and Bleach are probably two of the best known examples. I think there's a good chance that Hyperdimension Neptune (or Neptunia) is the same way. One of the things that gives me this impression is the fact that Neptune is cheerful and childish (but probably lovable as well) most of the time but becomes calm and sharp in her transformed state.

But I guess you're right. There really wouldn't seem to be any point in debating whether the game is allegory, or parody, or some combination of the two because we really don't realistically have any way of knowing for sure until we actually experience it for ourselves when it comes out.

But I suppose one thing that we can both agree on is that either way it's definitely worth checking out (and besides I personally like JRPGs).

Incidentally it occurred to me a little while ago that Blanc's youthful appearance could also be a reference to how the Wii's specs are generally much lower than those of the PS3 and the 360.

After looking more into the game last night, I see your point a lot clearer. I will still wait for the game to come out before I can fully judge, either way I am excited.

I don't have a PS3 yet. I have been planning on getting one mainly for Demon Souls and The Last Guardian, but this game is also probably going to be high on the list of PS3 games to look into.

Also, I like your point on Blancs appearance and Wii specs.

 

[Daedalus1942]

If it's in english, I'm buying it, so freaking much!

 

[KP Shadow]

Wait for Penisouraus to unload his hot vengeance on the enemy (or heal you, who knows).

...
Palkia?

 

[Zelbio]

Just proves that inspriration can be drawn from anywhere =) I like

Absolutely
The concept seem solid and interesting. It is now on my radar, I'll have to keep track of this.

 

[Gindil]

So total propaganda then?

True, but does this make the title any less intriguing?

 

[Zelbio]

It's rare that I want to purchase a game on concept alone.
This is one of them.
Cool idea.