Gamer Culture, MMORPGs, PC, Virtual Worlds
Webkare: The First Dating Sim for the Ladies
One of Japan’s most popular genres is the dating simulation, nicknamed the “galge” (short for “gal game”). Strangely, it’s never quite caught on in the West. In the past, this has exclusively been the guilty pleasure for genetically and socially impaired virgin males who never stood the chance otherwise of contacting the fairer sex. But what’s this we see on the horizon? A dating sim…for girls??
Yes, it’s true! LinkThink of Japan has finally acknowledged that maybe the ladies out there might fancy a boy harem of their own with the creation of Webkare (a Japanese abbreviation of “web boyfriend”). You get your choice of one of four boys upon registration, but you’re able to meet and collect other boys throughout the game. You can either put your eggs (pun might be intended) into one basket, or choose to collect a stable of boy toys as pets, which I’m sure will appeal to many girls out there. The progression of each relationship is determined by dialogue trees and each boy has his own plot for you to experience together, should you choose to explore it. You can either engage your digital sweetheart in long romantic talks or shoo him away if he’s being a pest.
What separates this game most from its misogynist counterparts is that it’s actually an online multiplayer game by nature. Webkare doubles as a social networking site, where users can create profiles, communicate with others, and write miniature blog posts. In order to advance in the game itself, users must not only interact with their virtual beaus, but also with fellow members. Think of it as a very girly, anime-themed MySpace…with a polygamy feature.
Presently, the game is only available in Japan, though they’re making progress toward making it more international. Women that are fond of bishounen are bound to be drawn to Webkare. However, some may be disappointed of the lack of yaoi features. Though I imagine that’s just the next stage of evolution for games of this type. Here’s hopin’ for ya, ladies!
Tags: anime, bishounen, dating sim, Girls, Japan, Social Networking
I think that it is a very interesting and amusing article. Practically all its main points are true.
What I find interesting and amusing is that you’re using a video game forum to spam your Russian mail order bride service.
Nice try…there are plenty of lonely, desperate gamer boys out there. :p
Darling, there have been yaoi games and dating sims for girls for at least a decade. I should know, since they take up a fair amount of my harddrive. (._.)
Girls’ dating sims just seem so much less despicable, though! XD (Other than Enzai. But I am not commenting on Enzai.) They’re cute and girly and pink and full of prettiness instead of gigantic breasts and vaginas.
Even yaoi games seem better than guy-oriented h-games because what they focus on is actual love and sex (and/or bdsm) instead of body parts. It seems a lot more personality-driven.
I also love some clean bishojo games, though. It’s the cuteness factor that gets me.
Also, are you replying to spammers? (0_o)
Just that one spammer… Just cuz I thought it funny, yet appropriate that this would be a target audience.
I’ve known about yaoi games for ages, but I thought it was noteworthy that one was getting some coverage. I may have explained it on a somewhat elementary level, but only because there’s a huge chunk of girls and gamers that may not have been introduced to the genre. Webkare seemed like a decent “gateway yaoi”.
I’d also say that it’s hard to label girl porn or guy porn as “better” than the other. Each type is tailored to what either gender fantasize or crave. Women are far more emotionally and socially driven, while men are more, well…visceral.
I don’t really see how a dating sim for girls is any better or worse than a dating sim for girls.
Most dating sims for men stress sex, and rely on what marketers think most men want. They basically assume men only want sex, and routinely further sexist notions of how girls and guys should act in a relationship. Dating sims made for girls do the same thing— many assume girls just want fluff and pretty-ness. Enzai’s success was a loud rebuttal to this assumption, and showed that not all girls want to play out tame and romantic storylines. In short, some of us want action!
However, Enzai was also gendered through the division of effeminate ukes and semes. In the game, characters with traits that can be associated as feminine (wearing dresses, being petite, having large eyes and long hair) usually get raped, while hyper-masculine, short-haired, super-muscled semes either save the day or do the raping. Like the trashy bodice-ripper romance novels of the 70s, gender roles in “Enzai” are used to define what dominance means, what is attractive, and what “passionate romance” looks like. In this sense, it isn’t much different from its tamer yaoi dating sim cousins— there is still a “masculine” and “feminine” division of behaviors, and these games are still just focusing on one audience: young women.
Thus, what is most sexist of all is that the dating sim audience is segregated into “girl games” and “boy games.” Like “girl toys” and “boy toys,” gendered dating sims only further sexist assumptions that girls and guys can’t enjoy gaming together. We are constantly segregated into one genre. Probably more girls would play dating sims currently catered to men if the plots of those sims weren’t so insulting and degrading to women! Perhaps more men would play yaoi and female-oriented dating sims if homophobia did not intimidate them away (after all, many dating sims that target men further homophobia, by linking manliness with female conquest.)
So, my question is: Why not make more dating sims that both genders can enjoy, without being boxed into a stereotypical environment? The Sims tried that, and succeeded.
While it might sell well in America, I doubt it would do as well in Japan, which is where nearly all dating sims originate.
I’d love to see a dating sim of any variety succeed in the USA, but I don’t know if we’re ready. Most Japanese dating sims are visual novels, and typically Americans don’t like to read; at least not in their video games. They did try with Sprung on the DS and that didn’t do so well.
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAH I WANT IT!
Is there any english site for webkare?
* I don’t really see how a dating sim for girls is any better or worse than a dating sim for BOYS.
… crummy type-o.