Comic? Animation? Game? All three? How about three-in-one?!

After the collapse of Tokyopop North America, I came across a livejournal discussion among the OEL manga writers and what they planned on doing next.  One of the points that stuck with me was that the size of the potential audience is actually smaller than the size of the pool of potential creators.  Meaning, everybody wants to make their own Japan-influenced media, but they themselves wouldn't bother looking at another person's work unless it was really good or a friend made it or it fits their interest to a T or if there's a lack of translated media (which is definitely not the case today).

But thankfully, because of the internet we're reaching a point where every artist is just inspired by a range of influences and doesn't have to be aping the style from a particular country.  For example, I was surprised that the creator of Gemini Rue attributed a lot of influence from Cowboy Bebop.  So it's good to be influenced, just make sure you're influenced by other things besides the narrow niche.  Also try to find that special something from your own culture.

Only America can make big-budget blockbusters with lots of explosions, car chases, and special effects.  Only Japan can make that distinctive flavor of hand-drawn animation (I've been watching original Korean animation and despite the similar designs the feel is just different, more like a regular cartoon).  But it takes Bollywood to come up with a Matrix-like action movie where the characters spontaneously break out into song and dance.

It has also been confirmed by a recent podcast that anime and games in Japan are only meant for teens and otaku (as if we didn't know that already).  Once you become a salaryman you're expected to quit all your hobbies (a concept foreign in the west where the average gamer is in the thirties).  All the Japanese games are migrating to the portable market since they can continue to churn out cost-effective PS1/PS2 quality games instead of losing money with high definition.  The average Japanese household is cramped with 3 generations of family members and only one television set, so the only way you can play games is by yourself in your room or the subway or with your friends in the park -- Japanese games are essentially made for the Japanese teen lifestyle.  That is why we rarely get Japanese games with a full adult main character.

The few Japanese games that break out into PC (Recettear) and HD console (the Gust and Compile Heart games) practically monopolize the market, and they are low budget doujin or otaku products (for the type who would shell out 4X more to buy an HDTV in Japan despite a room that's 1/4 the typical family room in the west).  The only reason why Atelier Meruru looks so breathtaking is because the previous two incarnations sold like gangbusters and it practically fulfills every otaku's dream to run around as a little girl in a beautiful countryside.  I'm singling Atelier Meruru out because it looks like the highest-budget really-Japanese game (i.e. not made to be a staple of western consumption) on a high definition system.

Whereas before only visual novels were the black sheep that didn't quite fit into any medium, recently I've been encountering more media that has been transcending comics, animation, and games.  We have Dead Space Ignition, a motion-comic in a choose-your-own adventure setup mixed with puzzles and minigames.  Gamers hated it, and only bought it for the DLC it provides for the main game.  The Flash-like animation feels like a half-hearted attempt to make really dynamic cutscenes on a severe budget.  Despite that, I'm glad that things like that are being made -- if only to accustom consumers on interactive media experiences that are more about the story than the gameplay.  Done right, it can be the ambassador for wider VN market penetration.  Like in the case of Imaginary Range, a recent free "Comic X Game" experience for iOS that did it just right (even though one of the minigames was inspired by Flight Control).  The lesson I learned is that motion-comics is fine.  But avoid cheap Flash-like animations and just focus on good designs. (Ironic since I work at a Flash animation studio, but the animation work we do -- Television Animation -- strictly adheres to the Disney school of classical animation).  Motion-comics turns off players if it's done half-heartedly.

I like this fusion of media.  Before superhero movies became so popular in Hollywood, the notion of combining all media types -- video, comics, and games, was a rare occurrence.  It seemed only Japan did the "ACG (Anime-Comic-Game)" approach.  Now when a superhero movie is released, there are paperbacks being published, and tie-in games being sold at the same time.  Before you could perhaps expect paperbacks to be reissued around the time a movie based on the novel is released.  But now that games are included, you can say that it has finally matured and is accepted as a mainstream media type.

What do I learn from all this?  The main reason I'm making a game is because I got introduced to the creative process through visual novels, which are like the low hanging fruit for those who can't program that well.  I originally wanted to make animation, which is increasingly becoming less cost-effective in these days of Youtube and piracy.  Even independent films on kickstarter still cost tens of thousands of dollars to make.  As a visual person who likes story-telling, I really am glad to be in this day and age when for only a few thousand dollars you can make a deep immersive digital experience, thanks to the cost-effectiveness of middleware and modern 3D solutions.

Right now, Elspeth's Garden will be a "VN x Strategy" game to emphasize the massive narrative as well as turn-based combat.  The spin-off game Old Home Labyrinth will be an "Art x Dungeon" game to emphasize the open-ended (e.g. "not-game") approach as well as the core mechanic:  level exploration.