Social Media's Influence (Cont.):
(Sources:
http://www.photo-digital-electronic.com/privacy-is-so-2001-an-anime-video-game-novel-about-social-media/
http://futurebook.mit.edu/2012/05/ebook-storytelling-possibilities/)
Another game I would like to talk about is Christina Love's "DTIP" (full name: Don't Take it Personally, Babe, It Just Ain't Your Story). This game "takes place at an exclusive private high school in Canada in 2027. (The player is) Mr. Rook, a 38-year-old substitute teacher with two divorces and a midlife crisis under his belt." The important thing is: the player will familiarize themselves with the school's computer, and then will track all of the social networking interactions that the students engage in. "This invasion of privacy goes unbeknownst to the students, and is intended to prevent cyber-bullying and other high school issues. The story forms around Mr. Rook’s attempts to help or hinder his students—without revealing his digital surveillance powers."
This game is an example of how social media has effected our lives and lives of other people. The player will piece together the story through the main character's experiences both from his eyes and from the social media outlets - the student's eyes. This is a different take than most visual novels, and more of this might be implemented in the future. This shows that social media has integrated with their lives much as it has our lives in the real world, which adds another level of realism and familiarity to the game. "One of the game’s primary themes is the societal and cultural changes brought about by social media, and the ethics of using the information it provides."
This visual novel is also a great example why that this type of storytelling can't be written in paper:
"Throughout the story, the characters are sending public and private messages to each other, both commenting on the framing narrative and providing their own narratives. The player is encouraged to switch context out of the framing narrative to keep abreast of these parallel narratives. The parallel narratives provide critical information which isn’t available in the framing narrative, and the framing narrative relies on and calls attention to this fact...The richness of the choices presented to the player could also not be easily represented in paper - each decision to read messages is a distinct choice, with implications for the player’s experience of the framing narrative."To put it simply, it is nearly impossible to have the same experience and depth that visual novels go, in a medium as a reading book. Sure it may have book-like qualities, but visual novels are so much more.
Social Media...In Creation?
(Source: http://visualnoveldai.com/novelstream)
Social media within the production of a visual novel? There are many ways, like spreading updates through blogs, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, etc. I am not talking about those ways. For this example, I am talking about a visual novel platform, called NovelStream, which "makes creating, publishing, selling, and marketing visual novels easy." This is a remarkable platform for social media, because it does what other programs doesn't - the ability to write the story once, and publish them on facebook (not a link, but an actual facebook app), as well as to Blackberry, iPad, and Android phones. The way they do this is that they do basically what Netflix does with videos - they stream the content to you, instead of downloading/installing files and running it locally. Their site claims that the platform will also be social by:
- "Having rewards that keep readers coming back. They'll be able to see scores, achievements, rankings and comparisons to friends. Readers will want to get higher scores, and they'll be able to get them by reading more of your visual novels.
- Enabling your community to complement your works by creating their own fanfiction, mashups, etc. Give them access to your assets, easy tools and encouragement. Your fans will virally promote your work by promoting theirs!
- Integrating discussion and community spaces. A very low percent of fans actually contribute to the a visual novel's community. However many more people will participate in community discussions if they are present right there on the visual novel itself."
In my opinion, this could be an amazing thing if done right. However, I don't believe the general population would like a streaming visual novel just yet (internet connections, stability problems, tangible-ness, etc.). The built-in editor is not as wide as other editors like Ren'Py (which uses Python as the programming language). I do like the social network integration and the fact that it is compatible with many platforms, but I feel like this platform needs a little more time to be perfected and have the editor be less restricting for this platform to really shine. It is much more simple than Ren'Py and it is more user-friendly, but with that it sacrifices many options.
Conclusion
Has the American culture fully accepted visual novels as a competitor in the gaming world? Probably not. However, there is without a doubt a rise in the awareness of this genre and all the possibilities it can provide, that a simple book can't or a movie. There is potential in the American market for this, though it is still a niche one right now. Without a doubt the fanbase is growing, and with social media, more and more people will hear about visual novels at a much faster rate than before social media was implemented. There is already social media implemented in the platform (NovelStream), in the game itself (DTIP), and even the method of getting members together and forming a studio (Four Leaf Studios). Time will tell for the state of visual novels in America. It was and still is a popular game type in Japan, with many coming out every year. Maybe if some were brought over, or being talked about more via social networks, there will be more awareness.
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