Q: DO YOU THINK GUYS COULD GET SOMETHING OUT OF PLAYING THIS GAME, PERHAPS INSIGHT INTO HOW WOMEN WORK?
I hope so, yes, because I think making the game with the design I did does not exclude men from playing it at all. Lots of DS games have a similar aesthetic. Like Animal Crossing – I know a ton of guys that play it. And in the real world as far as helping them understand female sexuality, I’m sure a lot of guys would want to play this game.
Q: WHAT HAS BEEN THE GENERAL RESPONSE FROM THE GAME COMMUNITY AT LARGE TO YOUR DEMO?
From the general community, it’s been mostly supportive. From the game community, it’s been nothing but love. We’re hungry for change, hungry for inspiration. My goal was to inspire people to think outside of the box, and I think I achieved that. The biggest response has been the demand for a more complete demo. I designed it just for this contest, so I feel a little sad when I say no. I would like to spend more time putting more interactivity into it, though.
Q: HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT HOW SEX HAS BEEN INTERPRETED IN MODERN VIDEO GAMES? THERE IS THE OBVIOUS HOT COFFEE FIASCO, BUT THERE HAVE BEEN INTERPRETATIONS IN GOD OF WAR, PLAYBOY: THE MANSION AND SO ON.
Wow, I get asked this a lot. I feel like I’m becoming some sort of spokesperson.
Q: WELCOME TO THE MEDIA!
[Laughs] OK, I don’t have a cohesive sound bite, but I’ll say this: I think that it’s inevitable that sexuality will be part of game design and gameplay in the future. To what degree, I’m not sure, and in the current climate it will not be as well accepted or as widespread as, ironically, violence. People think about it and it happens and people do it. Up until now, we’ve had less tasteful ways and now it’s more common to have more tasteful or well-developed ways to deal with sexuality, and it should improve. I’m not really comfortable about taking a stand regarding sex-only games, but I do think sex is ripe for being tastefully done in an interactive environment.
Q: I’VE BEEN TO JAPAN A COUPLE TIMES AND THEIR CULTURE, AS YOU PROBABLY HAVE SEEN, IS MUCH DIFFERENT ON BOTH A SEXUAL AND A VIDEO GAME LEVEL. DO YOU THINK THIS GAME COULD ACTUALLY SELL IN JAPAN?
Yeah, I do! One response I get a lot is “It could happen in Japan right now.” From the little I know about cultural differences and the widespread use of games regardless of social strata and gender in Japan, it would probably be successful. As an artist I’m inspired by Miyazaki’s cartoons.
Q: THAT’S THE MAN BEHIND ‘MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO’ AND ‘SPIRITED AWAY,’ RIGHT?
Yes. He’s one of my inspirations. If you look at his films, they all have female leads, usually flying on brooms or on [animals like] Totoro. I was very inspired by that.
Q: WHAT ABOUT IT BEING SOLD IN AMERICA?
I don’t know – how many centuries in the future are we talking about here [laughs]? I don’t know. It’s hard to say. I don’t know who would develop it or market it or Nintendo would even approve it for the American market. When I developed Lapis I was thinking about an idea for a potential market, and purposely not how it would get to them or if it would be approved.
Q: DO YOU HAVE ANY FUTURE PLANS TO UPDATE LAPIS?
We can solidly say that work is being done.
Q: ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO ADD?
I hope this does inspire other game designers to think differently about the possibilities of computer games and what they’re capable of. We shouldn’t assume that the way things are is how they have to be.
Damon Brown (www.damonbrown.net) covers sex and technology for Playboy, SPIN and Computer Games. He is researching a pop culture book on sex in video games.
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