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Thread: Why do we Western gamers always seem to like such "big, bad, and edgy" characters?

  1. #16
    Zachie Chan Recognized Member Ouch!'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SuperMillionaire
    ...please don't ridicule me for liking Disney Channel pop stars...
    But you make it so easy.

    Disney Channel musicians aren't "underground." You're just not a prepubescent female, so you're outside their target demographic. But don't worry! You're not alone. I bet you'll get along really well with this guy.

    (SPOILER)What I'm trying to say that at this point, infatuation with preteen pop stars is starting to get a little creepy and you should probably try to expand your musical horizons.

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    Depression Moon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hypoallergenic Cactuar View Post
    those are all nintendo, which is run by a gaymo
    Snake
    Ryu
    Cody
    Guy
    Haggar
    The Guys from Double Dragon
    The Guys from Contra
    The Guys from Metal Slug
    Travis Touchdown
    Arthur and
    Jack are not property of Nintendo


    Also the guy from Yakuza
    The guy from Castlevania
    Chris Redfield
    The guy from the Conduit

  3. #18

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    I tend to believe there's a huge maturity aspect as well. I don't think its a choice between cutesy or badass. Western games are trying to be more "mature". While in the process you end up catering to a huge "juvenile" demographic (original Mortal Kombat, anyone?) but to me, Japan likes to cater a lot to immaturity. And cutesy fluff-balls just don't entertain me anymore on an intellectual or emotional level. And I rarely play "pick-up-and-play" games. So Mario and Katamari just aren't for me. I grew out of that kinda stuff. Japan didn't. Though it should be noted, a lot of Western gamers have not, either



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    Recognized Member Flying Arrow's Avatar
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    ^ Yes. It's whatever sells to a market of 15-year-old boys (or those with the maturity level of a 15-year-old boy).

  5. #20
    absolutely haram Recognized Member Madame Adequate's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ouch! View Post
    Oh god what

    I cannot stop laughing

  6. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ouch! View Post
    WHAT THE WHAT!

    Back to the thread at hand - most people are just insecure about themselves so they won't look at games that don't have boring grey and brown "realistic" art styles.

    Quote Originally Posted by Vyk View Post
    And I rarely play "pick-up-and-play" games. So Mario and Katamari just aren't for me. I grew out of that kinda stuff. Japan didn't. Though it should be noted, a lot of Western gamers have not, either
    This is a good example. You may not like pick-up-and-play games, but they are a massive part of the industry. The way you've worded that makes it sound like it's something people have to grow out of, and if they don't they are immature. That is just wrong, imo. You look at the latest Donkey Kong Country Returns and you see typical platforming, so just because it has a bright and colourful art style and is presented in a cute and comical way, it's not grown up enough for someone mature to like? Why do some people have to take life so seriously all the time?

    I deem you a Stick In The Mud.
    Last edited by Rostum; 01-31-2011 at 09:19 PM.


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  7. #22
    Proudly Loathsome ;) DMKA's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Depression Moon View Post
    Snake
    Ryu
    Cody
    Guy
    Haggar
    The Guys from Double Dragon
    The Guys from Contra
    The Guys from Metal Slug
    Travis Touchdown
    Arthur and
    Jack are not property of Nintendo


    Also the guy from Yakuza
    The guy from Castlevania
    Chris Redfield
    The guy from the Conduit
    Huh? All of those except for Snake and the Metal Slug guys are quite pretty boy-tier in my book.
    I like Kung-Fu.

  8. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by Timekeeper View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by SuperMillionaire View Post
    there is also a sizable minority here who likes cheeky American pop music by singers such as Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus and other American pop stars
    Quote Originally Posted by SuperMillionaire View Post
    while it is mainstream in Japanese pop culture, it is largely UNDERGROUND in Western pop culture.
    The thought that Hannah Montana could be underground intrigues and amuses me.


    But yeah, I guess it's just another variant of East vs. West differences. The museum at my uni actually had a special display on beards and how they've represented manliness in Western culture throughout antiquity
    Hannah Montana (which, by the way, aired the final episode on the Disney Channel a week ago) is mainstream.

    Quote Originally Posted by JKTrix View Post
    Sure is some black and white over-generalization here. Are you basing your opinion that 'the majority of us here', on a Final Fantasy forum, like 'badass' characters just because people prefer Basch? Because of the Halo thread that keeps popping up? When it comes to Westerners and popular video games with manly, 'badass' characters, people rarely spend much time talking about the quality of the characters themselves.

    One thing to consider about Japan's 'preference' is that there are a lot more girls who play Final Fantasy and are very vocal about it. If you look at your average male pop star in Japan, they are young and pretty men. So the female influence is strong in pushing the 'cutesy' look, as you call it.

    There are psychosocial things to consider as well. Japanese people are stereotypically timid, so having a 'cutesy', accommodating, non-threatening character might naturally appeal to them. People in other cultures, particularly males, are more likely to prefer a 'badass' character that they can look up to and admire (or at least believe can take on an alien army) without feeling threatened by them. If they only had a choice between one or the other. There's a lot of middle ground that's being ignored here.

    Speaking of 'ignored middle ground'; I won't ridicule your taste, but I am worried that your range of musical choices is so limited and extreme. And, dare I say, culturally ignorant. I understand the point you're trying to make, but when you try to support your point with extreme claims, you really expose yourself when you don't need to. You really didn't need to mention music.

    I also don't fully understand what you meant by this:
    Quote Originally Posted by SuperMillionaire View Post
    ...as video game references in American pop culture are VERY SELDOM in comparison to Japanese pop culture.
    What video game 'references' are you talking about in Japanese pop culture? This is a (western) pop culture video game reference. I don't often hear popular Japanese songs talking about playing games. In Japan, video games come with theme songs from real artists. It's not so much a cultural reference as it is cross-promotion.
    I never said absolutely everybody else. I said the majority, but that doesn't include everybody, so there is a minority. It's a sizable minority, but it's a minority nonetheless.

    And I'm not talking about having video games referenced in music, but pop culture in general; in the United States, video games don't have the same popularity level amongst ALL AMERICANS as movies, TV, and music. THAT'S what I mean by "underground."

    Quote Originally Posted by Ouch! View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by SuperMillionaire
    ...please don't ridicule me for liking Disney Channel pop stars...
    But you make it so easy.

    Disney Channel musicians aren't "underground." You're just not a prepubescent female, so you're outside their target demographic. But don't worry! You're not alone. I bet you'll get along really well with this guy.

    (SPOILER)What I'm trying to say that at this point, infatuation with preteen pop stars is starting to get a little creepy and you should probably try to expand your musical horizons.
    Number one, I'm not the only one in my age range that likes Disney Channel shows, as revealed in this article I found:

    Hannah Montana has following with many college students, despite age difference - Features

    As you can see, there is a considerable number of college students who also like Disney Channel shows and singers.

    Number two, I happen to have a wide variety of musical interests, from dance-pop stars like Miley Cyrus, to soft pop music stars such as Colbie Caillat, to soft rock bands like Lifehouse, to dance-rock bands like Good Charlotte, to punk bands like Paramore (who by the way are friends of the Cyrus family), to a few heavy-and-edgy bands such as Nickelback, to a few progressive rock bands such as Muse, and much more. Almost anything other than the majority of hip-hop and heavy metal (with the exception of Linkin Park/Dead by Sunrise/Fort Minor).

    Quote Originally Posted by Depression Moon View Post
    I don't see all this cute of femimine men in Japanese games outside of JRPGs really. That are plenty that don't fit that like.

    Mario
    Luigi
    Wario
    Ryu
    Snake
    Donkey Kong
    Jack from Madworld
    Travis from No More Heroes
    Nathan Spencer
    The guys from Contra
    The guys from Metal Slug
    The guys from Double Dragon
    Guy
    Cody
    Haggar
    Arthur
    True, but still, the majority of Japanese people tend to like "cutesy-cutesy" characters moreso than "badass" characters, whereas it's the other way around here (for the most part, but not always).
    Is that your final answer?

  9. #24
    Zachie Chan Recognized Member Ouch!'s Avatar
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    You're really not helping your case by citing an article in which all the quoted sources are female. Try harder.

    Also, please stop referring to bands like Linkin Park as edgy or heavy. It's embarrassing.

  10. #25

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    I think Super's definition of edgey is a little more watered down than the average music enthusiast. As far as mainstream music goes, Linkin Park probably is more on that side of the spectrum. Especially older Linkin Park. If you want to consider their angst edgey, I think they were only outdone by maybe Eminem

    As for my quoted statement. I didn't mean to imply everyone does (or should) outgrow pick-up-and-play games. I just mean its more of a natural progression, but not a guarantee. Certainly happens more often than people growing INTO those kinda games. I suppose I could have worded it better. But I cited that the west enjoys those kind of games more frequently than realized to try to counter-balance the fact that I grew out of them. I know I'm not a normal gamer. I'm extremely hard to please. A lot of western gamers really aren't as hard to please as they sound, or as SuperMillionaire thinks they might be. JRPGs are still going pretty strong for instance. And Pokemon is still a billion dollar phenomenon over here



  11. #26
     Master of the Fork Cid's Knight Freya's Avatar
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    Dear lawdy. The categories you place your musical taste in are so off. It's kinda embarrassing.

  12. #27
    Just Do It kotora's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Freya View Post
    Dear lawdy. The categories you place your musical taste in are so off. It's kinda embarrassing.
    Quote Originally Posted by SuperMillionaire View Post
    please don't ridicule me
    lol
    This twenty-year-old boy was distinguished from childhood by strange qualities, a dreamer and an eccentric. A girl fell in love with him, and he went and sold her to a brothel...

  13. #28
    Zachie Chan Recognized Member Ouch!'s Avatar
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    I especially liked identifying Muse as prog-rock. While some of there stuff exhibits some prog-rock influence and could maybe be called neo-prog, it's just insulting to associate them primarily as progressive rock.

  14. #29
    Ghost 'n' Stuff NorthernChaosGod's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ouch! View Post
    it's just insulting to associate them primarily as progressive rock.
    Why?? o_O

  15. #30
    Zachie Chan Recognized Member Ouch!'s Avatar
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    Because prog-rock is prog-rock, and Muse has far stronger influences than prog-rock.

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