From the review, "As many are aware, I am fortunate enough to have some friends who also import video games from Japan. This means I get to sample games I normally wouldn't play, and, in the case of Ohimesama Debut, be pleasantly surprised.
Yes, an Ouendan-loving friend of mine bought Ohimesama Debut. Since it has multiple save slots, she was gracious enough to let me claim one. Of course when Natsume releases it in the US, I totally intend on buying a copy.
Ohimesama Debut is a surprisingly fun game, though I don't think we'll see many boys or men running to stores to pick it up. Even though there are some less than pleasant visuals, the gameplay and entertaining concept make up for it. If Natsume hadn't localized it as Princess Debut, I'd have bet money that Ubisoft would have brought it over as Imagine: Ballroom Dancer."
Girly and feminine games sometimes get heat for being sexist or marketed towards females. Plus, the ongoing cry for stronger female protagonists keeps getting louder and louder, will the tough girl slowly replace these game types and characters I hold dear?
You're on the losing end of this spectrum.
See, here's the thing. Male gamers don't care what kind of games come out, so long as the casualization of gaming doesn't become an epidemic. Male gamers typically want games with some kind of challenge, a victory or defeat condition that requires skill to accomplish, and yeah even flashy stuff because we're very visual creatures. So long as we get our challenging games, it doesn't matter to us if frilly games marketed towards the more feminine women get made and sold (so long as they don't take over of course).
Your enemy is the Anita Sarkeesians, the Carolyne Petits, the Katherine Cross(es?) of the world. They are oblivious to the facts that, in their self-imposed crusade to nag gaming development and make changes no one asked for, they silence and/or ignore those gamers who actually LIKE the themes and styles that the SJWs don't like.
Say what you will about C.S. Lewis' involvement with religion, but he did make an incredibly good point.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be "cured" against one's will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals."
People who talk for you, who insist that they know what's best for you better than you do, who believe their narrative is the correct one, will suck the enjoyment of life out of everyone. These people are psychologically damaged and don't want you to be able to play the girly games. Not because it's bad for you, or bad for women, but because it's bad for them and what they think is appropriate.
If you want the girly games to stay, best way is to keep buying them.
Just because a game is geared towards women doesn't mean men will catch cooties from trying it out. This list suggests men give Style Savvy: Trendsetter, Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom, Atelier Meruru, Princess Debut and Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure a chance.
I've enjoyed all the games listed here except for Hakuoki. Princess Debut is my favorite, and one every big burly man should play at least once.
Fantastic list.
If this is your way of justifying kiddie games, then do what you gotta do.
From the Artelier paragraph, 'the heroines are almost always female.' No crap sherlock!
Anyways, its true, one of the reasons I've never tried the Artelier games on PS3 is that it seems girly. Might give it a go as soon as the PSV port is released.
In the game, players find themselves in a fantasy world where they have thirty days to get ready for the big ball; they'll have to master their dance moves and pick a partner from one of six charming princes. They'll meet and woo the princes through the game's large, branching storyline and exciting event system. Once players convince a prince to be their dancing partner, it's time to go out on the dance floor! Players will use the touch screen to guide their character gracefully across the dance floor while matching their partner's rhythm. All of the dances in the game are taken from motion-captured professional dancers, so the game is just as impressive to watch as it is fun to play.