Wikipedia

Draft:177 (video game)

  • Comment: I'm still not sure the sources confidently establish notability. The addition of the Driscoll citation is another trivial mention. I'm not sure what to make of the Maeda website: it normally would be considered WP:USERG but the author seems to have had a background in the sector so will take it for what it is.
    The citations providing information on gameplay are based on WP:USERG such as GameFAQs and Backloggd. This is generally discouraged, even if the Backloggd review is very detailed. The manual is fine as a primary source. You may like to investigate the Backloggd video review citations for more coverage. ＶＲＸＣＥＳ (talk) 21:38, 10 January 2024 (UTC)
  • Comment: The previous reviewer was in error: the issue with the article is that it currently lacks a sufficient amount of secondary significant coverage. The Pelletier-Gagnon et al. chapter is excellent and certainly significant coverage. The Hardcore Gamer and Donovan sources lean on triviality and largely just state the Diet banned the game. The Szczepaniak article seems to have ample interviews, but these aren't generally considered secondary coverage.
    I think this article has ample potential for notability, but at present the cited sources are used to illustrate the controversy but nothing about the content of the game. I think finding appropriate sourcing for this section, and seeing if there are any possibly WP:NONENG news or review of the game to reinforce it a little more, is all you need to do. ＶＲＸＣＥＳ (talk) 09:59, 5 January 2024 (UTC)
177
Developer(s)Macadamia Soft (Sharp X1)
dB-SOFT (PC-88)[1]
Publisher(s)Macadamia Soft
Platform(s)Sharp X1, NEC PC-8801
Release
Genre(s)Action
Eroge
Mode(s)Single-player

177 is a 1986 bishōjo eroge video game developed and published by Japanese video game company Macadamia Soft for the Sharp X1.[2] The game was also ported by software development company dB-SOFT to the PC-88.[3]

The game's title is a play on the article in the Penal Code of Japan that prohibits sexual assault.

Background edit

177 features only two characters. According to the game's manual, the main character of the game, Hideo Ouchi, is a 26 year old blue-haired man who has been working at a car factory for 8 years. His hobby is reading manga books at convenience stores late at night. He is described as having a serious personality, as well as being awkward, not very sociable, and considered gloomy by others. In contrast, Kotoe Saito is a 21 year old red-headed woman who works for a foreign computer company. She is described as usually having a cheerful personality and has a boyfriend named Akira Shindo, whose relationship her parents approve of. Oddly, Kotoe's dimensions are also provided: she is 160.9 cm (5.28 ft) tall, her three clothing sizes are 82, 60, and 83, and her blood type is A.

Hideo often sees Kotoe on the train on her way home, and several days before the events of the game, stalks her commute to and from work, surveys the game area, and sets up fake signs that lead to detours all in order to determine the best time and place to rape her. After Kotoe works a long overtime shift, he decides to finally attack her, thinking that stimulating Kotoe to the point of vaginal lubrication will allow the rape to be deemed as consensual legally.[4]

The game's manual, whose cover boldly states "RAPE", also claims (when translated from Japanese): "Rape...it's not a crime if it's actually a game", and that the game was made with "the hope of promoting healthy and normal love between men and women around the world." It also advises the player to not try anything depicted in the game in real life: "Enjoy the dangerous desires that lurk in your heart to the fullest in the game world, but should never be done in the real world," as well as "...[to] enjoy this game, it is important to pretend to be a rapist".[4]

Gameplay edit

The game has two acts. Act One is a side-scrolling arcade sequence during which Hideo must prevent Kotoe from reaching her house and avoid dangers in the path that can make him trip. These include stones, barriers, fans, graves, log stumps, and animals (such as dogs, skunks, cats, moles, and turtles), and can be avoided by destroying or jumping over them. Hideo runs automatically, but the player can increase or decrease the distance between him and Kotoe. To make her choose the wrong path and not be able to find her house or slow her down, the player must throw bombs at signs (these can also be used to kill animals or destroy obstacles in the way). A map detailing the different paths the player can take is displayed in the top right of the screen. A "score" system is used, which increases with each object destruction or animal kill, and decreases every time Hideo trips over an object, hits Kotoe with bombs, or gets attacked by an animal. When the score reaches 0, Hideo spins and restarts at the beginning of the map, with a life being taken (the player only having four lives). If the player runs out of lives, or Kotoe reaches her house, the game ends.[5] Hideo can catch up to Kotoe five times. Each time (with her screaming the Japanese equivalent of "Ugh!"), an article of her clothing is removed, shown via closeups of her face and upper body in the top left of the screen and in-game sprite. The first time rips off her blouse, the second her skirt, the third her bra, the fourth her panties, and the last resulting in her being caught while nude.[6]

After Hideo has caught Kotoe, the game switches to Act Two, a sexual simulation minigame which can have two different positions depending on where on the map Kotoe was subdued. The player presses the arrow keys in a specific order to correspond with Hideo's thrusts. The goal is to sexually "satisfy" Kotoe (by making her orgasm), represented her facial expressions, a "Desire" meter at the top right of the screen, as well as by a pink orchid on the upper left that slowly opens its petals and fills with water drops. A "Power" meter is also present, which represents Hideo's stamina, but acts as more of a time limit. If Hideo fails to satisfy Kotoe or runs out of power, he is arrested (with an excerpt of the Japanese Penal Code Article 177 shown on screen) and the player must restart Act One, albeit with more obstacles; if successful, Kotoe marries Hideo happily, with him ironically commenting "Well, I'm beaten."[7]

Aside from the sound of footsteps, there is no music in the game.

Controversy edit

Due to rape being the main objective of the game, 177 is considered the Japanese equivalent of Custer's Revenge.[8] On October 10, 1986, 177 was discussed at the National Diet of Japan, where it was banned from retail sale.[9] Although the Ministry of International Trade and Industry took no action to restrict the sale of the game, the title helped open public debate about censorship in video games, particularly in Japan.[10][11]

References edit

  1. ^ John Szczepaniak (4 August 2014). "dB-SOFT Gaming 101". The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers. SMG Szczepaniak. ISBN 978-0992926021.
  2. ^ Pelletier-Gagnon, J. & M. Picard. (2015). Beyond Rapelay: Self-regulation in the Japanese erotic video game industry. In M. Wysocki
  3. ^ Retro Japanese Computers: Gaming's Final Frontier, Hardcore Gaming 101, reprinted from Retro Gamer, Issue 67, 2009
  4. ^ a b 177 (PC-88) Manual. Macadamia Soft. 1986. pp. 1–8. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  5. ^ Detchibe. "177 Review". www.backloggd.com. Backloggd. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  6. ^ 松田 (2018-01-18). "とんがりギャルゲー紀行 第12回：177". 電脳世界のひみつ基地. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  7. ^ Magic_Knight. "177 - Guide and Walkthrough - NEC PC88". gamefaqs.gamespot.com. GameFAQs. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  8. ^ Donovan, T. (2010). The history of video games. Yellow Ant: East Sussex.
  9. ^ "衆議院会議録情報 第１０７回国会 決算委員会 第１号" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  10. ^ Matthew Wysocki; Evan W. Lauteria (22 October 2015). "177 - eroge enter the public discourse". In Bloomsbury (ed.). Rated M for mature : sex and sexuality in video games. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 978-1-62892-576-0.
  11. ^ Driscoll, C., & Grealy, L. (2019). In the name of the nation: Media classification, globalisation, and exceptionalism. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 22(3), 383-399. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367877918784606

See also edit

External links edit

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