Visual Novel Research, help!

[SakuraTommiko]

I need help for my research, please!
We've been instructed in school to conduct a research about our interests, and so I picked Visual Novels as my topic. I can't seem to find some information, so I just decided to ask. I hope this won't be a bother.
So I have some questions here, please answer them:

1. What are other possible things that game programming may provide for programmers?

2. What do visual novels give to their players or readers?

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of visual novels to ordinary books?

4. Why should visual novels be considered one of the good ways to enjoy literature?

thank you!
~Sakura Tommiko

[lemonscent]

1. Don't know

2. Enjoyment? And potentially education, if you play an educational VN.

Advantages:
+ Pictures and music. Lots and lots of pictures, BGMs, and sfx that help to enhance the reading experience.
+ You get to choose the ending, routes, etc., which can add to the immersion. Also, in a normal novel, there is only one ending and "route"/story. In a visual novel, you can see multiple different viewpoints/perspectives and scenes while deciding the ending for yourself.
Disadvantages:
+ Small community
+ Negative connotations with the terms visual novel, otome, bishoujo, etc.

4. It's fun? It's pretty much just an interactive, choose-your-own-adventure novel with [often anime] pictures.

[Sapphi]

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of visual novels to ordinary books?

4. Why should visual novels be considered one of the good ways to enjoy literature?

In the spirit of thinking for yourself (as this is how we learn best ):
How would you answer these questions? I'm sure, for instance, that you've read both visual novels and ordinary books and can come up with your own list of things you find advantageous and disadvantageous about visual novels. And rather than make my own argument for Question 4 - why do you think visual novels should be considered serious literature?

I think you'll get more help here if you start the discussion with your own insights, rather than just asking everyone to do your homework for you.

[Didules]

1- Don't know, sorry ^^"

2- maybe lessons, when I get a bad end, sometimes I think that in this kind of situations, acting like this will only lead me to death (that's the kind of bad end I usually get ^^"). I think that VNs give us new experiences we may not have the chance to live otherwise (depends on the kind of VN of course....)

3- I think that VN are something between movies and books: it has the advantages and disadvantages of both:
+ voices, musics, images that's great: it's more than a book!
- during action, we're still just reading, so we won't feel as scared as in a movie, there will be less adrenaline.
And the things Lemonscent said are also true!

4- Because it is litterature but maybe easier to read than books since it's more interactive, more like a movie?

[Fenrir34]

1. Programming can be fun if you know about it but frustrating when you get started. Also there are many programming jobs if you want to branch out in it. As for just doing it for free well you can help others who might now know much about it.

2. It gives them something different to do. It's like a novel but with pictures, music, and usually different paths. It's a form of art that's not known by many, but still has the same hard work that authors do for novels.

3
Advantages-Depending on your gender you can get attractive pics of guys and girls. Vn's usually have music and cool pictures. Helps pass the time if you're bored. When you are done with the game, you'll feel proud of yourself for finishing it. It's fun

Disadvantages-Vn's are not well known compared to normal video games. Many people may not consider them art (Though in my opinion they are.) If you're computer crashes you lose what you downloaded.

4-I've seen this question a lot. In my opinion I think they are a different form of reading. Though not as long Vn's are still hard to write. I've seen many Vn's with exceptional writing and some of my vocabulary has come from them. Sometimes reading a book can be boring and hard to fully visualize what is going on. Vn's though help you see what's there and how the characters feel. I'll admit that there are many who wouldn't consider them literature, but for me they are.

[Tempus]

I think you'll get more help here if you start the discussion with your own insights, rather than just asking everyone to do your homework for you.

Pretty much my thoughts. If you're familiar with VNs surely you have some thoughts on 2, 3 and 4. The research part is to make sure your facts are right when they're included; if you need pointers with where to find facts and resources, I'm all for that. Value judgements, however, such as "visual novels are good literature", can't be true or false, and aren't facts. Ultimately, you're responsible for the case you make regarding value judgements, in my opinion. In other words: do your own homework.

[LVUER]

I think you'll get more help here if you start the discussion with your own insights, rather than just asking everyone to do your homework for you.

Pretty much my thoughts. If you're familiar with VNs surely you have some thoughts on 2, 3 and 4. The research part is to make sure your facts are right when they're included; if you need pointers with where to find facts and resources, I'm all for that. Value judgements, however, such as "visual novels are good literature", can't be true or false, and aren't facts. Ultimately, you're responsible for the case you make regarding value judgements, in my opinion. In other words: do your own homework.

Well, at least he's honest that this is his homework. He can be lying and say this is for his own private research or anything. Remember that these answers (including mine) can be wrong or biased or not fact at all. Do your research after reading this thread. So here's my answer:

I need help for my research, please!
We've been instructed in school to conduct a research about our interests, and so I picked Visual Novels as my topic. I can't seem to find some information, so I just decided to ask. I hope this won't be a bother.
So I have some questions here, please answer them:

1. What are other possible things that game programming may provide for programmers?
To train your logic and brain. The more often you think, the younger your brain age will be. Your body may be old, but your brain can be as young as 28 years old.

2. What do visual novels give to their players or readers?
Just like a book have to offer, education and/or entertainment (or should I say edutainment?). Oh, a VN can also make you branded as pervert who play porn games, LOL. Seriously, lots of people still think VN is porn. So be careful when playing VN in public ;P

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of visual novels to ordinary books?
Advantages:
Textbox or novels (and alike) can be boring, especially to those who aren't used to read. This is why manga/comic is so popular. They are easy to follow and to read with that much picture... more over movies where there are almost no text at all. Visual Novel, by giving picture (and less text per screen), can motivate people and also make reading easier.
Disadvantages:
It's much harder to make. To write a book, you only need a writer, an editor, and a team of publisher. But to make a VN, you need director, writer, artist(s), musician(s), programmer(s), voice actor(s) (if you decided to have voice in your VN), editor(s), and you still need a publisher for VN. And the amount of people you need depends on how big/complex your VN is. If you want to add gameplay into your VN, fully voice acted, and lengthy hours (which all have become standard for VN nowadays), the amount of people needed can easily reach 50 (usually you only 5-10). Of course if you're talking about free indie VN with so-so (or lower) quality, one man is all you need.

You also need a device to play it. You need a PC or notebook to play it. If the VN is created/ported for android or iOS, you need a tablet or smartphone. You also can play it on handheld consoles like 3DS or PSP since there are plenty of VN created for those. The bottomline, you need a special device to play a VN. Versus a book that ... just a book. You can bring it and read it anywhere anytime.

4. Why should visual novels be considered one of the good ways to enjoy literature?
Some people just can't or won't read novels or any kind of book. Believe me, there are such people. And so like I said above, VN can be less intimidating for such people since VN have plenty of pictures, less text per screen, branching story and interactivity, and also music. Most of them even have Intro/Opening movie.
Still.... VN is a niche thing that not that many people enjoy. But that is a different topic.