The Importance of Conventions

[JBShields]

I have traveled to sci-fi conventions across the US and there is one thing I've noticed: few to none have any panels or even a booth highlighting Visual Novels. Infact, yesterday I was talking to a top person for a large (40,000 person) con. Even though she had been active in the gaming community, she had never even heard of Visual Novels.

So the question is, how do we get word out about this genre we love? What are folks in this community doing? And has anyone here gone to a recent con with a VN panel--if so which one?

I think we need to get word out about VNs. Afterall, imo, this is one of the few writer's genre that crosses into the game world.

[MoonByte]

I think, one of the issues is the dominance of manga/anime in the VN scene.
If you look games (specifically indie games) at western cons, they rarely have animesque style. And if they have, they also often have a lot of cartoon elements.

There is also the thing that a lot of VNs are mainly Dating Sim, something also more rare in other genres (and even less in western produced games).

So I think, there IS knowledge about the existance of VNs, the thing is just that the way they are is not exactly popular on the western market. I am studying Game Art and had contact with many artists from Freelance to Indie up to people from Blizzard, Ubisoft and Bethesda. You will NOT find anyone there specializing in Anime style. They may occassionally draw something like that (or be visibly inspired by it, yet "westernize" it), but it is just not a thing in western gaming. It is mostly how we get raised here, I mean look at how the covers had looked during SNES times between the american and japanese market.
Link from LoZ, MegaMan, all those were buff middle aged guys with weapons, not cute teenage boys. Even if looking at polls, it becomes obvious: FF10 Lulu are very popular in the USA, but in Japan it is Yuna and Rikku. Cutesy manga is a thing, but a minor one. And as long as VNs hone the anime, the cutsey and the romance, it will probably stay in the shadows in the west.
Plus, as sad as it is, but the video game industry is shifting to visuals and audio and away from text (except when ACTUALLY having novels). So a game with loads of text may in general not be that popular (most popular VN games like HoneyPop, Layton or Ace Attorney offer gameplay apart from billion lines of text which probably is reason why they went through well, less gameplay-y games such as 999 on the other hand are not THAT well-known despite being known for their quality).

Of course, most of this is my personal opinion, I don't KNOW, if moving VNs away from Dating Sim Anime character games would make them more popular.
But looking at where both Indies and AAA are going to, I would assume as much, at least for the western market.

[SundownKid]

I have traveled to sci-fi conventions across the US and there is one thing I've noticed: few to none have any panels or even a booth highlighting Visual Novels.

Well that's the problem. If you go to an anime convention I am sure people will know what visual novels are. I am guessing sci-fi cons are more focused on the western side of things.

The entire concept of "visual novel" is still a very Japanese concept outside of a niche market. There are many visual novel esque games in the west, but they usually have gameplay elements in them because that's what people are interested in.

It seems that really popular narrative games in the west have developers who went in either one of two directions, either make them very anime style, Japanese artists or dating sim elements, in order to attract the anime fanbase. Or, give heavy gameplay elements to attract the game loving audience.

[papillon]

Plus, as sad as it is, but the video game industry is shifting to visuals and audio and away from text (except when ACTUALLY having novels). So a game with loads of text may in general not be that popular (most popular VN games like HoneyPop, Layton or Ace Attorney offer gameplay apart from billion lines of text which probably is reason why they went through well, less gameplay-y games such as 999 on the other hand are not THAT well-known despite being known for their quality).

999 is a very gameplay-focused title and that's one of the reasons it IS well-regarded in the West, compared to a straight visual novel.

There's actually quite a lot of work in text-heavy games in the indie market, many of which are highly successful and well-regarded. However, many VN fans have no interest in playing or learning from these titles because they aren't full of anime girls.

[gekiganwing]

And has anyone here gone to a recent con with a VN panel--if so which one?

Anime Central occurs each year in Rosemont, Illinois, just outside of Chicago. It's a relatively large fan convention -- lots of crowds and celebrities, though probably smaller than Otakon, Anime Expo, Dragon Con, New York Comic Con, or SDCC. The next one occurs during May 2016. Their industry guests this year include Takahiro Baba (CEO of VisualArt’s), Na-Ga (an illustrator for Key since Little Busters), and VN music producer/composer Shinji Orito.

In any event, I first started attending panels there around 2007. Here is what I have noticed...

* Between 2007 and 2010, the group Okashi Studios (creators of Shira Oka: Second Chances) had an official discussion panel at ACen almost every year. Unfortunately, I don't know if they attended any cons after their game was released in 2010, and I'm almost sure that they are no longer active.

* Hirameki International staff had one official panel at ACen around 2006. The company closed down a year and a half later.

* Mangagamer started having official panels a few years ago. They require an age check, since many of their products are adults only. Even though my thoughts about the company are still mixed, I have attended some of their panels.

* A non-industry person has hosted a panel titled My Visual Novel Can't Be This Fun for the last few years. He has occasionally talked about his work in progress during the panel, but has focused on VNs created by companies.

* During ACen 2015, there was a non-industry panel dedicated to VNs created by the company Age. The host wore a costume from one of the Muv-Luv entries or spinoffs.

* During the same event, I recall that there were also two fan-hosted otome game panels. Unfortunately, I couldn't fit either one into my schedule.

Off-topic:

For what it's worth, I like cute art and a variety of romance games. At the same time, I have read and enjoyed a few VNs which include offbeat/distinctly different art, and ones which address bleak topics.

Also, I have attended a few fan conventions focused on different topics. Some of the events have been entertaining.

[JBShields]

I'm glad gekiganwing saw some panels out there! Good points. It's encouraging to hear that there have been some panels going on.

I just wish more knew about them! As Con season winds up with summer, I'll be keeping an eye out for more. My friend recently told me that a Dallas convention a couple months ago had a panel recently focusing on Otome games.

[Zelan]

Plus, as sad as it is, but the video game industry is shifting to visuals and audio and away from text (except when ACTUALLY having novels). So a game with loads of text may in general not be that popular (most popular VN games like HoneyPop, Layton or Ace Attorney offer gameplay apart from billion lines of text which probably is reason why they went through well, less gameplay-y games such as 999 on the other hand are not THAT well-known despite being known for their quality).

999 is a very gameplay-focused title and that's one of the reasons it IS well-regarded in the West, compared to a straight visual novel.

There's actually quite a lot of work in text-heavy games in the indie market, many of which are highly successful and well-regarded. However, many VN fans have no interest in playing or learning from these titles because they aren't full of anime girls.

The Trauma Center series is a good example, I think. They do fall under the category of visual novels, but in most chapters there is a surgery or something that must be successfully performed to advance the game/narrative.

[Aviala]

A couple of years ago there was a Visual Novel lecture and a workshop in Desucon (Finland). I think we've probably had at least a couple of other VN panels in other anime conventions as well.
Generally anime fans tend to know what visual novels and dating sims are - it's the fans of western media who don't really know as much about these things.

[gekiganwing]

Generally anime fans tend to know what visual novels and dating sims are - it's the fans of western media who don't really know as much about these things.

Not too long ago, graphic adventure games seemed like a dead horse format that couldn't be brought back. From what I have read elsewhere, there are now adventure games written/published in English which are more story driven than puzzle driven. My knowledge about this topic is weak, and I am sure someone else knows more about this subject.

Gamebooks have been written in English and a few other languages for years. Some are still being created, and gamebook franchises have been successfully brought back. In my opinion, they have often been considered pop culture ephemera. I would not be surprised if gamebooks have made money, but I think they are regarded to be a forgotten format. I get the sense that they are as little-remembered as interactive movies.

[KittyWills]

Generally anime fans tend to know what visual novels and dating sims are - it's the fans of western media who don't really know as much about these things.

Not too long ago, graphic adventure games seemed like a dead horse format that couldn't be brought back. From what I have read elsewhere, there are now adventure games written/published in English which are more story driven than puzzle driven. My knowledge about this topic is weak, and I am sure someone else knows more about this subject.

Gamebooks have been written in English and a few other languages for years. Some are still being created, and gamebook franchises have been successfully brought back. In my opinion, they have often been considered pop culture ephemera. I would not be surprised if gamebooks have made money, but I think they are regarded to be a forgotten format. I get the sense that they are as little-remembered as interactive movies.

Thanks to programs like renpy and TWINE, the adventure text games are getting pretty popular. I see them mostly as app games these days, but they are starting to show up on Steam and other sites. So one can assume that are somewhat financially successful. I've played a handful of them myself.

As for cons, I think it's a matter of devs like us getting out there as well. I've been doing small local cons for about 5 years now and this will be our first year bringing our Game merch with us. Not really any different then a comic creator hanging out in the Artist Alley. We're hoping it goes well. lol

[JBShields]

Thanks to programs like renpy and TWINE, the adventure text games are getting pretty popular. I see them mostly as app games these days, but they are starting to show up on Steam and other sites. So one can assume that are somewhat financially successful. I've played a handful of them myself.

As for cons, I think it's a matter of devs like us getting out there as well. I've been doing small local cons for about 5 years now and this will be our first year bringing our Game merch with us. Not really any different then a comic creator hanging out in the Artist Alley. We're hoping it goes well. lol

Please, let us know about the feedback! Very curious about this one. Best wishes!

[sake-bento]

I sell at conventions pretty regularly. Anime conventions are great. I usually make back what I spent on the table. Sci-fi and comic book conventions are not so great (for sales, at least). I can't say exactly why the difference, but it's definitely there. Over the years, I've seen more and more people at anime cons know what visual novels are. I regularly run panels on making them, but for the past two years I've seen other people do it too, so it's at least a blossoming media in the anime community.

Semi-releated: AnimeFest in Dallas actively works towards attracting VN devs to their convention space. Last year they offered meetup space, and this year they're going to let in a lot more VN-oriented programming.

[KittyWills]

We just got back from the con. We paired up with another group selling crafts, but a lot of people still stopped to check out our game demo. We brought stickers with us and sold about half our stock. Even had one guy donate some money to fund our game. =D I also saw a considerable rise in our website hits.

Nice thing about it being a comic con, was a lot of people were willing to support you just because you were creating something. Lot of fans walking around with an item from every original creator there.

Overall, I would say it was very worth it. We'll see how it goes later this year when we have an actual game to sell and real merch to sell.

[JBShields]

We just got back from the con. We paired up with another group selling crafts, but a lot of people still stopped to check out our game demo. We brought stickers with us and sold about half our stock. Even had one guy donate some money to fund our game. =D I also saw a considerable rise in our website hits.

Nice thing about it being a comic con, was a lot of people were willing to support you just because you were creating something. Lot of fans walking around with an item from every original creator there.

Overall, I would say it was very worth it. We'll see how it goes later this year when we have an actual game to sell and real merch to sell.

Which Con were you able to make?

This is great news.

[JBShields]

Semi-releated: AnimeFest in Dallas actively works towards attracting VN devs to their convention space. Last year they offered meetup space, and this year they're going to let in a lot more VN-oriented programming.[/quote]

No, this is totally related. We got to get more Cons to help us developers get word out about VNs.

Just this week, I spoke with frequent con goers--NO ONE had ever heard of a visual novel. This even come from anime con goers.

This is something as a community I hope we can tackle.

I do have a couple ideas:

1) Booths at Cons (not for everyone--can cost $$)
2) Panels at Cons (they work better if folks can network with other developers in the area and then organize this. I've been on con panels before, they're fun)
3) *****My big idea--a single promotional video that can be passed around blogs and Con facebook pages etc., explaining what a Visual Novel is (especially ELVN)

These are thoughts. When my VN project calms down, I have no problem in the future helping with #3.