Seriously, this is important.
And yet, I think that Juon is an extremely important game. It’s the best example I’ve seen, in any genre, of a game made to target a specific audience the way that movies are. Juon is the exact equivalent of a teen horror movie; it’s simple and designed to be enjoyed with friends. And as far as I can tell, the target audience for this game is teen girls.
What Hollywood (and its equivalents here in Japan) understand is that generation after generation of teen movie-goers will spend their $10 to see whatever shlock the gets thrown on the screen as long as a few basic tropes are maintained. Pop-out scares, sex and gore, ominous or vaguely unhappy endings, and improbable twists are common traits, but there are many others. See also: Nightmare on Elm Street/Friday the 13th/Scream/I Know What You Did Last Summer/etc etc etc. It’s not that all of the films in the teen horror genre are bad–the key observation that Hollywood has made is that their income is fairly reliable regardless of the film quality.
Anyway, one of the reasons that these films are successful is that they encourage kids to watch in groups. The fun part about horror movies when you’re a teenager is seeing them with friends, even when the scares are cheap. Even really, truly bad movies can be fun when you’ve got somebody to wisecrack with, and a lot of folks will sit through films with friends that they wouldn’t have the nerve for alone. I think it’s this social aspect that makes horror films–particularly those aimed at teens–so successful.
The creators of the Juon game get this idea at a fundamental level. The game is aggressively casual–the control scheme is simple, the difficulty never spikes, and there’s no real rules to learn before jumping in. And, most importantly, it supports a second player: using the second Wiimote, a friend can cause scary pop-out events to take place whenever they want. It is this feature that is key to understanding why Juon matters: the game is not intended to be played alone. With friends around, the snail-like movement system and cheap one-hit kills are more forgivable. I think that this game is targeted squarely at young, casual gamers who enjoy horror with friend but are not about to go buy Resident Evil 5. A large segment of that group, I think, is young women, a large audience that rarely receives recognition.
Juon is exactly the game version of a teen horror flick. Yeah, it’s shallow, the scares are cheap, the story goes nowhere, and the gameplay is kind of annoying. But it was designed, I think, with a specific audience in mind, one that is a huge segment for horror films but rarely a target for horror games. And in that respect, it’s extremely well done. Perhaps this is the result of Juon director Takashi Shimizu’s participation in the project, or maybe it’s just the work of a smart developer. Either way, I’m impressed that the model was so effectively translated. It will be interesting to see if this experiment results in financial success.
It should also be interesting to compare and contrast Juon with Calling, which came out in Japan this week. Like Juon, it’s a first-person flashlight-wielding horror game for Wii involving Japanese horror film tropes. I’m interested to see if it will feel the same as Juon, or if it follows a more traditional horror gamer-focused route.
Interesting points you made there, Chris. And I definitely admire that they make the starting price point $29.99. Kinda like admitting that it won’t be the best game, but it’s worth the price of admission for a short, fun experience.
http://www.thisshitaintscary.com
>The level designs themselves are schizophrenic; you are required to explore each level in order to find batteries, but the battery mechanic also acts as a time limit, which encourages you to b-line for the end of the level with minimal exploration.
The path to follow is always rather obvious or you are given clues on where to go (like the rooms in which you have to go is written near the phone in chapter 2), plus the batteries or flashlights are always on the path or just near it and in sight. Plus there is also never much to explore.
That’s why I don’t see where there is schizophrenia in the design.
On a side note the fact that you are limited in time is great since it forces the player to be quick when he would want to take his time to make sure that the place is safe, to look everywhere, etc
Therefore the player has less time to expect what is going to happen to him.
>Juon is exactly the game version of a teen horror flick.
I completly disagree with that. If anything the 2 players mode of ju-on is a cool cheap bonus. The game was designed for single player.
The 2 players mode doesn’t even involve a 2nd “real” player in game, I don’t see how that encourages people to play in group.
If you take the example of ObsCure 1 and 2 on the contrary: they are designed to be played 2 players (if you are alone, the 2nd one is a bot following you).
They use cliché teen characters which are all very different so that a lot of different kids could feel attached by them. In juon, the characters don’t even matter, which does encourage playing in group. This is a technique directly “borrowed” of teen horror movies (which are usually starring groups of teenagers) and you don’t find that in juon either.
The plot in ObsCure 1 and 2 is kind of cliché (drugs etc) and much closer to teen horror movies, which is not the case in Juon either. Once again in Juon, the plot hardly matters at all.
Juon is all about feeling all alone and frightened, not about groups of teens and gore.
That’s why I don’t see where there is schizophrenia in the design.
But by the time you get to the fourth chapter, you can’t actually finish the level if you visit all of the rooms. The game pretty much requires you to make a pass through once to find the batteries, die, then make a second pass which fastest-paths to the batteries. Of course, this means you see all of the pop-out scares twice, which removes all of the power of those scares.
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If you take the example of ObsCure 1 and 2 on the contrary: they are designed to be played 2 players (if you are alone, the 2nd one is a bot following you).
Obscure certainly takes its story cues from teen horror flicks, but I’m suggesting that Juon takes its game design from the teen horror genre. Specifically, I think it is designed to evoke the same reaction from the same audience. Obscure looks like a teen horror flick, but Juon is a teen horror flick.
I disagree with the current definition of “gamer” (as are my other fellow girlfriend gamers). To me, having a Wii or a DS, or playing Sims does not make you a “gamer”. My first system was an Intellevision, and gaming has pretty much always been a part of my life. I don’t mean to say that you have to own a lot of systems or spend a lot of time playing games to be a “gamer”, but my mom playing Wii bowling at a friend’s house just doesn’t cut it with me (unlike my mother-in-law, who, even though she only owns a Wii, actively purchases and tries many different games for the system).
I’m also tired of the assumption that girl gamers only play RPGs, puzzle games, and sims. My favourite game genre is survival horror (which is why I’m an avid reader of your site), and I think that Silent Hill 2 is the best game ever made.
Anywho, that’s my two cents, and I am in no way accusing you of the same assumptions that others make about gamers and girl gamers in specific, just speaking my mind. 🙂
[quoteObscure certainly takes its story cues from teen horror flicks, but I’m suggesting that Juon takes its game design from the teen horror genre. Specifically, I think it is designed to evoke the same reaction from the same audience. Obscure looks like a teen horror flick, but Juon is a teen horror flick.
I still believe that juon was meant for single player and that the 2nd player mode is just a cheap bonus. In juon you take control of a single character and everything suggests that he is alone.
I’ve tried playing this game with a friend 2 days ago, and while it was still scary, it didn’t compare to playing it alone. When you play it with friends, you’re going to make comments, joke about it, etc. This reduces the scare factor a lot because the players won’t pay as much attention to all the details of the game.
As for ObsCure on the contrary, the characters in-game make a lot of very silly comments the same way players would when watching a teen horror flick(or when playing the game). Not to mention how sometimes gore is overdone which is representative of such movies. There is no gore in Juon.
The 2nd player mode is a cheap to give replay value to the game. Once you’ve beat the game once, you invite your friend (who has no being in the game) to press a button once a while to make the game scary in a new way. That’s all there is to it for me.
Agreed. You are not alone. Women represent a huge segment of the horror audience, both in film and in games.
To me, a “gamer” is anybody who plays games regularly. And I think Juon is designed to be accessible to people who, like your mom, are not “gamers” and don’t have a lot of game-related motor skills.
You are confusing the game design with the story. The story is indeed about lone people–isolation is a core trope for all kinds of horror. And yeah, the second player mode is cheap. But it’s existence is extremely important, because it betrays the intentions of the developer.
YES, that’s exactly it! Making comments and joking around and basically using your friend to remove yourself from the horror experience is really fun. In fact, I think that many many people only want to experience horror this way. FeelPlus’ understanding of this is why Juon matters.
My life has just been ruined. DX
Ignoring that, though, I think you make an interesting point. I have to admit, I didn’t like this game. The batteries mechanic was annoying, and eventually the scares began to feel extremely cheap. I did, however, kinda like having another person there, since most horror games are single player, which pretty much prevents the whole “with friends” thing that most people like about horror films.
So, yeah. I’m gonna go Tvtroping now…
http://spooky.ms11.net/index.html
Chris wrote,
“Agreed. You are not alone. Women represent a huge segment of the horror audience, both in film and in games.”
I’m a female who’s been posting here for quite some time, and I like action packed, violent, and/or scary games (as you already know).
I started out with Pong, worked on up to Intellevision, and about a year after that got an Atari 2600.
Chris said,
“To me, a “gamer” is anybody who plays games regularly. And I think Juon is designed to be accessible to people who, like your mom, are not “gamers” and don’t have a lot of game-related motor skills.”
If a distinction is desired, one can be made by the terms “casual gamer” vs. “hard core” (or some other similar terms).
I love the Ju-On movies so much I HAD to get this game. After playing 2 levels, I’m quite surprised that this got Shimizu’s seal of approval. (He was a cinsultant, right?) I find myslef shouting at the tv – “No! Go Left! LEFT!” Controls are awful! The flashlight effects are not very accurate (unlike the new Silent Hill: Shattered Memories), and I find myself rushing through levels to find batteries when all I really want to do is explore the creepy surroundings. But when I see Kayako show up I smile like a giddy school girl. Awesome. The Grudge game seems like a missed opportunity, and I’m anxious to see if “Calling” will be more of what I expected.
http://www.babyloveszombies.com
This is a really interesting take on this game. I’ve heard only bad things so far but I like how you’ve addressed it. I’m considering checking it out now.