Dimensions of Emotion: Voice and Animation in 1990s Japanese Adventure Games
The introduction of CD-ROM media allowed for an extensive use of recorded voice and dialogue in video games, which in turn led to an explosion of voice-driven games in Japan in the early and mid 1990s. The talk will discuss how the intense interest in voice-work in Japanese games was accompanied by a refocusing of design and reception around (virtual) emotion in the adventure game, with games such as Sakura Wars (1996), Tokimeki Memorial (1993), and Policenauts (1994) providing cases to consider.
Daniel Johnson is Assistant Professor of Japanese Studies at the College of William & Mary. His book Textual Cacophony: Online Video and Anonymity in Japan (Cornell University Press, 2023) examines how the online cultures of Niconico, 2channel, and other sites provide alternative ways of expressing social identity and belonging, and a counter-form to the dissolving institutions and relationships of neoliberal Japan. He is working on a book about Japanese video games that centers on the relationship between animation and technology.
Sponsored by the Program in Film and Media Studies