GPS News
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January 2024 Vol.07

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Honorary Member
S at o s h i M I T S U H A R A
At the Game Preservation Society, we invite those who have had a large impact
on the history of video games to join as honorary members.
This time, we are proud to welcome Satoshi MITSUHARA,
who has been involved with the development of many games over the years.

message
I feel it is the obligation of those livingin the present to pass on what we can to the future.
After falling in love with computers in the 1980s, ...
In the 1990s, I began work as a game programmer, always
completely losing myself in what I made.
And now to have my name listed alongside the other honorary
members of this organization, who I admired so greatly in thosedays, is something I'm not sure I deserve, yet I remain deeply
honored.
In the 1990s, game production shifted to a group effort. The games
were made with my peers, so I was quite reluctant to have only myname included as an honorary member. However, I have come toconsider ...

Satoshi MITSUHAR A

When I worked on the development of the PasocomMini in 2017, I

Programmer, Producer

more than I expected. Data which is kept on media prone to

Mitsuhara became obsessed with PCs in middle school after being

deterioration is destined to to disappear eventually. I became

introduced to them through a PC-8001 owned by a friend. He obtained an
FM-11 for himself and studied programming and analyzed code day andrealized just how many games did not have their data backed up; farworried that, with things as they are now, PC game culture willnight. He found unrelated work, but his desire to work with program code

become nothing more than an oral history, with no true history left

was strong. In January 1990 he joined HAL Laboratories as a programmer,

after 100 or 200 years... So I feel it is the obligation of those living in

involved with the development of many projects and applications. Afterthe present to pass on what we can to the future.

leaving HAL in 1999 he became managing directory of Miracle Arts, where
he was involved as programmer for a number of projects, before returning to
HAL in 2012. Three years later Mitsuhara became president and CEO of

I choose to support the Game Preservation Society because their

HAL, and during this time he produced the Kirby 25th Anniversary

goal to preserve the works created by myself, my peers and otherCampaign, among other projects. He has since stepped down from his rolecreators is a great help to the future.

at HAL and has returned to Miracle Arts as both managing director anddeveloper. He is a collector of retro PC and pocket computers.

1

2024 January Vol.07

Sprofileat o s h i M I T S U H A R A
List of Works

Ghost Busters 2 (Nintendo Game Boy; debut project)
Totsugeki! Ponkotsu Tank (Nintendo Game Boy)
MOTHER 2 (Nintendo Super Famicom)
Pocket Monsters Ruby/Sapphire (Nintendo Game Boy Advance)
Pocket Monsters Diamond/Pearl (Nintendo DS)
Dairanto Smash Brothers X (Nintendo Wii)
Totsugeki! Ponkotsu Tank
(Nintendo Game Boy)

Shin Hikari Shinwa Palutena no Kagami (Nintendo 3DS)
Ghost Busters 2(Nintendo Game Boy)

PasocomMini MZ-80C
PasocomMini PC-8001

Dairanto Smash Brothers X(Nintendo Wii)

MOTHER 2(Nintendo Super Famicom)

Pocket Monsters
Ruby/Sapphire(Nintendo DS)

PasocomMini PC-8001

Shin Hikari Shinwa Palutena no
Kagami (Nintendo 3DS)

mini Report

On February 11, 2023, a New Year's party was held with all of the GPS honorary members in attendance.
The event was full of deep conversation in a friendly atmosphere from start to finish, making it a significant
event. With unending gratitude to all of our supporters, we will continue to arrange and host such events.

2

Fiscal 2 02 3 Business Plan
Aug ust 2 0 2 3 to Ju ly 2 0 2 4

Research Projec t sAwareness Projec t s

Digitization of Covers of Game Related Publications

Resumption of the "Ask a Legendary GameCreator" Event

We will be scanning the covers at least 700 publications.

Due to the CORONA-19 pandemic, our "Ask a Legendary GameCreator" event was postponed for the last few years. We plan toresume this event.

Floppy Disk Data Migration
We will continue our data migration work using the Pauline
preservation device. We plan to backup at least 1,680 disks
across hardware such as the X68000 and FM-7, including 8-inch
floppy disks.

Game Magazine Information Index
We will continue our work from the previous fiscal year ofindexing information about such magazines as I/O. We will
index at least 1,200 advertisements and the program listings
within 123 issues.

Development of Cassette Tape Backup Standards
We will be aiming to research modding audio cassette decks anddetermine standards for cassette tape preservation.

Preparation for Access of the National Diet
Library Database

Inventory of Game Related Book and Magazines

We plan to investigate game-related publications within the
National Diet Library's inventory identify those that that are notalready present in the Game Preservation Society's collection.

We plan to add the more than 500 books and magazines storedin our archive to the database.

Addition of Game Related Books and Magazines
to the Database

LaserActive Games Data Migration
Using the Domesday86 Duplicator device, we are doing the firstdata migrations of Japanese domestic LaserDisc based games.

We are moving forward with adding game related publications to
the database with the intention of making their information
available on our online catalog. We are aiming to add more than
20,000 entries.

FM-7 Computer Series Emulation Technology
Research

Migrating the Internal Database to the Cloud

We will develop an FM-7/FM-77 emulator that can work withunmodified programs. We have a framework for reproducing
copy protection, so our main focus will be on developing amethod for extracting the necessary information from Pauline
disk images.

Newsletter Publication
We currently publish 2 to 3 issues of our seasonal newsletter inJapanese per year, and once per year in English. Our schedule toupdate the English website with newer information has fallen
behind, so we will be updating the English newsletter to matchthe latest information appearing in the Japanese edition.

Par tnership Projec t sCreation of a Famicom Strategy Guidebook
Information Catalog

Organization of Data for the JACA Media Arts
Database

For our online game-related publication catalog, we will begin byadding information for more than 700 Famicom (NintendoEntertainment System) strategy guides.

We will be adding more than 2,700 entries to the JACA Media Arts
Database (MADB) based on information obtained from our earlier
work.

Charity Auctions
We plan to hold charity auctions once or twice a year with
duplicate donated items available for sale. All proceeds will go
towards the support of preservation activities.

Official Online Game Catalog Update
We will synchronize with the JACA MADB and update the online
game catalog with additional game packaging images.

Research on Logo Vectorization
We will continue our work with various countries around theworld in order to vectorize the logos of game companies andmagazines (around 40 to 48 logos in total). The goal is to preserve
them in the database along with other game data.

Registration of Donated Materials
We are registering our assets that were obtained by donation inorder to better visualize the scope of the organization's assets.

32024 January Vol.07

Fiscal Year 2022

Our organization publishes an annual financial report to ensure thecontinued confidence and support of our members. This document

Treasury Reportoutlines how funds coming from such sources as membership fees andthe JACA subsidy are used in our activities.

A detailed business andfinancial report isavailable here (Japanese only).

Outline of Organizational Activities

Our work is divided into three project categories, with funds allocated to each as necessary for their operation.

Research
Projects

Awareness
Projects

Description

ExamplesDescription

ExamplesThe development of technologies and methods for the preservation ofelectronic games and related devices and documents
Packaging digitization
Floppy disk data migration work

The promotion of and education about technologies and methods
for the preservation of electronic games and related devices and documents
Documentary production
Opening the online game catalog to the public

Partnership
Projects

Description

ExamplesThe collaboration with and support of archivists and preservation projects andorganizations in order to further the technologies and methods
for the preservation of electronic games and related devices and materials
Providing game data and sharing information with the JACA Media Archive
Adding game-related publications to the shared database

How Our Funds are Used
(Currency: Japanese Yen)

(Currency: Japanese Yen)

Operational Revenue

Operational Expenses[From Membership Fees]

Research Projects

4,737,220

Full Members (Individual)

262,500

Awareness Projects

4,649,852

Supporters (Corporate)

240,000

Partnership Projects

Supporters (Individual)

2,153,500

Full Members (Executive)

705,000

Enrollment Fees

15,000

Project Divisions Total

1,602,347
10,989,419

Administration

551,736

Total Expenses

11,541,155[From Donations]
Donations

16,100Sponsorships

2,950,000[From Subsidies]
3,970,000

Subsidies
Material Donations

Operational
Revenue

1,620,559

Unrealized Gains from Volunteer Work250,250[From Projects]

Subsidies
47.0%

230,531

Projects

15
35,998

Miscellaneous
Total Revenue

Membership
Fees
27.1%
Donations23.8%[Other Revenue]
Interest

Partnership
Projects
13.9%
IncomeOther Revenue0.3%
Project Revenue2.1%

12,800

Unrealized Gains from Property Usage

12,462,253

4Operational
Expenses

Awareness
Projects
40.3%

Administration
4.8%

Research
Projects
41.0%

Consolidated Income Statement for Designated Non-Profit Activities in Fiscal 2022
From 2022 August 1 to 2023 July 31 - Tax Inclusive - Currency: Japanese Yen【Operational Revenue】【From Membership Fees】
Full Members (Individual)
262,500
Supporters (Corporate)
240,000
Supporters (Individual)
2,153,500
Full Members (Executive)
705,000
Enrollment Fees
15,000【From Donations】
Donations
16,100Sponsorships
2,950,000
Material Donations
12,800
Unrealized Gains from Property Usage
1,620,559
Unrealized Gains from Volunteer Work250,250【From Subsidies】
Subsidies
3,970,000【From Projects】
Independent Projects
230,531【Other Revenue】
Interest
15
Miscellaneous
35,998Operational Revenue Total
12,462,253【Operational Expenses】
Project Divisions【Project Expenses】（Personnel）
Research
Awareness
Partnership
Salary & Compensation [Projects]
4,606,495
737,182
1,563,338
2,305,975
Mandated Benefits [Projects]
25,094
8,711
9,149
7,234
Commute Compensation [Projects]
130,646
20,672
9,348
100,626
Unrealized Expenses from Volunteer Work250,250
Personnel Expenses Total
5,012,485
766,565
1,832,085
2,413,835（Other Expenses）
Outsourced Work [Projects]
843,500
235,105
548,395
60,000Gifts [Projects]
4,028
4,028
Volunteer Appreciation [Projects]
12,0006,000
6,000
Printing & Publishing [Projects]
74,666
9,346
65,320Meetings [Projects]
81,105
10,18068,1702,755
Travel [Projects]
267,036
178,083
75,065
13,888
Shipping [Projects]
45,651
8,354
15,60021,697
Network Services [Projects]
366,727
42,291
309,860
14,576
Consumable Supplies [Projects]
1,533,833
189,380
414,720929,733
Repairs [Projects]
8,588
8,588
Building Utilities [Projects]
171,103
61,110109,993
Rent & Real Estate [Projects]
642,117
321,053
321,064
Unrealized Expenses from Property Usage
1,620,559
Depreciation
12,797
Memberships [Projects]
130,386
130,386
Entertainment [Projects]
29,79010,50019,290
Taxes [Projects]
5,500
5,500
Handling Fees [Projects]
79,691
3,360
51,52024,811
Interest Payments [Projects]
47,85747,857
Other Expenses
5,976934
835,7822,817,767
2,323,385
Project Expenses Total
10,989,419
1,602,347
4,649,852
4,737,220【Administrative Expenses】（Personnel）
Mandated Benefits [Admin]
99
Personnel Total
99（Other Expenses）
Outsourced Work [Admin]
35,200Printing & Publishing [Admin]
25,940
Shipping [Admin]
102,302
Periodicals & Books [Admin]
595
Consumable Supplies [Admin]
66,324
Building Utilities [Admin]
36,457
Rent & Real Estate [Admin]
196,744
Taxes [Admin]
200
Handling Fees [Admin]
87,875
Other Expenses
551,637
Administrative Expenses Total
551,736
Operational Expenses Total
11,541,155
Fixed Assets Total
3
Net Balance
921,098【Non-Operational Revenue】
Non-Operation Revenue Total0【Non-Operational Expenses】
Non-Operational Expenses Total
0
Pre-Tax Net Capital Balance
921,098
Net Capital Balance
921,098
Net Capital Balance Carried From Previous Term
4,406,721
Net Capital Balance Carried To Next Term
5,327,819
Unconstrained Net Capital
1,357,819

5

A Note from the Accounting TeamIn fiscal year 2022, continuing from the year
before, efforts were made to grow our support
base by such activities as increased public
relations, while at the same time carefully
reviewing costs to ensure an appropriatebalance of income and expenditures.
On the revenue side, we received about thesame amount from our individual andcorporate supporters. Notably, we received asignificant contribution from an overseas
corporation to support our activities. We
believe this tremendous support is the result of
our careful effort to raise awareness of ourpreservation activities. Moreover, the subsidy
received for our continued JACA archive
contribution work fell in line with our
expectations.
This has resulted in a revenue increase of
approximately 9% over the previous fiscal year.
On the expenditures side, we were able toachieve a balance by allocating funds for efforts
we were focusing on while putting strict budget
controls on areas over which we had directcontrol. For example, the costs of outsourcing
some work and the effort to strengthen our
public relations activities were higher thanoriginally planned. However, administrative
costs necessary for in-house work and theoperation of headquarters were reduced,
thereby reducing expenditures across moresegments compared to the previous year.
As a result, the combined current expenditures
have been reduced by about 20% compared tothe previous fiscal year.
In order to maintain highly accurate
information disclosure in the interest oftransparency, beginning this fiscal year we areincluding expenses for our volunteer andoutsourced work, among other necessary
business costs, as line items in our reports. We
will continue to implement more strict andappropriate accounting practices.
Game preservation is still in its early days, yetthere is not much time left for the archival of
retro games. As time progresses, the conditionof many materials continues to deteriorate, andit becomes impossible to preserve those data
and memories. The GPS feel that the speed ofpreservation activities must be accelerated.
We appreciate your understanding of thesignificance of preserving Japanese gameculture and our work towards that goal. We willcontinue to put our heart and soul into ouractivities, and we thank you for your support.

2024 January Vol.07

An In-Depth Look at Book and Magazine Cataloging
Written by Sasaki Jun
These days, the internet is the best way to obtain information quickly. In reality,
however, there is no straightforward answer to finding a reliable source formore obscure game information. Perhaps you are searching for articles abouta certain game inside of magazines, or for strategy guides about that game. You
will find that the internet may not be much help. The Game Preservation
Society is working on a solution to this problem by creating a database of
strategy guides, game and PC magazines, and other relevant publications. Thisis a project that will benefit researchers around the world. Let's take a closer
look at the work being done.

Main
PointsCataloging Publications

1

Cataloging game related publications into a database2

Indexing the contents of game/computer magazines

The JACA Media Arts Database (MADB)One of the projects underway at the GPS is the cataloging of strategy
guides and other such publications. This involves not just thepreservation of the actual media, but also collecting such data as the
publisher, original price, page count, and so on, then compiling that
information into a database. It may seem that such information isalready widely available, but the truth is things like the table of contents
and accurate titles are rare to find.
The JACA Media Arts Database plays a role in such research, but
unfortunately, it does not currently store information relating to gamestrategy guides. Another source of information is the Japanese National
Diet Library. However, its collection of strategy guides is incomplete
and its metadata (publisher, page count, etc.) is limited.
The GPS is working tobridgethisgapbydeveloping a search tool
specializing in game-related
information. It will serve asa link between the JACAMedia Arts Database andthe NDL's online database.
When completed, this will
be an extraordinarily useful
There is a large amount of data available, including
tool for those of us cover page information, publishers, and otherpublication information. Although it is not yet publicly
searching for information.

The Japanese Agency for Cultural
Affairs (JACA) provides a databaseof information on works andholdings of animation, comics,
games and other media art. The
GPS contributes to this database,but many strategy guides andPC/gaming magazines do notappear within the search results.

https://mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp/

National Diet Library Online (NDLonline)
Users can search for physical anddigital publications stored in theJapanese National Diet Library(NDL) and apply to use copies
remotely, but cover thumbnails are
not shown and there is a limited
amountofmetadata.
Somepublications may be missing a large
portion of information, making theresults fragmentary.
https://mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp

searchable, the goal is to open it up to the public
eventually.

Currently

How We Create The Database

MADB

The process of scanning the front andback covers is similar to our methods
for game packaging preservation. It isequally time consuming to check the
publication information and table ofcontents to ensure we have the 100%
correct title of the publication.

NDLonline

No Link
Soon

GPS
Search Page

MADB

NDLonline

Linked!

Our main feature is the display of theback side of the book and the verified
title, something unavailable on othersearch tools.

The GPS Search Page hopes to be the bridge between these sources, allowing all
the searching to be done in one place.

6

A barcode scanner is used to readin the ISBN, using custom software.

Indexing Magazines
Although many PC and gaming magazines have been published over the years, there arepractically no full collections in physical form. The first place that comes to mind is the
National Diet Library, but while they have a good number of computer magazines, there arecomparatively few game related periodicals.
It would seem like this is just the job for the Game Preservation Society, but they have foundthemselves already too busy with their archival work. Joseph Redon, the GPS President, hassaid that for now, a full game magazine library will remain a dream. Until then, however, he
has another idea: indexing the contents of these publications.
This indexing project is already underway in parallel with the primary software archival work
the GPS carries out. They are currently focusing on program listings and advertisement pages
within the magazines, but in preparation for the future, they will be scanning and applying
OCR (optical character recognition) to all of the pages to create a huge index database. Today,
OCR has accuracy problems, but the GPS will re-process the scans with newer OCR and AI
technology as time goes on.
Due to the current state of Japanese copyright law, it would not be possible to fully share or
reprint this scanned information. An index of the contents and a thumbnail image of greaterthan 100dpi for each page is allowed, so that will be their starting point. If the laws change inthe future, the information will be made available online for research purposes.

Just how many PC andgaming magazines are there?
The short answer is "many," but few people areaware of just how many. The GPS is compilinga database of computer and gaming magazines
as they contain much valuable information that
may have not yet been discovered.
A useful tool for this work is a book titled"Zasshi Shinbun-sō Catalog" (Magazine andNewspaper Catalog), published by Media
Research Center. It has been around since 1979and lists all the magazines and newspapers
released in that year. Using this as a reference,
the GPS has found that there are approximately
1,500 computer/gaming magazines as of 2008.

Indexing of Program Listings & Advertisements
For now, the GPS is indexing only the program listing
Program Listings
and advertisements within these magazines. This isdue in part to a lack of human resources, but also due
to a lack of a dedicated scanner for this purpose.
There has been talk for a while now that the time hascome to begin doing full scans, but this will be a large
project: the Tokyo headquarters has approximately
This should give you an idea of the kind of human resources
5,000 magazines, with another 4,000 in Sapporo and Program listings alone are not enough: theneeded to compile such a database.
explanatory page is also necessary. Moreover, later
2,000 in the Saitama area, for a total of more than issues may contain bugfixes which will also beindexed.
10,000 issues to eventually be fully scanned.
The program listings will be OCR'ed after being scanned to create a
database. "We consider a program listing to be a complete piece ofWhat scanner will be used?
software, one without packaging, so we will index that which covers not
In order to do full page scans,only the title and author's name, but also bugfixes," Redon explained to us.
new hardware is needed. The
He also explained that the advertisements are useful because they can
GPS is looking to purchase ahelp to improve accuracy about games. "Even if you don't know the
Ricoh fi-7600 scanner for thisexact release date of a game, you can get an idea of its initial release bywork. It features a reliablelooking at the advertising for it," he said. This is something I can relate to,paper feed and optimized
as I have also used advertisements to date games when writing articles.
quality for OCR, making it
In the future, their goal is to tie these advertisements to the primary
perfectforscanningthemagazines
intheGPS collection.
games database for reference.
They are currently holding a fundraiser to purchase this scanner. If thisThe release date of many games
massive scanning project can be completed, it will benefit not only
fromthe 1980s is uncertain, but weAdvertisements
can use the first appearance ofour members but all researchers around the world. If you feel, as I do,
advertising for these games to get athat this is an important project, please consider contributing to thesomewhat accurate date. In theexample here, the release date for
fundraiser.
this software is printed in the upper
left.

With your help,
we can take thepreservation of gamemagazines and strategy
guides to the next level!

Scanning the Covers of a Staple-Bound
Magazine
The decision has been made to move
forward with making full magazine scans,
but that is still in the future. As a first step,scans will be made of the front and backcovers of staple-bound magazines, asthese can be disassembled with practicallyno damage to the book. In many cases, thestaple has deteriorated with time andcannot always be put back in.

Staple-bound books are relatively simple todisassemble. Once the staples are cleanly
removed, all that remains is the scanning.

7

If the staple has deteriorated or broken,
it cannot be re-inserted into themagazine. In such cases, the original is
kept as an accessory while a new stapleof nearly the same type is used as areplacement.
2024 January Vol.07

This article covers two important threads in the development of erotic games from Enix and KOEI. Due to the scope of thecontent, it does not cover other important developments, such as lolita and stripping games, and extends only through1985. Further research is welcomed.
Written by Devin Monnens

What are erogē?
In the loosest sense of the term, erogē are games with erotic content
drawn primarily in an anime or manga style. In a stricter sense, the term
is used to describe games that are pornographic in nature where theplayer’s primary goal is to view erotic content over a gameplay
experience. This differentiates erogē from bishōjo game (美少女ゲーム),
which depict bishōjo, or pretty young female characters, and also
contain nudity. However, the primary motivation of a bishōjo game isto engage in gameplay and story, not to view erotic content, althoughsuch content undoubtedly serves as a selling point.
Regarding the content of erogē, following Japanese laws, genitals areeither obscured or censored by pixelation, and all characters engaging
in sexual acts must be 18 or older or not have their age stated.
Significantly, depictions of sexual violence, sex crimes, and other actsof violence are not uncommon. Additionally, the audience for erogē isnot exclusively cis-male, as they may target cis-women and LGBTQ+
players. Although initially erogē were largely unregulated, today they
are monitored by the EOCS (Ethics Organization of Computer
Software, or Sofurin). Occasionally, their contents are illegal outside ofJapan.

A shunga image circa 1820.

today. In fact, many famous ukiyo-e artists such as Hokusai createdshunga during their careers. A series of imperial edicts did little tostymie the production and distribution of shunga, although Victorian
influences during the Meiji era caused erotic content to be viewed astaboo and shameful. Although shunga were finally replaced by erotic
photography, manga and anime are considered to have extended thistradition to the modern era.

It is hard to understate the staggering size of the Japanese erogē
industry. Hundreds of titles are produced each year, counting millions
in sales, and at least 20,000 people are thought to be employedfull-time making them. In addition to the obvious desire forpornographic content, low production costs—owing to passable
artwork, some story and music, and minimal programming—and highprice means developers can produce games cheaply and sell only asmall amount to break even, thus providing a low barrier to entry andhigh sustainability. They are also a uniquely Japanese phenomenon.

Thus, erogē may be seen as a natural extension of mass-produced
erotic culture and were readily available for purchase at computer
stores or via mail order. However, they were also heavily advertised inenthusiast magazines accessible to youths—and prior to the 1991
‘Saori Incident’ (沙織事件), could also be freely purchased by minors
from computer stores.
In contrast, when early American erotic titles like Softporn Adventure(On-Line Systems, Sept. 1981, Apple II), Custer’s Revenge (American
Multiple Industries, Nova. 1982, Atari VCS), and MacPlaymate(PEGASUS Productions, Jan. 1987, Macintosh) released, they met withstrong negative press and forceful letters to editors whose publications
included advertisements or reviews (although such press tended toboost sales). While some titles were advertised in trade publications
like Billboard and enthusiast magazines like Softalk and InfoWorld,many mainstream magazines refused to advertise them or pulled
advertising in response to subscriber feedback. Unless offered by major
publishers, most erotic games had extremely limited distribution. The
only major ‘catalog’ for such software was The Dirty Book, a quarterly
publication of erotic games first offered in Fall 1981 by Bourbon Street
Press (which prudent publications were more willing to advertise).

Why are erotic games common in Japanbut not the West?
Erogē have been historically prevalent in the Japanese computer gameindustry owing to two main factors. First, Japan has a culture more
accepting of erotic media (so long as it abides by censorship laws), andpossesses a long history of erotic content in artistic and popular culture.
This owes largely to the importance of fertility in Shintoism, which evendepicts the creation of the islands of Japan as part of a sexual act.
Historically, erotic content first appears in the Heian period (794-1185)
and is associated with the courtier class and their artistic and culturalrefinement: notably, the first Japanese novel, Genji Monogatari(Murasaki Shikibu, early 11th Century), portrayed the sexual escapadesof Hikaru Genji, the fictional son of an emperor. The Heian period also
saw the origins of shunga (春画), erotic artworks depicting sexual acts.
Literally read “spring pictures”, shunga is a shortening of
shunkyū-higi-ga (春宮秘戯画, “spring palace secret paintings”), whichwere a set of Chinese scrolls depicting the twelve sexual acts
performed by the crown prince and associated with each of the twelve
months. Although initially shunga were primarily for the nobility andmonasterial classes, they remained an important theme of Japanese art
and were even considered good luck charms by samurai andshopkeepers. Shunga became widespread in the Edo period(1603-1867) owing to the mass production of woodblock printing andthe sophisticated ukiyo-e (“floating world”) style that is highly prized

The second major factor is computer platforms are open systems that
do not require a development license and are relatively cheap to
publish on. In contrast, home game consoles require developers
purchase a license for a development kit and actively regulate content;
additionally, cartridges were far more expensive than cassette tapes or
floppy disks. So while erogē from unlicensed developers occasionallyappeared on home game platforms as early as the Famicom Disk
System, it was much easier to develop for computers. The creators ofthese early games were hobbyists, and would just as often produce
clones or inspirations of popular coin-op games as they would uniqueexperiences, including erotic ones.

8

Where did erogē originate?

Jiken (ポートピア連続殺人事件, The Portopia Serial Murder Case, Enix,
June 1983, PC-6001) by Yūji Horii, where players take the role of adetective investigating the apparent suicide of the president of a loan
shark company. Horii’s experience writing manga contributed to thegame’s crisp dialogue, while a simplified command system, modern
setting, companion character, unreliable narrator, and twist ending all
helped the game stand out.

The earliest known erotic Japanese game is Yakyūken, which wasadvertised in the July 1979 issue of Mycom (月刊マイコン) as one of thirty
titles for the MZ-80K available by mail order from Hudson Soft.
Yakyūken (lit. “baseball-fist”) is a rock-paper-scissors style gameoriginally conceived as a team building exercise for an out-of-luckbaseball team but later popularized as a stripping game by a comedy
duo in 1969. The content is relatively tame, with blocky black andwhite graphics depicting a young woman in various states of undress.
The MZ-80’s limited graphical capabilities, which consisted of an 80 x
50 column display and a blocky character set, produce results far lessprovocative than the curvilinear pinup art that appeared on Americancomputer terminals since the 1950s or on ASCII teletype printouts.
While some critics hesitate to label Yakyūken as an erogē, it serves toillustrate two key points. First, erotic content was present in Japanesecommercial computer games since their inception, owing to thehobbyist nature of the market where developers made whateverinterested them, the prevalence of erotic content in other media, andthe fact publishers felt no need to curate their content since it wasn’t
being scrutinized. Second, while Yakyūken was popular enough to seea full-color version on the MZ-700, it was not successful enough to leadto more erotic titles at Hudson and did not influence any otherdevelopers. However, it is notable that many early erotic games docontain stripping as a mechanic or minigame.

Karuizawa Yūkai Annai

It would not be until the next generation of Japanese computers, suchas the NEC PC-8801 (Nov. 1981), PC-9801 (Oct. 1982), and Sharp X1(Nov. 1982) that it was possible to display detailed images. These
computers sported high graphical resolution due to the need to display
kanji. 640 x 200 pixel screens with 8 colors were standard, withhigh-end models such as the PC-9801 reaching 640 x 400 pixels and
16 colors (compared with 320 x 200 pixels and 16 colors on the
Commodore 64 (Jan. 1982)). However, the limited color palette, RAM,and the storage capacity of cassette tapes and 5.25” floppy disks meant
it was not possible to display or store photographic images. Instead,artists relied on anime style drawings, often generated by drawing lines
on the screen and filling in shapes with solid color. Such images usedless storage since they consisted of a set of commands to draw images,
but they were also time-consuming to draw, which privilegedslower-paced, text-heavy games with large static images—a naturalformat for graphical adventure games.

The graphical adventure game format revolutionized by Horii would
quickly find its crossover with erogē. Horii’s next project was a new
mystery game, Karuizawa Yūkai Annai (軽井沢誘拐案内, The Karuizawa
Abduction Note, Enix, May 1985, PC-8801) where players must rescue
a young girl who has been kidnapped. Significantly, the game includes
panty shots and sex scenes as well as the kernel of Dragon Quest
through a map and RPG-style combat system in the game’s final
chapter, all inspired from Ultima III: Exodus (Origin Systems, Aug. 23,
1983, Apple II).
At the same time, Horii wasworking alongside his old
university friend, Hikaru Sekino,a manga artist who wasdeveloping
TOKYO
Nampa
Street (ＴＯＫＹＯナンパストリート,
Enix, FM-7, April 1985). As a
nampa (軟派)—a seducer who
picks up dates in public venues—
players go to different locations
around the city and call out towomen who pass by to get theirattention and have a conversation
in a coffee shop or park. Players
select different topics, and thewoman’sreactions change as the
Tōkyō Nanpa Street
conversation develops using arudimentary AI system—an attempt to simulate women’s psychology
drawn from psychology literature and Sekino’s own experience. If theplayer successfully seduces the woman, he can invite her to a hotel,
where a sex scene ensues. Otherwise, she leaves, and the player has totry again. However, if the player attempts to rape her, he is arrested.
The player has a limited budget for his hotel room, and the game ends
once his money runs out or if he accidentally picks up an undercover
officer or a transvestite. TOKYO Nampa Street was revolutionary for its
time and served as the originator of the love simulator (or ren’ai 恋愛,
romance game), which later developed into the dating sim. Horii sharedideas as Karuizawa was in development, and he is credited with
“Cooperation for Development” in the title screen. The collaboration
was successful, as Sekino received an Excellent Program Award in
Enix’s 3rd Game Hobby Program Contest.

Enix’s Adventures in Eroticism
The adventure game genre is rooted in text adventures, beginning withthe seminal Colossal Cave Adventure (Will Crowther & Don Woods,
PDP-10, 1976). These games were originally played on teletypes orcomputer terminals and featured gameplay elements of exploration andpuzzle solving revolving around item collection. Story consisted
primarily of provocative descriptions of rooms and varying levels of
character interaction.
Roberta and Ken Williams were the first to add a graphical dimension
with their highly influential Mystery House (On-Line Systems, 1980), a
formula that proved highly successful, selling over 80,000 units
worldwide, influencing game designers around the world. The genre
found its way to Japan first as Micro Cabin’s unlicensed Mystery House(ミステリーハウス, MZ-80B, June 1982), which borrowed the title but
contained a unique scenario and set of puzzles, before receiving an
official release by On-Line’s Japanese distributor, Starcraft (PC-8801/
9801, April 1983). As Japanese players and designers became
enamored with this new genre that was perfectly suited for theirhigher-resolution computers, there was a distinct shift from the Western
style of gameplay emphasizing collecting objects to solve puzzles to amore Japanese style focusing on story and characters over puzzles anditem collecting.
The most influential of these early titles was Portopia Renzoku Satsujin
92024 January Vol.07

KOEI X erogē
While Enix was breaking new ground in erotic game content, anotherdeveloper and publisher, KOEI, was making its own contributions togame history. Founded in 1978 by Yōichi and Keiko Erikawa, thecompany had already made history with strategy wargames, businesssimulations, and proto-RPGs. In April 1982, they produced anotherrevolutionary product, Night Life (PC-8801). Although commonlydescribed as a game, it contains no ludic content, and is best describedas utility software meant to assist couples with their sex life and help
conceive children.
The Erikawas had read articles on the difficulty couples were having
conceiving children and how the odds could be increased using the
Ogino Method to chart the woman’s menstrual cycle to determine
when she was most fertile (and least fertile ‘safe days’)—a type ofprogram that is still popular on modern smartphones. To add more
“playful” content, the program included diagrams of sex positions, aquestionnaire to help spice up the couple’s sex life, and advice on how
long to spend in each position. The closest Night Life comes to being
called a “game” is that it can be considered to have “gamified” the goalof conceiving a child. It is clear the Erikawas collaborated on this title,
as the initial software release is signed “K. Erikawa.”

Left: "Kurobara Fujin (Lady Black Rose)," a 1978 pink film
Right: Do Dutch Wives Dream of Electric Eels?

Significantly, neither game has fully explicit sex scenes, as the genitals
are covered by cleverly placed censor bars that read “パソリン・カット”(paso-rin cut), a parody of the “ヴィデ・リン” (vide[o]-rin) censor bars
placed in softcore pornographic “pink films” by the Nihon Video Rinri
Association.
Surprisingly, Danchizuma and Orandazuma are inspired by the popular
Nikkatsu Roman Porno films. These theatrical pink films were createdin response to the studio’s loss of revenue owing to competition fromtelevision and were produced rapidly at an average of three per month.
Directors were given a surprising amount of artistic freedom, provided
they included a minimum of four nude scenes per hour and adhered toJapan’s censorship laws governing full frontal nudity. Romano Porno
proved incredibly successful, turning Nikkatsu around and capturing
the market for pink films. Rather than sleazy sexploitation films, many
Romano Porno were often critical successes and regularly appeared on
annual top ten lists of Japanese films. Several themed series werecreated, including the longest-running 21-film Danchizuma series thatran from 1971-1979, beginning with the studio’s initial release,
Danchizuma hirusagari no jōji (団地妻 昼下がりの情事, Apartment Wife:
Affair in the Afternoon, Nov 21, 1971). With such a significant impact
on Japanese popular culture, KOEI’s Danchizuma reference would havebeen obvious.

Night Life was not the first software of its kind, either. That same year,
Imagesoft (later Pax Softnica) released a similar program, Love Life, for
the Apple II, and in May 1980, American developer Syntonic Software
produced the highly successful text-only Interlude, also for the Apple II,that served as a catalog of inspirations for spicing up a couple’s sex life.

Following Orandazuma, KOEI left the erotic game market because theypresented the company in a negative light, and their tactical strategy
games were proving far more profitable. However, the success of theStrawberry Porno series led to an explosion of knock-offs, someproduced by such famous companies such as Enix, Square, and Nihon
Falcom.

Danchizuma no Yūwaku

KOEI followed up Night Life with the first erotic RPG, Danchizuma no
Yūwaku (団地妻の誘惑, Seduction of Condominium Wives, April 1983,
PC-8801). Players take the role of a condom salesman who has to sell his
goods to women who are home alone in an apartment complex.
Through a stats and commands system similar to the strategy war games
and RPGs KOEI had created previously, players fight Yakuza and ghosts
while seducing the women in the building and getting them to have sex.
During sex scenes, the player presses keys to try to make the woman
climax first. The game ends when the player’s physical strength orintelligence becomes 0, they run out of time, or successfully sell all theirproducts. Danchizuma was billed as an “adult porn role-playing game”,
and KOEI established the Strawberry Porno label to market it. The gameproved extremely successful.

Why Discuss erogē?
Given the distinct aversion Western—particularly American—culture
has for erotic media, it may be difficult to argue for a critical analysis oferogē. However, it is inarguable that erogē have played a significant
role in the history of Japanese videogames and had a profoundinfluence on mainstream game design. Perhaps most obviously, datingsims and relationship mechanics popular in series such as Tokimeki
Memorial and Persona originated as ren’ai games where the goal was
to seduce women and be rewarded with erotic content. Many famous
publishers included erogē as part of their early catalogs, although they
understandably try to distance themselves from this history today.

This was followed by Orandazuma wa Denki Unagi no Yume o Miru ka?
(オランダ妻は電気ウナギの夢を見るか?, Do Dutch Wives Dream of Electric
Eels?, Dec. 1984, PC-8801). Inspired by Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids
Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968), players take on the role of a private
investigator who has to track down a sex doll (called Dutch wives inJapan) that has become sentient and is murdering its lovers. The player
tracks down the rogue doll by seducing all the women in Tokyo’s red
light district. The game expands on Danchizuma’s mechanics by adding
the twist that players must first seduce the women by taking them out on
dates and finding out their likes and dislikes before performing thecorrect actions in bed to find out if they are a robot.

Finally, many early developers of erogē went on to develop significant
titles later on; it can be said the freedom of expression in homecomputers and in erogē as a genre allowed them to freely experimentwith game mechanics, art, and storytelling that might not have been
acceptable in a more conservative market.
It is therefore important that the history and impact of erogē be better
understood, even though some of the content may be disturbing or
objectionable. This is one of the reasons the Game Preservation Society
preserves and studies these games.
10Research and Progress on
Preservation of Optical Media
Takuya FUKUDAThe Game Preservation Society is also working to preserve optical media
in its various formats. The reproduction of such media has proven to bedifficult, so we consider all methods and devices available, from allaround the world.
We began our research into the preservation of LaserDisc (LD) games
two years ago.
that was available domestically.
The Japanese version was a professional grade device, making it
also hard to find within Japan, but we eventually found one ingood condition. After checking the decoding of the reference
disk, it was clear that a fairly high quality capture was possible.
The application was then used to obtain the output video data.

LDs were first used for video games within arcades, mostprominently in the 1980s and 90s. The oldest known LD game
was Quarter Horse, produced by Electro-sport in 1982.
Some famous
titles from thattime include
D rago n's L airan d T im e Gal.
The medium wasalso used on PC
and consumer
platforms.
Some discs contained not only analog video data but programcode as well. Thus it is not sufficient to simply record the output
video signal.
Playback devices have deteriorated quickly, and it is becoming
increasingly difficult to obtain such hardware in good working
condition. I feel that now is the time to begin serious work on thepreservation of LDs.
After evaluating a variety of possible backup methods, weeventually decided on using the Domesday86 Project device
and its associated application.

Because the final data is derived directly from sampling the RF
wave, we can bypass the decoder for our raw capture. The signal
was sampled at 40 MHz using a 10 bit analog to digital converter(ADC). At this sampling rate, the resulting data set is quite large,
putting one LD at around 8 terabytes of data. Thus, a highcapacity hard drive is a requirement in the process.
The raw data can then be passed through the ld-decode
application. By doing so, we can decode not just the analog
video but any digital data and audio tracks as well. The EFM data
track can be decoded as well, which can be used to confirm
whether there are dropouts or read errors.
Based on our results, we determined that the drive we obtained
had no problems with read quality, and we began to capturesome game software. We found that analog video andaudio-only LDs were not a problem, so we next tried Mega LDs
and LD-ROM² software intended for LaserActive hardware.

Domesday86 ProjectIn 1986, the BBC in England produced a documentary on theculture of England that was released only on LaserDisc. This was
known as the "Domesday" project.
A computer and LD player were used in conjunction for
playback. However the media and hardware had both
deteriorated with time, and it was clear that a migration to digital
data was necessary. This was the genesis of the Domesday86
project.
To meet this goal, a device and accompanying software wasdeveloped and made open source. We began to evaluate thissystem as a basis for LD preservation.
The first avenue of research was to determine exactly what levelof preservation could be achieved with this method.
The LD drive recommended for use by the project proved
difficult to obtain as it was not sold in Japan. An overseas unit
was obtained and we were able to identify identical hardware

Since the program data isstored in the PCM data track,
it may be necessary to use a
bit of a special technique toread it in. We are currently
investigating this.
After reviewing the results oft h e p r o j e c t , w e w ill b e
happy to open source ourtechniques so everyone may
benefit.

112024 January Vol.07

C o m p a n i e s S u p p o rtin g O u r A ctiv ities
The goal of preserving games for the future requires the cooperation of many people and organizations.
The Game Preservation Society is proud to be supported in part by the following corporations.
(In alphabetical order.)Cardboard Computer

Kogado Studio, Inc.

Archival Conservation & Enclosures Co., Ltd.

Takai Shokai

Tsugumi, Co., Ltd

Japan HDD Association

BeXide Inc.

Pixel Co., Ltd.

Brother Industries, Ltd.

We're ensuring games are preserved for the next 100 years,
and that requires everyone's support
We at the GPS are working as hard as we can, but even items
already in our possession will eventually be lost to deterioration.
We do not yet have enough support from the government or major
corporations, so we turn to you, our members who appreciate thevalue of these games as works of culture, for assistance.

You can support us forjust a couple dollars a month
Register for monthly payments on the web site

Examples of our activities
Research
Projects
Awareness
Projects
Partnership
Projects【M e m b e r s O n l y B e n e f i t s】
・Access to the seasonal "GPS News" newsletter

・Packaging digitization

・Access to members only content on the website, such as past・Floppy disk data migration

editions of the newsletter, game preservation educational booklets,and content from GPS hosted events and exhibitions.

・Documentary production
・Publishing our online game catalog

If you have any questions,・Cooperation with and content submissions
to the JACA Media Arts Archiveplease contact us at support@gamepres.org

・Compilation of a database of game related publications(such as strategy guides and magazines)

Current Memberships

Total: 508 Members

AssetsJPY 5,327,819

Net Assets

JPY 1,357,819[By Type]
Permanent: 30, Individual: 460 (International: 110), Corporate: 10 (International: 2), Honorary: 8

Archival work sponsored in partby the JACA Media Arts Archive Support Project for 2023.

NPO Game Preservation Society GPS News
Publisher: NPO Game Preservation Society, Tokyo-to, Setagaya-ku, Todoroki 8-19-1 Suite C٢٠٢٤.٠١.٢٢ ١٣:٤٣:٥٤ +٠٩'٠٠'

Layout: Yōko KITAGUCHI - Editor & Translation: Damian ROGERS - Contact: info@gamepres.org

122024 January Vol.07